Built as a Methodist hall in the 1920s, Central Hall has been owned by the New Community Church since 1989, and the installation was part of an ongoing renovation project. With a seating capacity of up to 800, the tiered venue has seating blocks at both sides of the stage, as well as raised seating at the back of the hall.
"Central Hall has an intimate, inclusive feel, with people sitting around three sides of the stage," says SFL's technical director Mark Payne. "Sometimes the stage is moved forward so it's almost in the round. The installation called for lots of horizontal coverage as it's very wide, plus a lot of vertical coverage was required for the tiered seating."
SFL's design consists of six Kiva flown alongside one 12 XTi coaxials per side, and two groundstacked SB118 subs per side. Two 8XTis provide front-fill, while a further pair of 8XTis work as a wide front-fill for a very difficult seating area almost behind the front stage line. The Kiva system is driven by LA8 amplified controllers, while LA4s power the coaxials and subs.
"Kiva has a wide dispersion angle of 100°, so I was convinced it was a good, effective solution for this installation, as well as being the very best for the Church's budget," says Payne. "As well as using a speaker system which gave me wide horizontal coverage, we supplemented the hangs with two 12XTis per side."
(Jim Evans)
