USA - Rolling Hills Covenant Church (RHCC) in California was founded in 1957 and dedicated its first church building in 1959. Following the sustained growth of its congregation during the 1960s and ‘70s, the Church constructed a larger worship centre which is now the main focus of its Rolling Hills Estates campus.
During the 1980s, RHCC expanded its emphasis on the arts as part of Christian worship, with a strong focus on the role of musical excellence in services. Setting high standards of music performance demands audio quality to match, and during a recent remodelling of its main gathering space, which saw new seating and stage layouts, the Church undertook an overhaul of its technical systems, including provision for a new sound system.
RHCC director of technical arts ministries, Brian Johnson, engaged with Scott Ramsey of AV installation specialists Broadcast Support to discuss a solution. Johnson comments:
“I’ve enjoyed working with Broadcast Support for more than 10 years, and they’ve become our local go-to provider for rentals and major installations. After taking into account our requirement for a premium-sounding, lightweight solution, Scott recommended a Coda Audio system, specifically their new compact N-RAY line array.”
The main gathering space at RHCC is a fan-shaped auditorium which seats around 950 people, with a 40ft wide stage approximately 70ft from the rear seats. The modified layout of the space demanded that a system not only deliver premium sound and full coverage, but that it was lightweight enough to not overburden the room’s ceiling support structures.
Johnson continues: “Scott connected me with Steve McNeil of MacWest, Coda’s rep firm in the region, who was able to line up a demo of the N-RAY for us at a nearby house of worship. I must be honest and say that I was sceptical that a compact line array could deliver, but after the demo I was thoroughly impressed. The system sounded full and the coverage was perfect – I wouldn’t have known it was a compact array if it had been hidden from sight.”
Satisfied that the Coda Audio N-RAY was the right choice, Brian worked in conjunction with Broadcast Support and Coda Audio USA to design a system for RHCC. The team used Coda Audio’s proprietary prediction software, System Optimiser, to ensure complete and even coverage across the auditorium.
Broadcast Support installed main hangs comprising seven N-RAY units and two SCN-F 15” sensor-controlled bass extensions per side. A further eight SCV-F sensor-controlled 18” subwoofers were located beneath the stage, with six HOPS5 (double 5” high-output point source) deployed as front-fills.
With the system installed and running, Johnson says the N-RAY system is exactly what RHCC was looking for: “Unlike our previous system, the coverage is incredibly smooth across the seating areas, and everyone at the church is super happy with the N-RAY. It met our requirement for light weight without any drawbacks to the sound quality. The N-RAYs with the SCN-F bass units add a surprising amount of low frequency extension, and the mid/highs are super smooth. They transition well to the larger subs underneath the stage. The front-fills also sound great while keeping a low profile.”
