The Lutheran Christusbrüdergemeinde in Wolfsburg, Germany has chosen a Dynacord Vertical Array system to tackle the challenging characteristics of the sanctuary.
The system, designed by Olaf Trinkus from Trinkus Licht+Tontechnik, is for both music and speech and was selected ahead of solutions put forward by multiple installers during demonstrations.
The church sanctuary is a difficult space for audio design, with high ceilings and strong reverberation characteristics. The church wanted clarity of spoken word, and big concert sound with full-range fidelity for musical presentations, with even distribution throughout the church and minimum acoustic feedback. Another requirement was minimal aesthetic impact, preserving sight lines while blending in with the architecture.
The vertical pattern and fixed column design of the Dynacord arrays provides even coverage over a wide bandwidth, and they are available with white aluminium cabinets and wall mounts to blend in with church walls. One pair of Dynacord TS 400W column speakers is used as the primary sound source. The cabinet uses four 6.5in neodymium woofers as array elements for the mid frequencies, combining them with a high-frequency compression driver for high sound pressure levels, with tight 40° vertical dispersion to minimise unwanted reflections in reflective spaces.
Additional reinforcement is provided by a pair of Dynacord TS 200 column speakers as delays, offering the identical sound signature of the TS 400 from Dynacord. In the church of the Christusbrüdergemeinde, they are time-aligned with the Dynacord TS 400 mains and played at a low volume, providing support without distracting attention away from the altar. Bass extension is achieved through a single Dynacord PSE 215 subwoofer, featuring twin 15in drivers. All are powered by the church’s legacy amplifiers.
System control, alignment, signal processing and loudspeaker protection is all realised via the digital DSP 600 controller from Dynacord and IRIS-Net software. Using its FIR (finite impulse response) filters and multi-stage delay, the DSP 600 from Dynacord optimises all the loudspeakers as a unified system, providing time alignment for consistent levels throughout the room. Additional audio needs included an isolated children’s room and music monitoring on stage. For these applications, the design team selected Electro-Voice loudspeakers, featuring one self-powered ZXA1 loudspeaker for the children’s room and a pair of FRi-28LPM floor monitors for the sound on stage.
“The officials expressed full satisfaction with the results, which addressed all technical, acoustical, aesthetic and economic challenges with relative ease,” commented Olav Trinkus. “The combination of Dynacord Vertical Array columns along with their associated subwoofer and signal processing proved to be the perfect solution for the Lutheran Christusbrüdergemeinde.”
