Wednesday, January 7, 2009

I just finished installing a pair of ISP HDM112 speakers for the First Baptist church in Twins Falls, Idaho. The original system consisted of an Allen Heath GL 3200 32 channel board and a LCR speaker system with Mackie (RCF) 300A for the Left and Right and 2 Community cabs for the cluster. We replaced the RCF speakers with the ISP HDM112. The difference was amazing. The thing that I notice about these speakers is their ability to project sound and their clarity. In a narrow (39’ wide and 39’ ceiling height) room like this its important to have a system that can project to the back of the room without being incredibly loud at the front.

With these speakers we maintained the same level from the first pew to the face of the balcony. Under the balcony we only lost 3 dB. What is really amazing is that these speakers are one of speakers in ISPs monitor speaker lines. The old sound system used a delay and a small set of EV speakers for the under balcony fills to cover the back of the room. Now with the ISPs we don’t need the under balcony fills. These ISP speakers need a sub for good punch. I installed EV active subs on the original install and we left them as is.    You can see the subs at the corners of the platform, they are small but pack a good punch in the low end. I used the Peavey speaker mount as these speakers are pretty heavy ( 63 lbs) and the Peavey mount can handle a 100 lb speaker.

Tuning the system

We originally installed 8 channels of Ashly Protea EQs and they came in very handy for tuning the system. The interesting thing I noticed about the tuning was that this room really likes 100Hz, we had to take it out completely on all 3 channels L-C-R. The rest of the frequencies required very little adjustment. This is by far the easiest system to tune. Mike Redmond (the Worship Leader) said that it even change to sound on the platform. He could heard things he has never heard before.  He said his guitar actually sounds like he is playing through his amplifier. (he runs direct from his pedal)

Comment from Mike Redmond

To Whom it May Concern:

Wow! That was my first reaction when we turned the ISP speakers on. I had kept my expectations low because our old speakers were quite good. Unless you put speakers side by side you often don’t hear the difference. However, in this case, there was such a remarkable difference, I was shocked. Even from the stage we could hear things we have never heard before.  I felt foolish when I found myself looking for a leak when I heard our rain stick playing through the right speaker!

We assumed that only those directly interested in sound would really notice the difference. Instead, the first Sunday several people (3 of them musicians who are not on our team) made a point to come talk to me and with all the superlatives they all used the same word: “clear.” Every comment was positive. One of our elderly members said he heard everything for the first time in years.

These HDM112s could be used in a much bigger facility. We have seats for 300 and a traditional high ceiling (40 ft), and the speakers are on the lowest volume setting. Even at that level we could blow the windows out of the building. Most remarkable is the violation of the law of inverse square law. One of our team members kept walking up to the speakers and then to the back of the room because he couldn’t believe the sound level never changed. Even under our balcony (which reflects sound) the level only drops 3 db.

My only complaint is now we have to be better. Every mistake can be heard! Of course, so can all the great stuff that God produces.

We have been blessed from the first day we met Tom Hautka (Soundoc.net), and we are doubly blessed that he made it possible for us to own these outstanding speakers. I seriously doubt if there is another sound system to match ours within 100 miles.

Mike Redman

Worship Leader