Installation amplifiers premiere at Kwanglim Church, South Korea.
“Cost always has to be one of the decisive factors when contemplating a sound system installation,” opens Jung Hawon, an elder of the Apgujung Kwanglim Church in Gangnam, Seoul, and Chairman of the Broadcasting Department. “The opportunity to use d&b’s new specialized installation amplifiers, the 10D and 30D, meant that the savings, when compared to other quotations, were more than persuasive.”
That said Hawon was very thorough when determining which system met his congregation’s approval. From the eighty thousand global worshippers a group were provided with a form of grading sheet to rate the three systems vying for the contract. A V-Series system with J-SUBs and E8s won the day, all powered by 30D and 10D.
“Before making the final decision, I researched and visited some of the churches and arts centres where d&b systems have been installed,” explains Hawon. “Without exception, they were all very satisfied with the quality of sound, after sales service and supportive attitude of d&b Korea. I felt very confident that we were making the right decision from a quality point of view and extremely fortunate that we were able to acquire the same quality as these other venues but at a lower cost due to the new amplifiers.
“Our church has historically suffered from awful sound,” admits Hawon. “Low intelligibility and very reverberant.” The church was originally designed to accommodate the sound from the huge organ that dominates the stage to this day. The marble pillars left and right of the stage, the enormous floor to ceiling stained glass windows, the polished wood walls and the extensive balcony that protrudes long and low over the floor seating, combine to create a challenging acoustic space. “Of course, times have moved on and we now offer different styles of worship to suit all generations. Our Sunday services are broadcast to other countries, such as Japan and France, so it is not just three thousand eight hundred worshippers in the hall who hear us.”
Kevin Kim at d&b Korea was on hand for advice. “I explained how the new amplifiers can deliver ArrayProcessing to installed line array systems. This function maximises the performance of a line array and delivers a consistent optimum performance to each and every listener from both newly installed and existing d&b systems so in addition to the cost saving, the church would still have access to the features available on the D20 and D80 amplifiers. Between them, 10D and 30D cover almost all install applications and with comprehensive DSP capabilities they can accept new d&b firmware updates, making them future proof investments.”
d&b Regional EAS Manager, Gert Sanner provided onsite support that included setting up ArrayProcessing on the 30D – for the first time ever. “The array still had to be flown correctly with the proper angles set, but once it was in the air, I could program multiple ArrayProcessing slots for different performance styles. ArrayProcessing allows you to keep up to ten slots with different characteristics, so I could either go in Power mode, which maximises the system headroom, or Glory mode, which applies the most accurate target level distribution and frequency response, or somewhere in between. I have to say it sounded pretty special. The balcony that used to be a little loud at the front now featured a very even coverage and we achieved tonal balance in the whole auditorium. The ArrayProcessing had clearly worked its magic.”
For Hawon, the final result surpassed expectations. “I was fortunate to hear before and after applying ArrayProcessing,” he concludes. “Even though I don’t consider myself an expert, I could clearly hear the difference. To me, this means worshipping experiences can be identical regardless of seating locations. I believe d&b describe this as democracy for listeners.”
