By Keith Clark

Roseville Covenant Church:
A Partnership In Sound And Spirit




Successful sound reinforcement can often be defined as a quest for simplicity. Behind this quest, however, lies meticulous attention to detail, application of experience, constant communication and a lot of hard work.

All of these factors, and more, were put into play at Roseville Covenant Church, where Kingdom Sound & Lighting and System Designer Gary Johnson combined their respective talents in the development of a well-executed sound system in the church’s new Roseville, Minnesota sanctuary.


The sound team entered this project enjoying a long-standing, successful relationship with the church. They had supplied the design and installation of a system at the church’s previous sanctuary, backed by eight years of excellent support. As a result, they were the de facto choice to lead this new project.

“Our philosophy is to extend beyond the standard ‘client’ relationship into a realm of true partnership, and in many cases, friendship. We enjoy developing relationships with the people we serve, getting to know them, what they need, what they like and what they might want in the future,” explains Bartelt. “After a system is commissioned, we don’t just offer a quick training session and head out the door. Lines of communication remain open and we strive to provide continual advice and service that helps them continue to grow and thrive creatively, and in the technical sense.”

With a seating capacity of approximately 450, the Roseville Covenant Church sanctuary is a beautiful, comfortable space that affords surprising intimacy between all seating and the large front platform. The room shape can most easily be described as an octagon, three times wider than it is deep and topped by a roof that gently peaks in the center to a height of 25 feet.

The Roseville Covenant Church sanctuary in full view. The room shape can best be described as an octagon, and the acoustical signature is friendly.

The church features both traditional and more contemporary worship styles, often within the same service. Piano, choir, organ and spoken word are staples, joined frequently by electric bass, keyboards drums and even a grand piano. “It’s not usually what you would call full electric, but more acoustically oriented,” Johnson explains. “They’re not looking to raise the roof, but attain a full, more pure acoustic signature that sounds very natural within the space.”

The design process began with consideration of all of these factors, and then Johnson moved on to acoustical modeling of the space. He generally uses EASE and AcoustaQWIK software – the case here – due primarily to its accurate prediction capabilities and ease of use.

The main loudspeaker design concept fixed on a single central array that would deliver all coverage. The room is too wide for a practical stereo approach, and a left-center-right array scheme would have driven up cost significantly, while also complicating operation. Aesthetics were another consideration.

“The central array approach, using full-range loudspeakers, would meet all needs with respect to dynamic, full-bandwidth performance and in terms of complete coverage,” Johnson adds. “A single, point-source output approach in this type of room and application often is the most effective option in attaining a natural signature, and you also have far less radiating energy sources that need to be kept under control.” Over the past five years, Johnson and Kingdom Sound & Lighting have utilized Renkus-Heinz loudspeakers in an increasing number of projects, to the point where it’s now the vast majority of the time. “We’ve been more than pleased with Renkus-Heinz products, across the board,” Bartelt says. “They sound very natural, which is always a primary goal with our systems. And we really like the high-frequency characteristic, which is always present but without harshness.”

Injecting his own insight into the modeling process, Johnson selected Renkus-Heinz TRAP40K Series three-way loudspeakers, which offer a 40-degrees horizontal coverage pattern that fit this particular coverage area very well. In addition, the specific models selected, called TRAP40/7K, supply 75-degrees (plus 30 degrees and minus 45 degrees) asymmetrical vertical coverage. In relation to the location of the array and the shape of the room, this coverage pattern helps direct energy on seating areas while keeping it off surrounding walls.

Each TRAP40/7K is loaded with a 1-inch (high frequency) compression driver and dual 6.5-inch (mid frequency) cone drivers sharing the same waveguide, as well as a 15-inch (low frequency) woofer in a vented chamber. They incorporate proprietary CoEntrant Waveguide Technology that helps establish true point-source characteristics along with better signal alignment and tightly controlled dispersion – in both planes – down to 500Hz. TRAP (True Array Principle), another proprietary Renkus-Heinz technology, helps place the acoustic centers of each loudspeaker in near-perfect alignment when utilized in arrays.

The array at Roseville Covenant Church is comprised of four TRAP40/7K loudspeakers forming a single-level, horizontally oriented array, with the slightly gapped cabinets arching above the very front of the platform. Each TRAP40/7K is assigned to cover the respective seating area in front of it, with any transitioning between the cabinets kept strictly in the aisles.

“The ability to position the cabinets to generate a seamless wavefront, with no detectable comb filtering, puts them in a rare company in terms of convenience in addition to the sonic advantages. You pretty much decide where the array is supposed to go, determine the appropriate down-firing angle, and fly it into position,” Johnson says. “And the overall frequency response is quite smooth ‘out of the box’, which eliminates the need for elaborate processing and therefore, helps guarantee more consistency.”

A single Renkus-Heinz TRC81-12 two-way loudspeaker offering 120-degrees mid/high coverage is positioned on the back side of the array, firing downward. It serves as an effective choir monitor that’s virtually invisible from the seating area while also helping to keep the platform clear of obstruction.

The array and its supporting hardware are painted white to match the room’s aesthetics. The sound team worked with a local metal shop in the design and fabrication of a custom flybar to safely fly the loudspeakers.

“The look is very subtle and blends in well. You hardly even notice the array unless you’re specifically looking for it,” Bartelt offers. “At the same time, it’s a lot of weight so we were especially careful in selecting a properly supported flypoint at the roof, and also designed the flying hardware to go well beyond the normal ratios.”

Processing of the array is achieved with a Peavey Architectural Acoustics CX-5 digital processor that’s stored with the system’s Crest CA Series power amplifiers in a secured rack behind the platform. A 2-in, 4-out unit, the CX-5 is a good solution for projects of this scope, Johnson notes, providing plenty of parameters that can be established and stored, with password protection insuring that they can’t be accessed by unqualified personnel.

The outer two loudspeakers of the array received added attention during the system tuning process. Specifically, they were carefully time aligned to help “steer” any low-frequency build-up from splaying down on the platform. Minor level reduction was applied to these two loudspeakers as well.

The church committee and technical personnel had put a good deal of energy into their wish list for capabilities of the system, an effort which paid off during the implementation process. A highlight is plenty of interconnectivity that even extends beyond the platform.

Four Ace floor boxes, each with six connectors (four mic, two monitor), are distributed around the stage. Conduit and wiring to increase monitor capability were wisely installed during the construction process. Thus the two active monitor jacks were later doubled in number simply with the addition of another power amplifier at the rack. Monitors are low-profile Electro-Voice S15M wedges.

Two additional floor boxes were also installed beneath the first seating row, both to the left and right of the platform. These are quite handy when the platform is extended by another eight feet for drama presentations.

“The technical personnel in this instance were quite wise with their requests, especially with regard to future interconnectivity,” Bartelt explains. “This issue is always something we bring up, but all too often, we don’t arrive on a project until after the concrete’s poured, and then it’s too late. Architects and electrical engineers must push this issue harder. They’ve made some improvements of late, but there’s still a long way to go.”

The church also sought to make a future investment in the house console, opting for a 56-channel Mackie SR56 rather than a 40-channel model that meets all current needs. As Bartelt points out, “they’ve already gone beyond the 40-channel mark and in the near future will likely be using the bigger console to its full potential.”

A minimal amount of outboard gear – gates, compressors and reverb - accompanies the console in its loft overlook of the sanctuary. Eight Vega 2020 UHF frequency-agile wireless receivers reside here as well, working in tandem with a choice of bodypack/lavalier and handheld transmitters used as needed at the platform and in the house.

Audio-Technica microphones have become another staple in Kingdom Sound & Lighting projects, with two compact, white A-T 933 microphones flown left and right above the choir area on the platform. Two more A-T 933’s can be patched into the floor box adjacent to the bell choir area to feed the house system when desired. An A-T 915 condenser mic, with flexible gooseneck, is mounted to the podium.