First Baptist is a medium size "country" feeling church just northeast of Houston, TX. We began work with this church in March of 2003.

The call for this project was for a complete sanctuary evaluation and to design the needed audio system and acoustical sweetening. The man heading things up, Bill, is very knowledgable and has certainly done his research.

The sanctuary is a typical rectangular shoebox shape. At one point acoustical panels were put up on the front and rear walls, though no one is quite sure if they were put up for aesthetics or the acoustics. Regardless, the intentions were good, but the solution wasn't right for the situation. Fortunately, we were able to devise a number of options which could allow the panels to be rebuilt to sweeten the room properly and still look the same as they do now. Other options for treating the rear and side walls were also designed.

The existing audio system was put together with both good and less-than-ideal equipment. The main speakers were positioned in a organ speaker closet on either side of the platform and much of the sound was blocked by the solid wall. A new speaker system (including amps and signal processing) was designed.

The church opted to install everything themselves, and they're doing a great job thus far. They've got the speaker up and are finishing with the rest of the equipment - then they're going to attack the acoustics. Because the original audio system was so poor, it was a priority to get the audio upgrades done before the acoustics.

"speaker closet" (below); this is one of the original main speakers; notice how nearly half of it is blocked by the solid wall.

The last evening of our visit we presented our findings and recommendations to the church board as well as the musicians and choir. Everyone was quite excited with the results of the time spent and eager to get started on the project.