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[Jamin Lynch]

We were asked to make some upgrades to an existing sound system at a local church. They thought they would be needing a whole new speaker system.

It sounded really good. I said, "No need for a new system." Their biggest problem was lack of training and mixing techniques.

We installed some new wireless mics, a new mixer and did a little minor tweaking.

It's a Church of Christ. So there are no instruments. Everything is A cappella.

The coverage is good with surprisingly little overlap issues.

We are their heroes now since we "saved" them all this money.

Moral to the story: Don't be too quick to throw out the old.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

I've done the same for institutions with an originally solid install and no maintenance in 30 years.  They initially go to someone and inquire about a new system, get a quote close to 6 figures and seek a second opinion.  I usually just have the speakers brought back to spec, add a bit of DSP and write a custom user manual clearly outlining what NOT to do if they want to avoid further damage,  The most common problem is blown tweeters from hot plugging/unplugging things and/or improper on/off procedure.

Cost to them seldom exceeds 5% of the quote for a new system...which they would proceed to abuse according to their old habits.

[Ivan Beaver]

I have done the same sort of thing several times.

I was told "Just go give it a quick tune up-they are looking to buy a system in the near future".

So I tune it up, and then they are happy and we don't get to sell them a system.

Of course this is the right thing to do morally, but not necessarily business wise.

But we used to get referrals for other work because of the simple tunings that saved them money.

So in the end-doing the right thing is still the best thing

[Adam Kane]

I have done the same sort of thing several times.

I was told "Just go give it a quick tune up-they are looking to buy a system in the near future".

So I tune it up, and then they are happy and we don't get to sell them a system.

Of course this is the right thing to do morally, but not necessarily business wise.

But we used to get referrals for other work because of the simple tunings that saved them money.

So in the end-doing the right thing is still the best thing

Same here.

Several years ago, I had a church with a similar system to what the OP posted. They had been quoted big $$ to replace it as it had some blown drivers and the replacement parts weren't available any more (?!?!). I told them I'd check everything out before we go any further. Turns out some wiring had been disconnected in the amp rack between the old crossovers and the amps. Every driver worked. I ended up replacing the old EQ's and crossovers with a new DSP and had the rig sounding excellent. They ended up putting the money saved on the speaker system into wireless/instrument mics and some new gear for the youth area. They still use us for everything to this day.

[Steve M Smith]

And it looks cool too... at least, it probably does to us weirdos!


Steve,

[John Fruits]

I wonder if the lack of popularity of the center cluster is another example of people listening with their eyes.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Benson Great Hall, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN

[Stephen Swaffer]

Last fall we replaced a similar system in our church (over my objections-though I'm OK with the results), with 3 K12's carefully splayed, then 2 additional K12's for sidefills.  I wish I could A-B the systems, as IMO there is very minimal difference-the biggest improvement is the addition of the sidefills-and admittedly, having matching speakers made getting them to work together and have a consistent sound across the auditorium much easier.  The "tone"-low end-that many thought we were missing, we found muddied the sound too much.

I would have a hard time selling the change for the cost.  The sound is some better-tuning would have helped with the quality, but not the coverage.

[Stu McDoniel]

We were asked to make some upgrades to an existing sound system at a local church. They thought they would be needing a whole new speaker system.

It sounded really good. I said, "No need for a new system." Their biggest problem was lack of training and mixing techniques.

We installed some new wireless mics, a new mixer and did a little minor tweaking.

It's a Church of Christ. So there are no instruments. Everything is A cappella.

The coverage is good with surprisingly little overlap issues.

We are their heroes now since we "saved" them all this money.

Moral to the story: Don't be too quick to throw out the old.

Nice!  Curious why they did not put grills matching the cab color to cover up those loudspeakers for looks sake.
If it works don't fix it.

[ProSoundWeb Community]