Corsicana, TX (January 11, 2022) – When pastors Jeremy and Catherine Teague arrived at Resurrection Church, they faced an immediate challenge in engaging their congregation with their sermons and the music of the church’s praise band – a woefully inadequate P.A. system. Jeremy, who is well versed in audio, knew a complete AV makeover was in order. After consulting with account manager Derrick Ramirez of Irving, Texas-based Sound Productions, he went all in on a QSC active line array system consisting of a total of four KLA12 cabinets and two KLA181 subwoofers.
“I came to the church a little over a year ago,” recalls Pastor Jeremy. “We were in the process of replacing everything from the board to the loudspeakers. There had been no investment in anything tech-wise in over 20 years, so of course the first priority during the pandemic was to get some sort of video streaming up and running. Next came full audio for services.”
Jeremy recalls just how under par for the space the previous P.A. system was: “The speakers we had before were too small for the space. Our sanctuary is about 9,000 square feet and seats 250 people, and these two little point-source speakers were about 300 watts a pop. They were flown from the ceiling at the wrong angle, so the sound was floating above the congregation. There were a lot of dead spots in the room, and also a serious problem with intelligibility.”
With the pandemic affecting supply chains worldwide, it was a race against time to get their new gear installed and delivered in time for Easter Sunday. Not everything made it in time, but the KLA line array did. “The P.A. was what arrived here first, so we got it up and running, which made for a night-and-day improvement over what we had been experiencing”, says Teague. “With two KLA12s and one KLA181 sub on each side, we were able to cover the whole room. There are no dead spots or places where the sound isn’t clear anymore.”
The magnitude of the change was a surprise even to Jeremy, who was excited about the new system but had concerns about some members of the congregation judging the new cabinets as too loud at first blush. These worries would soon be alleviated, as he recounts:
“We’re a contemporary church and we want Sunday morning to be like an uplifting concert setting. After the Easter service, one of our older members came up to me and said, ‘I see you got a new sound system.’ Of course, I’m expecting the loudness complaint next. Instead, he says, ‘I just want you to know that as long as I’ve been coming to church here, that was the first time I could ever understand the whole sermon!’ Again, the issue is intelligibility — people are fine with a worship environment being louder and livelier if they’re able to clearly understand the words and music.”
Feedback from Resurrection Church’s worship musicians has been just as enthusiastic. “Our band includes five musicians and up to eight singers, with the instrumental players mostly on in-ear monitors,” Teague explains. “Of course, they can still hear the mix in the room. They’ve told me it’s like a whole other church now.” In fact, the rave reviews have gone beyond comparisons between churches. “Corsicana is a small town, but we have a couple of nice performing arts venues here,” says Teague. “Some attendees have said that the sound in our church is now better than our town’s concert halls!”
The KLA system’s coverage and intelligibility has also made a difference to the Teagues’ all-important spiritual mission: delivering the Good News. “We definitely feel more of an emotional connection to the congregation,” reflects Pastor Jeremy. “When you’re preaching, one thing you do to hold people’s interest is, you vary the volume and tone of your voice — anything from a stage whisper to all-out hollering. People are able to experience that dynamic range so much better now. Previously, if we were talking too softly, we weren’t sure if everyone was hearing it. If we were too loud, we weren’t sure they were understanding it. It felt like a wall between us and everyone. The KLA system has broken down that wall and increased participation.”
Pastor Jeremy also has high praise for the QSC customer service he’s received from Derrick Ramirez: “I’ve worked with Derrick and Doug Kliever from Sound Productions for over a decade, since I was at Bible Church in Houston. I’ve overseen a lot of other QSC purchases from them and they have always been fantastic.”
For Ramirez’s part, QSC’s reputation and quality has made the job easy: “We just took an order for two TouchMix mixers and ten K8.2 speakers,” he begins. ““Due to the supply chain challenges our industry is experiencing, we let the customer know that product would not be available for 6-8 weeks. They decided to wait for the QSC gear which is a testament to the trust people place in the brand. At the end of the day, the manufacturer’s track record for quality and value play into client trust — or not — about a product.”
“Relationships are at the core of everything in ministry,” Pastor Jeremy Teague concludes. “Our relationship with Derrick, with Sound Productions, with QSC, and with their great equipment has been very solid. They have more than earned our business.”
About Sound Productions
Sound Productions is a leading national retailer and distributor of Pro Audio, Video and Lighting products with offices in Irving, Texas and Madison, Wisconsin. Known for deep industry expertise, curated stock, fast shipping and a high level of customer support, SoundPro is committed to providing a fast and easy buying experience. Founded in 1973, SoundPro’s first customer was Elvis Presley, and the company still provides backline rentals on a regional basis. Learn more about Sound Productions and shop for the latest pro audio, video and lighting gear at www.soundpro.com.
About QSC
Founded over five decades ago, QSC is a globally-recognized leader in the design, engineering and manufacture of award-winning, high-performance loudspeakers, digital mixers, power amplifiers, audio processors, digital cinema solutions, and the Q-SYS™ cloud-manageable audio, video and control Platform. Offering reliable, scalable and flexible solutions for entertainment, collaboration and commercial AV applications, our worldwide network of sales, service and support teams empowers people everywhere to create impactful connections and memorable experiences.
