Over the past 55 years, Valley Community Church (VCC) in the East Bay suburb of Pleasanton, has focused a large measure of its ministry efforts on providing humanitarian aid and compassionate service to its neighbors. From feeding the hungry and helping the local homeless to supporting businesses, non-profits, and outreach programs through donations from its Inklings coffeehouse, the church is known for practicing what it preaches: to embrace a welcoming and giving spirit.
In recent years, VCC’s weekly message from the pulpit has been a bit harder to hear; not because it’s not being well-received by members and visitors, but because the sanctuary’s existing PA system was showing its age. “They were experiencing sound quality issues with their older, powered line array, and after several attempts to tune it, they knew it was at the end-of-life for that product, especially as compared to today’s technology and sonic standards,” notes Chuck Mitchell, CEO of Los Alamitos-based TechArts, an L-Acoustics Certified Provider since 2020 that was brought in to perform an audio retrofit for the church’s 600-seat worship space.
“The client initially had their eyes on other loudspeaker manufacturers that actually required a higher budget to compete,” he adds. “While L-Acoustics is a premium brand, the cost-effective A Series manages to combine top performance with a very attractive price.”
The dream: an L-Acoustics professional sound system
“I have been a fan of L-Acoustics since hearing V-DOSC back in the ’90s,” shares John Heyer, VCC’s technical director since 2016. “I didn’t think it was possible to even consider a high-end system from them. We were going around to a few churches and other venues to listen to their systems when we told TechArts what we were looking for and gave them our proposed budget. Chuck and his team came in under that number with an L-Acoustics solution, which was something that we had only dreamed about.
“We then found out that a local theatre and music venue had some A10 arrays, and their technical director graciously set up a demo for us to hear the A Series. What ultimately finalized it for me was experiencing that system in person. Even without subs, the clarity of the full-range source, the speech intelligibility, and the amazing venue coverage they provided with so few enclosures was incredible. When Chuck came to us with a Soundvision design showing our predicted coverage, we knew it was absolutely the right choice for us.”
VCC’s new loudspeaker setup is relatively simple but highly effective featuring three A15i Focus over one A15i Wide per side, plus two KS21i subs hung behind each main array. Six ultra-compact 5XT coaxial enclosures spread out across the stage lip serve as front-fills, while three LA4X and a single LA2Xi power the entire system.
Keeping energy on the audience with Panflex
“This system is a night-and-day difference from our old powered PA,” Heyer enthuses. “The A15i arrays have provided a new depth to the overall mix during worship and a new level of vocal intelligibility in both our worship and teaching times. With fewer boxes, we have more uniform coverage throughout the sanctuary, both on the main floor and in the balcony. It was even able to give us increased coverage under the balcony with no need for fills. The Panflex feature of the A Series is helping us keep a lot of energy off of the side walls, and the addition of front-fills have made every seat in the room a great-sounding spot. Also, we now have so much headroom! We were initially looking at the smaller A10i models, but I think we made the right choice in getting that increased dB with the A15i. I always like having that extra room when we need it for the worship team.
“We are incredibly thankful to both L-Acoustics and TechArts for making this all happen so quickly,” he continues. “We had budgeted and planned for so long to make an upgrade to our system, and knowing that we had an amazing fully functional system in place for Christmas was a great relief to our leadership team. We are beyond impressed with the entire design and installation process. There have been zero second thoughts on whether or not we made the correct decision. The TechArts team have gone above and beyond with support from the very beginning, and even now, several months after the installation, they continue to offer us advice and assistance. It’s truly been the best-quality service for the best-quality product.”
For more information on Valley Community Church, visit www.vc.church. TechArts can be found online at www.techarts.net.
