Chilcote Audio
Sound Systems for Houses of Worship
... helping you get the "Word" out for almost 30 years!
Chilcote Audio is a contracting firm who designs sound systems for churches. Our services include consulting, education, troubleshooting, repairs, add-ons, and comlete system replacements.
There is a lot more to a designing and installing a sound reinforcement system for a large space than people realize! Controlling the sound that is projected from speakers is paramount. Speakers used cannot be bought at your local store or a favorite website. Proper microphone choices for specific applications, along with placement either fixed or temporary are critical for picking up sound sources.
Mixing consoles either rack mounted or table-top, are where all signals are controlled and manipulated on their way to the speakers. A good mixer needs mic and line XLR and ¼” balanced inputs complete with send/return jacks, stage one gain control, pads, low frequency filters, a substantial sweepable equalization section, 4-6 aux sends with master controls and a host of output master controls that are easy to read, not just a bunch of control knobs crammed together and stuffed into a chassis.
From the console to the signal processing gear to the amplifiers to the wires to the speakers, all are of critical importance. In addition, proper grounding and shielding of each connection must be done properly to avoid hums that often plaque entire systems. You can see when you put it all together a successful installation of a well designed sound reinforcement system is beyond the skills of a garage band member, a radio announcer or DJ trying to help.
But wait, there’s more! What about the rooms “acoustical characteristics,” which is how sound behaves in a room. What absorbs and what reflects sound and given a certain density, at what “frequencies” do these materials or substrates absorb and reflect. There is a study in and of itself.
Churches often try to save money by trying to replace a sound system “in house” only to find a mistake has been made and the sound and intelligibility therein winds up being is the same or worse than before. The problem is, now you have to either live with it or scrat it and hire a professional anyway.
I only said all of that to say this. If your church truly needs to replace an old system or a system that your local DJ tried to help you with but failed, call the experienced professionals at Chilcote Audio. The number is 610-845-0296. Ask for Joe Chilcote. We can even shower your architect with friendly and courteous assistance in the design of your new church’s sound system. Don’t wait, call now before it slips your mind!