Auralex Acoustics provided a critical element in the overall sound design at New Life Community Church in Oxnard, CA. The church installed custom Auralex ELiTE ProPanels and ProBaffles to help absorb additional sound energy and add aesthetic visual appeal throughout its cavernous interior, with the main goal of making speech intelligibility clearer and only slightly secondary goal of better music clarity.
Richard Rutherford of Rutherford Design was posed to re-purpose the 50,000sq-ft industrial space, which would be the new home for New Life Community Church. Since Rutherford was involved in the design process, before the walls were even up, this enabled him to suggest some basic acoustical layouts throughout the space to help with speech intelligibility. The two main walls are not parallel, and the entrance hallway and doorways are slightly offset, even though they look symmetrical. Also, the rear main wall is not a straight line; it actually curves. These small architectural details, in terms of non-parallel walls and entrances, naturally help to redirect reflections and sound energy.
Rutherford installed 51 custom ELiTE ProPanels on the walls around the 900-seat sanctuary worship area. ELiTE ProPanels are fabric-covered, acoustic-absorptive panels designed to absorb slap and flutter echoes, providing a more pleasing and accurate listening environment. Rutherford also specified 21 custom ProBaffles, which were mounted above the light fixturefs line of sight and hang from the ceiling. ProBaffles are absorptive panels wrapped in a lightweight material and designed to be hung vertically from the ceilings in commercial facilities. The panels have a fiberglass core and carry a Class-A fire rating. The edges and corners are square and non-hardened.
The installation also features several L-ACOUSTICS loudspeakers and Allen & Health front-of-house monitor/mix equipment, with several video and lighting products rounding out the acoustic treatment from Auralex for a multi-faceted, complete audio/video system.
