Danbury Mission Church

In 2017, Danbury Mission Church called on Wigwam Acoustics, a well-known House of Worship systems integrator, now a Solotech brand, to install a comprehensive audio, video and lighting system.

Working closely with the church, which accommodates a congregation of 450 people in a modern, semi-circle building, Wigwam assessed the audio needs and designed a system to handle the church’s packed events calendar including speeches, live bands, worship and playback. This installation project required a good quality sound reinforcement system to provide coverage in the main church, plus facilities for the overflow rooms and a mix position on the balcony.

The loudspeaker system consists of a d&b audiotechnik PA system, including a range of speakers chosen for their exceptional sound quality and aesthetics; additional d&b 5S speakers are installed as front fills to cover the front rows and d&b 8S speakers allow coverage for the mix engineer on the balcony. To address the need for versatility, the front fill speakers are movable to accommodate various configurations and can be switched on and off depending on how many seats are required for a particular service. Lastly, the audio installation would have been incomplete if it wasn’t for the Roland V-Drums electric drum kit for the church’s live bands.

In terms of lighting, Wigwam installed an infrastructure comprising six lighting pipes along with dimmers, a design that provides good front light coverage. As for the video installation, Wigwam specified a Roland V-800HD video switcher, controlled from the front of house video mix position, which can mix numerous inputs including a Vaddio ClearVIEW HD remote controlled camera. Other sources include a laptop and DVD player. Also, a Digital Projection HIGHlite 660 projector and a four-meter screen have been installed, along with various screens throughout the building to relay the video to the overflow rooms.

To accommodate the wide range of users, it was crucial that the system could be run in ‘basic’ or ‘advanced’ modes. This was achieved with the selection of an Allen & Heath IDR matrix mixer and an intuitive RTI interface. In the basic mode, just the lectern mics can be switched on and controlled directly from the lectern position. The custom-built lectern also gives speakers the ability to select different sources for the projector and foldback screen. The advanced mode is suited for a full live stage production, controlled from the balcony’s front of house position.