BABYLON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
BABYLON VILLAGE, NEW YORK
When the audio staff at Babylon’s United Methodist Church began struggling with mix clarity and feedback issues, they didn't just need new gear—they needed a partner who understood their specific needs. They turned to WiredUP, and we knew that simply looking at the equipment wasn't enough. We spent multiple days attending Sunday Services to research exactly what the congregation and the tech team were experiencing in real-time.
While we initially helped the in-house staff optimize their current mix, it quickly became clear that the church was ready for a true upgrade. The biggest challenge? The balcony was a "dead zone," relying on just two outdated point-source speakers to cover the entire sanctuary. We knew that to future-proof their sound, we had to ensure every seat in the house—upstairs and down—had crystal-clear audio reinforcement.
The WiredUP Solution: We designed a custom system featuring two JBL CBT-70J-1 Column Array Loudspeakers as the main PA and four JBL Control-52 Satellite Speakers to finally bring life to the balcony. Powering it all is the robust Crown DCi DriveCore 4|600 amplifier.
Respecting the architecture of this late-1800s church was a priority for us. Our team carefully pulled nearly 500ft of cable through the historic basement and walls to keep the aesthetic intact.
We were able to integrate the church's existing X32 Console and EV ZXA1-SUB Subwoofers, precision-tuning the crossover points to 65Hz for a seamless blend with the new JBL CBT’s. We also made sure to account for delay on the balcony speakers — thus compensating for the distance from the main stage, ensuring that sound hits every ear at the exact right moment.
The Result? The system sings. It is powerful, clean, and balanced, working in perfect harmony with the church’s wind-driven organ to highlight tones that were previously lost. From soft-spoken prayer to powerful worship vocals, the new dynamic range delivers the message clearly without being harsh. We are proud to have exceeded the client's expectations.
THE TECHNICAL CORNER
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The speakers are arguably the most important part of any PA system. We knew that a typical point source approach was not the ideal method, given the layout of the space. When JBL demo’d their CBT lineup for us, we knew that they would perfectly fit the needs of the church. Both musically and vocally, the CBT70’s provide smooth, consistent coverage of the entire lower level of the venue. Since the CBT’s are such a powerhouse of a loudspeaker, we knew that the balcony fills could be dialed back by a significant amount. The church also wanted the balcony fills to be small, so we landed on the JBL Control-52’s.
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As with any of our JBL installations, we always recommend the Crown lineup of amplifiers. The CBT70’s can be quite power hungry, so we chose the reliable and robust Crown DCi 4|600. While it is slightly overpowered for the Control-52’s, it was much more cost effective to utilize a single 4-Channel amplifier, rather than a pair of 2-Channel amplifiers.
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Focusing on budgetary constraints, WiredUP utilized existing Dante-Enabled DriveRack Venu360D 3×6 loudspeaker processors to set limiters, crossovers and delay’s to speakers as needed.
We also integrated the existing Behringer X32 Digital Sound Console and Shure SLX-D Wireless microphones.