Altec - Crystal Cathedral

[Todd W. White]

As I recall, Altec told them that if they didn't do something about the acoustics, the system WOULD NOT work.

They didn't, and it didn't. That's probably why rumor has it that Altec demanded payment in full before they'd deliver any products and the sound contractor demanded payment as work progressed, as well.

Altec recommended a pewback system on digital delayed speaker zones, but they wouldn't hear of it. The Altec system was eventually ripped out, several different systems were tried, and, to their utter amazement, the one that finally DID work was - GUESS WHAT? - a PEWBACK SYSTEM!

People in glass churches shouldn't throw sound....

[mah]

The Pewback system removed: THE CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL SOUND SYSTEM CONTROVERSY: THE EARLY RELATIONSHIP OF MEYER, APOGEE, AND MCCUNE SOUND COMPANIES | Audiovisual & Staging Pioneers

Details in the 23 minute interview.


At least 4 sound system installations over time:

Crystal Cathedral Article


Probably #5: http://www.jblpro.com/press/CrystalC...0Cathedral.pdf, Epic Sound for an Epic Production - FRONT of HOUSE

Unhappy with JBL system: Crystal Cathedral Campus Buzz November 2012 - scroll down to 6.00PM post.

The cathedral is undergoing a revamp to suit the requirements of its current owners, the Catholic Church, and will re-open in early 2019. Another sound system??

[Elitopus1]

Looks like the sound system was only one of their many problems. Geez

[mah]

What happened to all those white-coned 515Es? Has anyone seen one?

[Elitopus1]

They went to the big dumpster in the sky.

[Phil-G]

this says it all

?I think his downfall,? Bailey said, ?was that the church was too much focused on him and not the ministry.? sociologist Stanley R. Bailey,

[Nickd]

If I remember correctly, the church was doing OK and primarily focused on Christmas shows. However the IRS was their downfall. They sold tickets and made lots of money from the shows. Their IRS seemed to think it looked more like a musical theater business than a ministry.

Beautiful building though. It will be interesting to see what the New Catholic owners do to the place.

[Steve Schell]

Mah, thank you for this thread and the article in which Steve Conrad was interviewed. I tuned the pianos weekly in the Crystal Cathedral from 1994 to 2014, and worked with Steve and Peter Beard (mixer) most of that time. Both were top professionals, who never got flustered even if things got crazy. I miss those days!

I first worked there on an Easter Sunday in about 1984, filling in for a colleague. I sat in the house for one service and was struck by the horrible intelligibility of the dialog from stage... hello, hello, hello... just nuts!

Many years later, Peter explained to me the early failed systems and the then current (EAW, I suppose) successful one. To achieve intelligibility in this huge sonic house of mirrors, the orchestra and choir were handled by three clusters of triple wedge cabinets hanging left, center and right. For stage dialog like the sermon, all sound came from the center speaker of the center cluster; no doubt the best that one could do under the circumstances. It was certainly much better that what I had heard years before! Such measures as were possible to improve the acoustics had been implemented; chair upholstery, carpeting, and rough spray concrete on many interior surfaces.

Later, about the time when the CC really began to unravel, it was decided that a third pageant would be added to the summer season, Creation. Many millions were spent on a huge new video projection system, sound system, and lighting system. As I recall the speakers were some sort of vertical array, possibly JBL Vertec. Anyway IMO the sound was thin, bright, edgy, annoying, definitely inferior to what I had been hearing for at least fifteen years.