The best location for a church sound booth is not always as simple as it may appear. There seems to be a widespread belief that the center of the room is the best spot for the sound techs to do their thing.
Sometimes that’s true, but it’s actually more common that the sound booth is better situated slightly off to one side. The truth is that it’s completely dependent on the configuration of the sound system**.
Typical Sound Booth Locations
Here are some simple rules of thumb for the best church sound booth location:
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Stereo Systems
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Booth position toward the middle within the coverage of both channels. Try to avoid locations in a speaker’s hotspot.
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Center Mono Systems
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Booth positioned slightly off-center
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Distributed Mono Systems
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Booth is positioned slightly off-axis of one of the speakers. Try to steer clear of where the speakers overlap.
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Left-Center-Right (LCR) Systems
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Booth positioned slightly off-center
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Anywhere But The Balcony
When it comes to where you locate your mix position one thing’s for sure… you won’t want it on the balcony. Locating the booth away from the main floor can cause a host of problems including making it hard for the sound techs to hear what the rest of the congregation is hearing. Sometimes it’s necessary, but you really should avoid it if at all possible.
Avoid the Walls
To maximize the number of seats and optimize sightlines within the room, it can also be tempting to put the sound booth in the back corner of the room. However, hard surfaces like walls reflect sound - particularly low-energy from subwoofers. This creates a host of issues like slapback, delay, and an overall sound profile that inaccurately represents what the rest of the space sounds like. Moving the sound booth away from the walls - particularly corners - is tremendously helpful.
Get Some Help
Like most things in the church tech world, the location of the sound booth is more complicated than it appears. You should always enlist the help of a qualified integrator before committing to any substantial changes to your system. To learn more about Hiring an Integrator, check out these 7 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Integrator.
If you need help with your church’s sound system, give us a call!
**To learn more about Sound System Configurations, check out this write-up on Sound System Formats to how audio coverage affects your congregation.