Our Church Sound System Calculator provides you with a conservative price range for use in budgeting. The pricing provided assumes no equipment will be re-used and is based on commonly requested peripherals and capabilities. The calculator can serve as a great jumping off point for churches beginning the process of investing in a church sound system solution.
STEP 1: Enter Sanctuary Size
Sanctuary Square Footage
Determine the square footage of your facility by measuring the entire public area of the facility (Sanctuary, Worship Center, Chapel, etc.) including seating areas, aisles, balconies and stage. Enter the total into the church sound system budget calculator.
Cost-per-square-foot is a metric used for budget development in other areas of the construction industry. There are a number of challenges related to this approach for AVL, namely that the size of the stage area can affect budget results. These differences can produce swings in the final budget range, however, this methodology can be useful for gauging the potential cost to install a new church sound system.
Sanctuary Seating
To calculate the number of seats, include only the seating in the congregation area. Do not include choir seating or other seating on the stage platform. Also, do not use maximum capacity figures provided by the fire marshal or code offices. These numbers are sometimes inflated beyond actual realistic seating capacity. The number of seats may be well expressed by your maximum Easter Sunday attendance in a single service. Enter the total into the church sound system budget calculator.
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Cost-per-seat is a metric that can be used to develop a budget guideline. There are a number of challenges related to this approach, namely that pews, chairs and theater seats all provide different densities of seating area. These differences can produce swings in the final budget range, however, this methodology can be useful for gauging the potential cost of a new church sound system.
STEP 2: Select a "Worship Style"
Using labels related to worship style can be a little dangerous. The terms often used are very subjective and can be loaded with emotional and political baggage. For the purposes of establishing cost guidelines, the following definitions can be used to help you align your particular presentation style with the appropriate budget category in the calculator.
STEP 3: Select "Skill Level"
Systems can be engineered to accommodate operators at a broad range of skill levels. The more flexible a system is the more skill is required to operate the system effectively. Select your system Skill Level based on your anticipated operator skill level.
Standard
These systems are designed for volunteers and system operators with limited experience. In many cases flexibility and power will be sacrificed for simplicity and ease of use.
Advanced
These systems are designed to provide maximum features and flexibility. Advanced users are very experienced and demand a broad range of professional-grade tools and capabilities.