Yamaha Helps CRC Spread The Gospel Across London

Bringing worship to people across London, the Christian Revival Church (CRC) holds services in a range of different venues. Because of this peripatetic existence, when CRC recently needed to invest in its first digital audio system it had to be more akin to a touring rig than a usual church setup. A Yamaha CL3 digital console and 17 DSR112 loudspeakers were the answer.

Holding services in spaces ranging from hotels to a cinema at the prestigious O2 Arena, CRC was looking for a digital system that delivered excellent audio quality, was fast to learn and exceptionally reliable, as well as quick to set up and break down for each service. The church approached SSE Audio Group for advice and, on learning of the Yamaha CL series, looked no further.

“CRC first approached us for advice before the CL series was launched,” says SSE’s Richard Watts. “We had previously sold them a Nexo PA system, which they were really happy with, and we discussed a number of mixing systems. However, once the CL series was announced, it seemed that the CL3 would fit their needs perfectly.”

As well as the many technical and practical requirements that the CL series satisfied, another key need for CLC was getting a system that was cutting edge and future-proof. Having seen the CL5 at SSE’s London premises, they placed an order for a CL3 and two Rio3224-D i/o units a month before the CL3 even shipped.

“We did some hands-on training with the CL3 as soon as it was delivered to us and they fell in love with it straight away,” Richard continues. “Their services use a lot of music and they were delighted with the facilities and processing, as well as the ease and speed with which the system can be set up. Yamaha’s reliability also gave them great peace of mind, while the ease of multitrack recording using Steinberg Nuendo Live was an added bonus.”

But CRC’s enthusiasm for Yamaha products didn’t end there, as they visited Richard on the SSE stand at PLASA 2012 looking for advice on new monitors.

“They’d had a bad experience with a different manufacturer, so I took them over to the Yamaha stand and they were very impressed with the DSR range,” says Richard. “Because of their services taking place in different venues, robustness was important, as was needing no amp racks and the fact that they can be used either as infills or wedge monitors.”

SSE arranged a demo, with the result that CRC purchased 17 DSR112s.

“I speak to CRC’s engineers regularly and there have been absolutely no issues with any of the Yamaha equipment,” Richard continues. “Despite it being their first digital system, they got to grips with the CL3 very quickly. Both the CL system and the DSR loudspeakers have delivered exactly what’s needed of them - and a lot more besides.”