The Kenly Gospel Music Hall recently upgraded its sound system with a pair of Martin Audio CDD10 speakers and a CSX112 subwoofer. This followed an earlier upgrade of the performance space where additional insulation was provided between the stage and the concrete floor to attenuate low mid resonances and improve overall audio quality.

Host group of the Gospel Music Hall are the Redeemed, a bluegrass gospel group originally founded in 1978 which is now a six-piece ensemble consisting of two guitars, mandolin, banjo and upright bass. Matt Johnson is group member (dobro, banjo and guitar) and co-leader with his father Edgar Alberdeen Johnson Jr. (upright bass) the Deacon at Faith Free Will Baptist Church.

Asked why CDD’s were chosen for the most recent upgrade, Matt said, “the original system produced too much sound off the back of the speakers onto the stage, which is a problem in a small space with acoustic instruments and vocals. In addition to The Redeemed, we have a lot of bluegrass and southern gospel groups as guest artists every Sunday. With the CDD speakers, you can’t hear anything on stage that’s not supposed to be there.

“We also needed speakers that could cover every seat in the first row of seats which is only two feet away from the front of the stage all the way to back and sides of the 200-seat performance area. The CDD’s were able to cover all of it and there’s hardly a difference in sound level from row to row. You can run at much lower levels and still get all the coverage you need.“

The two CDD10’s are flown about six feet up on either side of the stage with the CSX112 mounted under the center of the stage for maximum handicapped access.

Matt adds, “The sound is much better on stage now. The CDD’s are very pure and natural sounding. You get out exactly what you put into them––they don’t require any additional work to make them sound natural. And the single 12” sub is very impressive in terms of what it can do.

“All of the Redeemed and our audience members are very happy with the CDD’s,” Matt concludes. We get better known guest bluegrass and southern gospel artists like the Lewis family and the Malpass brothers, and everyone’s been impressed with the way they’ve performed.”

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