Choir Stage Monitors

[jdycus]

What are your recommendations for stage monitors for church choir?

[cmchamp]

For our traditional church choir, our foldback is a single Bose 302 center ceiling. Our ceilings are 16', and with the raised stage, 14' down to 11' depending on where you stand on the risers.
This works so well for us, it also serves as our only foldback monitor.
For those special music vocalists who had never used a foldback without their vocal, it was a bit odd at first for them, but they've gotten used to it.
We've been doing it this way for almost 10 years.

[jdycus]

Thanks for your reply. This sounds like a very viable solution. The problem in our church is that it is a very old sanctuary, a very conservative congregation, and the "old timers" would have a coronary if I hung anything from the ceiling. Our choir loft is behind a waist high vanity wall, and currently I have 3 Galaxy HS7's sitting on the floor behind the vanity wall evenly spaced across the front row. The problem is that when I set a level high enough for the back row, the front row complains it is too loud. Any other suggestions?

[cmchamp]

We used to have 2 Community XL41's on the floor, and they were very difficult to hear when the farthest person away was almost 30' behind 4 or 5 rows of people. I was usually the one in the back row straining to hear.
I have seen other instals with Bose32's (not 302's), SLS CM141CC, SLS 2403 (horizontal), or ElectroVoice Evid3.2 just under the top lip of the vanity wall.
You'll still have issues of front to back volume difference.
What might the side-wash options be?

[jdycus]

No side wash option, but I have thought about mounting the hotspots just under the top lip of the vanity wall. Maybe I'll set them on top of the wall for a trial Sunday to see how that works.

[bpalermini]

You need to even up the distance somehow. Usually that means going up.

At my previous church we were able to mount a speaker on each side of the choir up at the organ pipes. They showed but nobody ever complained about them. They are just as required as all that pretty stained glass and woodwork for a great service.