Places of Worship
Aesthetics of the L1 System in places of worship:
The aesthetics in places of worship is always an issue to consider. L1 Systems have been used successfully in many churches; here are a few pieces of advice:
1) They look different and that will always cause comment from some.
2) For some, the idea of ANY speaker (any change) is the real issue. It sometimes helps to point out that the L1 is far less intrusive (in most situations) than conventional speakers on stands plus monitors.
Another way to approach this second issue is to distinguish between installed sound systems and portable systems. The L1 System is a portable system and perhaps the least visually-intrusive way of getting great portable sound.
If the "portable" sound is not acceptable in the long-run, then an installed system can provide great sound -- if done right. Just keep in mind that many of the "physics" of the design of the L1 column are usually also great features/capability to incorporate into any installed system. A few speakers in the wall or ceiling are unlikely to produce the same sound quality.
What the L1 Systems have demonstrated is that "line arrays" (many identical speakers in a row) -- which have known "good" characteristics for amplifying sound -- can be applied to MANY situations, such as churches, for which they might not have been considered in the past.
In some situations, bringing in L1 's can be an interesting interim step toward helping folks decided on what changes might need to be done for an installed system (if any). A few more thoughts on this:
(a) An installed system may very well be more expensive than an equivalent set of L1 's. Certainly likely to be a lot more work and effort to set up to get a similarly good sound.
(b) It can be important to find someone to help with an installed system with knowledge about line arrays; even better is someone who can "model" the room on a computer and help you find the best choices of components and placements. Visit http://pro.bose.com for more information about installed systems.