Statement of intent

Founded by Rev Dr David Mohan in 1973, New Life Assembly of God (NLAG) – part of the Assemblies of God worldwide network – has grown from its humble beginnings of seven members meeting in Rev Mohan’s apartment in Chennai. In 1986, the church moved into its first building at Little Mount, extending the property in 1994 to accommodate the growing congregation. However, demand was so great that in 2001, NLAG began the search for even larger premises. Opening at the end of 2025, the new sanctuary – located in Zamin Pallavaram in the south of Chennai – seats 25,000 worshippers.

Built from the ground up, the auditorium has been conceived both as a worship centre as well as a Christian events venue. Blueprints were drawn up by Populous Architects, a global architectural firm with an office in Delhi which has extensive experience of designing large auditoriums and stadiums. Working alongside the architect, the initial conceptual AV design, schematic and acoustic plans were carried out by Idibri (part of Salas O’Brien) from Dallas, Texas and HouseRight from Lexington in Kentucky.

From an architectural perspective, the audio system needed to be seamlessly integrated and visually unobtrusive, with all primary elements flown to preserve clean sightlines. To achieve this, NLAG’s AV team conducted a detailed evaluation process. On a trip to the US in 2023, HouseRight organised three live demonstrations in comparable environments to help the church look for a partner that would deliver good, quality sound with both clarity and consistency. It was during this trip to the SALT 2023 Conference in Nashville that members of the church first met with Joshua Maichele, L-Acoustics’ global application lead, house of worship.

“The building was still under construction when I met with Christian Duraipandian [audio project lead, NLAG] and Benjamin Mohan [project director and executive pastor at NLAG] in 2023,” explains Maichele. “They heard the L2 for the first time in October that year and we talked over the first conceptual design for the project. With the church’s desire to have the same audio experience for every seat in the house, we eventually ended up with around 20 revisions before we finalised the plans and passed them onto Nirdosh Aggarwal, managing partner of our Indian distributor, Hi-Tech Audio & Image. We explored several system approaches during the design phase. Ultimately, the venue’s architectural constraints, including the large Absen videowall, called for a compact line array solution, leading us to the L2.”

“With a deep understanding of the space and its purpose, the L-Acoustics demonstration from Joshua and Peter Owen [regional sales lead, emerging markets at L-Acoustics] showed the true essence of the system and how it could provide effortless coverage, pristine tonal balance and a mix that would translate beautifully across the venue,” explains Rajan Gupta, CEO and founder of Hi-Tech Audio & Image.

“We had considerable prior exposure to L-Acoustics’ systems in different environments,” continues Benjamin Mohan, “and I have personally experienced the K1 system in a large church venue in Indonesia and the L2 system at the SALT conference. In addition, in one of our previous church campuses we had installed an A15 and KS21 system, which gave us confidence not only in the product performance but also in the reliability of their support ecosystem. The L2 system stood out as an ideal solution for our space.”

With such a strong focus on uniform coverage and tonal consistency, the target SPL levels were set at between 100dBA and 103+dBA throughout the venue to ensure both impact and consistency. “Equally important was maintaining sufficient headroom for dynamic worship moments while ensuring that the spoken word remained intelligible for the worshipper,” explains Benjamin Mohan. “Ultimately, our philosophy was simple: there is no value in building such a large space if people cannot hear clearly.”

The main L-R setup consists of three L2 and an L2D per side, with the same combination repeated for out fill, along with 18 KS28 flown subwoofers. Eight KS21i subwoofers have been installed on the ground, 10 X8i passive speakers are being used for front fill, with two A10i Focus and two A10i Wide models for delay. Twelve A15i Focus and six A15i Wide provide coverage in the corners. The inventory also includes 25 LA7.16i and five LA12Xi amplified controllers, seven LS10 CE 10-port AVB switches, one LC16D CE AES/ EBU+MADI network audio converter and four X12 stage monitors.

Hi-Tech Audio & Image also supplied a Fourier Audio transform.engine, one KLANG:konductor in-ear mixing processor, three Madrix Luna 8 lighting nodes and an MA Lighting console.

“Any space that holds upwards of 25,000 people is always going to be a challenge,” explains Maichele. “The room is very wide at certain points, so we had to be a little creative with some of the fills, using the A15is to cover some of the hard-to-reach areas. We ended up with a long hang of KS28s to try and control directivity and the L2 hangs allowed us to achieve the consistency we wanted with full bandwidth throughout the room. The delay ring of 10 L2Ds really helped us achieve full coverage in such a large space and tonally matched with the main PA.”

With various worship and youth events planned for up to 100,000 people across the week, the venue is shaped like a traditional arena with raked seating that rises gradually from the front. The space can also be divided into a 10,000-seat area for smaller events, reducing air conditioning costs. At the back underneath the raked seating are four different spaces available for children’s ministry, with each room accommodating up to 1,500 children of different ages.

“While the system is complex, it is operationally efficient and predictable,” adds Benjamin Mohan. “Our technical team is still growing and learning, yet they have been able to manage the system effectively due to its predictable behaviour and logical signal flow. It also supports multiple usage scenarios, allowing the team to adapt easily to varying audience sizes and different stage configurations. This flexibility has been a key advantage for the tech team. From my point of view as a pastor, the ease of use comes when the system performs with consistent vocal presence and intelligibility, when the congregants are focused on worship and when the leadership team is happy with the outcome. The L2 system was able to deliver that for us. This reliability allows me to focus entirely on the mission without being conscious of the technology supporting it.”

Benjamin Mohan is full of praise for the L-Acoustics team and their ability to understand the church’s needs, budget constraints and passion for good sound. “They have been accommodating and consistent in delivering what was required for a project of this scale. Their collaborative approach ensured that the required equipment and importantly the right expertise were brought in at suitable times.

“Our collaboration with Hi-Tech Audio & Image for the supply and installation was built on prior experience and trust,” he continues. “For an install such as ours in India, where equipment availability can be a challenge, the right partner such as Rajan and the entire Hi-Tech Audio & Image team with their strong local presence and the capacity to service equipment with a good turnaround time is essential. A focus on scalability, serviceability and operational simplicity is a must. All these factors play a key role in planning and execution.”

Benjamin Mohan confirms that the system is performing exactly as it has been designed to, describing it as the most satisfying outcome he could have hoped for. He adds that what stands out most is the uniformity of coverage and clarity, and seeing the congregation respond so positively each week. “From the front rows to the farthest seats, both speech and music translate with remarkable consistency,” he says. “The integration between the main arrays and delay systems is seamless and the tonal balance remains fairly stable across all zones. Since going live, the system has operated flawlessly, demonstrating the accuracy of both the modelling and the execution.”

“It’s a very impressive acoustical space for its size – it doesn’t feel too dead or too alive,” says Maichele. “The L2 was very new in 2023, so we took particular care in the calibration phase. When that was accomplished, the church was blown away with what the L2 system could do in terms of consistency over the listening plane. The acoustic panelling on the ceiling and walls designed by Salas O’Brien and the cardioid L2 speakers meant we could reduce the energy in the room.”

“There are projects that get completed and then there are projects that leave a mark,” concludes Gupta. “The unveiling of the L-Acoustics L2 system at NLAG was one such defining moment, not just for us at Hi-Tech Audio & Image, but for the evolving landscape of large-scale house of worship audio in India. From the very first note, the L2 system revealed its character – precision, depth and remarkable clarity. It was in those moments of silence between the notes, and the expressions across the audience, that we knew something special had been achieved. This is more than just an installation – it is a statement of intent.”