There are projects, and then there are landmarks. The New Life Worship Centre, the flagship venue of the New Life Assembly of God Community (NLAG), sits firmly in the latter category. The worship centre, capable of seating 25,000 people with room for overflow during peak services, is not just a Church. By any measure, it is one of the largest arenas of its kind in Asia.
When an institution of this scale sets out to build its professional audio system, the stakes are extraordinarily high. Every seat, all 25,000 of them, must hear the pastor’s sermon with perfect clarity. Not a single square inch of that auditorium can be left behind.
A brand decision
NLAG’s conviction in L-Acoustics did not come from a brochure or a sales pitch. As an organisation, they had taken the time to evaluate all the major audio brands, attending demos across various venues. When the time came to equip the new Church, they were passionate about it. The NLAG team had the design specifications clear from the start and searched for the right brand to meet their design criteria. The L-Acoustics L2, a technology unlike anything the market had seen before, was neither a dual driver nor a single driver, nor a point source, nor a conventional line array. It was, as those close to the project would later describe it, a category of its own. The NLAG team was convinced that the L2 system would meet the needs of this grand structure.
Why hi-tech and why Chennai?
When the project was first announced, interest was immediate and widespread. Many firms sought to secure it. But Hi-Tech Audio & Image,
headquartered in Delhi, had something the others did not: history. The company had installed L-Acoustics at NLAG’s older, smaller
Church in Saidapet, Annasalai, Chennai, well before the COVID-19 pandemic. That relationship, and the trust it had built within the NLAG
team, gave Hi-Tech Audio & Image LLP an edge.
It also helped that, by then, Hi-Tech had established a meaningful presence in Chennai. Shaurya Gupta, Business Head and Audio Integration, who led the project from the Hi-Tech side, reflects on the journey:
Thirty-five years of experience handling mega projects. A legacy of L-Acoustics installations. An existing relationship with the client. When Hi-Tech walked into the room, the NLAG team already knew what they were getting.
The first visit from CAD to reality
Seeing the CAD files for the New Life Worship Centre had been thrilling. Seeing it in person was something else altogether. Shaurya recalls his first site visit alongside Rajan Gupta, CEO-Founder, Hi-Tech Audio & Image LLP. The project manager echoes the
sentiment.
The brief left no square inch behind
The client’s brief was as demanding as the space itself. “Every chair in that auditorium, all 25,000 of them, had to hear the pastor’s message with complete clarity. Not almost clearly. Utterly clearly. Not a single word could be lost.” Shaurya puts it plainly.
Designing for clarity in a semicircle
The architecture of the space presented both a challenge and an opportunity. The auditorium is semicircular, with seating wrapping all around. There are no pillars, a structural decision that is as acoustically significant as it is visually striking. Critically, NLAG had very clear ideas about aesthetics. The sound system must not be seen. The focus of everyone in that room should rest on the Pastor, not on speaker boxes.
This guided every element of the system design. With massive LED walls dominating the stage, no speaker could interrupt sightlines. The solution: ceiling mounting. Everything, including the main line arrays, the delay stacks, and the subwoofers, is flown from 60 feet above the congregation. Front fills at the stage edge serve those seated closest to the platform, but otherwise the entire PA system is overhead and largely invisible. The L2 was the ideal choice for this approach.
The technical system
The system deployed at New Life Worship Centre is one of the most significant L2 installations in the world. The main PA is anchored by L2 line arrays configured for left and right outfills, complemented by front fills. The subwoofer foundation is built on KS28 units, hung from the stage ceiling. For those seated nearest the stage, X8i speakers handle front fill duties, while X12 speakers provide stage monitoring.
Ensuring consistent coverage across the enormous semicircular floor is achieved by a network of ceiling-mounted delay clusters on the left, centre and right, driven by L2D arrays, with A15i speakers providing delay reinforcement throughout. Every component is mounted overhead, delivering speech intelligibility and musical impact in equal measure to every corner of the room.
Working at 60 feet
Flying speaker systems at 60 feet would give many teams pause. For Hi-Tech, it was familiar territory. Their background in large-scale rental and live production means that working at height is simply part of the job.
Shaurya says, “With the experience we bring, we are used to working at such heights. Because of our rental background, we are more
comfortable at 60 feet than on the ground. We do these setups in 6 or 8 hours. We were grateful to have 3 days to do this setup.”
The team was given until 25 December to complete the installation, a deadline of obvious significance for a Church. Despite logistical headwinds from global shipping disruptions, materials arrived on schedule, and the team worked relentlessly. Every element of the installation, including cable laying, rigging, shackling, and calibration, was executed entirely by Hi-Tech. Luke Brookes, Application Engineer at L-Acoustics, conducted a thorough pre-commissioning check, verifying heights, signal routing, and fallback systems before the formal calibration phase.
Because this is one of the largest L2 installations anywhere in the world, L-Acoustics sent Joshua Maichele (Global Applications Lead for Houses of Worship, L-Acoustics), their specialist, on five flights from the United States to Chennai to personally oversee the final calibration in March. That level of commitment from the manufacturer speaks volumes about the project’s scale and significance.
Acoustics first, a decision that paid off
One of the quieter decisions that shaped the outcome was made long before Hi-Tech arrived on site. NLAG had well-designed acoustic treatment in place well ahead of the audio installation. The room treatment was completed thoughtfully and thoroughly, and when it came time to calibrate the L-Acoustics system, the results were striking. “The acoustics have been done really, really well,” Shaurya commented.
Zero revisions. Zero compromises
The system went live on 25 December, and the New Life Worship Centre congregation has been worshipping every Sunday. There were no
revisions to the installation. No tweaks, no corrections, no callbacks. The system performed exactly as designed from day one. Shaurya recalls the moment the team ran the load checker, sending a signal to all speakers and amplifiers simultaneously to verify the complete system:
The client’s voice
Rev. Benjamin Mohan, Executive Pastor and Project Director at New Life Assembly of God, was clear about the weight that rested on the AV system:
At New Life Worship Centre, the entire project depended heavily on the performance of the AV system. The space required high-quality
sound and visual clarity. Without them, people wouldn’t be able to clearly hear the message or fully engage in worship, which would defeat the very purpose of the space. Joshua Maichele and Peter Owen from L-Acoustics, along with Rajan from Hi-Tech Audio and Christian from the New Life AG team, took the time to understand these needs in detail. They focused on achieving even coverage and consistent SPL across the room, with sufficient headroom. In the end, they didn’t just meet our expectations; they exceeded them.
During project execution, Rev. Mohan was equally positive:
“We were working within a tight budget, but they partnered with us to find solutions that worked without compromising quality. What stood out was their proactive approach. Materials arrived well ahead of schedule, and their team began cabling and rigging even while finishing work was still in progress. With a tight timeline to meet, especially around the Christmas and New Year services, they planned the system tuning in two phases. This approach gave us both immediate functionality and great performance.”
And on the final outcome:
“Over the years, our Church has had several sound systems across different locations, but we’ve never experienced this level of quality before. The clarity of speech and the overall sound during worship in such a large space make a noticeable difference. Now, people can focus on personally experiencing God in the worship space. Seeing the congregation respond so positively each week is incredibly rewarding.”
A new benchmark for Asia
The New Life Worship Center is more than a successful project. It is a statement of what is possible when a determined client, a passionate integrator, and a world-class manufacturer unite around a shared vision.
For Hi-Tech Audio & Image LLP, it marks the culmination of 35 years of experience, multiple Chennai installations, and a client relationship built on trust, earned one project at a time. For L-Acoustics, it is one of the most ambitious L2 deployments worldwide. For the New Life Assembly of God community, it is the sound of their message, clear, present, and reaching every last corner of their extraordinary home.
And for the 25,000 people who fill those seats every Sunday, it is something simpler and more profound than any specification sheet can capture: the ability to hear, clearly and without effort, the words that matter most to them.
System specification at a glance
- Main PA: L2 line arrays — left and right outfills
- Subwoofers: KS28 — ceiling-hung above the stage
- Front Fills: X8i speakers — stage level
- Stage Monitors: X12 speakers
- Delay Clusters (Left, Centre, Right): L2D arrays — ceiling-mounted
- Delay Fill: A15i speakers — ceiling-mounted throughout
- Installation Height: 60 feet
- Seating Capacity: 25,000
- Integrator: Hi-Tech Audio & Image LLP
- Manufacturer: L-Acoustics
