Room acoustics in a former church sanctuary?

Wolf,

You may have missed your calling. Lots of folks are looking for an angle in the tax game, so Id imagine that there's gotta be a consulting gig out there for a creative fellow like you. As for me, I'm off to research cool hats on the web.....

I did have a friend (a former champion surfer) in the 60s who started his own religion in Hawaii...his was based on the Hare Krishna stuff that was going around, and he had to work out a deal with the "regular" Hare Krishna group to not chant in Waikiki at the same place. He was rumored to have female followers bathe him in the morning...that's the way you do it! He eventually merged with the regular Krishna group, and later became some sort of spiritual speaker or something...I'd see his cassettes in the health food stores.

You and the wife are musicians. You have the chance at a great start up structure for a recording studio, an additional ‘music room’ that could be sectioned off for musical instrument lessons (a possible side business to help pay the bills till the studio begins booking time) and a unique and comfortable environment available at an extremely affordable price.

I would pay attention to the balance of the properties in the neighborhood. Should the future of the property’s surroundings appear to be safe for years to come, in my opinion you have a wonderful opportunity to improve your musical careers.

If the studio plans never come to fruition you still own one heck of a practice facility and I am sure there would be a musical or theater organization or two out there who would love to rent the facility.

Could I inquire as to what instruments both of you play?

For sound reproduction in a large, richly reverberant space, you want speakers whose off-axis response is very good, because it is the off-axis resposne that will dominate the perceived tonal balance. There be more than one way to skin that cat, but here's how to listen for it when you go out speaker shopping: Turn the volume up a bit louder than normal and walk outside the room, listening through the open doorway with no line-of-sight to the speakers. From out there, all you can hear is the reverberant sound, which is dominated by the off-axis response. If it still sounds like live music from out there, that's a very good sign. Of course, 'tis a wicked and adulterous generation that seeks after a sign, so don't be too obvious about it, but pay attention in case one comes along just the same.

One other characteristic you might lean towards would be a relatively narrow radiation pattern. There is sort of a tradeoff relationship between richness and clarity, with most (overdamped) home listeing rooms erring on the side of clarity. Your sanctuary will err on the side of richness, and you can balance things out a bit with speakers whose narrow pattern seeks to emphasize the direct over reverberant sound, which is a step in the direction of clarity.

Finally, big spaces are harder to fill with bass, but that bass tends to be smoother and more natural-sounding than in a smaller room. So imo you want manly-man speakers rather than petite mini-monitors, and will be rewarded for it. Manly-man speakers cover a multitude of sins. I'm pretty sure it says that somewhere.

Good luck on getting the space!

Duke
dealer/manufacturer

All kinds of brilliant responses here, but I think it is all but lost. We did check out the space and the acoustics were superlative. The space itself was not a "home" yet, but was in amazingly good condition. A few renovations, I would never have wanted to move!
When we arrived to check out the space, the realtor said that the offer (by another party other than us) had been accepted by the seller, and continuing to show it was merely in case of some last minute catastrophe. I think it's gone... someone must have been waiting for the price to drop, because they got it within five days of that happening. Incidentally, the place had started at 225k, but had dropped to 165k most recently.
Another problem was the prospect of asking my folks to cosign. They don't hate me or anything, it's just that they are staunchly religious. I suppose they are the kind of people that can't find the humor in, say, the pope's hat. Peace, I'll be back when I have some better news on a new thread. Thanks again.