The restoration of a church is always a delicate balancing act between preserving the historic fabric and ambience of the building while, at the same time, adding modern facilities that 21st century worshippers expect. Providing high quality sound reinforcement is always a challenge, but one which APart loudspeakers have overcome for one Scottish community.
Distributed in the UK by Sennheiser UK, a pair of APart COLW81 extra-slim column loudspeakers, driven by an MA-125 compact 100v amplifier, was the ideal solution for St Mary’s Church, Aberfoyle.
Built in the 1890s, the Scottish Episcopal church has been subject of a major renovation after wet rot, subsidence and organ damage were discovered several years ago. Completed earlier this year, the chance was taken to install a small, visually unobtrusive audio system that could be used for church services, but was also flexible enough to cope with a varied range of concerts that are staged throughout the year.
Discreetly mounted on beams on each side of the nave, the COLW81 speakers were specified and installed by Stirling-based Scotaudio, who chose them for their discreet appearance, value and being especially suitable for sound reproduction in acoustically difficult venues, such as the naturally reverberant body of a church.
“The system needed to project vocals with clarity and be capable of amplifying a diverse array of material – everything from singing ensembles and traditional acoustic instruments to Ukrainian accordionists!” says Scotaudio managing director Andy Greig. “We regularly specify APart products and, with the church wanting the best possible quality, supplied on a tight budget, the APart range was an obvious solution.”
The advanced technology of the APart loudspeakers guarantees optimised sound dispersion and improved intelligibility, decreasing the likelihood of microphone feedback.
Blending in sympathetically with the architecture of St Mary’s, the loudspeakers look like part of the building, yet provide sufficient power and clarity to significantly improve the audio quality.
“The sound quality is good and the wireless microphones, which were also installed, work well in every area of the church with no feedback problems,” says Mark Seymour, Chairman of the Vestry at St Mary’s.
“The system is so much better than the previous one. Scotaudio were most helpful and constructive throughout and I believe their specification was just right for the needs of the church.
“One day we would like to upgrade the system even further – all we need is the money!”
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