Genelec spreads the word in church of Maaninka
- Details
The church turned to local integrators, AVEK Esitystekniikka and Genelec to bring the audio system into line with modern-day expectations and improve the audio experience for everyone.
Genelec’s technology service manager, Markus Kahelin, recalls that the project posed several challenges; firstly, the sheer size of the space to be covered (985 sq.m with very high ceilings and a central dome), and secondly the fact that the church is a listed building which is a challenge for the integrators: “The shape and size of building results in a relatively long reverberation time and a noticeable echo for the human voice,” explains Kahelin. “The existing audio system was unable to deliver natural, uncoloured sound to all of the congregation and so intelligibility of the spoken word was a real problem.
“The other major consideration is the church’s status as a listed building, which means that you can’t just go knocking holes in the wall or running cables wherever you like,” he adds. “AVEK ended up having to run all their cables via the roof space to reach every part of the church. That in itself was a challenge because extra-long cable runs can pose a risk for sound quality, latency and interference levels which can in turn cause audible issues with the playback system. However, fortunately at Genelec, we have solutions for these problems!”
The solution in question turned out to be a distributed system using 10 Genelec 8430A IP SAM monitor speakers that were tuned and calibrated using Genelec’s GLM 3 loudspeaker management software. According to AVEK’s audio specialist, Jari Pöykiö, Genelec’s combination of networked loudspeakers with the integrated calibration features of GLM 3 solved all their problems.
“The first consideration was the audio quality of the 8430As - they are compact, active loudspeakers that deliver premium audio quality and clear, uncoloured sound,” notes Pöykiö. “We mounted them in carefully acoustically selected locations throughout the church to enable the focus and voice localisation to remain in the correct direction and to sound as natural as possible.
“Once installed, all the loudspeakers were calibrated and tuned to the room acoustics using Genelec’s GLM 3 software.
(Jim Evans)
