HAMBURG, Germany – Cobra Sound Light designed and installed a new sound system for the 1,033-seat Hauptkirche St. Petri, Hamburg's oldest parish church, using Renkus-Heinz IC Live digitally steerable loudspeakers to meet architectural constraints without compromising on audio quality.
Cobra Sound Light engineer and project manager Hendrik Thode noted that the Renkus-Heinz gear was chosen after a shoot-out between alternate solutions, with Renkus-Heinz's German distributor Atlantic Audio playing a key role. "We're not tied to any particular manufacturers and we consider everything that's out there," he noted.
"St. Petri was a big challenge, as it has the typically difficult acoustical conditions of most churches," Thode continued, also noting the aesthetic concerns guiding the project. "St. Petri church specifically wanted the loudspeakers not to intrude on the architecture. This ruled out flying a system in the sanctuary, and demanded a digitally steerable system because of the dimensions of the large central nave – approximately 25 meters long and 24 meters high inside the central and the side aisles – and the long reverberation time of around 8 seconds. The system needed to deliver direct sound for perfect speech intelligibility to the rear-most pew."
The IC Live loudspeakers were chosen after the shootout. Cobra sound light installed four Renkus-Heinz ICL-F speakers for the central nave, with another ICL-F to the right and left in to the sanctuary chamber.
"The biggest challenge," said Thode, "was the numerous pillars, about 1.20 meters in diameter, and the fact that the pulpit extended well into the central nave of the church and acoustically shadowed a large part of the central nave, which we resolved by installing a further ICL-F either side for delays.
"Because the advanced Renkus-Heinz beam steering technology allows us to generate up to four beams per column, the central nave is covered perfectly. Acoustic energy in the remaining room is minimized to the benefit of the overall experience. The IC Live system is small and tight, yet sounds very well-balanced. With its five 6.5" and three 1.5" driver units and a frequency range of 80 Hz – 20 kHz it's well suited for music performances."
The system is completed by a Yamaha LS9 digital mixer controlled by a simple user interface providing lay volunteers with just four presets to choose from depending on the type of service or event being held, and DPA headsets and Sennheiser wireless transmitters.
Martin Meier, sexton of Hauptkirche St.PetriHamburg, credited the Cobra Sound Light team for "a very good job. When we heard the new system for the very first time, what shall I say – it was simply perfect. The fact that this large and complex room could be covered so perfectly with so little equipment left a lasting impression on me. All our church members had positive feedback for the music and speech sound of the IC Live system. Now everybody can hear every word without trying hard to understand – the result is precise and great-sounding."
For more information, please visit www.renkus-heinz.com.
