BRUSSELS — The Belgian national basilica, the Basiliek van Koekelberg, is Belgium’s largest church and the world’s fifth largest basilica. As such, it’s used for big national ceremonies and services with international significance.
The challenge for Pa-P.A and Alcons’ engineer Philip de Haan was to optimize the intelligibility within the cross-shaped base-form structure with 7 seconds reverb for the main nave and big side aisles. The main nave has a capacity for 2,500, and the side aisles, each seating 250, have a depth of 197 feet.
After an A/B test, church management opted for the Alcons QR36 sets equipped with double RBN1801 pro-ribbon HF drivers instead of a beam-steered system.
“The result of the tests was astonishing and far better than the telephone-sound they had before,” said Luc De Paepe, managing director of Pa.P.A, adding that the Alcons system offers “a perfect, almost absolute 3-degree vertical dispersion angle, projecting the sound right to the church audience.”
With input from the Basilica’s architect, Jos Van den Breeden, the Alcons QR36 speaker enclosures were modified to fit the architecture, and Alcons’ engineers configured the system from two-meter QR36 columns to meet the acoustic needs of the church. The speakers and custom stands were supplied in a RAL antique green finish, contrasting with the basilica interior and terracotta-finished pillars.
Each of the QR36 combinations was equipped with an additional Alcons VR8 full range speaker cabinet for out-fill. With large worship services, the VR8s are also used as monitor speakers for the choir and in the side aisles.
Pa-P.A. removed the old and worn speaker system and installed two Alcons QR36 sets serving the whole church. All of the cabling was also replaced and incorporated in the church architecture. A mobile control desk features two Alcons ALC2 controller-amplifiers and pre-configured DDP processors, and a Soundcraft EPM8 console completes the configuration.
“The intelligibility over the entire space is remarkable, with a measured STI of 0.7,” De Paepe said. “The full-range 70Hz to 20kHz system response makes the vocals crystal clear, warm and ‘in the face,’ even for the last row of seats. From front to rear, we have a 1dB SPL drop-off in the mid/high frequency band. And the nice part is, the system is very user-friendly, as it doesn’t need any difficult (beam-steering) processing, it’s really “plug and play.”
“The system was ‘baptized’ during a celebration for the Belgian army and in a ceremony with Congolese Bishop Monsengwo and stood the test glamorously. And this was the real reason for the renovation of our installation. We as a church attach much importance to God’s word — if one cannot understand this, there’s no reason for gathering in this church,” noted Basilica rector Herman Cosijns. “More than the evolution in experiencing religion, with music and choir, the word is crucial. It’s great that we have been able to purchase this equipment with the support and donations of so many in the archbishopric.”
For more information, please visit www.alconsaudio.com and www.pa-pa.be.
