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German Church Celebrates Centenary with Crest Audio
To celebrate the centenary of the laying of its foundation stone, Christ's Church in the German town of Velbert, in North Rhine Westphalia decided to invest in a thoroughly modern sound system. The result was the first Martin Audio OmniLine system to be installed in a German church, powered exclusively by Crest Audio amplification with processing via an Architectural Acoustics Digitool MX programmable digital processor.
Christ's Church, Velbert (which just happens to be twinned with Corby in Northants, home of Crest Audio UK!) is reputed to be one of the most significant "Jugendstil" or Art Nouveau churches in western Germany. Designed by architect Carl Krieger with interior design by Franz Brantzsky, the 900-seater church affords worshippers a completely unimpeded view of the altar, font, pulpit and organ, thanks to the fact that Krieger avoided using any columns as internal supports. The resulting hall offers an excellent basis for the acoustics. The organ, built in 1909, was refurbished in 2005. However, for the main services as well as the diverse cultural activities hosted by the church such as classical and choral concerts, readings etc., it was felt that church would benefit from the installation of a professional audio system in order to fully optimize the acoustic qualities of the building.
Technical project manager, Thomas Meckel of art veranstaltungstechnik, explained that he strongly advised against a "typical" loudspeaker installation as it would have meant having cables and loudspeakers hanging all over the architecture of such a wonderful listed building. "As it happened, the fact that there are no columns in the nave of Christ's Church worked to our advantage, as it offered an ideal backdrop for the OmniLine system, which covers long distances very easily. Furthermore, the natural sound impression is enhanced by the use of just a single column of loudspeakers as the sound comes directly from the speaker and not from a source beside the pew, which is extremely distracting for the congregation. Lastly, the OmniLine speakers work very well from an aesthetic point of view. The arrays are elegant and unobtrusive, which is ideal for this sort of environment."
The entire system is driven by three Crest Audio CPX 3800 power amplifiers. "They are ultra-reliable, packed with great protection features and astonishingly good value," remarked Thomas. "They sound good, and they'll last forever!" The finishing touch to the installation is the Architectural Acoustics Digitool MX digital processor. "It was important to us that those in charge be able to manage the system with confidence after just a short training session," explained Thomas. "The Digitool is totally "sexton-friendly" - amongst other things it offers a range of presets which are each programmed with the different service settings and can be recalled at the touch of a button. It couldn't be easier to guarantee great sound every time!"
23rd February 2009
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