St John’s congregation plays ‘Spot the speakers!’

[A CHURCHWARDEN at the Church of St John Baptist in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, has a new game: “When visitors come into the church I challenge them to spot the loudspeakers,” said Nigel Robbins, who is also a former Mayor of Cirencester. And often, when puzzled visitors return and ask where the music is coming from, he smiles and says: “From heaven!”

It follows a massive overhaul of the sound system in one of the largest parish churches in England – a Grade One-listed building which includes architectural styles from the 12th century – carried out by Novum AV.

Novum used special lookalike materials for the loudspeakers – successfully camouflaging them from the impressive surroundings. The company removed a dozen boxed speakers from the medieval limestone columns in the church, and more than 300 metres of unsightly cabling, before installing the tall, slim, speakers designed to blend into the environment – each one colour-matched and positioned discretely. The speakers improve both building architecture and aesthetics.

“The specialist system we used means that sound waves are digitally steered direct to the congregation, focusing on the listening area and directing sound away from hard, reflective surfaces,” said Tim Jacques, principal of Novum AV. “That avoids the problem of reverberation in large buildings – particularly with a lot of stonework.

“The highly-controlled coverage also means that the words spoken can be much more intelligible. By designing a system with a small number of specialised loudspeakers, the budget was directed towards buying high-quality units rather than using excessive cost providing extra speakers, which would have involved more installation labour and other installation materials.”

Nigel Robbins added: “We have been bedevilled by a sound system for the spoken voice which frequently let us down. The new speakers perform magnificently, the human voice suffering no distortion through dispersion such as reverberation. The softest sound comes through clearly from over 70 yards from its source. Hard-of-hearing people declare they no longer require the old loop system. The new speakers actually enhance the appearance of our wonderful church, making it easier to lease the desirable church space to local organisations – both a community benefit and a commercial opportunity for the church.” q