Episcopal Cathedral of St Philip turns to Renkus-Heinz to minimise reverberation

USA:

With stone walls, high ceilings and hard floors, the Episcopal Cathedral of St Philip is a highly reverberant space. When the ageing audio system was making speech intelligibility almost impossible, the cathedral turned to Renkus-Heinz for a modern solution.

Located in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, the cathedral stands as a symbol of community and faith on Peachtree Road, otherwise known as “Jesus Junction”. It first opened in 1962 and has since become one of the largest Episcopal congregations in the United States. Its Gothic Revival architecture stands out against the modern city backdrop and creates an inspiring acoustic setting for the choir and pipe organ.

“The previous sound system had been in place for over 20 years, cobbled together over time with parts that didn’t match,” explained James Denmon of Dynamic AV Systems, who led the installation project. “We were approached by the consultant, Newcomb & Boyd, who had been tasked with delivering an upgraded solution that would optimise clarity and minimise reverberation. The regional representative for Renkus-Heinz, Griffith Sales Associates, pointed them in our direction due to our experience with houses of worship and the ICONYX system.”

In order to design a system that would address these architectural and acoustic challenges, Newcomb & Boyd created an EASE model of the cathedral, allowing them – in conjunction with Dynamic AV Systems – to determine which loudspeakers were best suited to the space. “We have worked with Renkus-Heinz plenty of times in the past. Knowing that speech intelligibility was the main goal, their ICONYX steerable system was the obvious solution for this venue,” Denmon stated.

“At the front of the hall, we deployed two IC24-RD digital steerable line array loudspeaker systems as mains, supported by two IC8-RD arrays for the transepts at the sides,” he continued. “Through to the back of the room, we installed 10 IC16-RD columns. The ability to steer sound directly to the audience is a real game-changer for acoustically complex venues such as this cathedral.”

For smaller services or events with fewer than 100 people, staff can easily turn off the back arrays to leave only the front IC24s, removing unnecessary loudspeakers for pristine clarity, while the full system delivers unmatched coverage to the entire congregation.

Thanks to the collaboration with Newcomb & Boyd, Renkus-Heinz and the cathedral’s in-house engineers, Dynamic AV Systems successfully overcame the venue’s architectural and acoustic complexities to deliver a cutting-edge sound system. “The ICONYX setup has dramatically enhanced speech intelligibility for services of all sizes. One parishioner told us that after attending the Cathedral of St Philip for many years, she could finally understand everything that was being said,” Denmon concluded. “It’s hard to claim that any single loudspeaker can suit every room, but Renkus-Heinz’s steerable arrays come very close.”

With the new system in place, the cathedral’s acoustic challenges have been resolved, while the experience for parishioners has been fundamentally enhanced to ensure more connected and immersive worship for years to come.