With nearly 10,000 members, Saint Bede the Venerable in Holland, Pennsylvania, offers a mix of traditional and semi-contemporary services. Choir and live musical instruments require sound reinforcement.
The church recently underwent a $5 million renovation and expansion, incorporating a classic Italian marble altar, magnificent stained glass, and a new sound system featuring Community Professional Loudspeakers Veris 8 two-way full-range systems, QSC amplifiers, a Soundcraft LX7 audio mixing console and Shure wireless microphones.
As Audiobahn's Tony Hersch explains, the new sound system design called for versatility. "Unlike some of the more traditional Catholic churches, St. Bede offers a mix of traditional and semi-contemporary services, with a choral and live musical accompaniment, as well as traditional organ and choir," he says. "So ultimately we had to design a system that offered more than simply spoken word intelligibility - it had to offer good musicality as well."
One of the biggest challenges in installing the system, says Hersch, was coordinating the work around the ongoing construction. ”They were still holding services during the renovation, with the construction behind a false wall, and we were running cable and installing the speakers within a very tight schedule, alongside the general contractors."
The distributed audio system features 14 Veris 8 cabinets, with two additional Veris 8 boxes for platform monitors. A pair of Community CPL27 dual eight-inch systems provide monitoring to the choir loft, and two MVP12M boxes provide additional monitoring.
Hersch reports that the newly redone sanctuary is nothing short of stunning, with sound to match. "It sounds fantastic, and the coverage is great," he says. "There's not a bad seat in the house. And it looks terrific."
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