Saint Agnes hospital looks to Community Pro

WORLD: HP Electronics has completed an installation into the newly renovated chapel at Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. The space was fitted with Community Professional loudspeakers with the aim of providing a coherent and superior solution compared to the venue’s existing audio system.

Saint Agnes Hospital is a full-service teaching hospital with residency programs in medicine and surgery. The chapel has recently undergone renovation as part of its on-going expansion plans. Historic features such as a circular stained glass window remain, but the chapel has received new marble floors and freshly painted walls – further complicating HP Electronic’s installation.

The hospital was aware that the chapel would need a new audio system.  The existing system had uneven coverage and poor sound quality and the existing pendant loudspeakers didn’t match the chapel’s new appearance. Anne Buening, vice president of mission integration at Saint Agnes, contacted Joe Schwartz of HP Electronics who recommended an audio system using a Community Professional Entasys 212 loudspeaker.

‘I had worked with Anne on another church sound project using Entasys,’ said Mr Schwartz, ‘and I knew Entasys could do the job despite the acoustic difficulties presented by the new marble floors and painted walls’.

Mr Schwartz designed a new audio system for the chapel using a single Entasys 212 on one side. His calculations showed that a single Entasys could cover the entire chapel well, and he wanted to avoid a challenging wiring path to the other side. He completed the system with a new DSP and power amplifier, a pair of wireless microphones and a gooseneck microphone for the lectern.

The installation was finished in time for a special ‘Healing Hands’ ceremony honouring three physicians in December. Ms Buening noted that ‘several of the hospital’s management staff were present at the ceremony and said they could hear everything very well’. She added, ‘I was very pleased with the results. The single Entasys is discrete yet it covers the chapel very well and we were able to complete the job within the hospital’s budget. The affordability of the entire Entasys 200 series is unprecedented for this level of loudspeaker.’

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