Sweden's Lund Cathedral expands with Renkus-Heinz
Published: WORSHIP
WORLD: The Lund Cathedral in Sweden has recently expanded its permanently installed Renkus-Heinz Rhaon-equipped Iconyx digitally steerable system with the addition of a further IC16/8-R-II active array above its altar. Cited to be the country's oldest and largest church – dating all the way back to 1080 – its cavernous nave had long proved a challenge for bishops whose voices would become hoarse trying to project down such a long space.
The cathedral seats 1,800 worshippers, but can accommodate an extra 800 during major televised events. ‘The cathedral invested in Renkus-Heinz’ Iconyx because the existing PA was inadequate in both audio distribution and quality – including the fact that audio control was limited to a single volume knob,’ said the Cathedral's Lars Jonven.
Having had the space acoustically analysed, the cathedral's architect decided that the speakers should be mounted flat on the wall rather than tilted forward. Various other manufacturers were considered for the project, but in the end the Renkus-Heinz solution was chosen by installer Björn Carlsson with Svensk Musik TTS AB. The upgrade saw the number of loudspeakers in the church go from over 40 to just 14.
‘They came to us because they wanted an intelligent, efficient solution that wouldn't need to be changed every few years,’ explained Mr Carlsson. ‘Renkus-Heinz won on sound quality, proven technology and its very special directivity control.’
In addition, an extra IC16/8-R-II – finished in a special architecturally matched colour – provides additional sound projection to the congregation. ‘We looked at a couple of other brands and their solutions involved installing many more speakers, actually more than they had in the old system,’ he continued. ‘And then there was another request for us to distribute the system digitally as far as possible. So actually the only part in the whole system that's analogue is the microphones; everything else is distributed by MediaMatrix and CobraNet direct to the loudspeakers. So that was another big feature.’
The cathedral also owns an iPad remote control for the Nion system. A controller is installed to the side of the nave which remains where it is, but TTS also supplied a wireless iPad for further control options.
The system is designed to allow split feeds and zones: a pair of IC24-R arrays cover the central area of the nave, each delivering four separate beams of sound, while a combination of IC16-R and IC8-R arrays cover other areas with an IC7 in the crypt.
‘The whole system gives us much better sound naturally,’ enthused Mr Carlsson. ‘Each priest has their own headset and there are presets that adjust the EQ to their individual timbre and volume. It's a fantastic solution.’