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Phoenix Technologies are
specialists in Church Public Address systems, Church Sound
system installation, and Induction Loop Systems to comply with current disability
discrimination legislation. We take care of design, supply, and installation.
Need a church sound system ? Call AVM Home & Leisure Division 020 7248 4770 or
email us for free impartial advice.
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Just take a look at our
list of clients!
Phoenix Technologies will design, supply, and install your church sound system
for maximum audio
intelligibility. Phoenix engineers have years of experience designing systems to suit
small and large installations for all budgets. We offer free technical advice on equipment
and church sound system design.
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Installation prices
For quotes, advice, and queries please call 020 7248 4770 or
email us with your requirements.
Church Sound System Intelligibility
The main reason for a church sound system being rendered unintelligible
(assuming it is loud enough)
is the deleterious effect of the acoustics of the building. Certain frequencies
are naturally emphasized, others suppressed, leading to a significant loss of audio
information. This, coupled with reverberation and echo can render even a loud sound
unintelligible - think of a bright, but out of focus picture.
A well designed system can overcome the problems
by specifying the correct equipment: microphones
specifically suited to speech, equalizers which can be set to compensate for non-linear
acoustics, and an even distribution of speakers at carefully chosen locations to minimize
echo and delay effects.
A further problem can be achieving a sufficient level of amplification in the
sound system before the onset
of howling "feedback". This can be overcome by careful choice of microphones, siting of
speakers and, in extreme cases, by the use of a dedicated digital processor to specifically
detect the onset of feedback and instantly apply preventative measures - automatically.
Induction Loop Systems
A recent legal ruling obliges all publicly accessible facilities, including churches, to
be fitted with a loop system for the benefit of hearing-aid users.
These loops are connected to the PA system and radiate a magnetic field carrying the
sound information which is picked up by hearing aids switched to the "T" position,
giving much clearer reception of the required sounds while reducing the effects of
background noise.
The system consists of a loop of wire (hence the name) around the perimeter of the
building, connected to a special amplifier which is, in turn, connected to the
system. Unfortunately, the magnetic field is also picked up very effectively
by dynamic microphones and guitar pickups, leading to feedback.
Use of condenser microphones (see above), and careful layout of the loop can eliminate
both of these undesirable effects.
Cabling and wiring
In order to be able to use thin cable and minimize resistance losses, church audio systems
work on the 100 volt line system, where the output of the amplifier is boosted
to a higher level, and sent down a single cable pair, from which all the speakers
are fed. Each speaker contains a transformer, which can be set to extract the
required amount of power from the "line" - like a pre-set volume control.
This offers the ability to "fine-tune" the level of each individual speaker to
achieve the most even coverage.
Microphone cables should be of the "balanced" variety to minimize hum and
interference pick up.
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