Historic Cathedral of St. Helena Raises its Voice for All to Hear with d&b audiotechnik.
The majestic Cathedral of St. Helena, a cornerstone of the Helena community, has undergone a transformative audio upgrade with the installation of a d&b audiotechnik sound system, featuring xC-Series column speakers including the 24C-E, 24C, and 16C models, and xS-Series point source speakers including the 4S and 5S models. This upgrade, designed and installed by Montana Pro Audio, has successfully overcome the inherent acoustic challenges of the highly-reverberant 116-year-old church to achieve unprecedented vocal clarity and intelligibility for its congregation. As preserving the cathedral's historic aesthetic, which features stone walls and scagoila columns, was paramount, it required specialized mounting and integration, with a customized paint and finish solution from d&b.
For the church, the audio upgrade wasn’t merely an improvement, “If people can't hear well in the cathedral, they can't understand the message of the gospel, and they can’t respond in faith,” explained Father Marc Lenneman, Pastor/Rector of the Cathedral. “This audio upgrade was absolutely necessary and the easiest money I've ever spent.”
Built in 1908, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Helena evokes the "awe and beauty of European cathedrals,” with architecture, featuring tile flooring, stone walls, scagiola columns, stained glass windows, and a nave ceiling estimated at 60 feet high, creating a highly reverberant environment.
The previous sound system, installed in 1985, attempted to remain unseen by hiding speakers within chandeliers, a creative solution for its time, but one that offered poor clarity and sound quality. Montana Pro Audio faced a daunting task of achieving high intelligibility in the space. To achieve the desired results, Montana Pro Audio utilized a distributed audio approach, "We opted to use more speakers with less amplitude,” describes Aaron Fisher, business development manager for Montana Pro Audio. “By having the sound emanate from more points within the space, we ensured consistent coverage and intelligibility.”
The proposed d&b audiotechnik solution features xC-Series cardioid columns (6 x 24C, 2 x 24C-E, and 10 x 16C) and xS-Series point sources (14 x 4S and 2 x 5S). Having seen the effectiveness of column loudspeakers in similar European churches, Father Marc was immediately receptive to the xC-Series based design.
Prior to the installation, a critical step in gaining acceptance for the audio upgrade was winning over the congregation. Father Marc insisted on the congregation buying into and “understanding what they were planning...after all, this was their church and the money they donated.” Montana Pro Audio demonstrated this by switching between the existing system and a subset of the planned system.
"I began speaking the psalm from our most recent mass and switched over to the new system. There was shock, everyone gasped, then they started clapping,” Father Marc recounted. “We also demonstrated the system with a cantor and organist and after that, there was no clapping, it was silent. The beauty of the human voice lifted in prayer to God, so clearly and beautifully augmented so that everyone in the cathedral can hear, helps others pray. That's the purpose of our cathedral and that’s what the power of a good sound system can do.”
Once the sound quality and intelligibility challenges were addressed and the church agreed to the proposed solution, the next objective to solve was to keep the installed loudspeakers unnoticeable. To achieve this, Montana Pro Audio worked closely with the d&b audiotechnik Custom solutions team. Committed to fulfilling unique requirements, d&b Custom solutions specializes in fabricating special hardware, weatherization, and unique aesthetic features for d&b loudspeakers to meet particular demands.
"d&b's custom shop was the key to preserving the cathedral’s appearance,” said Fisher. “They were able to provide the loudspeakers and hardware in a custom vintage white color that matched the hand-painted columns resembling marble. The custom shop did such a great job, if you don’t know what you’re looking for, you can’t even tell there are speakers in the space.”
While the system design and color matching was relatively straightforward, the physical constraints of working within a historical building with areas affected by past structural damage (a 1935 earthquake and a train derailment in 1989), proved to be the most challenging aspect of the installation.
“The installation process was quite difficult, “commented Fisher. “Running wire to each speaker involved going into the basement and drilling up into the interior cavity of each column for every speaker location. This required connecting nearly eight feet of drill bit extensions together.” In addition, the unique shape of the pillars posed another challenge that necessitated custom hardware to create a flat surface for mounting the d&b loudspeakers.
Once the cabling was run and the hardware mounted, the rest of the installation process went smoothly thanks to d&b audiotechnik ArrayCalc software. "The accuracy of ArrayCalc software for design and time alignment is remarkable,” said Fisher. “It made the tuning of the system seamless and efficient. We were able to turn the system on and get it going very quickly once the physical installation was completed.”
With the new audio system fully functional, congregation feedback has been consistently positive. "People are so thankful that they can hear clearly now, regardless of where they are in the cathedral, from the main level, to fill areas like chapels, the altar, and the choir loft,” said Father Marc, who also noted that during record attendance at Easter, “even people standing outside the great front doors could still hear, thanks to speakers in the narthex.”
The new system has also impacted Father Marc’s preaching: "With our old system there was such a lack of clarity, people constantly said they couldn’t understand what I was saying,” shares Father Marc. “I was forced to speak slowly and deliberately but now I feel I can communicate more naturally and dynamically, knowing that people can understand me. Now even when there’s the normal distraction of little kids or other people around them, people do not lose the message, and that makes all the difference in the world.”
The “heard but not seen” objective of the audio upgrade was also successful. "Our bishop wasn’t present when the installation occurred,” said Father Marc. “I sent him photos and he asked, ‘where are the speakers?’ and I thought ‘Perfect. Mission accomplished.’ Even my mother doesn't know where the speakers are. She can't find them.”
About the System Configuration
The d&b audiotechnik audio system installed for Cathedral of St. Helena by Montana Pro Audio included 16 x xC-Series column loudspeakers (2 x 24C-E, 6 x 24C, and 10 x 16C) and 16 x xS-Series point source loudspeakers (14 x 4S and 2 x 5S). The system is powered by 6 x 5D amplifiers.
