St Patrick's was designed by J.J.McCarthy, one of the most notable Irish architects in the 19th century, and the building was dedicated on Trinity Sunday, 11 June 1876. The church is 130ft long, 65ft wide and 60ft high and the new sound system, installed by D.L Electronics, was part of a £5 million refurbishment of the church which started in 2007. The project was not only about refurbishment and repair, but also a work of restoration and conservation.
David Dalzell, owner of D.L.Electronics reports: "We have been installing Intellivox products in highly reverberant spaces now since 2002, in my opinion it's the only choice when you're faced with a difficult acoustic. Their ability to steer the beam onto the audience and reduce the reverberant field is vital in this kind of installation. In a church the most important thing is for people to be able to understand the message that is being communicated by the clergy, using Intellivox ensures that this happens."
The sound system comprises of two Intellivox DC180s which cover the main body of the congregation, and two Intellivox V90s as fills in the side aisles at the rear of the church. The Intellivox DC180' are 180cm arrays with built in amplification and DSP. The DSP is not only used to steer the beam (using Duran's Digital Directivity Control Technology) but also offers users EQ, Delay and Volume control. Whereas the Intellivox V90 are 100V line devices which have a fixed steering angle of -4 degrees and an opening angle of 30 degrees.
The rest of the system is based around BSS SoundWeb and AKG microphones. J.J McCarthy was the designer of no fewer than five Cathedrals and more than 30 substantial churches. D.L Electronics has already installed AXYS Intellivox systems in two of those five Cathedrals - Armagh Cathedral and St Eugene's, Derry.
(Jim Evans)
