St. Joseph Catholic Church in Greenville, MS recently replaced the aging sound reinforcement system in its sanctuary with a new one headed by Renkus-Heinz ICONYX loudspeakers with beam steering technology in a design by Allen Cotton, solutions architect with Mississippi-based integration firm Sound & Communications.
The new system needed to cover the entire sanctuary without intruding on the space’s architectural beauty. With a history of collaborating on several similar projects, Sound & Communications looked to independent manufacturer’s representative Richard Hembree of Griffith Sales Associates to assist with the details.
“During the initial consultation with the client, I learned of the challenges faced with the highly reverberant architecture,” says Cotton. “St. Joseph Catholic is a beautiful and historic space, and I knew that delivering on audio quality along with aesthetics was of utmost importance. Renkus-Heinz has served us well in similar spaces previously, and we chose the ICONYX loudspeakers because they look great and sound superb even in the most challenging spaces.”
The previous sound system consisted of small, traditional loudspeakers mounted high and out of sight. Hembree notes, “The ‘waterfall effect’ of sound coming from high above placed sound in the room but offered very little intelligibility. A pair of Renkus-Heinz’s flagship ICONYX Gen5 IC24-RN loudspeaker arrays proved to be the perfect solution. Not only do they match the soaring lines of the architecture, their height also provides the needed control to keep full-range, reinforced sound away from walls and ceilings and focused right where it’s needed: on the congregation.
“We were able to pinpoint exactly what was needed through open communication with Renkus-Heinz throughout this project,” adds Stephen Edmonds, lead technician at Sound & Communications. “It always adds a layer of confidence during the process to have someone who can answer any questions that might arise, and Brandon Heinz, product manager at Renkus-Heinz, was that person, in this case providing remote technical support during the system commissioning.”
Jack Duthu at St. Joseph Catholic concludes, “We are beyond thrilled with the reception the Renkus-Heinz loudspeakers have received. Now, every member of the congregation can feel included in every moment of a service. This upgrade has already promoted a stronger sense of community, and we could not be more grateful.”
