Renkus-Heinz arrays overcome Zurich church's audio obstacles

The Church of St. Katharina, a place of worship in the Affoltern district of Zurich, Switzerland, is a nearly 100-year-old building that is both visually beautiful and acoustically challenging. To overcome the audio challenges that come with its reflective surfaces and irregular floorplan, St. Katharina turned to Renkus-Heinz for a set of compact, custom painted Dante-enabled Iconyx Compact digitally steered arrays.

Working with AV distributor Chris Steiger, CEO of promedias AG, St. Katharina church leaders set out to address the church’s acoustic challenges including the polygonal floor plan, wooden pews and irregular projections and wall recesses. “With an asymmetrical shape and the reflective surfaces common in brutalist-designed houses of worship, such as the sanctuary at St. Katharina, we knew the true challenge was going to be the loudspeaker selection,” said Steiger. “The ICC36/3-RD1 arrays from Renkus-Heinz were the solution the church needed for sound quality, coverage, and the high intelligibility. Plus, the minimal footprint and custom paint match of the speakers fit the aesthetic of the church very well."

The leaders at St. Katharina were apprehensive that a new sound system would require messy cabling, a large number of speakers and an obtrusive appearance for only a marginally improved sound experience. However, Steiger insisted that the Renkus-Heinz ICC36/3-RD1 Series would “bring the performance and directivity of multiple loudspeakers with just two Dante audio-over-IP arrays”. Overall, reducing the number of speakers and cabling necessary. With ICC36/3-RD1, a 36-channel digital amplifier powers the array’s 36, 3-inch full-range, high-sensitivity drivers.

“Installing the two ICC36/3-RD1 speakers enables St. Katharina to have intelligible spoken word during services and engaging live musical performances from the band for the nearly 500-person congregation,” noted Michal Poplawski, European technical sales manager for Renkus-Heinz. “The beam steering technology within the ICC36/3-RD1 arrays provide St. Katharina the sound solution for putting audio directly on the worshippers and away from the irregular and reflective architecture.”

“The church has been so happy with the even audio coverage that the new Renkus-Heinz speakers provide to its worshippers,” added Steiger. “The custom colour and compact design guarantee attention stays on the service. We couldn’t have asked for more.”