In 1974, 200 people gathered for mass in Novi, Michigan. Two months later, they founded Church of the Holy Family parish that, today, boasts more than 3,300 households. The church’s most recent arrival is a Renkus-Heinz Iconyx sound system from integrator Sound Planning Communications.
However functional the original 1970s-era sound system may have been when installed, it was outdated and could not support services featuring a modern electric praise band that complement traditional mass in English and in Spanish. System coverage was inconsistent – some areas were well covered, while others were muddy and lacked the intelligibility for speech. The worship team was forced to set up portable equipment to get by.
To resolve the sound issues, as part of a major building renovation, the Sound Planning Communications’ team designed and installed a new sound system based on Renkus-Heinz Iconyx Gen5 digitally steered arrays.
‘The sanctuary’s capacity is about 1,000, so it’s a good size,’ says Sound Planning Communications’ Nathan Cole. ‘The building is a very tall octagon, and the renovation included dramatic architectural changes, so where the interior was originally in the round, now it’s more of a 120° to 160° configuration. The music area, where the choir and band are located, is off to the side, at house left, which is typical of many of the Catholic churches we work with. The architects did a tremendous job making the space brighter, opening it up, and making it a lot more modern.
‘We wanted a column array that would give us penetration into the space, intelligibility, and reliability,’ he continues. ‘We’ve worked with Renkus-Heinz and put in many Iconyx systems over the years, and it’s typically our go-to when we’re looking for a system that needs the control that Iconyx offers.’
With the renovation, locations for loudspeakers were limited: ‘The church leaders did not want hanging clusters or visible loudspeakers,’ Cole explains. ‘We needed to conceal components as much as possible but still provide the coverage and improve upon the fidelity. That’s where Iconyx came into play. Thanks to their compact profile and steerable beams, we were able to mount a pair of Renkus-Heinz IC24-RD arrays high to the left and right of the altar area and cover the space evenly with clear, intelligible sound.’ The arrays were custom-painted to match the décor so they’re barely visible.
The IC24-RD features 24 4-inch coaxial transducers, each with three tweeters, and 24 amplifier and DSP channels. It also sports dual redundant Dante connectivity. Two IC24-RDs at Church of the Holy Family cover the entire space evenly, except for the altar, which is below and behind the arrays.
A pair of Renkus-Heinz CFX-61 compact, two-way Complex Conic loudspeaker systems serve as altar fills, enabling the priest to hear what’s going on. The CFX-61 is a non-powered system with a 6.5-inch heavy-duty woofer and 1-inch, extended-range titanium high-frequency driver that delivers high output in an extremely compact enclosure.
The system is managed with a Symetrix Radius EX DSP. ‘We use Symetrix for a lot of house of worship projects,’ Cole confirms. ‘They’re a very good-sounding and reliable product, they won’t break the bank, and they have native Dante, which we wanted for this system. We also wanted a DSP that allowed us to do external control for the priest’s microphone without additional equipment. We ran the priest, deacon, and ambo microphones directly to the Radius EX and provided a Symetrix ARC-3 controller so the priest can make simple level adjustments without getting into deep system control.’
In the music area, a Yamaha QL1 digital mixer runs via Dante back to the DSP and breaks out to the Iconyx system. ‘The music director makes the adjustments to the system,’ notes Cole. ‘It’s not the best location to hear everything but it gives the music director control as the church desired.’
The new sound system has proven a match for the renovated sanctuary: ‘Now you can hear speech clearly and intelligibly throughout the space, with no dead spots,’ asserts Cole. ‘The praise band finally has a sound system that properly supports their music. The priest can hear everything, thanks to the Renkus-Heinz CFX-61 fills. Visually, the system is well concealed, maintaining the improved aesthetics of the space.’
