Located in the Gangnam district of Seoul, the Kwanglim Church has installed a d&b audiotechnik loudspeaker system powerec by the company’s new 10D and 30D power amplifiers.

‘Cost always has to be one of the decisive factors when contemplating a sound system installation,’ says Jung Hawon, one of the church elders and Chairman of its Broadcasting Department. ‘The opportunity to use the brand new specialised installation amplifiers, meant that the savings, when compared to other quotations, were more than persuasive.’

The church was thorough in identifying a system to meet its congregation’s approval. A group from the 80,000 strong global worshippers were provided with grading sheets with which to rate three systems vying for the contract. The d&b V-Series system, augmented by E8 loudspeakers and driven by the newly developed amplifiers won the day.

‘Before making the final decision, I researched and visited some of the churches and arts centres where d&b systems have been installed,’ Jung explains. ‘Without exception, they were all very satisfied with the quality of the sound, the after-sales service and the supportive attitude of d&b audiotechnik Korea. I felt very confident that we were making the right decision from a quality point of view and extremely fortunate that we were able to acquire the same quality as these other venues but at a lower cost due to the new amplifiers.’

Originally constructed in 1978, the Apgujung Kwanglim Church in Seoul (there are other Kwanglim Churches in locations worldwide) was designed to accommodate the sound from the huge organ that dominates the stage. Marble pillars, floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows, polished wood walls and the extensive balcony that protrudes long and low over the floor seating, all help create an acoustically challenging environment: ‘Our church has historically suffered from awful sound – low intelligibility and very reverberant sound due to the acoustics of a worship space that was designed for the more traditional style of Christian worship. Of course, times have moved on, and we now offer different styles of worship to suit all generations – traditional including choir, organ music and sermon, and contemporary with band music and sermon. Our Sunday services are broadcast to other countries, such as Japan and France, so it is not just three thousand eight hundred worshippers in the hall who hear us.’

‘I explained that the new amplifiers can deliver ArrayProcessing to installed line array systems, so in addition to the cost saving, the church would still have access to the features available on the more familiar D20 and D80 amplifiers,’ says Kevin Kim at d&b audiotechnik Korea. ‘The 10D is for the E8 loudspeakers and the 30D for the V-Series including the V-Subs and J-Subs on the specification. Between them the two models cover almost all install applications and the comprehensive DSP capabilities can accept new updates from d&b firmware making them future proof investments.’

Once the hardware was installed, d&b Regional Application Support and Education Manager Gert Sanner helped to set the system up: ‘This was quite a tricky task with all the acoustic challenges. Once all the measurements were acquired we went onto setting up ArrayProcessing on the 30D amplifier – for the first time ever. I have to say it sounded pretty special. The balcony that previously used to be a little loud at the front now featured a very even coverage and we achieved tonal balance in the whole auditorium.’

‘Before the installation, my hope was that changing the system to d&b would produce a positive improvement and create a more immersive worship experience, regardless of worship styles,’ says Jung. ‘I can honestly say that my expectations have been surpassed. The congregation, staff and ministers are very satisfied.’

‘I was fortunate enough to get the chance to hear before and after applying ArrayProcessing,’ he adds. ‘Even though I don’t consider myself to be an expert, I could clearly hear the difference. To me, this means that worship experiences can be identical regardless of seating location.’

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