The Cathedral has recently undergone an extensive refurbishment programme: an important part of this project was to replace the PA system, as there had always been problems with speech intelligibility in the building. Acoustic consultant, Peter Lloyd, and the installers, DL Electronics, were keen to investigate a more innovative approach, as distributed systems had not worked well in the Cathedral in the past. Following several conversations with Duran Audio UK, they arranged for an Intellivox demonstration so that they could see what could be achieved using Duran Audios DDC technology. The benefits of the technology were immediately clear and all the parties involved worked closely, under the supervision of consulting engineers Delap and Waller, to arrive at a final design that would suit the acoustic, practical and architectural requirements of the project.
The final design uses two Intellivox 4Cs to cover the main nave and side aisles. A single Intellivox 1B in the north and south transepts and a pair of Intellivox 2Bs to cover the Sanctuary and Lady Chapel. This design ensures even SPL coverage throughout the Cathedral and high direct to reverberant ratio, whilst at the same time keeping the crossing, where the altar is located, out of the direct sound field and therefore maximizing the gain before feedback of the system. The Cathedral re-opened in late May, with a congregation of around 1,200 attending the ceremony.
(Ruth Rossington)
