Its cross shaped base-form with a 2500 capacity main nave and big side aisles, each with a capacity of some 250 visitors, a depth of 60m. plus the seven seconds reverb made the assignment to provide accurate sound reinforcement a true challenge for audio company Pa-P.A and Alcons' engineer Philip de Haan.
After a first demo-session with Alcons QR36 sets equipped with double RBN1801 pro-ribbon HF drivers: two columns in the main 'national' nave of the Basilica, one column in the 'parish' nave, where it excelled over the existing recently installed beam-steered system in the A/B test, the church management decided to invest in the Alcons system.
"The result of the tests was astonishing and far better than the telephone-sound they had before," reports Luc De Paepe, managing director of Pa.P.A, "And the church administration gave the green light for an Alcons configuration in the national nave. The QR36 was designed for difficult acoustic environments, but the national Basilica became the first church to install a set - contrary to most line array systems ("that still have too much dispersion") they offer a perfect, almost absolute 3° vertical dispersion angle, projecting the sound right to the church audience."
With the Basilica's architect Jos Van den Breeden, the Alcons QR36 speaker enclosures were tailored to fit the monumental architecture, and Alcons' engineers configured the system from two metre QR36 columns, to obtain the perfect sound for the church. The speakers and custom stands were supplied in a special RAL 'ancient' green finish, contrasting with the basilica interior and terracotta-finished pillars.
The system was 'baptised' during a celebration for the Belgian army and in a ceremony with Congolese Bishop Monsengwo and performed faultlessly.
(Jim Evans)
