New Audio & Visual System Refurbishment
PLEASE NOTE THIS SPECIFICATION IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE UNTIL FULL FACULTY APPROVAL IS PROVIDED
Overview
The current Audio desk and speaker system is now over 30 years old and is starting to breakdown and, combined with an increasing number of visual presentations and the regular hymn words we present on screen, we have looked at the solutions to both upgrade and refresh the system and setup we have in the Church.
Our primary goal was to design a system capable of support the needs of the Church for the immediate future but give us a platform to support the Church needs in the future and therefore working with a number of suppliers we have designed a platform to last the next 30 years using components that are modular in nature allowing us to swap individual elements without the need to go through a major overhaul and refit process.
Current Status
| Approved |
| Faculty |
| Planning |
| Implementation |
| Complete |
The project was approved by the PCC with 17 approvals and 1 abstention (due to ill health) and was completed in December 2025.
Proposal
The proposed solutions is broken into three key areas:-
- Speaker System
- Display System (How we show presentations, videos and hymn words)
- Audio System
Speaker System
The speakers that we have been recommended are a modular speaker stack that, when combined, will look like a single thin speaker approximately 12 centimetres or 5 inches wide. The images to the right (fig 1 and 2) show the type of speakers although the colours may vary as one thing we are looking to do is try and colour match them as best we can to the wall colouring where the speakers will be installed in order to make them as invisible as possible. They will be placed slightly higher than the existing speakers and will be out of normal eye line.
The speakers are based on a line array technology. A line array sound system is a premium solution that uses specialist speakers with very precise audio distribution characteristics to ‘point’ sound exactly where we want it. An array system uses several small speakers in combination to achieve the desired sound output / coverage in the room. These small speakers provide and midrange and treble sounds and operate in conjunction with a bass sub woofer.
They work exceptionally well, especially in large churches because they minimise the amount of echo in
the room. Regular speakers commonly send sound into the roof space causing unwanted echo and
‘muddying’ of the sound that becomes harder to listen to and also causes modern digital hearing aids
problems. Line array solves this by minimising echo.
Each speaker (see fig 1) provides sound to 100 degrees wide but only 10 degrees vertically meaning that audio is distributed across the congregation rather than omni directionally.
Multiple speaker modules are then used in combination (see fig 2) to provide the desired sound output. The image to the right 6 modules in use giving a sound output of 100 degrees wide by 60 degrees tall with all the audio being projected forward and down.
This is all a bit techie but the end result is a refined sound system that provides superb sound output while being very discreet.
Our system installation would see a pair (similar to the white set in the photo to the right in fig 2) front left and front right and another single set in the side aisle. They would all be mounted about 4m up off the floor.
The choir will also be getting new speakers (see fig 3) and these will replace the current speaker solution that has proved problematic at best.
Both speaker solutions will also be attached to new digital amplifiers that should give a much clearer audio signal.
Display System
The system will operate at up to 4K resolution but will work at lower resolutions until IT hardware is replaced. We discussed getting an electrician to provide new sockets. If this didn’t happen we would use local existing sockets and effectively make extension cables to the new equipment.
The 85 inch screen will be mounted on a swinging arm bracket which will be secured to the external south wall. The choir screens will be mounted to ‘cantilever arm’ brackets which allows them to be extended and angled as desired and then pushed back to the wall when not in use.
The following will be installed as part of this solution
- An 85″ TV for the congregation
- Two (2) 32″ TV’s for the choir (This will prevent the need for one side to look over the shoulder to see what is being displayed)
- A wall mounted outlet for a mobile screen by the children’s area at the rear of the church
- A laptop connection point at the front of church (this will allow for presenter laptop to project across the system from the front of the church near the pulpit)
- A connection point in the current technical area (along with all the distribution equipment)
The platform is fully modular and any aspect of it can be upgraded, replaced or repaired without the need for an expensive refit or overhaul. The idea behind it is that the church is fully enabled for any possibility either now or in the future.
The system will also utilise a distributed video system allowing for the same output to be displayed on multiple screens at the same time without the need for cables to be run across floors.
Audio System
The current sound desk setup comprises of a primary 16 channel analogue audio mixer with a secondary 8 channel analogue audio mixer connected to the primary unit. The proposal is to replace both of these mixing desks with a single 24 channel digital mixing desk.
Swapping both of these desks will allow for more flexibility when mixing audio inputs and will also allow us to use an additional 24 input expansion unit near the choir allowing for significantly more microphones and other inputs from musical instruments to be used.
As the system is also digital a large amount of cabling currently in use for the audio desk and be removed.
By using a digital audio desk we are also able to leverage future enhancements and smaller more compact microphones.
The audio desk also gives us the capability to remotely control it using the existing church Wi-Fi network using an iPad making solo services easier to control. The desk also allows for multiple configurations to be saved and recalled for different scenarios and events that we run in the church (such as the Christmas Carol service, the local Thelwall school services) without the need to spend time resetting the desk for the next service.
Selected Vendor
After looking at several vendors we have selected a vendor (Piranha Audio Visual) that was both able to provide us with all the requirements we had as well as having experience of installing solutions in a Church and with a wide range of experience in audio visual installation.
Piranha are a family business established in 2008 with roots going back to 2000. They work across the UK and alongside churches, and operate in various sectors providing specialist training suites for Fire Authorities, AV solutions for the NHS, the education sector, businesses and bespoke installations for the tourist attraction sector where we work with zoos and underground attractions.
Previous and current clients include household names such as Muller Dairies, Chester Zoo, Cheddar Gorge and Caves, Llechwedd Slate Caverns, Mornflake Oats, Cheshire Fire Service, Merseyside Fire Service, Manchester Fire Service, Cheshire Police, Staffordshire Police along with many schools, local businesses and lots of churches.
Andy Noble, the director of Piranha, has spent 15 years working in the live events industry, starting as a sound engineer then moving to project manager then to company manager designing and overseeing events for up to 3000 delegates. During this time he started providing installation services of the same equipment and has been designing and installing technical systems ever since, some of which have won awards.
Andy, his wife and brother (Steve) are key team members and are all Christians since making commitments in their childhood/teenage years. They have been involved in many aspects of church life including playing in church bands, leading worship, running the sound equipment, song words software, lighting tech and camera systems and being a church warden. In addition Andy and Steve have volunteered to run tech at Christian events.
All this band and technical experience (gained in different denominations) provides a firm foundation for all the solutions they design for churches. They are also very aware that the technology in churches is usually ran by volunteers not engineers and the systems they design keep the technology as un-technical as possible.
Costs
As you can imagine the costs associated with an installation of this nature can be quite large. Review the current system costs it came out at over £30,000 for the audio desk and speaker system just over 30 years ago. When looking at this solution we made a conscious effort to ensure that costs were as low as was both practical and possible. We have established that the system should be modular to prevent expensive replacement and refit costs in the future whilst ensuring that all of our current and future needs can be met.
The table below shows each major component and the costs associated with it:-
Speaker System
| Sub Component | Net Cost | Cost (Inc VAT) | Total Cost (Inc VAT) |
| Main Speakers (South Seating Area) | £2,542.00 | £3,050.40 | £8,271.60 |
| Side Aisle (North Seating Side) | £791.00 | £949.20 | |
| Amplifiers | £2,120.00 | £2,544.00 | |
| Choir speakers and amplifiers | £1,440.00 | £1,728.00 |
Display System
| Sub Component | Net Cost | Cost (Inc VAT) | Total Cost (Inc VAT) |
| TV’s, Brackets, Cabling & HDMI Setup | £5,096.00 (Reduced from £5,296.00) | £6,115.20 (Reduced from £6,355.20) | £6,115.20 (Reduced from £6,355.20) |
Audio Desk
| Sub Component | Net Cost | Cost (Inc VAT) | Total Cost (Inc VAT) |
| Sound desk | £3,500.00 | £4,200.00 | £4,200.00 |
Based on the above this gives a total project cost of £18,586.80 (Reduced from £18,826.80) against an initially projected budget of £20,000
Funding
Thankfully Douglas has found a funder that will fund the full cost of the project and therefore the Church wont need to find the funding to complete project. There may be some small costs associated with minor electrical work or opportunities to replace minor equipment (such as broken microphones) but these are expected to be minor costs and would likely be required even if this project did not proceed.
Further Information
If you would like further information on the project then please contact myself, Jon Halliday, on email at jon@allsaints.org.uk or you can catch me in the Church on Sunday.
