As one of the largest houses of worship in Lebanon, Beirut’s Saint Therese Church is a leading voice in the local community, though until recently its own services were somewhat muted due to an ageing audio system. Now a newly installed TW AUDiO VERA10 line array solution is ensuring that the church’s message is delivered with absolute clarity, from spoken word sermons to performances by the worship band.
Designed by TW AUDiO Middle East alongside systems integrator CKA, who also installed the solution, the VERA10 system was selected to meet the church’s need for a versatile system that could seamlessly cover a maximum congregation of 2,000 people.
“For Lebanon this is a huge number – St. Therese is one of the largest churches in the region,” says Chady Akiki, owner of CKA. “Every Monday, Priest Marwan organises a three hour prayer and meditation time for the congregation, which brings the community together. So clearly we needed to guarantee excellent quality for speech, but there was also a call to support live band performances. This is one of the few houses of worship in the area that can accommodate a full band, but the system installed previously wasn’t really able to cope with the demands of dynamic music. Consequently there had been some issues with distortion and feedback.”
Priest Marwan “takes a very keen interest in AV”, says Akiki, adding that at the beginning of the project, the priest visited the TW AUDiO ME Dubai office , where he was introduced to VERA10 and the VERA L24 enclosure.
“We were aware that this combination would give the church superb audio quality for both speech and a wide variety of musical performances, including solos and full-band activities,” says Akiki. “Sure enough, when we set up a demo for Priest Marwan he was astounded by the sound quality. We worked on a detailed design for the church and it wasn’t long before they decided to invest in a full TW AUDiO system.”
Saint Therese is now served by a L-R configuration comprising six white VERA10 enclosures flown three per-side, plus one VERA L24 per-side. In addition, five C5 enclosures provide near- and front-fill, while six M10 and seven M8 compact speakers are deployed around the church. Sound on stage is delivered courtesy of six C12 wedge enclosures, while the entire system is driven by amplifiers from Powersoft’s M and X Series.
According to Akiki, the audio excellence of the VERA10 solution is matched by its discreet, unobtrusive appearance in the church. “The line array needed to blend into the background of the church. The VERA system is highly discreet and therefore an ideal match for Saint Therese.”
Several months on from the completion of the project it is evident that the new system has transformed the church’s sound reinforcement capabilities. “The church is extremely happy with the outcome and has remarked upon the improvement in terms of overall sound quality and, in particular, the ability to direct the audio more accurately,” says Akiki. “VERA’s quality and versatility make it ideal for worship spaces so we anticipate many such installations in the future.”
