We made significant upgrades and repairs to the decades old sound system to make it state-of-the-art. All labor for engineering the system, repairing infrastructure and installing new equipment was done by volunteers.
The balcony area was substantially rewired using a raised floor, Panduit wiring channels, and isolated technical power. We installed new amplifiers, signal processors, digital effects, patch panels, and equipment racks. New choir microphones were suspended from the ceiling using micro triaxial cable cantilevered by a pulley system for remote positioning.
We started this project by having two contractors evaluate and submit proposals for replacing the sound system. No big surprise here. Each contractor said that our system was beyond its useful service life, is not up to today’s standards, and therefore the only solution is complete replacement. Naturally this meant out with the old (to the landfill) and in with the new.
We also brought in the owner of Kingdom Sound who has worked with Twin Cities churches for several decades. He had been in our building many years earlier and immediately recognized the suspended speakers. He said that they have custom fiberglass face plates on them that align the internal speakers to uniformly disburse sound to the entire room. The speakers were meticulously designed to time the arrival of sound waves such that each pew has the exact same sound experience. He said that we would be foolish to replace these speakers – they should be refurbished and cherished for many years to come. Like everything original to this building – they were well thought out and no expense was sparred in materials and craftsmanship.
ASIDE: Church leaders try to be sympathetic to the buildings architecture but unfortunately are all too quick to in declaring that something is “beyond its useful service life” and eager to send it to the dump. Century old craftsmanship deserves to be appreciated and preserved. Countless doors, windows, moldings, pews, radiators, and controls have been sent to the dump just because they were old. What a waste. Just because something is old doesn’t mean that it is of no value!