St. John Vianney Catholic Church

Location:

Bettendorf, IA

At a Glance:

Diagnosis of acoustics

Acoustical treatment

Sound system renovation

Those Involved:

C. V. Lloyde Audiovisual

Cardinal Acoustics

“We were impressed by the professionalism and expertise of C.V. Lloyde when seeking companies for our sound renovation project. They successfully led us from poor acoustics and intelligibility to a redesigned sound environment with a satisfying aural experience. C.V. Lloyde’s renovation not only solved our sound problems, but they also paid attention to aesthetic detail in their design (the acoustical panels actually add to the beauty of the worship space). Their bid was lower than local competitors and their staff was far and above more pleasing to work with.”

Eleanor Kiel - Director of Liturgy and Music

Their Challenge

St. John Vianney Catholic Church located in Bettendorf, Iowa was experiencing poor sound quality and significant echo throughout their sanctuary. This stunningly beautiful sanctuary is perfect for near 360 degree seating with ample space. However, it is constructed of hard, non-absorptive surfaces, which results in significant reverb times (echo) due to the collection of sound wave reflections coming from so many different angles and surfaces. This reverb creates an acoustical challenge, causing reflections to reach the parishioners at different times, making it difficult to understand the orator’s spoken word through the sound system.

Our Solution

A two tiered approach would be required:

Solve the challenge of the sanctuary with an acoustical treatment design that could reduce the reverb time from 3 seconds to 1.5 seconds.
Design the appropriate distributed sound system to maximize coverage with an even sound pressure level resulting in less than 1.5 decibel variance from seat to seat.

Space mapping and 3D modeling were used to determine the best areas to undergo acoustical treatment. Aesthetically pleasing sound absorptive panels along with a new, well-balanced, sound system allowed us to achieve better than expected results.

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