PT Kairos Multi Jaya delivers an audio upgrade at St. Franciscus de Sales Church in South Sumatra, Indonesia. Naila Nadeem explores the audio installation.
St. Franciscus de Sales Church, located in Palembang City, South Sumatra, Indonesia, recently decided to revamp its audio system to better accommodate its growing Catholic community.
For this project, PT Kairos Multi Jaya was appointed as the integrator. Arief Adi Pramudianto, brand manager from PT Kairos Multi Jaya, shares how the integrator was brought on board the project: “We previously worked on installing the main speakers here at St. Franciscus de Sales Church a few years ago. They realised that the sound system was now outdated, so they wanted to replace or upgrade the system. Hence, they reached out to us for the project as we were already familiar with the infrastructure of the church.”
Pramudianto continues: “This church has been seeing an increase in the number of churchgoers because the Catholic community in Indonesia is growing steadily. In Catholic churches, the focus for daily mass tends to be on vocals or instruments, typically a Hammond organ or an Electone. For special occasions like Christmas or Easter, they’ll have a choir performing in the church hall. Hence, they requested for an upgrade to improve the quality of audio.”
The church committee placed a high priority on preserving the historical integrity of the church’s interior, opting not to introduce any acoustic treatment that might alter the character of the space. As a result, the Kairos team faced the challenge of designing an audio setup that could deliver clear, balanced sound without relying on traditional acoustic modifications.
Rizqtsany, system engineer from PT Kairos Multi Jaya, brings us through the thought process of designing the new audio system: “Without any acoustic treatment being done to the church hall, we decided that the best solution would be to install speakers with beam steering technology.”
The audio setup in the church features a carefully selected range of equipment. At the heart of the system are the EAW AC6 Adaptive column speakers, which serve as the main speakers. Rizqtsany notes: “We chose to go with the EAW AC6 Adaptive speakers as these utilise a form of waveguide technology which steers sound frequency to an area with less reverberation. This was especially important since the interior of the church is mainly made of hard materials, such as wood, that aren’t acoustic-friendly.”
To address the acoustic challenges of a large worship space, EAW Radius RSX 89 speakers are utilised as delay speakers, extending sound evenly towards the back of the church. Additionally, EAW Radius RSX 89 units are used as front-fill speakers. He explains further: “We designed the church’s sound system with a strong focus on intelligibility, ensuring that prayers and sermons are heard clearly and in detail. To achieve this, we implemented a combination of speakers including a delay system and front fill speakers, to ensure uniform audio coverage for the audience no matter where they’re sitting.”
For the upper balcony, legacy RCF TT052 speakers, retained from the prior installation, ensure that even those in the higher seating areas can have the same audio experience as churchgoers sitting in the pews. The same RCF TT052 models, also legacy units, are strategically positioned as side-fill or wing speakers and are deployed on the altar as well.
Managing this audio arrangement is the Allen & Heath SQ6 audio mixing console, which Pramudianto talks about: “Allen & Heath has always been a reliable choice for our mixing needs. We trust their mixers for our installations, and the products have been consistently delivering good results. The best part about Allen & Heath products is that we can get the maximum quality of processing with a relatively modest budget.”
Apart from the main church hall, PT Kairos Multi Jaya also worked on the audio system in the smaller prayer rooms. Pramudianto says: “These rooms are typically used during special events like Christmas or Easter when the main church hall is at full capacity. During these times, the smaller prayer rooms are used to accommodate overflow from the main hall, and the same audio feed is sent to these rooms, ensuring that everyone hears the same message.”
For the prayer rooms, the team installed EAW CIS400 ceiling speakers as well as RCF PL 8X coaxial ceiling speakers. To manage the audio distribution from the church hall to the prayer rooms, PT Kairos Multi Jaya installed its own DSP, which is manufactured by the integrator under the brand Silvercrest.
Pramudianto shares: “We have developed our own DSPs locally to meet market needs in Indonesia. The DSP offers four inputs and eight outputs, allowing us to distribute the audio signals effectively from the main church to areas like the chapel, the Angelus room, and even the school. The audio signal is copied from the main system, processed using stereo matrix, and then sent through the Silvercrest DSP to the different speakers, ensuring consistent audio quality throughout the entire space.”
The Kairos team faced a unique set of challenges when designing the audio system for the Catholic church, but their familiarity with the building eased the process significantly. Pramudianto says: “The main challenge was integrating the old system that used RCF speakers with the new one that we were designing using EAW speakers. Matching the frequency response and aligning the audio between the two brands was tricky, but we managed to get the job done well in the end.”
Moreover, a crucial factor in the design process was the church’s reliance on volunteers to manage the sound during services. This required the Kairos team to create a system that was user-friendly and accessible to individuals of all ages and skill levels.
Pramudianto adds: “We had to create a very simple system that almost anyone in the church could operate. If the system was too complex, it would be difficult for volunteers to use during daily mass. That’s why we chose Allen & Heath for the mixing console. It has a very intuitive graphical user interface, so even a beginner can use the mixing console without any issues.”
He concludes: “Today, one person might manage the audio, but next week it could be someone else. So, we’ve set a few presets such that anyone in charge of the mass or daily operations can easily use and operate the system. We’re proud to have been able to deliver excellent results to the church, meeting their needs for a system that is intuitive.”