Sacred Heart Forane Church is a Syro-Malabar Catholic church situated in Thiruvambady, Kozhikode District, Kerala, India. After almost 60 years, the church underwent renovation of its altar as well as the addition of a new sound system from QSC designed and implemented by Mathew George, founder and owner of systems integrator AVkraft. The system consists of a series of K12.2 active loudspeakers as well as CP8 and CP12 compact active loudspeakers.
George, who has a background in sound engineering, is also the chief designer at AVkraft and enjoys working on sound in churches because of the creative freedom. He first became aware of the church’s sonic needs when the parish priest invited him to come and listen. He says: “I came to the church to see a marriage ceremony and I could not hear well. There were pillars and they created an obstruction. The old sound system was assembled with local speakers. Later, the parish priest and I spoke, and he asked me to change the system, giving me the freedom to choose a better solution.”
Father Jose Oliakattil noted: “Our original sound system was an aging speaker system that was no longer achieving desired sound quality. We have online masses every day, and there were a lot of problems. I invited Mathew to come and listen to the issues. We are very happy he selected QSC — the system sounds wonderful and is working perfectly.”
With 2,000 watts of clean Class-D power and 75 degrees of axisymmetric coverage, the K12.2 loudspeakers made for ideal mains. George said: “I used the EASE acoustic simulation and analysis software and focused on the pews. I could clearly tell that we’d get the best sound for the parishioners by simply placing two K12.2’s on the front two pillars focusing upon the centre area.”
Given Sacred Heart’s many nooks and crannies, George then brought in the CP series to serve as fills and monitors. He said: “I used a total of six CP12 along the left and right of the side walls. The CP series sounds great but is very affordable, which let me work within the budget the church set out. Again, I used the EASE software to position them optimally, and they are working great. For monitors for the keyboardist and choir, I used CP8s in an inverted position. Throughout, there is no feedback or howling and everything is equally audible everywhere in the room. The keyboard and choir now sound very clear.”
George reflected on the final audio outcome for churchgoers: “The system sounds soothing. The sound is being appreciated by the younger and older generations alike. Kids aged 8 to 16 always like to sit in the front of the church to listen to the music and now older people do, too. I think that’s because even when you’re very close to the speaker, the sound is not irritating. We’re able to project clear sound everywhere without any speaker being too loud.”