
Princeton University Chapel is an elegant house of worship in the style of the English Gothic cathedrals of the 14th century. Constructed in 1928 after a fire destroyed the previous worship site, the cruciform chapel cost over $2 million to construct and was the largest university chapel in the US. Complete with seating for almost 2000 worshippers, the nave features sandstone walls with limestone highlights and towering 80 ft-high ceilings, but its admirable aesthetics compromised the speech intelligibility of liturgical services.
To resolve these issues, the chapel’s staff contacted Maryland-based audio-visual integrators Washington Professional Systems (WPS) for a new audio system. The brief specified clear and intelligible speech for all congregants, acoustically balanced music enhancement, broadcast capabilities, and better audio clarity for worship leaders, the choir, and the musicians. With consultancy support from SIA Acoustics, the chapel upgraded to a beam-steering system from Renkus-Heinz.
Going into the historically sensitive project, WPS worked closely with the project architect. WPS deployed a tiered escalation process to identify any modifications and sought guidance on how to proceed, ensuring the impact on the chapel’s irreplaceable stone and woodwork was minimal.
“The system utilizes 13 different self-powered Renkus-Heinz IC Live Gen5 loudspeakers throughout the main sanctuary, located on each side of the altar, on the columns of the nave, on the sidewalls of the balcony, and at the Marquand Chapel,” explains John V. Fish, senior project engineer at WPS. “Each loudspeaker receives an independent audio signal from the DSP and is programmed with specific delays to act as one unit, creating the effect that the audio is being delivered from the altar.” The system takes advantage of Renkus’ new accessible OmniBeam beam-steering configuration algorithm for custom-tailored sound that covers the exact geometry of the space, with consistency from the front to the back of any venue.
“The beam-steering capabilities allow control of sound dispersion from the loudspeakers in the vertical plane. This capability helps fine-tune the system for highly intelligible speech in the very reverberant and reflective Chapel,” furthers Sam Berkow of SIA Acoustics. “Additionally, the IC Live Gen5 loudspeakers allow us as designers to control the vertical dispersion of sound to the point where we can create the sense that sound is coming from the presenter or worship leader themselves, rather than from the loudspeakers.”
The system is mixed through an Allen and Heath Avantis digital console, and a Dante-based network is used to transport audio signals throughout the sanctuary, the choir, and the altar. All system inputs and outputs are available on Dante, which means each signal can be routed as needed, including to specific loudspeaker groups. “By offering multiple modes of operation, the design allows Chapel staff to activate and use the system without navigating a complicated startup procedure,” concludes Fish. “Additionally, the system has enough headroom to be used for a wide variety of events with no drop-off in quality or sonic clarity.”