Renkus-Heinz UBX loudspeakers have been installed at Saint Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Cathedral in London to improve speech intelligibility in the historic worship space.
The Bayswater cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Divine Wisdom, features a polychromatic marble interior that creates a highly reflective acoustic environment. Its previous sound system was able to provide low-level background music during the day but struggled to deliver clear speech during services.
API Sound & Visual worked with distributor CUK Group to design a dedicated speech reinforcement system that could deliver clarity from front to back while respecting the cathedral’s architecture and installation constraints.
Stephen Neath, sales director at API Sound & Visual, said: “In a space of this scale, dominated by hard marble surfaces, sound reflects endlessly. It was imperative that the system was highly directional, focusing audio precisely where people are seated; otherwise, the spoken word would simply be lost.”
The new system uses two Renkus-Heinz UBX16 loudspeakers as the main left and right sources, selected for their vertical pattern control. The beams were aimed to cross around two-thirds of the way down the nave to provide primary coverage.
Two UBX8 loudspeakers were positioned on the left and right sides and aimed outward to support horizontal dispersion, with a further pair of UBX8s installed as delay fills further down the room to maintain clarity and level consistency at the rear.
CUK Group supported the system design with a 2D direct sound simulation in EASE Focus to check coverage and dispersion from the main loudspeakers. Compact Powersoft amplification was specified to support the loudspeakers and allow system tuning within a tidy rack installation.
Control is handled through a single-button wall panel with a small display, allowing preset scenes to be selected so the system can be configured quickly for services.
The installation team also had to work around the cathedral’s marble surfaces. Direct drilling was avoided, with the new loudspeakers mounted using existing-style wooden backings fixed into the grout rather than the marble. Black loudspeaker casings were used to reduce visual impact within the interior.
According to the project team, complaints about poor audibility had previously been a weekly occurrence, but feedback has since been positive, with worshippers able to hear clearly throughout the space.
Neath said the project has already given API Sound & Visual the confidence to specify UBX Series loudspeakers for another church installation.