New Sound System Installation Project – Sacred Heart Church in Waltham

Form Meets Function from Power Sound of New England

Speakers blend with the church aesthetics.

Power Sound of New England recently completed a sound system installation project at Sacred Heart Church in Waltham Massachusetts. Like all parishes, quality church sound is vital. For this Catholic Church, a PA sound system renovation was needed; in fact the church sound before the renovation was described as “virtually unintelligible”. Power Sound of New England, specializing in professional pro sound systems for worship, was chosen to consult and design and install new sound system.

The Project: The pastor, Rev. Dennis J. Wheatley needed the sound for both the spoken word and the music to be addressed in the new system design. Power Sound of New England designed a church sound system tailored to the parish’s specific needs. “The Mass features a choir so pro sound quality for singing voices is important. Their Life Teen Ministry is an integral part of the parish and its Services include a band. We integrated the musical component of the Masses into the system design. We created a church sound system to improve the clarity of music and the speaking voice”, said Power Sound of New England General Manager, Troy Jennings.

Sound Scenario Selector

Features: Pro sound equipment is an integral part of the PA sound system design. One component in particular offers an important benefit is the sound scenario selector, SSR. The pa sound system plan included the installation of remote controller has presets for small or large masses, for 16 choir microphones or the music ministry equipment amplification. The right sound –every time– for speech, song and music all in one custom church sound system. The technician, specializing in audio installation to manage church acoustics, programmed the SSR for the sound scenarios at the church, ex: large Mass, small Mass, 16 choir microphones on, full band performing, etc. The result is that both clergy and music ministry get the ideal sound settings every time. Ease of use is another feature essential to churches; the SSR is simply tuned, by a one-dial selector, to the setting desired.

Speakers - close up

Another feature of the church sound system is the installation of Bose Panaray® loudspeakers. Designed expressly for the worship space environment they project sound from multiple drivers within each speaker providing even intelligible sound throughout the worship space. From the first pew to the tenth to the last the sound is heard clearly and evenly.

“We are very pleased!

Your technicians were wonderful; they answered all of our questions. The congregation is quite receptive. Now they can all hear clearly - all the way to the last pews. A big difference from the old, unintelligible sound. The system is performing very, very well.”~ Rev. Dennis J. Wheatley, O.F.M.

 

Custom church sound systems are what set PSNE apart from typical AV dealers. Working with houses of worship since 1969, we understand the challenges of church acoustics and worship styles which gives us a unique advantage to designing effective sound system solutions for worship. And working to create systems with features as individual as the needs of each church means effective, reliable results for every church, every time.

To learn more about sound systems for churches you can visit Power Sound of New England’s website: http://powersoundne.com/worshipav.html. 

St. Agnes Parish in Dalton MA; Illuminating New Mass Translations with Church Video

Beautiful new Church video and a new sound and video projection system for to the parish academy

St. Agnes Parish; Dalton MA

“We love it!” “Every seat in the church can see the screens…We will be using our video projection at every Mass!” said Fr Chris Malatesta when asked about the new video system at his parish.

The Projects - Audio Visual Systems: First, Fr. Chris at St. Agnes Parish in Dalton Massachusetts wanted to add video projection to the Mass for his congregation.  A custom PSNE Church Video system designed by Power Sound of New England featuring an AV installation of two motorized 12-foot projections screens answered the call. The Massachusetts church video projections system can utilize computers set up in multiple locations to operate the church video presentations. At the Academy, the parish wanted a pro sound system combined with video projection for their cafetorium.

 Goals for video projection: St. Agnes was seeking a vivid way for the congregation to see the liturgy, hymns and other visuals. And, most importantly, they wanted a way to highlight the new Mass Translations. 

The new Mass Translations, religious imagery, hymns, and bulletins can be

prominently displayed on two large screens.

  “One of the most important roles of the video projection will be for the new Mass Translations. Instead of relying solely on hand–held pew cards the congregation can lift their faces, and the voices, to the altar as they say the prayers.” ~ Fr. Chris Malatesta: St. Agnes Parish, Dalton MA

Angled large-format screens provide 

beautiful views from every pew.

Church Video – After analyzing the sanctuary Power Sound of New England designed an audio visual system tailored to the unique characteristics of the space. Very high wooden ceilings with structural beams and a wide sanctuary presented some interesting challenges. The solution: Two screens mounted at angles from the beams. This ensures clear viewing cross church video viewing from all pews. The high contrast screens offer front projection capabilities. The projectors were ceiling-mounted on rods and hung parallel to the chandeliers in order to preserve aesthetics while insuring the AV installation best accommodated the technical design specs of the video projection system. The AV installation of the projections screens required a bucket loader– not for the faint of heart!  

Video Presentations may be controlled from different chosen locations at St Agnes including the front of the sanctuary from a laptop computer or their AV room in the loft.

Screen casings match the ceiling.

Cameras: Power Sound of New England integrated the parish’s existing cameras into the new audio visual system. This gives the parish the ability to use the church video system by employing the in-house cameras to record the sanctuary activities. This feature of video projection at churches is ideal for projecting wedding ceremonies, baptisms and other special altar services onto screens for large-format viewing. The church video system can use the cameras to transmit video to their local cable company to broadcast over the public access channel.

The Academy; Pro Sound and Video – An AV installation at the parish academy was customized for the school’s multi-use space, the gym/cafetorium. Because the parish wanted reliable sound and video quality, Power Sound of New England designed a pro sound and video projection system that allows for myriad presentations including music, speaking and performance.

St Agnes Parish now has the audio visual system solutions that answer the call of their many video system goals. Fr Chris is very happy. He spoke of the parish’s new systems and working with PSNE by saying, “We chose Power Sound after consulting with other A/V companies— and even trying portable systems. After meeting with Troy we knew; Power Sound had an exceptional sense of our worship needs combined with technical savvy. Maintaining church aesthetics was incredibly important to us We had no need to worry; after installation prior to first use I actually had to point them out to parishioners who had not noticed the new equipment. They blended nicely. Very attractive.” At Power Sound, that is music to our ears!

To learn more about audio visual systems for churches we invite you to visit Power Sound of New England’s website: http://powersoundne.com/worshipav.html.

First Congregational Church in Pembroke NH has New Church Video…

They Are Enjoying Services in a Whole New Light 

When retracted the screen neatly tucks away.

The Project: First Congregational Church – a New Hampshire church wanted a church video projection system as a way to way to bring more visual elements to their services. Power Sound of New England, PSNE  has been the trusted audio visual systems provider to more than 1500 churches in New England so the church knew they’d found the company they needed to for the custom video design and AV installation.

Retracted screen close up.

As part of the audio visual system goals many houses of worship today church video plays a key role. “More and more often we find that church AV installation projects have a video projection component”, said PSNE technical design specialist Troy D. Jennings, “With a comprehensive array of applications to address many unique needs, we are hearing from many clergy that video projection is not only illuminating the worship but that with custom church video system designs churches can select the specific features they want, in an AV installation plan that is customized to the unique characteristics of their worship space.”

What clergy are saying about Church Video Projection: 

“Video projection has greatly enhanced the Mass experience”. “The congregation can clearly see hymn lyrics...even the members with poor vision and those sitting in back pews”. “Thank you for bringing such effective technology to our parish”.

Church aesthetics are maintained

See the difference: Church video applications offer many benefits that enhance the way churches communicate. Some features of audio visual systems featuring video projection:

Visual Hymnal: Keep the focus at the pulpit. Eliminate traditional hymnals by placing hymn and song lyrics on retractable screens. A creative way to display religious imagery and church messages.

Overflow: Slim-profile plasma or projection screens in hall or overflow areas offer a streaming video     presentation of Worship Services and Celebrations.

Presentations: Educational and religious films can be displayed for vivid wide-screen viewing.

Perfect for hymn lyrics or imagery.

Security: Video as part of a church AV system can perform as a church security system.

Church video projection is functional yet visually subtle: PSNE audio visual systems are designed with the architectural characteristics of the space in mind so parishes know that they will enjoy the reliable functionality of their AV system while maintaining the important of church aesthetics. AV installations often include colorizing components to match their surroundings. Here, pictured on the right, the retracted screen at this New Hampshire church matches the wall color so it is unobtrusive to the eye.

Video Projection is deepening their connection to worship…and can improve the way you communicate your message to your congregation.

To learn more about audio visual systems including the many benefits of church video projection we invite you to visit Power Sound of New England’s website: http://powersoundne.com/worshipav.html.

New Church Audio in this completely round worship space Custom design and sound system installation from Power Sound of New England

St. Thecla Church in Pembroke Massachusetts

Church Sound that makes the Word and the Music sound better than ever

 

St. Thecla Church; Pembroke, MA

The Project: Fr. McCarthy needed clearer church sound for his congregation. The worship space in this architecturally famed Massachusetts church is completely round and features a beautiful a one piece concrete dome ceiling with a cylindrical skylight. There is an unobstructed view throughout the nave as the church was designed and built without any interior columns. Though beautiful, this creates an “incredibly live” acoustical environment so projecting clear church sound evenly throughout the space has been a challenge.  The old sound system was “muddy” and “no one could hear.” Power Sound of New England was chosen to design a custom church audio tailored to the specific needs of both the Celebrants and the Music Ministry. . The sound system installation plan was designed to provide clear intelligible church sound evenly around the radial style pews.

Totally round space featuring a dome ceiling.

Church audio clarity meets aesthetic quality:  St. Thecla, a western Massachusetts Church, with its beautiful radial sanctuary featured unobstructed views throughout, so the visual impact of the church sound system is paramount. Speakers have been colored to blend with their environment and are virtually undetectable— in fact what stands out is not the 10-foot tower speakers but the greatly improved church sound quality they project.  

Professional speakers are 10’ feet tall & just 4 “wide

A Customized Sound System for the both Word and the Choir: The sound system features settings for the liturgical style of the Celebrants as well as for controlling the sound system of the music ministry. Power Sound of New England has programmed the digital sound scenario selector to the best settings for a variety of the church’s sound scenarios. This unique church sound selector features settings to automatically compensate for softer voices or louder voices. It also features audio presets that automatically set the sound for large and small attendance, automatic seasonal changes as well as for special Masses including weddings funerals and holiday Mass celebrations. The result: Church sound that is exactly right, every time.

Selection of audio setting for any style Mass

Other notable features of the comprehensive sound system installation project include an Ipod for playing recorded music for any occasion. It has been customized with a wireless transmitter so the Celebrant can cue uprecorded music from a variety playlists from anywhere in the church. Another enhancement of the sound system is the nearly invisible “Earset” microphone. It fits over the ear and rests gently against the speaker’s cheek. A great replacement for lapel mics it projects the speaker’s voice through the sound system without any feedback or fading that is a common issue with other wireless microphones.

To learn more about sound systems for churches we invite you to visit Power Sound of New England’s website: http://powersoundne.com/worshipav.html.

The Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson – Clearer Church Sound and New Video Enhance Worship

Glorious new sound and vivid video projection have given dynamic new ways to worship and communicate for a Massachusetts church

 The Project: At a Massachusetts church sound got clearer, the worship experience became more visual and the congregation went “paperless” with church video projection  all wrapped in an audio visual system design custom-crafted by Power Sound of New England. The minister, Stephen Shick had some special goals in mind. We consulted with him to provide much improved church audio and a new video projection system.

Add caption

The Church Sound System: Ceiling mounted speakers offer omni-directional sound providing church sound coverage of the spoken word evenly and clearly from front to back. The audio visual system design also features microphones integrated in the church sound system that are designed for the multi-cultural mix of musical styles featured throughout the year.

The “Earset”: Rev. Stephen likes the freedom to move throughout the church during his services to connect with the congregation. The Earset comfortably clips around the ear and projects his voice—with out feedback or fade out—no matter where he is standing or sitting. Nearly invisible, the Earset microphone adapts to most wireless microphone transmitters and enhances their performance.

The Church Video Projection: 

A retractable screen and video projector that is discreetly mounted in front of the ceiling speakers offer an effective way to provide more visual worship while maintaining church aesthetics. Church messages, programs, hymn lyrics and religious imagery may be displayed before and during services. Other times films and special programs may be presented.

"The new A/V system has given our venerable old Unitarian church a new lease on life…and added new life to the church.  We are currently working on a 'paperless service' utilizing the screen for all the necessary information and prompts.  A film series is planned for the Fall. There seems to be no end to the creative energy the system has unleashed.  Perhaps best of all, a member of 53 years told me last week that with the new church sound system she is AT LAST able to hear every word." ~ Barbara Marble, UCMH; former exec. board member

No matter what your church’s worship style, Power Sound of New England can design a church sound system or video projection to help you better communicate and enhance the worship experience. At the Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson they are enjoying the many features of their new Church Audio Visual System.

To learn more about audio visual systems for churches we invite you to visit our website: http://powersoundne.com/worshipav.html. 

Three Great Vermont Church Sound System Projects

from the leader in Vermont church audio - Power Sound of New England

Three Vermont parishes have new custom church audio systems from Power Sound of New England. For more than four decades Vermont parishes and other New England churches have chosen Power Sound of New England, more than any other Audio Visual System designers and installers for professional Church Audio Visual Systems. 

“We regard this ongoing faith in our work with much gratitude”, General Manager Troy Jennings said. “It has always been our foremost goal to provide audio visual solutions that are exactly that, ‘solutions’ for churches”.

St. Stanislaus Kotska

The Projects:

St. Stanislaus Kotska; W. Rutland - Fr. Vincent knew the sound quality of the “ancient” church sound system at his parish was inadequate. He had contracted Power Sound of New England for a Bennington church A/V project, where he was pastor a few years ago, and was delighted with the custom church sound system we designed and installed there. For his new parish project he again called on us to design a custom church audio system that would deliver clear audio intelligibility and reliability. We did.

St. Bridget Church

St. Bridget Church; W. Rutland - New "Personal Hearing Assist" system. Here Fr. Vincent needed a way to address the church sound for the hard of hearing. This parish already has great sound and video projection from the church audio visual system we designed and installed as part of an earlier project. With the hearing assist system, which we integrated with the main church audio system, a transmitter sends sound to small receivers provided to those with hearing impairment. A choice of ear buds, headphones and even a wire loop that is worn like a necklace offers comfortable and effective solutions for anyone needing extra sound amplification.

     

“A night and day difference!”

“What a relief it was to know that the parish I was assigned to recently had its church sound system designed and installed by Power Sound! I knew right away that we were in good hands. Now, having been assigned a second parish, no time was wasted in knowing who to call. Again, Power Sound came through fulfilling all our expectations.           ~ Rev. Vincent Coppola, C.S.C.;  St. Stanislaus Kotska & St Bridget Church

Our Lady of Good Hope

Our Lady of Good Hope- Brandon – A complete Church Sound System renovation was done at this church. Rev. Albert “Skip” Baltz called on us to design and install a new church audio system that features state-of-the-art components and delivers rich clear sound. The results are exactly what the parish wanted. Fr. “Skip” has told us his congregation is thankful for the quality and intelligibility of the new church sound. He said he feels it vital that “especially those a hard of hearing now can hear every word” of his homily.

Church audio is a challenge; church acoustics are known to be tough to tame. Careful analysis and experience -that numbers thousands of worship space audio visual system projects- has given Power Sound of New England far more specialized experience than any other regional A/V company. Ultimately we know this: When it comes to church audio, yes, we can give everyone the best seat in the house.

To learn more about audio visual systems for churches we invite you to visit our website: http://powersoundne.com/worshipav.html. Or, visit us on Facebook.

A Massachusetts Church Sound System Project – Audio Outdoors!

Our Lady Star of the Sea has a new Outdoor Church Audio from Power Sound of New England

Sound from the heavens to the...lawn

The Project:

Church audio extends outdoors! Parishioners at this Massachusetts church, located on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, had been asking the parish for a way to project audio of Masses outdoors. Fr. Nagle, the parish priest, also wanted a way for his congregation to have the church sound system project outdoors for the Mass for Easter, Easter Vigil, funeral masses and on other important occasions when overflow attendance occurs. He called Power Sound of New England for a solution. We designed a professional outdoor speaker system to provide church audio projection on the grounds of the church. It’s integrated into the main church sound system which we designed/installed for the parish a few years ago. Four speakers, two on the front and two on the side of the church, project clear, dynamic sound onto the front lawn and side parking area. The result is exactly what clergy and congregation wanted.

“It’s Great!

(The outdoor speakers) added a versatile element to our A/V system and make Mass available to many more parishioners for large attendance services like funerals, Easter Mass and especially for Easter Vigil. Your senior technician Julius is amazing; he can work magic anywhere, even helping us out WAY out here on the island. He’s here whenever we need assistance with anything—whether a technical call or a new component installation.”            ~ Rev. Michael R. Nagle

The Speakers:

Power Sound of New England chose professional JBL outdoor speakers which are installed under the eaves are integrated into the primary Power sound of New England church audio system. The speakers may look tiny but they project a remarkable 300 watts of power.

Durability:

Weather guarded, these professional outdoor speakers feature stainless steel grills, water tight connections and have been mounted with zinc-dipped fixtures to ensure no rust stains the newly painted church. They project quality church audio for both the spoken word and the music ministry

The Features:

Outdoors speakers for projecting church sound—whether for the homily or the hymns—also offer a wonderful excuse to take worship services, or religious education classes, out to the church yard under the blue summer sky! Outdoor speakers as part of church a/v systems are ideal for music and announcements during picnics and social gatherings as well.

How’s your sound?

Let us design the prefect solution to your parish’s needs! Church Sound Systems from Power Sound of New England; for worship indoors - or anywhere under the sun.

Fr. Casey has “Much Better” Church Sound at St. Anne Parish in Littleton, MA

Great Architecture. Challenging Acoustics. Innovative Solution; from Power Sound and Video of New England

The Project:

A new church audio system gives crystal clear sound for the spoken word and rich tone for the music ministry. Power Sound of New England analyzed the New Hampshire church’s space and carefully considered the goals of the parish to facilitate the design of two customized church sound systems. We designed and installed a system tailored for the needs in the main church and integrated church sound into a chapel sound system. Church sound systems functioning as one system or two...imagine the possibilities.

Speakers:

In many worship spaces our designs call for BOSE Panaray speakers—crafted specifically for the worship environment they are just 4 inches wide and available as 3, 6, or 9 foot heights—allows us the ability to design the church audio to project from the front-of-church mounted speakers all the way to the very back pew emitting intelligible sound evenly throughout the sanctuary. How is this incredible church sound achieved? We defer to the technical specifications from BOSE that explain the speakers for ideal church audio projection:

From pro.bose.com “The (speaker) delivers high speech intelligibility and natural sounding music… acoustically demanding spaces.” BOSE goes on to describe the drivers in each speaker __- for church audio projection as a “vertical line array of twelve 2.25" (57 mm) drivers provides wide horizontal and narrow vertical pattern control.” The speakers “reproduce the entire critical vocal range between 155 Hz and 12 kHz, -3 dB (100 Hz to 16 kHz, -10 dB) with no crossover required.”

In our terms: Great church sound for the spoken word and the music ministry.

At St. Anne Parish in Littleton, NH, church audio projection was an interesting challenge in that the handsome architecture features an extreme pitch on the upper portion of the walls. Our sound analysis indicated that this would inhibit the clear, even sound projection we wanted. To balance the church sound system we introduced a unique solution for a steep angled ceiling: We utilized 6-foot tall by just 4-inch speakers in the front of the church. Then, partway back we installed another set of smaller speakers to ensure equally distributed sound is projected throughout the nave. Notice in the photo (to the right) that while church sound is considered; so are aesthetics. The speakers are custom colored so they are heard and not noticed.

The Feature:

Special programming allows for individual church sound settings for any scenario including large weekend Mass, small daily Mass and more. A remote controller has presets for small or large masses, and an overflow setting which activates speakers in the chapel. Each space can also operate independently. This is a mainstay of Power Sound and Video’s tailored church sound systems. We program all the settings a parish may want based on possible sound scenarios which may also include; windows open in summer, full holiday Masses, different speech styles of Celebrants, etc. This means quite simply church audio settings that are exactly right every time.

The Results:

A very delighted parish priest, thankful clergy and staff and a congregation that hears every word and every note...beautifully. Amen!

“Much Better”

“We are all extremely pleased with the new sound system. The sound quality is excellent. I would highly recommend Power Sound of New England to any parish”.

~ Rev. Richard L. Casey, St Anne Parish; Littleton, MA

How’s your sound? We are here to discuss church sound systems to help those of you as your plan for church audio renovations and upgrades. We are happy to discuss your church sound system needs and how our approach can enhance the worship for your congregation.

It's all about the sound....church sound!

St. John's Seminary; Boston

Need reliable church audio or church video projection for your parish without the lingo and false promises?

We know you do. 

We get calls, a lot of calls, from parishes needing us to “fix” a system installed by companies who are either simply not pros or do not truly understand the special needs of church sound. Power Sound of New England offers, quite simply, professional church sound and video Solutions.

Often we get asked why our designs are so detailed or our proposals so comprehensive. Sometimes we even get asked why our church audio or video projection systems are more expensive than the prices for products found at online discount retailers web sites.

So, let us share some information to help you compare church audio or church video projection apples to apples.

We are not:

A retail store that sells amplifiers, microphones, speakers or video projection system parts that you then need to hire a contractor to install.

A discount parts retailer without any guarantees

A company that sells A/V parts or installs parts for any application with no expert knowledge in any one discipline more than any other.

The guys who once worked at a Sound shack or installed his cousin’s home theater system.

A couple of college guys who “really dig wiring stuff” and have a cookie-cutter a/v package.

Our Mission and Philosophy:

We specialize in church sound and video projection systems. Always have.  Always will. We believe that because it’s to share the word of God, the church sound must be flawless. Not sometimes, but every time...and, that church video projection will facilitate a deeper connection to worship. Church video should enhance the worship experience but not distract from it.

Immaculate Conception Parish; Nashua NH

We are:

New England’s most trusted provider of Church Audio Visual Solutions for Worship. Our systems include the expertise of a team with more than 60 years of church sound solutions. We understand the needs specific to worship space applications. And we know that one size does not fit all.

Our work:

We analyze your needs—in real time— in order to create a custom design for a video projection system or church sound system that meets the needs unique to your worship space and your worship style. We consult with you until you are able to clearly define exactly what you actually want and need. Then we design a church audio or video system specifically to meet those needs. We use only professional parts designed for the needs of worship spaces and our installation of the parts we provide is guaranteed. We patiently take all the time needed to teach everyone at your church who needs to understand how any component functions and the functionality all of its special features. We test the system to ensure it works, perfectly. We then are available for questions, further fine tuning, routine maintenance of your church audio or video projection system – for upgrades/additions as you needs require.

What they say:

“...it’s incredible.”

"The sound system is wonderful, it's incredible really. A big change! Everyone can hear now; even those who are hard of hearing say they can hear. It has changed the liturgy and made it more available. The speakers blend in to their surroundings so well with that many people have actually asked where they are."

~ Rev. John M. Grace; Parish of the Resurrection, Nashua NH

Power Sound of New England has served more than 1,200 churches, parishes, and seminaries since 1969.  Churches from New Hampshire to Boston Massachusetts to Rhode Island and beyond trust our professional church sound and video systems. So can yours.