CASE STUDY
St. Peters Church
Delivering another sound success
When St Peter’s Church in Evercreech, Somerset first invested in Amina loudspeakers over 25 years ago, the goal was simple: deliver clear, natural sound throughout the church without compromising the character of the historic building.
The original church sound system, installed by Alive Church Systems, used Amina speaker panels for live music, music playback and speech reinforcement. For more than two decades, the system served the church faithfully, helping congregations enjoy everything from traditional services to contemporary worship events.
Upgrading the Church System after 25 years
Earlier this year, the church decided it was time for an upgrade. Working once again with Chris Shaw, Managing Director of Alive Church Systems, the church replaced its original Amina panels with the latest generation Amina Sapphire, DML speakers, bringing modern Distributed Mode Loudspeaker (DML) technology into a building with centuries of history.
The improvement was immediate. “The congregation have noticed the difference themselves,” explains Chris. “People have commented on how much clearer and more natural everything sounds during services.”
The Acoustic challenge of historic churches
For many audio installations, particularly in heritage buildings, achieving excellent speech intelligibility and even sound coverage can be a challenge. Churches are often characterised by high ceilings, reflective stone surfaces and long reverberation times, all of which can make conventional loudspeaker systems difficult to optimise.
This is where Amina’s DML technology offers a unique advantage.
Why DML speakers suit reverberant spaces
Unlike conventional cone loudspeakers that project sound in a relatively narrow pattern, Amina Sapphire panels deliver exceptionally wide and even dispersion. Sound is spread more naturally throughout the space, helping ensure that everyone hears clearly, whether seated at the front, middle or rear of the church.
The result is improved intelligibility for spoken word, greater clarity for music and a more consistent listening experience across the entire congregation.
Protecting a 16th Century building: visible panels with custom standoffs
What’s particularly interesting about the St Peter’s project is that the speakers are not installed in the way most people would typically expect from Amina.
Amina DML speakers are often plastered seamlessly into walls or ceilings, becoming completely invisible once decorated. However, in a 16th-century church, preserving the historic fabric of the building was paramount, making a fully invisible installation impractical.
Instead, the new Sapphire panels were mounted on specially designed custom standoffs.
A partnership spanning 25 years
Twenty-five years after the original installation, the partnership between St Peter’s Church, Alive Church Systems and Amina continues to demonstrate how innovative loudspeaker technology can enhance even the most challenging acoustic environments.
Visible or invisible, the outcome remains the same: exceptional sound from the pulpit to the pews.
St Peter’s Evercreech has had a relationship with Alive Church Systems Limited for around 30 years when our previous panel system was first installed. Since that date, whilst we have tweaked it a bit, it remained in good order however, we decided to look at an upgrade and replacement as our usage needs were expanding alongside our worship. Our small team looked at a few systems, in different settings and across a budget range. Having considered all the options, we returned to ACSL as the equipment they offered really met with our needs and gave us some “future proofing”. A series of meetings with Chris from ACSL worked through the precise needs and an order was placed.
When it came to the agreed installation, Chris undertook this himself and was onsite for several days. This was very thorough and fully respected the church building and its contents. At the conclusion of works, a full handover ensured we were familiar with the operation of system and components.
Following installation, the true test, what did it sound like and how did it look. We received many compliments on the audio clarity in services and how the new sound panels fitted in with the general aesthetics of our building.
In summary, a very successful installation – thank you.
