St. Bride's Given AQ upgrade

Built by Sir Christopher Wren in the 1680s following the Great Fire of London, St. Bride’s parish church in Fleet Street is one of the Capital’s best-known monuments — and as a place of worship dates back as far as the 6th century.

Long associated with the printing and newspaper industries, St. Bride’s today stages a wide variety of events — from normal Sunday worship to lunchtime concerts, weddings, conferences, editors’ forums, lectures and memorial services.

The broadening nature of the programme meant that serious limitations were being exposed in the existing public address system, and broadcast/multimedia specialists, Interactive View, have specified the replacement of the old sound rig with 16 discrete, ultra-compact Martin Audio AQ6 loudspeakers, as part of an overall package. These are powered by three MA900 amplifiers and optimised using Allen & Heath DSP.

It is the perfect solution. The church’s administrator, James Irving, explained that the original system, back in the early 1970’s, had been for preacher reinforcement only, using fixed point and lapel mics. “However, this was unsuitable for anyone not used to public speaking.

“In 1995 this was upgraded to a wireless system, although the existing cable was re-used. It was much improved but still had limitations — and last year, when a mic gave up during a high-profile service, we realised something had to be done.”

The church already had a relationship with integrators, Interactive View. “We had been impressed with them, and so we brought them in to advise.”

In particular, St. Bride’s administrator is delighted with the sensitivity with which Interactive View have treated the mounting of the AQ6’s in the Grade I-listed building.

“There is a lot of oak panelling and they have been able to work within the dovetails to ensure that nothing is protruding and the speakers are angled correctly. Aesthetically they are superb — we have used grey AQ6’s where they are abutting the stonework and black everywhere else.”

He cofirmed that the work had been funded by a private donation from a member of the congregation. “It had become top priority and I must say it’s a dramatic improvement. The first time we used the Martin Audio system at a Sunday service everyone said how much they noticed the difference. Now guest speakers can be heard by everyone — whether they are professional or not.”