AMPLIFIERS IN CHURCHES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 77, 1 April 1938, Page 3

AMPLIFIERS IN CHURCHES

Westminste! Abbey System

pLTCRE congregations at Westjiiuter Abbey will have no diffiefty in hearing a preacher s voice. Nev loudspeaking apparatus, now beiig i n . v stalled, will clarify the sound j the most remote parts of the bu:li:n Acoustics in a large church often defective, and most people, at< lc time or another, have been exasp-rted by failure to catch the words of sermon. Hence numerous attempts di-ing the last five or six years to improve “reception” in English cathedds. The Abbey’s new sound-wiring sjtem, replacing one older and less C'lprehensive, is likely to be the most eicient in existence. Some amplifying experimen; in the cathedrals have been disanointing. Everything, of course, depends ipm the plan of the church; it is dan 1 er <us to assume that a system successfll i one place must necessarily suit anolhr. Amplification in the unfinishd iverpool Cathedral has been notably _»oiod. An authority explained to a reJn»nlative of The London Observer Br o>;. kt periments had proceeded for tvl/eJB BV to overcome B troubles caused by the temporal, wall of the building. ■ “A temporary amplifying systA) been very successful,” he said. Iwhe: the central space of the Cathedkl j. completed, we shall decide v/c’he: v

can do without the loud-speakers altogether, or whether we must get a new set. So many famous preachers come to Liverpool that it is only right to ensure that they can be heard with ease.” i Mr. W. H. H Blacking', of Salisbury, • the distinguished ecclesiastical architect, confessed that he was “not too favourably disposed” towards loud- : speakers. : “Everything depends on the place,” j he agreed. “Each case should be treated on its merits. Although in some ■ churches the ‘speakers’ undoubtedly i help, in many they do no good at all, and some preachers will not begin until : the apparatus is switched off. The apparatus, too. is often a disfigure- ! ment.” > Exeter. Lincoln, and Salisbury are ! among cathedrals with amplifying equipment. There have been installa- • tions also in some of the larger parish churches. The Dean and Chapter of a • make the decision without consulting any other authority; but I for a parish church a faculty must be F granted by the Consistory Court of the : Diocese. ( In London. St. Paul’s has had a systern in working order for some time. r The Provost of Southward had no com- . plaints to make about the amplifiers in t Seuihwark Cathedral.