Clear sound for a 160+ year old sanctuary
A Complete Sound System Rebuild after a Lightning Strike
24
Hours to First Fix
7
Solutions for Second Reverb
1
Button Operation
0
Missed Services
Project Vision
Mother of God Church, an approximately 160-year-old sanctuary in Covington, Kentucky, is built almost entirely of hard, reflective surfaces, making it one of the most acoustically challenging spaces Ovation Audiovisual has worked in. Following a lightning strike, the church needed a full audiovisual system that could deliver both clear spoken word and a full contemporary band experience–without a technician on site for day-to-day operations.
Challenges we had to Solve
Total System Loss
Weeks after Ovation completed a repair of the church’s existing column speakers, the building was struck by lightning. The strike took out the entire AV system–not just the speakers–requiring a full replacement.
Insurance Delays
Getting final approval from the insurance company took about six months. Ovation provided a temporary fix to keep the church running smoothly until the final upgrades could be approved and executed.
Historic Acoustics
With hard surfaces throughout and roughly 7 seconds of reverb, the sanctuary made it difficult to deliver intelligible spoken word without also degrading the sound of live music.
How it came together
Ovation had equipment on-site within 24 hours of the lightning strike, so all services remained operational while the insurance claim was pending. New speaker models were brought in for the church to audition, ensuring they could deliver both spoken-word and full-band experiences.
Because the church hosts both traditional liturgy and contemporary music, the system had to excel in two very different applications. Ovation carefully tuned the system to maximize speech intelligibility while preserving the energy and dynamics of live music.
The final church sound system paired one-touch operation with intelligent audio processing that automatically mixes inputs and switches seamlessly between spoken-word and contemporary-worship modes. The result is a system that supports daily masses without any AV technician, and Sunday masses that are easy to operate for audiovisual volunteers. Modes switch instantly with the press of a button.
Clarity, even with a seven-second reverb
Today, Mother of God has a church sound system that supports every part of worship—from spoken prayers and Scripture readings to a full contemporary band—all through simple one-touch operation. Even in one of the region's most acoustically challenging sanctuaries, congregants can hear clearly and participate fully. In fact, congregants even reported being able to turn off their hearing aids and hear clearly for the first time.
First class all the way. Latest technology, assessment tools, expertise and the most accommodating staff. Understand contemporary and traditional venues, even the most unique. Exceeded all our expectations. So very grateful. Bob and Eric hold official super hero status in my book now after 35 years of ministry and countless sound contractors. No need to look any farther.Chris Heckaman
Ministry
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Whether you’re building a new space, upgrading aging technology, or exploring future possibilities, Ovation is ready to deliver the Right Sized Solution you need.
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