The transformation of Holy Trinity Weymouth’s sound system
Church
Published: April 30, 2026
New clarity to the message at Holy Trinity, with the installation of a complete sound system.
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Holy Trinity Church is located on the southern end of Town Bridge in the Dorset seaside town of Weymouth, known for its beautiful harbour. They came to APi in desperate need of help, with a sound system that was not fit for purpose, leaving anyone other than the first three rows of the congregation unable to hear what was being said.
The main challenge was the size of the space, which required very directional sound (we measured the reverberation time at over 3.5 seconds!), coupled with a lack of suitable places to mount the speakers.
Ideally, new loudspeakers would have been placed back on the columns to reduce the distance between the speakers and the congregation, but there were no cabling routes, so this had to be discounted as an option.
Minimum impact, but massive performance from carefully placed, very directional loudspeakers.
From the initial meeting and product demonstration that was given, the client resonated with our proposal, and it was quickly agreed that we would carry out the work to overhaul the sound system. We carefully considered the balance between aesthetics and performance and even returned for a second visit to check that our proposal was feasible.
The team at APi provided detailed drawings to accompany the proposal, which was information that could be passed on to the DAC to obtain the List B faculty required for this project. Once all the permissions had been obtained, the work was carried out over the period of a week, ensuring that the church had a new system up and running for the upcoming Sunday service.
In reverberant spaces, loudspeaker directivity is fundamental to achieving intelligible sound, so we turned to the ever-reliable and high-performing Audac Kyra speaker range, which we have deployed in a large number of our church installations since adopting it as our preferred speaker for church installations.
The issue of where to mount the loudspeakers was overcome by creating bespoke wooden sleeves which fit over the top of the existing decorative wooden screen at the front of the church, so the column speakers could be mounted without having a permanent impact on the original church structure, with the sleeves varnished to blend in perfectly with their surroundings.
Four speakers were placed across the front, with a further two smaller units at the rear to act as reinforcement for larger services and events. This ensured that each area of the church had clear audio to be delivered to the entire congregation. The Audac Kyras were coupled with a small subwoofer, which added the depth of sound required when recorded music was played through the system for weddings and funerals. A suite of four digital wireless microphones was fitted, which gave the flexibility to be used for the various events that are held in the church alongside services, such as a quiz evening in the café in the organ transcept.
iPad control of an Allen and Heath audio matrix means that any control of the system can now be achieved from anywhere in the church, where previously it entailed someone walking past the vicar to the front of the church to manually adjust controls on the mixer. The audio matrix had the added benefit of allowing our engineers to tailor the sound of the speakers to the space and gave the option for routing changes when only a small area of the church was in use, to minimise unwanted reverberation.
Lastly, a new hearing loop amplifier was installed to replace the old unit, which had been unreliable and not providing the level required for compliance. Despite the new sound system providing very good coverage throughout the church, having a fully functioning loop system is crucial for those with hearing difficulties, as it removes the often disorientating effects of reverberation by delivering the audio straight from the microphone into their hearing aids.
“I’ve been able to hear every word of the sermon for the first time in about 15 years! I can’t believe how clear the speech is with the new system”
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