First Baptist Church of Ironton

The Issue

Pastor Corey Williams contacted Acoustical Solutions seeking advice on products to improve the sound in his church sanctuary. They were experiencing issues regarding loudness and speech intelligibility within their congregational meeting space. The building committee also wished to keep their beautiful ceiling untouched, free from modifications.

The Challenge

For several months, Pastor Corey Williams in speaking with his congregation after services, started receiving some feedback. They expressed they had a hard time hearing and understanding all of the sermon. Corey was certainly concerned about the issue. Based on the room information provided to us, I explained how the reflective surfaces of the space were passing reverberation and echo throughout the room. The concrete walls, windows, floors, and high wood ceilings were all contributing factors to the undesirable sound. This was not an optimal situation for speech intelligibility, nor the live music being played during the service.

The Solution

When I spoke with Corey, he shared his concerns with me. Once I saw pictures of the space, I knew right away what would be necessary to address the sound reflections. After a few conversations, we were able to target specific areas to treat with sound absorbing panels, while staying within their budget. The decision was to use slender 24″ wide panels varying from 4′ to 8′ to meet the aesthetics of their space. We aimed to lower the reverberation time to 2 seconds. This would increase speech intelligibility while leaving enough life in the room. It would also allow for a little natural reverberation for the live performances during the service.

Materials

AlphaSorb^® Fabric Wrapped Acoustic Panels
Thickness: 1″
Edges: Square Chemically Hardened
Fabric: Guilford of Maine FR701
Color: 144 Eggshell
Mounting: Impaling Clips and Adhesive

• (10)  2′ x 4′
• (10)  2′ x 8′

First Baptist Church of Ironton mounted AlphaSorb^® Fabric Wrapped Acoustic Panels to reduce reflections in their sanctuary to improve the sound quality of the sermon and music.

The Result

The Eggshell fabric nicely complimented the current color of the sanctuary creating a warm comfortable look, while the panel placement allowed us to lower their reverberation time considerably. This improved the speech intelligibility tremendously, as well as improved the overall sound within the space during the musical numbers. Once installed, Corey and his committee was satisfied with the outcome.