Zapyškis, Lithuania (July 12, 2023)—The 400-plus-year-old Old Church of St. John the Baptist cuts quite a picture, as the Gothic church, with its striking steep-pitched roof, draws tourists and photographers from around the world. No longer used for religious purposes, the edifice was given the status of a Cultural Monument in 2002 and is now a popular venue for cultural and music events like the annual Kite Festival and Pažaislis Music Festival. Steerable loudspeaker arrays from Renkus-Heinz were installed in the building to combat long reverberation times, improve intelligibility and enhance the experiences of festival attendees.
Church staff contacted Vytautas Stasiukaitis, system designer at Audiotonas, to help redesign the audio system. As one of the largest audio, video and lighting solutions providers in the Baltic States, Audiotonas was well-positioned to help alleviate the church’s acoustic issues.
“The church had very long reverberation times, and we weren’t allowed to install acoustic treatments of any kind due to its cultural designation,” said Stasiukaitis. “That’s why the only solution for this scenario was a beam-steered loudspeaker system from Renkus-Heinz.”
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Audiotonas installed and commissioned four IC8-RN digitally steerable loudspeakers for the audio redesign. The IC8-RN provides up to four steerable beams that can be individually shaped and aimed. Audiotonas added two CA112S-RN subwoofers to the system for the bass response needed for festival performances.
After hearing the new loudspeakers, the venue’s leadership and staff were pleased. “Our main goal is to provide solutions that meet the needs of the client, and I’m proud to say we were very successful in the case of the Old Church of St. John the Baptist,” said Stasiukaitis.
