AV Case Study: St Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church
A Fohhn Audio-led AV upgrade of this orthodox church keeps a low profile.
20 May 2025
Text:/ Christopher Holder
There’s a reason the Orthodox Church likes to keep things the way they are. Some of the clue’s in the name – Orthodox. Much of what you see on Sunday would be instantly recognisable to an Orthodox church parishioner 1000+ years ago – the liturgy, the theology, the look and layout of the church has all stayed remarkably stable.
Some things do change. Amplified sound could be described as a gift from God. I don’t say that sacrilegiously either. Properly hearing the priests and the chanters is a real blessing for those in the pews.
So when St Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in Kingsford, near Sydney Airport, embarked on an upgrade of its facilities, it decided to take a look at its audiovisual technologies and audio systems and not just the interiors, amenities and artwork. No, there wouldn’t be eight subs lined up across the stage, or a monitor mixing position, but for the first time St Spyridon would install a livestreaming and recording setup, as well as a new loudspeaker system, based on Fohhn Audio column arrays.
“This is one of the largest Greek Orthodox churches in Australia in terms of area and ceiling height,” explains Harley Economou, AV Production Manager at St Spyridon. “It’s also one of the largest pillarless buildings of its kind, with 15-metre-high ceilings, rendered walls, large glass windows, and wooden floors – so it’s a very live, reverberant space. We needed a speaker system that could fill the church while maintaining clarity at a comfortable level.”
ABOVE & BEYOND
When I asked George Kostopoulos from Beyond Network Solutions whether traditional church sanctuaries were their sweet spot, he replied: “To be honest, we mostly take care of meeting rooms.”
To be fair, George went on to explain that he and his business partner Ben Gore started their professional life as audio swots, touring PAs and obsessing about drive racks and cabling. When their passion for life on the road began to wane, covid coincidentally hit and Beyond Network Solutions rode the wave of installation and AV integration work that came with it. They’re still obsessed with audio quality and detail but in a different context.
George: “Our brief was to deliver high levels of intelligibility from the front of the church to back, as well as to the other functioning spaces such as the mezzanine, foyer and back-of-house areas. There was also a hard deadline: Orthodox Easter 2024. Easter is a major priority. They even close the street during the celebrations.”
The church building adheres to some Greek Orthodox orthodoxies: a big rectangular box with 15m-high ceilings and plenty of hard surfaces. It’s a large space and the eventual Fohhn loudspeaker solution managed a remarkably even coverage, front to back and horizontally, from two 1.5m column speakers.
“The heat map showed very consistent coverage in the modelling,” says Harley. “That was confirmed once we installed and tested it. The system was easy to tune – it’s actually running quite flat, with very minimal EQ. Previously, the front pews would hear sound but lack clarity. Now, the clarity of speech and chanting is consistent throughout the space. That’s essential for the Byzantine service, which is all spoken and sung – intelligibility is everything.”
MINUS 5 BELOW
LXP is a recent addition to the Fohhn column loudspeaker range. It’s an evolution of Fohhn’s LX series – the company’s passive hybrid line-source column loudspeakers. LXP offers improved performance, better dynamics, and extended frequency response in both the low and high ends. LXP features a fixed -5° down tilt in the dispersion. It’s a full-frequency tilt allowing the column be installed flat/vertically while still achieving the desired coverage.
“At St Spyridon, we had ideal mounting locations,” observes George. “Which helped a lot.”
“The entire bottom level of the church is covered by just two 1.5m-high speakers – one left, one right,” adds Harley. “So, wherever you are, you’re hearing those, but also the natural acoustic of the space. The system is designed to preserve the church’s reverb, which is essential to the traditional atmosphere.
“It still feels majestic and natural,” he continues. “It’s like a voice lift rather than reinforcement. When Fohhn was first pitched to us, I looked into how widely it’s used in different houses of worship around the world, not only in Orthodox churches but also other denominations. It’s very well regarded for those environments in mind. The columns don’t look obtrusive either – they blend in.”
“”
We needed a speaker system that could fill the church while maintaining clarity at a comfortable level
ALTAR’ED STATE
Additional speakers from the Fohhn range covered other ancillary spaces. Distinctive to the Orthodox tradition, an area behind the altar, called the sanctuary, is an important audio zone, covering ordained clergy who occupy the space during the service and need a clear presentation of the spoken word and chanting. Speakers from Fohhn’s LC range took care of the sanctuary. They visually match the LXP speakers in the main space but are optimised for speech – without sounding strangled.
“These speakers provide the clarity we need for speech reinforcement while also helping to keep costs down,” confirms George Kostopoulos.
Fohhn LXP100s address the mezzanine, Fohhn LC20s were installed in the foyer, and LC20s were also used for altar stage fill. It was important to fastidiously time align the system back to the sanctuary behind the altar (where sound leaks into the main space over the dividing wall) to ensure clarity.
The PA is powered by Fohhn’s MA series DSP amps with Dante onboard. Beyond Network AV also opted for Fohhn’s NA4 Ethernet bridge, enabling full network control of the Fohhn system via FohhnNet. NA4 also allows for direct integration with the Fohhn Q-SYS plugin, which was also used in the installation for its control and AEC chops. The result is a fully integrated system with DSP, monitoring, and control.
STICKING UP FOR GOOSENECKS
The St Spyridon audio package included microphones and a digital mixer. Beyond Network Solutions designed the AV systems to be, largely, self-sufficient, allowing the untrained and the uninterested to be heard without an AV operator.
“Earthworks microphones were the perfect fit to complement the new audio system.” notes Harley. “They have a very flat response, which is important because we do have different chanters for some services. The microphones need to work for every voice without constant retuning. They function well as nearfield mics or as overheads so are very versatile. Plus, the polar pattern allows for good rear rejection, which is useful in a live, reflective space like ours.”
Earthworks Flex mics are positioned in strategic locations: the Altar table, the left and right chanter boxes, and four on wireless Shure Axient transmitters that can be positioned as needed.
“The goosenecks are all gated to eliminate unwanted noise so when the church is silent, the system is too,” Harley adds. “These goosenecks are more sensitive compared to what we had before. We also have handhelds fitted with Earthworks capsules that the chanters use for any processions around the church. This ensures we have a consistent sound signature for all scenarios.”
A number of channels of Shure ULX-D & Axient were selected. The priests use Shure lapel microphones.
The Allen & Heath SQ-5 digital mixing console provides hands-on control for events where an operator is in attendance.
STREAM TIME
The upgrade also included a full livestreaming system. Thanks to some nifty programming and the power of the Q-Sys control system, the setup has a locked-off, no-touch mode but when required can kick into another gear entirely.
George Kostopoulos: “The Q-Sys DSP handles AEC processing straight into the streaming PC, so anyone can simply press ‘Stream’ without needing to manage complex audio mixing. The goal was simplicity – priests aren’t AV experts, and AV personnel aren’t always available when streaming needs to happen.”
“We’ve been livestreaming every Sunday and major feast days for over five years,” says Harley. “We’re one of very few orthodox churches consistently running a five-camera livestream every week using PTZ cameras. Many other churches typically use a smaller mix of static and remote cameras. Viewership has stayed consistent even after churches reopened post-covid closures – it’s particularly valuable for those unable to attend in person such as elderly parishioners and those in hospital or nursing homes. We also have people viewing regularly from interstate and overseas.
Five Panasonic AW-UE150 PTZ cameras are controlled with an RP150 joystick controller. vMix handles the stream, triggered via a Streamdeck XL, and the entire audio backbone is running on Dante.
“Since the system upgrade, I can log in remotely to control or troubleshoot,” says Harley. “Being onsite is better but I can absolutely run it from a remote location if needed.”
EASTER REBIRTH
Beyond Network Solutions hit deadline. The upgraded AV systems were ready for primetime when Easter arrived. Fohhn’s Australian distribution partner, Audio Brands, supported the installation with the aligning and tuning of the PA.
“The vendor’s support was excellent — it’s hard to focus on every detail when handling multiple installations, so having that backup made a huge difference,” states George. “That said, even during the initial shootout, Fohhn’s loudspeakers required minimal processing — just some standard EQ in the DSP. The process was straightforward.”
As for the response? It was the best kind: silence. “We didn’t hear back from the church for a while, which usually means everything is working perfectly,” says George Kostopoulos. “Easter went smoothly, with clear audio and no issues.”
“The congregation probably isn’t fully aware of the technology behind it,” notes Harley, “but we’ve had plenty of comments saying it sounds clearer and more consistent across the space. From the priests, chanters, and the congregation – whether attending in person or watching online – the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Beyond Network Solutions: beyondnetworksolutions.com.au
Audio Brands (Fohhn, Earthworks): audiobrands.com.au
RESPONSES