BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha is a Hindu organization spanning the globe with the mission of improving society through individual growth by adhering to Hindu ideals of faith, unity and selfless service.
The organization is volunteer driven, meaning many operational competencies are handled in-house. Kaivalyamurti Swami – known colloquially as KV Swami – is a Technology Overseer in BAPS. He committed to a life as a full-time swami in 1992 and has since then taken on the services for the organization that he is assigned. That includes the A/V and IT work installed in many of the organization’s projects.
“Over the years we’ve worked to become self-sufficient,” said Kaivalyamurti Swami. “One component of that is to ensure we are in control of the audio performance in every one of our halls. And we can say that one technology that has played a prime role in our installations – from India to California – is the steerable solutions from Renkus-Heinz.”
Kaivalyamurti Swami says a combination of partnership and performance has helped make Renkus-Heinz a leading choice in many of BAPS’ installations. A highlight of how those two components work together as a true solution is on display at a recent project completed in Uganda.
Kampala Hall
“When we first went to visit the Uganda site in April 2019, Kampala Hall didn’t exist,” said Kaivalyamurti Swami. “We went there and we looked at, basically, a concrete box that was in place. No interior design was settled on yet. So, we asked the team at Renkus-Heinz if they could model the location for us with the information we had.”
Kaivalyamurti Swami says the model provided by Renkus-Heinz then allowed him and his team to recommend a complete design for the new building. Instead of analog cabling, for example, Audinate’s Dante would be the backbone of the system. And they could plan to place the Renkus-Heinz speakers in a way that would blend into the final design.
“Renkus-Heinz provided a custom colour on the speakers so they would blend right into the cloth being used,” Kaivalyamurti Swami said. “They disappear into the space extremely well. That custom design is a huge benefit of them manufacturing their products at their headquarters.”
With a modeled Loudspeaker System Recommendation provided by the Renkus-Heinz support staff, Kaivalyamurti Swami could work with the local team in ensuring what was built out would be ready to go once product arrived on the ground. And that would be a crucial consideration given he was to return just three weeks before the opening of the facility to quickly install the system.
Perfectly placed audio with ICLive X
The installation utilizes:
- 2 Renkus-Heinz ICLive XL-RD Main Speakers
- 2 Renkus-Heinz ICLive LLX-RD Main Speakers
- 3 Renkus-Heinz P3-64RD Front Fills
- 2 Renkus-Heinz P3-64RD Balcony Fills
- 2 Renkus-Heinz P3-64RD Under Balcony Fills
- 3 Renkus-Heinz VA15S-RD Center Flown Subwoofers
- 2 Renkus-Heinz DR18-2B-RD Under Stage Subwoofers
The ICLive X series is the culmination of over a decade of experience in steerable line arrays, and is the latest evolution of the medium-format, steerable line array in the Renkus-Heinz line.
The ICLive X module defines flexibility: it can be arrayed up to 12 units tall in minutes, making it perfect for jobs of all size, including the house of worship space.
The ICLive X offers all the benefits of Renkus-Heinz steerable technology – allowing for sound to digitally positioned exactly where you want it: on the audience.
“Just three days before we opened the space we booted up the Renkus-Heinz RHAON software and were able to get the hall sound configured easily for all the speakers from one interface,” said Kaivalyamurti Swami. “By digitally steering the sound we were able to make it sound not only intelligible but also theatrical.”
“After very little tuning it sounded just phenomenal,” Kaivalyamurti Swami said. “As you walk backward from the front and listen to it you really can appreciate how uniformed and perfect the sound is regardless of where you are sitting or standing in the hall. The speeches are crystal clear and the intelligibility is just awesome – music is divine and theatrical.”
The first reviews
The first assembly took place within days of Kampala Hall’s audio system being ready to go. Kaivalyamurti Swami said they had little worry about the results, but they were still pleased with how the system impressed those in attendance.
“Our spiritual leader – His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj – is a soft speaker and projecting his speech without feedback can be a challenge on many systems,” Kaivalyamurti Swami said. “The speakers performed so well with the hall acoustically well treated and well-tuned, that he was able to speak naturally and be heard clearly by all. Many people expressed their appreciation for the clarity of speech the system produced.”
“That’s the toughest test we could have,” Kaivalyamurti Swami said. “Our spiritual leader speaks and there’s no feedback and he is being heard. It is very important to us, that is why we trust the solutions Renkus-Heinz offers us.”
