Roland C330 Satellite Speaker Position in a Church

[Guest]

Hi everyone,

Our church in Australia recently purchased a Roland C330 classical organ. I have nothing but positive feedback on this wonderful instrument. The sound quality, and the sheer power of this small organ is unbelievable.

Just like it states in the user manual and on many websites/forums on the internet - we have the two satellite speakers placed on top of the organ facing upward. I have noticed that the sound can get a 'little' muddy towards the back of the church when the church is full. The church seats approximately 200 people.

I was wondering - would it be beneficial to place the two satellite speakers near the ceiling on the front wall of the church (either side of the Altar) to enhance the sound? The problem is... the cables for each speaker are not long enough...

Your recommendations are much appreciated.

Regards,
Damon

[Kurzweil]

Anything that brings the sound closer to the listener is going to improve clarity, which may be desirable in a very reverberant space (most of us are WANTING to muddy things up just a bit). Lengthening cables is usually trivial. Especially if these are passive (no electronics or AC power) cabinets. Just use good capacity speaker wire (if they're simply speakers, that is) of at least 16 gauge. I've seen it done with ordinary house power cable which is 14 or 12 gauge and inexpensive to boot. What does the connection on the back of the cabinet consist of? The cable may can be simply cut and a longer section spliced in. Maintain polarity by making certain that the plus or + or red or ribbed (whatever) side ends up getting reconnected to itself and not its mate.

PA systems use a similar technique to present even sound distribution throughout a space. The installer/designer puts speakers in a cluster in front, up near the ceiling, aimed in such a manner that imaginary lines drawn from the cluster to each listening area are of similar length, as much as is possible. This helps with the age old problem of listeners in the front getting pounded with sound while those near the rear cannot hear adequately (back when speakers used to be about 8' feet off the floor aimed horizontally). Now they aim down as much as "out". With your organ, you would be primarily "out" but at a presumably high elevation. It sounds like it would be similar to a couple of pipe chambers in a typical church or theater installation and should yield satisfactory results. You can try this idea with the knowledge that it should be completely reversible, should you be disappointed with the results. You might try it one Sunday with a single speaker moved, perhaps perched on top of a step ladder or temporary platform?

[Guest]

Thank you very much Kurzweil.

I will definitely try it.... While on the topic - you wouldn't know how I would go about attaching an additional subwoofer to the instrument? (Without buying directly from Rodgers/Roland if I can help it)

The c330 has two 8" subs as a part of its speaker configuration. The bass is there, but as one would expect, it is not exactly 'prominent' by any means.