Phoenix Organ’s AcoustiCube speakers were the solution to a problem at Summerlea United Church.
Summerlea United Church is located in Lachine, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, Canada. Montreal has many renowned pipe organ installations, and, of course, Quebec produced some of the finest pipe organ builders in the world, including Casavant Freres, Letourneau, Wilhelm, Wolf, and Guilbault Therien. Many of the pipe samples utilized for the Phoenix Organ Model PT 243, a 2 manual, 43 stop instrument, at Summerlea are from some of these builders. The organ has 4 specifications—English Romantic, French, Baroque and Orchestral.
The previous organ had speakers installed in a chamber at one side of the chancel, and the sound did not get out into the Nave well enough to support congregational singing. The organist had to play with the Antiphonal speakers on at all times, thereby negating the idea of having a focus as with a pipe organ. The 4 Phoenix AcoustiCubes, for Swell and Great, were hung from the beams in the chancel, with manual woofers mounted on the rear chancel wall, facing down the Nave. The cubes have a 360-degree dispersion for better pipe-like sound. The organ now supports congregational singing even when full. You can see the AcoustiCubes being installed in the picture at right.
Pictured at right is Phoenix Tonal Director Donald Anderson, demonstrating the various features of the new organ to some members of the organ committee.
