Distributed Sound & Video Limited (DSAV) is run by Dan Herbert and Courtney Brown and specialises in supplying audio-visual systems to churches across the UK. The company based in Northamptonshire is a member of the National Churches Trust’s Professional Trades Directory.
Dan and Courtney launched DSAV in 2006 in response to a growing need from churches for technically correct AV advice and genuine support from a company that specialised in serving them. As Christians they see a strong vocational element to their work and take an individual approach to each client.
“It’s important to spend time at the planning stage to identify what churches need and sometimes helping them with things they don’t realise are possible. We have to walk in with a fresh pair of eyes every time,” says Courtney.
With historic churches, a sympathetic installation is essential. The couple fix items into mortar joints rather than stone, avoid trunking, paint cabling and keep columns clear of speakers to ensure the new equipment does not dramatically affect the fabric of the building.
Audio system in a Grade II* listed church
All this and more was necessary when they installed an audio system into a Grade II* listed church, All Saints, Emberton, near Milton Keynes, in May 2019.
Courtney explains: “The church had been refurbished two years earlier and we didn’t want to do anything that would detract from its beauty. We organised the whole system around that principle. In a building like this, sometimes there has to be a compromise between the positioning of the system components and the aesthetics of the space. But we found a good solution by installing speakers with the required dispersion in the rafters. Even though they are very high up they give even coverage without any drop off in the level of audio.”
Technology is advancing rapidly and churches sometimes find it all quite daunting. DSAV takes care to devise systems that are user-friendly and they support clients for the lifetime of their system.
Courtney says digital systems have become more affordable and the user can operate them sitting in a pew or wandering around the church via a tablet computer. And she points out that wireless is better for security: audio equipment can be located in the vestry with microphones set out before use then safely locked away after services.
While some churches want only a basic audio system others seek to do much more. DSAV are linking churches to the internet, installing cameras, recording equipment and dual motor screens that drop down from the rafters. All can be controlled by a single keypad.
Church websites and Facebook
Services are being live-streamed for the housebound and recordings are appearing on church websites and Facebook. DSAV clients are staging talent shows, screening films, hosting audio-visual presentations and live streaming sports events.
“Audio visual systems are becoming really useful tools for churches to get out there. They are bringing communities together and helping them to raise money,” says Courtney.
Find out more on the DSAV website
- Phone - 01933 322042
- Email - sales@dsavltd.co.uk
Profile written by by Elena Curti
