The Sistine Chapel

The Venue:
Revered, architecturally historic religious sanctuary

The Challenge:
Reduce reverberation that caused poor speech intelligibility and "booming" low frequencies

The Solution:
Using Bose® Auditioner® audio demonstrator technology, the sound system consists of Bose 502®A speakers, Acoustimass®-3 speaker cubes and a Panaray® 4402® speaker

The Result:
Crisp, clear speech and natural-sounding, high-quality music

A restoration of sight and sound
One of the most important recent events at the Vatican was the unveiling of the newly restored Judgment, Michelangelo's great fresco, painted behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel. During a mass held by Pope John Paul II, the public got its first chance to view the restoration—and hear a new sound system installed by Bose Italy's laboratory for Advanced Acoustic Solutions.

Despite the visual feast that greeted visitors at the Sistine Chapel, sound quality had always been poor. The frescoed plaster walls and dome, and the marble that covers many other surfaces, help create a highly reverberant environment, resulting in poor speech intelligibility and "booming" low frequencies. In addition, the Chapel’s sound system was 30 years old, with large unattractive column-style speakers.

A meeting of art and science
The new Bose solution controls reverberations by using a decentralized design that puts 502®A speakers closer to the audience. Now, more sound travels directly to the listener’s ears instead of bouncing off the walls and ceiling. This delivers crisp, clear speech and natural-sounding, high-quality music.

While the speakers are distributed throughout the Chapel, two Acoustimass® 3 speaker cubes make sound seem to come from the altar and chorus. At the same time, the system is unobtrusive. The compact speakers match the colors of the Chapel’s decorative painted drapes, and the cubes are placed outside the sight lines of visitors.

Bose also proposed a solution for the presbytery, a small-group private function area. A single Panaray® 4402® speaker, they suggested, with its wide, controlled radiation pattern, would be adequate for the entire space. A radical proposal, but without risk since the Bose Auditioner audio demonstrator enabled Vatican technicians to hear in advance the proposed system as it would sound when installed in the presbytery. While Bose has a long track record of success at the Vatican—Bose systems are installed in St. Peter’s Basilica cathedral and churchyard, and in St. John’s Basilica—the Auditioner audio demonstrator entirely removed the need for them to trust expert assurances. It let Vatican officials trust their own ears, and Bose guaranteed that the actual installation would deliver the same high quality of sound.