What is a new audio-visual system going to cost me?

Stephen Neath of APi Communications, addresses a thorny question.

Church and heritage buildings require constant maintenance and upkeep, which can make it hard to budget for a new audio-visual system.

Part of the reason it can be so hard to prepare for the outlay is that pricing information is not readily available. So, as we celebrate the 21st anniversary of the beginning of our journey in providing bespoke AV systems for all our customers, we will try to answer the question: what does a new AV system cost?

Giving accurate pricing is very difficult because of the unique challenges each building presents, which means no two quotations we send out are ever exactly the same. As a general rule, though, there are some important factors which will directly impact the overall price of a project with us, such as how complex your requirements are, how large your building is and if you need a custom solution which will cause the installation to take longer to complete.

Sound

If you only require a speech and background music system, then depending on the size of your church, you can expect to pay around £7,000-£9,000.

Churches with a regular requirement for live band reproduction will need to spend between £12,000-£16,000 to get a system capable of accurate and full-range music.

Projection/visual

For an installation using standard projection equipment, the price would be around £12,000-£14,000. That figure will increase to between £15,000 and £20,000 when a more complex method of projection screen deployment is required, such as the winch-down screen shown (above).

Systems using several flatscreen displays range massively in price, but will be anywhere between £10,000 to £18,000 depending on the number of screens and the complexity of the video distribution to each of them.

Live streaming

A typical live streaming system with one PTZ camera will cost roughly £6,000-£8,000. That will increase to over £10,000 when additional cameras are added and if several outputs are required to feed the church visual system as well as the live stream.

Acoustic treatment

A typical acoustic panel installation will cost between £4,000 and £7,000, depending on the size of the space and the amount of reverberation. However, for full acoustic treatment of a large building with a high amount of echo, you are looking more towards the £15,000 price point.

Hearing loop/assistive listening

The cost of a hearing loop installation with a cable running around the perimeter of the space and a dedicated amplifier would be between £2,000 and £4,000 if done as a separate project. However, they are often fitted at the same time as a sound system, in which case the cost will be at the lower end of that bracket.

There are a lot of assistive listening products available and each has its pros and cons. A new product by Ampetronic has been winning awards for its revolutionary design and has the potential to start a shift away from conventional hearing loop systems. An infrared-based assistive listening system will cost around £4,000 with a single transmitter unit and five bodypack receivers.

APi is celebrating a big birthday!

We have been providing an honest, high-quality audio-visual installation service to ecclesiastical and heritage customers since our foundation in 2003; and as part of our 21st birthday celebrations, we want to offer prospective and current customers a birthday treat.

As posting cake to everyone would have been very messy, from the beginning of October to 1 January 2025 we are running a special promotion which gives all customers 21% off the total cost of their new audio-visual system!

• For further information visit churchsoundsystems.co