Synagogues, like churches, require a combination of support for singing (and cantillation), as well as support for speech clarity. Since most of the service is chanted, support for congregational singing is important (though chanting Hebrew is not the same thing as singing hymns). And of course, different denominations and different congregations have different tastes.See my piece on Synagogue Acoustics for more thoughts on this subject.

I had to evaluate the acoustics of this synagogue without the benefit of visiting the existing room. Of course, this is always the case with a new design, but with an existing space I always prefer to listen and measure.

I was very happy to see that this room has inward sloping walls---something that I have been advocating for worship spaces, based on these model studies. Additional room shaping helped refine the acoustics even more.

Because this room has a sound system, I was able to allow a more reverberant room to support singing and cantillation, and rely on the sound system for speech clarity. See the sound files below.

(Note that the Hebrew chant is yours truly chanting the first line from the Ten Commandments.)

Click on the "PLAY" button to hear auralizations.
as is, from platform	new design, through sound system
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Hebrew chant, no sound system	Hebrew chant, no room at all (dry recording)
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