Room acoustics in a former church sanctuary?

For sound reproduction in a large, richly reverberant space, you want speakers whose off-axis response is very good, because it is the off-axis resposne that will dominate the perceived tonal balance. There be more than one way to skin that cat, but here's how to listen for it when you go out speaker shopping: Turn the volume up a bit louder than normal and walk outside the room, listening through the open doorway with no line-of-sight to the speakers. From out there, all you can hear is the reverberant sound, which is dominated by the off-axis response. If it still sounds like live music from out there, that's a very good sign. Of course, 'tis a wicked and adulterous generation that seeks after a sign, so don't be too obvious about it, but pay attention in case one comes along just the same.

One other characteristic you might lean towards would be a relatively narrow radiation pattern. There is sort of a tradeoff relationship between richness and clarity, with most (overdamped) home listeing rooms erring on the side of clarity. Your sanctuary will err on the side of richness, and you can balance things out a bit with speakers whose narrow pattern seeks to emphasize the direct over reverberant sound, which is a step in the direction of clarity.

Finally, big spaces are harder to fill with bass, but that bass tends to be smoother and more natural-sounding than in a smaller room. So imo you want manly-man speakers rather than petite mini-monitors, and will be rewarded for it. Manly-man speakers cover a multitude of sins. I'm pretty sure it says that somewhere.

Good luck on getting the space!

Duke
dealer/manufacturer

All kinds of brilliant responses here, but I think it is all but lost. We did check out the space and the acoustics were superlative. The space itself was not a "home" yet, but was in amazingly good condition. A few renovations, I would never have wanted to move!
When we arrived to check out the space, the realtor said that the offer (by another party other than us) had been accepted by the seller, and continuing to show it was merely in case of some last minute catastrophe. I think it's gone... someone must have been waiting for the price to drop, because they got it within five days of that happening. Incidentally, the place had started at 225k, but had dropped to 165k most recently.
Another problem was the prospect of asking my folks to cosign. They don't hate me or anything, it's just that they are staunchly religious. I suppose they are the kind of people that can't find the humor in, say, the pope's hat. Peace, I'll be back when I have some better news on a new thread. Thanks again.

Jsd,

The pipe organ at Passau is very cool. I visited several years back and won't soon forget the sound of that monster. While there, I picked up an SACD sampler of music from various performances there that's a lot of fun. Alas, it's no longer the worlds largest pipe organ. I believe that honor goes to a recently expanded instrument here in SoCal (tho that may have changed, too, since last I looked.

Marty

I bet even the Pope finds humor in those hats.

Nick,

Don't give up yet. As my real estate broker says, "There is no smooth real estate transaction. Every single one has a snag or a snafu." Just because the property is under contract doesn't mean it's a done deal.