Home Cinema Insight 2018

TURN TO P.4 FOR THE AWE INSIGHT

HOME CINEMA INSIGHT AN

2018

P U B L I CAT I O N

On demonstration in the Reference Dolby Atmos Cinema at AWE HQ

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30/05/2018 10:09

Rediscover Your Music CUSTOM INSTALL

CI Features include:

- 12v Triggers - Presets - IR inputs - Interrupts

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Home Cinema Insight | Contents

Inside…

2 Optoma Embraces Success

Manufacturer scoops Projector of the Year at Smart Building Awards

4 AWE Europe Hits A Cinema High Two powerful new players join the AWE home cinema family

6 Fortress Seating

Sit down for some sagely advice

Home Cinema Heaven

Daniel J Sait, editor in chief, ATM

Few things satisfy more than a really good home cinema project, they look great even before you turn them on and then once powered up deliver real impact keeping clients happy for years to come.

Here we delve a little deeper, with some the industry’s top exponents, distributors and manufacturers to find out how to get the best from the visual, audio, design and comfort, that all need to work in concert to deliver the desired performance.

The sector has been on a bit of a roll of late, riding high on lots of new technology such as the new surround audio formats, laser projectors delivering longer life, faster start up times and vibrant images.

There is also some cracking content out there to enjoy currently, and more and more titles are coming out in 4K either right out of the gate or as a re-issue.

Even humble Blu-Ray still look great on a good system; EI saw recently the Blu-Ray version of AC/DC’s famous Donnington performance from 1991. Filmed with multiple cameras, with a well recorded sound-track, it just goes to show that with a properly set up system, the user can rediscover their old disc collections, as well as experience new content and delivery systems.

8 Pulse Cinemas

Paradigm and Anthem tune up at Pulse HQ

10 Habitech

Big praise for Wisdom Audio

14 iCubed Home Cinema

Who’s an award winner then?

16 Monitor Audio

Details on the latest ‘Controlled Performance’ in-walls

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Daniel Sait, dan@allthingsmedialtd.com EDITOR: Niamh Marriott, niamh@allthingsmedialtd.com CONTRIBUTING JOURNALISTS: Jordan O’Brien, jordan@allthingsmedialtd.com SALES DIRECTOR: Ian Kitchener, ian@allthingsmedialtd.com PUBLISHER: David Kitchener, david@allthingsmedialtd.com ACCOUNTS: susan@allthingsmedialtd.com CIRCULATION: carol@allthingsmedialtd.com STUDIO MANAGER: Ben Bristow, ben@allthingsmedialtd.com GRAPHIC DESIGN: Jon Appleton, jon@allthingsmedialtd.com Essential Install magazine, Suite 14, 6-8 Revenge Road, Lordswood, Chatham, Kent ME5 8UD. T: +44 (0)1634 673163 F: +44 (0)1634 673173 Whist we make every effort that everything printed in Essential Install magazine is factually correct, we cannot be held responsible if factual errors occur.

All articles are copyright and remain the property of Essential Install magazine.

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Home Cinema Insight | Optoma

Optoma scoops Projector of the Year at Smart Building Awards

Optoma is celebrating its flagship 4K UHD laser projector, UHZ65, scooping the Projector of the Year award at the Smart Building Awards, presented at EI Live! 2018.

With its full 8.3 million on-screen pixels, the UHZ65 meets the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) requirements for 4K UHD and complies with the CTA High Dynamic Range (HDR) compatible display standards. Optoma believes the razor sharp, vivid imagery with far more detail and texture than standard HD, all for a competitive price point, has helped the machine find friends with installers and end users too. Objects look more solid and life like and the extra detail creates a greater sense of depth, especially with some of today’s really colourful movie output.

In his review for consumer title, Home Cinema Choice, experienced AV reviewer and writer, Steve May, comments, “Overall, this is a cracking, credible high-end home cinema projector. I suspect once you’ve gone laser, you’ll not want to go back.

“The picture performance of the UHZ65 is on the right side of gorgeous. The image is tack-sharp. Like its UHD65 stablemate, the projector is built around TI’s XPR (eXpanded Pixel Resolution) DMD. 4K content is obviously this PJ’s strength, but image quality with HD sources is good too.”

Ian Carling from AV and lighting specialists, Fusion, is also a fan, “The image quality from the UHZ65 is superb.

It is a compact and quiet machine that will fit well into both home and commercial installs. You can clearly see the advantages of the 4K UHD laser with this model. The image detail is brilliant, like looking through a window into the content, even on a 120in screen.”

The laser technology of course provides superior colour performance, but also adds instant on/off and an impressive life span of up to 20,000 hours. This means that if the homeowner uses the projector for four hours every single day – the expected life span is still some 14 years.

Tyrone Hammill and Penny Wilkinson were delighted with their win

Calibration cavalcade Although the projector has strong out-of-the-box image quality, it is equipped with a whole raft of calibration features for installers to optimise the imagery to the physical setting of the room. In-built image processing includes…

• PureContrast automatically optimises the brightness of the display during dark/light movie scenes.

• PureColor increases the image’s vividness of colour.

• PureMotion frame-interpolation technology eliminates motion blur or image judder, even in high-speed action films or fast-paced sports.

• UltraDetail adjusts the edges of a projected image to provide more perceived details.

Its small form factor also makes it easy to handle and hang and the projector’s wide range throw ratio of 1.39:1 ~ 2.22:1 and 1.6x zoom means installers have the flexibility to create a 120in image from between 3.69 and 5.9 metres away. Vertical lens shift allows them to shift the image 15% of the image height.

Connectivity includes two HDMI ports, MHL for compatible phones and tablets and HDCP 2.2 support, VGA, audio in and 12V trigger for an electric screen or projector lift. Its USB power output enables users to access content from HDMI dongles such as Google Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV. It has two integrated speakers and a 3.5mm and S/PDIF audio outputs to connect to external sound systems.

The UHZ65 has won several other awards as well, including Best New Home Theatre Projector from rAVEe and a Platinum Award from T3.

The UHZ65 forms just one part of Optoma’s 4K UHD projector range. This family also includes the UHD65, which won Product of the Year in the What Hi-Fi Awards and the UHD60 which won Best Projector in the AV Tech Media Awards.

All Optoma 4K UHD projectors are available from distributor IntoAV, which offers a range of 4K ISF-certified screens, cables and mounts for home cinema installations.

Optoma 01438 311625 intoavdistribution.com, optoma.co.uk

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Optoma UHZ65 and UHD65

UHD65

Designed for movie lovers who want the best home cinema installation.

• 4K UHD resolution, 8.3 million on-screen pixels, HDR compatible • Fluid viewing PureMotion frame interpolation • Easy installation Vertical lens shift, 1.6x manual zoom • Digital connectivity 2x HDMI, MHL, HDCP 2.2 support • USB power Stream content via HDMI dongle

UHZ65

UHD65

T3 ‘Five Star Platinum Award’ “Picture clarity is outstanding.“

What HiFi "Optoma has produced a sophisticated 4K HDR projector at a competitive price"

“The UHZ65 brings dazzling laser clarity to the world of projection.”

Home Cinema Choice "Overall, this is a cracking, credible high-end home cinema projector. I suspect once you’ve gone laser, you’ll not want to go back." "the picture performance of the UHZ65 is on the right side of gorgeous. The image is tack-sharp.

Like its UHD65 stablemate, the projector is built around TI’s XPR (eXpanded Pixel Resolution) DMD." "4K content is obviously this PJ's strength, but image quality with HD sources is good too."

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“those looking for a top-notch projector should give the Optoma UHD65 serious consideration.”

“It should keep you happy for years” Home Cinema Choice “Overall, the UHD65 is a great 4K proposition. Feature set and image clarity are excellent for its class.”

Techradar "The UHD65 is a hugely enjoyable projector that manages to deliver very good images in both ambient light and blackout conditions. Most projectors commit to one or the other, halving their versatility."

See the full range of Optoma’s home projectors: optoma.co.uk

23/05/2018 16:24 17/05/2018 15:20:52

Home Cinema Insight | AWE

All the home cinema surround formats are covered by the Marantz AV8805

The Dynamic Duo

AWE has upgraded its home cinema offering with two powerful new products, the Marantz AV8805 and the Denon AVC-X8500H. EI takes a look under the hood.

Both names long associated with high-quality AVR and audio processing, Marantz and Denon have been making strides recently to bring their home cinema abilities bang up to date.

The Marantz AV8805 boasts high quality build and installer-friendly connectivity

The Marantz AV8805 is the company’s first 13-channel AV pre-amplifier and will very soon be taking pride of place within the AWE THX cinema room at the company’s HQ in Epsom, Surrey. Naturally, the Marantz AV8805 has been bred to handle all high-resolution audio formats and, says the maker, produces exceptional playback for music and movies alike.

AWE argues that it provides integrators with one of the broadest ranges of premium AV receivers and control processors on the market. Built with integrators in mind, nearly all Denon and Marantz surround amplifiers and processors feature IP control, as well as RS232 control.

The range available from AWE also benefits from HEOS integration, providing simple access to many streaming services and music sources, as well as automatically forming one zone of a wider HEOS multi-room audio system.

Designed to be connected to dedicated power amplification, AWE says the Marantz AV8805 is a good match for integrators needing rock-solid reference quality surround processing and video switching. Featuring a balanced XLR stereo input and assignable 15.2 balanced XLR outputs, which include overhead channels, front/width outputs and two subwoofer outputs, the AV8805 enhances audio quality by handling all signals via the Marantz HDAM modules in Current Feedback topology, before passing via the XLR or RCA outputs to separate power amplification.

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Home Cinema Insight | AWE

Do it with Denon

The power of the Denon AVCX8500H is now part of the AWE line-up

Both the Denon and Marantz products benefit from HEOS compatibility

This means the product is suitable for installations where top quality processing is desired. It can be installed in virtually any size media or cinema room.

The AV8805 also features an advanced video section, with full 4K compatibility that’s fully compliant with the latest HDMI connectivity and HDCP 2.2 specifications on all eight HDMI inputs. It also comes with enhanced audio return channel (eARC) support (via a firmware update) for the most advanced audio formats via single HDMI connection between the device and compatible TVs. For remote control compatibility with other components, the AV8805 features an IR remote control input and output on the rear panel, along with dual 12V trigger outputs. For direct connection to external home automation and control equipment, the AV8805 includes an RS232C serial port with Crestron Connected certification for straightforward integration with Crestron home automation equipment, plus full IP control.

AWE is continuing to add to its demo facilities, and encourages integrators to use the space to meet with customers. The original Dolby Atmos cinema will shortly be upgraded to become a reference THX cinema room, using the AV8805 pre-amplifier as well as new surround sound speakers.

Not to be outdone, Denon has introduced what it says is the industry’s first true 13.2 channel AV amplifier to power home cinema projects with exceptional sound quality and audio performance. The AVC-X8500H delivers Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro 3D surround sound capabilities.

This flagship AV amplifier offers 13 channels of inbuilt amplification, as well as 13.2-channel processing, enabling premium 3D surround sound. Delivering a 9.1.4 setup or a 7.1.6 Dolby Atmos system, the AVC-X8500H requires no external amplification. Supporting as many as six overhead speakers, AWE says the AVC-X8500H delivers a powerful home cinema experience.

The unit also supports a variety of formats including DSD, WAV, ALAC and FLAC, in addition to AirPlay, Bluetooth/WiFi and eARC. For video, the AV amplifier boasts eight HDMI inputs and three outputs, with all supporting the HDCP 2.2 compatibility and HDMI specifications such as 4K Ultra HD, High Dynamic Range and 3D. Like its Marantz cousin, the AVC-X8500H can benefit from wireless music compatibility through HEOS, with the AVC-X8500H able to deliver a powerful multi-room audio system. The Amazon Alexa Smart Home Skill feature for voice control access allows end users to natively control functions like power on and off, volume control and playback of supported streaming services.

Completing its abilities, the AVC-X8500H is equipped with enhanced control compatibility for third-party and custom integration solutions. IP control, SDDP, RS232C serial port and IR input all feature for integrators to specify the AVC-X8500H as part of a wider system.

The flagship AVC-X8500H is available alongside a wide range of AV solutions which leverage Denon, Marantz and HEOS. With two dedicated home cinema spaces, AWE’s Smart Apartment is the ready for integrators to take their customers for demonstrations. To arrange a visit, get in touch direct.

AWE, 01372 729777, awe-europe.com

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Home Cinema Insight | Fortress Seating

Creating the perfect AV Fortress Fortress Seating offers some advice on getting your next project spot on.

Properly selected seating can enhance the entire theatre experience. Whether it’s creating good sight lines for viewing, aesthetically complementing the design of the theatre or just providing a nice comfortable place to watch, seating is essential to the success of any cinema.

Choose your theatre seating early. Including the theatre seats in the initial design phase assigns it the same importance as the AV components and won’t be treated as an afterthought. Equally important is that the size of the screen and type of projector could be affected by the number of seats desired in the theatre. The number of seats might be determined by the number of immediate family members or the number of guests usually entertained. Determine this first, know the parameters and how much space is available to work with.

In no other room is the need for customisation as great as in the home theatre or media room. You have customised the AV package to provide the ultimate theatre experience, so why settle for just any off- the-shelf chair?

Theatre seating may be a chair or a sectional sofa, but no matter what it is, make sure you are buying it from the company that manufactures it. The company you choose should be a furniture manufacturer that offers changes in chair specifications, design details or a completely custom design, and provides the same quality furniture as the other furniture in the home.

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Why Fortress Makes Sense

Fortress has been solving the most challenging seating requirements for over 80 years. 100% of our products are manufactured at our factory in Los Angeles, Calif.

USA. Fortress sets the benchmark for innovative designs, full customisation, exceptional quality and customer service that is recognised globally. All theatres are not the same nor are the people watching the movie, so when customisation is needed that’s what you get from Fortress.

After all, it’s your client’s home and theatre, make sure they get exactly what they want.

Our dedicated distributor and partner in the UK is Pulse Cinemas, get in touch for more details. pulsecinemas.com, 01279 647039

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AWE - exclusive distributor of Mythos and custom installation range

WHAT OBSESSION SOUNDS LIKE MYTHOS | SERIES

MYTHOS XTR-60 ON DISPLAY AT AWE HQ

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Home Cinema Insight | Pulse Cinemas

The Pulse Media Room at company HQ now boasts a full Paradigm system

Anthem and Paradigm set home cinema pulses racing

Since Paradigm and Anthem AV joined the Pulse Cinemas family in April of this year, the distributor has wasted no time in bedding the brands in. Not only did they demonstrate the effectiveness of the new product ranges at EI Live, they have also already integrated them into the company’s demo facilities in Stansted and London.

The CI Pro and CI Elite series from Paradigm offer strong home cinema performance and character

The news that these brands were joining Pulse was exclusively revealed in Essential Install and on Ce Pro Europe as recently as April, wasting no time, Pulse is very keen to underline just how pleased it is to have them onboard and deliver the benefits to installers.

“Passion is a word used a lot these days”, says Mike Beatty, Pulse Cinemas MD, “Probably over used in some cases, however we just love these brands with a passion, their performance and fit within the rest of the Pulse family is really exciting and we want to pass that on to our dealers. That is the main reason we were so keen to include them as soon as we could and introduce them as part of our demo room at EI Live!. The show went really well and we were delighted with the reaction from visitors to the performance of these special brands.”

A fully equipped Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 home cinema was presented at EI Live! helping to underline the home cinema credentials of Paradigm and Anthem. The 7.1.4 Atmos configuration demonstration was delivered via

Paradigm speakers driven by Anthem. Pulse was keen to show off just how well these two performed in concert with Kaleidescape, Screen Research, BenQ, Pixelgen THXcertified HDMI cables and room treatments from Vicoustic.

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Home Cinema Insight | Pulse Cinemas

The MRX Series from Anthem will be one of the range stand-outs from Pulse Cinemas

Paradigm is brand new to the Pulse family

Ben Lancaster, sales manager for Pulse Cinemas, is equally thrilled to have his hands on these two brands.

“We have just completed the installation of Paradigm and Anthem in the new Media Room at our Stansted HQ. I’m delighted to report, these upgrades sound truly amazing. As our dealer/installers will experience soon, we have been hard at work updating all areas of our Pulse facility, this also includes our training room which now boasts some of the finest solutions from the Paradigm range, including some impressive twochannel options.

“The London Experience Centre, soon to open, has also gone through some serious development. Visitors to that site will soon be invited to hear just how good an Anthem / Paradigm solution can sound. These products will be on show along with many other products from our impressive portfolio of brands.”

As Ben says, Pulse is carrying the whole Paradigm range and has most items in stock already, however perhaps the most emphasis will be placed on the CI Pro and CI Elite ranges which form the back-bone of the maker’s integrated speaker approach.

The CI Pro Series, like all the maker’s products, is crafted in Canada, and offers patented technology, step-up components, Paradigm sound quality, plus a new bezel-free micro-perf grille with an incredibly discreet aesthetic. This range was created to deliver high-performance products for music and home theatre that represent strong value. Stepping up a notch, the CI Elite Series is the company’s premium custom install speaker. This range has all the technology advantages and grille aesthetics of CI Pro, but adds oversized voice coils and X-PAL pure aluminium cone technology for a high-end performance.

National Anthem Moving over to the Anthem AV side of the equation, the Pulse team says it’s delighted to be taking on a brand which has already such a strong reputation in the UK market. Again, Pulse is supplying the maker’s whole range of amplification and processor products, there will, however, be lots of focus on the MRX Series and AVM 60 processor for their home cinema chops. The MRX Series multichannel AV receivers with Anthem Room Correction, is now on its third generation and consists of the MRX 1120, which offers 11.2 Pre-Amplifier and 11 Amplifier Channels, delivering separates-quality performance in a feature-rich AV receiver. Also in this family is the MRX 720, offering 11.2 Pre-Amplifier and 7 Amplifier Channels, and like its brethren includes innovations like Anthem Room Correction (ARC) Technology and Advanced Load Monitoring (ALM) Technology and 4K PassThrough with fast HDMI switching. Rounding out the range is the MRX 520, a 5.2 Pre-Amplifier with five amplifier channels.

Ben says remember the two channel products like the STR Power Amplifier, a world-class two-channel audio delivery system. The maker says the unit delivers massive power generation, with audiophile-quality output in a smartly designed component.

The STR delivers 400W into 8 ohms with both channels driven, 600W into 4ohms (both channels driven) and 800W in 2 ohms, for when raw controlled power is what is needed. Both brands can be experienced by visiting either the London Experience Centre or Pulse’s Stansted HQ, get in touch to make an appointment. Pulse Cinemas underlines that it has been able to reduce the retail pricing on Paradigm and is passing a bigger margin on both Anthem and Paradigm to its dealer/installers.

Pulse Cinemas 01279 647 039, pulsecinemas.com

left: Pulse and Anthem AV are planning on making all the right connections

right: Paradigm boasts high-quality components throughout is range

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Home Cinema Insight | Habitech

Wise guys

Martin Dew, formerly of Lucasfilm THX, listens to Wisdom Audio’s high-end home cinema line source speaker package, and urges installers to check them out at UK distributor Habitech’s HQ.

ICS7a in-ceiling height channel speakers

If you’re in the business of building high-end cinema rooms and seeking to maximise the space and the quality of the audio inside, your audition list should definitely include a set of Wisdom’s ‘Insight’ line-source in-wall giants. And when you do get in front of them, be prepared for an epiphany, because together these high-ticket designs positively transform the relationship between the sound and the room.

Wisdom’s adherence to line-source technology makes it unlike the great majority of its point-source competitors.

The Insight L8i LCR, for instance, is not re-configurable as a horizontal centre channel. Rather, these 4.3ft high towers are specifically designed to drive large air volumes from a vertical array, installed flush with a stud wall behind an acoustically transparent projection screen.

That’s not to say that Wisdom Audio is lacking in solutions for smaller spaces, and managing director Luc Guillaume, formerly of JBL Synthesis, is rightly enthusiastic about the Insight custom installation line.

Luc was able to meet me in the plush Basingstoke screening room of Habitech, Wisdom’s exclusive UK distributor, to talk through the performance characteristics and design philosophy of this super discreet, state-of-the-art 9.4.4 system.

In addition to the in-wall LCRs, the six (four sides and two rear) P4i in-wall surrounds are joined by a further four in-ceiling ICS7a speakers, which take care of skyward object-based effects, and four in-wall S110 passive subwoofers to handle the rumbles. This may all sound like overkill, but the Habitech screening room is a formidable 135 cubic metres (4,767 cubic feet) in volume.

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Home Cinema Insight | Habitech

In Wisdom’s Planar Magnetic Driver (PMD) design the ‘voice coil’ is chemically bonded on to a large thinfilm diaphragm and suspended between powerful bar magnets.

The diaphragm is very light so is extremely responsive offering very low distortion but is also large enough to reproduce a much wider and deeper frequency range

Crossing the line The Insight L8i LCR, as mentioned earlier, incorporates a ‘line-source’ configuration of Planar Magnetic Drivers (PMDs) equipped with critical high-tensioned ‘thin film’ technology (aluminium conductors bonded to polyimide film) and running vertically down the left front baffle.

Although this thin film is also used in Wisdom’s pointsource speakers – like the P4i deployed as surrounds in this demo – it is the very specific properties of the L8i line-source design that the company claims runs circles around a point-source rival for LCR speakers. This is because a ‘point-source’ speaker radiates its energy spherically into the room, while a line-source speaker radiates like a cylinder, with no energy escaping above or below the designated horizontal dispersion pattern.

By drastically reducing floor and ceiling reflections in this way, the audience hears nearly all the energy from the front soundstage, allowing greater intelligibility and reduced boundary reflections (by 42% over a measured comparable point source speaker). In other words, you hear more of the speaker and less of the room: more direct than reflected sound.

The second key upside to the line-source is the ‘power over distance’ effect, which delivers a greater ‘shared experience’ for the audience. While an average point-source loses 6dB per doubling of distance from the baffle, a line-source sheds only 3dB. “From the last row to the front row,” says Guillaume, “you’ll hear very little difference.”

Then there’s the broader frequency range of the revolutionary PMDs, which on the L8i drop to 550 Hz, whereas a standard dome tweeter typically rolls-off around 1,500 kHz. This is significant because as the signal jumps from mod to high frequencies, a timbral shift is audible in some speakers, while the Insight’s PMDs ‘cover six octaves, so there is no crossover transition where your ears are most sensitive.’

If a pattern is emerging here of a company committed to challenging tried-and-tested speaker technologies, it would certainly also apply to its treatment of subwoofer design. At nearly 5.5ft in length, the floor, ceiling or wall-mountable S110 bass boxes use a ‘regenerative transmission line’ design, in which a 5m maze of internal passageways allows both front and back waves from the drivers to meet in phase at the output, therefore doubling the yield of direct energy. This physical architecture results in greater audible articulation, and less cone movement or distortion when compared with conventional subs.

The super-discreet Wisdom system under review comprises four S110 in-wall subwoofers in the room corners, three L8i in-wall LCR speakers behind the screen, six P4i in-wall surround speakers flush with side and back walls, and four ICS7a in-ceiling height channel speakers

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Home Cinema Insight | Habitech

Point source – propagates in all directions (spherical expansion)

Line source – propagates in a controlled vertical fashion (longitudinal expansion)

A shared experience – line source (blue) provides a wider sweet spot than a point source

Power over distance – line sources (blue) have half the propagation loss of point sources (yellow) for better row-to-row audio consistency

Listening through walls

Wisdom's Regenerative Transmission Line (RTL) subwoofer design unites the back sound wave of the drivers with the front sound wave in phase, effectively doubling the low frequency output

So, how did the system sound? A series of appetitewhetting DTS:X Blu-ray demos and trailers were followed by the highway scene clip from Deadpool, where traffic hell breaks loose on the tarmac. Not only were the in-car punches and headbutts rendered as explicit and visceral thuds, but bass response was correspondingly lightningfast, complemented by an enveloping audio sensation - as if a rippling orb of energy were converging on the listener.

Dialogue was razor-sharp and beautifully intelligible. It is this focused vertical speaker dispersion (as THX had always preached), that produces a precise and exquisitely accurate front soundstage placement.

Next on the agenda was the Dolby Atmos mix of Mad Max: Fury Road and the opening sequence as Max surveys the valley from a deserted, arid ridge. From the child’s voice whispering in my ear, to the tiny patter of lizard footsteps down a heat-drenched rock, no detail of the soundscape was lost. This demo delivered as close to an experience of ‘holographic’ audio as I have ever encountered.

Even though the soundtrack of Apocalypse Now maxes out at 5.1 channels, Walter Murch’s expert mix of the Vietnam epic is always a reliable litmus test. During the second village attack, accompanied by Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, the orchestra and voice separated themselves from the carnage beautifully, floating above the mix in a way that I have not experienced before – and I have heard many expensive systems.

Finally, we spun up Layla from the 5.1 Blu-ray of Eric Clapton’s Slowhand at 70: Live at Royal Albert Hall. The astoundingly realistic and immediate-sounding audience clap-along, combined with the close auditory communion with Clapton’s finger-strutting fretboard, were nothing short of awe-inspiring.

It must be said that at no point in an hour of whizzbang effects and commotion was I left reeling from tinnitus or feeling fatigued. Furthermore, during genuinely loud, reference-level passages I could easily converse with Habitech staff, never consciously competing with the soundstage flanking us on all sides. As well as the sheer quality of the audio, these attributes are further testament to the unique design philosophy of Wisdom’s speakers.

Wisdom of the age

There are too few occasions in an auditioning career that give you the chance to experience home cinema audio on a level demonstrated by a speaker package such as this. To hear the Wisdom system in Habitech’s impeccably-tweaked and architecturally-robust screening room, with its perfect acoustical balance, fastidiously trading off just the right amounts of absorption and reverberation, is a wonder to behold. For all the claims that we are subject to diminishing returns as we scale the price ladder, ultimately there is a reason why those who can, should just go for the very best.

Habitech 01256 638500, habitech.co.uk Martin Dew moved to San Francisco in 1995 to work in marketing for the THX Division of Lucasfilm Ltd. After heading up the domestic and international AV certified dealer training programme, he became director of international sales for Lucasfilm’s professional cinema products and services, concentrating mostly on market development in Europe and Asia. He moved to Los Angeles in 2004 to join the new Digital Cinema Division of NEC Corporation as director of sales for North and South America, responsible for the roll-out of 2K digital cinema projectors, as well as targeted pre-show advertising solutions.

Since returning to the UK last year, he now writes as a regular news and features writer for the UK’s Home Cinema Choice magazine, and US-based website Home Theater Forum. As an expert in filmed entertainment technology, he also gives lectures on the relationship between professional and residential cinema environments.

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Home Cinema Insight | iCubed Home Cinema

A clean look when the main cinema is not in use was needed

iCubed takes the prize at the Smart Building Awards Already a winner of an Artcousitc installation of the month prize, this inventive project from iCubed Home Cinema recently picked up the award for the Best Home Cinema at the Smart Building Awards presented at EI Live! 2018.

Iain Martin proudly picks up the Cinema of the Year gong at the Smart Building Awards

Known as the Oakwood Manor Multiplex, Iain Martin of iCubed says, “Our client loved this system and commented that as he has two screens, it’s technically a multiplex. Who are we to argue?

“Cinemas should always be designed to industry standards, ensuring predictable and consistent results.

As such, we approached this project in discussion with the client aiming to deliver as close to the ideal system as possible. The brief was for a high-quality system in the client’s lounge, being multi-purpose such that they could enjoy every day TV and, when required, enjoy movies and sporting events as cinematically as possible. We discussed with them the option of a 4K TV, with a drop-down projector screen. The client at this point showed interest, but needed to be inspired.”

The team swung into action, as Iain explains, “At this point, we drew the room in 3D, ensuring that all the angles for visual and audio perfection were adhered to.

A projector screen size of 120in was perfect for the 5m viewing distance. This conveniently worked perfectly with the room height and the cabinetry. The speakers were

installed at 24° from seating position to be in line with Dolby specifications, and aesthetics centred between the wall and the screen. It looks and sounds perfect when the screen is down for those all-important movie nights.”

Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 was optimal layout for the room, with two subwoofers for extended headroom where it counts.

Iain explains, “The only compromise we encountered was the side speakers needed to be moved outside of the ideal locations to the back wall, due to the room dimensions. Having the right-side speaker positioned on the side wall would have made it far too far from the seating position. Once completed, this compromise was not an issue in practice.”

To keep the clean lines required for the room while the screen is retracted, the centre speakers were housed within the company’s own bespoke cabinetry. The cabinet and wall details were all designed and installed as part of this project.

The projector was chosen to be within a sensible budget, but deliver a bright enough image. This was calculated at 33ft lamberts, which the team was very happy with.

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Home Cinema Insight | iCubed Home Cinema

The JVC projector gets ready to rock the room

Iain adds, “The amplifier’s 170W (6 Ω) was more than enough for the 104db sensitivity of the speakers. Our target of 105db is achieved in the listening position with less than 50W of power, ensuring distortion free, dynamic and powerful audio.

“The fabric front wall was added as a design feature, and to help control the acoustics of the room. We recorded an RT60 of 0.30s, which was very pleasing to see.”

Wining the work

All the technical design was in place first, followed by a demonstration to inspire the client. This, together with full 3D render of the aesthetic design iCubed proposed, lead to the client giving the go-ahead.

Iain enthuses, “The end result more than delivered on their expectations, and it is an installation the iCubed team are all very proud of. As part of the client’s brief, the system needed to be discrete, and in particular the projector and screen, as to not impact on the rooms design and décor. The system also needed to be easy to use. A busy family, with two young children often requires entertainment on demand.

“The elements that have made this room, are the combination of high quality solution-based products that have taken the final room beyond what they client thought was possible.”

Control was provided by Elan. A single handset, supported by an app on the family iPad, gave a powerful yet simple user experience.

A single button press springs the system into life. The Future Automation lift descends, revealing a JVC X9500 projector which has switched on and is beginning to warm up. Simultaneously, the 120in wide 16:9 Screen Excellence screen drops, providing the desired large picture. QMotion blinds close to hide the front and rear windows, blocking out unwanted light. The Anthem amplifier is on and has selected the correct input and the Elan handset has changed to suit the selected source. Sky HD, Apple TV, PS4 and Nintendo Switch provide a huge choice of TV, film and gaming on demand.

The equipment is hidden away in a bespoke cabinet which blends with the style of the room. This cabinet also serves as an additional hide away for the Artcoustic PS-2 subwoofers and centre channel. Acoustically transparent fabric doors do not hinder the audio performance yet add a textural pattern to the rooms simple colour palette.

For daytime viewing, without plunging the room into darkness, the system can be switched to use the recessed 75in LED TV for day to day entertainment.

Again, a single button returns the room back to a stylish living space with the projector and screen disappearing into the ceiling and the blinds opening to revealing the garden. You would almost never guess that a Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 cinema was in this room.

The client asked for a cinema system that provided all day and event viewing for the whole family, but not to take over the room and turn it into the local cinema or an electronics showroom.

Iain explains, “Our approach is providing a package for the client which included the build, transformation and full re-decoration of the family living room and going beyond the expected level of service and performance.

The support provided by our suppliers helps us to provide outstanding systems and solutions for our clients.

We love what we do and so do our clients.” iCubed Home Cinema 01702 520804, icubedhomecinema.co.uk

The team created its own bespoke cabinets below the screen

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Home Cinema Insight | Monitor Audio

Take control with Monitor Audio

Monitor Audio says it is targeting the luxury CI sector with the latest ‘Controlled Performance’ in-walls. Check out the details.

Many of the technologies from the company’s highest performing Hi-Fi speakers are included

Monitor Audio wants installers to have integration and high-quality sound with its Controlled Performance range

Monitor Audio has expanded its architectural speaker range with two new flagship ‘Controlled Performance’ models. The new, luxury CP-IW260X and CP-IW460X in-wall speakers introduce the company’s latest driveunit technologies in a compact, but generous three-way, five-driver configurations. Built into closed-box designs, the speakers aim to deliver the optimum combination of audio performance and near-invisible installation.

Behind their ‘stealthy’ trimless grilles, the maker says the CP-IW260X and CP-IW460X follow a no-compromise engineering philosophy, which applies over 40 years of speaker R&D to the challenge of developing highquality in-wall speakers. Created for audiophile music and home cinema sound reproduction, the new models are designed to deliver high efficiency and power handling to achieve the desired sound pressure levels, combined with the dynamic wide-band response, deep bass extension and low distortion usually expected of specialised floorstanding speakers.

The CP-IW260X and CP-IW460X feature Monitor Audio’s signature C-CAM (Ceramic-Coated Aluminium/ Magnesium) cone material deployed in dual 6.5in bass drivers and twin 4in mids astride a tweeter in a symmetrical ‘B-M-T-M-B’ configuration.

For the first time in a compact Monitor Audio in-wall speaker, the CP-IW460X employs a version of the high frequency ribbon transducer from the company’s Gold and flagship Platinum speaker lines. Being ultra-light and with no break-up, Monitor Audio says the ribbon is capable of impressive detail retrieval across a wide and linear response, which extends beyond 50 KHz to reproduce perhaps the most neutral and natural high frequency performance available from any in-wall speaker design. The ribbon can be rotated to accommodate horizontal and vertical installation.

The CP-IW260X uses the latest generation 1in Gold Dome tweeter, which employs a specially vented housing to reduce air pressure behind the dome for lower resonance, optimum damping and greater accuracy over a wider range.

Further down the spectrum, bass and mid frequency fidelity from both the CP-IW260X and CP-IW460X is preserved by Monitor Audio’s latest ‘dished’ cone drivers. Devoid of the conventional centre pole-piece aperture, their radiating surfaces are formed from a continuous sheet of C-CAM, which contributes superior rigidity at the centre of the cone. In concert with large motors, underhung voice coils and die-cast alloy chassis, the dished cone structure delivers very low distortion and efficiency for deep, clean, dynamic bass and what the maker calls a wonderfully open and expressive midrange.

Complementing the response of its ribbon tweeter, the bass/ mid drivers on the CP-IW460X are enhanced

by Monitor Audio’s RST ‘dimpled’ cone technology, which uses concentric dimples to further strengthen their radiating surfaces, and the entire five-driver configuration is installed within a rigid die-cast metal baffle for more accurate and dynamic audio reproduction.

Delivering control and detail

The CP designs use a 23 element crossover, comprising low loss inductors and high grade Polypropylene capacitors. Separate bi-wire terminations for the bass/mid and tweeter networks are in place to offer a superior level of system design flexibility for high-end custom installation and serve to demonstrate the audiophile design ambition underpinning the new models.

In common with their CP series range-mates, the CP-IW260X and CP-IW460X are fitted with acousticallysealed cast-polymer back boxes to provide the structural integrity needed to preserve sound quality and to ensure a ‘controlled performance’ wherever they’re installed. Not only do the enclosures protect the systems from dirt and dust, they also of course limit the transmission of sound between walls and floors, reducing the need for sound isolation in the wall cavity.

For ease of install, the paintable trimless grilles are attached with powerful rare earth magnets and both CP-IW260X and CP-IW460X offer HF and midrange attenuation, together with boundary compensation switching to fine-tune in-room response.

Monitor Audio’s patented ten-position ‘Tri-Grip’ mounting system is included to provide easy and secure installation within standard 4in stud wall bays.

These speakers form part of the next gen of integrated speakers that an increasing number of makers are confident match stand-alone designs for sound quality, offering installers the design needed, but with much less of the comprise that increasingly belongs in the past.

Monitor Audio 01268 740580, monitoraudio.co.uk

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Stylish PG6-R Premium Grille The beautifully designed new Custom Install PG6-R Premium Grille adds a stylish finish to Monitor Audio’s Custom Install speakers. The hexagonal pattern dissipates towards the edge of the grille to create a subtle design effect, whilst allowing maximum audio performance from the speaker. Crafted from magnetised stainless steel, the PG6-R Premium Grille offers an instant retro-fit solution.

C165

C165-T2

C265

C265-IDC

C265-FX

CSS230

PG6-R

CP-CT150

The PG6-R Premium Grille has been designed for use with Monitor Audio’s best-selling C165 speaker.

It is also compatible with the following models: C165-T2, C265, C265-IDC, C265-FX, CSS230, CP-CT150.

monitoraudio.com

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image courtesy of www.realmcontrol.com

the benchmark for luxury theater seating

Acoustical Designer Fabrics Our designer-friendly, specially-woven and tested collection of acoustical fabrics features a wide variety of exciting design patterns and colors and can be used safely over both acoustical treatments and speakers.

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