Home cinema install: To the Manor Born...
Size and layout presented initial challenges. Support pillars for a dormer window along the left-hand wall needed to be removed, and the length of the room was more than required for the desired twin-row seating, and would have resulted in less-than-optimal placement for rear surround speakers. To overcome this, the rear wall was brought forward with concealed custom-made cabinetry, providing space for the cinema's kit rack, surround speakers and Sony VPL-VW550ES 4K projector – the latter housed in an air-cooled hushbox to reduce sound leakage, and firing into the room through an aluminium porthole ring. Meanwhile, the intrusive support pillars were replaced by cantilevered steel beams tethered to an RSJ eventually hidden by the seating stage.
Further work, following CAD designs to ascertain correct speaker positioning to hit reference level volume across all seating positions, saw the screen-end also given a makeover. A baffle wall was constructed to house the fixed-frame projector screen, Artcoustic LCR speakers, and – at floor level – two subwoofers (each with a quartet of 10in bass drivers). The finished speaker array is 7.2.4, run by a Dirac EQ-enabled Arcam AVR850 receiver and Arcam P429 four-channel power amplifier.
The Sony projector delivers 4K HDR movie playback from a Sony UBP-X1000ES player to the cinema's 3.6m-wide screen; the installers used the PJ's lens memory function to switch automatically between 16:9 and CinemaScope visuals.
For the final design, the structural roof beams became an integral element in the room's aesthetic, fitted with lighting troughs to incorporate downlighters and RGB uplighting. Doors, walls, ceiling and cabinetry are all acoustically treated and wrapped in a dark fabric. Automation of the system (via a Control4 processor) includes preset lighting scenes, including 'intermission' lighting when a film is paused.
Installer Info
Bespoke Home Cinemas
www.bespokehomecinemas.co.uk
Kit Checklist
Sony: VPL-VW550ES 4K HDR projector
Display Technologies: 3.6m-wide 2.37:1
ratio acoustically transparent screen
Sony: UBP-X1000ES 4K Blu-ray player
Arcam: AVR850 AV receiver; P429 power amplifier
Artcoustic: 3 x Spitfire SL 16-8 (front LCR); 4 x SL 4-2 (surrounds); 4 x Architect 4-2 (height); 2 x Performance 4 subwoofers; 2 x PA750 subwoofer power amplifiers
Control4: EA-3 home automation processor
and lighting control
Behind the screen sits the LCR speaker trio – Artcoustic's Spitfire 16-8 models feature 16 midbass drivers and eight tweeters to reach an amplifier-friendly claimed sensitivity of 101dB
Bringing forward the rear wall enabled prime position of rear surround speakers, and allowed the Sony 4K projector to be concealed in its own temperature-controlled hush box
Preparation work included reinforcing the roof, constructing a raised floor for the seating row, and front- and rear-wall cabinetry
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Home Cinema Choice #351 is on sale now, featuring: Samsung S95D flagship OLED TV; Ascendo loudspeakers; Pioneer VSA-LX805 AV receiver; UST projector roundup; 2024’s summer movies; Conan 4K; and more
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