JANUARY 2020
THE ESSENTIAL MAGAZINE FOR THE AV AND SMART HOME INDUSTRY
Supporting our customers, our products and our vendors since 1991
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Blustream_EI_DEC_2019.indd All Pages
HDCP 2.2
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distance of 70m J Smart Scale technology - automatic 4K to 1080p scaling
M U L T I C A S T
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STAND 5-U85
22/11/2019 18:22
16 30 27 CONTENTS 5 FROM THE EDITOR’S CHAIR Are you ready for 2020?
7 ESSENTIAL NEWS A new year’s helping of happenings
January 2020 24 ESSENTIAL CEDIA Time to tackle packaging problems
27 CASE STUDY: GIBSON INTEGRATION A serious cinema
16 RGB COMMUNICATIONS
30 REVIEW: CEL-FI SOLO
18 HABITECH
32 REVIEW: SONOS PORT
Making the difference for installers
More event news
Get hands on with Solo
A useful addition?
20 ONEAV
37 ISE PREVIEW
23 PULSE CINEMAS
43 INSTALL PIONEERS
A new brand partner
Lutron additions
Learn more about what’s in store
Mark Schafle, CEO James Loudspeaker
More powe
The New Sonos A OY19000_SONOS_AMP_400x60_UK-D02.indd OY19000_SONOS_AMP_400x60_UK-D02.indd 11
46 32 69 ACOUSTIC TREATMENT SPECIAL FEATURE
37 58 PRODUCT FOCUS In Praise of Totem
46 Peter Aylett of cinema design specialist HTE, examines the growing importance of acoustic treatment in the sector
60 CASE STUDY: ISEE-AV Vanhalla!
49 Gustavo Pires, Vicoustic Technical Director, examines why acoustic treatment is more important than ever
63 MERIDIAN AUDIO In-wall love in
52 David Shevyn, lecturer/researcher and MD of GIK
Acoustic Europe Ltd, askes some fundamental questions about the importance of AT
69 ESSENTIAL PRODUCTS Top toys for 2020
55 Habitech’s Craig Wheeler and CinemaTech’s Ryan Crist explain why room treatment is always the most effective system upgrade
wer. More possibilities.
os Amp 22/03/2019 22/03/2019 13:54 13:54
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Works with Amazon Alexa and AirPlay 2 Simple control and system expansion
Available from the UK Distributor
Web: https://anatech.co.uk Tel: 020 8977 8633
JANUARY 2020
THE ESSENTIAL MAGAZINE FOR THE AV AND SMART HOME INDUSTRY
pages 18-19
Supporting our customers, our products and our vendors since 1991
rgbcomms.co.uk // 01488 73366
FOR YOUR SYSTEM TO SOAR, USE A LITTLE SPACE CRAFT
GET SOME EDUCATION
WE PREVIEW ISE 2020’S LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Distributor of the Year Finalist
GIBSON’S SUPURB CINEMA SUCCESS WE TAKE THE TOUR OF THIS PROJECT
GETTING IN TOUCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Daniel Sait, dan@allthingsmedialtd.com
SALES DIRECTOR
Ian Kitchener, ian@allthingsmedialtd.com
PUBLISHER
David Kitchener, david@allthingsmedialtd.com
STUDIO MANAGER
Ben Bristow, ben@allthingsmedialtd.com
ACCOUNTS
susan@allthingsmedialtd.com
CIRCULATION
carol@allthingsmedialtd.com
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SOCIALS /INSTALL_MAG /ESSENTIALINSTALL Whilst 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.
JANUARY
OFF TO A FLYING START!
So, after the excesses of the Christmas period and a somewhat depressing general election in the UK, are we ready to face another exciting and challenging year in the AV and install industry? You bet, we at EI always enjoy the start of the year as in fact it is one of busiest parts of the whole year. Major trade and consumer shows abound; there is the huge CES (Consumer Electronics Show) over in the US, which actually has quite a bit of interest for the install community these days and of course in February there is the annual install-fest that is Integrated Systems Europe. This year will be the last time we get, as an industry, to de-camp to Amsterdam as the show moves to Barcelona next time. I know lots of people are looking forward to this and will happily swap the warner climes of southern Europe for the colder streets of Amsterdam, however EI has to say we will miss ‘the Dam’ - it’s a great city and has been a fantastic host for the industry. It’s also one of the few cities in Europe where consistently you can get a decent pint of cider! Any Strongbow friendly bar recommendations in Barcelona gratefully received. As the year kicks into gear there will be loads for us to report on and serve up to you via the magazine or our sister website.
Traditionally its also a time when people and businesses perhaps look at improving some aspect of their working or personal life, a few sits ups maybe? yoga? take up oil painting? But what about your business? does that need some work?
MAKE SOME NOISE!
From an EI point of view, the one thing that companies lack the time and often the expertise to do is to market themselves properly. Often there is no dedicated person within distributors, manufacturers and installers to make sure marketing efforts get done and get done right. But if you build it and don’t tell anybody, nobody will come, right? So if you commit to do just one thing to improve your business as we start the year, consider taking some time to look at building your reach and reputation through some targeted marketing. It could just be making sure you spend more time on those social media feeds or you could re-write the whole of your website. Two extremes, but the impact on business could be significant. If you don’t have the time or the knowledge in house, get some help. We are always happy to advise on the best ways of doing this, so don’t be afraid to ask. Most of all, enjoy 2020, it feels like it could be another very big year for the industry.
Daniel J Sait Editor
JANUARY 2020 05
New: Accessories for Sonos Move SM-WM Wall Mount for Sonos Move Suitable for use indoors or outdoors UV resistant silicone rubber protects the speaker High grade-steel construction
SM-FS Floor Stand for Sonos Move Bespoke design securely holds the Sonos Move and the charging base Positions the speaker at ideal height for seated listening Includes adjustable carpet spikes and rubber feet for wood/tiled floors
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NEWS
ENADO AND ONEAV GET EXCLUSIVE Automation brand Enado is now available exclusively through OneAV. Enado, a Birmingham based firm, began several years ago with a vision to create an affordable, flexible and simple operating system/brain for the modern home. Enado’s founder, Adam Kent, with many years of experience in home automation systems, identified that the home was the ‘equivalent of a dinosaur’ in technological development compared to other products. Enado allows users to connect and control a range of devices and systems both within the office, home and remotely, providing the opportunity to not only control but also monitor and adjust. Offering one common software platform with no need to download apps. Enado, the brain in the home, facilitates control through a simple touch screen interface that runs on any web-enabled device, smartphone or tablet, regardless of operating system or manufacturer. Partners can not only offer products that can be controlled simply, but they can also integrate their product via Enado with the cloud to deliver information and messages as required. Utilities, ISP, telecoms, media, set-top boxes, heating,
climate, lighting, energy and appliances can all be integrated individually or part of an expanding ecosystem. Recent additions include the Enado Mini-S, a controller that is 7x faster than the model preceding it, and a range of EnLink devices allowing for legacy RS232, IR control and learning, both offering DC-powered or PoE capability. The Enado Mini-S has been updated to support all Just Add Power AV-over-IP devices and HDANYWHERE MHUB’s with direct addressable IP>IR. The Mini-S natively enables control of a range of IP devices and includes two enabled USB-serial ports. Adam Kent, CEO of Enado, comments,: “I am delighted that here at Enado, we now have our own hardware solutions. The new Mini-S opens up huge opportunities for installers for commercial and residential automation. Aside from its incredible speed, it also has the most advanced integration with Amazon Alexa and Siri.” OneAV www.oneav.co.uk www.enado.com
JANUARY 2020 07
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NEWS
TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS GROUP FORMS PARTNERSHIP WITH BLACK NOVA Technological Innovations Group (TIG) has announced a strategic partnership with control maker Black Nova. Black Nova’s ARIA, ALBA and ANY collections of keypads seamlessly connect with Crestron and add an extra level of aesthetic value. “As this exciting new partnership demonstrates, we’re fully committed to offering our customers the most advanced control options available,” says Robin van Meeuwen, CEO of TIG. “Black Nova products offer compelling designs and innovative technology which is totally in line with the vision and mission of Technological Innovations Group and will allow us to serve our Crestron customers even better.” Black Nova keypads are available in three distinctive collections: ARIA is a tribute to the minimalist aesthetics of the 20th century, combined with precise performance. Straight lines, simple shapes, vivid colours, and perfect glass surfaces are a stylish match for any interiors. The ALBA collection is large. Easy-to-
use buttons with engraved icons and text are flush with the design frame, creating a smooth surface. Available in two, four, and eight-button configurations, and in stunning metal or glass finishes. The ANY Collection is packed with the latest sensors including proximity, gesture, ambient light, colour, and temperature. “We are excited about our partnership with TIG, an innovative and leading sales agency in the MEA region that has fully embraced our philosophy and offer. We deeply love our Italian design keypads, a perfect blend of pure style and innovative technology. We believe our ARIA, ALBA, and ANY Collections will provide the perfect match to any interior and taste, while delivering a unique and flawless user experience,” adds Olav Beruto, CEO of Black Nova. TIG www.tig.eu www.blacknova.co
JANUARY 2020 09
Designed by Apple in California Integrated by Intrinsic in the UK
Visit www.intrinsicdev.co.uk for more information
NEWS
PENN ELCOM LAUNCHES RACK PANEL DESIGNER SERVICE 19-inch racking and flightcase hardware manufacturer, Penn Elcom has launched a timesaving and cost-effective new web appbased service for installers wanting to build their own 19in rack panels. Panel Designer is a fuss-free facility enabling anyone with 20 minutes, a good internet connection, and ideas, to design and order their ‘dream’ rack panels, adding practical, individual, cool or funky touches. This drag-and-drop programme allows the easy configuration and ordering of high-quality bespoke branded 19in rack panels, whether it’s one single unit or several hundred! No minimum quantity is required. The solution has been developed to allow busy people and businesses to add their own creative and special touches to products quickly and cost-effectively. With the ‘Drag-Drop-Delivered’ MO to the fore, Panel Designer allows installers, system integrators, AV and production professionals and rack builders from all sectors of entertainment technology to get quick and impressive results without grappling with complex software or requiring in-depth graphic design skills. As it is internet-based, a variety of devices can be used to access Panel Designer anywhere anytime.
Panels – currently sized between 1U and 6U – are selected first. Users then browse through a variety of pre-made cut-outs indexed by category e.g. power, audio, video, fan, multicore, Harting, sub-D and other connectors – any of which can be dragged into place on the panel and easily labelled using the text function. Graphics, logos, other branding artwork or text can also be uploaded and positioned on the designed panel. The cut-outs snap into place automatically on the design drawing, leaving the correct spaces for connectors, fans, etc. Text and logos will be UV painted. Once the panel design is complete, the price is displayed (helpfully, this increments as the panel is being built) and the ‘order’ button is clicked, then the design moves straight into production at Penn. Customers receive an email when it’s ready, and the product can be shipped to all Penn Elcom’s regular destinations via the worldwide distribution network. Penn Elcom www.pennelcomonline.com
JANUARY 2020 11
NEWS
MICHAEL SHERMAN NAMED CEDIA YOUNG PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR (2019) CEDIA announced late last year that Michael Sherman was the recipient of the 2019 CEDIA Young Professional of the Year award. Michael is the owner and director of Henri, a CEDIA Member of Excellence company based in France. The honour recognises Michael as an emerging leader who is making an impact on the home technology integration industry. The award is designed to elevate and celebrate the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit of industry professionals under the age of 40. “This honour highlights Michael’s exceptional dedication to his craft and to the entire industry,” says CEDIA Global President and Chief Executive Officer, Tabatha O’Connor. “Through his long-time CEDIA membership and contributions to high-profile roles like the EMEA Board of Directors and the Membership Advisory Council, Michael
personifies the spirit of the award. The future of our global industry is brighter with Michael as a part of it.” Michael joined Henri — a company founded by his grandfather in 1961 — more than a decade ago. The custom integrator has grown over the years to include offices in two cities, Paris and Cannes, and 40 employees. Henri has been a CEDIA member since 1999. Michael was recently named Entrepreneur of the Year in the greater Paris area by the France Chamber of Artisans. Throughout his career and involvement with CEDIA, Michael has championed the expansion of the association’s global presence. He has also served as a judge for the CEDIA Awards selection process. CEDIA www.cedia.co.uk
IFI AUDIO CHOOSES ITS ARMOUR iFi Audio has announced the appointment of Armour Home as its official distribution partner for retail in the UK. Armour Home is both a manufacturer and a distributor. Today, the company owns six brands including Q Acoustics, QED, Systemline and Goldring, as well as distributing Grado headphones in the UK. iFi products will sit alongside those from Grado as Armour Home looks to expand its thirdparty distribution portfolio. iFi’s latest product developments, such as the Aurora wireless music system, are opening up new markets that Armour Home can help to penetrate, utilising its extensive contacts across specialist and mainstream channels. Miles Roberts, Global Business Development Manager at iFi Audio, said, “We considered long and hard before selecting our new distribution partner for the UK. In the end, Armour Home’s experience and reach, coupled to the team’s vision of how our products will fit into the company’s current portfolio, made it the obvious choice.
12 JANUARY 2020
“Although we are a global company with wholly owned facilities on three continents, we were founded in the UK and are proud of our British heritage. We have grown exponentially since iFi Audio formed as an offshoot of high-end audio company AMR in 2012; strengthening our distribution network in the UK and around the
world will ensure our growth continues apace.” Chris Emerson, Sales Director at Armour Home, adds: “We are excited to be partnering with iFi Audio. The company’s innovative, highperformance product range has a complementary synergy with our own brands and perfectly matches the requirements of our UK retail partners.”
WE CREATE TECHNOLOGY FOR THE CONNECTED WORLD A wave of digitisation is sweeping our world and increasingly shaping and altering how we act and live, our homes and workplaces, businesses, public facilities and spaces – even entire cities. Digital technologies are now omnipresent. Everything is communicating with everything else: people with devices, devices with other devices, buildings with people, and buildings with other buildings. It’s up to us to
In every system, multiple components interact in very important ways. Many of our products incorporate a number of basic AV and IT functions to perform a range of tasks, even over long distances. This is the philosophy that guides us – Combined Connectivity Solutions.
shape our digital future so it will yield the greatest benefits. At Lindy we’re convinced that, if we have the right ideas and persevere, we can protect the environment while enjoying safer, more rewarding lives. The basis
SHARING
EXTENDING
CONNECTING
CONVERTING
for doing so, and the intelligence behind it, can be summed up in one word: connectivity. This is the prerequisite for all communication. And we are working to forge connections and make the whole universe of content available anywhere and in any setting.
DISCOVER LINDY lindy.com
NEWS
PULSE CINEMAS ISE TOUR RETURNS! After the success of the Pulse Cinemas ISE Tour initiative for the 2019 show, the team is planning to repeat the endeavour, making it bigger, better and bolder than before. One of the undoubted consequences of the growth of ISE is that as the show gets physically larger it can be a real challenge to plan a successful trip and find all of the companies and demonstrations that are of the most value. Pulse Cinemas has come up with a solution to that challenge with its guided tour initiative. Basically, installers sign up to the tour, pick a time and brand schedule that suits them from the list of choices and then all they have to do is show up at the appointed time and place. At this point the Pulse Cinemas team take
over and guide the group around the show providing insights and special demonstrations only available on the tour. What is more, the company also provides a free of charge night out into the bargain. Taking the lead on a big chunk of this initiative for the 2019 run was Internal Sales Manager Simon Schino, and once again for 2020, Simon is heavily involved and explained some of the fresh ideas for next year’s tour. Simon said, “We want to build on what we achieved last time with a chance to learn more about the brands and the products that will be featured at the show. We have learnt lots from the success of our recent Pulse Cinemas Golf Invitational, a totally packed out event that really
underlined what great conversations can come about when the Pulse Cinemas team and our customers all get together. “So, expect the 2020 event to feel even more like an ‘exclusive tour’. Our dealer/installers will be offered some unique branded clothing, which is only available to tour attendees. We are still adding other exciting aspects to the tour, which will be revealed as the event draws closer.” Pulse Cinemas will contact its dealers direct with more details. Pulse Cinemas www.pulsecinemas.com
XANTECH APPOINTS CONNECTED DISTRIBUTION AS UK DISTRIBUTOR Connected Distribution has been appointed as a distributor for the Xantech range of video distribution products, including its Video over IP, bringing these solutions to the commercial and residential installation sectors. Xantech’s Video over IP (VIP) platform distributes 4K UHD HDMI video over a 1GB Network switch with a virtually latency free performance of just 1-frame. Using lossless compression technology, Xantech delivers HDMI, IR and RS-232 to lengths of up to 100m over a single CAT cable. The new 4K UHD Video over IP solution can be installed in minutes without the need for any networking qualifications or the creation of
14 JANUARY 2020
complex VLANs. The easy to use wizard-based installation means a basic product configuration takes just seconds, without needing a computer or any special set up software. The system is modular in design, with separate transmitters and receivers that are powered via PoE or locally, meaning installations can grow as more sources and displays are added over time. This is a benefit for installers, especially in large commercial situations where the number of displays is very often considerably greater than the number of sources. Using traditional HDMI matrix products in these situations results in the unnecessary purchase of source inputs that remain unused.
Further simplicity in installation comes from the built-in scaling which ensures that every source will work with any display, including 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) and HDR at 24fps available on the latest HDMI 2.0 devices. Every receiver also features a ‘daisy-chain’ capability to permit content to be mirrored across multiple displays. The Xantech VIP products can be controlled very simply using the Advanced Control Module with a drag and drop routing operation or via any number of third-party control systems, including RTI, also distributed by Connected Distribution. Connected Distribution www.connecteddistribution.com
No programming. No kidding.
Introducing Crestron Home. A powerful operating system that delivers the speed and simplicity you want, and the experience your clients demand. No programming. No complexity. Just a simple setup experience for you, and a new intuitive experience for your clients. Simply a smart way to make more homes Crestron Homes.
Learn more at crestron.com/crestronhome
ISE 2020. CRESTRON INVITES YOU TO REGISTER FOR FREE. Join us as our guest at ISE 2020 - The world’s leading exhibition for the AV and system integration business. Visit iseurope.org and register using the invitation code: 706857. Meet us at stand 2-C20!
All brand names, product names, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Certain trademarks, registered trademarks, and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Crestron disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. Crestron is not responsible for errors in typography or photography. Š2019 Crestron Electronics, Inc.
Ad_2019-06_CrestronHome_Introducing_v5_ISE_A4EssentialInstall.indd 1
11/12/2019 14:14
RGB COMMUNICATIONS
RGB COMMUNICATIONS – THE TECHNICAL DISTRIBUTOR Gordon Innocent, Chairman of RGB Communications Ltd, explains what makes this highly experienced and knowledgeable distributor stand out from the crowd. RGB isn’t like other distributors. We don’t sell televisions or low-end projectors and everything under the sun. Nor do we just say we are a technical distributor - we genuinely are one. Our technical people are actually really rather technical, our products are technical, our sales people are even technical. We have a fantastic, niche product range, covering home automation, lighting, acoustic treatments, networks and infrastructure. We ‘know’ our products. We also make it our business to know, and support, our customer’s needs. We have been around since 1991, supporting our customers, our products and our vendors. We are unique. So, what makes a good CI distributor? At RGB, we think it is a combination of many things but, fundamentally, it is having the vision to combine good stock of the right products with the high levels of skill and experience to support our customers, whenever they need it. Since 1991, this has always been our mission and, with the ever-changing needs of the industry combined with constant technological developments, support is still very much needed. This is why we call ourselves a Technical AV Distributor and we feel our support is amongst the best in the industry. Based near Hungerford, Berks, we are a distributor that operates across both the
16 JANUARY 2020
residential and commercial markets. We set ourselves up to offer both markets the ideal level of resource and service to help our customers make every job the best they can. Crucially, we also look to the future, helping our customers expand their own businesses by teaching them new skills and sharing our real-world knowledge. Although our portfolio is comprehensive, every product within the RGB portfolio has a place. Consisting of many of the leading brands in both commercial and residential AV, our range has been continuously developed over the years, enabling us to offer the right product for the right application - every time. Significantly, we have also carefully selected unique products that we have discovered as crucial solutions through real-world experience. Important to this is that we have very close ties with each vendor, meaning that we are up to speed with their latest technology and support. This enables us to help with new product development and even create new application firmware on a bespoke basis where required. A deep product portfolio is only as good as the support on offer, which is why we take it so seriously.
HIGH-END PRODUCTS AND SUPPORT
To achieve this essential level of support, we ensure our internal and field sales and technical support team’s technical knowledge is second only to the manufacturer. Each market/ product group has its own team, responsible
for the entire process from specification, sales, logistics, installation and on-going support. However, a team is only as good as the sum of its parts, which is why we employ great people, train them well, provide additional monthly training and support them with the tools to become masters within their fields. The team at RGB now stands at 40 great people, all committed to their roles to make working with us as easy as possible. Our residential AV sales/technical team covers all AV needs from simple point-to-point AV signal distribution through to whole home automation systems. As the UK and European distributor for Savant, we have a dedicated team that can help our customers from initial introductions and training through to project specifications and commissioning. As we have such close links with Savant, we are also able to create dedicated applications, many of which have been fed back into the brand’s ecosystem. Having been its distributor since 1999, we also have vast experience of Lutron lighting. As a major supplier of the Homeworks QS range, we are the only distributor that offers in-house training of the range, along with significant sales and technical support across both the Homeworks QS and RA-2 product ranges. To further enhance our lighting offering, we are also distributors for the Q-Motion and Appeal Home Shading (blinds) ranges, both of which offer electric and home automation-controlled window treatments that are compatible with Savant and other major automation brands.
RGB COMMUNICATIONS
The best installations need to be housed and managed correctly for long-term reliability. Middle Atlantic racking solutions is another of our long-term brands and we keep significant stock of products available for next-day delivery. Along with the Lande and Penn-Elcom rack ranges, we genuinely have a rack to suit all price points and applications. Power management is also crucial and we have large stocks of the excellent SurgeX range of power distributors/ protectors/UPS products and Pakedge PDUs. AV distribution has always been a key product grouping at RGB, with us supplying and supporting Kramer products since 1993, with Atlona joining the fold in 2016. With every installation requiring access to the internet, networking has seen significant growth over the years, with Pakedge offering excellent solutions, whilst the recently added NetGear range offers our customers a wide range of products, including the latest range of 10Gbps switches. Crucially, at RGB, we are not about representing as many brands as we can. Built up over many years, we only work with those vendors that we recognise as being genuine market leaders with unique technology/ products that, through close relationships, we know our customers require. In addition, it means that we can faithfully support the vendors we work with, without having to dilute any of the essential support our customers know us for. This means that when presented with a new potential vendor, before we have even looked at the business case, we dismantle the brand and check how it fits into our portfolio and whether we can support it to the same required level as all the others. Adding new vendors may well fill perceived gaps but, as support is so crucial to our business, if we can’t support it how we want to, we will not take it on. As a great deal of our customers have been working with us for many years, a product appearing within the RGB portfolio is a sign of trust and reliability, as they know we have conducted due diligence. This seal of approval is a major factor that sets RGB
apart from its competitors. In addition to everything you might expect from a distributor, we have full demonstration facilities in Hungerford and London, which we encourage our customers to use and bring their customers to see working solutions as part of their sales pitches. Also on offer to every RGB customer is full AV system design support and specification checking, an on-site measurement and installation service for Qmotion, Lutron and Appeal blinds, Lutron lighting commissioning, Savant programming, bespoke rack face plates and on-site hand-holding as required. A crucial part of our support package, and an area that we are constantly developing, is our extensive menu of training courses held at dedicated training suite at our Hungerford HQ.
TRAINING
Very early on we recognised the need to offer our customers technical training. Not just to help ensure that the right products were specified and then installed correctly, but rather also to allow customers to properly benefit from their new found knowledge and enable us to strengthen our mutual relationships. Early courses included the very basics of helping our customers understand where and how to pitch the products through to configuring, programming and installing them too. We moved on to develop brand-specific, how to sell and specify courses, yet have found that, through experience, the six technical and two brand-agnostic courses, each delivered by members of our technical team and never interpreted as a sales pitch, are widely well recognised and received. Two of our courses are CEDIA CEU accredited; Integrating the Rack and Networking and WiFi for AV systems.
RECENT ADDITIONS
The AV business moves quickly and so to keep up with current trends, we have recently introduced new manufacturer partners across both our residential and commercial markets, which include; Artison (speakers), iRoom (iPad mounts), Lande and Penn-Elcom (economic racks), Metra (HDMI cables), Crowdbeamer (a shared presentation solution), RGB Spectrum (video wall/image processors), Chief (brackets), Netgear (network solutions), Appeal (shades and blinds), Artnovion (acoustic solutions), Da-lite and Projecta screens. We still have a manageable number of brands (under 30), many of which are exclusive to RGB. We also look to add incremental brands that ‘fit’ into our portfolio, based on feedback from our customers. These new vendors join longrepresented brands including Middle Atlantic (racks/enclosures) since 2004, Lutron (lighting)
since 1999, Barco (projectors) since 2009 and many more. We have also launched a variety of significant products over the same period, mainly from Savant and Lutron. In addition to product and vendor activity, we have developed a brandnew website with a fantastic product search facility, introduced e-commerce for regular simplified ordering and produced 12 (and counting) in-house sales support flip-books. Finally, to provide an even better, more flexible service to our clients, we have re-invested in our warehouse facility, which has helped us improve our service for quick order turnaround of many of the 17,500 skus currently available from us. It’s been a very busy year but we feel that the huge amounts of activity high-lights our on-going commitment to our vendors, our customers and our staff to be the very best in our field.
TODAY
We continue to strive to do what we have always done, but better. To provide our manufacturers with a great route to market and our customers with the right product, when they need it, at a competitive price. Crucially, we will take ownership should there be a problem. So why should you deal with RGB Communications? If you require the best products available at competitive prices along with the very best support in the market regardless of your skill level, then we are here to help. And when we say help, we will support you throughout the process. That is our commitment and one that we have stood by for nearly 30 years. RGB Communications www.rgbcomms.co.uk
JANUARY 2020 17
HABITECH
Enjoy the best intro to ultra-fast, future-ready network infrastructure at Basingstoke Jan 21-22
GET THE VERY BEST FROM BIG DATA AT TECHFEST 10G Manage soaring data demand today and tomorrow with the tools and training at this month’s networking showcase, says Habitech’s Timmi Thorsen. Folks, now that Video is arriving in increasing Volumes and with greater Velocity, dealing with ‘the three Vs’ is fast becoming the major CI challenge of our times. If the latest stats are to be believed, video accounts for more than 60% of all internet traffic. Netflix alone streams over 165m hours of content to more than 158 million subscribers every day, and rivals such as the BBC, Amazon, Apple, Warner and Disney are all fighting for a share of a market value expected to reach $125bn by 2025. And it isn’t just the rivers of online TV and movies that are flooding the networks. With the introduction of cloud gaming, spearheaded by Google’s recently launched ‘Stadia’ gaming service (and Microsoft’s proposed xCloud), internet gaming traffic is likely to grow nine-fold between 2017 and 2022 according to Cisco.
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One thing’s for sure: the media giants are betting big money on the fat pipe between their servers and your customers’ displays. Streaming is their future, their eternal payday, so it’s no coincidence that they’re backing it to become the primary source of home entertainment content, rising in quality, eclipsing traditional broadcast methods. It’s also great news for your business. At the local end of this vast global network, you’re not just sticking an aerial on the telly. The big new opportunity is to wring maximum energy from incoming bandwidth. Deliver the high quality/low latency whole-house experience demanded by your customers and your business will reap the dividends of loyalty going forward, with lucrative outcomes. This is why we’re running TechFest 10G later this month.
PROFICIENCY END-TO-END
Using the ProNet blueprint we drew up back in 2012, our Techfest 10G showcase will show you better ways to handle big data. By introducing the latest state-of-the-art product and training expertise, we’ll give you the means to wield 10G network proficiency end-to-end. In parallel
with the UK’s first 10G APs and switches from Ruckus and Draytek, we’re offering you powerful and proven security tech from WatchGuard, and, linking it all up, the most reliable choice of high performance cable infrastructure from SCP. Boosting design versatility beyond 10G we’ll reveal the finest array of high-speed AOC fibre/HDMI baluns, paired with premium HDMI links supporting HDMI 2.1’s dynamic HDR and eARC features. Alongside we’ll showcase the latest home cinema processing and amplification tech from Acurus and Arcam, Dahua’s new AI-equipped cameras and NVRs, Lutron Sivoia blinds, new Middle Atlantic PDUs and JVC’s astonishing LXNZ3 budget laser projector.
HABITECH
Debuting at Techfest 10G, Acurus’ Act 4 AV processor offers ultimate audio performance and control flexibility
INTEGRITY END-TO-END
It’s self-evident that any network is only as strong as its weakest link, so we’re advocating powerfully robust uniformity in every detail end-to-end. Between the nodes and switches, SCP’s cable infrastructure will ensure long-lasting network integrity: a whopping 25 years to be precise! Recognising the high incidence of network failure due to poor quality connections globally, the US specialist has just issued a quarter-century warranty on all its products, right down to the not-so-humble RJ45 connector (the major cause of network downtime). They’ve analysed the issues and engineered better solutions in cable termination, patch leads and HDMI connectors to eliminate compromise in quality and performance, even under renewed bandwidth pressure from Wi-Fi 6 and HDMI 2.1. For instance, SCP’s comprehensively shielded CAT 6 cables are designed for 10Gb transfers over distance, and its 2019 InfoComm award-winning ‘Simply 45’ RJ45 termination system will create a quick, affordable, reliable and superior signal path every time, especially to SCP’s full line of shielded colour-matched tool-less keystone jacks. SCP has also been working with the HDMI Alliance to develop faster HDMI links. Its shielded Ultra-Slim and Ultra-Violet HDMIs have been tested and approved to the new Premium High Speed HDMI cable standard, supporting HDMI 2.1’s eARC and dynamic HDR features. And they’ll marry beautifully with our Cleerline Inneos extenders, built to extend range and
bandwidth using Cleerline’s fabled SSF fibre. When the application demands, choose from our range of AOCs including Wyrestorm’s EXPCAB-HAOC and the new future-proof designs from Planet Waves. All the way from source to switch to screen, you’re building with the best.
AV END-TO-END
And while you’re with us at Techfest 10G, connect with our latest product intros designed to maximise the potential of every source, streamed or otherwise. Showcasing the latest codecs from Dolby, DTS, and IMAX Enhanced and with GoogleCast streaming, Arcam’s AVR10, AVR20 and AVR30 receivers and new AV40 16-channel processor are supported by a trio of new power amplifiers: the two, four and seven channel PA240, PA410 and PA720. We’re also unveiling the extraordinarily versatile 20-channel Acurus ACT 4 processor, complete with intuitive front panel or mobile device setup for rendering the most immersive audio from larger speaker configs. And check out the new, slender 2RU ‘MUSE’ processor, armed with peerless channel design flexibility for as many as 112 preset configurations. Boosting JVC’s universally-acclaimed native 4K D-ILA projector line is the remarkable LX-NZ3 DLP 4K HDR model, deploying a BLU-Escent laser light source to deliver high resolution and brightness to living rooms and media rooms with typically higher light levels.
Arcam’s new line-up of AV receivers, processors and amps will take to the stage at Habitech’s 10G showcase
Cleerline Inneos HDMI extenders join a peerless parade of ultra-high bandwidth infrastructure at TechFest 10G
SECURITY END-TO-END
Transfer the best network performance outdoors as well, with the new range of AI network cameras and NVRs from Dahua. Deeplearning algorithms recognise people and cars while rejecting other moving targets, drastically reducing the incidence of false alarms. What’s more, Dahua’s enhanced AI IQ will capture six facial attributes with an unprecedented 256 point detail analysis (twice that of rivals).
Dahua’s innovative AI-enhanced Eyeball Network Camera is part of a potent high tech security offering at TechFest 10G
NETWORK EVOLUTION END-TO-END
These are just some of the network-connected highlights that await you at this month’s TechFest 10G showcase. Join us in Basingstoke and we’ll prove how great products, training and support can help you transform the performance of all your networks, extracting the very best from big data and fine-tuning your command over today’s most critical and lucrative CI skillset. TechFest 10G will be held at Basingstoke January 21-22. Habitech www.habitech.co.uk
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ONEAV
ONEAV TO SUPPLY ENADO OneAV has announced its latest partnership supplying Enado, creator of smart browserbased control systems. In the UK & Ireland, Enado will be available exclusively through OneAV. UK based Enado began several years ago with a vision to create an affordable, flexible and simple operating system/brain for the modern home - the intelligence and control behind the true ‘smart home’. Enado’s Founder, Adam Kent, with many years of experience in home automation systems, identified that the home was the ‘equivalent of a dinosaur’ in technological development compared to other products. Enado allows users to connect and control a myriad of devices and systems both within the office, home and remotely, providing the opportunity to not only control but also monitor and adjust. Offering one common software platform with no need to download apps. Enado, the brain in the home, facilitates control of a product or service through a simple touch screen interface that runs on any web-enabled device, smartphone or tablet, regardless of operating system or manufacturer. Partners can not only offer products that can be controlled simply, but they can also integrate their product via Enado with the cloud to deliver information and messages as required. Utilities,
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ISP, telecoms, media, set-top boxes, heating, climate, lighting, energy, appliances can all be seamlessly integrated individually or part of an ever-expanding ecosystem. James Trumper, Director of OneAV, comments on Enado, “We are asked on a regular basis by our customers which control system is the best to use with the solutions we supply. Until meeting the team at Enado, it has always been a difficult recommendation! Is the installation residential or commercial? what level of control do you want to provide your customer? what is their budget etc… Now OneAV is able to recommend and supply Enado, a solution that can control almost every connected device at a price that just cannot be beaten within the market. We have worked closely with Enado to ensure that products like HDANYWHERE and Just Add Power are seamlessly integrated and deliver full integration with their unique features such as the HDA IP>IR system.” Introducing the Enado Mini-S which is 7x faster than the model preceding it, Enado has recently released this new controller. Also released is a range of EnLink devices allowing for legacy RS232, IR control and learning, both offering DC-powered or PoE capability. The Enado Mini-S has been updated to support all Just Add Power AV-over-IP devices and HDANYWHERE MHUBs with direct addressable IP>IR. The Mini-S natively enables
control of a myriad of IP devices and includes two enabled USB-serial ports. Adam adds, “I am delighted that here at Enado, we now have our own hardware solutions. The new Mini-S opens up huge opportunities for installers for commercial and residential automation, aside from its incredible speed, it also has the most advanced integration with Amazon Alexa and Siri. Of unique interest is our belief that it is also the only control solution that can operate natively from a Tesla touch screen. Enado is not device-specific and can operate on any client that runs a web page, this includes iOS, Android, PC, Mac, Windows, and Tesla, making it ideal for both corporate control and smart home. The ability to configure the system easily using a web browser either on-site or remotely makes needless truck rolls a thing of the past.” Enado is available for immediate shipping from OneAV. Speak to your account manager for further information or to order. OneAV www.oneav.co.uk
Enado™ facilitates control through a simple touch screen interface on any web-enabled device, smartphone or tablet. HDANYWHERE & Just Add Power are both supported with full integration of their unique features.
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PULSE CINEMAS
LUTRON LIGHTS THE WAY IN 2020 Lutron Brand Ambassador Oliver Deakin-Faux has been talking about what to expect from this leading producer of intelligent lighting and shading products and Pulse Cinemas in 2020 and beyond. Most installers automatically think of Lutron as a lighting control company, but Lutron also does a great range of motorised window treatments that can work on their own, or as part of a total lighting control system seamlessly linking with Lutron products from RA2 Select right up to Homeworks QS. Coming to the UK in the first quarter of 2020 is the next generation of Roller 64 to the flagship Sivoia QS family, available with WIDR technology to cover windows up to an impressive 3.6m wide whilst fitting into a small 102mm square pocket. This reduced diameter roller is a solution that we had asked Lutron for to assist our customers in covering larger windows and bi-folding doors that are becoming more prevalent on projects. The ability to cover such a large window from a compact roller will allow dealers to provide even more aesthetically pleasing options for larger window spaces. This update also offers improved sound performance, making this roller family quieter than ever, along with an optimised programming interface and wire attachment. The new pocket and flap are available in standard lineal colours
(white, black, silver, and bronze) and a more compact drive design supports shades as narrow as 445mm. 2019 also saw a number of our dealers adopting Lutron’s RA2 Select smart control system to allow them to win projects that don’t have either the budget or control requirements for a Homeworks system. RA2 Select is a simple, reliable and affordable lighting control system that is perfect for smaller or less complex projects, and because of its RF system topography, allows for retro-fitting into an existing property. The system allows up to 95 Lutron devices such as Pico Scene Keypads, RF Switched / Dimmable modules and of course window treatments leaving the remaining four spaces pre-reserved for auxiliary repeaters. RA2 Select offers simple integration to other manufacturers to add voice, temperature and audio control. Another new launch and available now is a welcome aesthetic option for the Palladiom line of keypads and thermostats with an antique brass finish. This new option is designed to address a major finish trend and allows homeowners and designers to have a broad and sophisticated palette of wall controls to complement any interior style. Reintroducing a popular traditional-looking finish to the Palladiom line, this option is available across all versions of Palladiom keypads and thermostats and offers a choice particularly well-suited to UK
and European homes will the larger number of period properties in the housing stock. Those of you who made it to last year’s CEDIA show in the US know that there is much more around the corner from Lutron for the European marketplace as well. Lutron’s commitment to innovation continues with game-changing additions to the portfolio of products and solutions. The company has made large investments across multiple product categories, residential systems, and businessto-business tools so that dealers can continue to deliver world class, whole home experiences with a manufacturer you trust. One of the reasons that we like Lutron so much is that it’s a company that never stops innovating or evolving. The push to develop more products and tools to allow both Pulse Cinemas and all of our dealers grow is relentless. Pulse is proud to be able to add value to our distribution service wherever possible. We are a team of experienced professionals, trained to the highest standards in design and calibration so that we can take some of the weight off and give you the freedom to do more business. For installers wanting to offer genuine luxury and the very latest cutting-edge control, there really is only one option. Lutron delivers in all areas, functionality and aesthetics in one powerful package. We offer various training opportunities on the Lutron platform, so get in touch to find out more. Lutron will also be showcasing these and many other new developments at ISE 2020 on Stand 5-R50 and we are also running our dealer tours to help you efficiently navigate the RAI and see all of our great partners. Pulse Cinemas www.pulsecinemas.com
JANUARY 2020 23
CEDIA
The must-attend introduction course to Smart Home technology! ‘BECOME A SMART HOME TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATOR ’
THE CONSUMER ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY NEEDS TO WAKE UP Alex Josling of CEDIA Member of Excellence, Seven Integration, warns that only if you happen to live on another planet can you miss the current massive campaign against single use plastic.
If you are new to the industry or looking to expand your knowledge base, this brand-new course introduces the principle topics that every new integrator needs to know: AV Distribution, Lighting, Networking and Control. With a great emphasis put on hands-on demonstrations and real-world configurations, the course delivers a taste of what is possible, outlines many of the considerations you need to make before you start, describes lots of the pitfalls to look out for along the way and introduces the higherlevel training and support you can expect from RGB.
Date: 16th January 2020 Duration: 1 day Location: RGB Head Office, 2 Lambourn Business Park, Lambourn Woodlands, Hungerford, RG17 7RY Visit www.rgbcomms.co.uk or call 01488 73366 to book now. Places are limited to a strict first come first served basis.
Distributor of the Year Finalist
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It is a problem in our society that isn’t going away very fast. If you Google ‘single use plastic packaging’ you get a page of results listing various companies (mainly supermarkets), banning single use plastic packaging on their products: ‘Supermarkets agree to ban unnecessary single-use plastic packaging’… ‘Tesco to ban non-recyclable plastic packaging’… ‘Co Op bans single use plastics’... it goes on and on. What I find striking is the silence from the consumer electronics industry. As an industry we are shipping TVs, speakers, amplifiers all packed in expanded polystyrene (EPS) – a petrol-based plastic. 4% of the petroleum consumed every year goes into the production of plastic and another 4% is used to power the plants that make the plastic. This is unsustainable, and the manufacturing process is a heavy pollutant to the Earth’s atmosphere. Polystyrene is non-biodegradable due to its resistance to photolysis – the chemical decomposition induced by light or other radiant energy, so it will be around for a very, very long time. In fact, research by Cleveland State University states that it would take more than a million years to decompose. To give some scale to the problem, in 2006 135 tonnes of polystyrene waste was dumped into landfill in Hong Kong. And whilst there are facilities that can recycle it, they are very few and far between. We’ve probably all seen the clips on TV and social media of bits of plastic finding its way into the stomachs of marine animals. The problem is the same with polystyrene packaging, or possibly even worse. Balls of polystyrene get lodged in the intestines and cause blockages. It also acts like a sponge, absorbing some of the nastiest contaminants in the ocean. This is not just bad for the animal eating it, but, of course, any animal that eats the animal that ate it, ie, us humans. The International Agency for Research on
Cancer as long ago as 2002 issued a report that established ‘Styrene’, one of the main ingredients in polystyrene, as a possible human carcinogen. Further, a report in 2014 by the National Toxilogical Program states that styrene is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen” and as being linked to occurrences of leukaemia and lymphoma cancer. Is this finding its way into our Friday fish ‘n’ chips? So, why can’t it be recycled? To understand the difficulties in recycling you first have to understand the manufacturing process. Small beads of polymer polystyrene are steamed with chemicals to cause it to expand to 50 times their original volume. After cooling and setting the beads are then blown into a mould and steamed again causing the beads to expand further and fuse together. To recycle a polystyrene block, you cannot re-mould it because the beads have already been expanded. Finding an alternative to polystyrene packaging is probably the favoured route rather than recycling or trying to re-use. Whether that be paper/card based or some other material is still up for discussion. But is it up for discussion? Are these discussions taking place? The food industry has taken on board consumer concerns and is changing its packaging. McDonalds stopped using EPS in its cartons back in the 1990s, for example. Yet, TVs are still being shipped encased in polystyrene without any public uproar or even apparent concern. It worries me that you don’t hear people talking about alternatives to these huge polystyrene blocks that protect the electronics we supply. Sonos products come packed in board. Unfortunately, they still wrap everything in unnecessary plastic bags, but it’s a start! And there are some alternatives being developed. A US company called Ecovative Design has developed a way of growing fungi that can replace EPS packaging and is already being used by companies, such as, Dell and Ikea. Isn’t it about time this cutting edge, forward thinking industry of ours started considering the effect we are having on the environment by using this short-sighted form of packaging?
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T: 01359 270280 E: sales@invisionuk.com W: www.invisionuk.com
CASE STUDY: GIBSON INTEGRATION
GIBSON’S SUPERB CINEMA SUCCESS EI takes the tour of this impresive and high-performance home cinema by Gibson Integration. Gibson Integration was formed in 2011 and is led by company Owners and Directors, Colin Scrivener and Kevin Dawkins, who between them have a combined industry knowledge of 48 years. The company is a specialist in home automation and systems integration and home cinema and produced this absolute beauty of a project. The company has a strong track record in the industry recently completing a full systems integration installation of an eight-storey single residence in Mayfair. The installation included the control of 307 individual lighting circuits and 98 custom made lighting keypads, full
HVAC control, multiple custom-made mirror televisions, 4K video distribution to 32 screens and audio distribution. On the home cinema side of things, last year the company designed and installed a stunning 11 seat, three-row, Dolby Atmos 7:2:4 4K cinema. As well as installing all cinema components inclusive of seating, the team supplied and fitted acoustic room treatments including application of fabric to all walls. Gibson also designed the lighting arrangement in the cinema, including ceiling, wall and step lighting. The installation was part of a full systems integration installation to a new build property including control of 164 individual lighting circuits, full HVAC control, 4K video distribution and internal and external audio distribution.
Luxury seating and superb AV performance takes this cinema to the next level
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THE PROJECT
So, how about this project and how it came about? Colin explains, “We were recommended to our clients by an M&E Consultant that we had worked with on a previous project that had included a large cinema we had designed and installed. We arranged for our new clients to visit the recently completed cinema at the previous project for a demonstration, after which we were instructed to design and install a cinema for them. “The original brief was reasonably straight forward. Our clients had requested that the cinema should seat nine, sound great and look amazing. Working alongside the client’s building contractor, we set to work designing the layout of the cinema. We produced a full suite of working drawings detailing tiered floor design, screen wall construction details, panelled wall layout including acoustic room treatments, ceiling and wall lighting design and audio-visual wiring requirement. During the construction of the cinema room, we arranged to meet with the
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client’s chosen interior designer along with our client to discuss colour scheme, acoustic fabrics and floor covering.” Plenty of options these days in terms of product choice; what approach did the team take here? Colin explains, “As mentioned previously, our clients had requested that the cinema should sound great and look amazing. Having installed Paradigm speakers on a number of previous projects, including the cinema that we had recently demonstrated to our client, we naturally followed suit and employed a 7.1 all Paradigm configuration. “The left, centre and right channels consisting of three Paradigm Ci Pro P3-LCR along with a Paradigm RVC-12SQ subwoofer were mounted in the screen wall behind the acoustically transparent Screen Research screen. Four Paradigm Ci Pro 80 speakers providing the side and back channels were flush mounted into the ceiling. We selected an Anthem 720 MRX AV receiver/amplifier to comfortably drive all seven
speaker channels and installed a Paradigm X-850 amp for the subwoofer.” Projector-wise Colin says that having been present in several demonstrations at Pulse Cinemas, the team decided on a BenQ 4K HDR lamp projector. Colin expands, “We mounted the projector on the ceiling at the rear of the cinema and set to work on carrying out the relevant adjustments to calibrate the projector to produce an image onto the 120in wide 1:78:1 (16/9) screen. Although this was our first outing with a BenQ product, we were incredibly impressed with the clarity of the picture and colour range produced by this single chip unit. “We selected Crestron as our control interface due to the fact that we had used Crestron throughout the rest of the house to provide integrated control of all systems. Crestron lighting control was employed in the cinema to create a number of lighting scenes which were selectable via the Crestron TSR310 handset and in wall keypad.”
CASE STUDY: GIBSON INTEGRATION
ESSENTIAL KIT LIST HEIGHT RESTRICTIONS
Colin reveals that the location and shape of the room presented a couple of key challenges. “The cinema room was located in a recently constructed basement and ceiling height within the room had been set. The ceiling height presented our Technical Systems Specialist, Kit Radmore, with the challenge of ensuring that all nine seating positions in the room had a clear view of the entire screen. “Screen height, screen size, tiered floor level and head clearance were carefully calculated to the last millimetre. We even went to the lengths of instructing Ineva, the custom seat manufacturer, to increase the seat pan height of the rear row of five seats by 80mm in order to successfully complete the complex equation. Our efforts were duly rewarded as final testing confirmed a clear view for all!” Now it’s handed over and up and running, Colin concludes, “It’s difficult to single out our favourite part of the cinema due to the fact that
in this particular case one component perfectly complements the next, however if you ask me what my client’s favourite part of the cinema is, I can confidently tell you that they are thrilled with the seating and are utterly impressed with the clarity of the image and the dramatic sound quality and have commented that they have already spent many an hour lost in cinematic bliss.” Some really top attention to detail here, turning this good cinema into a really great one. Gibson Integration www.gibson-integration.com
- BenQ PCW50KH Single Chip DLP HDR Projector - Future Automation PM-UNI Projector Mount - Screen Research FS3-120-1.78-4WB - Anthem MRX 720 AV Receiver - Paradigm Ci Pro P3-LCR (Front Left, Centre & Right Channels) - Paradigm Ci Pro 80 (Surround Left & Right Channels & Back Channels) - Paradigm RVC-12SQ Subwoofer - Paradigm X-850 Sub Amp - Apple TV 64GB - Sony UBP-X800 4K Blu Ray Player - Furman AC-210 Compact Power Conditioner (For Projector) - Furman PL-PRO DMC E Power Conditioner (For Central Equipment) - Crestron TSR-310 Handheld Touch Screen Remote - Crestron Lighting Control - Ineva Cosmo Custom Seating
JANUARY 2020 29
ESSENTIAL REVIEW: CEL-FI SOLO
CEL-FI SOLO
GET HANDS ON WITH SOLO This month Richard Stevenson gets to grips with the Cel-Fi Solo mobile phone signal repeater. Up to one third of urban and suburban homes in the UK suffer poor mobile phone reception indoors, rising to over 50% in rural areas. In early 2018 Ofcom made it legal to install approved static mobile repeaters without a licence, potentially eliminating Dom Jolly phone frustration in up to 20m homes across the UK. With very low public awareness of the new regulations or the equipment involved in getting a decent mobile signal indoors, this represents a huge opportunity for installers to add another
layer of business and customer satisfaction to their armoury. OneAV has been supplying certified USbrand Cel-Fi mobile repeater products since shortly after the change in legislation. Long suffering the woes of lousy mobile phone reception in rural East Sussex, I had to give it a go. Joe Fletcher, Head of Technical Services at OneAV, headed south to install a Cel-Fi Solo smart signal booster system, complete with an indoor panel antenna and 20m of extremely hefty low-loss coax cable. The Cel-Fi Solo is the heart of the system. This neat, white box just 160 x 160 x 130mm deep claims to be the most powerful carrier
grade solution available with up to 100dB of gain across voice and data. Inside the Solo is Cel-Fi’s IntelliBoost baseband processor, the first six-core processor designed specifically to optimize the indoor transmission and reception of 3G/4G/LTE wireless signals. Connectivity is two SMA Female sockets, one to connect to the external aerial and the other to hook up the internal antenna. A small whip aerial and a patch antenna on an 8m cable are supplied, with a range of wideband panel, directional, outdoor and indoor omnidirectional antennas all available from OneAV. Claimed coverage is 1,500m2 of indoor (free) space per system with a single indoor omnidirectional antenna. You have the option to expand with multiple internal antennas and/or extra Solo units running from the same external aerial.
INSTALLATION
For such a complex piece of equipment, installation is ridiculously simple. If you get a half-decent signal close to a window, the whip antenna on top of the Solo will work fine for main reception/broadcast. The patch antenna is then placed in the area you wish to get a signal. For tougher areas, such as here in the wilds, a better panel-style indoor model or mastmounted external aerial is always going to be a better bet. We used the unrelated Network Cell Info (lite) app to give a good indication the best place to put the main antenna, although Cel-Fi’s own Wave app has a similar if less detailed feature built in. Of note, a good distance between the two antennas helps to prevent forming a repeater – receiver loop, which would see the Solo automatically reducing the gain.
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ESSENTIAL REVIEW: CEL-FI SOLO
The Solo is powered by 12v DC PSU with angled connector. Slightly frustratingly, the socket is flat on the rear panel, so the Solo won’t go flush against a wall if it’s on show – and its certainly stylish enough to be. With the internal panel antenna hanging on a bedroom window, the patch antenna in the office and the Solo powered up in-between, the rest of the installation set-up is handled in the Cel-Fi Wave app. This Bluetooth connected app gives you an easy to read dashboard of signal strength, network operator, boost level and type of coverage (2G/3G/4G etc), while the settings menus include the ability to switch operator, update firmware and check best antenna position. Advanced settings covers deep mobile network config settings best left on ‘auto’.
PERFORMANCE
You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but you can at least bring the ear inside. The Cel-Fi system can take the best you can get from the main antenna and replicate that in the home, and does so with some aplomb. Given our test house is built of high-iron content engineering bricks creating a giant Faraday cage, results were frankly outstanding. In the office, we barely get a consistent voice signal on Vodafone, with the Network Cell Info app suggesting a signal strength of -115dB, Reference Signal Signal to Noise Ratio (RSSNR) down at -2dB and Received Quality (RSRQ) at an equally grim -14dB. Fire up the Cel-Fi and things changed dramatically. We soared to a near saturated -50dB signal with RSSNR and RSRQ up to +9.0dB and -10db
respectively. Practically, that translated into seamless, drop-free calls and 14mbps down / 6mbps up 4G data… both of which being a considerable improvement on the non-boosted vanilla reception. This result is with a basic indoor panel antenna hanging on a window, over 20m of cable between it and the Solo, and the indoor patch antenna simply sitting on the printer desk in the office. The potential for improvement is great. If we had braved ladders and an external aerial, we would have an even more robust and higher quality signal to boost from the outset. The Cel-Fi system is fully legal and works exceptionally well. Given its performance, flexibility across operators and the ability to run multiple indoor antennas to improve coverage around the home, the Solo system is a first-class solution to a genuine first world problem.
JANUARY 2020 31
ESSENTIAL REVIEW: SONOS PORT
SONOS PORT
ANY PORT IN A STORM? One of Sonos’ most recent creations, the Port is designed to open up the Sonos experience to legacy AV and Hi-Fi equipment and give installers more flexibility; as they can deliver a Sonos zone, as well as increase the quality of the audio experienced. The successor to the Sonos Connect, it’s a part of the Sonos real estate that definitely needed an upgrade. The idea is straightforward – connect the Port to a ‘traditional’ piece of music equipment and use the Sonos app to stream music, podcasts, audiobooks, and internet radio on pretty much any amplified audio equipment. Also on board is Apple AirPlay 2, meaning users can stream audio directly from their device, as well as ask Siri to play Apple Music. Another function is the ability to listen to vinyl, CDs, and stored audio files on Sonos speakers using the product’s line-in connection. Also included is an upgraded digital-toanalogue converter and a built-in 12V trigger. Another installer-friendly function is the ability to turn off the product’s indicator light, which is a useful feature for rooms where people are sensitive to intrusive light sources. Voice control is also available if the product is connected to a smart speaker, such as Sonos One or Beam, as well as other equipment. The Port is happy sitting on a shelf or stacked in an AV rack. Sonos says the Port was designed specifically
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with the professional installer community in mind, so how does it stack up?
PERFORMANCE
Right out of the box, the Port feels good and is hefty enough to feel like a ‘proper’ audio product, while its neutral matt black appearance means it won’t stick out. It’s also small enough to be hidden away, and is designed to look like a smaller version of the Sonos Amp. Inclusion in a rack is possible, although on balance, unless it’s crucial to the project, its visual appeal is sufficient enough and the extra effort probably wouldn’t be warranted. Ease of set up is key for this brand, and with the Port, we set it up in several different scenarios connected to different equipment using the different connection options and it did not drop the ball once. Just connect to an amp or receiver using the included RCA cable or a compatible digital coaxial cable. Power up in the normal way, open the app, add the Port from the list, connect to the building’s Wi-Fi, add your streaming services and you should be ready to rock! The most obvious function for the Port is bringing in more zones and more grunt to a Sonos system. Sonos speakers for the price do OK – perhaps a little more OK, with speakers like the Play:5 – but they are never going to be a match for a serious bit of Hi-Fi. We achieved
some seriously impressive results when we added the Port to EI’s in-house system which comprises a Lyngdorf TDAi 2170 Integrated Stereo Amplifier driving a Lyngdorf BW-2 sub and two Lyngdorf MH-2s. There is the opportunity to bring in legacy CD collections or music stored on hard drives, and some people will want to do that. However, despite having a large CD collection available, whilst playing with the Port, we never felt that tempted. It just felt like a step back, especially as access to a Tidal account delivers access to pretty much everything (apart from the rarest tracks from EI’s CD or vinyl collection) and in better quality, as many of the legacy records and CDs have seen better days. Perhaps connecting a record player (it needs to have a phono pre-amp) will be the most popular option of this type, as vinyl fans tend to be more attached to their discs, and the turntable that plays them, than CDs and CD players. Both these options are achieved by using the included RCA cable to connect to the Port’s line-in connection. You open the Sonos app and select ‘line-in’ under Browse, then start the turntable or press play on the CD player to start listening and control the audio via the Sonos app. Other tricks you can try include streaming music from an iOS device by selecting Port in the AirPlay menu. Users can still change songs and adjust volume from within the Sonos app too.
ESSENTIAL REVIEW: SONOS PORT
Join us at ISE on 11-14th February 2020, for the world’s biggest pro AV and system integration show. The 12V trigger option works well waking up any connected amp on pressing play within the Sonos app, and it’s also worth noting that the speed of switching between playback options and tracks happens at a decent speed. When connected to our Lyngdorf amp, changing playback was particularly slick and fuss-free.
MORE FUNCTIONALITY
For wider integration, Sonos is highlighting its compatibility with the Control4 platform. Unfortunately, we were not able to test this aspect of the product, but Sonos says it is certified by its Works with Sonos program, and that there is full access to all the Sonos functionality from within the Control4 environment, and so Sonos can be part of macro scenarios via Control4. Another function worth noting is autoplay via the line-in connection. Go to Room settings in the app and select Port, and you then have the options to enable auto playing and automatic grouping when Port detects a line-in signal. The port has an improved DAC over its predecessor, so there is definitely an uptick in sound quality, particularly when the connected system has little ability of its own in boosting or EQing sound. Many users report a particular improvement with better/deeper bass, and we noticed vocals were strong too; particularly female vocals operating in the mid to high range. The Port has its own EQ settings for adjusting bass, treble, balance, or loudness. The usefulness of this function depends on what the Port is connected to. Something without its own abilities in this area, like a turntable, benefits from a little more warmth and audio focus; however, if it’s anything really serious, then you might as well use the EQ available in an AVR or amp, as these tend to trump what the Port can offer. Other notable and useful features include a volume limiter within the app, which is handy if it’s going into a teenager’s room. You also have the option to control volume from within the app or externally. If the Wi-Fi signal is weak, the ethernet port enables the product to be connected directly to a router. In this instance, the Wi-Fi on the Port can be turned off completely. Some consumers have raised an eyebrow over the cost (currently £399 on the Sonos store). However, from an installer’s point of view, this is less of an issue as the Port is all about the
‘sell’ offering more options for connection to superior equipment. Set up right and with the right customers, the benefits are going to feel easily worth the price if it’s a simple upgrade, and particularly worth it as part of a new multiroom system. There are products out there that will get your legacy Hi-Fi online, and maybe even do it a bit better than Port, but this product has one big advantage: it’s part of an echo system that is dominant in the market and provides an easy shorthand that consumers understand. Also, the real key here is not to just connect legacy equipment; sell some meaty new AV too that can become part of larger Sonos system. The port is also a great way of introducing younger customers, who have perhaps grown up with convenience as their king, to high-quality playback and convenience in one package. In short, the Port is a very sure-footed addition to the Sonos universe. It’s compact, reliable and genuinely does open up a whole new realm of possibilities for the Sonos user and installer. Well worth a look.
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JANUARY 2020 33
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ISE PREVIEW
SMART HOMES GETTING SMARTER Kordon Vaughn, Senior Director of Product Marketing, Control4, SnapAV
Tabatha O’Connor, Global President and CEO of CEDIA
Lux Heinz, CEO, KNX Association
Greg Andrews, VP of marketing & sales at Legrand AV Residential Solutions
Few markets are growing faster than the smart homes market – making it challenging to keep up with the latest developments. ISE 2020 provides a way to get to those solutions. ISE organisers present a summary of some of this year’s highlights. It may well go down in smart homes history as ‘The Alexa Effect’. Amazon’s Echo and Dot unquestionably caught the imagination of homeowners around the world. As of earlier this year, it was estimated that over 100 million devices had been sold. Google hasn’t done too badly with Home, either. Echo/Alexa opened homeowners’ eyes to a hitherto unknown world of possibilities: sitting on your couch and turning the lights down, the TV on, the heating up and so on as well as countless trivial, but entertaining, other things it/she was capable of. Beyond this: there’s been explosive – and, for many, intriguing – growth in the number of connectable home devices available – from refrigerators to washing machines, from doorbells to security cameras, from thermostats to garden sprinklers… The problem for many users has been: it’s not ‘all joined up’. Yes, Alexa’s skills bring together the Kasa app, the Philips Hue app, the SmartThings app – but wouldn’t it be good if there were, to coin a phrase, one ring to rule them all? “According to the report, Race to Control the Smart Home Ecosystem, purchase intentions for smart home products rose from 35% in 2016 to 43% at the end of 2018,” notes Lux Heinx, CEO of KNX Association International, the organisation responsible for the open connectivity standard for commercial and domestic building automation. “Many experts link the increasing demand to the rise of voice control and interoperability in the smart home market.”
AI BECOMES REAL WORLD
“Voice control is very much still top-of-mind,” adds Tabatha O’Connor, global president and CEO of industry organisation for technology integrators, CEDIA. “It will, ultimately, change the way we interact with our environment for good. With the likes of Amazon Alexa and Google Home making headway, devices such as these are leading artificial intelligence into the real world with an increasing number of integrations and partnerships.” “In addition,” she continues, “the number of IoT-enabled devices and powerful, higher bandwidth networks are set to be a big talking point. We also expect higher resolution audio and video innovations to make an impact on the show floor, including examples of 8K projection delivering new levels of detail for the high-end home theatre.” The move in direction towards AIempowered solutions is not the only change that’s happening in the rapidly growing smart homes market.
EVOLUTION
“It’s been interesting to watch the evolution of the smart home consumer throughout the years,” notes Kordon Vaughn, senior director of product marketing for Control4 at SnapAV. “When smart home adoption first hit the ground, homeowners gravitated toward home security devices, thermostats, smart locks, speakers and so on. Now, as their sophistication and knowledge has developed, consumers are able to move past the security-only aspect and envision how much more their smart homes are capable of.” “Since starting out in the AV industry, it’s been amazing to see how far music streaming has come, especially in terms of how important
JANUARY 2020 37
RGB COMMUNICATIONS
high-resolution music has become,” he continues. “We used to have to shrink our music to make it fit onto our devices, but now with higher internet speeds and more advanced streaming services, people can access high fidelity music without sacrifice. Other trends we’re seeing impact the smart home market include IP video distribution, 4K, HDR – and, of course, voice control.” O’Connor also notes two other related themes that will be significant for the smart homes industry in the near future: ‘wellness’ and ‘human-centric’ lighting, which posit that lighting isn’t just about illuminating spaces and objects, but can – and should – reflect our natural daily rhythms.
RELAX AND DE-STRESS
“Now,” says Greg Andrews, VP of marketing and sales at Legrand AV Residential Solutions, “homeowners can come home and create a space that allows them to heal, relax, and destress – not only through lighting but also audio and many other technologies. Wellness is a key focus.” There can be little doubt, then, that smart homes continue to evolve – increasingly able to seamlessly combine home entertainment with energy efficiency, security, comfort and wellbeing. It’s no surprise that research companies like IDC predict approximately 17% year-onyear growth between now and 2023, resulting in some 1.6 billion smart home devices being shipped. Staying abreast of those developments is not getting less challenging – but, fortunately, help is at hand. ISE is a ‘must attend’ exhibition for anyone involved in smart/connected/automated homes – in whatever capacity. Co-owned by CEDIA and its commercial audiovisual counterpart AVIXA, it has become a fixture in the calendar of every major smart home and home entertainment company and is an annual pilgrimage for the systems integrators who serve the market, and for architects and designers as well as countless end customers – all anxious to see the latest and
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greatest and get a glimpse into the future. It’s not just about the newest bright, shiny objects, however. ISE has also become a focal point for education and learning in sessions designed to equip industry participants with the knowledge they need to achieve customer delight.
NEW WAYS OF THINKING
“ISE is the perfect destination for learning,” notes O’Connor. “CEDIA provides an extensive training programme that is relevant to integrators working in the smart home technology market. Within this programme, we offer a range of business and technical training classes that are valuable to all visitors with great insights and advice from our global team of experts.” The CEDIA stand is also home to CEDIA Talks that spark new ways of thinking about how the smart homes business operates and the technology breakthroughs that are on the horizon. ISE 2020 also sees the CEDIAproduced one-day Cybersecurity Workshop. In addition, this year sees the return of the Smart Building Conference – now at the nearby Hotel Okura on 10 February – while, on the show floor, the Smart Building Technology Zone is housed in Hall 9. For many, though, ISE is all about being among the first to see and hear about the latest developments in products and technology for the home: for many manufacturers, it represents the ideal opportunity to make new product launches. “Attending ISE is the best way to get your eyes on the latest and greatest industry products, in action,” smiles Vaughn. Control4 will be showcasing its newest smart home operating system, Control4 Smart Home OS 3.
ONE RING
“With more than a thousand new capabilities across lighting, whole-home music and video, security, surveillance, comfort, and more, Control4 OS 3 blends smart home convenience
with AV entertainment to deliver unprecedented user personalisation,” he adds. It is, perhaps, an example of the ‘one ring to rule them all’… Meanwhile, the Legrand stand will feature what Andrews describes as ‘vignettes.’ “We’ll be showing integrated solutions coming together,” he explains. “The Chief, Middle Atlantic, On-Q, Da-lite, and SANUS brands work together to create a strong foundation. From there, Luxul provides guaranteed network performance. Then, our AV systems brands make smart homes brilliant, with Vantage human-centric lighting, On-Q smart connectivity, QMotion shading, and Nuvo multiroom audio systems that provide convenience, security, comfort, and entertainment.” Taking a similar approach is the KNX Association, whose ISE stand will play host to some 20 co-exhibitors, collectively presenting what a connected home can offer. “Between us, we’ll be showing how integrated AV solutions can not only make a house a smart home, but also make it more comfortable and enjoyable than it has ever been before,” says Lux. And, while much of the excitement surrounding ISE revolves around the latest developments in the familiar, there’s always the chance of something catching visitors off-guard. “The show has a talent that no other show has,” continues Lux. “It leaves people in awe. Every ISE has always had not one, but several elements and surprises that demonstrated how far we still are from what the AV industry can provide. I expect ISE 2020 to be no different.” There remains, then, only one question to answer. “Alexa: when and where is ISE?” “ISE 2020 takes place 11-14 February at the RAI Exhibition Centre in Amsterdam.” ISE www.iseurope.org
New STARVIS Camera Range LILIN’s STARVIS camera ranges provide HD images in challenging conditions
LILIN’s latest range of IP camera features the Sony STARVIS sensor, which allows them to produce stunningly clear, high quality surveillance in low-light environments. Available across a variety of chassis and resolutions, with IR ranges from 30-100M, there’s a LILIN STARVIS camera for every job. 10:30PM Monochrome Z2R8052EX25
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Join us at stand E100 in Hall 9 for live demonstrations and new product releases including: Aida AI Engine - Black Cameras - STARVIS Range Integration with Home Automation Partners
ISE PREVIEW
GET SOME EDUCATION! Here, EI presents just a few of the learning experiences on offer at this year’s ISE show. Look out for a full exhibitor preview in the February issue Matt Nimmons, Managing Director, CEDIA EMEA, says, “CEDIA is determined to continually raise the standards in the home technology industry. At the heart of CEDIA is its commitment to provide individuals with highquality education and training at every level. In the fast-developing world of technology, professionals must constantly update their skills — whether it is learning about the future of video resolutions, dealing with direct LEDs, or understanding how to design AVoIP networks. CEDIA’s education programme at ISE, which this year is powered by KNX, will help delegates achieve this. “CEDIA will be hosting around 40 courses and training sessions over four days at ISE. These sessions put great emphasis on business and technical training, and with a group of global industry experts presenting these courses, attendees will walk away with insights, advice, and increased knowledge on important industry topics.” Matt explains, “The education programme
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will kick off with a Cybersecurity Workshop, which will provide an in-depth look at the concepts of network security and privacy. Taking place on Monday February 10, Jeff Sonnleitner, a professional network and security instructor with over 35 years’ experience, will deliver content to help integrators deal with the growing proliferation of threats in this space. “Our popular CEDIA Talks will provide short, education-packed sessions to introduce attendees to key topics in the industry. Hosted on the CEDIA booth, expect to find out what developments are making headway in the industry, both now and in the years ahead, and discover the answers to the all-important questions vital to your business.” Matt adds, “We will also be running presentations and panel discussions on the ISE Main Stage throughout the show, focussing on subjects such as 5G and Edge Computing, Human Centric Design, and Wellness and Biophillia. These sessions are completely free to attend with no booking required, giving attendees the flexibility to join at any time.” New for ISE 2020 is the CEDIA Design and Build Conference. The event will include CPD accredited talks, a panel discussion, and a guided tour of ISE 2020, helping design build
professionals to understand how the latest technology can be integrated and concealed into the home to add more to the client’s experience, without compromising on design. For 2020, the KNX Association is offering its support for CEDIA Training at ISE to provide the extensive programme planned for the show. “For a long time, CEDIA and KNX have existed next to each other and separately promoted the advantages of smart homes and AV systems” says Heinz Lux, CEO of KNX Association. “With KNX Training in place within CEDIA, and KNX Association empowering CEDIA Training at ISE, we made a giant leap for all professionals regarding a stronger future and a heightened availability of smart home and building solutions. The synergy between both institutes is already bearing the first fruit, best visible at ISE 2020.”
DESIGN & DOCUMENTATION
The short form CEDIA AV Design & Documentation course is back for ISE 2020. It has been condensed from the previous three hours to a 90 minute course and is meant to be accessible to all, with no previous knowledge required. The tutor for the course will be Keith Jones of designflow, who has been a CEDIA
ISE PREVIEW
educator since 2017 and has provided both the full day and short form Design & Documentation courses in previous years. Keen to explain what people can get out of the course, Keith has been working closely with a previous attendee of the full day Design & Documentation course - Alan Matthews of Automated Spaces. Alan has helped Keith better understand what the real-world benefits of the course are and how the course can be improved. Alan’s review of the course that he fed back to CEDIA a little more than a year after he attended underlined several points. Alan reported, “The Design & Documentation course reinforces the importance of thorough documentation, the value it can add to individual projects and also how it can help elevate your client relationships to that of a true ‘Design Professional’. I found the course content and delivery style to be really impactful as well as engaging. It provided the inspiration for many follow-on actions that really helped enhance the quality of the documentation within Automated Spaces. “This has been invaluable, especially as was seen on a recent large and complex residential installation we completed on one of the Canary Islands. It’s only with well thought-out designs and detailed documentation of the various items to be integrated (1,500+) that it is possible to successfully deliver this type of large and complex project on time and to budget. This course is definitely worth the investment in time as well as money to attend, and I would highly recommend it!” So what can you expect to learn on this course? Starting with a look at the design process and how this fits into a typical job process, the course looks at all the different
architectural drawing types and their use in the world of AV. It covers Symbol standards, pre-wire drawings and schedules and room layouts. The course also looks at rack design and drawings (including best practices) and connectivity schematics; where to start, how to lay them out and some useful dos and don’ts. The course is wrapped up with a look at handover. The CEDIA AV Design & Documentation course at ISE takes place on February 13 at 11:30-13:00.
CYBER-ATTACKS!
New for ISE 2020, the CEDIA Cybersecurity Workshop provides an in-depth look at the concepts of network security and privacy. Taught by industry experts from around the world and designed for both residential and commercial integrators as well as manufacturers, the one-day workshop will take place on Monday February 10 at the Hotel Okura, Amsterdam. In the age of the Internet of Things, residential networks and connected devices have greater potential to be exploited. In response, CEDIA’s Cybersecurity Workshop will deliver content to help integrators deal with the growing proliferation of threats in this space. The workshop will cover all aspects of network security and privacy, and how these concepts have evolved to be critical components of every system design, implementation, and aftercare plan. “Security practices are becoming a necessity in every system design and installation, no matter the size” comments Jeff Sonnleitner, a professional network and security instructor with over 35 years’ experience, and the lead instructor for the Cybersecurity Workshop. “The home network has been a real starting place for cyber criminals, a cause for concern that needs
to be addressed. This new workshop is open to everyone looking to create security policies, whether from a corporate or business standpoint, or as a safety protocol for end users.” Jeff is currently a full-time faculty member and lead Instructor of the Computer Information Systems — Network Specialist programme at Moraine Park Technical College, Wisconsin. He is also the author of the Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Certification ‘Security Fundamentals’ Exam Review Kit, a series of review lessons that serve as a resource and guide for teachers and faculty. CEDIA’s Cybersecurity Workshop will mix seminars and demonstrations with immersive and collaborative sessions. It will guide attendees through the most up-to-date examples of cybersecurity policies, allowing a company to ensure systems are implemented securely and customer expectations are managed. “We’ll spend some time creating general awareness of the need for cybersecurity, then look at the trends of cyber criminals and how to protect your clients from potential threats” says Jeff. “In the afternoon, we’ll be looking at the creation of security policies through a number of workshops.” At the end of the workshop, attendees will be given template cybersecurity policies that, combined with learning from the course, will help to create policies specific to their business.
KNX POWERS CEDIA TRAINING AT ISE 2020
For more information on all the education opportunities available at the show check out www.iseurope.org/cedia-education ISE 2020 www.iseurope.org
JANUARY 2020 41
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INSTALL PIONEERS: MARK SCHAFLE, JAMES LOUDSPEAKER
A MARK OF RESPECT EI speaks with Mark Schafle, respected and experienced CEO of James Loudspeaker
Tell us how you got into the AV install business to begin with? In 1989, I was approached by Harman International regarding the Director of Operations position at Infinity (speaker brand). At the time, I was at Hewlett Packard’s Scientific Instruments Division responsible for production control, purchasing, and three production lines. After running Infinity’s operations for three years, I took over the enclosure division for Harman, overseeing the manufacture of 25,000 cabinet pieces daily for all of the Harman brands. The one accomplishment I was most proud of was reducing lead times from 90 days to 3 days. This was accomplished through a $1.9m capital expenditure used to optimise efficient operation, utilising every inch of the 200,000 square foot site. After dedicating three years to rebuilding the enclosure division, I took over as VP of Operations at JBL Professional. My role there was to reimagine the staff and processes.
In 1996, I joined a group that was purchasing Acoustic Research, again responsible for all operations. We grew AR from $300k revenues to $18m in two years and in 1998 we took over Advent, Jensen, and NHT while giving up our controlling interest in AR. In 2000, I became uncomfortable with the leadership at Recoton and sold my interest in the company.
What led you to be involved with James Loudspeaker? How has your role changed over time? In late 2002, I was approached by James’ management to assist in solving some of their ongoing operational issues. Spending a week with the team led me to believe they were not heading in the right direction with products, production, engineering or administration. Through this process, I had been introduced to the owner of the company, Mr. Art Martori, who at the time was considering closing the operation. Through this chance meeting, we discussed taking the brand in a completely different direction and agreed to a six month
plan, ending at CEDIA 2003, where we’d make the mutual decision to go forward or not. Needless to say, that six month stretch was successful enough to point to a bright future and market opportunity, giving new life to the James Loudspeaker brand as a truly custom, manufacturing and engineering-driven company. I remember attending St. James that Sunday for Mass, the booth being located under esteemed NFL player Edgarinn James’ banner in the RCA dome at the goal line. The stars just lined up for us and we moved forward. Over the years, James Loudspeaker has stayed true to our mission; treat people fairly, be responsive, do the right thing. Engineer products we’d put in our own homes, be an industry leader in USA-based custom manufacturing and include our employees in the direction and success of the company. My role has always been to build the company; grow sales, engineer creative products, expand our USA manufacturing capabilities and do not jeopardise our integrity for quick profits.
JANUARY 2020 43
INSTALL PIONEERS: MARK SCHAFLE, JAMES LOUDSPEAKER
What changes/improvements will be delivered being part of the Sonance family? Sonance is an incredible organisation. Ari (CEO Ari Supran) has built a solid team of professional, intelligent, aggressive, and creative people. He leads in a hands-off yet peripherally involved manner, always encouraging his staff. James’ staff will focus on our strengths: manufacturing and engineering, the marketing and sales teams are phenomenal. This is an area that will enable James to grow. Sonance sees the value in what James is all about; manufacturing and engineering, creativity and efficiencies. We also think alike and share a passion for our products.
Tell us something we might not know about James Loudspeaker?
What are some of the most exciting milestones that have taken place during your time at the company? Becoming a viable speaker company in a very crowded field and introducing new categories and innovative concepts into our industry including fast-to-market custom solutions. Some product and functionality highlights include PowerPipe hidden subwoofers, highend landscape products (sat-sub systems), our ultra-slim sound bars and small aperture architectural speakers. Operational achievements have included engineering 1.97 custom designs per day, tripling our production capacity, purchasing a building and becoming debt free and working with 48 dedicated people who make this a truly unique and interesting place to be! James Loudspeaker is known for real innovation in design. How does the company achieve this in terms of the look and install flexibility delivered across the ranges? Hire intelligent, driven young engineers out
of very good colleges, mix these college grads with experienced industry veterans who are willing to teach and also learn at the same time and give our team the opportunity to design, build, make mistakes and correct their mistakes in a positive environment. We also listen to our dealers, never say no, challenge ourselves to create better solutions both in performance and design. We take risks to achieve future success and never make short term decisions.
How influential are installers on helping shape the products? 100% of our ideas come from our customers. We listen!
What is ‘hydro-dipping’? An exotic custom finishing process that further differentiates our brand, allowing us to create unique designs matching almost any environment.
Exterior audio has developed in UK/ Northern Europe lots recently, do you see this as a big potential growth area for your brand? We introduced the first USA high-end stereo custom exterior solutions in 2005 and have been shipping these same products internationally. We’ve enhanced these solutions over the past 13 years with hundreds of custom solutions, high quality products: planters, buried subwoofers, wedge series, under-eave products, satellite/ subwoofer systems, and just about anything else our customers have been able to dream up. The outdoor entertainment segment is growing and will continue to be a huge part of James’ success.
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James ran under the radar for many years, surpassing our number 1 competitor in 2009, without notice. James has 1000’s of custom products on our database enabling us to quickly turn new concepts into reality in an average of two weeks! James turns custom sound bars in two and a half days. James has added hydrodipping, automotive custom finishes, spectrachrome finishes, doubled our powder coating capacity and we continue to expand our finishing horizons. James is a flat organisation – there are no middle managers and only one level in total. James product catalogue is the result of dealer demand. Our marketing has always been a pull system; they ask, we deliver. James has a larger engineering staff, 10+, than many competitors many times larger.
What are your interests outside of work? Four daughters. All college graduates, well balanced people, with a strong work ethic and desire to contribute to the betterment of our world. My family is the key to my success and push me to excel. Wife of 35 years, in a marriage still growing stronger each year, with whom I share a love for many outdoor activities; hiking, golf, swimming, fishing, and sports in general.
What is the best thing about working at James Loudspeaker? Quite simply, the people I’ve been lucky enough to hire and work side by side with. They are the company, and I have been so fortunate to attract all of this outstanding talent, and I have been smart enough to stay out of the way and let them excel. James Loudspeaker www.jamesloudspeaker.com
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ACOUSTIC TREATMENT
LET’S MAKE ROOM FOR AUDIO Peter Aylett of cinema design specialist HTE, examines the growing importance of acoustic treatment in the sector. Regardless of budget, when we think of the components that make up a high quality audio system, speakers, amplifiers, processor and source components are the first that spring to mind. Whilst of course critical, it is arguable that the most important component is the room itself. Consider that as a listener, depending on the room, between around 40 to 70% of the total sound energy that you are hearing has first bounced off one or more surfaces of the room before it reaches your ears. Managing the combination of direct sound from the speakers, and the reflected sound from walls, ceiling and floor is part of the science of acoustics. Everything in a space has acoustic properties. Carpets, rugs, sofas, beanbags, curtains and cushions can all be considered absorbers of sound. Hard floors, walls, ceilings,
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bookcases, shelves, tables and metal chairs can all be considered reflectors. The great Dr Floyd Toole (who wrote by far the best book on small room acoustics, Sound Reproduction - ISBN-10: 9781138921368 ) refers to these materials as the ‘Acoustic treatments of life’. Just by the use of these everyday furnishings, superb sounding rooms can be built. In many spaces, however, we also need to use materials whose acoustic properties have been measured and documented – these are what we commonly refer to as acoustic treatments. The use and application of acoustic treatments is often considered a black art but is actually firmly grounded in the physics of sound, and the human perception of that sound. It is important that every project is considered on an individual basis and that engineering calculations are made to determine the best approach. Many myths exist within acoustics such as ‘always absorb the first lateral reflection’, ‘the objective is to eliminate reflections’, and
‘acoustic treatment doesn’t matter because the DSP in the processor will correct for it’. Whilst there is a tiny little bit of truth in each of those statements, it is extremely easy to make a room sound WORSE with the incorrect application of acoustic treatment than if you did nothing at all. One very common mistake is to cover the space with 10mm thick foam (often used as a backing for stretched fabric). This will eliminate reflections at high frequencies but leave mid and low frequencies practically untouched because 10mm thick foam is not thick enough to absorb low frequencies to any large degree. A room like this will sound very unbalanced and will not be a pleasant place to hang out in, or a great room to reproduce quality audio in. The DSP and Room EQ built into today’s processors can only do so much and are the icing on the cake rather than the cure to all acoustic evils. Get the room right in the physical domain and the processor correction will be able to perform to its best.
ACOUSTIC TREATMENT
A NEW ERA
The Atmos era has brought with it a slightly different approach. As channel counts increase to bring us greater spatial resolution from the system, we need less sound to come from reflections and more to come from the speakers themselves. Reflections are necessary in a 5.1 system to fill in the space between LCR and the surrounds. In a 9.1.4 system, we will have side surrounds and wide fronts to do that job. In this case, put absorption around all the speakers so that the only sounds coming from the speaker locations will be those generated by the speakers themselves, and not reflected sound from another speaker. The key to correctly implemented acoustics is doing the calculations. The most important one is calculating the reverberation time of the room. This should not just be done at a single frequency (if anyone tells you that the RT60 time of a space is 0.28 seconds, ask ‘at what frequency is that?’) but should be
done at 125Hz, 1kHz and 4kHz. The aim is to make the RT60 time as similar as possible across the frequency range. That 10mm foam will kill reflections at 4kHz, have little effect at 1kHz and virtually none at 125Hz. The current recommendation is that RT60 (the time it takes for the sound to decay by 60dB) should be between 0.2 and 0.5 seconds. Most people think that 0.2 is far too ‘dead’ and 0.5 far too ‘live’. A target of between 0.3 and 0.35 is a great place to aim for. Many formulas exist for this calculation, the simplest but least accurate being the Sabine equation. Other more accurate ones include Millington and Eyring. With all of these, as absorption is added to the room, the calculated reverberation time comes down. This allows the designer to predict what is necessary for the room at the design stage so that it can be built into the design and initial sale. This is critical as it is far easier to conceal acoustic materials and treatments when integrated into the design,
than thinking about it afterwards and having to spoil the aesthetic of the room if acoustic treatments are required. There are many fantastic manufacturers of acoustic treatments who make products from single panels, right up to complete room fit out systems. These companies include CATS, Artnovion, Vicoustic, HTE, GIK and Kinetics. All these companies can help you with design and engineering of the space. Discussing room acoustics is just as important a conversation with a client as discussing content and seating arrangements. Integrating it into your designs will enable the equipment to perform at its best and also add profit to your bottom line. Acoustic treatments don’t break, need controlling or require firmware updates. Now that’s what I call the perfect thing to sell!
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ACOUSTIC TREATMENT
IS HOME CINEMA ACOUSTIC DESIGN ESSENTIAL IN THE DOLBY ATMOS AGE? Gustavo Pires, Technical Director at acoustics manufacturer, Vicoustic, examines why acoustic treatment is more important than ever. Do room acoustics still have a strong role in designing a home cinema in the age of powerful technologies like Dolby Atmos? The answer is yes. Actually, if you are thinking of upgrading a system to the new and more powerful solutions which require more and more speakers distributed throughout the room, acoustic treatment becomes even more relevant to control sound reflections. It’s true that some of the new powerful sound reproduction and signal processing tools already include acoustic correction features. Nevertheless, even considering the most efficient audio system, if the acoustics of the room are not well treated and considered from project day one, it is likely that the listener will not be able to totally enjoy and take advantage of the full power of the audio system. Ultimately,
this will raise doubts regarding the investment made. It is common nowadays to encounter cinema rooms and home theatres with moderately small dimensions. Such rooms are prone to have sound field anomalies related to room modes. These modes can cause audible effects in the room’s sound field at low frequencies, by originating areas with minimum pressure levels and areas with maximum pressure levels that can vary as much as 15 dB. This will naturally affect the listener’s correct perception of sound at low frequencies. Furthermore, modern home theatres are increasingly considering the use of sub-woofers in order to reproduce low frequency components of the film audio tracks. The placement of the sub-woofers and the listening positions will determine how the room modes are excited and heard by the listener, affecting the perception of the material being reproduced. It is therefore crucial to also include some acoustic treatment to control the low frequencies within the cinema room.
THE GOAL
The goal in a cinema room or home theatre acoustic design should be to provide the audience with a neutral acoustic environment, in order to assure them a clear and complete film audio experience without introducing any acoustic distortions that could compromise its perception. In other words, the home cinema listener should be able to clearly hear what has been recorded with minimum influence from external sources such as: i) room’s acoustics; ii) noise from mechanical sources (e.g. cinema’s HVAC systems); and iii) noise from sources located in the theatre’s adjacent spaces. Furthermore, the noise generated within the cinema room should not be a source of nuisance to potential noise sensitive receptors located nearby. To achieve this, there are mainly three areas on which the acoustic design of a home cinema should act: i) improving sound insulation between home cinema and adjacent spaces; ii) limiting internal background noise levels
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ACOUSTIC TREATMENT
by controlling noise from mechanical sources such as HVAC; iii) designing internal acoustic treatment in order to control the cinema’s reverberation time and avoid acoustic defects such as echo, flutter echoes, room resonances, etc.
SOUND INSULATION
Generally, home cinema walls, ceiling and floor sound insulation performance should be designed taking into account: i) the background noise criteria selected for the home cinema; ii) the anticipated noise generated in the theatre’s adjacent spaces; iii) the degree of noise sensitivity of the theatre’s adjacent spaces. Based on these three subjects the sound insulation performance should be defined in terms of STC or Rw. Standard in situ Rw values for home cinemas are typically between 50 dB to 65 dB, depending on the three subjects mentioned above. Flanking issues should be well controlled in order to guarantee that the in situ sound insulation performance is not compromised. Attention should also be addressed for home cinema entrances. Usually, it is recommended to use a vestibule in order to maximise the sound insulation between the home cinema and the adjacent spaces.
BACKGROUND NOISE
High levels of internal background noise may also compromise signal to noise ratios. Therefore, controlling noise from mechanical sources such as HVAC is considered essential. Here are some noise control guidelines
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that should be taken into account: i) locate all mechanical sources outside the cinema room (if possible); ii) properly control both noise and vibration generated by the equipment: iii) properly seal all penetrations over acoustically rating elements such as cinema walls, floors and ceiling. Standard acoustic background noise criteria for home cinemas are typically between NR25 to NR35.
ACOUSTIC TREATMENT
Finally, in order to achieve a neutral acoustic environment within the home cinema there are three main areas on which internal acoustic treatment should act: i) reverberation time optimisation; ii) early reflections control; iii) sound field anomalies control (room modes, flutter echoes, etc.). Usually the design of a home cinema will require a significant amount of acoustic absorbing panels. There are several types of guidance providing RT criteria for cinema rooms. Typically criterion calls for very short reverberation times. Depending on the room’s volume, basic mid-frequency RT values (500 Hz) are recommended to be within 0.2s to 0.6s. There are also recommendations for RT changes with frequency, typically lengthening RT at low frequencies and shortening RT at high frequencies. A reasonable effort should be made to achieve these recommended values, since high RT values may result in detriment of the sound information being transmitted and consequently reducing speech intelligibility
whenever dialogue is present in the material being reproduced and, as we know, dialogues are of major importance in most films. Early reflections should also be well treated. As mentioned, the goal is for the listener to be able to feel the ambiance and reverb contained in the film audio track. In addition, the listener should be able to clearly distinguish sound sources and locate them in the sound field. Therefore, the sound should reach the listener’s ears with very few reflections and remain ‘uncoloured’ by the room itself. It is recommended to treat first reflections with sound absorbing panels; this will take energy from these early reflections and improve sound clarity, source location, etc. within the room. It should be noted that late reflections do not present the same issues mentioned for early reflections. They even might be helpful in order to avoid the room becoming too dead, as long as they are well controlled and without too much energy. Moreover, if the delay time of these reflections is within the human’s ear fusion zone, their energy will be perceived as coming naturally from the sound sources. Nevertheless, specular reflections should be avoided, and therefore it is recommended to treat these late reflections with sound diffusing panels, which will spread its energy and will create a sense of spaciousness inside. As a rule of thumb we should treat reflection in the following way: i) surfaces near the loudspeakers should be deadened, i.e. should be controlled using sound absorbing panels; ii) other surfaces should provide good diffusion; iii) specular reflections should be avoided.
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ESSENTIAL ACOUSTIC TREATMENT
WHY DO I EVEN NEED TO TREAT MY ROOM? David Shevyn, lecturer and researcher on the subject of acoustics and MD of GIK Acoustic Europe Ltd, asks some fundamental questions about the importance of treatment and underlines why it matters. Before you can ever recommend acoustic room treatment, we first have to be conversant with the more important question than what room treatment do I need, and that is ‘Why do I even need to treat my room? The trouble with room acoustics is that it is a huge subject and can be completely overwhelming when trying to study the topic via the internet. Add to that the fact that many things you may read contradict one other, then it gets even more confusing. Why is it that people have different opinions? One reason for inconsistencies is because opinions on how best to treat a room have changed over time. Another reason is because a little knowledge can be dangerous and not every ‘expert’ has done their homework. And sometimes information appears contradictory because physics can be so fantastic and so complex that the same solution does not always work in every situation. Normally when I give a lecture, I will begin with answering why we even need to treat a room at all. I demonstrate this by using two sound files of the same recording, using the same equipment, in the same room. The first sound file was recorded with the room empty (untreated) and the second was recorded using acoustic panels and bass traps. Even on a simple demonstration like this, the audience is clearly able to hear the difference between the
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two recordings. In the first example where the room is untreated, vocals are echoey and the bass is muffled. Once room treatment has been applied the echo is removed from the vocals and the bass is cleaner and punchier. It’s a simple demonstration but what it does illustrate is: the room you are in affects how you hear sound.
WHAT IS SOUND?
Starting at the beginning, we need to look at what the sound coming from your speakers actually is. What makes the music or sound you are hearing? The notes in music all equate to a frequency. Technically a frequency is the number of soundwaves that pass a particular point in a fixed amount of time. We are all more familiar with Hertz which is more specifically the number of waves that pass by a fixed point in a second. So, 220Hz is 220 cycles which is also known as the note A3. Hopefully I haven’t lost you so far. A soundwave isn’t static however, so we are also interested in the amplitude of the wave. This is how far the wave moves from its average position, i.e. how far the particles are displaced. The reason the amplitude is important is it comes across to the listener as the loudness, or volume. So, we have the musical note (the frequency) and then we have how loud you hear it (the amplitude). As you can see in drawing 1: the top of a soundwave is referred to as a peak, which represents the loudest part of the soundwave. Then we have the low part of the wave, which is called a null, which is the quietest part of the soundwave.
drawing 1
A WAVELENGTH IS MEASURED BY THE DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO PEAKS (OR NULLS) You can work out a wavelength from the frequency and speed of sound (343m/s) Wavelength = Wave Velocity divided by Frequency. So, if we take 220 hertz It would be 343ms / 220 = 1.56.So, the wave length of 220 hertz is 156cm. A very low wave like 40 hertz would be 343 / 40 = 8.5 or 856cm (8.56metres)
GREAT, BUT WHY DOES THIS MATTER?
It matters because it is the way that the sound moves within the confines of a room, and the way that the room restricts and changes the way that this sound acts within that room. All sound doesn’t actually react in the same way. If we want to simplify it (and for the purpose of this article we do) we can roughly say there are two different ways that sound reacts in a room. There are the high and mid frequencies, and these react in a very similar way to how light is reflected from a mirror and then low frequencies. Low frequencies are roughly 200Hz and below, although each room has a different point at which frequencies become low. In this article I want to concentrate on the low frequencies only.
ESSENTIAL ACOUSTIC TREATMENT
MODE DOWNLOAD
These low frequencies will react to the room modes of your room. Room modes are preexisting resonances created by the room’s dimensions. There’s no way around it. The size and shape of your room dictate how soundwaves behave and react. Room modes are activated when you play music and the soundwaves from your speakers hit the boundaries in the room. If the boundary is the same length as (or half or one quarter of) a soundwave, then they create what is known as standing waves. A standing wave occurs as a result of two different waves moving in two opposite directions. As they pass, they create interference which then make our nulls or peaks. This is because the boundaries are stopping the soundwave from fully decaying as they would
if there were no boundaries and the energy remained in the room. There are three types of modes in a room. Axial modes are created between two opposite surfaces. Best to think of this in terms of length, width and height of the room. Tangential modes are created between four surfaces in the room; you most commonly see problems with this in square rooms. Oblique modes are created by six surfaces; less common but I have seen this type of mode created in bay windows for example. Axial modes are the strongest and many times, the only ones that are considered. Tangential and oblique room modes have less impact per mode but are also more prevalent. A combination of tangential and oblique modes can cause just as many issues as axial modes can.
WHAT DO ROOM MODES CREATE?
Room modes can cause both peaks and nulls (dips) in frequency response. When two or more waves meet and are in phase with each other at a specific frequency, you will have a peak in response. When they meet and are out of phase with each other, they cancel, and you end up with a dip or null in response. Dealing with modes is accomplished by placing sound absorbers at a room boundary to minimise the reflections off it so there is nothing to combine or cancel. These boundaries include, but are not limited to: floor, ceiling, front wall, side walls, back wall, and all twelve corners. While treating corners is not a complete solution, placing treatments in corners offers the advantage of being at the end of 2 or even 3 of the room boundaries so there is a lot of benefit to treating that area. However, in some situations there are modal issues which require treatment of the rear wall or even the ceiling over your head that treating corners would not solve.
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ACOUSTIC TREATMENT
FOR YOUR SYSTEM TO SOAR, USE A LITTLE SPACE CRAFT Habitech’s Craig Wheeler and CinemaTech’s Ryan Crist explain why room treatment is always the most effective system upgrade. Truth is you need more than great speakers to create the best sounding cinema. Top designers consider the cinema space itself to be as important as the AV. Look beneath the lavish exclusivity of the finest residential or commercial theatres and you’ll discover they share similar characteristics in room proportions, seating position, wall and ceiling design. This is no coincidence. The best home theatre environments are crafted deliberately to fine-tune the system sound with room acoustics. If you ignore the space, even the
most prodigiously performing system on paper will never fully materialise in reality. Tomlinson Holman of THX knew this back in the 80s, but it’s taken three decades for room acoustics to assume its place as a top priority in home cinema development. At the luxury end of the market, it should be your first consideration. Contrary to popular belief, acoustical treatment is not the same as sound isolation. While it can help with sound isolation, the treatment of acoustics is performed by engineered panels on the walls and ceiling, designed to optimise system sound through a bespoke mix of absorption, reflection and diffusion. It’s effective because a sizeable
proportion of the sound coming out of the speakers interacts with the boundaries before it reaches your ears.
THE FIVE FUNDAMENTALS
When you’re planning the installation, include five acoustic objectives in your thinking. First, don’t make the room too anechoic. This may seem counter-intuitive but you need to keep the room ‘alive’ in order to capture the detail and dynamics necessary for home theatre immersion. Second, speech should be perfectly intelligible. Third, use a room treatment plan to reduce/tweak audio reflections and eliminate mid-low frequency booms, producing audio
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ACOUSTIC TREATMENT
with optimum clarity, speed and impact. Fourth, make your acoustic treatment a natural part of the room fabric so that the space feels comfortable, homely and bespoke. Lastly, improve the sound isolation of the room. And please don’t make acoustic treatment an afterthought. Even though it can be applied successfully post build, you’ll save a lot of hassle and expense if it’s planned before anything is ever constructed. Think about the size and shape of the room; the architectural and material makeup of the space; how to integrate acoustically transparent fabrics, and the configuration and installation of the speaker system.
ROOM SIZE AND SHAPE
The first consideration is to get the room working for you. Everything becomes a lot easier when the fundamental acoustics are right. Certain room shapes should be avoided. Cubes for instance will triple the incidence of room modes at or below 300Hz. These generate boomy bass hot spots, wrecking the chances of a deep and naturally smooth bass response. You’ll also hear low frequency distortion from standing wave energy in rooms with two equal dimensions, or with dimensions that are multiples of each other (eg 4 x 8 x 16). The size of the room is important as well because small rooms multiply the intensity of early reflections, which damage audio clarity and definition. When choosing the ideal acoustic space before treatment, steer
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clear of dramatic architectural features such as curved or barrel vaults and large windows.
MATERIALS IN THE SPACE
Even so, it’s beneficial to add certain design elements to a theatre space in order to enhance its residential acceptability. A big part of CinemaTech’s appeal is the design of ‘living rooms for cinema’ rather than traditional singleuse cinema environments. In developing the space, you need to understand which design elements work from an acoustic perspective and which ones don’t. For example, too many soft surfaces and poor seating arrangements can undermine what you’re trying to achieve. Walls clad in velvet, suede, leather or similar may look stunning, but they’re actually deadening the acoustics when the goal is to calibrate the perfect mix of absorption, diffusion and reflection. Within a given size and shape of room we’ve discovered the most effective approach is to use acoustically transparent fabric to disguise a software-generated pattern of absorption and diffusion/reflection panels, strategically augmented by design elements such as alcoves, shelves and small book cases. From an aesthetic point of view, fabric always looks great and it has the advantage of allowing sound to actually reach the panels (uniquely CinemaTech’s absorber and diffusion/reflection panels are just 3.175cm deep, maximising design flexibility and room space).
SPEAKER TYPE AND PLACEMENT
The introduction of object-based surround formats like Dolby Atmos has changed the way modern home theatres are treated acoustically. In-ceiling Atmos speakers for instance generate direct sound to provide listeners with pinpoint audio effects (no diffusion required), while the use of floor surround speakers that bounce sound off the ceiling remove the need for absorbers at these locations. But even though the pattern of diffusion and absorption may have changed, the profusion of audio channels (bass included), together with a greater reliance on direct sound makes control over room reflections ever more critical. Acoustic treatment is not easy to get right (which probably explains why the industry has tried to ignore the effect of the room for decades). Neither is it cheap to perfect. But in today’s high-end cinema design, it really is mandatory. Why? Because there’s so much more to a successful home theatre than the AV system itself. When the room and the system work together, your customers will love the results. You only have to experience the difference to know this is true.
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PRODUCT FOCUS: TOTEM
IN PRAISE OF TOTEM Totem’s unique approach to design delivers a family of speakers perfect for the needs of installers. Martin Morecroft, MD of Redline, UK distributor for the installation side of the brand, breaks down the range and performance options. Redline is now providing access to the whole range of installer focused products from Canadian speaker brand, Totem. Every Totem product is designed and manufactured under the inspirational lead of company president and chief engineer, Vince Bruzzese. A true maverick in the world of audio, Totem produces speakers with soul, but also huge practical advantages. From the beginning of the company, Vince wanted to create a sound all of his own that did not compromise on quality, but took a different approach to the large box speakers of 1970s and 1980s. The result was that the company has become expert in producing very wide sound dispersion from compact enclosures. Even before installation speakers were a ‘thing’, Totem had perfected a way to deliver sound quality that would enable the creation of some of the best integrated speakers on the planet. Spin forward to the present day, and Totem boasts a fulsome range of install products that take full advantage of all the special abilities the company has created so installers can specify the products knowing they are getting something really special. Totem’s ability to deliver wide sound dispersion is especially valuable in the UK as the wide range of housing stock and building materials and techniques encountered means speaker placement can be a challenge. Imagine a floodlight filling a room with light as opposed to a flashlight illuminating just a small area; this is how Totem operates, offering quality audio to the whole room, not just a narrow ‘sweet spot’. For example, the Totem Kin Architectural disperse at an impressive 75°, almost twice the range of comparable speakers that take a more
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conventional design approach. Enjoying music together is a huge part of the modern way of listening. In the past, those wanting good quality might have been characterised as enjoying content on their own in one ‘special room’, however today’s listeners want to share and deliver the right sound-stage to the whole room and indeed the whole house. Another powerful feature of Totem is the similar acoustic signature delivered right across the product lines. This means installers can mix and match, choosing exactly the right product for each placement and still ensure the audio integrity of the system is maintained.
PRODUCT PERFORMANCE CURVES KIN IC Slim This is a pleasing all-rounder with a strong balance of bass and highs in a very convenient shallow form factor for installation flexibility. This family consists of three in-ceiling and two in-wall models, priced to compete with the mass market CI brands and are 25% slimmer than the KIN IC Architectural series. The range benefits from carbon fibre woofers and ceramic coated tweeters for high-performance. KIN IC A more substantial proposition than its slimmer cousin, this speaker delivers deeper bass output with sure-footed authority. Able to produce a rich, textured, seamless soundstage, the KIN IC can maintain the desired levels even in the largest rooms. KIN IC comes in two flavours. The IC61/81 features polypropylene woofers with the IC61 having a 0.75in high excursion soft dome tweeter. The larger IC81 has a 1in ceramic coated aluminium dome tweeter. The premium IC82/62 and Stereo IC62ST enjoy phenolic honeycomb woven hybrid woofers with oversized components in cast baskets and hyper extension soft dome tweeters. The entire range of installation speakers
PRODUCT FOCUS: TOTEM
feature Totem’s unique Low Volume Intelligibility Switch. When engaged, it fine tunes the output at low listening levels to improve the clarity of vocals and the richness of the bass response, both of which are normally compromised at low volume. All KIN IC speakers offer the following options: Acoustic Back Cans that reduce sound in adjacent rooms by 24dB and also aid performance consistency in variable installation locations. Colour coded preconstruction kits are equipped with joist brackets that allows speakers to be installed in a perfect line simply and flawlessly and multiple points to connect the wings guarantees that contact with drywall is always within access. Square Grille Kits complete the line-up and permit cosmetic finishing touches to match fixtures, HVAC accessories, and suit personal design tastes. KIN In-Wall, KIN In-Ceiling Angled and Side/Centre Topping the KIN range, these units bring greater precision and a deeper emotional connection to music. The crossover is of particularly high quality and is revolutionary with the absence of resistors. Also featuring a ½ pound Litz OFC copper air core coil woofer inductor and PP foil capacitor with sterling silver leads in the tweeter and an integrated back box. The design approach means these speakers can deliver performance that matches conventional stand-alone designs with strong dynamics and rhythm that most conventional architectural products cannot rival. Tribe In-Wall, In-Ceiling Angled and Side/Centre This flagship in-wall family has all the benefits of KIN Architectural, but with enhanced deeper bass, more natural highs, increased power handling and incredible presence in any listening environment. Neodymium magnets permit shallow woofers with enormous power and the oval passive radiator has two surrounds that react at different frequencies, effectively acting as two radiators in one. This tunes the bass stunningly low for a sealed enclosure. The product also benefits from a custom designed tweeter which allows a first order crossover, vital for phase linearity, and extends out to 25kHz for an open, airy quality.
Tribe On-Wall Installers can get all of the performance benefits of stand-alone floor-standing speakers, with none of the disadvantages in this conveniently sized, slim and good looking on-wall speaker. With four on-wall model options (Tribe 1,11,111 and V) the range offers slim proportions and subtle good looks to match today’s super slim wall-mounted TVs. The cabinets are ported on the extremities to accommodate the required length for proper tuning. Multiple finish options mean any type of room design is covered. Tribe Solution Bars The most recent addition to the family offers the ‘best of both worlds’ scenario, with strong aesthetics and audio performance to match. The passive design permits outboard amplifiers to be used for superior performance, so neither sound nor style is compromised. Cosmetically matching flat screens, these versatile products can also be used to provide full range, dynamic sound for any room without the need for a subwoofer. The Tribe Duo Solution Bar features a twochannel design in a sealed cabinet, while the Tribe Trio Solution Bar is a three-channel LCR in
a ported enclosure. Both are sized to accommodate screens at 65in and larger. The low-profile design and included flush mount wall bracket make them a strong solution for on-wall installations. Adhesive backed sound isolation feet are also provided should the product needed to be stood on furniture. Tribe In-wall/On-wall subs These cleverly designed subwoofers are highly flexible in their placement and fitting options. There is one in-room sub, the dual 8 that can be wall mounted or fitted with rubber feet to allow it to be discretely hidden within the fixtures or room furnishings. There are two in-wall subs, dual 8 and dual 12. All models are matched with an outboard 500W amp/crossover module which can be free standing or racked. Tribe subs are designed around long throw Carbon Kevlar drivers in a sealed enclosure format. They offer clean, deep and detailed bass. Get in touch with us to find out more about the options offered by Totem. Redline Distribution www.red-line.co.uk
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CASE STUDY: ISEE-AV
KALEIDESCAPE VANHALLA! At a recent Pulse Cinemas event, EI bumped into Terence Ringwood, founder of iSee-AV, who had come to the event in his amazing camper van packed full of AV goodies featuring a full Kaleidescape system. EI loves a bit of in-vehicle AV and automation, so there was only one option, to create a case study to show off this impressive vehicle. Terence has been in AV and automation for a long time. He explains, “I have been in the audio visual industry since I was 12 years old working in the Odeon cinema Norwich doing many different roles at weekends and school holidays. The best part was working in the projection room with projectionist. I then got a job after leaving school as a trainee communications engineer for Telefusion Communications, installing all the latest in communications technologies as Channel4 started broadcasting. I was working for my Dad, who had started in the industry installing aerials when BBC1 started broadcasting. As more channels became available (BBC 2 and ITV ) he was the first RF design engineer in the industry designing
communal aerial systems.” Terence explains, “We are a family business that has been in operation for about 39 years in the custom electronics industry and have worked on many fantastic projects - Stoneleigh Abbey renovations ( working for Historical Buildings Rescue ), offshore platforms in the North Sea, Texas and Rotterdam installing entertainment systems, we have worked for the royal family, BBC, ITV, Anglia Television installing 150ft TV receiving towers - wildlife programs, broadcast centres, M.O.D., as well as jobs for actors and VIPs. I am currently designing a very large DVX and fibre optic audio visual control system for a client. “One of my projects was a very large manor house renovation project which took over three years to complete. We installed all the latest Crestron audio visual electronics, Artcoustic speakers, Loewe TVs, Kaleidescape, Lutron lighting, Home Cinema Room etc.” So why the van? Terence explains, “We have had several different showrooms available in the past for demonstrating all the latest in audio visual and control technologies in industrial
units, shops and with interior designers, but have found it getting more and more difficult to get clients to come out to view and hear our systems. For the future of demonstrating products, I think the best way forward is to take the products to the client. A couple of years ago with this in mind, my wife retired from Boots the chemist and this gave us the opportunity to purchase a motorhome, with the latest technologies in place. This then became a great opportunity to custom install the van with latest audio visual control and lighting systems. “I researched products that would be perfect for the project and set out to survey the van for cable routing. The cable installation took about three weeks to complete; all other products took about another two weeks to finish. The Crestron programming we completed in a couple of days. The TVs I installed were from Videotree. I chose these because of their very small bezel, mounting depth and size. As a Crestron dealer, I installed a DIN AP-3 control processor and a new DIN Rail LED Lighting product from Crestron which controls an RGBW lighting strip. The sound system is an Artcoustic
CASE STUDY: ISEE-AV
ESSENTIAL KIT LIST - Autonomic MMS-1e music server - Kaleidescape movie server - Marantz NR1710 AV 2 zone receiver amplifier - Amazon fire TV media player - Sony UBP-X800M2 4K DVD player - Apple TV 4K media player - HDanywhere 4x4 Pro matrix switcher - Luxul AGS-1016 AV network switcher based 5.1 home cinema system and in zone two there is also a 2.1 system for the living area. The system can be extended into a driveway awning. music comes from an Autonomic MMS-1e which is a very small product ideal for the project, the amplifier is a new slim line Marantz NR1710. For streaming TV services I used an Amazon Fire TV Media player and Apple TV. All products are matrix switched using an HDANYWHERE Pro HDMI matrix switcher. The RGBW lighting strip system I installed is by Collingwood lighting.” So, fitting all this tech into a such a compact space must have been a challenge. Terence says, “The main problem installing custom installation products in such a confined area is finding the right products for the project. I researched what was available from all the manufacturers and found the right fit for each aspect of the install.”
Life after the installation was completed? “Once I had completed the project we signed up to an event called the Norfolk Motorhome Show which was over four days. The show was brilliant and we had a fantastic response from the public, motorhome manufacturers and dealers, which we are still following up. After the show we went on holiday to a campsite in North Norfolk where we had an amazing response on the van from people staying on the camp site. Since then I have been demonstrating the van at business meetings around Norfolk and had more invites from business people to view the van. I am in the process of contacting architects, builders, interior designers and consultant engineers to arrange meetings and demonstrations of the motorhome.” iSee-AV www.isee-av.co.uk
- Artcoustic CPH-TRIO subwoofer processor - Artcoustic PDA-1000 twin 500watt sub amplifier - Draytek 4G WiFi Router - Crestron DIN-AP3 Processor - Crestron DIN-2LEDPWM8 LED RGBW Strip processor / controller - COLLINGWOOD LSR05 RGBW LED Strip. 2 zone - Viveroo iPad table top mount - Pair of Artcoustic SL C-1 zone 2 speakers - Artcoustic SL Multi Soundbar - centre and left / right speakers - Pair of Artcoustic SL Target Mini surround speakers - Artcoustic CPH-10 Subwoofer. Zone 2 - Artcoustic Diablo Sub Panel, twin 10inch woofers
We write drivers. They work. Comprehensive support. Free driver packs for showrooms.
MERIDIAN AUDIO
THE JOY OF IN-WALL LOUDSPEAKERS Hugo Fitzjohn, Education Manager, Meridian Audio, sings the praises of the in-wall speaker. Land. There’s just not enough of it. Certainly not in the UK where average UK house sizes have shrunk to such an extent, that living rooms are now almost a third smaller than their 1970s counterparts. What’s this got to do with our industry, and how does this affect how we should think about sound quality? Let me explain. Audio quality is on the rise. Of course, no one ever asked for bad sound, but we were given crunchy MP3 files in exchange for the convenience of 1000’s of songs in our pocket. We actually consume a lot of music, more than ever before. In fact, the IFPI Music Consumer Insight Report 2018 concluded that globally on average we are listening to 17.8hrs of music a week. Streaming services are improving in quality, giving our industry the chance to make listening to music a pleasure for our clients. I’ve installed hundreds of inceiling speakers over the years. Many sounded good, few exceptional but quite a number delivered an experience comparable to listening to lift muzak. If lifts are your thing then great, but stereo music is recorded and mastered to be played on a pair of speakers that are in front of you. At the highest level of the
art form, a pair of speakers should create the virtual reality that there is a band spread out in front of you, and the magic of stereo imaging creates the illusion that there’s a vocalist in the middle between the speakers. It’s a real shame but the truth is that most people outside our industry have never even experienced this level of quality. I’d love to tell you that you should sell a pair of floorstanding loudspeakers to everyone so they, too, can really experience music as it was intended to sound. But in smaller living spaces, they’re a tough sell. So, what’s the answer? It’s the architectural in-wall loudspeaker. Great for dedicated cinema rooms but perfect also for creating that magical audio experience in media room set ups. Go full range when possible, and if not, then make sure you add a subwoofer to the system. Install them either side of the TV, the undisputed hub of home media, and you’ll blow any soundbar out of the water. Your clients will thank you and love you forever as you deliver experiences that they never knew were attainable. For information on Meridian’s DSP750 In-Wall Digital Active Loudspeaker and full range of architectural loudspeakers visit the Meridian Audio website. Meridian Audio www.meridian-audio.com
Smart Lighting Control & Audio Solutions Wiring Accessories • Circuit Protection
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A Coordinated Look! One smart lighting control & audio system Multiple control plates Multiple wiring accessories One designer look! Matching control plates and wiring accessories are available across 13 Hamilton collections. Alternatively, use Hamilton’s iOS/Android App. Free System Training Available
www.hamilton-litestat.com +44 (0)1747 860088 BRITISH info@hamilton-litestat.com
MANUFACTURER
JANUARY 2020 63
TRAINING DATES
AL LT R A D E ADVANCED ELAN CERTIFICATION DATES/LOCATION: January 15 (9am) Reading Branch January 16 (9am) Reading Branch
ADVANCED HDL DATES/LOCATION: January 22 (9am) Reading Branch February 19 (9am) Reading Branch
INTRODUCTION TO SONOS DATES/LOCATION: February 4 (10am) Brighton Branch February 4 (10am) Bournemouth Branch February 6 (2pm) Hemel Hempstead Branch February 6 (2pm) Reading Branch February 6 (2pm) Maidstone Branch
LEVEL 1 UBIQUITI DATES/LOCATION: January 22 (2pm) Bournemouth Branch February 5 (2pm) Brighton Branch February 13 (2pm) Maidstone Branch February 20 (2pm) Hemel Hempstead Branch February 27 (2pm) Reading Branch
LEVEL 2 UBIQUITI DATES/LOCATION: January 8 (2pm) Brighton Branch January 29 (2pm) Bournemouth Branch February 26 (2pm) Bournemouth Branch
CCTV OVERVIEW - HIKVISION DATES/LOCATION: January 15 (2pm) Brighton Branch January 30 (2pm) Reading Branch February 12 (2pm) Brighton Branch February 12 (2pm) Bournemouth Branch February 13 (2pm) Hemel Hempstead Branch February 20 (2pm) Maidstone Branch
INTRODUCTION TO IRS DATES/LOCATION: January 15 (2pm) Bournemouth Branch January 16 (2pm) Maidstone Branch January 23 (2pm) Hemel Hempstead Branch January 29 (2pm) Brighton Branch February 20 (2pm) Reading Branch February 26 (2pm) Bournemouth Branch February 27 (2pm) Maidstone Branch
INTRODUCTION TO FIBRE DATES/LOCATION: January 8 (2pm) Bournemouth Branch January 30 (2pm) Hemel Hempstead Branch Janaury 30 (2pm) Maidstone Branch February 13 (2pm) Reading Branch February 19 (2pm) Brighton Branch February 19 (2pm) Bournemouth Branch
CAT5E/6, THEIR CONNECTORS AND BEYOND DATES/LOCATION: January 16 (2pm) Hemel Hempstead Branch January 22 (2pm) Brighton Branch January 23 (2pm) Reading Branch January 23 (2pm) Maidstone Branch February 5 (2pm) Bournemouth Branch February 27 (2pm) Hemel Hempstead Branch All courses are free of charge
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For more information or to book call 0344 225 2700 / 01273 765180, e-mail training@alltrade.co.uk or visit alltrade.co.uk/training-sessions
B EMCO K N X TRAINING KNX ‘TASTER’ COURSE - FREE DATES/LOCATION: February 19, Bemco Wandsworth March 18, Bemco Wandsworth April 22, Bemco Wandsworth
KNX PARTNER (BASIC) COURSE DATES/LOCATION: January 27-31, Bemco Wandsworth, March 23-27, Bemco Wandsworth, June 22-26, Bemco Wandsworth COST: £750 + VAT
KNX ADVANCED COURSE: DATES/LOCATION: February 10-14, Bemco Wandsworth May 27-1, Bemco Wandsworth COST: £750 + VAT
All KNX Intro courses are free of charge
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Bemco 0208 874 0404, bemco-knx.co.uk
CA I BASIC AERIAL & SATELLITE INSTALLATION (THREE DAY COURSE) DATES/LOCATION: 7, 8 & 9 January 2020 – Watford 25, 26 & 27 February 2020 – Leeds 10, 11 & 12 March - Watford 12, 13 & 14 May 2020 – Watford 23, 24 & 25 June 2020 – Nottingham 21, 22 & 23 July 2020 - Watford 8, 9 & 10 September 2020 – Watford 27, 28 & 29 October 2020 - Leeds 10, 11 & 12 November 2020 – Watford COST: £815.00
IRS NETWORKS STAGE 1 DATES/LOCATION: 19 & 20 March 2020 – Watford 18 & 19 June 2020 – Watford 17 & 18 September 2020 – Watford 19 & 20 November 2020 – Watford COST: £465.00
IRS NETWORKS STAGE 2 (DESIGN & BUILD) DATES/LOCATION: 30 & 31 January 2020 - Watford COST: £465.00
INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT DATES/LOCATION: February 5-6, Watford CAI Ltd COST: £800.00
MAKING THE BOND (ONE DAY COURSE) DATES/LOCATION: 9 March 2020 – Watford 11 May 2020 – Watford 20 July 2020 – Watford 7 September 2020 – Watford 9 November 2020 – Watford COST: £310.00
FIBRE OPTICS IN SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION STAGE 1 (ONE DAY COURSE) DATES/LOCATION: 16 June 2020 – Watford 15 September 2020 – Watford 17 November 2020 - Watford COST: £330.00
64 JANUARY 2020
TRAINING DATES
CAI (CO NT ) FIBRE OPTICS IN SIGNAL DISTRIBUTION STAGE 2 (ONE DAY COURSE) DATES/LOCATION: 22 January 2020 – Watford 18 March 2020 – Watford 17 June 2020 – Watford 16 September 2020 – Watford 18 November 2020 – Watford
RGB CO MMU N I CAT I O N S
COST: £330.00
SAVANT INTRO TRAINING VC
BASIC HOME NETWORKING & CONNECTIVITY
DATES/LOCATION: January 6 February 6 March 5
DATES/LOCATION: 23 January 2020 – Watford COST: £310.00
INTERMEDIATE HOME NETWORKING & CONNECTIVITY DATES/LOCATION: 12 & 13 February 2020 - Watford COST: £465.00
MORE INFORMATION »
CAI 01923 803 030, cai.org.uk
BECOME A SMART HOME TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATOR DATES/LOCATION: January 16 March 12
SAVANT CORE TRAINING (2 DAY COURSE) DATES/LOCATION: January 21-22 February 25-26 March 24-25
LUTRON HOMEWORKS QS INSTALLATION & PROGRAMMING
HABITEC H
DATES/LOCATION: January 27
PRONET – FOUNDATION COURSE (1 DAY)
DATES/LOCATION: February 20
DATES: January 29, Basingstoke February 26, Basingstoke April 2, Basingstoke May 6, Basingstoke June 3, Basingstoke COST: £99.00 + VAT
PRONET – INTEGRATOR COURSE (2 DAY) DATES:
February 19-20, Basingstoke March 11-12, Basingstoke April 22-23, Basingstoke May 20-21, Basingstoke June 24-25, Basingstoke
NETWORKING & WIFI FOR AV SYSTEMS
MIDDLE ATLANTIC INTEGRATING THE RACK
DATES/LOCATION: March 17
LUTRON RA2 SELECT DATES/LOCATION: March 18
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All course are held are RGB’s Offices in Hungerford, call 01488 73366 for more information
COST: £150.00 + VAT
DAHUA (1 DAY) DATES:
I VO RY EG G K N X TR A I N I N G
COST: FREE
KNX BASIC COURSE (4 DAYS)
January 14, Basingstoke March 3, Basingstoke April 14, Basingstoke May 26, Basingstoke July 7, Basingstoke
WYRESTORM - 4K END TO END (1 DAY) DATES:
February 4, Basingstoke March 17, Basingstoke April 28, Basingstoke June 9, Basingstoke July 14, Basingstoke COST: FREE
WYRESTORM - NETWORK HD (1 DAY) DATES:
February 5, Basingstoke March 18, Basingstoke April 29, Basingstoke June 10, Basingstoke July 15, Basingstoke COST: FREE
DATES: February 3-6, Bosham May 11-15, Bosham
June 22-25, Bosham
October 5-8, Bosham
COST: £875.00 excl VAT
KNX SALES AND SPECIFICATION (1 DAY) DATES: January 28, Bosham April 28, Bosham June 9, Bosham
October 20, Bosham
COST: £175.00 excl VAT
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Ivory Egg, 01243 572 700, ivoryegg.co.uk
All courses are free of charge unless specified otherwise
MORE INFORMATION »
Habitech 01256 638500, tanya.sworn@habitech.co.uk, habitech.co.uk
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PRODUCTS
NAD GETS AMPED ABOUT MULTI-ROOM AUDIO NAD Electronics has announced a new amplifier targeted at high performance distributed audio systems. The CI 8-120 DSP (£2499 MSRP) delivers 8 x 120W of ‘full disclosure power’ per channel with unique features and will be available in early 2020. While the CI 8-120 will deliver a conservative 8 x 120W per channel @ 8ohm, it is also bridgeable to 4 x 200W per channel at 8ohm. IHF Dynamic Power in bridged mode is 4 x 350W per channel at 4ohm. The hybrid digital amplifier platform has been created to deliver stable and efficient power with high current capability in a 1U rack space unit.
To make this all possible, the CI 8-120 DSP uses a customised version of the Hypex UcD output stage allowing for massive power with low distortion and noise in the audible range. Designed to deal with the CI world, the amp was made to handle long cable runs and difficult speaker loads and allows installers to program and control a variety of functions which can be accessed through a web browser. The custom web UI can manage DSP calibration and IP control as well as offer diagnostic features. Remotely, the unit can be set up, calibrated, as well as rebooted, factory reset, restored to custom
settings and have a firmware update. NAD is keenly aware that reliability is paramount for a professional installer, so all models will be based on tried and true amplification platforms delivering stable and reliable performance. The CI 8-120 amplifier is stable at 4ohm impedance. A variety of power methods are available as well as an Eco mode setting for minimal power consumption.
compare the visitor’s face with a database of enrolled faces and perform automatic match notification to grant access. The unit also embraces QR code-based access control for ‘one time’ access for external visitors. Typically, residents/building managers can generate a QR code from the Akuvox SmartApp for a visitor to use on their mobile device which will allow entry
to the building (or specific area) on a limited use/ fixed time basis. The R29C Intercom is also IP65 rated so can be used externally.
NAD www.nadelectronics.com www.anatech.co.uk
THE NEW FACES Distributor CIE has announced the UK launch of the R29C from Akuvox. In place of a traditional keypad, the R29C has a large, 7in full colour touchscreen and incorporates a secure infrared face recognition system that facilitates secure, hands-free operation, and further, an advanced QR code recognition system for organising temporary access for people such as delivery drivers and service engineers. “Akuvox is a new brand in our security portfolio and we are really excited to be kicking off our relationship with the UK launch of the R29C,” comments Chris Edwards, Marketing Director of CIE Group. “It is a genuinely ground-breaking product that pushes the boundaries of intercom technology into new and emerging areas. These new features, such as facial recognition, are not a case of style-over-substance, but have been carefully developed in the interest of end-user benefit and functionality. Also, as with all Akuvox products, the key aim is to combine cutting-edge technology with value for money for the integrator and end-user, and we’re looking forward to establishing the brand in the UK market based on this attractive value proposition.” Featuring the first use of infrared face recognition technology integrated into an intercom device, the R29C will automatically
CIE www.cie-group.com www.akuvox.com
JANUARY 2020 69
PRODUCTS
BOWERS & WILKINS IS WHERE IT’S APP Bowers & Wilkins has announced that it will introduce an enhanced version of its app that will allow users to broaden access to streaming music sites including Tidal, Qobuz and Deezer. Available in early 2020, content will be aggregated through the app, enabling the listener to easily browse tracks, albums, playlists and radio stations across multiple services including personal libraries and collections,
along with other high-resolution content. This will enable the suite of Formation devices to access content directly from the music providers, which will improve overall user experience. Bowers & Wilkins www.bowers-wilkins.com
THE WONDER OF WILSON
Acoustic treatments Improving the quality of sound in any room. Artnovion’s considerable achievements are driven by a passion for the very best acoustics, performance and the company’s desire to deliver an amazing customer experience every time. Experience what makes Artnovion so different by visiting rgbcomms.co.uk
2 Lambourn Business Park, Lambourn Woodlands, Hungerford, RG17 7RY
T: 01488 649340 W: rgbcomms.co.uk
70 JANUARY 2020
New from Wilson Audio is the Chronosonic XVX, building on the manufacturer’s former flagship model, the Alexandria XLF. The Chronosonic XVX is the company’s new top-of-the-line transducer, excepting the late Dave Wilson’s magnum opus, the WAMM Master Chronosonic – which can be built to order for anyone with £700,000 to spend on a pair of loudspeakers. In comparison, the Chronosonic XVX retails for a ‘mere’ £330,000 per pair. Designed by Dave’s son Daryl, the concept draws on key elements of the WAMM Master Chronosonic – which the manufacturer says is the most timedomain-accurate speaker ever made. The result is said to be an ‘astonishingly crisp, clear and dynamic sounding
loudspeaker’, capable of ‘immense sonic scale and consummate verisimilitude’. Available in a wide range of colours and finished in the automotive-class paint facility at Wilson Audio’s factory in Utah, USA, the Chronosonic XVX may also be custom-finished in any colour the customer cares to specify. The Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX is now shipping to order. The UK retail price is £330,000 (inc. VAT) per pair. Customer enquiries in the UK should be directed to Absolute Sounds. Wilson Audio www.wilsonaudio.com www.absolutesounds.com
PRODUCTS
FIRST JBL BRANDED CINEMA AMPLIFIERS LAUNCHED JBL Professional has launched new JBL DSi 2.0 Series cinema amplifiers, offering high power output, state-of-the-art DSP and advanced networking capabilities for the entire range of JBL cinema loudspeakers. The first ever JBL branded cinema amplifiers, DSi 2.0 Series builds on the legacy of Crown DSi Series amplifiers to combine the DSP of Crown’s CDi DriveCore Series amps with a new highpower design to deliver more efficiency, reliability and audio fidelity. The DSi 2.0 Series includes three power configurations: 350W, 700W and 1,200W – available in analogue and analogueplus-digital versions with Dante/AES67 and SNMP connectivity. DSi 2.0 Series amplifiers provide four channels of amplification with bridgeable outputs in a compact 2RU footprint and are PowerMatched for JBL Cinema loudspeakers
to deliver greater power density in the same rack space. DSi 2.0 Series amps can power up to four JBL surround speakers with a single channel in high-power-density 2Ω mode, which both speeds deployment and makes DSi 2.0 a costefficient solution since less amps are required to power a cinema audio system. With 96 kHz/32-bit floating-point DSP, DSi 2.0 Series amplifiers offer an array of versatile signal processors, including parametric EQ, FIR processing, LevelMAX limiting and more. Crown’s DriveCore technology eliminates hundreds of components within each amplifier, reducing the variability of component values to deliver greater efficiency, reliability and performance. Built-in pre-sets for JBL cinema speaker tunings manage voltage levels, crossover settings and more, maximising system efficiency and optimising audio fidelity.
Analogue-plus-digital DSi 2.0 Series amplifiers offer AES67 connectivity, which enables networked audio distribution from any AES67 or DANTE-compatible device and direct interfacing with Dolby Atmos Connect without the need for additional processing hardware. Dual network audio ports allow for primary and secondary networks configured as switched (daisy chain) or redundant (star) topologies. Analogue-plus-digital DSi 2.0 Series amps also feature SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) connectivity for interfacing with thirdparty management systems and Cinema Control (NOC) systems for remote status and fault monitoring. JBL Professional www.jblpro.com/en
LITHE AUDIO EMBRACES BLUETOOTH 5.0 Lithe Audio has updated its range of ceiling speakers to provide an improved all-in-one Bluetooth ceiling speaker solution for music streaming. The new speakers now include aptX Low Latency, Bluetooth 5.0 and an enhanced exterior design on front and back. The introduction of aptX Low Latency audio means that when the speakers are linked to something being watched on a screen, they deliver sound in sync with the picture. The aptX Low Latency audio reduces delay and improves end-to-end speed of the audio transmission resulting in high quality synchronised sound. The introduction of Bluetooth 5.0 gives the speakers increased range – from 10m to a 30m connection. Until now it hasn’t been easy to retrofit Bluetooth speakers in a ceiling without connecting to a separate amplifier or running cables through walls. Lithe Audio’s speakers are a fully integrated all-in-one solution which are installed simply by connecting power from the
lighting circuit. “We’re excited to be launching these new, improved versions of our already well-reviewed Bluetooth speakers” says Amit Ravat, Lithe Audio’s Managing Director: “We’re always striving to improve the quality and performance of our products, and this is another great example of our commitment to innovate with the aim of enhancing the end-user experience.” The Lithe Audio give seamless audio streaming from any audio service to a single, a pair, or up to a series of six Lithe-linked speakers. Designed by Lithe Audio’s team of specialist home electronic product designers, the frameless speakers are designed to ‘disappear’ into the ceiling, only protruding 3mm. The magnetic grille covers can be removed easily for cleaning or for replacement with a different coloured finish. The grilles can be painted to match any ceiling for a barely-there look. It is £199.99 for a single Bluetooth ceiling
speaker, or £279.99 for a pair. The bathroomversion IP44 Bluetooth speakers are £299.99 for a pair. Lithe Audio www.litheaudio.com www.invisionuk.com
PRODUCTS
LINN RE-ENTERS THE CUSTOM INSTALL MARKET WITH KUSTOM DSM Linn has announced the launch of a highperformance multi-zone network music player designed specifically for the Custom Installation market. The maker says Kustom DSM takes Linn’s proven, best-in-class DSM streaming technology and packages it as a flexible, scaleable and easyto-install solution that delivers Linn quality sound to every room. Residential, commercial, marine: Kustom DSM is the quality audio choice for every installation, says its creator. Linn Managing Director, Gilad Tiefenbrun, says, “Linn entered the custom installation market 25 years ago with our ground-breaking Knekt multiroom system which set the benchmark for quality in distributed audio systems. 12 years ago, we started our journey in high resolution digital audio playback with Klimax DS. The result of continuous development in both these areas is Kustom DSM – our first one box, multi-zone DSM player which will deliver transformational musical experiences to every space in an installation at our most competitive price-per-zone yet.” Investment: Linn’s recent investment into improving manufacturing capabilities at its factory in Glasgow, particularly in Surface Mount Technology, has given rise to Kustom DSM’s innovative new board design. Two variants
are available and are both housed in a spaceconserving 1U high chassis: • 2 stream/4 zone that sends two audio streams to a maximum of four different zones • 4 stream/8 zone that sends four audio streams to a maximum of eight different zones The combination of two product variants and the ability to connect multiples together make Kustom DSM a scaleable solution to suit any size of installation. With drivers for Crestron and Control4, Kustom DSM has the capability to be integrated into smart home automation system design. It also works with Linn’s control app, Kazoo, which is available for all main consumer devices, so customers always have a way to control their music close to hand. Benefitting from the latest streaming architecture developed for Selekt DSM, this source-only product provides the flexibility to add any choice of amps and speakers throughout the installation. This follows Linn’s ‘Source First’ philosophy so the best quality sound is assured, and, at Linn’s most competitive price-per-zone, Kustom DSM makes a very compelling audio solution.
Each stream has a variety of analogue and digital inputs to enable the connection of local sources: HDMI ARC, TOSLINK, SPDIF and a pair of RCAs. Each zone has a pair of RCA outputs for connection to downstream components. As with all Linn network music players, every Kustom DSM is precision-engineered at the Linn factory, and is hand-built, tested and packaged by one person who only signs their name to it when they’re completely satisfied. In addition to Linn’s products being credited as reliable and enduring, Kustom DSM also ships with a five-year warranty for complete peace of mind. Commitment to continuous innovation delivers regular software upgrades to ensure products remain as up to date as when they left the factory and this, along with Linn’s well-known product reliability, reduces the need for maintenance visits. The Kustom DSM (2 stream/4 zone) will retail for £2,825 and the Kustom DSM (4 stream/8 zone) for £5,650. Kustom DSM is available in black finish and has both brackets for rack mounting and feet for placing on a shelf. Linn www.linn.co.uk
SUPPORTING THE UKʼS FINEST HOME CINEMA INSTALLERS
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