ESSENTIAL HABITECH

BEING THERE!

‘Habitech’s compelling new demonstration experiences will move your clients beyond the tipping point to a deal’ says Marketing and Communications Manager Sophie Graham.

No one ever fell in love with a book without turning a page, or a car by keeping it on the drive. It’s unreasonable, therefore, to expect customers to love what we do without the experience of a room and system in complete harmony. Truth is, you’re never going to turn a concept as ephemeral as ‘immersion’ into an object of desire without a personal introduction, so, with a six-figure investment in a new suite of dem spaces at Basingstoke, we’re making it personal. Here within a peerless parade of showcase rooms, desire will become your deal maker.

Today, as changed consumer priorities and preferences supercharge the home’s gravitational pull, Habitech is most powerful where new demand is greatest in cinema and media room design, ultrafast networking and outdoor AV entertainment. So we’re ready to offer your customers the chance to experience all of this, as complete solutions, in a setting that feels just like their own. Surrounded by residential comforts, your customers will have the opportunity to imagine how the same extraordinary AV performance and design could transform their lives at home. We’ll help them to take that leap of desire towards ownership because we’ve created rooms they’ll love to live with, day and night - even before the show begins.

PEAK AUDIO

During lockdown the entire ground floor office space at Basingstoke has been converted into a ‘show home’ of beautiful interiors filled with mind-blowing tech, serving different needs and budgets. This means that when the tiers are relaxed you can tailor your visit for every customer. If breath taking audio is a preference, the new Wisdom Audio room could be your first stop. The brand’s flagship European demo space features a ‘dual-aspect’ lounge involving, on one axis, an incomparable two-channel

The new Wisdom Audio room with some amazing design features for added ‘wow’

system of LS4 line source speakers and STS sub, driven by Wisdom amps and processing, and on the ‘other side,’ a 7.2.2 point-source system of P4i satellites, S90i subs and P2i in-ceilings, powered by Acurus amplification and processing. The new space is a blue-sky project with new walls to house speakers in perfect locations supported by acoustic treatment to make the sound come alive. Working with CinemaTech’s awesome team we’ve come up with some amazing design features for added ‘wow’ and ended up with a beautiful, light and luxurious room that has the power to take your breath away.

VERSATILE MEDIA SPACES

Step beyond the Wisdom room into an ‘ultimate media room’ environment. This large open plan space always felt like a perfect opportunity to show your customers how to integrate technology within their kitchen/diner/ snug areas. So we set about creating a 9m floor-to-ceiling slatted wall in red cedar, loaded with acoustic treatment and decorated with artworks interspersed with James speakers customised for seamless installation. You can audition configurations of James’ innovative indoor/outdoor 62QUE on-walls and 53QW 2-way wedge speakers, high output small aperture in-ceiling speakers and the gamechanging new Sonance IS10 Motion Flex Invisibles, integrated with Samsung’s eyepopping ‘The Wall’ and ‘The Frame’ smart LED displays. If you hadn’t heard, ‘The Wall’ is a flawless visual concept, which can be scaled to a colossal size on a slim bezel-less ‘infinity’ frame. Comprising multiple panels, the genius of this technology makes the joins undetectable - even up close - while the intuitive resolution-to-screen size adjustment capability delivers perfect picture quality up to 8K resolution. ‘The Frame’ display is two screens in one: a high-performance ‘Quantum Dot’ 4K UHD screen when turned on, and a place for photos and décor-matching art when off. Seamless décor integration is assured via a choice of super-thin magnetic bezels in myriad colours framing the flush-fitting design. The Frame’s ‘Art Store’ subscription service will deliver unlimited access to à la mode art and personal images while curating new art according to user preferences.

The new Sonance Cinema is a cosy living space and a thrilling cinema experience in one

THE SNUG FELLOWSHIP

Move past the large media space into the more bijou Sonance audio room, housing systems of the new Motion Flex invisible speakers and subs. Joining the IS systems, and demonstrating the widest choice of lowprofile audio options for smaller media room environments are Sonance in-ceiling VP46/66 pairings, a ‘Reference’ 2.1 system and a James’ 5.1 configuration of SPL5Q LCR soundbar, QXC620S in-ceiling surrounds and 1000PT ‘PowerPipe’ sub.

LIVING CINEMA

Now this is what ‘immersion’ really feels like. We loved working with CinemaTech to transform this former training space into a complete home cinema environment involving a luxury, acoustically optimised 7.4.2 cinema and room design. The atmosphere within is warm and cosy, but the architecture flawlessly conceals the high-octane dynamics of Sonance Reference 2 LCRs and surrounds, VP86 inceilings, R12 and i10 impact subs, driven by Arcam amplification and processing. It’s a comfortable living space and a thrilling cinema experience in one. It’s also, as it happens, a major fillip for our ‘being there’ approach, because numerous clients have ordered carbon copies for their homes, down to the last detail.

SWITCH TO INTIMATE

Tipping the scales in every way, the adjacent newly refurbished flagship 11.4.4 Wisdom cinema will reveal the awesome possibilities of high-end home cinema at its most sublime level. Because of its size, the space always felt a little like the local Odeon to me, so we’ve introduced more of the intimacy of the Sonance Cinema with beautifully designed bevelled edge track from Desmond and Sons in combination with antique bronze sconces that throw beautiful triangles of light across the walls to create a 1920s jazz club feel. We also decided to make the room smaller by building a new front wall with a 5m screen in place of the old 4m frame while giving the Wisdom L8i Line Source speakers behind some room to breathe. Now we can offer your wealthiest customers the experience of a huge soundstage, aided by new front wide L8is, in a room that feels like a comfy uber cinema at home.

LET’S MAKE IT PERSONAL!

While we all wait for our jabs, the message we’re sending couldn’t be more emphatic: Habitech has used the downtime to up its performance, uniting a jaw-dropping ‘wow factor’ at the point of purchase across a wide budget spectrum with exceptional backend logistics and tech support. Pre-tier 4 visitors have included Adam Kraemer-Dent of Finite Solutions who said: “I just wanted to say how impressed I was with my recent visit to the showroom, not only did it blow my client away…it surpassed my expectations massively…I think this client will more than double his financial commitment to us after experiencing your facility.” And Peter Miller at Cornflake who said: “I loved it… every time I come down, the showroom gets better and better. Well done! Truly world class!”

Delivering the stunning emotional impact of the best in CI design, our unrivalled new dems will ensure that once the vaccines have done their work, we’ll be ready with another shot in the arm for your business. And we can’t wait to be part of the recovery!

Habitech habitech.co.uk