EI Home Cinema Supplement 2023

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AWE Show Apar
Open for Demos AWE's demonstration and training area is an impressive mix of living room areas, a large stereo music listening room doubling as the training centre, and two fabulous home cinemas.
Stevenson
AN PUBLICATION TURN TO P.4 FOR THE AWE INSIGHT 2023
tment
Richard
HOME CINEMA SUPPLEMENT
www.invisionuk.com sales@invisionuk.com | 01359 270280 First class seating for the ultimate home cinema experience Design your perfect seat today! Available at our Home Cinema in Bracknell Image provided by Cinema Works

GETTING IN TOUCH

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Daniel J Sait, dan@allthingsmedialtd.com

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Beatrice Lee, beatrice@allthingsmedialtd.com

SALES DIRECTOR

Ian Kitchener, ian@allthingsmedialtd.com

GROUP AD MANAGER

Claire Talty, claire@allthingsmedialtd.com

PUBLISHER

David Kitchener, david@allthingsmedialtd.com

STUDIO MANAGER

Mark Weller, mark@allthingsmedialtd.com

ACCOUNTS

susan@allthingsmedialtd.com

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The editors and publishers do not necessarily agree with the views expressed by contributors, nor do they accept responsibility for any errors in the transmission of the subject matter in this publication. Whilst we make every effort to ensure that everything is factually correct, we cannot be held responsible if factual errors occur.

In all matters, the editor’s decision is final. Editorial contributions to Essential Install magazine are welcomed, and the editor reserves the right to alter or abridge text prior to the publication. All articles are copyright and remain the property of Essential Install magazine.

2 FROM THE EDITOR’S CHAIR Celebrating the magic of home cinema 4 FROM SURREY WITH LOVE AWE’s two cinema demo rooms, show apartment and training area 6 A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT LEVEL OF IMMERSIVE Wayne Crawley, Sales & Business Development Manager, Karma AV 8 TAKING HOME CINEMA AUDIO TO THE NEXT LEVEL Snap One sounds off 10 LASER FOCUSED Barco and DbM tell you what you need to know about laser projectors 12 DBM DOES THE HEAVY LIFTING Choose DbM as your supplier 15 CREATING A COSY ENTERTAINMENT HAVEN CINEAK charts the rise of greater comfort 16 CUSTOM INSTALLATION SPEAKERS FROM LYNGDORF AUDIO A journey into sound 18 THE PROFESSIONALS! Nick Fichte, Director of Sales for L-Acoustics Creations 20 EXPERIENCE SONY GREATNESS A complete home cinema line-up CONTENTS
AWE Show Apartment Open for Demos WE's demonstration and training ea is an imp mix of living eas, a la ge ste eo music listening HOME CINEMA SUPPLEMENT TURN TO P.4 FOR THE AWE INSIGHT 2023

CELEBRATING THE MAGIC OF HOME CINEMA

Welcome to EI’s Home Cinema Supplement! We are pleased once again to present this special edition, dedicated to showcasing the wonders of home cinema and its pivotal role in the ever-evolving world of smart homes and luxury AV technology.

In recent times we have all seen how homes have become more than just a place to rest and recharge. They have evolved into sanctuaries of entertainment, where customers can escape and immerse themselves in captivating audio-visual experiences. Home cinema, with its ability to transport viewers to different worlds, ignite emotions, and captivate senses, has become an integral part of home life for many

people, and we hope many more in the future.

As technology continues to advance, our sector has met the challenge and can now offer experiences that match any other luxury experience you could name. Combining the power of cutting-edge audio-visual equipment, sophisticated automation, and innovative design to create truly immersive and unforgettable entertainment spaces, our sector has the tools needed to take home cinema to the next level and make it the most sort after in-home addition.

Our supplement aims to delve into the current world of home cinema, exploring the latest trends, technologies and design concepts.

The appeal of home cinema extends far beyond movie enthusiasts; it has become a symbol of luxury, status, and modern living. With the advent of high-resolution streaming

platforms, the proliferation of immersive audio formats, and the rising demand for tailored home entertainment solutions, the need for home cinema expertise has never been greater. Our supplement aims to educate, inspire, and empower industry professionals to embrace this important aspect of the smart home and luxury AV sector.

Featuring the expertise and insights of industry professionals who have dedicated their careers to pushing the boundaries of home cinema innovation, we hope this latest focus on the home cinema sector provides inspiration and enlightenment, whether you are already fully immersed in this sector, or are trying to expand your offering into home cinema execution.

EDITOR’S COMMENT

FROM SURREY WITH LOVE

AWE’s two cinema demo rooms, show apartment and training area have been overhauled with the latest AV equipment from its key brands. Reviewer and AV journalist Richard Stevenson heads to Surrey for a day at the movies.

Recently updated AWE’s demonstration and training area is an impressive mix of living room areas, a large stereo music listening room doubling as the training centre, and two fabulous home cinemas. The sizeable original room has been given an extensive refresh as the Reference Cinema, AKA Screen 1, while

the new smaller room is the more affordable Performance Cinema – Screen 2.

Décor in both rooms is nearly identical, with stretch fabric walls fitted out with diffused RGB LED strip light channels to create a perfect ‘neon’ light effect. With matt black ceilings, downlights highlighting the wall panels, and black Front Row cinema seating in the larger room on a luxury mid-grey carpet, the aesthetic is pure home cinema. With AWE’s integrators regularly bringing in their consumer customers for demonstrations, nailing a ‘realistic’ home cinema vibe was essential for showcasing what is possible.

NOW SHOWING, SCREEN 2

The new Performance Cinema room relates well to a typical UK ‘spare’ room, being under 4m wide and just over 5m in length. Front of house is a 3.3m wide, 2.40:1 ratio Adeo FramePro screen fitted with VisionAcoustic AT fabric and black velvet border. Not a brand I had heard of, but Adeo are the owners of Screen Research and designed to offer a more affordable yet still high-quality screen solution. AWE’s James Drummie commented it was straightforward to assemble and very solid. The projection is Epson’s evergreen EH-LS12000.

Bowers & Wilkins mid-range custom install in-wall speakers handle core and height duties of the 7.1.4 system, with three CWM7.3 S2 up front behind the screen, four of the smaller CWM7.5 S2 rear and back and four CCM683 in-ceiling units fitted in the dedicated BB6C backboxes. Where things got really interesting was in the sub-woofing department.

Bowers & Wilkins ISW-8 in-wall sub is the most innovative install speaker I have seen for a good long while, with its 12in Aerofoil cone driven by a front-mounted neodymium motor assembly that uses the chunky spider as both a heat-sink for the voice coil and grille for the driver. The movement of air from the bass cone cools its own voicecoil! The design is shallow for a 12in sub, allowing it to fit its rubber-mount suspended backbox, itself fitting with a suitable air gap to stop sound transmission into 4in

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deep stud wall. Clever. Part of Bowers & Wilkins flagship 8-Series and essentially the custom installed version of the mighty DB1D, the ISW-8 is passive and each driven here by Bowers & Wilkins new CDA-2HD stereo amplifier running at 1000 watts in bridged mono mode.

As the new Marantz Cinema 50 has line level outputs and four subwoofer outputs, AWE has gone ‘all in’ adding an AMP 10 multichannel power amplifier and four ISW-8s, two front and two in the rear wall. As the ISW-8 plus backbox plus amp together retail at over £5,000, four of these may be a little ‘rich’ for the ‘performance room’, but I can safely say the result is spectacularly tight and articulate bass that easily drives the room without over pressurising it.

AWE’s URC control system allows the demonstration to scale up or down relative to the customer’s budget. James demonstrated 7.4.4 configuration and switched to a 5.2.2 setup at the touch of a button. AWE says that a smaller room or budget doesn’t automatically mean a lower specification, so they can demonstrate a more affordable room option of the same high quality, just using a lower channel count. Back and forth using the Blu-ray of A Star is Born shows impressive integration throughout the soundstage and exceptional dynamics and clarity with either configuration. However, a demo of the full 7.4.4 Atmos version with the four subs would be a no-brainer ‘here, take my credit card’ moment for me!

SCREEN 1, TICKETS PLEASE

The Reference cinema room has also had something of a hardware makeover. Most of the renewed layout and architecture is based on improving the directionality of the speakers in the big room (5.5m x 7.5m) and getting the best sound in the multiple seating positions. Mix in the principles of CEDIA’s forthcoming RP22 specification and the new Marantz AV 10 processor’s ability to process 15 channels, and it was time to step things up.

The front wall is the most noticeable change with the 4m wide Adeo MovieMask LR (nonAT) screen, set back into the front wall. The sloped transitions between wall and screen are neatly angled to ‘aim’ towards the central seating position. Bowers & Wilkins flagship CCM8.3D speakers are used for the front array, positioned on the angled surfaces to the left and right of the screen and the low-height centre channel set into the gently upward tilting transition beneath the screen.

In probably the most effective implementation of front-wide channels I have heard, two further CCM8.3D are set in the side walls between the screen and front row, installed angled towards the central listening position and concealed behind the fabric wall. Four CWM8.5D handle rear and back duties, with six CCM8.5D set into the ceiling. All installed speakers feature the famed diamond tweeters found in the 800 series component speakers and are fitted into Bowers & Wilkins proprietary braced backboxes. Bass is handled by yet another four-speaker setup using CTSW15 subwoofers, also driven by bridged CDA-2HD DSP amps.

The Marantz AV 10 processor would have been an obvious pairing with the Amp10, but oh no. To deliver reference levels in a large room of this size, the flagship processor drives four Rotel RMB-1590 stereo power amps and two RMB-1585 five-channel amps, plus the four bridged CDA-2HD amps for the subs. The latter compact units are half rack width and 2U high, making the ‘four pack’ a neat 4U cluster. That said, the entire ‘amp stack’ takes up most of a full-height Sanus 19in rack in a display that will impress nearly as much as the actual home cinema!

The Adeo’s Reference White 2 screen has multiple motor-driven side masking positions from 16:9 to 2.40:1, which was linked with the projector and control system to mask, zoom and fill according to the material content. The

projector de jour is the Sony VPL-XW7000. Not much to say about that other than when I was last at AWE and saw it for the first time… I bought one! Enough said. Oh, they also have the range topping GTZ-380, but that’s another story…

Romping through some solid demo content, familiar scenes and well-known soundtracks, the immediate impression is one of immense scale and incredible Atmos steering. The angled speakers up front work to create a cohesive front soundstage, and the front-wide channels are a revelation in terms of building an accurate all-room sonic picture.

The car-crash scene in The Batman sees the viewer’s position in the car as it lifts off the ground, crashes and rolls sideways down the road. The Reference system’s acoustic steering and scale are phenomenal, with the entire soundstage rotating across the room’s width.

Bass from the four 15s is, needless to say, prodigious, and the four-subwoofer set-up combined with active DSP from the power amps manages to keep room nodes under control, the bass tightly focused and deep rather than boomy. Having been blown away with the ISW8s in the Performance room, I think those slimfit bad boys might do an even better job than the 15s in the Reference room. AWE’s James wasn’t so convinced… but I think that might have been due to the work involved in a fourspeaker refit in his ‘just-finished’ new room.

AWE’s home cinema demo room refit leverages some of the very best AV equipment on the market, set up to perfection and easy to ‘show off’. Both the Performance and Reference cinemas are something to experience if you get the chance, and AWE allowing its integrators and installers to use these facilities to demo to their end-user customers is genius.

For more information about AWE or to book a visit, head to awe-europe.com

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A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT LEVEL OF IMMERSIVE

Specialising in speed and bandwidth, Ascendo Immersive Audio has raised the performance bar in the development, design and production of state-of-the-art home theatre systems. Karma-AV’s Wayne Crawley goes deep.

It takes a particular kind of dedication and a whole lot of innovation to change the course of home theatre evolution. But modestly and methodically, Ascendo Immersive Audio (AIA) has engineered a breakthrough in theatre sound over the last two decades. In my experience, nobody who has encountered an AIA demo would disagree, because response speed, dynamics and bandwidth are unprecedented and unforgettable. Supported by the most advanced proprietary multichannel DSP, amplification and Dante networking, the AIA design magic involves integrating naturally more accurate point source satellites with fast and dynamic infrasonic bass.

POINT SOURCE ACCURACY AT THE SPEED OF SOUND

A typical tweeter/mid-woofer speaker arrangement consists of separate speakers for higher and lower frequencies mounted somewhere on the speaker baffle. The separate drivers cause interference (lobing) and phase issues, which can result in a less cohesive sound. By using a single driver to handle both mids and highs, AIA’s point source coaxial loudspeakers create a more coherent wavefront that is less prone to lobing effects, resulting in a more consistent sound level and frequency response across a wider listening area. In addition, their focused distribution can minimise the negative effects of room reflections, creating a more immersive and life-like soundstage for listeners. These qualities make them an ideal choice for home theatre LCR, surround and Atmos channels (overhead speakers).

INFRASONIC INTEGRATION

Then there’s the bass. When at least 50% of all ‘blockbuster’ movie soundtracks include LFE bass as low as 3Hz, the best repro systems need the bandwidth to match. AIA has perfected the development of ultra-subwoofers, which reproduce tight infrasonic bass of the kind that is felt rather than heard. This isn’t about boomy,

overwhelming bass. When calibrated (timing, phase, level, etc.) correctly with other theatre channels, Ascendo infrasonic bass pressurises the room and evokes the physical response that creates the fabled ‘being there’ experience. These frequencies are often used in quiet passages that at first can be very subtle, causing the body to sense and react in a ‘what the heck was that?!’ way within a dynamic headroom environment that separates really good home theatres from exceptional, private cinemas. In this regard - and many others - AIA is way ahead of rival brands in delivering the fastest, cleanest and deepest bass reproduction available. Why? Because it was first to recognise the need, and because extending bass into the single Hz digits is extremely hard to engineer.

A QUESTION OF SCALE

Since 2016, Ascendo has developed infrasonic subwoofers from the ground up because no regular speaker on the planet can reproduce content below 20Hz with significant output and authority. It understands that only very large subwoofers (32in, 50in and 80in) are able to deliver the required reference SPLs at ultra-low frequencies. Many claim, or assume, that smaller woofers are at least faster, but if designed correctly, large subwoofers exhibit lower group delay, higher compliance, lower inductance and a better impulse response than smaller drivers at the lowest frequencies. The key consideration for designers is the gift of ultra-low Hz and high output.

Some commentators believe it is possible to reproduce infrasonic bass with multiple smaller drivers, and while this is theoretically true, there are many challenges, physical and practical, that make it very difficult to match the output from a much larger woofer. For instance, AIA’s 32in SMSG32 model pushes as much air per maximum stroke as 15 standard 18in subwoofers. This means that if you wanted to use smaller drivers, you’d need to split the signal between 15 x 18in subs to rival a single SMSG32, quite apart from the practical difficulties of installation and cabling, with associated signal losses. Aside from multiple smaller speaker enclosures occupying many times the space, and many times the power due to lower system sensitivity, their higher resonant

frequencies would result in much higher group delay and system Q. It’s a circular design conundrum that will never answer the desire for infra-bass delivery.

Which is why Ascendo Immersive Audio gives you a head start in sound design for your luxury home theatre projects. With a blend of point source accuracy and a truly seismic infra-bass dimension from a very wide and mature range of active and passive models, it does things rivals can only dream of. A completely different level of immersive, to be precise! Please contact Karma-AV for further information.

Karma AV 01423 358846; karma-av.co.uk

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AIA design magic involves integrating point source satellites with fast, dynamic infrasonic bass

ENTER THE IMMERSIVE WORLD OF INFRASONICS

SMSG32, 32-inch Active

Infrasonic Subwoofer

Beyond the audible range and the limits of traditional subwoofers, infrasonic frequencies add a new dimension to the experience of home cinema immersion. For years Ascendo Immersive Audio has been perfecting their delivery, overcoming huge technical and performance challenges to create a range of infrasonic subwoofers that generates pressure waves as low as 5Hz, reproducing the hidden frequencies and harmonics in your film and music content you don’t hear but feel all around you. In this way, Ascendo defines the difference between merely listening and being there!

Further information: 01423 358846, info@karma-av.co.uk, www.karma-av.co.uk

TAKING HOME CINEMA AUDIO TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Snap One®, the partner for Audio in the custom installation channel, explores some of the key trends making an impact on the development of home cinema audio and why the listening landscape has never been so exciting.

The home cinema market continues to be a key category in the realm of home entertainment and has experienced revised growth and exposure over the past few years due to the stay-at-home lifestyle adopted in the wake of the pandemic.

No longer a luxury reserved for the superrich with upwards of six figures to spend, a dedicated home cinema with spatial audio – dependent on existing space - can now be achieved for a more modest five-figure budget. And with delivery of content shifting to videoon-demand and electronic-sell-through (including day/date cinematic releases) the home cinema market currently presents a huge opportunity for installers.

But it’s not just the growing appetite for home cinema that is evolving. The way that audio is recorded has advanced too, making home cinema an even more exciting and immersive experience.

AN IMMERSIVE SOUNDSCAPE

We’re in the midst of an audio revolution, both in terms of how audio is recorded, how it is

delivered and how we consume it – there’s never been a more exciting time to be in this industry.

Music, movie and content streaming audio is now being recorded using spatial techniques that deliver a more realistic, 360-degree listening experience for the consumer. This is the closest technology to recreating a live experience that we have ever had…and it’s incredibly exciting to see it becoming more accessible. However, immersive audio is only as good as the speakers it is played through, and that is where our industry triumphs.

At Snap One, we’ve been working closely with Dolby Atmos for many years, delivering Dolby Atmos cinemas for our Partners to create as full, rich and immersive an experience as possible. Our Episode® and Triad® audio ranges are designed for delivering Dolby Atmos experiences. In fact, Triad was selected by Dolby Labs as their Development Partner for Home Atmos. We’ve enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship, which included Triad teaming with Dolby to demonstrate Home Atmos for the first time at CEDIA in 2014 - even before Atmos capable electronics were released.

The rapid growth of spatial audio means we can create truly immersive, wow-factor experiences for clients that they just can’t achieve without the skills, knowledge, or access to premium products of a professional installer.

POINT OF ENTRY TO POINT OF REFERENCE

We don’t operate in a one-size-fits-all industry, so offering a range of options for your clients is crucial to ensure you can cater for every installation. At Snap One, for example, we offer two exceptional home cinema audio brands, Episode and at the more premium end, Triad. This offers a wide scope for multiple installation sizes, budgets and set-ups, from media room to reference level home cinema.

We have recently introduced our Episode Home Theatre offering to better support today’s market needs. Developed to deliver enhanced audio at a competitive price point, the lineup includes eight in-room and four architectural speakers with home theatre and home theatre reference performance classes. The range supports the latest immersive surround formats including Dolby Atmos / DTS:X and Auro3D and is ideal for installations where great performance is needed on a more affordable budget.

EASY INSTALLATION

Beyond this entry-level option, working with Snap One offers a great upgrade opportunity at a later date, enabled by our Push Lock by Swarm technology. This tool-free mounting solution specifically designed for Snap One is employed in Episode and Triad PDX, including LCRs and surround models.

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It allows for an upgrade path to a more premium product by securing the speaker with the simple press of a button for fast and secure installation. So, if a client who currently has Episode architectural speakers wishes to upgrade, it’s incredibly quick and simple to install the more premium performance of the Triad PDX series. Not only does this save our Partners time, but it also offers them a seamless installation upgrade service.

How does it work? The two-piece baffle/ speaker module assembly allows Partners to easily remove the speaker while leaving the cradle and grille in the ceiling or wall. This also helps in preventing the speaker from being stolen or damaged during the construction process and allowing for HVAC pressure testing for certification of occupancy.

The key benefit of having a clear and nonintrusive upgrade process to offer clients, such as our Push Lock solution, is that it makes it easy to revisit those clients that have already had an install from you to discuss what’s new. With the introduction of mainstream immersive audio –many streaming services are already offering shows and music with spatial audio, including Apple, Amazon, Netflix Premium and Tidal – it presents the ideal opportunity to present an upgrade to a premium system.

STEPPING UP

Technology upgrades and servicing for existing clients, can provide installers with a steady and reliable revenue stream – and once the infrastructure is in place, the possibilities are endless.

While Episode speakers are great for most home cinemas, Triad offers a more powerful

and premium experience for when clients want to upgrade. The Triad PDX series includes thirteen speakers and nineteen accessories, including optional custom-coloured grilles, rear enclosures and pre-construction brackets for discrete in-wall and in-ceiling installation.

Designed and engineered at the Triad HQ in Portland, Oregon where artistry, engineering and experience intersect to create category-defining products, Triad PDX creates a remarkable listening experience by using high-performance materials and the finest components like carbon fibre, Kevlar, Teteron, dual voice coils, chemically etched metal components, and more.

The series also includes helpful accessories like construction brackets that offer flexibility during a new build or install process, rear enclosures for all models that can control air volume and sound propagation to adjacent rooms, and replacement grilles for all models that can be painted and custom-ordered to match the project aesthetics.

MAKE SOME NOISE

It’s an exciting time in the world of professionally installed audio as listening experiences become more immersive, more beautiful and more realistic than ever before. Right now, talking to clients about the possibilities available to them for capturing the best quality and performance in home cinema, is likely to be one of the most rewarding conversations you can have.

Existing Snap One partners can learn more and purchase Episode and Triad at dealer-emea.control4.com. To apply to be a partner please visit control4.com/for/dealers Additional information about Snap One can be found at snapone.com

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LASER FOCUSED

Barco and DbM tell you what you need to know about laser projectors.

When you partner with the right suppliers and specify the correct projection systems for your home cinema project, you have access to a toolkit of information and resources to get around real world installation challenges. Barry Sheldrick, Director of Sales at DbM and Bart Devos, Business Development Manager EMEA at Barco Residential sat down to discuss the advantages of laser as a light source and the way to overcome laser hazard zones. Here’s what they had to say.

ADVANTAGES OF LASER AS A LIGHT SOURCE

With projection systems, we always want to have more light output and typically, this meant moving to halogen lamps and then Xenon lamps to get increased light. But, as the light output

increases, so does the heat, which results in the life of the lamp shortening.

When it comes to laser projection systems, we see two types of lasers – one is laser phosphor with a single laser colour, which Barco uses in Balder, Hodr and Njord. As we move up into the DCI range (Barco Residential Freya and above), we have three different colours of lasers (RGB), which gives us the ability to expand the colour space. With regards to HDR content, it is about expanded brightness and darkness, but the colour palette is also increased, which means that you reproduce all the colours that the camera captured.

Laser has a lot of advantages because the light output can be massive. It used to be that a really bright projector would have a maximum of around 4,000 lumens. These days, that’s pretty much where we start, and you can now go up to over 25,000 lumens. But it’s not about having a mega bright picture; it’s just about the projector

being able to handle very large screens or high light environments. As a screen surface area goes up, you need more light output and that’s why these bigger projectors exist.

Ultimately, laser projectors have given us loads of flexibility with being able to work on much larger screens. However, they can, in extreme circumstances, have potential installation issues that you have to overcome –one being the laser hazard zone.

WHAT IS A LASER HAZARD ZONE?

If you’re old enough to recall opening up your portable CD player lid, you may remember being greeted with a little yellow sticker with a picture of a laser on it saying, ‘warning class one laser product’. This was the first time that you might have seen that lasers could be damaging to your eyes.

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As the laser light output has increased, there’s a potential in certain scenarios to cause partial or permanent damage to someone’s eyes if you’re within a certain area of the projection systems – this is what is called the laser hazard zone. As responsible distributors, manufacturers and integrators, we need to be aware of these zones and make sure that we are working within the parameters that the manufacturer has provided.

There are two different risk groups - two and three - which have different parameters, areas and safe radius. Depending on the risk category of the laser, there is a space between the lens and then the safe area where you can’t have that placed inside the room. Basically, if a person can get between the lens and that safe area, then potentially, this can cause damage to the vision of that person.

This may sound daunting, but it’s not something to be scared about and certainly isn’t a reason to not work with laser projectors. It’s just about being aware of this issue and finding a way to overcome it.

Our advice is to ensure that you work with a supplier that alerts you to issues such as the laser hazard zone and provides you with the support you need to specify and install incredible projection systems with total confidence.

Through the DbM and Barco Residential partnership, you are able to send the DbM Design & Specification Service [see page12 for more information] team your drawings and plans for the room, so that the team can have as much information as possible to work out whether there is a laser hazard zone. If there is, they will work out what they can do to alter that for you.

Different projects throw up different challenges, but the DbM and Barco Residential teams have never not been able to overcome the challenges in one yet. The reason for this is because a manufacturer like Barco fully documents everything and the DbM design team has the skills and tricks to get around these hazard zones.

To experience Barco Residential projectors alongside other brands such as Meridian and Lumagen, book a visit to the DbM HQ to immerse yourself in true AV excellence.

DbM: distributedbym.co.uk

Barco Residential: barco.com/en/residential

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DbM DOES THE HEAVY LIFTING

Choose DbM as your supplier and let us do the heavy lifting for you when it comes to design documentation.

DbM recognises the high level of support in design, specification and installation that is often required to ensure a successful home cinema installation. The company’s complimentary Design & Specification Service supports project planning and presentation and is well-used by integrators to help in this area.

“Our Design & Specification service is all about adding value for our dealers,” says Barry Sheldrick, Director of Sales at DbM. “It makes it quicker and easier for integrators to specify the right products for the installation, freeing up valuable time so they can concentrate on other aspects of an installation.”

The Design & Specification Service provides integrators with a customised, expertly designed, and integrated AV solution. Design

packs are time efficient and are a great way to increase the overall sale value of the project whilst also increasing conversion rates. DbM provides three exceptional design proposals; Standard, Performance, and Reference. Each proposal has a separate client budget in mind, whilst still providing an exceptional audio experience.

The service details the room layout and AV equipment positions, including seating positions, industry guidelines for speaker layouts, product install details, viewing angles, screen brightness, sound-pressure levels, wiring diagrams, rack layouts. To begin the proposal process, dealers simply need to provide DbM with a plan of the room and email it to design@ meridian.co.uk. DbM will provide co-branded drawings of the proposed system layout and an associated wiring diagram as pdf files within 48 hours at no cost.

KEY REASONS FOR USING THE DESIGN & SPECIFICATION SERVICE

• Expertise and Support: DbM has extensive experience and expertise in designing highperformance home cinemas, we’ve helped to deliver over 1000 projects so far. By working with the team, integrators can tap into this knowledge and experience, receiving support throughout the design, installation and commissioning process, ensuring that the systems meet the highest industry standards of performance and reliability.

• Customisation: The Design and Specification Service is tailored to the specific needs of each customer – providing designs that meet the unique requirements of the room it will be used in, as well as the needs of the end user. The three design options aid the conversion ratio along with boosting

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SUPPLEMENT

the system value in an easy to explain way. This customisation ensures that the system delivers the best possible performance for the intended application.

• Efficiency and Time Savings: By working with us, integrators can streamline the design and installation process, saving time and money. Using DbM dedicated experts in AV system design and integration means that the entire process can be completed more efficiently, ensuring performance on each project.

COMMENTS FROM CUSTOMERS

Anthony Gallon, Clever Association:

“We’ve used the Design & Specification Service on a number of occasions, it’s been great to know that we have the backing of their team whenever we need it. Whether that’s simply because we’re up against it timewise, for a simple sanity-check or for more involved design

assistance for projects that are a little ‘off-piste’. One example being a cinema that we installed in Cannes where we were planning to use multiple Meridian speakers behind the screen surface, in three High Power Array ‘stacks’ for the left, centre and right channels. It was great to be able to lean on the DbM team who assisted with predicted SPL calculations, layout advice and also guidance on reducing the risks of comb filtering in such a setup. Without doubt, the care and attention put into those designs long before any installation works had started on-site, were the key to creating a fantastic sounding room.”

Liam McLaughlin, Progressive Home Technology

“We have an existing client in Hastings who is a big Meridian fan. We recently upgraded some DSP7200SE to DSP8000XE loudspeakers in his living room, putting the DSP7200SE into the surround position. So, when we started his BIG cinema, we headed straight back to Meridian, but this time with their DbM hat on.

We leaned on their Design & Specification Service heavily to help mount a Barco threechip projector vertically in a booth behind the back wall, and point it through a porthole via a mirror, onto a 4.5m wide screen. The team was also invaluable in providing detailed elevations and ceiling plans for the comprehensive acoustic application that went in. I am back soon to put the final touches to the projection setup and calibrate the 9.1.6 audio system. I can’t wait to see (and hear) the end result.”

For more information visit distributedbym.com

ESSENTIAL HOME CINEMA SUPPLEMENT HOME CINEMA SUPPLEMENT 2023 13 essentialinstall.com @Install_mag /Essentialinstall

CHAISE BED - Dual-motorized incline mechanism allows the user to operate the Seat/Backrest and headrest. This allows the user to ensure maximum comfort by fine-tuning their preferred seating position.

Cineak.com | Antwerp, Belgium +32 (3) 354 03 66 | Los Angeles, USA +1 (866) 458-0529 the
luxury theater seating
benchmark for
GRAMERCY - image courtesy of illusion.es
the GRAMERCY

CREATING A COSY ENTERTAINMENT HAVEN

theater cannot be over-emphasised. Unlike a fixed sofa bed, an adjustable chaise bed offers unparalleled comfort and convenience. Viewers can adjust their seating position and enjoy optimal comfort during long movie marathons.

Moreover, thanks to its flexibility, a chaise bed sofa can be seamlessly transformed into a comfotarble lounge area. The adaptability enhances the overall cinema experience and provides a versatile and cozy seating solution for any entertainment venue.

CINEAK charts the rise of greater comfort for home cinema owners.

In recent years, the concept of ‘a home theater’ has evolved from a space exclusively for movie enthusiasts to a luxurious haven for relaxation and entertainment. Today, more and more people want to transform their movie theatre into a cozy entertainment space that not only offers impressive audio and visual experiences, but also serves as an inviting space for lounging and entertaining guests.

As a pioneer in the development and evolution of luxury home theater seating, CINEAK has played a vital role in shaping the industry as we know it. Its innovative apporach and commitment to excellence have led to significant changse in the way seating is designed for and experienced in home theaters.

CINEAK’s designer sofas prioritise comfort without compromising style. Unlike traditional fixed furniture, these sofas offer a range of adjustable features, including motorised adjustable backrest, headrest and seating angle. This adjustable comfort allows viewers

to find their ideal seating position and porvides body support during long movie sessions. The egronomically designed cushions and high-quality materials further contribute to a luxurious and cozy cinema experience.

One of the main advantages of CINEAK’s designer sofas is their ability to optimise the viewing experience. Fixed furniture can sometimes obstruct sightlines in a home theater, forcing viewers to strain or compromising their posture. CINEAK’s designer sofas, on the other hand, prioritise the optimal viewing experience. Its adjustable features allow users to adjust the angle and height of their seats to provide an unobstructed view of the screen from any seating position. This enhances immersion and minimises distractions, allowing viewers to become fully focused on the content without any discomfort.

In many cases, chaise bed sofas are opted for as front seat configurations. At CINEAK we were not happy with the comfort of regular chaise beds, therefore we improved their comfort by adding motorised adjustability. The importance of chaise bed adjustability in a movie

In addition to comfort and functionality, combining contemporary and vintage design elements in sofas can help create a more intimate and luxurious environment. Soft, plush upholstery in neutral tones or rich fabrics can evoke a vintage charm, while clean lines and minimalist accents add a contemporary touch. The result is a harmonious balance that invites relaxation and indulgence. CINEAK’s designer sofas embody this perfect combination of comfort and style, allowing homeowners to create a unique and visually appealing home theater, multimedia, or entertainment space.

CINEAK’s dedication to craftsmanship and attention to detail is evident in their selection of premium materials. From luxurious leathers to high-quality fabrics, the choice of upholstery ensures not only visual appeal, but also durability and longevity. This ensures that CINEAK’s designer sofas not only provide immediate comfort, but also stand the test of time. CINEAK

cineak.com/#home
ESSENTIAL HOME CINEMA SUPPLEMENT HOME CINEMA SUPPLEMENT 2023 15 essentialinstall.com @Install_mag /Essentialinstall
Image courtesy of Illusion.es

CUSTOM INSTALLATION SPEAKERS FROM LYNGDORF AUDIO

Steinway Lyngdorf has vast experience in designing home cinemas with the outstanding Steinway & Sons loudspeakers and sound processors, while the Lyngdorf MP-40 and MP-60 2.1 multichannel processors set new benchmarks for surround sound and immersive audio. The unique RoomPerfect room calibration aligns all speakers and woofers perfectly with each other and adapts the sound to any room.

Anker Haldan, CCO, SL Audio A/S, explains, “The Lyngdorf Audio custom installation speakers complement our offering to the CI market in the Lyngdorf Audio range, as we want to become a one-

stop supplier of products for high performing residential sound systems. With this line of CI speakers, we have met the demands from our partners to expand our product portfolio with a flexible range of in-wall and in-ceiling speakers of the same no-compromise quality as our multichannel processors - MP-40 and MP-60 2.1.”

With the LS-1000, D-500, D-60, D-5 and BW-20 models, Lyngdorf Audio brings its expertise in home cinema and loudspeakers to custom installation speakers. Eight models to suit different installations, from a modern living room with in-wall speakers next to the TV up to the largest home theater with a big screen and immersive audio.

THE DISCREET SERIES

The D speakers bring Lyngdorf Audio sound quality to the custom installation speaker market. After the successful introduction of Lyngdorf loudspeakers for modern living rooms, ranging from the MH and FR on-wall speakers and BW

boundary woofers to the CS-1 cabinet speaker, the Lyngdorf D series expands the company’s range with in-wall and in-ceiling speakers for stereo and multichannel installations.

D stands for discreet – all models are designed as installation speakers for discreet in-wall or in-ceiling integration, featuring a wall-fixing mechanism with mounting legs. All models also come with their own loudspeaker enclosure, making system planning and the actual installation as easy as possible, with no after-market backbox or closed wall cavity required. This also ensures that the sound performance is always defined and consistent, depending less on the wall construction and the available space behind the wall. The range is made up of: the D-500 – full-range custom installation in-wall speaker with closed cabinet, D-500 Center – full-range custom installation in-wall center speaker with closed cabinet, D-60 – high-performance custom installation in-wall speaker with closed cabinet, the D-5 – compact and versatile installation in-wall speaker with

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The LS-1000 are made for integrated home cinema projects

closed cabinet, and the D-5 IC – compact and versatile installation in-ceiling speaker with angled, adjustable tweeter and closed cabinet.

LS-1000 FOR LARGE HOME CINEMAS

With its experience in creating speakers for Steinway Lyngdorf reference home theaters, especially the outstanding Steinway & Sons LS models, combined with its experience from the Lyngdorf MH and FR speakers, Lyngdorf engineers have developed the LS-1000 for Lyngdorf Audio systems. Four LS-1000 modules combined create a line source speaker, with each module consisting of four 115mm midrange drivers with light aluminum cones, 25mm voice coils and powerful vented magnets, complemented by eight 1in soft dome tweeters. Four LS-1000 modules combined result in a line array with 16 midrange drivers and 32 tweeters. Depending on the room width, seat layout, speaker position and screen size, three different LS-1000 models have been designed for the best sound dispersion into the room.

Lyngdorf LS-1000 Left has a sound dispersion slightly beaming inwards when placed on the left side, away from the sidewall and towards the listening area.

Lyngdorf LS-1000 Center has the tweeters mounted centered, leading to a wider sound dispersion equal to the left and right. This makes it an ideal choice as center speaker behind an acoustically transparent screen, or even as left and right speakers to achieve the widest possible listening area in a wide room. Lyngdorf LS-1000 Right has a sound dispersion slightly beaming inwards when placed on the right side, away from the sidewall and towards the listening area.

THE LARGEST LYNGDORF BOUNDARY WOOFER

The BW-20 complements the Lyngdorf LS and Discreet custom installation speakers, designed for both stereo and multichannel systems. BW stands for Boundary Woofer – a Lyngdorf approach where a sub- woofer is designed to be placed near the wall boundaries, for

example right in the corner, achieving the best bass impulse response by avoiding delayed bass bouncing back off the walls, instead taking advantage of room acoustics. The BW-20 is the company’s largest BW model, extending the line-up of the compact in-room woofers BW-2 and BW-3.

Two 12in woofers are equipped with vented magnets, double spiders, and aluminum cones, built into a large cabinet volume and a rigid construction. This makes the BW-20 a very capable woofer in any room and system. The woofers are high-excursion designs, reaching an excursion of +/- 20mm and enabling the BW-20 to play the lowest frequencies on a very high-volume level, with a max. SPL of 118dB. The BW-20 is a passive design with an IEC power handling of 700W, allowing users to choose an individual power amplifier for the best system match.

Lyngdorf

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THE PROFESSIONALS!

Nick Fichte, Director of Sales for L-Acoustics Creations, looks at how RP22 brings residential cinema design ever closer to professional audio.

CEDIA’s new RP22 Immersive Audio System Design Recommended Practise document for multi-channel audio room design brings together a number of measurable, datadriven parameters to define performance levels. It’s quite a shake-up in an industry that has applied vague good/better/beststyle benchmarks primarily determined by the depth of the customers pockets and the project size. That price-centric measure of relative performance has its roots in the residential ‘hi-fi’ industry, where often expensive design elements are attributed significant but subjective performance benefits through marketing alone.

Conversely, the professional audio industry has always designed and developed equipment and engineered the sound in venues, from recording studios to stadiums, based on measurable performance data. Bandwidth, SPL, headroom, response, dispersion, audience coverage and so forth are essential elements of any professional set-up, and every piece of the engineering jigsaw has a defined purpose and measurable function.

The RP22 recommendation defines objective performance targets for audio system and room design across all private entertainment spaces, setting a base-line, ‘Reference’ level as

well as two levels below and one above. The document specifies 21 parameters that are predictable at the design and specification stage of the project and measurable at the commissioning and calibration stage, giving rise to a new, data-driven evaluation of performance.

That is a fundamental shift towards a pro-audio working method in home cinema design. The move could easily catch some traditional equipment manufacturers out as they will have to re-engineer for data-driven system design. Conversely, brands with roots in professional audio are be ideally positioned to capitalise on the new recommendation, as their system designs are already built to measurable performance.

THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT

The same metric-led design elements that have contributed to industry-leading pro speakers carry over neatly to pro-derived models that are aimed at the emerging performance-defined residential market.

The line array, now a fixture at every large-scale, concert and festival worldwide, was developed to achieve greater throw, uniform audience coverage, and improved audio clarity across most listening positions. Previously, simply adding more amplifiers and more speakers, resulting in the classic ‘wall of speakers’ look, increased volume and reach, but actually compounded problems of audio intelligibility and directionality.

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A line array comprises several usually identical loudspeaker elements mounted in a line and fed in phase to create a near-perfect line source of sound. The distance between adjacent drivers is close enough that they constructively interfere with each other to project sound further than traditional loudspeakers, with a more evenly distributed horizontal sound output pattern and very little vertical dispersion, reducing reflected energy from ceilings or floors.

In residential cinema rooms with relatively low ceilings and several seating positions around the room, a professional line array makes a lot of sense in achieving the RP22 Reference specification. In the same way that line arrays reduced the physical size of loudspeakers while reaching ever larger audiences, the technology can be scaled down to achieve wider dispersion, longer throw and greater clarity than traditional residential speakers in cabinets that are much smaller and easier to install discretely.

L-Acoustics Creations colinear line source arrays for residential use, Syva and Soka leverage line source with all of its advances in technology into a sleek, compact, plug-andplay loudspeaker design. In the flagship Syva, this configuration incorporates six mediumfrequency and three high-frequency drivers in a J-shaped progressive curvature format, allowing installers to create professional-grade audio in residential and smaller commercial venues. The cabinet is just 144mm wide, 209mm deep and 1,300mm tall and is available in a range of RAL custom colours to match the room’s aesthetic.

The Soka is smaller still, at 99mm wide and deep and just over 1m tall, and is suitable for on-wall or in-wall mounting. The driver configuration incorporates nine 3.5in MF drivers and three 1in HF diaphragms in a colinear configuration that uses the same constructive interference physics of a line array. That delivers the same benefits in terms of high SPL, extended range and wide horizontal yet

narrow vertical dispersion, making it ideal for the core layer of speakers in home cinema rooms.

Coaxial loudspeaker technology, with defined performance metrics such as clarity and audience coverage, is a concept from the professional audio industry that translates well into residential projects. The technology was first developed for recording studios, enabling sound from high and low-frequency drivers to come cohesively from the same point source, with a wide and even dispersion pattern for the most accurate monitoring.

For residential installation, another advantage of the coaxial driver is the reduced baffle size, allowing designers to reduce the overall impact on the décor. Coaxial driver loudspeakers such as L-Acoustics X4i can be incredibly compact but deliver exceptional SPL and clarity. Despite being just 116mm wide, 109mm tall and just 99mm deep, the X4i can deliver up to 110dB maximum SPL across 65Hz to 20kHz. Its wide 110-degree dispersion pattern, high SPL output and small size make it ideally suited to home cinema installations looking to achieve RP22 specification with discreet installation.

MEASUREMENT

CEDIA’s work in this area follows Dolby’s introduction in 2021 of its Home Entertainment Dolby Audio Room Design Tool (HE DARDT). The HE DARDT is a tool built to assist in designing a Dolby Atmos-based entertainment room and contains a library of equipment makes, models and specifications. The user inputs room parameters, speaker layout and mix position and the tool defines best speaker location and shows performance data in terms of dynamic headroom above or below a 110dB SPL target. HE DARTDT is a basic spreadsheetbased tool with a growing library of equipment in its database, but it is a great starting point in system design.

L-Acoustics Soundvision software takes that concept further. Originally developed for professional audio installations but now fully integrated for residential systems, the tool simulates and analyses the acoustic performance of a given space to reveal an accurate simulation of sound propagation as inroom heat maps. This helps integrators optimise loudspeaker placement, coverage, and aiming angles to achieve the desired sound quality and distribution throughout the space.

The software calculates coverage maps, sound pressure levels, frequency response curves, and other essential parameters, allowing integrators to make informed decisions about equipment choice and placement. It can be particularly useful in Atmos and other complex speaker array systems, helping to optimise speaker specification and layout for the best immersive audio experience.

More than just an engineering solution, Soundvision can be a valuable tool in the sales and customer relationship process. It provides visual representations of the predicted sound coverage and performance in the room and generates detailed reports, drawings, and documentation of the designed sound system. This allows integrators to present clients with detailed and easy-to-understand visualisations, helping them to comprehend the proposed system design and make informed decisions about their audio specifications and setup.

You won’t be surprised to know that this is exactly how professional audio design and specification has been undertaken with its customers for decades. From the smallest performance venues to the world’s largest arenas and stadiums – and even to sprawling urban areas such as parade routes - the specification, design, and installation are based on objective requirements, real-life mounting points and defined, measurable performance facts to meet them.

CONCLUSION

For expert installers and integrators, RP22 and the shift in design thinking it brings offers an exceptional opportunity to further professionalism across the industry. Specifying and delivering systems based on objective metrics provides a constant user experience through application and engineering, further separates the profession from retail/DIY installation, and helps reduce competition where another company might offer to undercut the cost.

While installers may have to look long and hard at the brands they specify to achieve these performance targets, those using suppliers that have evolved from the professional audio industry will have an enviable head start. L-Acoustics

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DÉCORCINEMA A NEW ERA IN PROJECT ACQUISITION AND EXECUTION

Where did the inspiration and motivation come from for DécorCinema?

Mike Beatty, Pulse Cinemas MD, explains, “For many years the luxury AV and home cinema industry has struggled with the best way to create a larger market by increasing the awareness and appeal of what we can deliver. It’s a competitive world out there with many luxury items and experiences competing with home cinema, often with a higher profile built over years and with deeper pockets to market their sector. To a great extent the industry has relied on word of mouth and the marketing skills and contacts of installers to build the sector, this has worked well up to a point. However, at Pulse Cinemas we strongly feel that dealers deserve more from manufacturers and distributors and so we created the DécorCinema concept to generate awareness and work directly with the consumer looking for the best in performance and design.

“Right now you can visit the new dedicated website at (decorcinema.co.uk) to a get a feel of how we are targeting consumers, but for more details on how this revolutionary concept will benefit your business, read on and begin a new journey with us into the fantastic world of DécorCinema.”

What exactly is DécorCinema?

DécorCinema is a new consumer facing platform designed to create awareness for and excitement around the world of integrated home cinemas. Bolstered by its own website and further marketing initiatives, the idea is to spread the word on how cinemas can be a fantastic design addition to any home and be completely integrated with an existing living space or installed in an under-used space for a dedicated cinema approach. Pulse Cinemas will leverage our own expertise, contacts and worldclass brands to build a profile for DécorCinema. The concept also includes exclusive access to one of the UK’s top interior design teams who are fully versed in how to merge fantastic aesthetics with home cinema performance. How the cinema will look is just as important to end users as the performance and DécorCinema will ensure that it does, either in an existing living space or by creating a strong design concept for a dedicated home cinema room. Consumers will recognise that DécorCinema represents a complete package that they can purchase and then relax knowing they are going to get everything they wanted from their dream home cinema and their authorised DécorCinema dealer.

Since we launched our DécorCinema concept (decorcinema.co.uk) we have had many dealers asking specific questions on how this new customer facing initiative will work and how it will benefit dealers. Here we present a full account of how this exciting new way to market high-performance fully integrated home cinemas to end users will work.
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What are the DécorCinema Dealer Partners benefits?

For the customer, owning a DécorCinema will carry credibility and an assurance that they will be getting the ultimate sound and picture, combined with the best aesthetics driving sales and awareness.

For the customer, owning a DécorCinema will carry credibility and an assurance that they will be getting the ultimate sound and picture, combined with the best aesthetics driving sales and awareness. The benefits of becoming a Dealer Partner will include use of all Pulse Cinemas facilities for partner events, use of a growing library of communal images for promotional activities created by Pulse Cinemas, as well as support with site/project photography and videos of your completed DécorCinema projects. Dealer Partners will be able to carry the authorised DécorCinema logo within their own marketing. Regular awards will be given to the best completed projects creating more awareness and credibility within the concept for those involved. DécorCinema will become a CEDIA member and Exclusively partner creating more awareness for the brand.

Regular awards will be given to the best completed projects, creating more awareness and credibility within the concept for those involved.

DécorCinema will become a CEDIA member and Exclusively partner creating more awareness for the brand.

Which brands are included in the DécorCinema concept?

We have a clear idea of the brands that fit within the concept; we will be approaching these companies to communicate our goal and vision, requesting that they provide an agreed amount towards marketing the initiative to end users. It’s important to clarify that all contributions received from partners and distributed brands will be used to market DécorCinema to a targeted audience. Funds raised through Dealer Partner and manufacturer fees can be used to develop and support future DécorCinema spaces in businesses such as Minotti London around the UK, if these aren’t charged at cost and it is agreed that the installation should be completed FOC.

Other complimentary brands may be brought into the DécorCinema platform but will only ever include products that guarantee the sound and picture performance criteria are met. Pulse Cinemas may recommend certain products for lighting control etc, but these will not be included in the list to achieve DécorCinema status. Projects created from the DécorCinema website or other marketing avenues will be allocated on a customer location basis with the nearest authorised dealers gaining the work.

Where can customers and installers see DécorCinema demonstrated?

DécorCinema demonstration spaces will include the Reference Cinema, Reception Area and Media Room at Pulse HQ as well as The Minotti London showroom. More spaces will be added as the concept grows and dealers will also have the chance to create their own with support from Pulse Cinemas and associated brands.

What is the criteria for becoming DécorCinema qualified?

The dealer will need to have already shown a willingness to support the supporting DécorCinema brands. The dealer will also need to complete the DécorCinema training programme. In the first year of membership, up to two team members from any installer can attend the new one-day DécorCinema Dealer Partner training course. The course will cover all aspects of cinema installation and execution design around the DécorCinema framework. Ultimately, all DécorCinema installers will need to be able to demonstrate a high level of home cinema design and installation competence. This will be achieved or proven via a mix of training from the DécorCinema programme or other exterior agencies such as ISF and HAA qualifications. In the first year of membership, up to two team members from any installer can attend the new one-day DécorCinema Dealer Partner training course.

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The course will cover all aspects of cinema installation and execution designed around the DécorCinema framework. The training will take place regularly at the excellent training facilities of Pulse Cinemas HQ. It will be only then that authorised status is given. At this point, the dealer will be given a portal page on the website; this can be populated with previously completed projects, certifications, awards and time in the industry etc. The better the portal page, the more chance the dealer will be recognised by the client.

The training course will include;

• Product knowledge assessment

• Technical knowledge of all partner brands

• Cinema design training

• Acoustic training

• Social media masterclass

As always at Pulse Cinemas, fantastic food and drink will be provided to ensure every attendee stays fresh and focused. Any additional members of any company can join the training at a cost of £200 plus VAT per person.

On successful completion of the training, each individual and Dealer Partner will be awarded DécorCinema authorised status.

We are considering a Partner annual subscription fee of £500 plus VAT. All proceeds from the fees will be used in the comprehensive marketing around the concept. We are considering other ways of funding ongoing marketing, and this may include contributions from brands and Pulse Cinemas assigning a certain percentage of turnover from completed system sales.

There will be routes for some or all of this charge to be returned for the most supportive dealers. All Dealer Partners will have to adhere to certain financial criteria, so Pulse Cinemas can guarantee performance and ensure the client’s project is completed with high standards met. We are investigating a possible insurance policy where client’s deposits are protected until the project is complete. We understand this point may be challenging or even impossible, but we want to investigate and do all we can to ensure DécorCinema clients feel in some way protected from this unlikely, but possible event. Dealer Partners can be removed from the group at any time for breaking the rules and will be refunded for any months lost.

How many DécorCinema Dealer Partners Will There be?

There will be no limit to the quantity of authorised Dealer Partners in the UK. Providing the criteria is met, any dealer can join the group and reap the benefits. Our aim is to grow the concept so that dealers up and down the country can tap into the demand created around the DécorCinema concept. Having said that the high-quality approach needed to qualify as a Dealer Partner will naturally limit the number of those in the scheme to a degree.

Can installers create their own DécorCinema demonstration space?

Yes, Dealer Partners can decide to install their own DécorCinema demonstration space in their own premises, creating their own destination that can tap into the awareness created around the concept. Product for these projects will be

sold at demonstration pricing and must be kept for a minimum of one year.

How are DécorCinemas verified?

Any completed DécorCinema will be signed off and calibrated by a Pulse Cinemas representative and only then given DécorCinema status. Following this a full marketing support programme will be accessed which will include presence on the dedicated website and other consumer facing platforms.

THE AMBITION

Mike sums up, “We continue to have the highest ambition for where our sector can go next and the DécorCinema platform is one way of how we plan to get there. We have a clear vision for the incredible things we can achieve if we pool our resources. Focusing on incorporating cinema into existing living spaces continues to be relatively unrecognised when compared to other desirable items. Our aim is to create a desirable cinema brand that high net worth consumers can recognise. We envisage us ultimately growing the market through targeted marketing and exposure; to ensure the finest UK installers are recognised for delivering deserving clients the very highest cinema performance within beautiful living spaces.”

If you want to find out more about becoming an Authorised DécorCinema Dealer Partner contact Mike Beatty by emailing mike@pulsecinemas.com.

22 HOME CINEMA SUPPLEMENT 2023 /Essentialinstall @Install_mag essentialinstall.com ESSENTIAL HOME CINEMA SUPPLEMENT

True Cinema Sound at Home

Cinergy Series

Designed to make every moment of cinema pin-sharp, crystal clear and unforgettable, Cinergy’s versatile design and ground-breaking technologies bring a true cinema experience home.

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VPL-XW5000ES, the world’s most compact native 4K HDR laser projector. Blending effortlessly into today’s living spaces, we’ve designed the VPL-XW5000ES to be even smaller and lighter than its predecessors by developing the all-new native 4K SXRD panel and compact Wide Dynamic Range Optics. The projector is about 30% smaller in volume and about 35% lighter than the VPL-VW790ES, delivering the same high brightness.

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Customers get to step up to bigger, brighter, better-looking entertainment, day and night. Enjoying news, sport and games on our biggest BRAVIA 100in display, then unfurl the projector screen and settle in for an evening’s thrilling movie entertainment with our powerful but compact projectors that deliver brilliant images, with no need for blackout conditions in a dedicated home cinema room.

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Any living space is the perfect place to enjoy immersive visuals on our slim, power-packed 100in BRAVIA display. Customers get to enjoy thrillingly bright, punchy 4K HDR pictures, even in daylight. It’s also the perfect partner for PlayStation 5 (PS5), faithfully reproducing high frame rates up to 120fps in 4K as specified in HDMI 2.1, together with lightning-fast 8.5ms response time for the ultimate next generation gaming console experience.

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BRAVIA FW-100BZ40J, supreme picture quality in our largest screen size. Treat your audience to sumptuously rich, larger-than-life visuals. Beautifully styled to make an impressive statement in boardrooms, showrooms, lobbies and living spaces, this 100in professional display is bursting with the latest Sony picture technologies to deliver unforgettable 4K HDR images.

VPL-XW7000ES, incredibly compact native 4K laser projector. We’ve designed the VPL-XW7000ES to be even smaller and lighter than its predecessors by developing an all-new native 4K SXRD panel and compact Wide Dynamic Range Optics. The projector is around 20% smaller in volume and approximately 30% lighter than the VPL-VW790ES, with ultra-modern styling that’s designed to blend into any room.

VPL-GTZ380, the world’s most advanced compact 4K SXRD 10,000lm laser projector. Our premium flagship VPL-GTZ380 is designed for large home cinemas. Bring real cinema experience home.

Deliver the ultimate home cinema experience in any room. With an exceptional 10,000 lumens of brightness and 100% DCI-P3 wide colour gamut, you can be assured of spectacular brightness and stunning realism, even in well-lit spaces such as living rooms and media rooms.

ESSENTIAL HOME CINEMA SUPPLEMENT 24 HOME CINEMA SUPPLEMENT 2023 /Essentialinstall @Install_mag essentialinstall.com
Sony pro.sony/en_GB/home
On demonstration in the Reference
Atmos
AWE
CI800 Series Diamond In-Wall, Dedication To Sound
Dolby
Cinema at
HQ

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