CEDIA Review of Northwood Home Cinema

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THE PRESTIGE TREATMENT

30th March, 2011

This month's installation comes from Prestige Audio for its Northwood Home Cinema, a finalist in this year's CEDIA Awards.

This fully functional solution, designed for the whole family, set out to achieve a level of performance greater than that of the local cinema whilst remaining highly focused on the importance - without compromising performance, of design aesthetics.

The brief was to create a space where family and friends could enjoy an experience greater than that of the local multiplex. The system operation had to be intuitive to accommodate young and old, with one system controlling every function of the room. Most importantly the client wanted to enjoy the space at any time without fear of disturbing neighbours or other family members in the house.

The style of the room had to be every bit as impressive as the cinematic performance. Although not a case of form over function, equal consideration to both was the aim.

Concerns over noise pollution and how the aesthetics of the room might affect the acoustics, resulted in Prestige not only being responsible for the design and installation of the cinema system, but also the soundproofing and interior design of the room itself. This included initial specification and sourcing of materials, the creation of conceptual drawings and working practices, right through to installation and project completion.

All functions of the room are controlled via a Crestron TPS – 6x. Lighting scenes, AC and cinema functions (Sky, Kaleidescape, Blu Ray) are laid out in a simple design for intuitive use (as per the clients brief).

To ensure cinematic performance, HD-projection is via a Runco VX-3000 projector with cinewide lens, coupled to a 120" Flat-masking screen. The flat-masking screen was essential as the client watches predominately "Bollywood" productions which are currently in 16:9, but increasingly arriving in other aspects. The sound quality is ensured through the Procella speakers and subwoofers which are powered admirably by Sherbourn amplification. Both picture and sound were then ISF calibrated.

Finally, additional cables and fibre has been run throughout to future-proof the design.

The client was extremely happy with the results. Prestige Audio were informed that the client spent the majority of last Christmas in there and the Kaleidescape memory is already full and currently being expanded! With the client's long working hours the system is often used late at night, the client was happy his less than perfect sleeping-habits have not disturbed other family members thanks to the sound-proofing and acoustic treatments - a result that he aimed for and specified, but later revealed he did not expect us to achieve quite so well. The client has commented on how easy the system is to use, allowing guests to use the system with only basic instruction, with the picture and sound quality being better than they thought possible within the home.

This review was taken from the official CEDIA website, found here.