High End AV - UK Style! - Page 2

Well I am Scottish but I'm no Mason! Some more information to move the thread forward once again....

This close up shows the speaker platforms behind the baffle wall. Space and time contraints meant that we stuck with a single layer of 15mm plasterboard for the baffle and did not fill the cavity completely. When time allows we will increase this to two or even three sheets and stuff the cavity more fully. The measured results show the baffle is working quite well as is but I know we can do better!

The next step was to line the baffle wall with absorbing material. Again due to space constraints we went with a relatively shallow acoustic foam called Fireseal Acoustic Foam. This was a good product to work with for this application since it is sticky backed as well!

We use the foam to mop up high frequency reflections from the AT screen which can cause some odd effects. The foam works very well for this purpose.

Here is a shot I forgot to post earlier showing the spaghetti before it was all dressed for the racks. Just to be clear - everything was labelled properly for easy identification! It is pretty astonishing how much cable was needed for such a relatively simple setup when compared with most homes. This is just the AV wiring, the 24 light circuits are located in another part of the build.

With the baffle wall complete it was time to install our subs and LCR speakers.

The speakers are the PRO Audio SRCRS-12sm which are specificaly designed as high output home cinema speakers. The woofers have a sensitivity of 93dB and are driven by 450W and the horn tweeters are 113dB sensitive with 250W driving them. These will deliver reference level (105dB) at our 4m seating distance.

These speakers have an insanely flat frequency response right across their range thanks to the use of very powerful DSP in the amps themselves. The have a calibrated half space response of about +- 1/3rd of a dB!!!

The subs are also PRO Audio, the LFC-15sm. 1000W amps + 96dB sensitivity = slam!

Next step in the cinema was to get the acoustic treatment installed. As we are the UK distributors for CinemaTech seating and acoustics products it was a pretty obvious choice!

The CinemaTech Acoustic Room System or ARS is a pretty unique acoustic solution given that it is only 32mm deep but remains effective down below 100Hz. This compares with 20cm or more for similarly performing traditional treatments.

To achieve this amazing performance the material must be installed on every square inch of wall surface which means that it is not the cheapest option! Installed value in our room is around £16500+VAT.

One point to note is that ARS was developed by Owens Corning who are a massive player in the insulation and building materials market. Many millions of R&D went in to creating the product - it is the real deal.

Stage 1 - The fabric tracking goes on to support the installation of stretched fabric over the panels.

Stage 2 is the installation of the panels.



If you look closely you will note the presence of three finishes in there.

1. The diffuser which can be seen towards the back of the room
2. The LF absorber panels which have the black dots on them (actually black spray paint over the countersunk screws)
3. The MF HF absorber panels in the first reflection points and around the surround speakers.

You will notice that one of the big advantages of our horns is the controlled horizontal and vertical dispersion. You will see that we only needed a small area of first reflection treatment on the sidewall to mop up those issues.