Demonstration Room

The following is reprinted from Custom Installer Magazine, January 2003 issue.

CUSTOM INSTALLER is the number one trade magazine in custom installation. Contact Diva Corporation on 01480 469253

AWE Europe – A demonstration of success.

  What makes a good home entertainment system? AWE Europe sure knows because when we visited them back in September they were in the final stages of completing a new demo room, and it was so good we thought we should share it with you!

Stuart Tickle, AWE’s Marketing Director gives you the details:

There are many distributors for AV installation companies to choose from, so when we set up our demo room we wanted to show what makes AWE different. The key is that we understand, specify and supply not just boxes, but full AV solutions from the main home cinema & lighting system, to the remote, cables and interconnects. So, instead of having a line-up of as many products as possible we set up a complete home entertainment system, the sort that any one with a bit of disposable income wants…even if they don’t know it yet!  

A decent system is not just about the size of screen or how loud it goes, it starts with the impression you get the moment you walk into the room. Some clients literately want a “Home Cinema”, many want a multi purpose room integrated with an entertainment system, and others want the performance but from a virtually invisible system. These points with other considerations like ease of use and how units will integrate together (let alone how well the client will integrate with their other half once it’s installed!) are all important points, which is why it is so beneficial to have knowledge of a wide range of products.

Of course, once everyone has got their drink and snacks, sat down and dimmed the lights, then it comes down to system performance. A system should involve you in the music, movie, game or whatever it is you are doing. It should have a clarity that can make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, but still deliver trousers flapping impact when required! This is how we achieved ours…

The allocated room was an office of 4m x 6m. Like most rooms there were various installation “challenges” to overcome – large windows spanned one of the end walls, a door was on a side wall and another door and window on the other. This left one clear end wall enabling a screen to be centrally located with enough room for speakers either side.

We needed to create a multi functional room – one which could be used for demonstrations or client meetings as required. The overall look was to be contrasting to the bright, magnolia walled offices, so a softer, warmer atmosphere was to be created. A deep “Purple Musk” colour was chosen for the walls which complimented the deep blue carpet nicely. Sounds vile (!) but actually looks great and gives a slightly cinema like feel.

All the fluorescent lighting was removed and replaced with 20 low voltage halogen down-lights on a 4 channel dimmer system. The dimmer system is manufactured by in the UK and has been marketed in the commercial market for many years. This version is optimised for consumer use and will be launched and exclusively distributed by AWE into the custom installation trade very soon.

A Sky dish with Terrestrial TV and FM aerials were erected outside on a 2.5m mast to clear the roof line, and their feeds were run directly into the room. Also installed were a couple of Cat 5 network points back to our comms room for future integration with the PC network and phone system.  

It was decided early on that the system would meet the latest THX Ultra 2 specification which gives superb performance with both movies and multi channel audio. Europe’s first speaker package to meet the Ultra 2 spec is Jamo’s award winning D7 system. The slim, wall mounted loudspeakers are superb quality and produce a sound that defies their size, plus the matching 15”, 400 watt active subs help a little too!

Once on the wall, the loudspeakers are just slightly deeper than an average plasma on a wall bracket. This meant that we could build a false wall to fit around the front speakers, whilst slightly recessing a 50” plasma screen, enabling a hidden 6 ft wide projector screen to motor down in front when required. The false wall is constructed out of a chunky timber framework and is faced with 25mm MDF. This then had a foam backed carpet stuck and pinned to it giving a good finish that also helps deaden any potential resonance’s. The electric projection screen is housed in a plinth mounted to the wall at ceiling level and is constructed and finished in the same way. All the main system cables are completely hidden by the false wall, yet easily accessible should they need changing in the future.

There are four surround speakers in a full THX Ultra 2 system. Two are centrally positioned on the back wall creating a “Centre Back” channel, and the bi-polar “Surround” speakers should be located on the side walls to the left and right of the main seating area. One of those “challenges” is that we had a 1m x 1m window on the right wall, smack bang where we wanted a speaker. We were not prepared to compromise this speaker position but didn’t need the additional light, so we covered the window over entirely! First the window was sealed, then covered with a coloured plastic film to give a good finish from the outside. Then we created a timber frame inside the existing recess and sandwiched insulating material into the void with another trusty sheet of MDF, whilst also remembering to pull the speaker cable through! The result achieves the goal, looks like original wall, and even creates a nice feature in itself. It was decided to position the ‘Centre Back’ speakers on their matching stands to avoid obscuring the main windows.

The question of plasma TV or plasma monitor is a much argued point. Many say that with Sky, a VCR and an AV amp you only need a plasma monitor without TV tuner etc. In some instances this is indeed true, but you often get far greater benefits using a plasma supplied with TV tuner box than first may appear. It’s all about connectivity and ease of use. In a typical system both Sky and DVD will be the main viewing sources, so naturally you want the best quality connection for these. However, most plasma monitors only have one RGB or Component video in and are usually via BNC connections requiring a special active Scart to BNC lead. Plasma TV’s that are supplied with a tuner box have more comprehensive inputs and connect like a normal top end TV. With the Pioneer we chose, you can get a direct Scart RGB signal from SKY, plus a direct RGB or Component link from your DVD, a third Composite/S Video switched signal from your amp, and still have 2 spare inputs including true XGA from a PC! All these cables along with the terrestrial Co-Axial aerial connection go to the media box, which in turn connects to the screen with a single (digital) DVI cable. At the end of the day, it connects and operates like a conventional TV with a standard remote when required, but is also one of the best quality monitors available.

There are many types of projector and each have their own advantages. Considerations include more than pure ansi lumens (brightness) and include overall picture quality, contrast, light leakage and running noise. We also wanted a unit with good dealer margins and so selected a Yamaha DLP projector whose focus is on quality home cinema, but also performs extremely well with data. The matching ceiling mount is excellent quality and was used to suspend the unit flush with the ceiling, fixings being made the other side of the suspended ceiling onto a solid framework. Cables were then run for a component video feed direct from the DVD player and a switched s-video signal from the AV Amplifier.

The amplifier is the heart of the system and the latest THX Ultra 2 certified amp from Pioneer is one of the best performing amps available. Anyone who sets up systems will be familiar with the procedure of configuring speaker size, delays, positions and alike. This amp has an automatic calibration system where all you have to do is place the supplied omni-directional microphone in the main listening position and tell it to auto set up! It then emits various timed pulses of sound and measures room acoustics, speaker characteristics, distance and sound pressure levels, then neutralises any timbre and level variations for each channel automatically! This makes the highest class, professional-level calibration easily achievable assuring the most is got out of the system in every installation.

You could partner the amp with any quality DVD player, but we selected the Pioneer DV-757Ai as both have the new industry standard i-link connection. This single digital interconnect replaces the conventional optical or co-axial digital cable and the 6 analogue multi-channel audio cables (used for DVD-A etc) and gives a host of benefits (See box).

The whole system including lighting, the electric screen and the rooms air conditioning can all be operated from a Philips Pronto Pro touch screen remote control. All devices are listed individually but the Macro facility can automate any sequence of operations making many procedures a one touch operation.

All the room then needed was the finishing touches of some comfortable chairs, heavy curtains (which will eventually be made electrically operated), a low level table and various plants and pictures that make up the overall impression of the room. Simple really!

AWE invites trade clients wishing to visit their offices and see the demo room to contact them on:

Tel 01372 729 777     av-sales@awe-europe.co.uk      www.awe-europe.co.uk

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