Cinema Architects have updated its South African experience centre with Genelec.
The new experience centre features two home cinema rooms; one measuring just 5.7m by 4.2m, and a larger room, measuring 7.5m by 4.5m with a 3 m ceiling height, each room features two rows of seats with their own ottoman. Cinema Architects have installed an acoustic board on the ceiling punctuated by different size apertures, above this can be found acoustic treatment of various thicknesses depending on the reflection point. The effect is further enhanced with fading fibre optic starlights, while two large floating golden discs suspended from the ceiling complete the look.
ON deciding on the best audio option, Mauricio Tavares, sales and marketing director of Cinema Archietcts, said: Acoustically, we knew it had to be Genelec! Our successes with Genelec over the last ten years, including winning World’s Best Home Cinema in 2021, have given us great confidence in the brand. We appreciate their active design which simplifies installation, their elegant aesthetic and of course their superlative, transparent sound quality."
In the larger room Cinema Architects opted for a 7.2.4 immersive Dolby Atmos loudspeaker system with three slimline 1238DF three-way smart active studio loudspeakers acting as the main LCR, concealed behind the 4 m micro-perforated screen. These are supplemented by four AIW25 in-wall models in the surround positions, with four AIC25 in-ceiling models handling the height channels. A pair of 7370 12-inch smart active subwoofers placed beneath the screen complete the system. A DreamVision 8k laser projector handles video, paired with a NAD 778 AV receiver for the Dolby processing. Clients can also compare image quality from a variety of sources including a 4k Apple TV, a Pnasonic Blu-Ray player and a Zappiti media player.
Taveres described the smaller demo room, saying: "Instead of a traditional projector, we chose the Samsung110-in Micro LED screen – arguably the best picture quality available today.". As loudspeakers cannot be hidden behind the screen, Cinema Architects installed a TV cabinet below the screen to house the LCR loudspeakers.
"The audio had to match the picture quality," he continues. "We specifically did not want substantial obtrusive speakers. Instead, we were looking for very detailed audio with quality taking precedence over SPL. Consequently, for LCR, we opted for the 8331 three-way coaxial models from the ‘The Ones’ series. Low end comes from a single 7360 subwoofer; with a room this size, we know a single 7360 suffices without compromise. For rear and surround speakers, we opted for a pair each of the compact 8320 smart active loudspeakers for a 7.1 configuration.”