Persona Perfect Home Cinema

This carefully designed home cinema system underlines the fact that today, any type of living space can be provided with a high-performance experience – as long as those doing the installation have access to the best products around and know how to use them. Happily, this is exactly the case here, as Pulse Cinemas and its installation partners have created a scheme which allows the interior vision and structure to work in harmony with the home cinema system created specifically for this space. This cinema also has some hidden talents, the centre speaker is hidden in the floor and only enters the room via a special lift mechanism when needed. In this fashion, the look of the room is not compromised, but high-performance audio is maintained.

The bare brick construction of the space meant that there were limited possibilities for integrating products into the walls of this stunning contemporary living space.

However, the installation team was able to call on the wide range of Pulse Cinemas ingredients to get the job done. The Paradigm Persona 9H and Persona C speakers are perhaps the best example of this, as these high-performance speakers deliver the front firing audio experience. Not having the option to install speakers in the walls was not a problem aesthetically, as the speakers were chosen in a livery that matches exactly the feel of the room, and they are beautiful objects in their own right. Being the flagship for standalone speakers in the Paradigm family, they also of course deliver the performance required. The Persona C takes integration a step further staying hidden in its specially created flush to the floor cavity until needed. The rest of the audio is rounded out with more Paradigm products, this time of the integrated variety.

The images in this home cinema are delivered by the powerful Sim2 Nero 4S, chosen for its high-quality imaging and ability to cope with rooms of this size. A room with such a strong sense of style also needed a projector that looks almost as good as the images it produces, so the Nero 4S was perfect for this task.

A Screen Research fixed frame deco mask screen (150in) partners the Sim2 projector and, as the name suggests, automatically adjusts to whatever screen format the content the family want to watch is presented in: 16:9 for sport broadcast over a cable or satellite service, or 2.35:1 for the full on movie experience delivered by the room’s Kaleidescape 4K Encore system, which offers a whole world of fantastic film entertainment possibilities.

Delivering all the power and control needed in this space is an Anthem AVM70 processor and MCA325 amplifiers from the same brand. This room, with all of its hard surfaces, presented a real challenge in getting the audio sounding right, so a full complement of Vicoustic absorption, diffusion and bass management treatment were used. Without compromising the look of the space, the team are able to ‘tune’ the room so the family get to enjoy high-quality audio no matter what their pleasure is, whether it’s a full on movie night or just relaxing listening to some music.

An RTI automation and AV control system is also employed within the room to ensure control over the home cinema system is bespoke and very easy to use. The brand’s APEX programming software means the interfaces that the users see when picking what they want to do can be completely personalised to them. Lighting is of course hugely important in a space like this, and controlling the feel and look of the room whether in rest or full on AV mode, is a Lutron Homeworks QS intelligent lighting. This system reacts automatically to adjust to whatever the family are doing and can also be controlled directly by anyone using the RTI system as well.

This clever design also gives the feeling of more space by creating 'windows' which are actually back-lit panels hinting at an exterior which is not really there. The lighting in the panels also reacts when the cinema comes to life, lowering their intensity and adding more atmosphere and drama as window treatments move into position to cover them. The windows higher up the space are real and are also covered with blinds via the automation system as the cinema comes to life.

To ensure a strong network is maintained within the system, a Pulse Eight video matrix is employed to project the signal integrity of whatever is taking place in the room.

The seating in this home cinema is particularly special with the two rows of Fortress Seating Premium leather Odeon Cinema Seats matching perfectly the interior scheme and delivering maximum comfort too.

This design is a perfect example of a modern home cinema system working with its environment and ensuring that no matter where the customer chooses to call home, they can have a world-class entertainment experience.