Our team was commissioned to design and install a state-of-the-art private home cinema for a client who demanded the very best in audiovisual performance. The new home cinema was to form part of an extensive renovation to this exceptional London home. This project post explores the Meridian Audio home cinema. The home was being lovingly refurbished, to provide a London base for the client’s family. With meticulous planning, and an unrelenting eye for detail, the client and his team were focused on creating an elegant and lavish home, with all the modern benefits of the very best in home electronics. Imagine This was chosen to provide the design and installation for the entire integrated home, and for the high-performance immersive home cinema room. The primary goal was to create an immersive, luxurious experience that surpasses the audio and visual quality of commercial cinemas. After careful consideration, Meridian Audio was selected as the speaker brand for this project, due to their reputation for delivering outstanding audio quality and innovative engineering.
The client’s key requirements included:
Given the client’s requirements, the decision to use Meridian Audio loudspeakers was clear. Known for their DSP (Digital Signal Processing) technology and active loudspeaker designs, Meridian speakers offer supreme accuracy and performance. The selected system components included:
The installation was carried out in close collaboration with the client’s interior designer, cabinet maker and building contractor. Our team carefully specified the components, including the speakers, projector, and acoustic treatments, to ensure that the technology complemented the aesthetics of the room, whilst not compromising on the technical performance. The project required detailed calibration of the audio and video systems. Meridian Audio built-in DSP and Trinnov’s Optimiser technology allowed our team to achieve an exceptional soundstage and immersive surround sound experience. Every detail, from the placement of the seating to the speaker axes, was meticulously planned to create an exceptional experience for all listeners.
This home cinema space embodies comfort and sophistication, centred around an unusually constructed sunken seating area, thoughtfully designed to immerse viewers in a luxurious and intimate environment. The room embodies exceptional aesthetics and, with our careful design and installation, provides an equally outstanding audio and visual performance. Providing an unsurpassed technical performance was of the highest priority, so meticulous attention was paid to the challenges of the sunken seating position. The technical design addresses the unusual requirements of the viewing position, using the correct placement of speakers, the clever use of acoustic materials and precise video calibration. The rear Meridian Audio loudspeakers were cleverly integrated into the room by being housed in custom-made tables, positioned behind the seating area. The bespoke tables were specifically designed to conceal the speakers, allowing sound to project freely, while maintaining the room's sleek aesthetic. To avoid unwelcome resonance or vibrations, we used dampening materials to isolate the speakers from the tables. This ensures that the audio remains distortion-free, whilst maintaining the room's luxury aesthetic and ensuring the speakers blend seamlessly and imperceptibly into the décor.
The interior designer envisioned LED-lit artwork as a key feature in the room’s decor, adding unique visual interest. However, this posed challenges for the video image, as the brightness and reflections from the artwork could interfere with the optimal viewing experience. To overcome this, we integrated the artwork LED with the Lutron lighting control system, giving us complete control over the fixture. By doing so, the artwork’s illumination can be automatically turned off during movie playback, ensuring that the video image remains crisp and free from glare. This integration allowed the designer’s vision to be preserved without compromising the technical quality of the home cinema.
For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake. Alfred Hitchcock
The Meridian Audio speakers deliver crisp, clear dialogue, and a powerful, balanced low end, fully immersing the audience in music and movie soundtracks. The surround and height channels provide the enveloping sensation the client desired, making them feel as though they are truly in the middle of the action. Imagine This’ Michael Forrest said, "This home cinema project truly exemplifies the pinnacle of immersive entertainment. With Meridian Audio speakers delivering dynamic sound, the Trinnov processor providing unparalleled audio precision, and a Barco projector bringing stunning visual clarity, we've created an experience that transports viewers right into the heart of the action. It's the perfect harmony of cutting-edge technology and expert design, turning a home into a world-class cinematic destination."
This exceptional project showcases how Meridian Audio speakers can be the cornerstone of a luxury home cinema installation. The combination of Meridian’s cutting-edge technology, our expert system design, and careful installation resulted in a cinema that not only meets but exceeds the client’s requirements for both performance and aesthetics. This project stands as a testament to what is possible when the highest standards in audio engineering, system design and expert installation come together.
For further reading, here is an article on home cinema costs, this one discusses finding a home cinema installer and here is an article that discusses the size of potential home cinemas.