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Home Theater Design Showcase Far Hills, Somerset County, NJ.

Bravo AV was engaged to upgrade an existing home theater space for the new owner of a beautiful Far Hills home.

The Challenge

The homeowner wished to create a high-performance home theater for himself and his family. Recently retired, he wanted a dedicated space where he and his family could gather and have fun. The bar and never-ending supply of treats made that easy. The upgrade seemed straightforward, as the room had risers for three rows of seats already built and a closet with room for all the gear. The owner wanted the biggest screen he could fit into the space.

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Bravo AV Solution

Bravo AV is committed to delivering the optimal solution for every project. The previous homeowner left behind the speakers but had removed all the electronics. BRAVO AV estimated the previous theater was more than 15 years old.


Video

On the video side, BRAVO AV maximized the screen size to 128 inches in a 16:9 aspect ratio. This yielded a dramatic presentation improvement versus the older, smaller screen. But there was a catch. The room did not have a lot of height to play with. Even reducing the size of the crown molding and moving the screen up as much as possible would not provide proper sight lines for people sitting in all three rows. The only solution was to rebuild the risers. The general contractor demoed the entire room so the new walls would tie into the new risers. It was a lot of work for the contractor, but the owner loved the result.


Audio

On the audio side, BRAVO AV executed several improvements:

· Migrated from a traditional surround-sound speaker configuration to an Atmos configuration.

· Relocated the Left, Center and Right (LCR) speakers behind an acoustically transparent screen. This move delivered the biggest design improvement for the audio presentation in that, previously, the LCR speakers were below the screen.

· Upgraded the speaker system to Meridian with JL subwoofers.

· Combined a Storm AV processor with Meridian 271 DSP processor to drive the active Meridian speakers.

· Installed a computer-designed acoustical treatment solution in the room. This maximized the 5 key factors of intra-room acoustic performance as outlined below:


1. Clarity

Clarity is the prime acoustic goal because its perfection depends on the successful attainment of all other goals. Of paramount importance are dialogue intelligibility in movies and music lyrics and the ability to detect quiet background details. Various elements affect this goal.They include equipment quality, room reverberation levels, ambient noise levels, and listener position, among others.


2. Focus

Acoustical focus is the ability to precisely locate each reproduced sonic cue or image in a three-dimensional space. Recordings contain many such images superimposed side to side, front to back, and floor to ceiling, for 360 degrees around the listener. A system is said to have pinpoint focus if, from the listener’s perspective, each of these images is properly sized, precisely located, and stable. Good focus also means that individual images are easily distinguishable from others within the limits of the recording’s quality.


3. Envelopment

An audio system should reproduce virtual images of each recorded sound for the listener in a three-dimensional space producing a wraparound soundstage that envelops the listener. Proper envelopment requires that the sound stage be seamless for 360 degrees without interference caused by holes or hot spots due to speaker-level imbalance or poor speaker placements.


4. Dynamics

Dynamics is the difference between the softest and loudest sounds reproduced by a sound system. While much emphasis is sometimes placed on high volume, the audibility of the softest sound is equally important to the quality of the system’s performance.

The acoustic requirements for proper envelopment, focus, and clarity are necessary for hearing the sonic cues relating these qualities. If these are overwhelmed by excessive ambient noise or reverberations in a room, they will not be properly audible. At a minimum, a system must be capable of reproducing loud passages with ease while soft sounds remain easily audible.


5. Response

A system’s frequency response is a measure of the relative levels of all reproduced audio frequencies. The response’s smoothness can be observed in a variety of ways, including booming bass, excessive treble, improper musical timbre, or a general lack of realism. It is important to select high quality components and proper system setup including the placement of listening and speaker positions, and the correct use of equalization. The system must also be non-fatiguing at all sound levels, so it is both articulate and faithful to the original sound.


The Look

Sophisticated and fun.

The Result

Bravo AV delivered a premium home theater experience: cinema-quality video with critical music listening capability and a clean, classic aesthetic. Every seat is sure to please with excellent sight lines to the screen. The homeowner is beyond pleased with their new space—a haven for relaxation, reconnection, and recreation for the family.

Bravo AV delivered a premium home theater experience: cinema-quality video with critical music listening capability and a clean, classic aesthetic. Every seat is sure to please with excellent sight lines to the screen. The homeowner is beyond pleased with their new space—a haven for relaxation, reconnection, and recreation for the family.
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The Details

Projector and Screen

1 Sony VPL VW695ES Sony SXRD Projector

1 SI Woven 128" Diagonal 16:9 Acoustically Transparent Fixed Screen with1/2" Screen Bezel.

Because the screen is acoustically transparent, the LCR (Left/Center/Right Channel) speakers can be placed behind the screen—a big deal, sonically.


Core Electronics

Processor:

Storm ISP 32 AES ELITE is a 32-channel preamp/processor. Digital AES Edition preamp/processor is targeted for high-profile installs that require digital interface external processor, amplifiers, or speakers.

Fast facts:

- Surround decoding: Dolby Atmos / DTS:X / Auro-3D
- Room Correction: Dirac® Live 2.0
- HDMI Video Switching: (7) Inputs + (2) outputs (HDMI 2.0 / HDCP 2.2)

1 Meridian 271 DSP processor. This processor feeds the Meridian speakers.


Speaker Package

Left, Center and Right Speakers: 3 Meridian DSP640.2 In-Wall Loudspeaker.

Side & rear surround speakers: 4 Meridian DSP320.2 In-Wall Loudspeaker.

Ceiling Speakers: 4 Meridian DSP320.2 In-Wall Loudspeaker.

Subwoofers: Two Fathom In-Wall Subwoofers. All our theater designs have at least two subwoofers.


Amplification

Builtinto the Meridian Speakers themselves


Sources:

1 Cable box

1 Apple TV

1 Sony 4K Blu-ray player.

1 Sonos Connect unamplified music streaming zone player

For additional resources, please visit our website’s Knowledge Center. Here, you will find dozens of articles relating to Bravo AV’s services. Additionally, you can check out our photo gallery to explore our previous work at https://www.bravoav.com/home-theater-new-jersey Bravo AV is proud to be an HTA (Home Technology Association) Certified Installation Firm and professional A/V experts. Tom Curnin, the owner of Bravo AV, is a CEDIA Professional Designer, a certified THX Level 1 home theater professional, and a member of the Home Acoustic Alliance trained to Level II. You can contact Tom directly at (908) 953-0555 or through email at

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