“Modern Comfort” was a change of pace from our recent string of dedicated […]
Four Corners Cinema is a residential project that illustrates entertainment and technology solutions at home, […]
Colors The client for Rose Hill wanted a striking color scheme, but also wanted a […]
Layton Cinema was a wonderful project to work on. The client did all the trim […]
“Modern Comfort” was a change of pace from our recent string of dedicated theater spaces. This multipurpose room was designed to be modern with a comfortable rustic air. Design parameters included the use of the space for dance parties with grand-kids, high fidelity sound for the client who is himself a musician, as well as being easy to use for his wife and family all within a budget. We specified Triad In-Wall Silver speakers with custom paint match to blend seamlessly with the décor as well as 2 18” Ficar Audio Infinite Baffle Sub-woofers to match the level of the Triads. We used an echo dot and programmed “Alexa” for voice control of the whole system which includes the added benefit of being easily expandable for whole home control later.
We were grateful to have been involved from the planning stages of this home build. Off the bat we identified 3 possible locations for the infinite baffle subwoofer manifold that didn’t involve reducing floor space and passed on aesthetics. Two of those locations would have required the use of the attic space which can be hard on subs in the frigid Logan Utah winters, so we turned to the final location in the corner behind the wood stove knowing that this location would excite a large amount of room modes giving an increase in output at the expense of having a more irregular frequency response and would likely require us to apply additional equalization. The adjacent space was a staircase with an open ceiling. All we had to do was build out the space above the stairs to provide the airspace for the subs, build/install the manifold, install the drivers, and place the return and we were set. With the return air vent cover it looks like it was meant to be.
Initial sub-woofer measurement sweeps revealed a relatively flat (all things considered) response at the primary listening location. In this case calibration was to be measured and applied to only the primary listening position instead of across multiple locations to give the client the opportunity to do critical listening. A few shallow filters later we had a achieved a satisfying curve that exceeded expectations.
The entryway coat closet doubles as the equipment closet. Excessive heat built up became apparent during setup and the owner consented to having a vent register placed above the door for some passive cooling which ended up semi-active once the Inuke NU6000DSP amplifer was situated with its front fans blowing toward the vent pushing warm air out and pulling fresh air in under the door. This turned out to be surprisingly effective, resulting very little detectable heat buildup. The client opted for blocks under the receiver to ensure it stays well ventilated and cool even under the most demanding loads.
Four Corners Cinema is a residential project that illustrates entertainment and technology solutions at home, and is our primary showroom facility. You will experience our breathtaking expertly engineered acoustics adding to the depth and breadth of sound making for an impactful, completely immersive Cinema Experience. You will see tastefully designed lighting accenting a custom proscenium, hand crafted columns, ceiling features, and fabric wall panels. You will appreciate the simple control system fully integrating lighting and electronics making life easy for the whole family.
A basic sketch of the theater was made to ensure that primary elements would work well aesthetically and dimensionally. An airspace behind the screen was planned for a set of 18″ subs.
Double stud outside wall and staggered stud inside wall framing was used to decouple the room. Double drywall and green glue was used to further raise the estimated Sound Transmission Coefficient (STC) over 70 (it doesn’t get much better!). Eclipse Electric did a fantastic job getting the wiring just right for all of the specialty lighting in the room.
The proscenium was one of the most interesting elements to design and build with beautiful swooping steps and pleasing curves.
The soffit subwoofers had to be strong, light and resonance free. With these mutually exclusive goals in mind we knew we had to find a good compromise between strength and weight and resonance. Advanced bracing was the key. We needed bracing that would essentially break the box into smaller panels with resonant frequencies outside of the range of the subwoofer. We also had harmonic resonances to deal with. Harmonics are factors of the frequency of the note playing, and can cover a very large range of the audible spectrum. The solution: bracing the boxes at uneven intervals and in differing horizontal and vertical directions in effect splitting the box into smaller resonating panels with dimensions that were not factors of each other. After factoring in the added weight of the finish materials to the outside of the enclosure we were confident the enclosure would be free of major resonances and it was time to build.
Once the first template of each type of brace (single hole, two hole, and 6 hole) was made we used a pattern bit on the router table to make the rest.
We ended up with a ton of “doughnut holes” from the bracing.
Our team did a great job!
The riser was initially specified to incorporate a set of 18’s in a manifold similar to the Rose hill theater, but the port hole coming up out of the riser would have been too large for a grill cover to effectively support a chair over the span, so we moved the subs to the ends of the riser. This brought with it a whole new set of problems. Now we had to design stringers that would connect the two subs effectively enough for the mechanical forces to cancel out without. A 2 x 10 top and bottom stringer was tasked with the job but cut off the airspace, so almost 100 2″ Holes were optimally placed to connect the airspace.
The top side framing completed and filled with insulation.
Stair treads screwed in place.
In house team manufacturing a custom 1 1/2″ thick grill cover capable of supporting the weight of a chair and person.
The custom columns were manufactured in-house.
The custom projector window (no glass) turned out perfect!
Most of the lighting in the showroom is indirect lending an airy ambiance to this darker room. Just under 150′ of LED rope lighting, 12 LED puck lights and 4 Design House 514604 Monroe sconce lights were used.
Once the carpet was in we installed the: speakers (LCR’s, surrounds, heights and subs) , sound absorption, custom removable fabric panels, front magnetic subwoofer cover, magnetic projector cover, vent grills and Seymour Screen. The Fabric panels brightened up the room to the point that when the lights are at full the room is sufficiently light but not overly bright. We ended up extremely lucky on the fit of the cloth. The directional cloth was 54″ wide and our panels we just outside of that. Luckily the fabric has about 5% stretch and we were able to get the additional inches we needed to securely mount the fabric.
Processing duties are handled by a Yamaha Aventage RX-2070 receiver. YPAO auto calibration did surprising well with initial settings. After professional calibration was added the soundstage expanded, dialogue tightened up and the bass smoothed. The wall panels slightly attenuated the highs of the side surrounds which was only partially corrected to keep those seated directly beside the speaker comfortable without beaming highs going directly into their ear, yet still have sound carry to the rest of the viewers.
You will be surprised by how natural this room sounds. As you move around the room it becomes apparent that the response is extremely even. It is difficult to identify a single spot that has significant peaks or nulls, and due to the placement of the seating is even harder to find a seat that is off.
The picture quality is simply stunning!
The client for Rose Hill wanted a striking color scheme, but also wanted a flawless high contrast screen. His high school colors were red and gold, providing colors for accent and trim. The decision to use black as the final color was landed to retain good picture contrast, and consequently made the colors pop even more!
Unique Acoustics
Rose Hill was a unique acoustic puzzle. Room limitations eliminated the possibility of soffit subwoofers, but the client still wanted limitless bass. The volume of the room was relatively small with a footprint of 11′ x 17′ so our acoustics engineer specified 4 15″ IB subwoofers. If placed correctly they could provide earth shaking bass in a room that size. Due to the inaccessibility of four corner soffit subs we elected to do symmetrical front and rear subs. In the front we had a storage room that worked nicely for a 2 sub manifold. We even were able to tuck the manifold directly underneath the bottom shelf without having to relocate a thing. The rear was a simple matter of adjusting the size of the planned riser to allow for the incorporation of 15″ subs, after that we were set. We installed the three LCR’s behind an acoustically transparent screen and dipole surrounds were chosen and mounted high to avoid speaker hotspots due to the close proximity of the surround speakers to the listener.
The bottom and sides of the soffits were framed and wrapped in cloth at the shop, transported to the site, filled with dense acoustic insulation and installed in a modular fashion. The soffits were implemented as extremely effective bass traps. If you haven’t ever heard of a bass trap their primary purpose is to absorb bass waves so you have fewer room interactions with the bass. They are most effective when placed in corners as that is where you can intercept bass waves from multiple dimensions. The overall effect is to keep the bass waves from bumping into each other causing peaks and nulls around the room. They did their job extremely well and even before calibration we had one of the smoothest bass responses we have ever seen.
In designing this theater we realized that there was no way of achieving a proper level of sound absorption without moving or removing the sconce lighting. The only way to have both was to mount the light on the acoustic panel. Rapture went to great lengths to source the rigid/ fire rated acoustic panels and cloth for the wall panels in order to direct mount the sconces, meet electrical and fire codes, and still achieve an appropriate amount of absorption .
A remote nook was added to provide a place for the remote/ i-pad to dock and charge, providing a visually appealing place to store room control out of the way.
Layton Cinema was a wonderful project to work on. The client did all the trim and painted the beautiful glaze finish himself, and is a talented man. It was a pleasure to work alongside him.
The front wall was designed from the start to be framed out in order to accommodate a pair of 18″ subs in the front wall. The corner location was determined to work best for the primary listening position, with the possibility of adding more down the road.
A wonderful riser was added to give the back row a better view. The homeowner is arranging to have a bar and kitchenette behind for the ultimate party space.
What makes Layton Cinema unique is the column speakers. These speakers were custom built to fit in the room without encroaching on floor space, keeping a minimalistic look and providing great sound to boot. The depth of the column turned out to be just over 3 inches. Just deep enough to house the drivers. Magnetic covers were manufactured to protect the drivers from the prying fingers of young ones. Shown with covers off.
Want to know more? Contact us for your free consultation.
1271 E 3000 N, Logan UT 84341
435.787.1173
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