Tucked away in the basement of a lavish upstate New York property, an enchanted, whimsical home theater awaits. Meridian Audio has collaborated with leading technology integration company, Osbee Industries, to provide a powerful and superior quality audio solution for an unforgettable home cinema experience, which recently scooped the 2018 Electronic House Home of the Year award for Best Theater.
Situated on 65 acres of rolling foothills in Dutchess County, the 20,000 square-foot residence not only features the main family home, but also a guest house and a private vineyard. The residence boasts classic Colonial and Georgian features, with contemporary art and custom furnishings throughout all of the rooms, including the 960-square-foot theater in the basement.
The homeowners wanted a robust hi-fi surround sound system that could blend seamlessly in with the charming nature of the theater room, yet still provide a powerful audio performance when watching their favorite movies.
To match the rich burgundy color palette of the room, and complement the ornate gilded frames and animal portraits commissioned specifically for the space, the homeowners requested a pair of freestanding loudspeakers. To match their requirements, Osbee installed a pair of custom-made, matte burgundy DSP8000.2 Digital Active Loudspeakers on either side of the screen.
Paired with plush leather seating and sheepskin-upholstered Ottomans, the DSP8000.2’s are the perfect addition to the uniquely enchanting room, adding a stunning sculptural element like no other. Their inert, rigid cabinet construction is specifically designed for effortless deep bass. Unique to Meridian, the cabinet construction material ‘Meridium’ features the highest-grade laminated plywood layers bonded to an aluminum core, allowing for truly authentic, matchless sound.
The DSP8000.2s feature five powerful wide range 150W amplifiers and on-board Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technology for outstanding performance. Meridian’s proprietary Enhanced Bass Alignment (EBA) technology ensures that bass, mid and treble all reach the listener in perfect harmony, whilst advanced listener controls enable speaker placement flexibility, so the viewer receives immersive, crisp audio, no matter where they’re located in the room.
In any underground project, space restrictions are always a challenge to overcome, especially given the number of art pieces on the walls. To combat this, the DSP8000.2’s were complemented by four Meridian DSP640 In-Wall Loudspeakers, and two DSP320 In-Wall Loudspeakers for the ultimate surround sound experience. These loudspeakers provide the rear and side audio, carefully hidden from view in specially designed columns with hinged doors covered with acoustically transparent fabric. Perfect for the home theater setting, their wide range drive units create incredibly lifelike sound with minimum unwanted diffraction, combined with Meridian’s center elevation adjustment technology, which raises the perceived image location for the best movie-watching experience possible.
Rather than covering the walls in stretch fabric, the interior designer on this project specified wallpaper, so Osbee had to deliver an innovative solution that wouldn’t impact on the delivery of high-quality audio from the Meridian loudspeakers. Osbee proposed perforating the wallpaper in such a way that would maintain the integrity of the design yet allow the sound to flow unimpeded. The compact design and flexibility of the DSP640’s and DSP320’s meant that they were easy to install with minimum impact on the décor.
To deliver full range audio playback in a horizontal center channel package, a DSP7200.2HC Digital Active Loudspeaker was installed to work in perfect partnership with the freestanding loudspeakers. Ideal for mounting on a shelf, under a large-screen TV, or behind an acoustically-transparent projection screen, the DSP7200.2HC uses on-board DSP technology, Centre Elevation adjustment technology and four powerful built-in wide range 150W amplifiers to create the high-quality audio the homeowners were looking for.
A Meridian HD621 HDMI Audio Processor and G65 Surround Controller are also part of the home theater set-up. The HD621 takes the HDMI signal from up to six sources, separating it into its audio and video elements and maximizing the audio clarity and resolution in the room. It ensures seamless integration with multiple HDMI sources whilst its discreet design allows the system to be installed with subtlety and precision.
The G65 integrates Meridian Room Correction, High Resolution Upsampling, and other revolutionary technologies that Meridian is famous for, to ensure superb, authentic audio performance for movies and music alike.
Barry Schurr, Chief Operating Officer of Osbee Industries commented: “The client has expressed how much they enjoy using their theater and especially the exceptional audio quality, both when watching movies with their friends and family, and for listening to concerts and their favorite music.”
Together, Meridian and Osbee Industries have created a breathtaking audio system for a captivating home cinema experience, taking the theater room from a feast for the eyes, to a feast for the ears too.
Equipment List
Meridian DSP8000.2 Floorstanding Speakers x2
Meridian DSP7200.2HC Speaker
Meridian DSP640 In-Wall Speakers x4
Meridian DSP320 In-Wall Speakers x2
Meridian G65 Surround Controller
Meridian HD621 HDMI Audio Processor
Middle Atlantic 19-Unit Theater Rack
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Nancy is a contributing editor for Connected Design
