Sometimes, the universe conspires and everything falls into place.
In this project, we had the Powersound Trifecta which is rarely the case. Reference Products, Big Enough Rooms and Freedom to work our magic!
We undertook the following tasks: Home Cinema Design and Multi-Room Audio Design.
Music was the most important thing as we were told, so we opted to use floor-standing speakers that were also going to be used for the Home Cinema sessions. The stunning Focal Sopra No.2 were chosen after the owners fell in love with them when they first met them at our showroom.
The Naim Uniti Nova.
While the Anthem MRX-1140 is responsible for the Home Cinema needs and the Anthem MCA525 is taking on the Multi-Room Audio, the Naim Uniti Nova is taking over as the undisputed boss when it comes to enjoying 2-Channel Stereo Music. It provides the user with everything possibly needed to have a huge music catalogue at their finger tips while providing the world class sound performance that Naim Audio is renowned for.
Controlled by the intuitive Naim App the Uniti Nova is a real powerhouse overloaded with features! Streaming services like Spotify and Tidal are of course available and the streamer performance is as close you can get to a studio recording especially when auditioning lossless tracks.
The SUB 1000F Subwoofer.
Low frequencies are essential to music, movies and video games. Everybody loves them right? The Focal SUB 1000 F perfectly complements the Sopra No.2 speakers. We had to plan from the beginning for its placement so it would not look out of place or degrade its performance due bad placement. We managed to do both with the help of the owners and their interior designer.
The Impressive Sopra Center Speaker.
As it can be easily deduced, the center speaker is quite impressive. The Focal Sopra Center, was the only possible candidate that could slot in our system design so effortlessly. Boasting the same W Cone drivers and Beryllium Tweeter just like the Sopra No.2 speakers, it blends in naturally completing a magical recipe that needs to be heard to believed. It’s a 3-Way design, which we love, while having the exact exquisite finish as its Sopra siblings.
A 7.1.2 Dolby Atmos Setup that mixes it up!
The design comes natural to us by now. Yes it is possible to have great sound without filling your living room with big bulky speakers. Even though the 3 front speakers are quite big and the subwoofer a force to be reckoned with, the rest of the speakers reside on the ceiling. “All of them?” we hear you ask. Yes all of them. This is a 7.1.2 setup that uses the Surrounds, Back Surrounds and Atmos speakers all recessed in the ceiling. The Focal 1000 ICA6 Speakers while looking like any other speaker with their cover on, are angled at 30 degrees and aim exactly at the MLP (Main Listening Position). Featuring the same W Cone and Beryllium Tweeter as the rest of the setup, keep the synergy at quite high levels.
The Main Living Room.
The Focal 1000 ICA6 Speakers were also used for the Living Room Multi-Room part of the system. 4 of them strategically deployed to fill the room with music and promised hours of enjoyment. Since they are angled at 30 Degrees there is no reason to worry about the sitting positions being offset!
The Kitchen Needs Music too!
Well, yes and why shouldn’t it? Cooking while listening to music can be mesmerizing. The task was devoted to the Focal 300 ICW 8 Speakers and they surely delivered. The huge 8″ Flax Cones deliver adequate bass even without a subwoofer and the mid-high frequencies are mellow and on point like with all Focal speakers.
The Patio
One word: Littora! The speakers used here for the covered veranda / patio are the Marine Graded Focal Littora 1000 ICW 10 with the Focal 1000 ICW Sub 10 subwoofer! This must be as good as it gets when it comes outdoor speakers. If you are wondering if this premium speakers use the W Cones and Beryllium Tweeters then the answer is YES! So, not only the can handle water, moisture, wind and sun but they will sound fantastic while doing so!
The Pool
This is the epilogue of this house’s audio system. Using the Focal 100 OD 8 IP65 rated speakers, the pool area is filled with loud yet controlled and high quality music that can easily turn a swimming session into a pool party!
Calibration of the Anthem AV Receiver
Anthem Room Correction (ARC®) puts the sophistication and power of an advanced audio lab in your hands so that you can achieve perfect sound at home. Our PhDs did the hard work, so you don’t need an engineering degree to use it. ARC is sophisticated enough to produce real results that you can hear, easy enough to be used by anyone, advanced enough to allow you to customize the settings, and professional enough to give you the kind of results you’d expect from software and hardware costing thousands of euros.
The most significant detriment to the sound of an audio system is almost always the room it resides within—especially true in the realm of bass. Even in a professionally treated sound room, bass can quickly become boomy or anemic. Anthem Room Correction helps audio systems sound their best in any space. ARC offers a robust suite of tools to tame your wild sonic frontier, whether you have a tricked-out home theater, a traditional living room with carpet and thick drapes, or a modern floor plan with large open spaces and acoustically reflective furniture and windows.
To compensate for this and to optimize the in-room response of your speakers, Anthem Room Correction measures the output of each speaker relative to the listening area then, through a series of calculations, adjusts its output. Not only does ARC correct peaks and dips in a speaker’s frequency response, but it also preserves the beneficial acoustic attributes of a room—attributes based on proven psychoacoustic science (the study of how humans hear and experience sound).
Conclusion
This has been a truly lovely project that was planned correctly from the very beginning. We cannot stress enough how important that is. The owners are really happy they agreed with our suggestion regarding the implementation and system design of their home. Top of the line products were implemented throughout the house and result is a testament to those choices. We in turn, are happy that our system will offer the owners years of reliability and high quality entertainment!