The Finest In Home Theater Seating, Acoustic Room
Transcription
The Finest In Home Theater Seating, Acoustic Room
As the exclusive provider of Acoustic Room Systems (ARS), CinemaTech creates an acoustical room solution that enhances the sound and the beauty of your home theater. Tested and patented by Owens-Corning, at one of the most advanced acoustics laboratory in the world, ARS represents a multimillion-dollar technological investment in audio room enhancement. The heart of the system, the reversible 1.25” low profile acoustic panel, when strategically placed, results in superior acoustic performance down to 100 Hz. Premium sound quality is only achieved through proper engineering and acoustic modeling of each unique room. Custom fabricated and fit on-site, the absorptive, reflective, and diffusive panels control both high and low frequency throughout the room. ARS by CinemaTech incorporates a patented track system that holds the fabrics and can be shaped to follow the architectural features and contours of the room. Diffusive panels all fit neatly behind a large selection of standard fabrics that have been tested for acoustic transparency, durability and flame resistance. Acoustic Room Systems (ARS) The Finest In Home Theater Seating, Acoustic Room Systems, and Custom Theaters Acoustic Room Systems We’re Flexible So You Don’t Have To Be We Can Provide ….. • Acoustics Only We’ll acoustically design, supply materials and install premium acoustic treatments and fabric to your pre-designed, contracted theater or pre-existing room. • Noise Control and Isolation We review your existing construction documents and design noise control and isolation solutions for your contractor to implement. CinemaTech can provide these isolation materials or source them for your contractor, • Theater Design Only We’ll design your dream theater from initial concept to the construction documents your contractor needs to build the theater. This includes preliminary drawings, a 3-D rendering, a color board, and finally, build-to drawings. • Partial Turnkey Custom Theater We’ll design your theater and be fully responsible only for those components you choose. Typically this will be items such as the acoustic treatments, door treatments (acoustical or theatrical), curtains, the starfield ceiling, etc. Your interior designer and contractor will be responsible for the structure, lighting, woodwork, and carpet, etc. Acoustic Room Systems (ARS) • Full Turnkey Custom Theater We design your theater and supply the lighting and carpet for installation by your contractors. We also furnish and install the acoustic treatments, door treatments (acoustical or theatrical), woodwork, curtains, the starfield ceiling, etc. More Flexibility … • CinemaTech has a large selection of pre-approved acoustically transparent fabrics that are included in our pricing. • On many jobs, we install fabrics chosen and supplied by the homeowner or their designer. This usually is not a problem. We request a sample for testing acoustically and mechanically with our system and we verify with the AV dealer that the fabric is suitable with their speaker system. We Don’t …. • Furnish or install any electronic audio video equipment, speakers or the screen. • Install or wire any of the lighting fixtures or electrical • Furnish the padding or install the carpet. • Build the structure – walls, doors, sheetrock, risers, proscenium wall, etc. • Paint the room. A100-01 Acoustic Room Systems 4 Easy Steps To Own The Industry’s Finest Acoustical Room System: CinemaTech’s Acoustic Room Systems (also known as ARS) provides a complete solution for an acoustically superior yet aesthetically pleasing Home Theater environment. No other acoustical product on the market can offer this level of performance in such a low-profile panel. CinemaTech’s ARS provides a fine-tuned acoustical environment that will diminish distracting noises from outside the theater and allow the articulation and intelligibility of the movie sound track to be clean, crisp, and balanced. This is achieved while maintaining complete aesthetic appeal and beauty of the Custom Home Theater. Step 1 Starting from a finished room, including sheetrock, a highly trained ARS installation professional will arrive on site to install theater elements such as columns and architectural woodwork. This portion is only applicable when purchasing a full CinemaTech Custom Theater Design. Step 2 Next the CinemaTech ARS installer will apply the 1 ¼” deep fabric retainer that will provide the framework for CinemaTech’s ARS acoustical panels and acoustically transparent fabric. Step 3 Reversible diaphragmatic panels and high frequency diffusers are then applied directly to the sheetrock according to the strict specifications from the detailed modeling diagram based on our acoustical analysis. This modeling diagram is the culmination of several factors including the type and placement of speakers, the intended “sweet spot” and the decorative components within the room. Step 4 After a couple of days (depending on the size and intricacies of the room) the acoustical treatment is hidden forever by the acoustically transparent fabric and finishing touches that are applied to provide a grandiose theater environment with acoustical performance that any audiophile will envy. A150-01 Acoustic Room Systems Acoustics You Can Trust The single most important aspect of CinemaTech’s ARS system is that we can prove its worth. There are many alternative products on the market that “claim” to improve acoustical performance as a result of their products, or so called systems, by simply applying fiberglass to the walls of your theater. However, this is not the solution for an acoustically accurate environment. The reality is that the majority of these systems cannot prove their product’s results and many actual decrease the performance of the room. CinemaTech’s ARS system was originally developed and tested at the state-of-the-art Owens Corning Acoustical Research Laboratory in Granville, Ohio. A large part of the industry’s understanding of acoustics has been drawn from this laboratory. Most acoustical references and textbooks have numerous references to the information gathered at this nationally accredited and internationally recognized testing facility. The products that make up CinemaTech’s ARS are Owens Corning’s best solution for acoustical room treatment. With millions invested to research, develop, and most importantly, test these products, CinemaTech’s ARS system is proud to be one of the few that can prove its effectiveness. These extraordinary acoustical products are available exclusively through CinemaTech, Inc. and are accompanied with unmatched acoustical expertise and advanced proprietary computer modeling to meet the acoustical needs of each individual room. “The Room: The forgotten component... the listening room contributes as much to what you hear from the system as any of its components.” “...the physical attributes of listening rooms are every bit as important as the audio equipment involved.” “The room is which music is reproduced has a profound effect on sound quality.” -Dolby Laboratories, “A Listener’s Guide to Dolby Surround” -Home Theater Magazine, “Follow the Bouncing Sound” -Robert Harley The Complete Guide to High End Audio A200-01 Acoustic AcousticRoom RoomSystems Systems ARS Products and Components Originally designed by by Owens Corning, thethe ARS system is aisresult of aofmulti-million dollar research andand develOriginally designed Owens Corning, ARS system a result a multi-million dollar research deopment projectproject performed by onebyofone theof most acoustical laboratories in the in world; CinemaTech’s ARS velopment performed the advanced most advanced acoustical laboratories the world; CinemaTech’s system become the industries choice for acoustical room treatment systems.systems. InstallingInstalling hundredshundreds of ARS sysARShas system has become the industries choice for acoustical room treatment of tems in home theaters across the world year, CinemaTech’s ARS room ARS treatment the only choice for the truly ARS systems in home theaters acrossa the world a year, CinemaTech’s roomistreatment is the only choice “high-end” home theater. home theater. for the truly “high-end” ARS Reversible Acoustic Panels The heart of CinemaTech’s ARS system is the patented, reversible acoustic core material. Because of its design, it allows a room to get professional grade sound quality down to under 100Hz. No other system currently on the market place can provide this level of treatment with as low of a profile. With a low 1 ¼” profile, this material allows our clients to achieve improved sound quality performance two entire octaves lower than typical fiberglass systems of similar thickness. One side of the panel is a low-frequency absorber that also reflects mid- to high-range frequencies and keeps sound from escaping into other rooms. The other side absorbs mid- to high- range frequencies. As a result, CinemaTech’s professional installation team and acoustician have the ability to fine-tune your home theater and/or listening room to achieve the highest acoustical performance available. ARS Diffusive Panels These plastic molded panels are specifically designed to fit seamlessly with the reversible acoustic panels to provide excellent diffusion. This will “liven-up” a space and improve overall imaging for the best enjoyment of the entire acoustic frequency spectrum. These diffusers uniformly disperse mid and high frequency sound into the room while enhancing surround sound, stopping flutter echoes, and/or redirecting reflections. The ARS Diffusive Panels consist of a random series of column stacking diamond shapes. The height varies while keeping within the 1 ¼” framework of the ARS system. Because of the rounding of the edges, this diffuser works considerably better than straight edge diffusers, which often give a snap flutter at the higher frequencies. Other diffusers on the market are slotted either horizontally or vertically which only gives horizontal or vertical polarization scattering, CinemaTech’s ARS Diffusers are diamond shaped and give multi dimensional scattering (both horizontal and vertical polarizations). They have also been tested for ASTM E 84 flame spread of less than 25 - not available in most alternative diffusers. A250-01 Acoustic Room Systems ARS Fabrics and Retainers Working together, CinemaTech’s ARS fabric and retainers create a system that covers the acoustic wall panels and other components (speakers, projector housing, etc..) with a continuous, smooth surface. These exceptional fabrics are acoustically transparent and will accept any molding, trim or wall hanging and are easily incorporated into any interior design scheme. With over 500 patterns and colors, CinemaTech’s ARS fabric gives you the creative freedom to treat wall surfaces and both angled and curved profiles. Attached at the periphery, the retainers hold the fabric in place without glue or resins, producing a smooth and finished appearance. The retainers allow the fabric to be changed as needed and also provide a hidden raceway for low voltage wiring. A300-01 Acoustic Room Systems Side By Side CoMPARISON Acoustic Room Systems By CinemaTech Other Traditional Wrapped Absorptive Panels Installation Installation Replacement/Changes Replacement/Changes Acoustic Properties Acoustic Properties Fire Rating Fire Rating • Require precise room measurements for proper • Precisely custom fit in the field by certified installation installation personnel • Last minute changes or dimensional changes are • Small miscalculations add to labor time/cost • Field cutting panels is difficult and time-consuming handled with ease during system installation • Finish measurements taken on-site after room con- • Out of plumb corner not a problem struction creates delays waiting for factory fabrication • Installation can start immediately after room construction • If fabric becomes worn or color is no longer desirable, • Fabric easily removed and replaced without all panels must be replaced affecting room acoustics • Individual components can be changed/replaced • Little flexibility to tune room to different conditions with out damage to others • If additional system products are desired or added, neither fabric nor acoustic panels will be damaged • Limited frequency response, typically 500 Hz and above • Exceptional low, mid and high frequency range • Tend to over dampen the room making it lifeless can be achieved • No system components intrude beyond the smooth fabric finish • Acoustics can be precisely tuned according to a room’s design or usage • Class A fire rating • Passed corner burn testing as a complete system • Only full acoustic room treatment system to have corner burn certification: E-84 and Corner Burn Certifications • Approved for all commercial applications • Only individual components may or may not be fire rated “Comparing the identical system before and after treatment, I was taken aback by the wholesale change in the sound. The best general description I can give is that the sound was more precise in every way: bass definition, dynamics, spatial resolution, and dialogue intelligibility. The overall improvement in clarity and immediacy was startling.” -Robert Harley, The Perfect Vision Magazine A350-01 Acoustic Room Systems Fact Sheet Theaters: • The single best performing acoustics package on the market • Can be used with any décor or design • Fits all architectural configurations Media Rooms: • Supports multiple uses for the room • Works well with existing doors and windows • Designed to work easily with the aesthetics of the house. The Only Full Band Width Acoustic Treatment of its Kind Features and Benefits • • ARS by CinemaTech is a fully tunable full bandwidth acoustic system. Absorption to as low as 100Hz. All other competing systems only work down to 500Hz. The majority of acoustic problems any room are between 100-300Hz. 1 ¼” overall thickness. ARS by CinemaTech is site fabricated. No need to worry if measurements are slightly off. Fabric can be changed at anytime without changing acoustic treatment. Easily reconfigured with A/V equipment changes. Accommodates any speaker system, including in-wall. • • • • • • • • • • • Worry-Free Installation • Installation is handled by CinemaTech trained authorized installers. A wide array of acoustic design services available. Those include room modeling, room voicing, and size placement recommendations. Over 450 fabric choices. Only class “A” fire rating of any system on the market. Easy to use pricing worksheet for standard rooms. Acoustic system is hidden but continuously working. Acoustically engineered systems optimiz- ing the use of absorption, reflection and diffusion. FAQ’s Why does ARS by CinemaTech cost more than the competition? Because ARS by CinemaTech is full-band width, we are treating two full octaves lower in the frequency spectrum. ARS by CinemaTech is efficient down to 100Hz. Most all of the competition is working from 500Hz and above. ARS by CinemaTech. gives you room mode control. The competition does not. Can ARS by CinemaTech be used in existing construction? Yes. ARS by CinemaTech can be used in new construction, retrofit or existing rooms. Can customer owned fabrics be used with ARS by CinemaTech? Yes, but there are issues that need to be worked out. C.O.M. must be fire rated and acoustically transparent and also must be tested for tensile strength and stretchability. How do I place an order or become a dealer? Contact CinemaTech at 1-800-688-6680. A400-01 Acoustic Room Systems Acoustic Room Systems Performance Data A450-01 Acoustic Room Systems ARS BY CinemaTech Testimonials “ARS is an “edge-of-the-art-product” that transforms an ordinary room into a flawless audiophile’s dream come true. We have installed the ARS system in all of our demonstration rooms and there is no doubt that its acoustic finesse has contributed immensely to our sales throughout the years. CinemaTech and ARS deserve my highest recommendation as a company and as a product.” -Terry Menacker, President of Overture “If given a choice between listening to $40,000 worth of state-of-the-art controller and multi-channel power amplification and no room treatment, or a high quality A/V receiver and the ARS package, I would choose the lesser electronics in the treated room. Room acoustics are that important.” -Robert Harley, The Perfect Vision, Jan/Feb, 2003 “We are fortunate to have the most discriminating clients who won’t settle for second best. Our clients include movie stars and top echelon athletes who demand superior performance. And, every ARS installation consistently “knocks their socks off,” and that’s no easy feat. Acoustic Room Systems from CinemaTech make movie star home theater design and audio quality attainable.” -Robert Eitel, Roberts’ Home Audio & Video, Los Angeles “It was nice to work with a company that followed through with everything they promised. Not only did they meet our time constraints, but the quality of the product and the workmanship was of the highest standards.” -Brian Grimo, Atlantic Smart Technologies “Our customers are perfectionists. ARS provides an outstanding way for us to build truly extraordinary home theaters with amazing acoustic characteristics combined with beautiful. Affordable and highly customizable designs. Now that’s a REAL breakthrough in home entertainment.” -Bob Gullo, Electronic Design Group, Piscataway, NJ A500-01 Acoustic Room Systems Why Acoustics Are Important What is the largest signal processor in your home theater system? What is the most integral component in making your system the best it can be? If you answered “the room” to both questions above, you have a better understanding of great sound and acoustics than the average home theater enthusiast. The Single Greatest Component In any home theater system, the room is the single component that will make or break how the system will sound. In today’s market there are great speakers, amplifiers and pre-amps to choose from at many different price levels. With so much great gear to choose from, it’s easy to get caught up in the electronics and forget the most important component, the theater itself! Recent data shows that fewer than 10% of all home theaters currently address room acoustics. There are many reasons why this seems to happen, but the most common is a lack of understanding by the customer and the dealer. In this article we will give you information on room acoustics that will assist you in making decisions to improve your listening environment so that you can receive the peak experience in your home theater. Let’s begin with the basics of room acoustics. What does an acoustically correct room sound like? Have you ever drive a car that you felt handled well and seemed to have good pick up and a smooth ride until you drive a luxury vehicle. When you go back to your car, you can easily tell the difference. Similarly, most people think their room sounds fine until they get into a room that has great acoustics. An acoustically correct room should have proper tonal balance, precise imaging and impeccable speech articulation and intelligibility. Tonal Balance The easiest way to explain tonal balance is to think of an orchestra. In an orchestra many instruments make up the spectrum of sound you hear. The tubas are in the bass range, the violas and French horns in the middle, and flutes and piccolos are in the high range in an acoustically correct room all the A550-01 Acoustic Room Systems different frequencies should behave evenly. This is seldom the case. In an average room usually the biggest problem is the bass, or low frequencies. Boundary reflections in the low frequency range causes bass to smear become muddy and can cause volume fluctuations. This is most evident in the corners of the room. Corners are pressure zones that cause bass to resonate, which makes certain frequencies become louder, while others may get lost completely. Unwanted reflections in the mid and high frequencies can ruin tonal balance, speech articulation, and imaging. Imaging Imaging is the term we use for where special cues are in a room. This is extremely important when it comes to two channel listening with music. When you listen to a good recording you should have an image of where the instruments and voices are in the room. You should be able to say “I hear the drums in the back, the vocalist sounds like she is in front of the drums, the piano is to the left, the guitar is on the right, etc.” If reflections in the room are not properly controlled, this will not happen. Another telltale sign of a problem is when a loud speaker becomes too evident in the image. You should not be hearing the sound coming from the loud speaker. For example, as your favorite actor is walking across the screen, his voice should be with him, not trailing or coming from any other place. His voice should move smoothly across the screen, not jump from one speaker to the next. The same goes for surround speakers. A plane flying overhead should move from front to back, not jump from the front speakers to the rear with nothing in between. Speech Articulation and Intelligibility Another serious problem in movie listening is that many people have trouble discerning the voices over the music or background sounds. This is because they are getting an imbalance between high, mid, and low frequencies in their system. All too often, the highs have been absorbed with soft material on the walls, carpet, furniture, bookshelves, etc, but the low frequencies are still booming around the room. Often times people put in soft acoustic panels and use too much absorption in the higher frequencies and end up with an over damped room. Rooms where too much high frequency control is implemented make you feel as your ears are plugged when you are in them. This is also where speech articulation and intelligibility come into play. Speech is made up of low and highpitched sounds, just like music. Vowel sounds are lower in frequency than are consonant sounds. Try for yourself. Say A, E, I, O and U and listen to the pitch of the sound. You should hear a drone tone, a bass sound that is the same for all vowels and then you hear the midrange, which is different for each vowel. Now say the sounds that an S, a T, or a K make and you hear the low drone tone plus the midrange vowel sound but then something new, a hiss type noise in the upper frequencies, the sibilance. If you are listening in a room with heavy carpet, curtains and large fabric couches, where the higher frequencies have been controlled, but the lower ones have not, the vowels end up lasting too long. They will begin to overpower the quieter sibilance and that is when people complain they can’t hear what is being said in a movie. Turning up the volume doesn’t help; you just get a louder version of what you heard at a normal volume. A550-02 Acoustic Room Systems Treatment Methods It is extremely important that we pay attention to all the above aspects when treating a room, and not just absorbing all the upper frequency ranges. Bass absorption needs to be implemented, usually starting in the corners. This takes care of many low frequency boundary reflections. Mid and high frequency absorption is used for reflections that help improve imaging and speech articulation. Diffusion is used to help with flutter echo and reverb without making the room sound “over damped” or too dead. Do not let someone tell you that the room is ‘acoustically treated ‘because they put a few fiberglass panels on the wall! Décor and Design “I want the theater to look spectacular, “is usually one of the first things we hear from the customer and interior designer. It is important to know that the acoustician wants exactly what the customer and the designer want, a great looking room that sounds as good as it looks. The best acoustical systems are just that, engineered systems that allow the designer to create a look and feel that the homeowner wants, while providing specifically designed products that create great acoustics without being seen. It is possible to have great acoustics and beautiful interior design. However, many custom audio video dealers are hesitant to bring up acoustics for a number of reasons. Some of these reasons may be lack of knowledge, fear of the designer, or that they feel more comfortable focusing on selling electronics. These are all real concerns, but as we have stated, they can all be overcome and the balance between design, acoustics and electronics can be struck. If your dealer has not brought up acoustics, ask them why or look for another dealer. The bottom line is the dealer is doing a disservice to his customer if he does address acoustics. When you are planning your theater make sure your dealer uses an acoustics company that specializes in small room acoustics. Large room acoustics, like corporate facilities, auditoriums, churches and the like are very different and not applicable to a private home theater. Small rooms are very different from large rooms because your ears are close to the acoustical products that are being used. Every product has its own idiosyncrasies and it is important to know how they differ in “near field listening” as opposed to what you hear in a large room when you may be 50 feet away from the acoustical products. This may all sound overwhelming to the average buyer, but it is no different than looking at the electronics and wires and connections. Most people would not buy all the electrical components of a very high-end home theater and try to install it all themselves. The same is true for acoustics. When you make the decision that you are going to invest in a state of the art theater experience and you want the best, do it right and hire the professionals. They have the tools and knowledge to make certain that the job is done correctly so that the listener enjoys a great theater experience. A550-03 Acoustic Room Systems Acoustic Room Systems Technical Data Description of the System CinemaTech’s Acoustic Room System combines acoustical performance with an aesthetically pleasing appearance. The system consists of an integrated package of matched components specifically designed to provide a simple, yet highly flexible, way to “acoustically tune” a home theater. The basic system includes three components: • Reversible Acoustic Panels providing acoustically absorptive and reflective properties in a single component; • Diffuser Panels providing dispersion of mid and high frequency sound into the room while enhancing surround sound, stopping flutter echoes, and/or redirecting reflections • Fabric Retainer, designed to be installed around the perimeter of the room’s walls and features (i.e., doors and windows); and • Fabric, which cover the working acoustical components while providing a beautiful aesthetically pleasing finish to showcase the theater. System Performance Sound quality studies show that CinemaTech’s Acoustic Room System , when correctly installed, provides or facilitates: • • • • • Excellent Frequency content (richness and layering) Outstanding speech intelligibility Superior sound stage imaging and localization Highest quality image movement Excellent focusing of image The reversible panel can effectively control and balance modal effects of the frequency range of 100 Hz and above. Overall decay rates are better controlled with the system and show greater stability and evenness throughout the frequency range. Sound Absorption With a Single Layer of Reversible Panels Absorptive Side Out Alternating Side Out Reflective Side Out A600-01 Acoustic Room Systems Sound Absorption With a Double Layer of Reversible Panels (NOTE: Improvement in the crossover response in the range of 200 to 300 Hz and low frequency absorption below 125 Hz.) Gyp in Middle Gyp Middle / Top Gyp Bottom / Top Transmission Loss Characteristics (NOTE: Substantial improvement from 500 Hz and up on boards with reflective side facing out.) Standard Reflective Side Out Alternating Absorptive Side Out Reduction in Room Flutter Modes & Relative Reverberation times of Treated & Untreated Rooms Flutter and room modes, if controlled, can combine to reduce speech intelligibility and mask audio detail. Without ARS With ARS Untreated Room Treated Room A600-02 Acoustic Room Systems The Difference Between Acoustic Treatment and Noise Control We get asked this question regularly. There is a common misconception that when we go into a room and treat it with ARS we are “sound proofing” the room. This is not the case. Sound proofing is a term not unlike fire proofing. Everything melts or burns at a certain temperature. The same goes for sound or noise. If it is loud enough the waves will penetrate just about anything. What people call “sound proofing” is actually referred to in the industry as “noise control”. Noise is any unwanted sound that escapes out of your room or leaks into your room. The best way to achieve the proper amount of noise control to insure that you will have a pleasant listening experience is by mechanically de-coupling the wall surfaces from the studs of the room. This de-coupling reduces the vibration of sound that hits the wall surface and reduces how much it passes through the wall. We have several ways of doing this depending on the type of wall and the desired level of noise control. Acoustic treatment for the interior of the room has a completely different purpose and it is the most important aspect of any listening environment. All rooms, especially what we consider small rooms (dimensions under 35ft. in length and width and less than 15ft. high) have acoustical issues that must be addressed in order to provide the best listening experience. Hard wall surfaces cause reflection and echo problems that must be dealt with. Also, corners of rooms cause low frequency build up, usually referred to as room modes or room resonances. This build up has to do with low frequency pressure that behaves like a self propagating wave form. What the listener in turn hears is a bloom in the bass range that is unpleasant. It can sometimes cause pressure in the ears at higher volumes. It can also mask higher pitches making speech less articulate. The ARS system is specifically designed to deal with these problems very efficiently in order to balance the room out. Because our system works so well in the 100-300 cycle range, which is low frequency, we can do a much better job than most of our competitors who use a majority of products that only work above 500 cycles. Only about 10% of the acoustical issues in a room are in that range. About 80% are in the 100-300Hz range. Our goal is to make a room pleasant and comfortable sounding in order for you to have the best experience possible in the theater. We do this by looking at the noise level in the room and the signal level in the room and getting the best possible ratio of signal to noise. We are very careful not to “over damp” the room. This is quite common in modern day home theaters and it is very unfortunate. If you walk into a room and get the feeling your ears need to “pop” like on an airplane or the feeling you get when you have a head cold that is the sign of an over damped room. With the ARS treatment we tune the room acoustically to maximize the performance of the electronic equipment supplied by the AV Dealer – comparable to viewing a work of art with proper lighting – if you’ve already made the investment in the art doesn’t it make sense to spend a little more and see it how the artist intended? A650-01