The Home Cinema Alliance - Tech Talk Podcast
A consumer-facing podcast hosted by industry veterans, Stuart Burgess from Immersive Cinema Rooms and Simon Gregory from Cinema Rooms.
Each episode, we bring you News, Reviews, and Interviews from inside the industry covering Home Cinema, Home Theatre, and all things tech.
Get involved podcast@homecinemaalliance.co.uk
The Home Cinema Alliance - Tech Talk Podcast
Cinema Room vs Media Room: Which One is Right for You?
The age-old question for home entertainment enthusiasts: should you create a dedicated cinema room or a versatile media room? Stuart Burgess and Simon Gregory dive deep into this fascinating topic, unpacking the crucial differences that will help you make the right choice for your home and lifestyle.
"No other purpose, no compromises" becomes the defining mantra of dedicated cinema spaces – purpose-built environments where every element from acoustics to lighting is optimised for the ultimate viewing experience. These rooms transform ordinary viewing into extraordinary immersion, with acoustically treated walls, specialised seating, and high-performance audio-visual systems working in perfect harmony. The hosts share real-world examples from their extensive project portfolios, including Stuart's current Beckingham cinema installation, which features intricate wall treatments, coffered ceilings, and custom fabric panels concealing speakers.
By contrast, media rooms embody flexibility and lifestyle integration. These multi-purpose spaces accommodate movies, TV, gaming, and socialising without dedicating an entire room solely to entertainment. Simon explains how these rooms require different approaches to speaker placement, display technology, and room design – highlighting innovative solutions like invisible Amina speakers and short-throw projectors that maintain aesthetic appeal while delivering impressive performance.
The conversation explores practical considerations for both room types, from source quality (with physical media and Kaleidescape offering superior uncompressed audio compared to streaming services) to managing reflections and optimising seating arrangements. The hosts also cover recent industry news, including Epson's new EH-LS9000 4K laser projector, Monitor Audio's limited edition speakers, and the upcoming Freely streaming device.
Would you be ready to create your perfect entertainment space? Connect with HCA members who can design a phenomenal viewing environment tailored to your needs, whether that's a fully immersive cinema room or a stylish, flexible media room that elevates your everyday content consumption without compromising your home's aesthetic.
Coming up on this week's episode of the HCA Tech Talk podcast. When a client sort of says to you about okay, what do we go with a cinema room or a media room, what do you sort of say to them to explain the difference between the two? I mean, this was hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of speakers.
Speaker 2:It's a huge difference. So if you've got a nice big TV, you want a nice big sound as well. So that's being compressed, which is what you get with amazon or netflix. It's always compressed compared to kaleidoscape or a physical media disc. But yeah, that's going to make a massive difference buyers have got.
Speaker 1:Fortunate, I've got both. You know we've put a good system in there, sort of like a family room, so you know they might be running a 7.2.2. So seven speakers around them, two speakers in the ceiling, two subwoofers and it sounds really good. Thinking of building your dream home cinema? Don't know where to start. Start with the HCA. At the Home Cinema Alliance, we connect homeowners with the very best in the business. Our members are trusted designers, installers and technology experts who know how to turn any room into a breathtaking cinematic experience. Whether technology experts who know how to turn any room into a breathtaking cinematic experience, whether you're building from scratch or converting a spare room, our members are here to help you every step of the way. Visit our website to find your local member at homesinamaralliancecouk. Hi and welcome to episode 8 of the HDA Tech Talk podcast. I'm your host, as always, stuart Burgess, and here again with me is Simon Gregory. Good afternoon, stuart. So we are back at Pulse. We are, indeed. We haven't actually moved.
Speaker 2:No, I've got a bit more of a tan this time You've been on holiday, haven't you A? Couple of weeks and we're back on it and end of the summer is nearly upon us. But exciting times, I think.
Speaker 1:Lots of new products are coming out as well, so looking forward to September getting going, the real season kicking off before the Xmas, yeah we've literally just done a podcast before this, one with David Berowitz from Trinov, and we talked about cdia in denver, which is a trade show that's coming up in september, um, where we alluded to some new products that are coming out. So this podcast is due to come out on the 26th of august, I think. Um, so, uh, like and subscribe, because trinov one will be coming up before, uh, the charity bike ride we discussed and there are some exciting new products from trinov in will be coming up before the charity bike ride we discussed and there are some exciting new products from Trinov, in that, which is very exciting, very exciting.
Speaker 2:Keep quiet, some exciting stuff but all that's going to be announced at. Denver. So yeah, if you can get to that trade show then great, but if not, stay tuned and find out about the latest Trinov products.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, we're obviously uh, I'm still toying, you're not, but we'll make sure it gets on the podcast and I'll make sure I put it on hga social media about any announcements, bits and pieces that come from a show. Um, so briefly, uh, because I think we're trying to get a shorter episode done today because you've got parental duties yes yes, so, uh, what have you been working on?
Speaker 1:obviously you're not really working on it because you've been holiday, but what do you? What have you been working on, or what projects you've got going on at the moment?
Speaker 2:so we've got the rath free, lutron rath free project uh coming along nicely so that is going to be starting. Uh after the bank holiday, so the end, towards the end of the month, so uh 26 I think that's going to be uh be starting. So all that's been ordered, uh client's happy to go ahead with that. So that's all done.
Speaker 1:Electricians on board there was. There was a funny comment on uh, one of the viewers put up on a short that I put out, because obviously, if you look at the hga socials, I like to put out the podcast, but then I like to shorten it, um, just like clips, everything and I put one up of us talking about raw 2, raw 3, centralized lighting, and uh, this, uh viewer, when I watched the whole of the 60 seconds I didn't understand a word. You were saying were you actually speaking english?
Speaker 2:sometimes we speak speak a different language the language in the av industry. But uh yeah, lutron, lighting raw 2, raw 3, or homeworks, homeworks, great for SEA as well. So we are. The house wasn't quite ready or quite big enough for Homeworks and obviously the expense was taken into consideration, so we went for the RA3 system that's coming out. So yeah, we've got blinds going in there and curtains and RGB tunnelable lighting as well. So yeah, that's all being ordered and delivered this week, I believe.
Speaker 1:Have you entered the Smart Building Awards?
Speaker 2:Yes, so Smart Building Awards. We entered our Tudor building project. That we did, so we've done the whole house entry. What's that? A whole?
Speaker 1:house A whole house.
Speaker 2:So what we did with that was a home uh, basically a media room with um, a whole house audio. So that was uh just been run by heos. We also had blue stream into the eight different rooms for uh for audio and video, sorry. And then we also had uh unify wi-fi going throughout the whole house. But so it's a nice little whole house project. And we also entered the media room only for the tudor building into the under 50 000 pound category for a media room. So again, that's got lovely amina speakers in there, nicely hidden away, lovely bespoke cabinetry work in the media wall and, yeah, it looks, looks really nice.
Speaker 1:So Smart Building Awards for anybody who's not in the industry is an awards ceremony that's put on the evening between the two days of Essential Install Live down in Farnborough.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a trade show that we have down in Farnborough, so everybody comes to that and, yeah, in the evening there's a smart….
Speaker 1:Big dinner.
Speaker 2:Yeah, big dinner and get together and yeah, it's a really good evening. So fingers crossed.
Speaker 1:You're judging this year, not your own category, not my own category?
Speaker 2:definitely not, so that's definitely not allowed. So no, we're just doing different categories that we've been given, so yeah.
Speaker 1:I think I'm doing three, which I think I've got all manufacturer categories this year, which is great because it shows some love for the manufacturers. But I like seeing the projects as well. I don't think I've got a single project one.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, some of them look really good, so we're looking forward to going through those and judging those towards the end of the month.
Speaker 1:Excellent, I'm still doing me Beckingham cinema Still going.
Speaker 1:I've had two weeks off-ish off Our little and had to have a hernia operation, I say little, and she's nearly 15, exactly, she's nearly as tall as me. But so we had a couple of weeks off just to get that done and dusted and uh, um, uh. So she goes to start such ucs but uh, that's sort of growing more and more. You know, the whole room is nearly buttoned up and I get the button up from a construction point of view and then the client messages me and says is it? What about putting a playstation in the room? Like, well, yeah, I can, but it means I've got to take all the plasterboard down out there, take down the osb off the wall in here, but it's still doable. Do you want to do it?
Speaker 1:not always easy so I'm back there next tuesday after our bank holiday, um, and I've got to, yeah, run two 15-metre fibre HDMIs from our good friends at HDA1AV and, yeah, so he can put a PlayStation and an Xbox under there where, in his own words, I've not played a console in about 15 years. Wow, might have the PlayStation 6 out by then?
Speaker 2:You never know.
Speaker 1:Maybe, so hopefully. Well, it's better to get in in there 100%. Well, we can still take the plasterboard off the wall so definitely we're going to get in there, but we've had to order some more of Roddy's uh space frame from cinema build systems yeah, cinema build systems. Who's got a wonderful new show? Well, one of you. Manufacturing facility in um, uh, trying to think now Scotland, but he's building that at the moment.
Speaker 2:Building that. It looks very impressive. Look forward to seeing the progress on that and obviously for the cinema build screens, which we use the phenomenal screens.
Speaker 1:I think screens, isn't it? I think it's what Michael does up there. So yeah, so we've got a bit more of the coffered ceiling to do and the walls have got quite an intricate detail of sort of fabric panel to hide speaker. Then there's a wooden section with a light in it and then around the whole room.
Speaker 2:It's gonna be a stunning room no doubt look forward to seeing that so, so that's about it.
Speaker 1:Um, so we'll jump into the news. Uh, before I jump into the use, uh, please don't forget to like and subscribe the podcast. Uh, wherever you watch this or listen to this. Um, for audio uh podcasts, you could also uh text the show. We've got a new feature, um, so within the audio podcast and I think the link is also on the video podcast you can click on the link and you can send a text to the show so you can ask your questions, if you have any of us. Um, obviously, for the video podcast, you can comment in the section below and we'll try and uh answer as many questions as we have.
Speaker 1:If you've got any suggestions of topics we discussed and products you might want us to look at and talk about, and then you can also support the podcast now, and in return for the support of the podcast, we'll give you a shout-out. That's what it's all about. Good old shout-out. We're getting anything from 1,000 to five thousand views both on most of the podcast and the analytics on youtube. Even though this is episode eight, oh, I can see it slowly going up. So if you fancy a shout out on the podcast, uh, follow the link, uh make a small donation, uh, which helps us pay for petrol and all this lovely camera equipment you never get to see, helps us to get to get here as well. Well, it helps me to get here Hour and 45 minutes again.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, please support the podcast. We love doing it and we'd love to hear from you guys as well if you're enjoying watching it Most definitely. Or we're just talking to ourselves. So jumping into the news. First news subject is with you, Simon, about Artcoustic.
Speaker 2:Yep. Subject is with you, simon, uh, about acoustic. Yep, so danish loudspeaker manufacturer acoustic have introduced some new subwoofers, so hot off the press. Um, they are the 212 and the 312 subwoofers. So we were at the showroom not too long ago, uh, and a little, uh little tour of the the showroom facility over the video still to.
Speaker 1:Video's still to come. Apologies, video's still to come.
Speaker 2:Video's still to come, but I mean, the showroom sounded phenomenal then. So that's with their older subs. So the newer subs have been redesigned. They've got an ARTC12i 19mm driver, so they use a 12-inch long-throw subwoofer. So I think they'll sound really impressive and I look forward to hearing those.
Speaker 1:And so I think they will sound really impressive and I look forward to hearing those. And are they a replacement for the sub twos and sub threes?
Speaker 2:actually, yes, so they're the new versions of those, so I think they're available now. So we've got a project starting, I believe, in January. So we'll have those ready to go in that project. So that'll be pretty special, but I look forward to hearing those.
Speaker 1:Well, I suppose if anybody wants to hear them, then reach out to either myself or Simon, and then we can arrange for you to go to the facilities not too far from here in Shalesford We'll speak to.
Speaker 2:Artcustic. They will contact their local dealer to you and arrange a demonstration to me, but they are all over the country so they're dealers.
Speaker 1:So any dealers. Well, and they've got, they have, they've got a good uh showroom base out there in respect to me and we our showroom used to be acoustic before we moved. Um, I know friends of ours have got acoustic showrooms and that, so there are. If you don't happen to be in this area, um of essex, um, then there are showrooms across the uk that have acoustics and I assume that some of them will be eager to put this new product in so they can sell it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, definitely so looking forward to it. And those other subs go down to 25 hertz, so that's pretty impressive.
Speaker 1:I mean I put sub threes in a project about a year or so ago and those things rock. I mean, with that scene out of Dune where they're trying to pick up the people, rescue the people, there's a great demo scene for a fairway to use and it really does push the subs.
Speaker 2:But if they can go down 25 hertz then very impressive indeed. So you can never have too many subs, that's for sure. The more the merrier.
Speaker 1:I think, as Paul said, that scene is what they call speaker killer. Yeah, no, it is, it is indeed so. Uh, exciting stuff, awesome. So my my first new story is a new epson projector, the ehls 9000, which is a 4k home cinema projector. Um, this is sort of like if anybody knows projectors and knows of the projector world from before with Epsom, this is sort of about the same sort of price of what we used to have the 9400, which was a projector that I used a lot and have a lot of projects. It's got a retail price of a penny shy of £3,000.
Speaker 2:I would go for. £2,995 is what I think they'll come out of that probably, so it sounds a bit better than 3,000 pounds RRP 2,999 pounds of RRP, that's what our friends at Inside CI have got Always sounds a lot better than the bigger number.
Speaker 2:But great, fantastic projectors, obviously laser base as well, so that's going to be really good. You've got your 20,000 hours durability, so it's quite a long time. But what is also quite sad is the the end of the 9400, as you mentioned it's. If there was a hall of fame, yeah, the 9400 would definitely go in there it's been out for five, six years, six, seven years, violins.
Speaker 1:Now let's have a silent moment of peace for the 9400 I've lost track the amount of 9400s we've sold, amount they've sold.
Speaker 2:It was a great project. It just worked. It's I think six, seven years it's been out because it's don't fix what's not broken.
Speaker 1:So I think we had a 9400 in the showroom before we put a stony in there, um, and the difference between the 9400 and the Sony 590, I think it was. It was there but wasn't as much as I thought it was going to be, but it was great because we had a scope screen in there and the lens shift on it, which this one has, was brilliant. So swapping from 235 content, so going from scope content to regular widescreen content, was just a matter of a press of a button, or, if it was in a control system, you know, did it automatically.
Speaker 2:Um very, very versatile projector. I always described it as brighter than the sun, because the picture is so vibrant and so bright. It was great. Great for watching movies you get outside, but also great for uh, sports as well, so you can have the windows open, have the curtains open and still quite clearly see the image that was being displayed on the screen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean we did a couple which had ambient light-rejected drop-down screens, so like a dual-purpose media room cinema room. Brings us on to our topic of the month we're going to do soon. And yeah, I mean bifold doors all the way along here with an ambient light-rejected screen. Yeah, I mean bifold doors all the way along here with an ambient light projected screen. Yeah, it was a phenomenal picture for everyday view.
Speaker 2:The lumens on this 2,200, I believe. So that's pretty impressive, I think, for an entry-level laser projector.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and the startup time of around about eight seconds as well, which is brilliant, Because I know one thing I wanted to do in the old showroom was, if a client walked in, they picked up one of my many Xbox controllers, pressed the Nexus button to turn the system on via HDMI control and then that would fire the projector up. The problem was it took about 30 seconds for the projector to fire up and that sort of took the edge off of that theatre of starting it out by pressing the Nexus button.
Speaker 2:It does a little bit, doesn't it? So we've got a sony 5000, and that that takes a little while to start up, I have to say it kind of ruins the illusion in our demo facility.
Speaker 1:but and also, hopefully, if it has a close down, turn off time of similar if you're using a, uh, a trigger from the projector. So quite often we've been in control for something like that. What we've done is go um, you know, when the project turns on, drop the screen if it's in a in a media room, or when the project turns off, but screen up. And obviously if it's got a slow startup or slot like that shutdown time, it often the on command and the off command don't have it right at the end of the sequence, so you find that the project is on, are showing you an image and the screen is still coming down.
Speaker 2:Which is not particularly seamless, is it? So we had an incident where we turned the projector off because it was cooling down. The screen stayed down.
Speaker 2:But the client wanted it to go up so we had to use a control system. So actually we used RTI to control the screen trigger mechanism separately because we had a cable going up separate, a spare cat cable going up to where the projector was. So instead of relying on the projector we use the rti. So as soon as that censored that it wasn't getting power, the screen went up while the projector was still cooling down.
Speaker 1:So I made it much more fluid excellent uh right next story, uh monitor audio for you.
Speaker 2:Yes, so monitor audio uh, which are based in uh south end rayleigh to be precise.
Speaker 2:Following that another s is another s is company, but uh, yeah, no, we, we like monitor audio and um, they've got, uh, a limited edition silver, silver series 7g, so what? What caught my eye was the fact it's carbon black metallic I love. So I had a sleeker car GT car and that was black and I loved it. It had the big spoilers at the back and anything that's metallic black I really like. So they've got the new silver 300 and the 107g which is now available limited edition then it doesn't say how many, uh, limited edition it is, but it's in carbon black metallic. So have a look out for that. They got pricey on them or no pricing, no. But if you want a metallic black speaker and pricing is not an option, an issue then go have a, have a look. Speak to monitor audio, based in raleigh in in essex.
Speaker 1:I'm not even going to look at them don't look at them because you want to buy them and I've got. I don't because you know what I'm like. I'm bad enough you're bad enough, bad enough of xbox controllers you know the silver 307 g's.
Speaker 2:We're just reading off this website. Limited edition floor standing speaker is designed for those who demand both high performance audio and timeless aesthetics. Finishing the exclusive carbon black metallic. It excludes sophistication while delivering breathtaking clarity, depth and power.
Speaker 1:Wow sign me up. Sign you up. You're there, michael, if you're watching, send me some. Still haven't got the Kev soundbar, ron, but no, yeah, I'm going to have a look at these. I mean, we do need to get up to Monastery Audio. I've actually been talking to them recently.
Speaker 2:Maybe we'll go up and do the next podcast they're going to do a new demo facility, their factory and their facilities down in Raleigh, so looking forward to seeing those, but, yeah, limited edition.
Speaker 1:So if you are a Monastir Audio fan, then do reach out and we might be able to get you there to listen to them or get you somewhere to listen to them, type of thing, awesome. So my next story is on a system called Freely. So I thought this one was quite interesting, you know, although not directly cinema based, although it is at all a video source. So freely, for anybody who doesn't know is a platform which is backed by the bbc itv, channel 4, channel 5, um, and it's been like it's. So you remember or not remember, because you'll go. So you got freeview and FreeSat. Yes, freeview via an aerial, freesat via a dish, which are great, but obviously, with Sky pushing more towards Sky Stream and Sky Glass, they're going IP-based and obviously satellite dish installers, unfortunately, are getting less and less and less. The same with aerial installers, because everybody rushed to get aerial done for the digital switchover and and this is an ip-based system. So this is your, for what's of a better way, your freeview, free stat system, but actually coming in on an ip-based platform.
Speaker 1:However, what it has been, it's been very limited to TVs, but at the more consumer-friendly end. So, if I remember rightly I don't think it's got it on Steve May's article, but from what I've seen it was just the brands of TV, like Hisense, bush, some of the more budget-range TVs Not saying they're not good TVs, but budget-range TVs. So you had to buy a TV to get the service. But now what they've just announced is that they're actually going to release a plug-in streaming device by Puck. So hopefully what that means is the the uh. Where's it? Uh? 40 live channels, including bbc, ipad, itvx, channel 4, my 5u watch and pbs america, to name a few. A bit like skystream. It will be a box we'll be able to plug in and we'll be able to get it via ip, so I wonder how that compares to like now tv.
Speaker 2:Well, now tv's uh, so now tv is a subscription based this is free right, okay, so this is can you get subscription services on there, don't think so. Do you have to have now tv for, for getting sky sports etc. And then freely free stuff?
Speaker 1:I, so I would assume. So I think the idea of Freelee is basically, as it does in the name, the same as Freeview and FreeSat. Is that it's your old-fashioned terrestrial TV, but it's just as an IP platform.
Speaker 2:So is it replacing TVs that haven't got that interface?
Speaker 1:I'm not sure whether the box in, so within the interface of the tvs. It's just a way to get like do you know, if you buy like an lg tv, you get lg channels yeah, it's your freely channels, um as part of the streaming services on that tv. So on the said tv you'd get the ability to download the streaming services like netflix, you know, prime and things like that. I on the puck. There is nothing to say on here. I don't think that, from what I can see that it is going to be, you're going to allow to put services on there like netflix next to it. But I can't see why they wouldn't. But for me I think it's beneficial in two ways. One, it gives you the ability to give another room or another media room or another cinema. I mean, this is really early, so we don't know about sound from it, we don't know if it's good yeah, I want to hdmi 2.1 4k, just 1080p.
Speaker 2:maybe licensing would probably play a big issue with the cost of it for Netflix and Amazon et cetera any streaming services that they wanted to put on there it's probably a licensing extra cost. Yeah, I think, because it's a free-to-air platform.
Speaker 1:I think that obviously it's being made and will be potentially at a price point that will basically just give you channels on that TV. Personally, what I'd love to see is I'd love to see them they've come here and I'd love to see it from sky as well is actually, let's just put it through an app, let's do a freely app, let's do a sky stream app, because a lot of us, including me, um, have a sky I'm sorry, a apple tv 4k and I always get the new one when it comes out. And I have Sky Q. But I didn't have Sky Q for a few weeks. Sky kept messing around, sending me out a new bot, and I just got so used to using the streaming services that I did think about cutting the cord for a while.
Speaker 1:And for me, what I'd love is that I had my Apple TV. On my Apple TV, I had my premium services, your Netflix and your Apple TV Pluses, but then I also had my Freely app. So actually, in my daughter's bedroom, where she doesn't really watch live TV, we could put the Freely app on her Apple TV and that way she could watch YouTube, but she could also go over and watch one of the free-to-air channels as well. So I think it's great because now you can get an LG G5 and a Freely box and actually get your free-to-air platforms as well as smart surfaces built into the TV. You don't need an aerial satellite dish anymore, just a good broadband.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think once the end user gets used to doing that the streaming of terrestrial television, the same as you, I sort of stopped Sky for a little bit and if you had the streaming services for BBC iPlayer, itvx, form 5, it's just getting used to that rather than the convenience of pressing it on your TV or on Sky, for instance. But if you have like Now TV as well, I think there's a cost effective side of that for doing the sports subscriptions which I think a lot of people are doing now as well. So it's a mix doing it, mixing it up a little bit, rather than having all your eggs in one basket, ie Sky or Virgin or whatever. I think mixing it up nowadays can save you for a lot of people, I would say, because if bbc I play, you go on to it and then you've got programs you can watch, but then, okay, where's the live tv? On which live tv? Then you have to try and find the live tv section and and how do I get the subtitles on? And I noticed the other day.
Speaker 1:I noticed the other day on my I've got two hyacinths tvs in the gym at the office and I use them. So I could be using Swift on the bike and the TV's playing. So I'm cycling along to my little avatar, especially for the London. Ride bike ride just recently, or we're going to do recently.
Speaker 2:10th of the 14th. Not long to go.
Speaker 1:But I quite like having the TV on. But what I noticed just recently is the Channel 4 app on there. Because it was the app built into the tv, you couldn't stream live tv. However, that's just recently been changed on these hyacinths because if I went to my apple tv I could stream live tv, but it was almost like they were going. If the channel 4 app is on a tv that can get to get live tv. They weren't giving the live tv ability on the app be able to watch live tv we sell live tv a few more times yeah, um, and I was really annoying because I would want to watch live tv on these monitors.
Speaker 1:Technically they're not connected to anything apart from an apple tv built services I do hope.
Speaker 1:I mean apple do a great thing on their apple tv boxes, which I really wish more services would come to where they do, like the my TV section of the Apple TV. Yeah, it's nice and it tells you what you were watching, like on iPlayer, on Channel 4, on Sky, but annoyingly, people like Netflix have not opted into it, so and I think, more people who are, as the Americans termed years ago, cutting the cable. I went upstairs the other day to bed and my wife was watching something called ITVX and I went. You know, we've got Sky again. The box is coming up in the morning.
Speaker 1:I just got used to it. But then, like this morning when I got up at five o'clock, I went downstairs, didn't really fancy watching the news. I ended up watching DMACC and discovering Alaska and building houses in Alaska. I was just having a coffee, doing some work. There's a lot of weird and wonderful things on, especially at that time in the morning, so that for the moment, that's why I don't think I can get rid of Sky. No, because I do like to be able to put it on, and I know Sky Q does give you the gooey, but, as Simon, who works with both of us, says, it can be a bit clunky, a bit flippy a bit laggy.
Speaker 1:And then the other thing I just could briefly touch on congratulations to Kev for getting a five out of five rating. From what Hi-Fi on the aforementioned a few weeks ago soundbar.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we spoke about that. That was getting hot off the press. So newly launched and yeah, I think it's got a nice five-star review, which again sounds phenomenal. So they really liked it.
Speaker 1:Still haven't heard it. Annoyingly I did when my daughter went into hospital the other day and we were waiting. Part of me was hoping that my wife had to wait with her because we were told only one parent was allowed in the hospital. Annoyingly, they let both in because it was only at Buckingham Palace and I could have quickly quickly if they were like sorry, sir, only one.
Speaker 1:Oh well, have the mother. My mother is better to be with the daughter. I'll go and waste some time and I was going to nip up to care Go off.
Speaker 2:But annoyingly they let me in which was great for my family.
Speaker 1:But family, yeah, but not that I still haven't got to come on. Hurry up, yeah, so uh, but I will get to see it.
Speaker 2:Um, as I am very, very interested from a musical point of view as well as from a, uh, theatrical point of view yeah, I think the, the, the, the bass levels from as well, according to the review, was pretty, pretty impressive, so the best they've heard was that with the sub?
Speaker 1:because I know you can add a wireless sub to it.
Speaker 2:Didn't imply it was with the sub. So that kind of does make sense, to be honest, but it did say that from the standalone uh unit. Yeah, it was, uh, it's pretty impressive, so but you can obviously add the sub for bigger rooms, I think is what it said.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've got a client that's got some heos in and he's having some issues with it. It's uh uh, it's a job that we inherited. Don't like the word takeover. It's a job we inherited and the problem is that they built the cabinetry for the same size as the products they were putting in, which is, for me, a massive no-no. So ie, you know the slender here.
Speaker 1:Our sound bar that just fits in there and there literally isn't a gap. Wow, wow. So I'm hoping that I can get one of the Kef ones in there, adapt it ever so slightly, because this cabinetry costs an absolute fortune.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you've got to be careful with that kind of. Thing it may look nice, but if you need to change anything at the end or a later date, if products go wrong, then you're running into some trouble.
Speaker 1:Which our friends at Cinema Lux are very good at doing, which, when this podcast comes out, that one probably went live a couple of weeks ago, which is actually going live tonight as we record this. So I'll sit down with Darren from Cinema Luck and discuss it about working with clients like yourself and like me to build these phenomenal rooms for clients and create these amazing spaces.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they create beautiful bespoke cinema rooms. So yeah, that's why we work with those guys.
Speaker 1:Beautiful cabinetry, accent detailing, and then we come in and put the deck in and it's all a lovely, seamless, seamless, seamless integration. Okay, so right, let's quickly move on to the topic of the month. Um, so the topic of the month I just wanted to briefly cut on, which was like dedicated cinema room versus media room. Now, now, not necessarily versus, because I think versus puts a like you're pitting the two between each other. But for me, you know, a dedicated cinema room is exactly that. It's a room which is dedicated, sometimes without windows, without you know many doors, apart from the one that comes in and goes out, and it's a space purely for watching content, but often cinema content and the. Basically it is a room that is fabric, wall streeted.
Speaker 1:You know, high-end system cinema seats where potentially, a media room is more of that, like we touched on with the epsom story. Um, which is more of the room, which is more lifestyle. It's taking elements from the cinema but putting it more into a lounge, a family space. In your 26 years in this industry, when a client sort of says to you about okay, what do we go with, a cinema room or a media room, what do you sort of say to them to explain the difference between the two and how, although they're not two separate things, they accumulate. You take elements from both and put into the other.
Speaker 2:For us, the process for a cinema room specifically is more involved with the client, because you're doing a dedicated room, disused room, any unloved room. You've got a blank canvas so you can talk to the client, understand what kind of fabrics they want, what wood paneling they want, whether they want a stretched wall system, and you can understand their needs and requirements a little bit more because you're understanding how they want to use the room but also how they want the room to look. Now, with a living room or media room sorry, it generally is a multi-purpose room, so it is a living room as well you can generally have a sofa in there. You can. There's. Only you don't need that wow factor for that.
Speaker 2:For that media room, for cinema room, especially if a spoke cinema room, the clients and the relatives and friends will want to go in there and go, wow, that looks pretty good. You also want that with a media room, don't get me wrong. But I think when you have a dedicated room, getting that wooden panelling in there, getting everything nice and bespoke and getting it how the client wants it is paramount and I think that makes a big, big difference. So that's the biggest difference in terms of that room. It's having a dedicated room, and if they want to watch the movies in there that are not really interesting, and watching sport as much, or playing games as you mentioned earlier the games consoles then that would be more for a media room.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I concur, I think when we've done the job we're doing in Beckham at the moment, that is a dedicated cinema room. Yes, it's using a 16.9 screen but it's got, I think it's 10 seats on step levels, the intricate work we're doing on the walls at the moment, using suede fabric, with the speakers recessed behind it, coffered ceiling, um, we're not going to put starlight in. That might go in the future, but it is a very dark room, um, and the screen is always there. Okay, you could do the deco screen like you've got next door here, but it is a room which is predominantly for enjoying entertainment, whereby you're shutting the door. It's got that better ambient noise in there, so you know you can slap your hands together.
Speaker 1:You don't get that echo-iness, if I can say it, that you get in a media room when, if I think to like the job we did in Merton that I talked to earlier, you know that was a dual-based screen, so they had a TV earlier. You know that was a dual base screen, so they had a tv. I mean this client had um, had a uh, had a eight sorry 7.4.4 meridian system using a set of ls uh, not ls uh, dsp 8000s front speakers. I mean, this was hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of speakers and equipment for an LG 32. But he had a 65-inch, 55-inch TV on the wall and then he had a 100-inch screen that dropped down in there. And, yeah, you couldn't say it's not a cinema. No, because it is better than some people would have in their cinema room. But you've always got compromises.
Speaker 2:So with living rooms and media rooms, you've got more compromises. With a dedicated cinema room, compromises should be kept to the absolute minimum. You shouldn't have any compromises at all in theory, but not every room is perfectly shaped or the perfect size. Windows and doors obviously do come into consideration. But I think if you can have that conversation with the client, get in that dedicated room. It just brings the room together much more cohesively and their enjoyment is paramount. Obviously. The end result so for us it's having a dedicated room is really really, really exciting. I think it's getting it great. It's media rooms we like media rooms, but I've got a media room. I haven't got a cinema room at home. So when we do a client cinema room sitting down in that dedicated room is yeah, we love it, calibrating it and get it all set up.
Speaker 1:It's that special place, seeing their picture their look on their face.
Speaker 1:It's that special place. It's like you know I'm fortunate I've got both. You know we've put a good system in there, sort of like a family room. So you know they might be running a 7.2.2, so seven speakers around them, two speakers in the ceiling, two subwoofers and it sounds really good. But then they go downstairs and open the room into this acoustically treated space and it just is that so much of a more of a well factor. And it is that place where you know, upstairs they could watch. You know, um, you know they can watch strictly or they can watch everyday tv and they can watch everything upstairs. I mean, a lot of my clients have got a video matrix so they can put the kaleidoscape upstairs so they can sit down and watch movies with the grandkids. But then you know, I'm really excited because, uh, uh, final reckoning landed on my kaleidoscape this morning.
Speaker 1:Yes, well, mission impossible so it's almost like I nearly cancelled today, just like a stay at home watch that but like, but then to go downstairs and sit and watch that in, you know, like, as we spoke to david just a minute ago, you know 32 or 64 channels for a trinov in.
Speaker 2:You know an eight by five pure cinema, you know, engineered just for you, that's the dedicated cinema it's a dedicated cinema, as you say, with with the trinov, but again it's cinema, as you say, with the Trinov, but again it's having the source, the correct source, because the Trinov, while being wonderful, having a normal streaming Apple TV or Amazon Fire Stick can only output what's being sent to it. So having a dedicated source like Kaleidoscape or a physical media, makes any system or any room sound so much better. Even you're going with a normal entry or av amp, if you have a physical media player, that would sound much better, or kaleidoscape, much better than any streaming apple tv or well, I was.
Speaker 1:I was talking to kaleidoscape the other day actually and and I'm not sure if we mentioned it in our podcast, which we talked about streaming, you know, different platform was the fact of the actually the entry-level kaleidoscape 2k player obviously has the audio with the 4k player. So actually, you know it's. I mean I've just I've cancelled my subscription to uhd with sky. You know they still charge you for hd I know shocking.
Speaker 2:So if you want your HD, you have to pay for HD to get your HD.
Speaker 1:Then you still have to pay for your HD. Yeah, you have to pay for HD and your HD. How's that?
Speaker 1:fair In this day and age in 2025. But actually for a media room, putting a 2K kaleidoscape in on on a 4K TV, you're still going to get a cracking picture, but you're also going to get that sound. That is not you know what was it sort of like one-fifth of the sound quality on an Apple TV via something like Netflix, compared to, you know, the full-fat audio you're going to get on a Kaleidoscape. It's a huge difference.
Speaker 2:So if you've got a nice big TV, you want a nice big sound as well. So that's being compressed, which is what you get with Amazon or Netflix. It's always compressed compared to Kaleidoscape or a physical media disc, but yeah, that's going to make a massive difference.
Speaker 1:So we're not saying there's anything wrong with a media room. We're just saying a media room is very much a lifestyle room.
Speaker 2:If you're lucky enough to have both, then great. I assume your clients would use the media room a lot more and the cinema room as a special occasion for films and sporting events. But any media room being multi-purpose would always be compromised at some sort. But hey, it looks good, it sounds good, you're happy, the client's happy, fantastic.
Speaker 1:And obviously in a media room, we have solutions like invisible speakers, where we might not necessarily use those. In a media room, we have solutions like invisible speakers where we might not necessarily use those in the cinema room behind fabric, but obviously in a media room. We did one in, uh, favisham, which that is, you know, 16 channels, I think all with amina.
Speaker 2:Invisible speakers in the wall sounds phenomenal minimalistic yeah, and all you see is a 77 inch lgtb on the wall. I was like looking around, going where is this sound coming from? And again, that's the wow factor. So you are getting a wow factor, but a different kind of wow factor, Because that sound coming from the TV. Don't be silly, it's properly set up, properly calibrated speakers are hidden. If you go in a cinema room, your assumption is that's going to sound great and obviously in is that's going to sound great In a media room now especially we're coming into the age of the 110-inch Hisense.
Speaker 1:Obviously, sony showed off some of their modular TVs at our friends at AWE recently and here at Pulse. Actually, that big modular TV in your lounge, a friend of Simon's, he's got a 100-inch Sony with a really good system in his lounge. I mean a friend of simon's, he's got 100 inch sony um with a really good calf system in his lounge. Sounds phenomenal, but it's, it's based around 100 inch sony tv it's not as cinematic, in my personal opinion, a tv.
Speaker 2:But hey, a 98 inch, 110 inch tv is still pretty big, but to have a more cinematic experience. So we're seeing a client later this week who wants a new tv and then got rid of their uh projector because they weren't happy with it. But we're thinking about having a short throw projector, something different, so you still get that big image. So you don't need a black like one of those, like one of those. So you don't need a black screen on your wall. So a 98 inch tv in a media system is looks pretty pretty, uh, pretty ugly.
Speaker 2:To be honest, it's not great. That's why, again, we did that samsung picture frame tv, because that that blended into the decor of the client's property really really well. So a short throw projector if you've got nothing else on the wall and all you've got is a box there or obviously, then go in a cabinet hidden away. It doesn't have to be sitting there on the side, that can be hidden away and then you turn it on. You get a nice big image. Okay, I didn't think about that, rather than having the projector right at the back of the room and somebody walks in front of it. So that's, if the multi-purpose room, then that's probably not viable.
Speaker 1:So yeah, we'll see how that goes well, no, our friend owen um madoc did uh, actually won a senior award for it, which was a cabinet with a tv and a drop down screen, and but that jet was at the back of the room up in the course of the ceiling. But obviously now with people like Darren at CinemaLup, we could take something like the Epson we've got here, have a nice bit of cabinetry with that sunk within inside the cabinetry and then have a TV and then here you have a drop-down screen behind the helmet here. So it's sort of that sort of thing, together with a nice, you know speaker system, would blend in really nicely in a media room yeah where you potentially wouldn't use that in a cinema room, but it's taking elements, yeah it's bespoke in a different kind of way.
Speaker 2:So it's not your dedicated room, it's a dedicated media room as you, as you have a bespoke dedicated media rooms.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna go with my Ask AI just to wrap this up.
Speaker 2:It was good last week. We enjoyed that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I thought it was really good and actually, annoyingly, I came up with this feature because I wanted to show the incompetence of AI and I'm certainly learning that it actually has an incompetence. Actually, I've got to say I was listening to a Diary of the CEO podcast on the way up here, stephen Bartlett, and he was talking to I'm going to remember his name Mo Gowat, who used to be like one of the heads at Google, and they were talking about AI and it really, really interested. I think it came out on like the 4th of August, so go back and listen to it. I recommend it because that was talking about AI and how it's going to affect our lives, and I saw on the news the other day that there was two things. I can't think what it was now. There was two for want of a better word diseases or symptoms that apparently AI has already done research into with the scientists to find a potential cure for.
Speaker 1:I hope so, and you know that's brilliant, but anyway. So the definition you know it's brilliant, but anyway. So the definition when I asked AI what is the difference between a cinema room and a media room? Definition dedicated cinema, a purpose-built enclosed room designed purely for watching films, not necessarily often replacing the experience of a commercial theatre. 100%, no purpose. Sorry, no other purpose, no compromise.
Speaker 2:I think that's a good tagline no other purpose, no compromises. I like that.
Speaker 1:So, although I don't necessarily agree with the fact that they're purely for cinema sorry for watching films, because there is, I know, a lot of my clients watch a lot of football. I mean, immediately, they're a Spurs fan. Hello, ben, if you're watching.
Speaker 2:Premier League has started again, so we're all excited with that.
Speaker 1:And we won just but yeah. So I think that yeah, no other purpose, no compromises. I think that sums it up beautifully. Media room a multi-purpose entertainment space, often a living room, family room or open plan area where movies, tv, gaming, music and socialising all happen.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's pretty perfectly, sums it up. That sums it up perfectly, yeah.
Speaker 1:We're going to get some slogans out of this, aren't you? So design goals you brace it down to Hashtag. Yeah, just brace it down to design goals, which I just thought was quite good. So design goals, primary goal dedicated cinema, maximum immersion and performance.
Speaker 1:Media room Flexibility and integration with lifestyle. Room use 100% films, gaming and TV. Dedicated cinema room, sort of flipped on its head there. Media room, multi-use Music, sports, casual viewing, etc. Look and feel Dark, acoustically treated, theatre-like, etc. Look and feel Dark, acoustically treated, theatre-like room for a cinema room and then stylish, blends in with home decor for the media room. Ai is definitely American. Yeah, oh yeah, definitely have that theatre. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of Zs in here. Picture and sound Display Usually a large projector which is generally acoustically transparent, um, in a media room projector or large tv, yeah, um, sound, um, high-end surround, immersive dolby, atmos, dtx or oro 3d for a dedicated cinema. A media room good sound, but often compromised by room layout. Yeah, I agree with that a bit. I mean, yeah, you can put atmos, dtsx and oro into a lounge, um, but yeah, I've had many projects where it's compromised yeah, you know you've got the soundbar option as well, haven't you?
Speaker 2:so, uh, yes, always, always an opportunity to put something like that in in those kind of rooms and then, uh, fully, a fully controlled acoustics with treatment, limited control due to open spaces.
Speaker 1:Again, like in here, we have reflective walls which we would probably have in a media room, but we could use panels like these as acoustic treatment in a media room Environmental lighting, dedicated cinema blackout, lighting control, dark colour schemes to minimise reflections that one I was quite impressed with. Um, uh, cinema seating layout. Media room often has windows with ambient light more relaxed eating, so sofas, seasonal or sectional a lot of the way it's mentioned.
Speaker 2:Uh, reflection, though that's uh quite an interesting because not many, many people understand the reflections and and bass traps and everything like that in a room, so uh, for it to kind of touch on that well also.
Speaker 1:Also, I had a conversation with the client in beckoning the other day about he wanted to put so where we've got like meter fabric panel, then we've got a wooden section, he wants to have brom down either side of it. Very, and it would be brilliant. And, owen, you're going to be proud of me for saying this. But, as our friend Owen Maddock would say, the problem is if you've got reflective lighting or reflective material a metre or so away from the screen, it's going to take you out of the experience because all you're going to see is the ambient light reflection from the projector on that feeding.
Speaker 2:It never looks good. And again, a massive compromise and the client is happy with that compromise, but you need to make them aware of reflections of light, sound and everything else.
Speaker 1:And I said to him I said, look, you do realise this. And he's like oh, and I said what I would do is fabric wrap up the edge of the wood. That way you're not getting wood brass Sorry, roddy, it was your brass stuff I'm not selling Wood brass fabric. So you're not getting three different textures but you also lose the reflection, which he then said well, that means it's going to be cheaper. And I went, not necessarily because now I've got to wrap the edges of all the fabric tracking, because Roddy's metal lovely covers the edge of the seam. Yes, now it doesn't. So I've got to sit down for about a week and wrap all those edges.
Speaker 1:It's going to be more hard work for you to be fair.
Speaker 2:It is there, should be more money.
Speaker 1:I think it's going to look better and obviously you don't get those reflections. And then, lastly, for the media room environmental lighting Lighting designed for both everyday use and viewing. I think that's right. Last but not least, typical client profile I haven't read this, but it's going to be interesting Dedicated rooms, cinema files, luxury homeowners, clients wanting the real deal theatre definitely American spelled the right way as well experience, family rooms, families, open plan houses, people wanted everyday usability and the occasional big movie night experience pretty much sums it up yeah, it does sum it up and it is all very true, but again, it's uh ai.
Speaker 2:Is uh gonna gonna take over the world?
Speaker 1:I just well, yeah, I think that this is proving that I've used it a bit recently. I've actually started using it quite often as a aid. So if I've written something, I will then put it through like ChatGPT. I've actually started subscribing to ChatGPT. I'll put it through ChatGPT and just say look, can you rewrite this for me? And actually I will write something like a bio and I'll say can you rewrite this for LinkedIn? Can you rewrite this for YouTube? Can you rewrite this for Instagram? But then say I've only got this amount of words in an Instagram profile, for instance. Can you rewrite this for an Instagram profile?
Speaker 2:It is clever. So let me simplify that for you and make it more easily to understand, Are you like? Yes, that's what I want to say. Thanks very much.
Speaker 1:Well, my daughters. I've literally just let our daughter have her own YouTube channel. She sings and she dances and she's nearly 15, but she sings and she dances and we've not had any social media until I said till 15, which is slightly before 15. But I said to her look, you need to write your profile because I'm very big at like OK, look, I'll let you have YouTube, we'll get your Instagram and TikTok, so you've got the same handle. So, like on most platforms, if not all of them, I am at Mr Stuart Virgin.
Speaker 1:So I said we need to. I want you want your channel name on your YouTube channel to be the same name on your Instagram and the same name of everything. So there's no confusion Instagram and the same name of everything. So there's no confusion. And I said, right, so let's. We went on Canva and we made an image for her, for a headline image you know on there, and I said, right, let's use chat, gpt, so put your name in. Oh, you know my name, what you do, what your joys and your habits and your passions are, and then go write this for a YouTube profile. And we wrote it and I just sat there and looked at it and went that's perfect, and my daughter was like I could do better than that and I went really, you're just saying that because that's just taking your job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're fired, but no, but I do think, you know, I think this is proven. Actually, something we thought might be a laugh for the joke is it's actually getting it bloody right it is getting it spot on that's that's for sure.
Speaker 2:But uh, but either a media room or cinema room is uh, is is fantastic for any home or property.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and I think you could take elements from things like rp22 into both rooms, and I think we can. A hga member and, you know, a senior member, an integrator could design you a phenomenal space which you're going to love, regardless of whether it is a dedicated room if you're fortunate enough to have that space, let alone budget, um or just you know a room that is utilizing. I mean, at home. I've at the moment I've got a 5.1.2 system in my lounge. Works perfectly for me our bedrooms above us, so I can't have it on too loud at night, otherwise I get a bang on the floor.
Speaker 1:Um, yes, do I miss my showroom? Yeah, of course I do. It's not quite the same as that. That was 16 channels. That was brilliant. That was on a 4-meter wide-scope screen. One day I will potentially do it. I'm actually thinking about doing a YouTube series about building it. Stay tuned, but I think, whichever way you go, I think a HCA member can help you and there's definitely elements that you can take from each and revert to both. It's just designed for you and your space and your enjoyment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it's perfect, but we need to head off and start practicing and get the. London to Brighton bike ride.
Speaker 1:Get ready for this London to Brighton bike ride.
Speaker 2:September the 14th. We have our shirts now, so the shirts are on and it all feels a little bit real. There's only a month to go, so I'm not sure we're going to put a link underneath to if you could sponsor us just a couple of pennies, that would be fantastic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll put a link here and then I'll put up the photograph that we just took with myself, you, david Merritt, which we're going to have outside with our bike. Hopefully I'll shed a few more pounds, but no, that's going to be great. That's for together for cinema, raising money for putting these entertainment spaces in children's hospices around the country.
Speaker 2:A very worthwhile cause. So that's why there's 50 of us doing it, so two runners and 48 cyclists. And, yeah, lots of training still to do, but only a month to go.
Speaker 1:So I'm starting to realize I've recorded all these podcasts with people and trying to put one up every other tuesday means I've not got enough tuesdays to get them all up before christmas. And I'm looking at it going like we recorded this three months ago. It's still not up yet. Can't believe. You said the c word, yeah I refused to say it earlier, I know you.
Speaker 1:You say that I saw a sign the other day which was it was bedbury down the a21 which is a, a forestry place. Enjoy bedbury at christmas time, and I swear that was out in july. And even the other day I saw on sky um a program inside the ambulance at christmas. And we are, as of recording, the 19th of august we want a cinema system or media room before christmas.
Speaker 2:Get your orders in now, yeah, before the end of september.
Speaker 1:Yes, please not november no certainly not december, definitely not, because I can guarantee now you ain't gonna get it september is your prime slot, awesome.
Speaker 2:Well, look, have a good week. We're gonna say christmas, then have a good christmas. Say christmas, have a good christmas.
Speaker 1:I'll see you in the new year I told you, I got a lot of podcasts but, yeah, no, uh, obviously we'll get another one up, hopefully in a few weeks after that, four weeks after this one.
Speaker 2:Um, we need to have a word with some other people to go and record somewhere from there, because I've got no further with my studio I've been too busy, too busy, too busy, but look forward to it and say we've got the bike ride and some new products coming up in september, so, uh, we'll liaise them awesome, excellent, simon.
Speaker 1:Look, I'll let you go because you've got to go off and be a yes dad indeed thanks so much I've got to go and do a bike ride, so thank you very much and we'll see you on the next one. See the next one thanks, guys, thank you.
Speaker 2:Thanks a lot, cheers guys. Thank you Bye.