Pro-installs

The high life. Most of us aspire to it, but very few get the chance to live it. But if you're a resident of Ballymore Group's 50-storey Pan Peninsula high-rise in London's docklands, then you literally get to go up in the world. From its deluxe apartments, swanky restaurant, leisure centre and spa, no expense has been spared. No surprise, then, that the developers also decided to  read more »

Home automation is only a short step away from the twinned worlds of advanced lighting systems and home cinema. Indeed, most custom installers now offer levels of automation as a standard ingredient in aspects of home cinema and multiroom entertainment projects.

But what was once the sole domain of the high-end market is now coming down in price. At least that’s the message coming from Europe’s leader in  read more »

Despite howls of protest from the consumer electronics industry, the California Energy Commission (CEC) has finally voted unanimously to outlaw TVs which do not comply with strict energy guidelines.

According to the CEC, all new TVs with screen sizes up to 58ins will need to be more energy-efficient from 2011, with more draconian requirements kicking-in from 2013: in practice this means that 42in TVs must use less than 183W by 2011 and less than 116W by  read more »

The high-end confederation of custom installers that is the PAC group recently rocked central London with a demonstration of the joys of high-end AV. The object of the glitzy bash was to promote the work of PAC (Passionate About Cinema) members to mainstream media, and if the buzz generated was anything to go by it worked.

Despite an unfriendly environment in a large, high-ceilinged room, the PAC team installed a convincing multimedia sound system, comprising  read more »

The owner of this astonishing rural-based home theatre (and the estate that goes with it) is a silver-haired retiree and self-confessed über geek. He used to work seven days a week for a slightly bonkers company; wake up midmorning, go to the office and work until two or three in the am, then repeat. He wore sandals and jeans - a colleague wore a cloak...

His share of that enterprise, once it had gone suddenly exponential, was enough to retire on in comfort, so now he's happily CAT6 networking his whole property, which comprises quite a few rustic stone buildings as well as the main residence. While the brickwork is unashamedly Homes And Gardens, there are astonishingly high-end separate audio  read more »

Attendance was down at this year’s CEDIA Expo in Atlanta, but the mood was upbeat. Official figures from the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association indicate that the Expo drew 20,000 trade visitors, a downturn of 12 per cent from Expo 2008, but, with half of these attendees described as ‘key decision makers’, everyone seems happy with the show.  read more »

This stunning dedicated cinema room was retrofitted by Essex-based T&T Automation into a rural home, along with a CCTV and gate-access entry system.  read more »

Apollo 11 astronaut, and second person to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin has been signed up to deliver the keynote speech for the upcoming CEDIA US Expo. As part of the ongoing 40th anniversary events surrounding the first lunar landing, he’ll address the association’s annual meeting and membership breakfast on Friday, September 11.   read more »

When DSE Group was contacted by the owner of this stonking home cinema, the house was still being built. Their remit was to produce discreet lighting with mood control; music throughout  the house; and a purpose-built cinema/media room where the owners' grandchildren would have a place to play games over the internet. As this was a new-build, DSE had the chance to hide all cables and produce top-quality finishes, helped by its own ranges of furniture, paints and wallpapers.

In the dedicated cinema room are  read more »

Home Cinema Choice's Living With Home Cinema #1 digital edition is now available online and for free download!

This hi-tech lifestyle magazine features some of the UK's most inspirational home theatres, created by a host of award-winning custom installation companies. If you're looking for ideas for your own home cinema or are planning to upgrade that loft, garage or spare room, Living With Home Cinema is the ideal place to start...

The team at custom install experts Finite Solutions faced a series of very particular challenges with this project in Leeds. Not only was the owner looking for a dedicated large-screen projection cinema that could display a variety of sources - including Blu-ray, DVD, web-browsing and even 'informal boardroom-style' presentations to his  read more »

When Creative Home Cinema's Mark Buckfield met Hell's Kitchen contestant Grant Bovey at his brand-new playpad, it quickly became clear that he was planning something special...

An avid music and film fan, Grant wanted the ultimate sound and vision experience. However, it was also essential that  read more »

The custom installation trade body CEDIA UK has revealed its Award Winners for 2009, covering cinema rooms from less than £40,000 to ultra high-end multi-room jobs costing in excess of £200,000.

Far from being a parochial affair, this year’s trade event features mouth-watering, high-end installations from companies in India, the Netherlands, Pakistan, France, Italy, Greece and Spain.

Robert Hallam, Chairman of CEDIA Region 1, says: ‘We were thrilled at the quantity and quality of the entries received this year and it’s great to see so many from outside the UK not only  read more »

This project by York-based installers iHomes UK is a re-development of a 130-year-old house, with four bedrooms converted to six, including a two-tier master bedroom with spa area.

The key attraction for us, though, is the developed attic space that now includes a double bedroom, office/comms room and an impressive  read more »

The owner of this sleek media room in Durham contacted installers DSE Group with some very specific requirements. He didn’t want front-projection, as he wanted to use the screen for PC work, as well as watching movies and playing games. It was also a high priority for the display to disappear from view when not in use.

DSE used a lift mechanism from Future Automation to achieve the latter goal. A Bowers & Wilkins centre speaker sits below the screen behind acoustically transparent cloth, with the rest of the audio comprising floorstanding and in-wall speakers, plus a potent REL Studio subwoofer. Sources include Sky+ HD and a PlayStation 3 console for Blu-ray playback and games. A custom-made HDMI-equipped PC able to deliver 1920 x 1080 video was plumbed in, too.  read more »