Cinema sensation behind the front door

This Reference Sounds Cinema design has found its place behind the front door of a large house in Amsterdam. Not a separate room in a spacious detached villa, but an enthusiast who likes to enjoy an amazing film experience in his spare hours. And in the comfort of his own living room. That is why its starting position was fairly modest at first, but fueled by our enthusiasm, the possibilities and our design, we went for a full three-dimensional sound experience – without visible speakers.

We placed the 75” TV flush in a niche with an oak frame. In addition, we have included Philips Hue Gradient LED strips in the vertical frames that illuminate this oak cove from the inside. With the color options of these Gradient LED strips, endless color shades can be made to match the atmosphere. Because we let these frames continue over the ceiling, an intimate space is created with a great sense of visual depth. Your attention is, as it were, drawn into the film.

In the acoustically transparent upholstered surfaces around the TV, the JBL Stage Series built-in loudspeakers find their place in custom-made acoustic back boxes, decoupled from the rest of the wall and furniture. Thanks to the detachable panels, these speakers are always accessible in the event of a malfunction or upgrade.

To keep the rear wall calm, we created two custom panels with an oak frame as the basis for the surround speakers. Here we find the same JBL Stage Series inwall loudspeakers in an acoustic backbox, decoupled from wall and construction. Completely hidden from view thanks to the removable acoustically transparent upholstered grill in the same cream color scheme as the rest of the wall.

To the right of the upholstered area around the subwoofer, the furniture continues for another meter to provide space for the electronics behind a flap. Subwoofer amplifier, Apple TV, BluRay Player, Network Switch, Amplifier for the Atmos channels and the Ziggo box all get a nice spot out of direct view. The Surround amplifier in the form of an Arcam AVR-10 does not. It was given a prominent place on the furniture for the custom-made oak slat belt. The cabling disappears behind the amplifier directly into the cabinet so that the whole still looks sleek despite the speaker cables, interlinks and HDMI cables.

For a truly immersive three-dimensional movie experience, the addition of two or rather four Atmos speakers is a super worthwhile investment in our opinion. However, in an existing situation without built-in applications, the placement of these ceiling speakers is a challenge. That is why we regularly apply our customized ‘clouds’. Floating just below or against the ceiling, these custom panels provide space for the Atmos speakers, mood lighting and material to improve the acoustics in the room.

In this setup, however, the idea arose to extend the front wall, including light lines, over the ceiling to just beyond the seating position. This creates a real element that gives you the feeling of being in your own cocoon in the middle of the living room. We immediately placed the necessary Philips Hue ceiling spotlights and acoustic material in this continuous, suspended ceiling element to control the reverberation time in the room. The four Atmos speakers disappear behind the outer strips of this upholstered ceiling element and enclose you in a cocoon of film sound.

The special application of the LED lighting in custom oak moldings gives this CinemaWall a unique atmosphere that can be completely adapted to the desired atmosphere of the moment. It makes this Reference Sounds CinemaWall an impressive eye catcher that boldly makes its mark on the interior, but at the same time can also be very subtle due to the flexible choice of light.

The sound is nothing short of impressive! Tight and with a wonderful power. JBL’s HDI Waveguide technology puts you right in the middle of the action without any distortion or fatigue. He had to be Cool. Cool with an oak edge is the result!