PROJECT:
The Aqua Theatre
Rapallo were contacted by our client who had moved from Auckland to Cambridge. They had just purchased a new home that had a media room, but with no hardware to make it work. So we jumped to action.
We scheduled a day onsite to do the pre-wire work. Usually in an existing home this consists of lots of holes to get the speaker / HDMI cables around the room. In this case we hit the jackpot and got all the cables run with only one hole required. At the same time the guys onsite installed the projector and set that up for the screen.
There was then a small delay in proceedings while we waited on the board for the cabinet. We constructed the AV cabinet to match the kitchen cabinets in a matt black with four doors and shelves. This was installed and then the Paradigm front array was installed above and on the wall. The acoustic weave 110″ screen was wall mounted and all the speakers installed in the pre-cut cavities. Lastly the amplifier was hooked up, installed in the cabinet with a new Blu-Ray player and the Apple TV. We setup the SVS PB1000Pro subwoofer and the IR senders.
All that was left to do then was to clean up, then setup the speakers and do a room calibration. We showed the client thru the system and explained how to use it. When we left they were happily watching Top Gun.
A great outcome and now a fantastic room for movies and sport.
The project consisted of the following Rapallo AV Design & Build services:
- Onsite Consultation – to ensure the setup matches the clients brief and the environment its being used
- Project Management
- Rapallo preferred suppliers
- Cabinet Design and Build
- Installation & setup
- Testing and training
- Post Installation Support
PROJECT:
Bespoke Home Theatre Room
Early 2020 Rapallo were contacted by the client to carry out a full build of a room into a fully dedicated home theatre room.
Our brief was to take large-ish bedroom as the space to work with, and turn that into a hidden movie sanctuary for exclusive family movie nights. The client was after an advanced setup for the room with a 9.4.6 setup.
Firstly we undertook 3D design modelling first to provide a concept of the room from the brief and then that was translated into the build spec. We created a room spec for the position of all the speakers and seats, based on the clients ideal seating placement.
Our building and electrical partners then stripped the room of all the existing floor / wall and roof coverings and build was started. We ran cable trays in the ceilings and walls to the AV cabinet from all the speaker positions, and started the plumbing for a room specific air conditioning system. All the walls were lined with acoustic batts and double layer acoustic wall linings to try and stop the transmission of sound, as the room backed onto the master bedroom. We also added a new sound-proof door.
A second tier was setup for the first row of seats including recessed power for the home theatre seating and the room had a based layer of mat black added. The room was then carpeted with extra thick underlay to again stop the transmission of the sound the lounge under the room and the fit-out of the hardware started.
Lighting was managed by on wall units that the client can control the scenes and the scene coloration. Our air-conditioning system was installed and commissioned along with a heat transfer system from the AV cabinet and room.
All the AV units were fitted into the hidden AV cabinet, and the cabling labeled and assigned to there components and tested. The speakers were fitted to the walls and the screen setup.
Our custom cabinetry was next on the list. We built a filly lined sub unit at the front of the room that could hold 4 subwoofers that had a black grille that was rubber mounted. Three large panels were then build for the front half of the room, with recessed lighting in behind them, and one with a special mounting box for the front wide surround speakers. Another smaller box was made for the Sony VW780ES projector, to mount on the rear of the room.
Our team then sourced special wall-coverings from Belgium for the rear of the room to provide some interest and texture for the room. This wall covering was then added and it provided the covering to hide the AV cabinet door.
Once all the fit out was completed, the AV gear was commissioned. This was a range of gear, including an ARCAM AV40 processor, HEGEL C55 & C54 power amplifiers and two ARCAM P429 power amplifiers to drive all the speakers.
Once the calibration was done, we are now doing an acoustic sweep of the room (May 2021) and working to add Vicoustic panels into the room to improve the room acoustics.
The final out come was quite stunning and the dead-black room makes the movies really pop, with un-paralleled sound.
*images from final calibration day
The project consisted of the following Rapallo AV Design & Build services:
- Onsite AV Consultation – to ensure the setup matches the clients brief and the environment its being used
- 3D Concept for approval
- Speaker Optimisation and Positioning
- System design and aesthetic matching
- Project Management
- Rapallo preferred suppliers for build / electrical / design
- Installation & setup – installation of the products / testing and training.
- Post installation Support
PROJECT:
Distributed Content @ Home
New Home Build / Multi Room Sound + Content Distribution
Rapallo were contacted by the owner as they were building a new home to assist with the AV spec and build.
The client wanted four aspects of their project managed by Rapallo:
- Multi-room sound through three zones.
- integration of sound bars onto living area TV’s (also used as sound zones).
- Setup and advice on a dedicated media room.
- Managed content distribution of Sky & Apple TV to 4 areas in the home with IR control.
Our team spec’d a Yamaha, Klipsch and Blustream product suite for the project. From the Yamaha Bar400 soundbars for three TV’s, to the Blustream HMXL44CS-KIT for content distribution. For sound in the three zones we used an existing Yamaha AVR to manage a range of Klipsch indoor & outdoor speakers to provide background or party sounds when the client required it.
The project consisted of the following Rapallo AV Design & Build services:
- Onsite AV Consultation – to ensure the setup matches the clients brief and the environment its being used
- Project Management
- Location Specific Custom Build & Installation
- Rapallo preferred suppliers
- Installation & setup – installation of the products / testing and training.
- Post installation Support
PROJECT:
Home Theatre / Multi-Room Sound
Rapallo were contacted by clients in North Auckland during the early phase of a new build to investigate sound and vision options for their new build. We consulted on the products and options available and provided on-going support during the build process. Our installation team did the pre-wire, speaker fitment and cuts during as soon as the gib was added to the walls and then the final fit-out once the project was completed. All ready for the Chinese New Year celebrations.
The system installed in this project contained:
- Dedicated home theatre / media room with a 7.1 setup in the lower level, including
- Custom made acoustic transparent projection screen
- Klipsch in-ceiling speakers
- Klipsch “shallow-space” in-wall speakers
- Optoma UHD projector
- Yamaha Aventage AVR
- Google ChromeCast
- Levels 2 and 3 included an integrated Yamaha MusicCast with:
- 4 Yamaha AVR’s controlling 8 zones in various areas of the house on two levels
- Controlled via the Yamaha MusicCast App on the clients phone / tablet
- Provided access to room specific sound using streamed and local music
This was a four step project based around the clients build timelines and requirements;
- Initial pre-wire was completed before the walls were covered
- Post gib and before plastering / painting, our team cut all the speaker cut-outs and measured speaker spaces to ensure final fit
- Before the scaffolding was removed we installed all the speakers that were at height
- On completion of the homes interior, the final AV fit-out was completed
The outcome was fantastic, the client was over the moon with the sound and the look of the theatre room.
The project consisted of the following Rapallo AV Design & Build services:
- Pre-purchase demo @ Rapallo’s demo room.
- Onsite AV Consultation – to ensure the setup matches the clients brief and the environment its being used
- Product sourcing for small wall cavity spaces / long cable runs
- Installation & setup – installation of the products / testing and training.
- Post installation Support
