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Industry Opinion: What Value Can Installers Add to Home Cinema Audio? (2/12/2008)

By Yasmin Hashmi, HiddenWires

In the current economic climate, the feedback we're getting is that while things are tough in retail, high-end projects are still going ahead. No one, however, should be complacent. The message we hear time and time again is that installers need to add value to their propositions in order to stay in the running. So we asked a number of manufacturers, suppliers and installers, what audio technology or services should installers be considering for home cinema in order to make their customers happy and ensure a healthy future for their businesses. Here are their replies:

Martin Noar, Owner, Libra Solutions Limited

Value can be added to the home cinema room at the design stage through room ergonomics to optimise the layout for equipment placement, seating and most importantly, the room acoustics. Even a simple mood lighting system can transform the feel of a room and would be a wise investment for any home cinema room. Consideration of the lighting layout at the planning stage can yield impressive results, for a nominal outlay.

Facilities should be in place to accommodate the increasing availability of Internet-based movie-on-demand services which promise to offer higher and higher resolutions as the technology develops, so ensure that your AV amplifier has a spare input or three! Also, standards for further improving picture quality and resolution are still evolving, and even though Blu-ray has won the format battle for high definition disc, the new HDMI 1.3 'Deep Colour' standard is just beginning to creep into our lives, demanding a whopping 10.2Gb/s bandwidth. So, as the final link to your projector or plasma display will be the HDMI cable, this is the critical path and therefore really does need to be of a very high quality to ensure it can cope with this high bandwidth and not compromise picture quality.

All installers worth their salt will ensure that these considerations are factored into the design and specification, but if you really want to set yourself apart, pay attention to the room acoustics. Although one could allocate a large chunk of the budget to acoustic design and absorbent materials, a lot can be achieved through careful room design without spending a fortune on acoustic materials, and the difference it can make is what will get you the next referral.

Neil Davidson, Managing Director, Genesis Technologies UK

All projects can benefit from improved acoustics. We have been offering a combination of class-leading room correction and full acoustic design packages to our dealers for a couple of years now, allowing them to easily and confidently sell this concept to their customers. The main areas of what we would call a full package are:

1. Acoustic Isolation - the goal of this is to design rooms where the sound is separated from the other areas of the house, or even the outside. Sound isolation is particularly appealing to homeowners and can be cheap enough to apply throughout the entire property. Acoustic design should be part of the multiroom system sale!

2. Acoustic Treatment - the goal of this stage is to design the room layout and identify the correct application of acoustic treatment products to give the highest level of performance. This is distinct from isolation, as the goal is to improve sound in the room rather than prevent transmission between rooms. Good acoustic treatment design can be very complex and is best handled by experts.

3. Acoustic Calibration - this optimises the sound in the room to provide the best possible quality at the listening position. In very well-designed rooms, this is the icing on the cake, but even very difficult rooms can be greatly improved through calibration.

To get the best out of your acoustic calibration stage it is also vital to specify some form of electronic room correction device. Automated options make it easy for anyone to get good results, but for the finest systems we still prefer to rely on manually setup systems.

Anthony Wilkins, Director of Marketing, DTS Licensing Ltd.

The undertaking of any home cinema installation is a major commitment and one that needs careful planning no matter whether it's a relatively modest set-up going into an existing living room, or a fully separate no-holds barred custom-built room. My advice would be to think not just of immediate requirements, but to strongly consider potential future needs. Back in the days when DVD was king, the available disc capacity meant that the available audio codecs were only capable of accommodating 5.1 surround, which at the time, we all considered totally adequate and were certainly capable of producing very convincing results. When properly set-up and calibrated, even a budget-conscious system provided an experience way ahead of two-channel stereo. Today's high definition formats such as Blu-ray disc have sufficient space to easily support 7.1 audio codecs.

With the addition of two extra back surround channels, the sound experience is far more immersive and there is much less reliance on having a 'sweet spot' that only really delivers to the one or two people lucky enough to be in the right seats! This can also be of benefit where room dimensions preclude the optimum placement of speakers. Whilst it's true that presently, the majority of software titles are still in 5.1, there is a steady increase in the adoption of 7.1 by content providers. As this choice continues to grow, there is a compelling argument to opt for the full eight speaker set-up. Even if you start with just a 5.1 installation, at least make provision by laying the additional cables. AV receivers with 7.1-channel capability are ever more affordable and many offer post-processing that will up-convert 5.1 sources to provide 7.1 reproduction. There is also a wide range of lifestyle-type speaker packages that combine astonishing performance with unobtrusive dimensions, so you don't always need to compromise quality for space.

In these times of financial prudence, the chances are that your customers will be going out less and spending more time with their home entertainment systems. Now is the time to consider maximising the experience for the whole family by considering the merits of 7.1-channel performance.

Steve Halsall, UK Managing Director, KEF Audio

Rather than dwell on the depressing 'meltdown' and 'credit crunch' national media culture, which we at KEF find both demotivating and negative, I think the custom install market should be looking to exploit the benefits that can be realised from the current situation.

Sure, it would be patently naive to disregard the global market conditions, but just look at the new value our customers can derive from a combination of recent exciting home cinema technology and the necessary price reductions brought about by lower VAT and a more competitive cost climate. With sensational new formats, such as the now determined Blu-ray, our CI industry should be taking the opportunity to promote the cost-effective ways our customers can improve their home cinema systems. Remember that George Lucas, the founder of Lucasfilm and Director of the Star Wars movies, is on record as saying that audio makes up to 50% of the impact of a movie - and he should know. Here is a chance - while value is at an unprecedented high - to think positively about the future.

HDMI 1.3 receivers from all the key Japanese manufacturers now give high-definition sound to go with your HD TV set, and we specifically design our home theatre speakers to give the full sonic picture from the Dolby True HD and DTS Master Audio now available on Blu-ray discs.

We have always argued that the best home cinema systems are based on a balanced relationship between sound and vision. In the 1990s, systems would frequently be skewed towards sound, at the expense of suitable vision. Now, the reverse is often true: we frequently see large-screen TVs teamed with a cheap, basic home cinema in a box kit, often sold together as package-deal solutions. We would argue that while these are functional systems, they are far from ideal. What is required is a well-matched home cinema that devotes half its overall budget to vision, half to sound, ensuring that the consumer has sufficient funds to invest in better-quality source components, particularly speakers, all of which combine to provide a dramatically more accurate, and emotionally engaging listening experience than any 'all-in-one' system. Even if taking this stance means opting for a smaller-screen display in order to fit within total budget, we feel it's the better long-term solution - not least because it should create a more musically enjoyable (and thus more flexible) system, too.

And - despite what people say - there has been no better time than now to take advantage of what we have on offer!

Garth Powell, Senior Product Designer/Senior Sales Engineer, Furman

In a tough economy, it is imperative to make the most of every sales opportunity. As a manufacturer of power management components, we are constantly educating dealers and installers on the need to properly specify attachments such as power management with every sale. The benefits here are two-fold: the customer will receive a protected system with all of the performance and convenience benefits that should be expected with the addition of a power management device, while the dealer/installer will benefit from the increased margins that come with the sale of these products. Further, the dealer/installer's reputation will be protected by ensuring optimal performance. When times are tough, it is more important than ever to properly train salespeople to be able to communicate the benefits of the technologies offered and to be able to provide informed answers to customers' questions.

Beyond increasing profit margins, training salespeople is also important because consumers generally have no idea of the problems that they are going to have with AC power and the detrimental effects it can have on today's technology. This leaves it up to dealers and installers to educate consumers on the necessity of power management to protect their home cinema investment. In Western Europe, for example, there is a common misconception that power quality is good enough as is, and there is no need for any power protection or filtration. While it is true that Western Europe does benefit from very stable voltage, there are many other factors to take into consideration. Modern power delivery was not designed for sensitive electronic components. Small transient spikes and noise on the AC line are everyday and commonplace by-products of how the power grid works. While these anomalies were perfectly acceptable for the active devices, motors, vacuum tubes, and other components the system was designed to power, they can cause serious, long-term problems with today's sensitive circuits.

Geoff Meads, Brand Manager, A&R Cambridge Ltd

In a tidal wave of cheap screens, expensive control systems and hiding everything sold in cupboards, many dealers seem to have forgotten what really turns customers on - a stunning demonstration. The art of the demonstration was the seed of many a great audio store. Success came because they delivered a compelling experience and customers were convinced to buy. A good specialist dealer, who's prepared to wow a customer with a crafted demo will hook customers forever.

In all the doom and gloom, it's really easy for the head to go down and tread the path of least resistance, to moan and groan rather than get on and do something positive. As a salesperson you have to go in bright and breezy each and every day, no matter how hard it is. Would you buy from a sales person that looked suicidal? As the old Chinese proverb says, "Man who cannot smile should not open shop."

Yasmin Hashmi is the Editor of HiddenWires magazine. If you would like to comment on this issue, or to be included in future opinion pieces, please send an email to opinion(AT)hiddenwires.co.uk.