Absolute Ultimate AV: a visit to The Manor (1 Viewer)

[Martin Dew]

Last month, I received a call inviting me to examine a couple of showcase home cinema rooms situated inside the reverentially titled ‘Manor House Estate’ in Buckinghamshire near London, exclusively for Home Theater Forum. The showrooms are known collectively as the ‘London Experience Center’ and form part of the UK arm of a Florida-based organization, Absolute Ultimate AV (AUAV), who have set up an operation to cater to an exclusive clientele for the design and installation of superlative home cinemas around the world. Not only does AUAV deliver its bespoke experiences to the rich and famous direct, they act as distributors of some of the most high-end kit available on the market. The company has also recently entered into an agreement with a US-based manufacturer to distribute a new projector to the residential market which, according to AUAV, outperforms all other video displays and will revolutionize the home AV industry. It won’t be cheap, but HTF has been promised an early...

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[Sam Posten]

Neat.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

Wow that is an amazing theater!

 

[john a hunter]

Now that you have experienced the best, will you ever be satisfied with less?

 

[DFurr]

I'd be looking at all the exposed speakers during the movie!!!

 

[nara]

I'd be looking at all the exposed speakers during the movie!!!

Agreed...and just plain ugly imho.

 

[Martin Dew]

Now that you have experienced the best, will you ever be satisfied with less?

It doesn't bother me experiencing a system that I could only dream of owning and then coming back to my own stuff. What I find far more distressing is when I've reviewed a piece of equipment that is clearly better than the equivalent component I own and knowing it has to be shipped back to the manufacturer!

 

[Martin Dew]

Agreed...and just plain ugly imho.

I used to prefer all speakers hidden, but I'm coming round to the idea of having them on show now. I think it's quite dramatic. The Dolby Cinema at AMC in Burbank has huge exposed surrounds on the walls and ceiling and I think it looks fantastic.

 

[ABSOLUTE ULTIMATE AV]

I'd be looking at all the exposed speakers during the movie!!!

Well, actually, no you won't... and this is in fact the whole point of the room designs

The photos which show the speakers have been taken with all of the lighting turned on, which illuminates the speakers. The photos have also been taken in HDR and have used tone-mapping with respect to SDR in order to make the speakers even more visible such that you can see their numbers and get an idea of their approximate positioning within the room. In reality, when the room's lights are off and you are watching a movie, due to the complete absence of environmental reflections you literally cannot actually see the speakers at all. The only time that you can see them is when the room's lights are turned on and respective lighting is being shone in the direction of the speakers. Within both home theater rooms, when you are watching a movie literally all that is visible is the video image, surrounded by a black abyss. This is a deliberate design feature that achieves the target objective of the absolute ultimate with respect to immersion and video performance.

To illustrate this particular point, here is a professional photography photograph taken from the very back of The Manor Dedicated Home Theater whilst a movie is playing. This has been taken in HDR so as to actually encapsulate the black floor and all shadow detail intact:

Hence, you will most certainly NOT be looking at all the exposed speakers during the movie, because they aren't visible. What you will see is only the video image surrounded entirely by a black abyss for the absolute ultimate in video performance and immersive viewing experience.

Agreed...and just plain ugly imho.

Well, the great thing about designing bespoke rooms for clients is that we are able to cater to everyone's particular personal preferences.

However, as I have just explained above, you most certainly will not be finding the exposed speakers to be a distraction in any regard whatsoever whilst watching a movie because you can't see them whilst a movie is playing and the lights are turned off.

That said, if this room was being built for you personally, should you not wish to see the speakers in any regard whatsoever in any circumstances then this is not a problem at all. The speakers can very easily be covered over using acoustically transparent fabric if this is your particular personal preference. There is also the option to incorporate appropriately positioned backlighting which illuminates the speakers behind the fabric and thereby makes them visible through the fabric when the backlighting it turned on. Done correctly this looks very cool indeed. So there's a number of different options here.

But let me explain the method to the madness regarding the exposed speakers. The rooms have been finished entirely with the blackest least light reflective fabric material in the world, hence it is necessary to create the aesthetcally pleasing aspects of the room design through other ways than wall and ceiling finishes. This has been achieved via a combination of dramatic contemporary lighting, and other features such as the giant 'Toy Story' Artwork and/or bespoke furniture, as well as the exposed speakers. Hence, the exposed speakers are a design feature. Personally, I think it looks badass having all of the speakers on show when the room's lights are on, and having them all vanish entirely then the movie starts and the lights go off. But like I have said, if this was to be YOUR home theater, then as stated, absolutely no problem hiding the speakers completely if that's your particular personal preference.

That said however, I would like to have the opportunity to try to change your mind about this. I note that you happen to live in the UK. I would therefore like to invite you to come and visit and experience both rooms in person via a private demo, on a date and time of your choosing. I am confident that after you have done so your opinion in this regard will change. I would very much like to meet you and it is always great to be able to geek out with a fellow AV enthusiast with respect to this wonderful hobby. Send me a PM and let's book a date in the diary. Trust me when I say that you will never have experienced anything quite like it.

 

[ABSOLUTE ULTIMATE AV]

For those who are interest here is the full set of photos for The Manor Dedicated Home Theater:

 

[ABSOLUTE ULTIMATE AV]

And The Manor TV & Gaming Room:

 

[DFurr]

Which pictures depicts the accurate speaker placement? There's a huge difference in several of the pictures.

 

[ABSOLUTE ULTIMATE AV]

Which pictures depicts the accurate speaker placement? There's a huge difference in several of the pictures.

In short, none of them. With photographs of this nature there will always be an element of lens distortion.

The design drawings depict the accurate speaker placement, wherein here you go:

 

[ABSOLUTE ULTIMATE AV]

Here's a video of The Manor Dedicated Home Theater. This illustrates the effect to which I have referred above wherein due to the complete absence of environmental reflections the speakers are not visible in any regard whatsoever unless light is being directly shone at them: