Jordan O'BrienHow do you create home cinema perfection? It’s a question that installers are constantly asked by their clients, but it’s also a question that Meridian Audio is asking itself as part of its decision to become a quasi-distributor. Its latest move? To add Cinema-ATS’ acoustic treatment to its portfolio of home cinema products.
Many will claim that the key to a good cinema is a great performing projector, powerful sound and a screen capable of delivering the visuals required. Meridian already offers all three of those products as part of a package deal – meaning it’s already offering the ultimate home cinema, right? Well, not quite.
While those are admittedly the three most common products an installer will fit into a home cinema, there’s one key component that Meridian doesn’t yet offer as part of its package deals – acoustic treatment.
Acoustic treatment is often an after-thought, but if installers hope to give their consumers the best home cinema experience it’s one of the most important aspects that they need to budget for. The sound that is heard in a home cinema is influenced by a variety of factors, including the placement of the speakers and the placement of the viewer – but the acoustic performance of the room’s surface and contents can also play havoc with how everything sounds.
Rooms often introduce a significant acoustic distortion, and it’s a distortion that can be so influential that it dominates the overall sonic impression. To prevent this, acoustic treatment is required – although in order to install acoustic treatment, installers need to dedicate significant time and resources, right? Typically, yes. Cinema-ATS is different, its acoustic treatment solution has been specifically designed to be simple to install and cost effective.
“We noticed that there was a real gap in the market for a high performance acoustic solution that was easy to install and found that dealers were getting frustrated with rigid, complex and expensive systems prescribed by acoustic consultants, which often resulted in products being used that were not right for the application,” notes Neil Davidson of Cinema-ATS.
“We designed a system that was suitable for almost any application, easy to install and offered the performance that dealers need to give their customers the very best experience.”
Through the partnership, installers using Meridian’s complimentary design and specification service can plan a home theatre that includes Meridian speakers, Barco projectors, DT Screens and Cinema-ATS acoustic treatment.
Of course Meridian isn’t becoming the go-to distributor for any of these products, bar its own of course, but it wants to make designing a home cinema so easy that a child could do it. By partnering with a range of companies, Meridian is now able to offer a package deal that promises to not only make it easier to specify the products, but also makes it more cost effective and efficient.
Unfortunately, not all installers will be enamoured with being restricted to certain brands – but currently there’s little competition when it comes to designing and specifying a fully-loaded home cinema at absolutely no cost.