Gecko home cinema forum days

It's YouTube not uTube, ya tube.

I think you'll enjoy DTS: X in the dem rooms. There's only a few movies but early impressions of the dtsma upmix via DTS Neural:X is promising.

It'll be good to measure what I have here against your systems with this new format. The new upgrade also carried the HDR compatibility - UHD discs are shipping from the US in a few weeks. $30 a throw tho.
 
Are you going to try some UHD discs - if so what player are you getting?
 
Are you going to try some UHD discs - if so what player are you getting?

I'll be looking into a PC based solution for playback and encoding. The movies aren't 4 times the file size, in fact with HEVC being the new 4K codec, you're probably looking at a 15-20% increase in total size - so NAS storage peoples will be happy.
 

If anyone is considering having a high performance sound system installed I’d like to give me recommendations on how to achieve this.

Last year I installed around 40 systems. I was very happy that the vast majority fulfilled my promise of giving the best picture and sound quality available at the budget and would have loved to have had Forum Open Days in each of them to show off the results of my work.

There were 3 projects that I didn’t think were great:-

  • One had sub-standard audio performance because the client wouldn’t put the boundary woofers where they should go. This was not because of aesthetics, as in either position they would be hidden by fabric walling. My guess is that this was because the client had read that woofers could go anywhere and that ideally you should avoid the placement in the corners of the room.
  • Another sub-standard system was caused by the client spending months asking everyone he could about what subs to use. The subs that were installed were very good but not the best compliment to the complete audio system.
  • The third system was installed in a huge property that was lived in by a couple who couldn’t decide on whether to have the room optimized for the best sound and vision or as a dual purpose space. The result was something of a miss mash.
My recommendations for achieving the best performance are these:-
  • Do your own research to find the best products and installers for your requirements.
  • Audition these alternatives. Trust your own eyes and ears..... its you that has to like it...
  • When you have found a system you like, take advice from the designer of that system as to how to achieve the best solution for your room. If you do not trust their advice find someone else to work with.
A good installer will take responsibility for the system they design and install. For most CI companies this is predominantly about how things look and operate. My business is unusual because its focus is mostly about audio and video quality.

I demonstrate a range of carefully chosen systems systems that I believe deliver the best available audio and video systems available. When a client has chosen what they like, I tell them what will be required to reproduce that performance, in their room.

When the system has been installed I demonstrate the same discs the client heard when choosing the system to show that the performance they chose is exactly what I have delivered.

I can only do this because I know the systems I work with inside out and backwards. I know precisely what they can achieve and what needs to be done to get the best results from them.

With a system recommended by many people you cannot expect the installer to take responsibility for the performance as it was not his design and he is probably not very familiar with all the products used.

This Forum is an excellent resource for assessing the best products. If you want the best home cinema installed for you, you need to realize that there is more to this than just combining a list of the best products together.
 
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I just had the pleasure of carrying out what is probably the last demonstration of The Sausage Factory's Cinema & Music Room to the buyer's whole family. This included 3 teenage sons aged 16, 17 and 18... and you can probably guess their reactions... I put on a scene from a particular recent movie which on the Steinway Lyngdorf audio systems is utterly insane... (N.B. I'm deliberately not saying which movie scene as I am taking it, along with other 'super-demanding' source material, to Gecko HQ in 9 days' time to put the various latest MK Sound and Steinway Lyngdorf audio systems through their paces). ;)

Suffice to say it never ever gets old witnessing peoples' reactions to the unrivalled mind-blowing performance of the SL audio systems... especially when combined with what is IMO the current 'king of video' namely the Sony 4K Projectors. :smashin:

Someone asked me if I am sad to see it go; wherein my answer is no, I'm not, because firstly the family who have bought the property are going to appreciate it, being like-minded AV enthusiasts... for example, they have installed a 5.2 cinema system complete with with projector, screen etc... IN THEIR BOAT :cool:; and secondly, there's there's even more exciting things on the horizon... I have already commenced the design of my next AV project and construction begins in just a matter of weeks. Without giving too much away at this point in time, what I can say is it's going to be very substantially better than The Sausage Factory's AV offering in more ways than one and will indubitably be of interest to both new faces and those of you whom I had the pleasue of meeting when you attended the Gecko Forums days at The Sausage Factory.

I'm going to be carrying out regular Gecko Forum Days as soon as its completed, regarding which, in response to the many requests, I will be starting a thread covering the build... so watch this space :)
 
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Congratulations Nigel and thanks....id love to visit your next project when completed please.
 
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I'd love to visit your next project when completed please.
It'd be a pleasure Steve. It's going to be a while though, months as opposed to weeks, so I'm not going to be taking bookings just yet ;)

I'm really excited about it and can't wait to get cracking. There's going to be a whole bunch of surprises in the way of AV goodies that I'm going to be keeping under wraps / top secret until the first Gecko Forum Day when all will be revealed. :thumbsup:
 
I would like a visit too [emoji16]
 
Count me in too. Nothing has been as good as your SL system there. Dont know how you could improve on it but knowing your diligence and attention to detail it will be better. All the best for your new project! !!!
 
Thanks to all for the interest... But so I don't get told off for derailing this thread prematurely everyone can relax... Nobody else needs to post right now that they would like a visit, as no-one is going to miss out.

I will post on here as and when the dates for the first Gecko Forum days are confirmed and bookings can and will then be taken... Suffice to say for the moment I will initially be running the Gecko Forum Days weekly, every Saturday, and it looks like the new Dedicated Cinema & Music Room will be 12 seats, as opposed to The Sausage Factory's 9 seats... Meaning more of you can attend each event without having to sit on eachothers' laps, albeit this will include a few two-seater 'love seats' so those of you who'd like to hold hands during the performance can sit there :p

With respect to all the AV connoisseurs who previously attended the Gecko Forum Days at The Sausage Factory's Cinema & Music Room consider that room as the reference and I will be very much looking forward to receiving your opinions on the differences/improvements... and that includes you Mr Stifler ;) :smashin:
 
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Hi All

I’m just back from the ISE show and thought I’d give a quick overview of my show.

I was very excited about the prospect of seeing a 4k Blu Ray playing through an HDR projection systems but didn’t find this anywhere. The closest alternative was a E265,000 Barco set up with a E50,000 source. The picture quality from this was terrific but in no way warranted the cost.

The picture quality we create here and in clients’ homes is better than every system I saw apart from this crazy Barco set up and the improvement this provided was pretty marginal.

I expect the new Sony 5000 projector to be amazing and it will arrive here on Wednesday for me to assess and show. Nigel is visiting here the day it arrives and will I’m sure be sharing his feedback here. The way the projector was demonstrated at the ISE and the previous Sony trade event made evaluating it impossible.

On the audio side the only positive thing I can share is that the M&K in wall 300’s with a pair of in wall MK subs sounded superb. The set up was in an open booth and had no right to sound this good. It stopped everyone walking by in their tracks and the feedback to MK being back at the show and their new product ranges was 100% positive.

I hope to have a set of the MK IW300's to be demonstrating here next week.

Steinway Lyngdorf demonstrated 2 new speakers, one of which may be of interest to Nigel and will probably end up on permanent show on our biggest dem system. The IW66 is a monster in wall speaker that will give THX SPL levels 15-20m away while maintaining very even volume levels from seat to seat down the full length of a room. For big rooms with rows of seats this is the ideal product.

Ross and Rich also attended and visited most of the high end cinema systems and will I’m sure shortly give you their feedback. Several people commented that the Arcam/Kef cinema dem was appalling and the AudioPro was very poor despite costing over £500k. The Wisdom dem was supposed to be very well done and the JBL dem was also supposed to be one of their best ever.

If anyone is considering buying any of the speaker systems from the US, be sure to find out the price in the USA. The price hike on many of these systems in the UK is pretty crazy.

Rob
 
Would be quite interested in hearing the In-walls. I'm moving to a new house soon (that's unfortunately terraced!) so debating the the pros and cons of a discreet in-wall installation and potential sound leakage to the adjacent property.

Do you plan to demo any of the other in-walls?
 
I'll try all the new in wall models, the 150 and 300 should simply sound just like the on wall versions that many people are now familiar with. The in wall 950's and the in wall dual 8" subs are models that I think could be a great solution in many rooms... I was really surprised how much output the in wall subs had at the show...
 
I'll try all the new in wall models, the 150 and 300 should simply sound just like the on wall versions that many people are now familiar with. The in wall 950's and the in wall dual 8" subs are models that I think could be a great solution in many rooms... I was really surprised how much output the in wall subs had at the show...

These new speakers from both Steinway Lyngdorf and MK Sound are the best news from the whole ISE 2016 show in my opinion... Quite simply AWESOME. :thumbsup:

Of particular interest to me right now are both the new Steinway Lyngdorf IW66 and the new MK Sound In-Wall Dual 8" Subwoofer speakers. When do you think you'll have these ready for demoing installed at Gecko HQ? o_O
 
I’ve asked to try the Steinway Lyngdorf IW66 speakers and will let you know if they agree. I think they will be the perfect fit for the big room and huge screen in our main demo area.

The Steinway Lyngdorf IC16 is a speaker that can sit on wall, on ceiling or in ceiling, firing down towards the listening position. I’ve tried aiming the height speakers towards the listening position with both M&K and Steinway systems and I don’t like it. I find fitting the speaker flat to the walls or ceiling creates a much more natural effect.

I had 2 gents fly in from Italy two weeks back who own a chain of cinemas. They are both very knowledgeable and passionate about film reproduction and after the first demonstration here on the MK 300 system one said it was the first time he had ever been completely convinced of the benefits of Atmos.

The recommendations Dolby, ITU, THX, HAA etc. give are a great starting point but in many rooms they will not give the best results. Obviously the Atmos, Auro, DTS-X recommendations are something that everyone is still experimenting with. I’ve installed 50 Atmos type systems so far and I’m now very sure that height firing speakers at the listening position won’t give the best results.
 
Those Steinway Lyngdorf IW66 look rather serious......what a fantastic addition to the range, if you do get them Rob I'd love to have a listen, is there an angle to one of the AMT drivers?

Steve
 
Any pics of the iw66
 
I think each speaker is a two man lift so when they arrive I'll need a hand fitting them!

Sorry I didn't get any photos, I think Rich may have but he's on holiday this week. I'll ask around to see if anyone else has a photo...
 
ImageUploadedByAVForums1455454704.991564.jpg

Hope you don't mind me posting Rob.
 
View attachment 680312
Hope you don't mind me posting Rob.
:eek::eek::eek: OMG the IW66 looks the nuts... It makes the IW26 look utterly puny in comparison... It's like someone took the IW26 and injected it with an overdose of steroids... Clearly complete overkill for almost any cinema room... THREE please Rob! ;) :laugh:

I think each speaker is a two man lift so when they arrive I'll need a hand fitting them!
I'm calling dibbs on this please! Sign me up already :D :smashin:
 
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Hope you don't mind me posting Rob.
By my calculations the new Steinway Lyngdorf IW66 is circa 2.3 times the price for at least 3 times the performance as compared with the IW26/Model M In-Wall Speakers... Meaning it's actually great value for money... comparatively speaking that is... This is me trying to talk myself into buying these... I guess the answer is to get seriously drunk prior to ordering so as to lose all sense of responsibility ;) :confused:
 
By my calculations the new Steinway Lyngdorf IW66 is circa 2.3 times the price for at least 3 times the performance as compared with the IW26/Model M In-Wall Speakers... Meaning it's actually great value for money... comparatively speaking that is... This is me trying to talk myself into buying these... I guess the answer is to get seriously drunk prior to ordering so as to lose all sense of responsibility ;) :confused:
Nigel don't forget to add that they probably need bi-amping also......they look stunning though.
 

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