Welcome to the third article in a series dedicated to my journey in Home Theatre centred around my personal Home Theatre. A list of all articles in the series is below”

‍Introduction, Background & Hobby – The Introduction to Home Theatre
Training and Leveling Up
The UK Revolution – The Next Step
Design, Modelling & Specification
Physical Installation
Final Photos and Future Upgrades

Continuing On

We left off in the previous article with an excellent 5.1 media room type home theatre and armed with a lot of knowledge. The next step in the evolution would be a dedicated room built around a singular purpose. (Even though my chosen room is not perfect and has a few design constraints)

I was delighted with my Home Theatre at this stage and didn’t want to rush the next step. One could say I was waiting for inspiration to strike because I knew there was a new world called Immersive Audio I knew I was missing out on.

We had a family trip to the United Kingdom in 2022, where I had the opportunity to visit one of the best showrooms in the world. (Read more here)

It’s here where I fell in love with the crystal clear sound of Wisdom Audio. Being an engineering first company, they are unlike anything I’ve experienced before and they use Planar Magnetic drivers which respond almost instantly to any changes in signal. We covered them in an article here.

Inspired by the Habitech visit, I wanted to experience the best South Africa had available, so I arranged visits to our local supplier showrooms: Planetworld, Homemation & Elan Systems.

The Brief

Being sufficiently inspired, I settled on the following brief to myself:

• A CEDIA Level 3 audio performance (From RP-22) Home Cinema featuring Wisdom Audio speakers.
• Given budgetary constraints, I wanted an acoustically transparent cinemascope screen with a minimum of 14fL light post-calibration (The DCI standard for SDR).
• I want to re-use my two existing subwoofers and have four subwoofers to implement advanced positional crossover bass management and effectively treat modal issues in the room.
• I want to re-use my existing Emotiva amplifier, couches (spread over two rows of seating) and other elements without affecting performance.
• Everything is easily controlled from a single touchscreen remote.
• I also didn’t want to make construction changes such as bricking up the windows or sliding door, as it would take away too much light from the rest of the house.

Lots of planning/designing ensued, which is what our next article is all about. A sneak peak below: