Have a gawp at the gorgeousness of this year's CEDIA Awards winners - and start saving. New blog here...
Home cinema at its finest....
- Thread starter Clare Newsome
- Start date
How did they get hold of my - best home cinema over 100k picture ? i only gave the fitting company a copy for there portfolio !
keiser1
Well-known member
6th.replicant
Well-known member
dirtydean
Well-known member
A few odd ones in there...check out the "Best Integrated Home under £30,000" (Cyprus) - do Cypriots have heads at right angles to the rest of their bodies ? 
Mrs C would never have let me cut into the ceiling for that setup.
Mrs C would never have let me cut into the ceiling for that setup.There's actually another seating area opposite the projector screen in that picture... Lots more integratation going on in that place, though.
When we were judging the Awards, we saw a lot more pictures of each set-up - sadly I only have one each of the winners to use in the blog.
When we were judging the Awards, we saw a lot more pictures of each set-up - sadly I only have one each of the winners to use in the blog.
The_Lhc
Well-known member
There do seem to be a few that whilst very nicely installed don't actually seem to be that great for viewing purposes.
On a related note, where are the speakers in the third picture (Best Media Room under £15,000)? A recessed TV is hardly the stuff of legend, so I assume there's more to that than meets the eye?
On a related note, where are the speakers in the third picture (Best Media Room under £15,000)? A recessed TV is hardly the stuff of legend, so I assume there's more to that than meets the eye?
IIRC, it's a combination of in-wall and in-ceiling speakers in that room, with a hidden subwoofer. There's also a ton of kit in the cupboard to the left of the screen- including Sky box, Blu-ray player, games consoles etc - which is nicely fitted/ventilated/racked, but you'd never know it was there...
What you've got to remember with the CEDIA Awards is that they're about delivering on what a customer wants - and that's often a compromise between performance and convenience/looks. It's how well the installer minimises that compromise that's key.
It's also why the categories are divided into media room, integrated home and home cinema.
The latter are the Awards most judged for their technical merit - it's the category where we had most discussions about screen sizes, seat placement, speaker/projector suitability etc - but the others are more about how effecitively technology was integrated into a home set-up.
Even in those integration categories, however, we had lots of discussions about suitability of tech (eg use of plasmas in brightly lit rooms; speaker positioning etc) that did rule some installs in/out of the Awards.
And of course you're prepared to accept slightly more compromise at the lower price points than you are at the higher ones.
But when you dig into the detail behind these installs - including the time/design pressure the installers are often under - they're incredibly impressive. The entries even had loving diagrams of all the cabling, so we could assess if they'd chosen well there, too
What you've got to remember with the CEDIA Awards is that they're about delivering on what a customer wants - and that's often a compromise between performance and convenience/looks. It's how well the installer minimises that compromise that's key.
It's also why the categories are divided into media room, integrated home and home cinema.
The latter are the Awards most judged for their technical merit - it's the category where we had most discussions about screen sizes, seat placement, speaker/projector suitability etc - but the others are more about how effecitively technology was integrated into a home set-up.
Even in those integration categories, however, we had lots of discussions about suitability of tech (eg use of plasmas in brightly lit rooms; speaker positioning etc) that did rule some installs in/out of the Awards.
And of course you're prepared to accept slightly more compromise at the lower price points than you are at the higher ones.
But when you dig into the detail behind these installs - including the time/design pressure the installers are often under - they're incredibly impressive. The entries even had loving diagrams of all the cabling, so we could assess if they'd chosen well there, too
What amazes me when i see setups like these, is that i am often seriously unimpressed with their blu ray players and amps.
That's where having a trio of tech judges came in - we dismissed several installations submitted for the 2011 Awards for using outdated or poorer-quality products.
Anyhow, i'm now slowly updating the blog with more details of the winning installs... will let you all know when i'm finished!
Anyhow, i'm now slowly updating the blog with more details of the winning installs... will let you all know when i'm finished!
The_Lhc
Well-known member
Clare Newsome said:
How do they define "Media Room" then? Just wondering as the bedroom with the projector screen at the end of the bed didn't look ideal for daytime use really (the blinds might be blackout ones but it doesn't appear that way from the photo.
The latter are the Awards most judged for their technical merit - it's the category where we had most discussions about screen sizes, seat placement, speaker/projector suitability etc - but the others are more about how effecitively technology was integrated into a home set-up.
Even in those integration categories, however, we had lots of discussions about suitability of tech (eg use of plasmas in brightly lit rooms; speaker positioning etc) that did rule some installs in/out of the Awards.
And of course you're prepared to accept slightly more compromise at the lower price points than you are at the higher ones.Cinema rooms aside it appears that people will accept quite a degree of compromise even if they've got lots of cash to spend.
But when you dig into the detail behind these installs - including the time/design pressure the installers are often under - they're incredibly impressive. The entries even had loving diagrams of all the cabling, so we could assess if they'd chosen well there, too
If I was spending that sort of money I'd want the cable diagram etched into a sheet of crystal and hanging, back-lit, from the ceiling! Y'know, all classy-like...
bigboss
Moderator
Can non-AV installers also participate? There are many who create some splendid designs to accommodate the needs of the client.
For example, Neville Johnson designed my home cinema, to accommodate my OH's insistence on keeping the fireplace for aesthetic reasons. The designer came up with something that was refreshingly original. They have many more such designs in their portfolio. Sevenoaks merely went with the design to do the AV installation. Ofcourse, the designed had to be passed by Sevenoaks to ensure it suited my equipment.
For example, Neville Johnson designed my home cinema, to accommodate my OH's insistence on keeping the fireplace for aesthetic reasons. The designer came up with something that was refreshingly original. They have many more such designs in their portfolio. Sevenoaks merely went with the design to do the AV installation. Ofcourse, the designed had to be passed by Sevenoaks to ensure it suited my equipment.
The_Lhc said:
Media room is just an average room that the client wants some home entertainment in - but very discreetly so.
And you've got to give some artistic license for the pictures, which are often trying to show both worlds - the system in use and what the room looks like without the tech in place. So, yes, the bedroom does have suitable blinds, but as the system's primarily designed to be used at night, it's rather a moot point.
That room, incidentally, is part of a larger install throughout the house (ie this isn't their only entertainment system - this is just a 'watch movies in bed' option). Jammy wotsits....
Anyway, more on that install now in the updated blog...
The_Lhc
Well-known member
Clare Newsome said:
Oh well, that makes more sense then. There was a couple of pictures in there that looked like a Grand Design house from a couple of years back.
bigboss said:
Any CEDIA member can enter - and the entries are always a mixture of work by AV installers plus architects and/or interior designers (which is why the judging panel also included specialists from those fields, too - more than one install was rejected for poor design/build).
So although the AV installer gets named in the Award, there's details of the designers/architects in the longer submissions, too.
Heyyy, when i turn out the lights , to me , mine is just as good ,
My wife on the other hand , wants the big house with the swimming pool please...
One day eh,,,
My wife on the other hand , wants the big house with the swimming pool please...
One day eh,,,
gel said:
Damn, I wished i'd known that before I spent the last two hours updating the blog - after all, we live only to serve your demands, gel
Clare Newsome said:gel said:
Damn, I wished i'd known that before I spent the last two hours updating the blog - after all, we live only to serve your demands, gel
Smile
Note - i now seem to have lost the ability to use any smileys - top and normal ones.
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