The Blue Room – JBL Synthesis One Array,
Sony and Screen Excellence
© Beter Beeld & Geluid – June 15th 2017
The lucky owner of this dream theater we have christened ‘The Blue Room’ – is a real movie buff.
After a very decent first cinema room, he wished for an even more intense movie experience. To be
part of the movie even more – away from reality – was the customer’s desire.
Lets go back in history... The earlier room mentioned was also partly realized by Beter Beeld &
Geluid. It began as a garage and was rebuilt into a home cinema. Some very respectable brands
were used, among them B&W 800-series loudspeakers, Arcam surround processing and JVC
projector. Especially after the acoustics had been improved considerably, the real enjoyment started.
Even then, there was an urge for more… When the possibility presented itself to rebuild the garage
into a home office and a new bigger home cinema, the owner did not hesitate.
It was obvious that in the existing home cinema, acoustics were playing a mayor role in the total
movie watching experience. Together with the customer, an appointment was made with acoustic
specialists from Mutrox, who have been a reliable partner of Beter Beeld & Geluid for years now.
Acoustics
The acoustic treatment for the new room to be built had to completely merge with the total design
and were not allowed to disturb the movie experience in any way. Together with Mutrox a bespoke
design was made to reduce the reverberation time of the room to Dolby levels over the complete
frequency spectrum. By optimizing the shape of the room, the first and second order reflections of
every loudspeaker were treated in the process.
For the three JBL Synthesis front channels a baffle wall was designed and built, to enable a resonant
free environment for the speakers behind the 140” Screen Excellence projection screen. The four
bipolar surround loudspeakers were built into the newly constructed false walls of the acoustic
environment to completely blend both visually and aurally into a completely holographic surround
bubble.
The reverberation time of the new home cinema is an ideal 0,3 seconds over the complete mid- and
high ranges of the spectrum, with a controlled increase of the reverberation time towards the lower
frequencies. Immediately noticeable in the sound of the room are the complete homogenity between
the different channels and the dynamic range of the sound system within the room. Its phenomenal!
Technical specifications of The Blue Room – JBL Synthesis
One Array
For ‘The Blue Room’ loudspeakers from JBL Synthesis were chosen. Three SAM1HF/SAM2LF
actively filtered loudspeakers make up the front channels, combined with two S1S-EX 18”
subwoofers and S4Ai surround loudspeakers in bipole mode for the side and rear channels. The
front LCR and surround speakers are driven by Mark Levinson and the subwoofers by Emotive
power amplifiers.
The heart of the system is formed by the JBL Synthesis SDEC4500P digital eq / SDEC4500X active
crossover. Every JBL Synthesis system is calibrated with ‘ARCOS’ (Adaptive Room Correction and
Optimization System) – one of the most sophisticated room correction systems in the world,
combining the vast knowledge of Harman technicians. The makes for a room that has not only been
optimized acoustically, but electronically as well.
ARCOS really is state of the art and creates a perfect acoustic match of all the loudspeakers for a
very holographic effect. 8 Calibrated microphones are responsible for this spectacular result. A
Marantz surround processor and Emotive power amplifiers were already in possession of the client
and were re-used in the system.
The image – Sony 4K en Screen Excellence
A clear wish from the customer was a perfect match of the sound to the visuals. To balance the
sheer vastness of the front sound stage with the image, a 140” 21:9 Screen Excellence acoustically
transparent screen was chosen in combination with a Sony VPL-VW500ES 4K SXRD projector
already owned by the client.
Only when no speakers are visible in a home cinema room and it is completely darkened, all the
attention will go to the image. Combined with the sound coming from the correct position on the
screen, this results in the optimal emotional engagement with the movie.
Equipment used
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JBL Synthesis One Array – SAM1HF/SAM2LF LCR front channels (3)
JBL Synthesis S4Ai surround channels (4)
JBL Synthesis S1S-EX 18” subwoofers (2)
JBL Synthesis SDEC4500P/ SDEC4500X eq/active x-over
Mark Levinson No.535 power amplifiers – LCR and surround channels (2)
Emotiva power amplifiers – subwoofers (2)
Screen Excellence Enlightor 4K 140” 21:9 projection screen
Sony VPL-VW500ES 4K projector
Oppo UDP-105 Blu-ray player