Futuristic home theater with classic and luxurious foyer
By far the most popular location for a nice Mutrox Home Cinema is surely the basement of the house, provided it is large enough of course. This makes sense when you think about it: it is almost always cool, noise pollution to neighbors is minimal and windows are not desirable in a home theater! And if you even have two rooms at your disposal, which makes the realization of a real foyer possible, then both we and the customer are of course very happy about that!
So too with Klaas and Sophie: for them a real cinema space was an absolute dream, as they both love watching movies and series as well as gaming. Then, with a lovely classically decorated foyer with popcorn machine, the illusion of 'going to the cinema' was complete. But how do you build something like that and what should it look like? And how do you get the acoustics under control? Through their electrician the couple got the tip that Mutrox was the party to make their dreams come true...True enough!
The question
Klaas and Sophie are real movie lovers, so the home theater and foyer/pantry in the basement had to become the showpiece of the house. A place where they can feel completely at home and relax. With a timeless and unique look. While the foyer/pantry should preferably be classically finished, the home theater space should look futuristic with a high 'wow' level. Nevertheless, the space had to be visually calm and not too loud. Of course, all possible sound formats had to be playable and 4K images were desired. Since Klaas and Sophie mainly watch together, two permanent luxury chairs were sufficient. Good acoustics were, of course, also a requirement. Although there was no need or desire for a room-in-room construction, a sturdy soundproof door to the cinema room was a must. Placing the projector outside the room was also a desire.
The solution
Designing the two spaces was a close collaboration between Klaas and Sophie and the Mutrox design team. Several design proposals were made, always leaving Klaas and Sophie the choice and the opportunity to express their preferences. Precisely this 'sparring' eventually gave the visual result that exceeded everyone's expectations: the classic and sleek finish with many natural wood elements perfectly matches the classic staircase leading to the basement. With its symmetry and sleek interior elements, the cinema space in futuristic 'Predator' look has been given a calm but unique look.
The various lighting elements in the space were realized with Philips Hue, which allows infinite scenes and atmospheres to be created via smartphone. Since no drilling was allowed in the walls, two columns were placed at the front of the room and two at the back of the room, which carry a span where the Atmos speakers are concealed. Of course, the columns were finished entirely in "spaceship theme. For the acoustic panels, we stretched acoustically transparent fabric over an underlying wood structure, with a very exciting effect. The panels reduce the reverberation time in the room and they also house the surround speakers. The existing suspended ceiling with spotlights was retained and playfully embellished with acoustic panels in "Hexagon" shape. These also reduce the reverberation time in the room and absorb sound reflections for more definition.
For comfortable movie watching, two luxury chairs were placed in a "love seat" arrangement. The chairs are each equipped with a folding table.
To minimize disturbance to the rest of the house and neighbors despite the absence of an insulating shell, a heavy soundproof door was used. In order to hear the projector as little as possible for an optimal movie experience, it was suspended from the ceiling in the pantry and the image is projected onto the screen through acoustically insulating and de-emphasized/reflective glass. Of course, the glass of the "projector port" is angled to prevent ghost images due to refraction.
For an "immersive" surround experience, a 7.1.4 Atmos setup was chosen. The front channels are reproduced by Bowers & Wilkins CWM 7.5 s2 speakers mounted behind the acoustically transparent screen cloth. They are built into a solid "baffle wall" so that resonances have no chance and the speakers can do their work in an ideal acoustic environment. Behind the acoustic panels on the side walls are Bowers & Wilkins CWM 663 side surround speakers and in the center section of the rear columns Bowers & Wilkins CWM 663 speakers are used as rear surrounds.
A Bowers & Wilkins ASW610XP subwoofer with 1000 W of power provides a solid bass foundation. The Bowers & Wilkins CCM 663 Atmos speakers were cleverly mounted in the horizontal beams resting on the columns.
A Marantz SR7015 receiver serves as the controller, which has enough amplifier channels for all the speakers. As a source, Klaas and Sophie mainly use the Playstation 4, but they can also play games with the Nintendo Switch.
For an image to match the quality of the sound, a Sony 4K HDR projector was installed, projecting its image through a "projector port" onto a 3.0 m wide "Cinemascope" acoustically transparent screen from Screen Research. Under this screen we made a cabinet where all the equipment got its place.
- 3x Bowers & Wilkins CWM 7.5 s2 front speakers
- 4x Bowers & Wilkins CWM 663 surround speakers
- 4x Bowers & Wilkins CCM 663 s2 Atmos speakers
- 1x Bowers & Wilkins ASW610XP subwoofer
- Marantz SR7015 4K/UHD immersive receiver
- Nintendo Switch
- Sony Playstation 4
- Sony VPL-VW290ES 4K HDR projector
- Screen Research 2.40:1 acoustic transparent screen 3.0 m wide
- Additional item list
- Additional item list
The result
Both the client and we are very pleased with the final result. Not only have picture and sound quality and acoustics been brought up to a very high level for an optimal movie experience, the rooms are also to die for in terms of appearance! The combination of a foyer with a classic look and a futuristic looking cinema with a 'Predator' theme proved to be a hit!
Klaas and Sophie are therefore extremely satisfied: "You really are in a completely different world when you're in the cinema and yet it's not all too much. It's quiet and so nice to be in the space. We are really super satisfied, the best thing we could ever do, such a cinema in our home! We have so much fun there, we don't even go to the 'real' cinema ourselves anymore!"
Interview
After completing a project, we like to hear how our clients experienced the cooperation, and if they like the result.
This is what Klaas and Sophie thought:
Yes, super! Very good! We're super happy with it. And we sit there quite a lot. We both love gaming and we both love movies and series and of course the room is totally made for that. Especially now with all this rain, it's kind of nice to go downstairs for a while.
Mainly the two of us. When nieces and nephews come over they always ask right away when they can go downstairs, hahaha! So they come too, but generally it's just the two of us. We do have two beanbags, so if people come over we can sit there with 4-5 people if we have to.
Still several times a week. About 3-4x a week for sure I think. Especially if there's a new series we like, of course it's great. We can watch Netflix and Disney+ on the television upstairs, but downstairs is much more fun. We play that via Apps on the Playstation 4, which doubles as a Blu-ray player. We also have a Nintendo switch connected. But we also watch Blu-ray. The first movie I bought was The Fast and The Furious 8, which Ronald also used when adjusting the cinema, because it also has Dolby Atmos sound.
We watched all the Stranger Things episodes, which were quite impressive. But also the game Horizon Zero Dawn! You really are completely in that world. All the sound you hear around you. So if there is a waterfall to your right in the world, you can also hear it to the right of you or behind you. You also built some things for Guerrilla Games at the time, right? [indeed, the Dutch Guerrilla Games is also a Mutrox customer]. Of course, newer games came out after that, which are often even more beautiful.
We really love movies and games tremendously and eventually we had a nice space under the house where a basement could be built. We weren't sure what we wanted with it yet, but secretly the word cinema came up, as well as sports space. Eventually we came across Mutrox through a recommendation from our electrician. We then visited you guys and were really blown away. We sat in your cinema for the possibilities and realized that we could just realize that under our house. So that's how it worked out! As you walk down the stairs to the basement you first come into a pantry with some storage, movie posters, a popcorn machine and so on and then through a soundproof door you come into the cinema. Also, the projector hangs in the room next to the cinema, so you don't hear anything about that! The decoration of the room is also very well done and we are very happy with it.
That was because of our electrician. He worked at Smart Elektra, who supply smart switches that we also use in our home. When we asked him who could realize our plans, he mentioned your name.
We did some looking online, but there were very few companies that really stood out. We did look at other companies, but it didn't work out. However, when we started talking to you guys, it just felt right. And like I said, we were blown away by your demo rooms.
Yes, actually all heartily good. It all went super fast, too, and the builders were fine people. We didn't really have an idea of exactly what we wanted. So it's really nice when they think along with us. In the end it became a very special and unique space that is somewhat inspired by Predator's spaceship. We were offered several options and you choose one. It was a nice process where you could also ask questions. We saw the craziest ideas, such as a Star Wars vestibule, but in the end we opted for a classic look for the foyer because the classic staircase matched it nicely. It is then all the more cool that the cinema space has a spaceship theme. Yet the design is also very timeless, with the "hexagons" on the ceiling and never bores. The Philips Hue lighting also provides a lot of atmosphere. You really step into another world for a moment, which we couldn't have imagined ourselves, because you also don't know what is possible. Even if we had questions afterwards or something was not clear, the contact went very well. We are really super satisfied, the best thing we could ever do, such a cinema at home! We have so much fun there, we don't even go to the 'real' cinema ourselves anymore. Our dog also thinks it's a great space and often goes downstairs with us and, despite all the noise around him, sleeps wonderfully no matter what we put on, hahaha Furthermore, the basement is really a concrete tub, so it was a challenge that no drilling was allowed in the walls. So everything is mounted without screws. This is what the pillars on the sides were designed for, which include the Atmos speakers.
[long silence] No, I wouldn't know....
We don't really have people around us who want something like this and it's not for everyone, but when people ask about who built the cinema we definitely mention your name. Everyone is always impressed, too. Family and friends then say, "What would you do with such a cinema downstairs?". But when they see it they say, "Oh yes, now I understand", hahaha! Of course, it's our hobby, so we just really like to unwind in the cinema. It suits us.
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