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CASE
STUDY ALGARVE
VILLA |
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Overview
This was a large scale
project featuring multi-room audio, video, CCTV and
a games room home cinema. This is the clients holiday
home in the Algarve, Portugal.
The brief
Simplicity, reliability and
security were the key priorities as the home is left
vacant for parts of the year. The system needed to
be intuitive as the family's friends often stay in
the property and need to be able to benefit from the
features without any prior knowledge of how it operates.
Budget
Approximately £25,000
to £50,000.
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Simple
Music Access in 14 Zones
We got involved with this
project around a year before build took place. This gave
the client the luxury of time to decide exactly which system
would work best for them, and also gave us adequate time
to design the cabling structure and plan the logistics before
any cabling commenced.
The Linn Knekt system is one of the most robust systems
on the market and was chosen for this reason. This audiophile
quality music system allows each room or outside area to
play different music at the same time, so that guests can
each choose to enjoy their particular music preferences.
Alternatively numerous rooms can play the same music making
it great for parties and entertaining.
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Sound
Quality Matched by Aesthetics
Due to the concrete construction
of the ceilings we were unable to use standard in-ceiling
speakers. For this reason the elegantly styled Anthony Gallo
Speakers were chosen for the main rooms within the property.
These small spherical stainless steel speakers produce a
fantastic quality sound, and are a really elegant design
feature in the rooms.
T he equipment was located in a central "safe room"
within the property which keeps everything locked away and
secure. The music is stored digitally on the iMerge sound
server which means that access is only required to the room
to load new media onto the system. |
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Simple
to Use In-Wall Keypads
A Linn Knekt Multiroom audio
system was chosen for its simplicity and reliability. Keypads
were located in the main rooms of the villa, with zones
extending to the outside patio and swimming pool areas.
The keypads provide full control of the various music sources
including Radio, Sky, the iMerge Soundserver and the DVD
player. Radio presets can be scanned, albums and artists
can be browsed with full track information and can also
be used to control the Sky box and DVD player.
The image to the left demonstrates integration with a Lutron
lighting control interface.
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Games Room Cinema
The cinema in the basement of the property
doubles as a games room with bar and full size snooker table.
A 7ft Grandview electric screen was chosen with a Sanyo
PLV-Z5 High Definition projector.
An MX-900 remote provides very simple operation of the system
so with a single button press the projector screen drops,
the projector turns on and the lights are set to the appropriate
level.
5 Anthony Gallo speakers and an MJ acoustics reference 100
sub provide the surround sound and integrate into the Linn
Knekt multi room audio system. This means music can be enjoyed
through the high quality cinema system - great for parties. |
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Mirror Screen Provides
Completely Discreet TV
The client required a discreet TV solution
for the bedroom, so naturally a mirror TV was chosen for
the ultimate in style. The screen when turned off appears
as if it is just a normal mirror hung on the wall (see image
of TV off) but then once turned on it transforms into a
32" LCD TV.
The mirror screens are available with a choice of hundreds
of different frames from contemporary stainless steel (pictured)
to classic gold leaf.
All the screens in the villa are able to show Sky HD, DVDs
from one of two centrally distributed DVD players and have
access to the iMerge on screen video interface (see below).
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Sky
in the Shower
The Aquavision LCD screen in the bathroom is a fully waterproof
Tilevision that fits completely into the wall.
With it's silicone sealed, steam-proof glass, you have the
option of watching the early morning news or, in a more
relaxed mode, you can enjoy music from the iMerge through
the on-screen interface or lie back with a glass of wine
and watch a film or video.
High Quality Anthony Gallo
speakers provide superb sound and a simple waterproof remote
gives full control of music and video from with the bath
or shower.
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37" Lounge Room Cinema
A 37" High Definition Sharp Aquos LCD screen provides
an understated solution for the lounge cinema, with 5 Anthony
Gallo speakers providing the surround sound with an MJ Acoustics
Ref 100 subwoofer.
The Lounge TV (along with all other TVs in the villa) has
access to the video feed from the external CCTV cameras
surrounding the property (pictured).
Again, as with the Cinema Room, all music played comes through
the surround sound system providing high quality listening
in the most important rooms of the home.
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On Screen
Browsing of Music
The iMerge
S3000 Soundserver stores hundreds of CDs at CD quality,
giving each room in the property access to audiophile quality
music. The intuitive on screen interface (pictured) allows
rooms with a TV to access the music directly using a remote
control. For rooms with no TV, albums can be browsed using
the Linn Knekt in wall keypads.
On screen navigation includes search by cover art, the era
of the music, year of release and individual tracks. It's
very quick and easy to create favourite playlists for parties
and general daytime listening. This can be done using a
web interface allowing the use of a keyboard and mouse.
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