A stunning new build modern contemporary home on the edge of Richmond Park is the perfect fit for Amina Invisible Loudspeakers providing great sound reproduction with no visible intrusion into its minimalist interior design.
This cutting edge, yet classic, five bedroom Richmond Town House is of uncompromising build quality, incredible architectural integrity and enviable specification. Inside the emphasis is on contemporary open spaces, uncluttered by walls, pillars or radiators, all complemented by excellent natural light. The latest technology is present discretely throughout the house with a Philips Wi-Fi Pronto control system integrating audio, video, lighting and security allowing whole home control from any part of the property, including the garden. The house features Porcelain and American Walnut floor finishes complimented by under-floor heating throughout, whilst employing the latest smart home mood lighting systems and a whole house audio and video entertainment system. The sense of space and openness is enhanced by the roomy three floor design, rather than the four floor format common in neighbouring properties.
To meet the aesthetic requirements of this open plan home, Hemel based integrator; Ohms and Watts Automation, installed a total of seventeen invisible loudspeakers providing high clarity, room filling sound throughout the house. Home owner, Richard Hutton, chose Amina Technologies unique plastered over invisible loudspeakers for their sound clarity, ease of installation and, most importantly for a multi-room audio system, being covered by a final skim of plaster, they are absolutely invisible. These loud speakers propagate sound in a way that is analogous to acoustical musical instruments such a violin, piano or acoustic guitar. Like natural musical instruments, which generate sound from tiny vibrations on the body of the instrument itself, (as opposed to the pistonic action of a conventional cone loudspeaker which pushes air out of the box in which it is mounted creating the point source sound everyone has become familiar with), the Amina product creates sound through vibrations on its surface, and is “tuned” for the weight of a 2mm skim of plaster applied over the front of the panel during installation. Thus they are not only totally invisible once installed but are very effective at filling large areas with an even level of sound, perfect for an open plan living area. These tiny vibrations are too small to be seen by the human eye, although can be felt lightly through the finger tips. Once plastered in place the wall or ceiling is decorated with paint or wallpaper as normal; the tiny vibrations will not cause any damage to the plaster or decorative surface. Ideal for multi-room applications, the Amina solution maintains clean uncluttered lines while reproducing high quality audio throughout.
Entertainment requirements are serviced from a centralised electronic equipment rack featuring twin Sky™ receivers, a Panasonic™ video hard drive storage server and a Nuvo™ music and radio server, all of which can be accessed wirelessly from anywhere in the house. In addition iPod™ iPhones™ and Apple TV™ are easily connected through the Nuvo™ server allowing accompanying music to be played through the Amina invisible speakers wherever and whenever required. For family events, slide shows of just taken photographs can be instantly shared and enjoyed by displaying them on plasma TV’s with suitably selected background music.
Ambient sound is zoned, or can be played throughout the whole house, ideal for party entertaining or simply relaxing in a more intimate moment. The owner is particularly pleased with how the sound permeates throughout the house even into the hallway and stairwell where no speakers are installed, allowing guests to effortlessly enjoy music as they mingle and move about the entire house.
The spacious and acoustically harsh kitchen with its large amount of tiling, glass and other hard surfaces, leads directly into the garden area. Here specialist outdoor speakers, disguised as rocks, provide music for those enjoying the barbeque. The owner Richard Hutton comments “I am delighted with the quality of sound produced by the ceiling mounted Amina speakers in the kitchen, particularly with such challenging room acoustics; they blend seamlessly with the outdoor speakers”. The sound energy produced by Amina speakers is in the form of a complex randomised wave form, which is very different to that produced by traditional loudspeakers, and, just as if a violin was playing in a room, there is consistent volume with high clarity sound throughout. This randomised energy wave creates far less problems from acoustic reflections that can produce the cacophony of sound so often experienced when hard surfaces act as mirrors to acoustic energy.
The playroom is kitted out with a variety of computer gaming equipment, all of which utilize a local 32” plasma display and a pair of Amina speakers. These provide great stereo sound effects throughout the entire space, whilst being immune from physical damage by over enthusiastic participants as they are safely plastered into the ceiling.
For those wanting a quiet life the study has a desktop TV PC which is connected to a stereo pair of Amina speakers providing an option to enjoy high quality audio and video away from the bustle of family life.
Needless to say for family viewing and listening the lounge is fitted with four ceiling mounted Amina invisible loudspeakers used with the TV to fill the room with impressive surround sound. Alternatively, when entertaining guests, the same ceiling mounted speakers provide high quality sound unobstructed by a room full of people.
Throughout the house and garden mood lighting is controlled via the Philips Wi-Fi Pronto control system with each room having lighting arrays discretely fitted into the ceilings. For that romantic night in the master bedroom the lighting helps establish the appropriate mood to enjoy a romantic film playing on the plasma TV with sound provided by two Amina invisible speakers installed in the ceiling. Even if a natural break is required there is no need to miss out on the plot line as the en-suite is fitted with a dual channel Amina loudspeaker playing both the left and right channels of sound simultaneously.
And, if you needed a grand Hollywood style finale, a Panasonic telephone exchange and door entry system makes use of a Craymer RGB matrix switch so that any callers, whether in person or via the telephone, will communicate through the whole house speaker system which is automatically interrupted by the telephone ringing or the doorbell. This same system provides ultimate in family communications with a paging system similarly interrupting the sound system, allowing everyone to be simultaneously notified that dinner is ready and their presence is required!
The result is an owner absolutely delighted with the outcome, a fully automated family friendly modern town house with high quality invisible sound and mood lighting throughout complementing the minimalist décor. A perfect property to raise a family in, and to entertain family and friends in style.
