London, June 2005 - With 20 years experience providing construction skills in the A/V facilities industry building leading edge studios and state-of-the-art production facilities, Jerry Bennett, owner of Oakwood Building Services had often thought about using his skills at home. So when monitor design and installation company Exigy suggested they work together incorporating high end studio techniques to create the ultimate home cinema experience at his West London house, Bennett jumped at the chance. 'Having built an extension above the garage, the ground floor room was actually the last one to be decorated,' explains Bennett. 'I wanted it to be a living space for the whole family to enjoy, which also pandered to my love of technology.'

Enter Matt Dobson, Managing Director of Exigy. 'I have done small cinemas in the past - two of them on Super Yachts - but this is the first one I have done since Exigy started, and the first where I was given a free hand to design what I wanted and have the furniture made to fit the system,' he says.

Although the background of the Exigy designer is firmly in the pro audio industry, there is increasing convergence between high end control rooms and high end home cinema. 'Take away the mixing console and outboard gear, all that?s left is a highly specified home entertainment system' comments Dobson.



'The dedicated room is of a size that makes it possible to create the true cinema experience. Studio techniques have been used in both the sound system and room treatment, but because Jerry was happy to take a risk, different techniques were used that trade SPL for quality, in particular low frequency transient performance.' Dobson continues, 'Very long throw LF and LFE drivers in sealed active cabinets were specified ? and plenty of them! A consequence of using sealed boxes is a reduction in efficiency. To compensate for this, we supplied high power amplifiers (800W/8Ohm per channel) with DSP included, allowing all cabinets to be optimised to their situation.'

Projected video and a ?behind screen? (a White Mark Ltd., almost totally acoustically transparent screen) centre front monitor is used together with multiple surround speakers to provide a facility that can cope with all current home cinema formats.

So is Dobson pleased with the end result? 'The performance is everything I expected, incredibly well defined LF without overemphasis, tight articulate low mid, crystal clear upper mids and highs, but well integrated, with fantastic imaging. Best of all, it?s easy to listen to at low volume?but if you turn it up you just want to keep going. It really draws you in. I?m very jealous!' he enthuses.

Bennett agrees. Building everything to his own exacting standards, the room showcases a wide range of his and Dobson?s expertise. 'I?m very pleased. It may look like a room full of boys? toys, but I?m happy to say my whole family get at least as much pleasure from the system as I do!'

For further information on Bennett?s specialist construction company, Oakwood Building Services, please visit www.oakwoodbuildingservices.com.