Reprinted from EssentialInstall.com
All it takes is one electrical surge or spike to damage a piece of home theatre equipment. This threat is very real in Russia, where most of the country is fed by a single electrical grid. Moscow is particularly prone to electrical disturbances. Every time a big piece of machinery turns on, the power grid takes a significant hit.
The resulting electrical surges can affect nearby residences, putting sensitive electronic gear at significant risk. When a home has been outfitted with high end AV equipment, protection from power disturbances is just as important to the entertainment experience as the quality of the speakers, amplifiers, processors, AV sources and video projector.
“When we started plans for a custom theater in a large luxury home in Moscow, we knew the quality of the power grid was questionable,” said Christian Søgren Nielsen, Creative Director and Founder of Danish AV integration firm, CSN Teknik. “It’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when installing such high-end gear, so no ordinary surge protector would do for this client. We needed a heavy-duty power transformer, like the RM 16 Power Isolation Transformer from Torus Power.”
To ensure that every audio, video, and control component would receive clean, protected power, CSN Teknik installed six RM 16 Power Transformers into the newly built theatre. Fully protected from electrical disturbances and lightning strikes are a Dolby Atmos system comprised of Wisdom Audio speakers, amplifiers and controllers, a Trinnov Audio processor, Barco dual-laser 4K HDR video projector, Kaleidescape media server and player, Blu-ray Disc players, Apple TV and an RTI home theatre control system.
“We didn’t want to leave anything to chance, especially considering the instability of the power grid and the amount of construction that was happening in the building as we were installing the theatre,” Mr Nielsen added. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the Torus Power units saved us and our selective customers from the worst-case scenario.”
As it safeguards the reference-grade equipment from dirty electricity, the Torus Power transformers ensure full dynamic range from the audio equipment and quality imagery from video gear.
CSN Teknik optimised the audio and video presentation even further by constructing and designing the home theatre for optimal acoustics. Working in tandem with the architect and other craftsmen, CSN Teknik employed a “room-within-a-room” construction technique to prevent sound from entering or leaving the space – important when neighboring units are located directly above, below and adjacent to the seventh-floor residence.
This construction method completely decouples the envelope of the home theatre from the residence’s interior and exterior walls so that no extraneous noise would interfere with the home theatre presentation, nor would audio from the Wisdom system disturb other occupants of the building – fulfilling the customer’s wish.
Insulating the home theatre also gave CSN Teknik a “clean slate” from which to calibrate the audio to perfection.