The new SG-AV Technology room (by the way the acronym is due to its owners, José Luis Salazar and Natalia Galera) mounts a UandKSound Reference “top” front set combined with M6 series effects boxes on both sides and rear and also vertical (ceiling). It is a 9.2.4 set (nine surround channels plus two subwoofers and four Atmos-type ceiling), whose “brain” is the StormAudio ISP Core 16 processor and which obtains “muscle” from several UandKSound multichannel stages. A JVC projector (the LX-NZ30) completes the audiovisual part and a home automation system controls everything, including lighting (with a beautiful “starry sky” effect on the ceiling). The room is compact and slightly rectangular: 5 by 4.3m, just over 20 square meters, demonstrating that a large room is not necessary to enjoy an authentic home cinema.
If we analyze the boxes in detail, the front UandKSound Reference set is the brand’s greatest exponent with three M1200LCR boxes and two M1800SW bass drawers. The first ones, as their name indicates, work as the main L, C and R (left, center and right), and are placed with the two bass boxes interposed, forming a solid front set of five boxes (say the “3.2” part of the system). The M1200LCR have a horn tweeter and a 12″ mid-woofer, while the dedicated M1800SW bass boxes mount a huge 18″ driver; All cones are made of treated paper, which offers a touch of warmth and helps maintain a family feel. In the LCR two switches allow you to adapt its response in treble and bass, depending on the size of the room and placement or acoustics.
On the side and rear walls we had UandKSound M610IW boxes from the “Cinema Series”, with a very shallow design (the box needs 13cm) and perfect for that location. Each box is a three-way that features a 6.5″ woofer, 4″ midrange driver, and ribbon tweeter. They are boxes capable of going down to 45Hz, that is, with more bass capacity than usual for effects, but as we will see later, this is an interesting quality when applying the very new Dirac ART correction. They had four boxes from that M6 series mounted on the ceiling, their smaller sisters M600IW, even easier to embed (9cm deep). In their case they are two-way with a 6.5″ mid-woofer and the same ribbon tweeter.
Two things remain as clear conclusions from this listening: first, the good synergy between the UandKSound boxes (ideal for installations) and the powerful StormAudio electronics. Second, the importance of a correction system like the Dirac ART, which represents a notable acoustic leap in a system of this type and I dare say that even more so when the room is not as prepared or worked on as is this case.
