This is a Wisdom Audio Insight Series 9.4.4 home cinema in a Tilal Al Ghaf villa in Dubai, designed and installed by Custom AV and supplied by Cache. The room runs nine speakers at ear level, four in-ceiling height speakers and four subwoofer channels, all built on Wisdom planar magnetic technology, with a madVR Envy handling the picture. The result is a reference-level private cinema where audio and film share the same excellent detail.
Below we walk through each layer of the design, the LCR, the sides, the wides, the rears, the heights and the subs, and explain what each one does in a room like this. If you are planning your own home cinema in Dubai, it is a useful look at how a high performance layout comes together.
The finished cinema in Tilal Al Ghaf. Wisdom Insight speakers behind acoustic fabric, star ceiling above.
LCR: 3 x Wisdom Audio Insight L8i, line source planar magnetic hybrid
Sides, wides and rears: 6 x Wisdom Audio Insight P4i, compact point source planar magnetic hybrid
Heights: 4 x Wisdom Audio Insight ICI6, in ceiling planar magnetic hybrid
Subwoofers: 2 x SCS-2 high output in wall subwoofers with S90 ports, driven by 4 x SW-1 DSP amplifiers
Video: madVR Envy processor
The front three channels, left, centre and right, are the foundation of any cinema, because most of what you hear, dialogue, music and on screen effects, lives here. Custom AV specified three Wisdom Insight L8i for these positions. The L8i is a line source planar magnetic hybrid, which pairs a tall thin film planar driver with dynamic bass drivers. A line source projects sound evenly down the length of the room, so the front row and the back row hear a consistent, effortless presentation. Flush mounted behind the acoustically transparent screen wall, the three L8i disappear completely while anchoring the whole soundstage.
Front wall during installation. The three tall apertures hold the Insight L8i left, centre and right.
The side surrounds sit level with the seating and carry the ambience and movement that wrap around the audience. This room uses the Wisdom Insight P4i, a compact point source planar magnetic hybrid that shares the same planar voicing as the L8i. Because the sides use the same driver technology as the front three, effects that pan from the screen to the side of the room stay tonally seamless rather than jumping between different sounding speakers.
The wide channels sit between the front LCR and the side surrounds, filling the gap along the front half of the room. In a wide layout like this one they widen the front stage and smooth the transition as sound travels from the screen towards the seats. Custom AV used the Insight P4i here too, keeping the front and side hemisphere of the room voiced by a single, consistent family of speakers.
Insight P4i surrounds going in. Every position is flush mounted for a clean, architectural finish.
The rear surrounds complete the circle behind the audience, placing sounds directly to the back of the room and giving the object based mix somewhere to travel. Again the room uses the Insight P4i, so the rears match the sides and wides exactly. With six P4i covering the sides, wides and rears, the whole surround field is built from one speaker, which is the key to the smooth, room filling sound Wisdom is known for.
The four height channels bring the sound overhead, which is what turns a surround system into a true immersive room where rain, aircraft and score can move above your head. These are four Wisdom Insight ICI6 in ceiling speakers, again planar magnetic hybrids, mounted flush into the ceiling. Keeping the height channels in the same Insight family as the ear level speakers means the sound stays cohesive as effects rise from the walls to the ceiling.
The finished room. The four Insight ICI6 height speakers sit flush in the ceiling above the seats.
Deep, controlled bass is what you feel as much as hear, and it is what separates a real cinema from a large television. The low end here is built from two Wisdom SCS-2 high output in wall subwoofers with S90 ports, driven by four SW-1 DSP amplifiers. Building the subwoofers into the wall keeps the room clean and lets the bass load the space evenly, while the dedicated SW-1 DSP amplification gives each subwoofer channel its own tailored power and room correction. The rockwool lined cavities below show how much structure goes in behind the fabric to make this work.
In wall subwoofer enclosures under construction, with Insight surrounds in place.
Wisdom amplification in the rack. Each subwoofer channel runs its own SW-1 DSP amplifier.
Sound is only half of a cinema. The image in this room is handled by a madVR Envy, a dedicated video processor that sits between the sources and the projector. The Envy analyses the incoming picture in real time and optimises tone mapping and HDR for this exact screen and projector, so highlights, shadows and colour are rendered the way the film makers intended rather than left to the projector alone. Paired with the Wisdom system, it gives the room a picture that matches the quality of the sound.
The equipment rack, with the madVR Envy driving the picture.
Cache is the exclusive distributor for Wisdom Audio in the UAE, holding the Insight Series in local stock for integrators across the region. This Tilal Al Ghaf cinema was designed and installed by Custom AV, with Cache supplying the Wisdom speakers, subwoofers and electronics from Dubai. You can explore the full Wisdom Audio Insight Series or read more about Wisdom Audio in the UAE.
If you are an integrator planning a private cinema and want Wisdom performance with local stock and support, contact our team for a project quote.
What speakers are used in this Tilal Al Ghaf cinema?
The system is a Wisdom Audio Insight Series 9.4.4. It uses three Insight L8i for the LCR, six Insight P4i for the sides, wides and rears, four Insight ICI6 in the ceiling, and Wisdom SCS-2 in wall subwoofers with SW-1 DSP amplification.
What does a 9.4.4 layout mean?
It describes the speaker count: nine speakers at ear level, four subwoofer channels and four height speakers in the ceiling. It is an immersive layout built for object based formats.
What is a planar magnetic hybrid speaker?
It is a speaker that uses a thin film planar driver for the mid and high frequencies, paired with dynamic drivers for bass. Wisdom Audio uses this technology across the Insight Series for low distortion and a very open, natural sound.
What does the madVR Envy do?
The madVR Envy is a video processor. It optimises tone mapping and HDR in real time for the specific projector and screen, so the picture is rendered accurately rather than relying on the projector on its own.
Where can I get Wisdom Audio in Dubai?
Cache is the exclusive UAE distributor for Wisdom Audio and stocks the Insight Series in Dubai for integrators. Contact our team for product advice or a project quote.
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