Approximately 200 kilometers north of Toronto lies the Muskoka region, commonly referred to as “The Hamptons of the North” and home to “Billionaires’ Row,” a discreet sanctuary for Canada’s elite, world business titans, and Hollywood celebrities. Many of the residences near Port Carling on Lake Rosseau are massive, private lakefront retreats edged by pine and maple, where the prevailing soundtrack is waves and birdsong. That kind of quiet is a genuine luxury, but so is the ability to flip the switch and fill a room with concert-grade sound. When one homeowner in the area decided it was time for the latter, he turned to Oro-Medonte, Ontario-based Blue Rocket Solutions, and the result became the first L-Acoustics home theatre installation in Canada.
Out With the Old, In With the New
The 16,000-square-foot dwelling was already undergoing a series of renovations, and the family’s two-row, seven-seat movie room was next. It hadn’t been touched in two decades, and it showed: voices tracked to the floor, bass had little impact, and rear imagery was poor. The original plan was to salvage the existing gear, but that changed when the homeowner put a different question to Blue Rocket Solutions Owner Ryan Guest.
“The client’s original plan was to pull everything out, store it through the reno, and reinstall,” recalls Guest. “Once we started looking at what it would take to make that system perform the way he wanted, it became clear that a fresh start was the better path. Then he asked me: If you had no limits, what would you do?”
Creating a System Without Limits
“That question changed everything,” says Guest. “A client who starts a project planning to reuse his old gear and then turns around mid-renovation and says ‘go for it’ is putting a real degree of trust in you. We took that seriously. We talked through what true immersion feels like, what a room can do when the system is built around the space rather than installed into it, and what was possible at that level. He gave us a budget and asked us to outperform his last theatre. I already knew where I wanted to take it. At CEDIA Expo, I had an opportunity to experience L-Acoustics’ theatre demonstration, and that was the first time I had what I can only describe as a genuinely transporting theatre experience. That was the reference point I kept coming back to.”
An Unobtrusive, Powerful Design
After reviewing several options covering a range of speaker counts and positions, the homeowner chose to move forward with an L-Acoustics design. Using the manufacturer’s Soundvision 3D acoustical modeling software, Blue Rocket Solutions specified a 7.1.4 surround system with 15 speakers powered by a single L-Acoustics LA7.16i amplified controller. The LA7.16i integrates amplification, processing, and loudspeaker management into one unit, delivering 16 channels of onboard DSP with direct network control and consistent, calibrated output of up to 1,300 watts per channel across every speaker in the system. Four L-Acoustics Syva Sub subwoofers are horizontally mounted in two stacks of two at the front of the room for low-frequency reinforcement that is both tight and substantial. “The Syva Sub, which uses 12-inch drivers, creates a deeply physical feeling, allowing listeners to experience content in a new way,” says Guest.
The subs are paired with three L-Acoustics X8i coaxial systems mounted into the wall behind a new Seymour Screen, with acoustically-transparent 4k fabric, that is visually brought to life by a Sony projector paired with an advanced madVR processor. Content is delivered via an Apple TV, Sony PlayStation 5, and Kaleidescape high-fidelity movie library with lossless audio and full reference video quality. “We recessed the frontal speakers in the front stage with the center channel behind the projector screen. Covering the speakers to blend into the wall, we used custom fabricated frames, wrapped with acoustically-transparent fabric, all built in-house.”
Four smaller L-Acoustics X6i are also wall-recessed, two as left and right surrounds and two as rear surrounds, complemented by four additional X6i height channels for overhead immersive detail.
Blue Rocket further installed an Anthem Atmos surround sound processor, paired with an RME analog-to-digital converter, to route all 13 balanced analog XLR pre-outs into the L-Acoustics amplified controller through a single network cable using the high-resolution AVB encoding. Six zones of new lighting were also installed throughout the space, allowing flexibility for different looks, and Savant was used for theatre and lighting control.
Designed to Perform: Soundvision, CEDIA Level II, and the Results
“L-Acoustics was a strong partner from beginning to end,” says Guest. “Their Soundvision design software was central to how we worked. It let us model the full 3D acoustical environment before a single speaker went in the wall: mapping coverage, identifying problem areas, and verifying output levels room-wide. That kind of precision upfront is what made the difference. We were targeting CEDIA’s RP-22 Theatre standard, and I’m glad to say that we achieved CEDIA RP-22 Level II.”
When asked about the audio system’s performance, Guest responded, “Out of the box, with no calibration at all, I can sum it up in a single word: power. Some manufacturers claim to offer power, but this is different. It’s clean, energetic, full-fidelity power. After completing the final onsite calibration with their certified audio engineer, the first listen brought goosebumps to everyone present. We were aiming for an ‘experience,’ and with the LA7.16i and L-Acoustics speakers being engineered as a matched system, each component calibrated to the other’s behavior, we were able to create exactly that. The customer is thrilled with what we delivered with an L-Acoustics solution.”
Blue Rocket Solutions can be found online at www.bluerocketsolutions.ca.
Please visit L-Acoustics at www.l-acoustics.com.