AVI Marin Blends Technical Precision and Acoustical Artistry with Grimani Systems
With the expert engineering, custom calibration, and cutting-edge products from Grimani Systems, AVI Marin delivers professional cinema performance in a multipurpose residential room.
When a technically minded homeowner set out to build a high-performance mixed-use media room, it presented both opportunity and challenge. The client sought professional-level audio and video performance in a residential setting that was not originally designed for it. The room had limited depth for speaker placement, hard reflective surfaces, and significant natural light. Each factor required careful engineering to achieve accurate sound and picture quality without structural modification.
The homeowner approached the project with a high degree of technical curiosity and a clear set of expectations. He conducted extensive research and contacted a handful of potential custom installers across the San Francisco Bay Area. Most failed to meet his standards. “Most didn’t impress him on the phone,” said Tony Probst, owner of AVI Marin. “Only a couple seemed to know what they were doing. Of course, we were one of them!”
AVI Marin specializes in custom home theater system design and installation, and custom whole-house audio and video solutions. AVI services Marin County, CA, and the broader San Francisco Bay Area. Founder Tony Probst has the specialized skills and tools to design and install systems that deliver the best sound and video experience possible. Every project begins with an engineering-focused approach, since room dimensions and configuration directly affect sound quality.
The homeowner wanted a partner who could explain the engineering behind the experience. He found that in AVI Marin. The company operates a 9,000-square-foot showroom designed to showcase systems across a range of price and performance levels. Each room demonstrates a different balance of acoustical treatment, loudspeaker design, and electronic control.
“The client loved that he could physically experience the systems, justify the cost to himself, and understand the performance differences,” Probst said.
The large space available in the client’s home for the new media room has significant natural light from multiple windows. The abundant natural light ruled out the use of a projection system. The room required a display that could maintain brightness and contrast under daylight conditions. The wall behind the display could be intelligently reconfigured to incorporate speakers, subwoofers, and an equipment rack.
The client wanted to achieve even coverage and full-frequency response without visible hardware or extensive acoustic treatment. The space needed to continue to serve as a functional living area – not a sealed theater room. The combination of aesthetic and acoustical goals required a design that delivered both power and finesse.
AVI Marin built the system around a 98-inch Sony display, chosen for its size, brightness, and superior performance with high ambient light conditions. The system’s primary source is a Kaleidescape movie server, supported by an Apple TV and other content platforms. Surround decoding is handled by an Anthem AVM90, with control via an AVA system. Amplification is provided by custom-programmed Powersoft units.
The loudspeaker system, designed and built by Grimani Systems, serves as the foundation of the installation. The front channels include a Rixos-H2 Horizontal center channel and two Rixos-SND speakers. Grimani Systems’ Rixos-H2 is a 2.5-way active tri-amplified model with dual 6.5-inch woofers, an annular tweeter mounted in a proprietary CSA waveguide and includes integrated digital signal processing. Despite its compact four-inch depth, it can produce 108 dB SPL long term and 115 dB SPL peak.
Two Rixos-SND loudspeakers are used for the left and right channels. The Rixos-SND provides ultrawide dispersion for a larger listening sweet spot and enhanced immersion, and delivers high sound pressure levels in a compact, shallow package. It provides exceptional dynamics and finesse through its active bi-amplified, DSP-controlled two-way design. The Rixos-SND incorporates patented waveguide technology and an integration-friendly configuration, making it suitable for both residential and professional cinema environments.
Low frequencies are handled by Grimani Systems Zeta subwoofers. The Zeta is a DSP-equipped subwoofer designed for small- to medium-sized home theater rooms. It is ideal for spaces up to 400 square feet. Each unit features a 13.5-inch long-throw driver and 800 watts of amplification. The Zeta can achieve an in-room sound pressure level of 115 decibels peak. For this project, AVI Marin installed two Zeta subwoofers to achieve smooth and consistent low-frequency coverage across the listening area.
Once the hardware was installed, system calibration was performed by Anthony Grimani. Each loudspeaker was manually tuned to compensate for the room’s acoustical characteristics. Grimani’s process includes comprehensive measurements and adjustments of frequency response, phase, and arrival times. “Nothing in these systems is automatically calibrated,” Probst said. “Everything is carefully done manually. To this day, I have not found an automatic calibration system that gets it more than 30 or 40 percent right.”
For acoustical control, Grimani Systems relied on a minimalist approach that matches the interiors of this property. A thick area rug, large comfortable couches, and window drapery brought the reverberation to reasonable levels for a Media Lounge environment.
By combining manual calibration with the wide and consistent dispersion from Grimani Systems’ Rixos speakers, the design achieved a super smooth timbral balance and consistent imaging across all listening positions. The integration of DSP-based speaker management with Powersoft amplification provided fine control over tonal and spatial accuracy.
The completed system delivered the dynamics, clarity, and precision the client had hoped for. The client described the experience as “beyond what I thought was physically possible in my home.” Probst agreed that the result exceeded expectations. “It created the feeling of being inside the movie you are watching, rather than just hearing sound coming at you.”
The client had previously relied on retail-level systems and was unaware of the performance available through professional integration. The combination of Grimani’s Systems’ solutions and detailed calibration introduced him to a new level of fidelity. He continues to describe the system as one that gives him “goosebumps” day after day.
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