AVCS Kenya Delivers a CEDIA Award–Winning Private Cinema Powered by Trinnov Altitude16
Set along Kenya’s coastline, just beyond a quiet golf course, Bahari Haven is a private residence designed for escape. For the owner of this holiday home, it is the second collaboration with AVCS Kenya, after a successful first project. This time, the brief was clear and uncompromising:
“Last time was amazing. This time, I want it transcendent.”
For AVCS Kenya, a Trinnov dealer with more than 15 years of experience in high-end integration, the word—transcendent—set the tone for everything that followed.
Using technology to create immersion
AVCS Kenya specialises in high-end residential and commercial AV integration, delivering everything from reference-grade private cinemas to corporate collaboration spaces and large public venues. The company has built its reputation around a simple philosophy: technology should never compete with life but rather quietly enhance it.
One of the things that sets AVCS apart is their process. Every project begins working alongside architects, interior designers, and electricians to ensure that technology is integrated, not added on. Their factory-certified team designs, installs, commissions, and supports every system long-term, backed by a fully operational showroom where clients can have a real-life experience before making any commitment.
While keeping it invisible
AVCS Kenya has spent more than 15 years designing high-end home cinemas where technology is close to invisible, putting experience as a top-priority. That mindset shaped every decision at Bahari Haven.
The guiding principle for the cinema was simple: if you notice the hardware, something has gone wrong.
All speakers were integrated in-wall and in-ceiling, properly built into the room. The final layout includes:
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Six in-wall surround speakers, flush-mounted and finished to match the walls
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Six ceiling-mounted height channels, precisely aligned for immersive formats
There are no visible speaker enclosures, no stands, and no exposed wiring. The room remains visually calm, with sound that feels like it belongs to the space rather than sitting on top of it.
Dealing with the room
The cinema room itself came with two challenges that couldn’t simply be ignored:
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A rear-wall opening, visually appealing and great for natural light, but problematic for bass containment
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A door positioned close to the screen, affecting symmetry, sightlines, and early reflections
Rather than pushing for architectural changes, AVCS chose to work within the room as it was.
A custom acoustic baffle system was designed to manage the rear opening without compromising the space. At the front of the room, the wall was re-engineered to allow the Krix MX10 speaker array to be recessed just enough to achieve the correct dispersion and headroom, while remaining completely hidden from view.
Choosing Trinnov: No Guesswork Required
The decision to use the Trinnov Altitude16 was straightforward.
This was a room with real-world imperfections, and a client who expected consistency rather than constant tweaking. The Altitude16 was chosen not for its reputation alone, but because it does what AVCS needs it to do: listen carefully, measure accurately, and correct problems without drawing attention to itself.
Using Trinnov Optimizer to fix the room
The room’s challenges showed up clearly during calibration. The rear opening affected low-frequency behaviour, while the off-centre door created early reflections on one side of the room.
What mattered was how those issues were handled.
Rather than applying heavy-handed EQ or corrections that make a system sound processed, Trinnov Optimizer allowed to address timing, phase, and spatial issues in a way that felt natural. Bass became controlled without losing weight. Imaging stayed stable across seats. Nothing felt forced.
When the System Gets Out of the Way
From the client’s point of view, the experience is intentionally simple.
They sit where they want.
They press one button—Pure Cinema.
And the system does the rest.
One evening, during a screening of Soul, the client’s eight-year-old daughter walked into the room, stopped, and quietly asked:
“Daddy… where’s the music coming from?”
That moment mattered more than any specification sheet.
That’s when the technology disappears.
Experience with the support team
AVCS’s experience with Trinnov doesn’t stop at installation. During the project, a local power dip caused the Altitude16 to struggle on reboot. So they gave a call to the support team.
Tom answered straight away and walked through safe recovery steps, suggested a local power solution—and followed up the next day to make sure everything was stable.
That kind of support doesn’t feel transactional. It feels like a partnership.
Conclusion: Excellence is quiet
The technology used at Bahari Haven makes it an exceptional private cinema, with the Altitude16 at its core, acting as a conductor. Yet, the fact that one can't notice any of all that high-end technology makes it truly transcendant.
The result is a private cinema that feels effortless to use, natural to listen to, and enduring by design—quietly meeting its ambition, and leaving nothing but the film to take centre stage.
Bahari Haven was recognised with a CEDIA Award 2025, earning two major awards with this project.
Their dual win, and additional finalist position in the Excellence in Business category marks a milestone for the company and for the growing visibility of high-end integration in East Africa.