I recently sat down to reflect on something that has been on my mind for a while. There's no shortage of home cinema advice online, and most of it comes from people who have never had to stand behind a finished room and let someone else decide how good it is. The video below came out of that. It's a short solo piece, just over four minutes, about what accountability means in private cinema design and why we choose to have our work judged by our peers at Cinema Buro.
Opinions are easy
When I'm not designing rooms for clients, I'm usually working with CEDIA on recommended practices or teaching other integrators about cinema design. The rest of the time you'll find me on YouTube once or twice a week, giving opinions alongside all the other armchair experts. I include myself in that. Everyone has an opinion, and I usually have one before breakfast.
The problem is that an opinion costs nothing. There's no accountability in it until the work behind it has been judged. So when I see someone giving advice about cinemas, the first thing I want to know is what they've actually built. How many rooms have they done, and how many will they show you? How many times have they owned an entire project from start to finish, taken responsibility for every element in it and lived with the end result?
Fewer still take that finished work and put it in front of their peers to see how good it really is.
What does accountability mean in home cinema design?
For me, real accountability in home cinema design means putting your completed work in front of people who know what you do. They understand what good looks like and what it doesn't. They examine the work and tell you honestly how it compares to everything around it.
Once you've entered, you don't get to pick the questions and you don't get to explain away mistakes. You're held to account for the decisions you made and for how well you delivered the client's brief.
I spent a couple of years on the judging side, so I know how many hours it takes to go through an awards entry in every last piece of detail. Our entry this year runs to around 210 pages of A3, which works out at more than 400 pages of US Letter. Putting that much of your work in front of other people to be judged is a scary thing to do. We might not win. It's still part of who we are and how we work at Cinema Buro.
Why most private cinema work is never seen
The awkward truth about our industry is that most of our best work is invisible. Our projects usually sit under strict non-disclosure agreements. We can't say where the rooms are or what they cost, and often we can't describe the work we did at all.
So when a client does give us the opportunity, we put that work forward to be judged. We want to know where we stand, and we want to be held accountable for what we've done.
A track record of being judged
The first I knew of Sphere Custom was seeing them win the 2016 CEDIA Award for Best Cinema. That was before I'd ever met Christiaan Beukes, who is now my business partner.
In 2021, at Cinema Lusso, a client allowed us to put a project forward for an award for the first time. It won Home Cinema Level 1 and Best Lighting. In 2022 we won Home Cinema Level 2 and Best Cinema Global. Peter Aylett and Maurizio Conti have also had many of their projects entered, both while working for integration companies and as suppliers to other firms. Across the four of us, more than ten projects have been put forward for assessment over the last ten years.
I'm not telling you this because I want a round of applause. I'm telling you because it explains how we work. That kind of accountability is fundamental to Cinema Buro.
Nowhere left to hide
It's happening again now. The four of us have a project in the APAC Level 4 category, It's About Time, which is a finalist in the 2026 CEDIA Smart Home Awards Asia Pacific. The judging is coming up shortly.
We might win and we might not. If we don't, we'll be the first to congratulate the winner, knowing it must be an incredible project that delivered everything its client hoped for.
I won't pretend I'm relaxed about it. I'm terrified we won't win, and I don't want to find out what it feels like to lose. But every time we put work forward, the moment we hit submit there's nowhere left to hide. That pressure is what keeps us honest. It makes sure every project we do is the best work we're capable of, because I don't want to find out we're not as good as we thought.
Two questions to ask before you take cinema advice
The next time someone on social media tells you which speakers to use or how your cinema should be designed, ask yourself two things. What have they built, and who has judged it?
If the answer is nobody, that's worth knowing.
If you're choosing a home cinema designer, the same questions apply. Ask to see rooms they've completed, ask whether they took responsibility for the whole project from start to finish, and ask whether any of that work has been independently assessed by people who know what good looks like.
Frequently asked questions
What is the accountability video about?
It's a solo video in which Ben Goff, Technical Director of Cinema Buro, talks about accountability in private cinema design. He explains why the practice puts completed rooms in front of industry peers to be judged, and suggests two questions to ask anyone giving home cinema advice: what have they built, and who has judged it?
What does accountability mean for a home cinema designer?
It means owning a project from the brief to the finished room, then letting people who understand what good looks like assess the result honestly. A judged entry gives you no chance to pick the questions or explain away mistakes. The designer is held to their decisions and to how well they delivered the client's brief.
Why can't private cinema designers show most of their work?
Most private cinema projects are covered by strict non-disclosure agreements. Designers often can't say where a room is, what it cost or what work was done. Independent awards judging is one of the few ways that work gets assessed by peers.
How should I choose a home cinema designer?
Ask what they've built, and whether they'll show you completed rooms. Find out whether they took responsibility for entire projects from start to finish, and whether any of their work has been independently judged by industry peers.
Who is Ben Goff?
Ben Goff is Technical Director of Cinema Buro, a private cinema design practice. He co-authored CEDIA RP-22, co-chairs CEDIA RP-32, teaches professional integrators about cinema design, and hosts the Cinema Engineering Podcast.
Read the full video transcript
[00:00] Three weeks. That's when we're going to find out if our work's any good. Am I terrified? Sure. It's kind of the point.
[00:09] See, when I'm not designing rooms for clients or working with CEDIA on recommended practices, teaching other integrators cinema design, you'll find me on YouTube once, maybe twice a week with all the other armchair experts. Giving an opinion, and opinions are easy. Everyone's got one. I usually have one before breakfast, but there's no accountability until we're judged on our work.
[00:34] When we see people talking about cinemas and giving advice, look at the work they've done. How many rooms have they built? How many rooms do they show you? How many times have they been accountable for an entire project start to finish, where they take ownership of every single element, and they truly own the end result of that room? I guess it's probably fewer still that take that work and put it in front of their peers to be judged, to see how good it really is.
[01:06] Real accountability is when you put the work in front of people who know what you do, people who understand what good looks like and what it's not, who examine your work and tell honestly how it compares to the others around you. We don't get to pick the questions. We don't get to explain away mistakes. We're just held accountable for the decisions we've made and how well we delivered the client's brief. That's the standard we hold ourselves to.
[01:32] For a couple of years I sat on the judging side. I know how many hours it takes to go through awards in every last piece of detail. Our entry this year, around 210 pages of A3. I'm not sure what you call that in America, but let's say it's over 400 pages of letter. Putting your work in front of others to be judged is a scary thing to do. We might not win, but it's ingrained in what we do at Cinema Buro. It's part of who we are, and it's part of how we work.
[02:03] We often can't talk about our projects. We've got strict non-disclosure agreements. We can't talk about where they are, what they cost, the work we did. It's all completely hidden. But when we do get the opportunity, we'll put that work out to be judged. We want to see where we stand, and we want to be held accountable for what we've done.
[02:24] So, 2016, before I'd ever met Christiaan, now my business partner at Cinema Lusso. The first I knew of Sphere Custom was seeing them win the 2016 CEDIA Award for Best Cinema. Jump forward to 2021. You'll see some similarities. This was the first opportunity we had where a client allowed us to put our work forward for an award. We won Home Cinema Level One and Best Lighting. 2022, we won Home Cinema Level Two and the Global Cinema Award.
[02:56] I know with Peter and Maurizio, whether working for integration companies who have entered or as a supplier to other firms, many of their projects get put forward. Over the last ten years, there's been over ten projects between us that have been entered to be assessed. I'm not telling you this because I want a round of applause. I'm telling you because it explains who we are, why we are, what we do. That accountability is fundamental to the way we work.
[03:29] It's happening again right now. Four of us have got a project in the APAC Level Four category that's being judged in three weeks' time. We might win. We might not. If we don't, we'll be the first to congratulate the winner, knowing it must be an incredible project that's delivered everything the client ever hoped for.
[03:49] Do we always know we'll win? Of course not. I'm terrified we won't win. I don't want to find out what it's like to lose. But every time we put that work forward, as soon as we hit submit, there's nowhere left to hide. It's gone. It's going to be judged. That holds us accountable. That makes sure that every project we do is the best work we can do, because I don't want to find out we're not as good as we thought.
[04:13] Here's the thing. When you hear people on social media giving their opinion on which speakers you should use or how a cinema should be designed, just think of two things. Ask yourself, what have they built, and who's judged it? If the answer is nobody, it's worth knowing.