55" TV and B&W CCM682 in wall speakers with optional square grilles fitted 55" TV and B&W CCM682 in wall speakers with optional square grilles fitted

Local Herefordshire architects Hook Mason recently asked us to design and install a high performance home cinema/ music system for a discerning client in Woolhope, Herefordshire.

The design criteria were to make the system easy to use via iPhone/ iPad, but at the same time offer superb music and movie enjoyment via a 55" flat screen TV and 'invisible' 5.1 surround sound speaker system. The speaker system uses five very high quality in-wall and in-ceiling B&W CCM682 units to provide three front speakers and two rear surround speakers. The bass is augmented by the B&W ISW4 in-wall subwoofer, which ensures minimal intrusion into the room space - the back box for the ISW4 is visible on the left hand side of the photo below, just prior to installation.

Garden room home cinema stud work for TV and front 3 in-wall speakers Garden room home cinema stud work for TV and front 3 in-wall speakers

The Garden Room comprises an additional wing to an established country home. This is the room where the family will kick back, relax together and enjoy a great 3D movie experience with amazing sound quality, all controlled from a free app on their iDevice.

QED silver micro speaker cable installed in ceiling joists ready for B&W CCM682 speakers QED silver micro speaker cable installed in ceiling joists ready for B&W CCM682 speakers

The QED speaker cables can be seen in the ceiling ready to be connected to the superb B&W CCM682 in-ceiling speakers, which will provide a great surround sound experience for all of the family.

Rear surround in-ceiling speakers fed from QED silver micro speaker cable Rear surround in-ceiling speakers fed from QED silver micro speaker cable

 

A dedicated equipment cupboard has been created outside the garden room to house the home cinema blu-ray player, av receiver, Sonos Connect, Sky HD and infrared repeater unit. This will keep clutter away from the garden room, whilst giving a ventilated, central location for all electronics.

The back box for the B&W ISW4 in-wall subwoofer is now fitted into the stud wall as can be seen below - this back box ensures that the subwoofer is correctly loaded by the precise volume of air intended by B&W engineers for a full, deep bass response. A rack mount dedicated LFE power amplifier drives the subwoofer directly via the speaker cable shown coiled inside the back box.

B&W ISW-4 back box B&W ISW-4 back box

We returned to this install just before Christmas 2012 to second fix the installation - installing all ceiling and in-wall speakers, configuring the blu-ray and av receiver for optimum sound and picture quality, and then adding four zones of Sonos multi-room audio around the property.

B&W ISW4 sub back box B&W ISW4 sub back box

Here is the in-wall B&W ISW4 sub just prior to and just after final installation - looking good!

B&W ISW4 in-wall sub pre-mount kit B&W ISW4 in-wall sub pre-mount kit

Here is the ISW4 now in situ, just waiting for it;s perforated metal grill to be attached. The grille is paintable to match the surrounding wall finish.

B&W ISW4 sub now installed B&W ISW4 sub now installed

Here is the finished look if the B&W ISW4 in-wall sub with painted grille and bezel matching the wall emulsion colour, a very discreet look and phenomenal bass performance.

B&W ISW4 in-wall sub painted to match walls B&W ISW4 in-wall sub painted to match walls

The 55" LCD panel has been recessed into the wall to give a very elegant look to the TV.

Loewe 55" Compose TV Loewe 55" Compose TV

Infra-red remote control commands are sensed by a small target in the room (QED Roomlink) , and then repeated in the equipment cupboard, avoiding the need for unsightly equipment boxes and cables to be on show in the cinema room.

QED Roomlink IR repeater enables control of the electronics in the equipment cupboard QED Roomlink IR repeater enables control of the electronics in the equipment cupboard

The electronics feeding the main cinema system are hidden away in a separate equipment cupboard and comprise a Pioneer SC-LX85 AV receiver, a Pioneer BDP-440 blu-ray player, B&W SA250 in-wall sub amplifier and the ubiquitous Sky HD box.

View of the equipment cupboard View of the equipment cupboard

Equipment driving the home cinema system hidden away in a separate cupboard Equipment driving the home cinema system hidden away in a separate cupboard

The rear surround speakers selected are the B&W CCM682 which have a kevlar cone, pivoting dome tweeter and high quality crossover for superb sound quality.

B&W CCM682 in-ceiling rear surround sound speakers B&W CCM682 in-ceiling rear surround sound speakers

We added a Sonos Connect to the customers existing Cyrus hi-fi system in the kitchen, to enable the enjoyment of internet radio, Napster, Spotify and the clients own music library stored on PC.

Sonos Connect in kitchen system Sonos Connect in kitchen system