Home Theater Video
With two kids and a dad that loves to play Xbox, these homeowners had a few requirements for their video setup: low input lag, bright imaging, and widescreen movies for mom. After weighing the options of utilizing a large television, projector, or a combination of the two with a dropdown screen, the homeowners ultimately decided on an Epson Pro Cinema 6050UB 4K projector because it’s great for sports, movies, and, pretty much everything in between.
Epson’s lens memory feature allows the homeowners to quickly transition from 16:9 gaming mode to a widescreen family movie with the simple press of a button programmed into their Control4 universal remote.
Because the existing room has two large windows, the 6050UB fits the bill with a light engine that can produce up to 2,600 lumens of brightness - perfect for vivid color & clarity, even when there’s a little natural light peeking through the curtains.
Even with over 3,500 hours of bulb life, the Pro Cinema 6050UB also includes an extra bulb in the box - another great incentive as they expect to get a lot of use out of the space, and we all know how forgetful kids can be with turning things off!
Home Theater Audio & Acoustics
The homeowners were set on using in-wall and in-ceiling speakers to both maintain the clean look of the room and to keep their speakers out of the way of their kids at play.
We went with a full Bowers & Wilkins 5.2.4 system; architectural speakers for the front, side, and height channels, and two subwoofers in the front left and rear right of the room to provide an even bass response from all seating positions.
For the Left, Center, & Right speakers, we had to be mindful of the doors on each side of the room. We went with the Bowers & Wilkins CWM 7.4 S2 due to their slim profile with great performance. The symmetrical driver design of the CWM 7.4 S2 offers exceptionally clear dialogue and center-stage sound effects when mounted vertically as a left- or right-channel speaker, or installed horizontally as the system's center channel.
Two Bowers & Wilkins CWM663 6” in-wall speakers were installed for the rear surrounds. Each CWM663 combines a 6" aramid fiber woofer with a 1" Nautilus™ tube-loaded aluminum dome tweeter. This specially designed tweeter helps absorb unwanted energy from the rear of the diaphragm for clearer, more natural-sounding highs in movies & video games. The CWM663 has a three-position switch for cutting or boosting high-frequency output. This easy-to-change setting helps match the speaker's sound to the acoustics of the room and furniture.
We used four Bowers & Wilkins CCM683 8” in-ceiling speakers for overhead effects in this Dolby Atmos surround sound setup. Instead of the CCM683's tweeters being fixed in one position, each one can be tilted up to 30 degrees to aim the sound toward the seating positions. A three-position EQ switch optimizes off-axis response for different tweeter angles.
B&W in-ceiling and in-wall speakers offer incredibly dynamic, revealing sound & paintable grilles allow them to seamlessly blend in with the room. Watch our Home Theater DIY guide on how to install in-wall and in-ceiling speakers for your home theater or media room. This video walks you through a live installation of Bowers & Wilkins in-wall & in-ceiling speakers for a home theater.
Two Bowers & Wilkins ASW610 Subwoofers were chosen for their compact size — one at the front left, and one at the right rear of the room so they could provide tight, even bass response for all seating positions.
A Marantz SR6015 receiver was chosen to provide high-performance audio and allows them to take advantage of Dolby Atmos and every major surround sound format for gaming, as well as watching TV and movies. The Marantz SR6015 has 8K pass-through, which future-proofs the homeowner for future 8K sources.
Because the room is almost square at 16’ x 17’, it was imperative that we add acoustic treatments to reduce echos & really enhance the soundstage. A combination of Vicoustic Wavewood Ultra & Cinema Round panels helps to control reflections and balance the sound while fluttering echoes.
