Bowers & Wilkins Custom Theater 800 Cinema Room
A Stunning Design Featuring the B&W Custom Theater 800 Range of Speakers
This 6.5m x 6.5m cinema room is one of the most striking rooms in our portfolio, featuring the Bowers & Wilkins Custom Theater 800 speaker system in a genuinely high-end installation.
The Client Brief
The clients were firm that they wanted the very best home cinema room possible, with seating for a large number of people. They were prepared to dedicate a sizeable room and a substantial budget to achieve this. We discussed various options and quickly established that they were Bowers & Wilkins enthusiasts, with a high-end stereo system in one of their other properties and a B&W audio system in one of their cars. This led us to the Bowers & Wilkins Custom Theater 800 speaker package, coupled with a Trinnov Cinema Audio system to handle the large number of audio channels.
The audio system comprises three B&W CT8 LCR speakers hidden behind the projector screen at ear level, with a further pair of B&W CT8.4 LCRS speakers installed level with each row of seating. Installing a pair per row ensures every seating position delivers the same quality of audio — an approach reinforced by Trinnov’s best-in-class sound optimisation process. A further two CT8.4 LCRS speakers sit on the back wall, and four B&W ceiling speakers provide height channels. The whole system is supported by eight CT8 SW subwoofers, with the resulting bass load managed precisely by the Trinnov processor.
The Cinema Seating
The bespoke nature of this cinema called for a fully flexible seating design. After presenting a few options, we settled on nine Cineak Fortuny two-person sofas finished in bespoke leather with contrasting headrests and armrests — seating a total of 18 people in genuine comfort, all enjoying the same audio visual experience.
The Visuals
A top-of-the-range Sony laser projector illuminates the nearly 4m wide projector screen with an image that rivals the very best flat screen displays — deep blacks and exceptional brightness make this cinema room a genuine pleasure to use. Ultra-high-resolution sources, including Kaleidescape, Apple TV and Sky, ensure the clients are never short of something to watch.
Our Home Cinema & Home Theater Services
Read more about our Home Cinema and Home Theater work:
Design
Calibration
Treatments
Seating
Theatres
Cinema Ideas
The Cinema Room Construction
Our track record of delivering high-end cinema rooms at this level means every detail is planned before construction starts. For this room we elevated the rear row of seats by 300mm to ensure a clear view even with a full cinema, and hid all the speakers and acoustic treatments behind fabric walls. We conducted a full lighting design and installed a Crestron lighting control system, ensuring the room looks fantastic whilst allowing the lights to dim to preset levels for film watching. Pools of light from narrow-beam downlights highlight individual chairs without casting shadows or creating distracting reflections around the room. Even the door handles were chosen to minimise reflections. The room looks deceptively simple, and that is by design — most cinema rooms seen online are simply too “busy,” tiring to use in practice because of unwanted reflections. Our rooms aim to disappear in use, so the client is fully immersed in the film.
Frequently Asked Questions — B&W Custom Theater 800 Cinema Room
How many speakers and subwoofers does this room use?
Three B&W CT8 LCR speakers behind the screen, a pair of CT8.4 LCRS speakers per row of seating, two further CT8.4 LCRS speakers on the rear wall, four ceiling height speakers, and eight CT8 SW subwoofers — all decoded and optimised by a Trinnov Cinema Audio system.
How many people does this cinema room seat?
18, across nine Cineak Fortuny two-person sofas finished in bespoke leather with contrasting headrests and armrests.
Why was the rear row of seating elevated?
The rear row sits on a 300mm platform, ensuring an unobstructed view of the screen even when every seat in the room is occupied.
