Chelsea Living Room Cinema Installation

Surround Sound for a Chelsea Living Room

This Chelsea living room cinema is installed in a duplex apartment. The brief was explicit: a very high-end surround sound system with minimal disruption to the room and the least amount of visible equipment possible. After seeing our recent City apartment project, the client quickly settled on the approach — a Samsung Q Series TV, Artcoustic soundbar and colour-matched on-wall surround speakers, an Anthem AVR and an 8″ subwoofer.

Samsung TV with Artcoustic Soundbar

The top-of-range Samsung 75″ QLED TV delivers exceptional clarity and colour, enhanced by a custom-width Artcoustic soundbar fitted to the underside of the TV and colour-matched surround speakers on the walls. A high-end Anthem AVR drives the system with full room EQ correction, so the finished result is tuned to this room rather than to a showroom. The modular design allows the system to be scaled to suit any budget and room.

A living room cinema is a different brief from a dedicated cinema room: the performance has to fit into a space that also works as a beautiful living environment. Here that meant as little visible equipment as possible, with every component chosen to sit within the room’s existing interior. The same design, calibration and control disciplines apply as on any cinema we install.

Future Automation Rotating Mount

The TV and soundbar are wall-mounted via a Future Automation high-end mount — allowing the TV and soundbar to pull out and rotate for the perfect viewing angle from any seat in the room. As the soundbar is fixed to the TV, the audio follows regardless of orientation. Future Automation’s advance and rotate mechanisms bring a screen forward from the wall and turn it to the optimal viewing angle, which suits rooms where the seating position changes with the activity or a single display has to serve more than one sightline.

Artcoustic Speakers

Artcoustic cabinets and grilles can be specified in any NCS or RAL colour, which is how the on-wall surround speakers disappear against the walls of this room. The soundbar was built to a custom width to suit the TV, and because it is fixed to the display it moves with it. Artcoustic’s high sensitivity makes reference-level dynamics achievable with comparatively modest amplifier power, which suits an AVR-based system in a living room.

Crestron Control

The whole system is controlled by a Crestron home automation system with a dedicated remote — one button press selects the correct source and configures the room perfectly every time. Crestron wireless lighting is a planned upgrade that can be added with minimum disruption, as the Crestron backbone is already installed. Because the control system is already in place, adding lighting scenes later means extending the existing programme rather than starting again.

Chelsea — Surround Sound in a London Apartment

For London apartment clients in Chelsea, Fulham and the wider SW3 area who want cinema-quality audio in a living room without restructuring the interior, this Chelsea installation is Custom Controls’ clearest reference point. The Artcoustic on-wall speakers are colour-matched to the room’s finish, the subwoofer is contained within the furniture footprint, and the whole system is operable from a single remote. It shows how much performance a living room can deliver when the system is designed around the interior rather than imposed on it.

Frequently Asked Questions — Chelsea Living Room Cinema

Can a TV and soundbar rotate to face different seating positions?
Yes. This Chelsea installation uses a Future Automation motorised mount that pulls the TV and attached Artcoustic soundbar out from the wall and rotates them, delivering the correct viewing angle from any seat in the room. Because the soundbar is fixed to the TV, the audio follows the same movement.

Can surround sound be added to an apartment without major works?
Yes. This system uses a custom-width Artcoustic soundbar and colour-matched on-wall surround speakers, with the subwoofer contained within the furniture footprint, making it well suited to apartments where structural changes are not practical.

Which equipment does the system use?
A Samsung 75-inch QLED TV, a custom-width Artcoustic soundbar with colour-matched Artcoustic surround speakers, an 8-inch subwoofer and an Anthem AVR with room EQ correction, all under Crestron control.

Can lighting control be added later to an existing Crestron system?
Yes. This installation was specified with the Crestron backbone already in place, meaning a future wireless lighting upgrade can be added with minimal disruption — no need to revisit the core system.

Artcoustic Speakers → · Future Automation TV Mounts → · Media Room Installation → · Crestron → · Home Cinema Installer London → · London Office →

Project Gallery

The image below is a visualisation of the finished living room, showing the Samsung TV on its wall mount with the Artcoustic soundbar fixed beneath it. A colour-matched Artcoustic surround speaker sits on the wall beside the window, blending into the room’s grey-blue wall finish. The sofa, armchair and ottoman show the different seating positions the rotating mount is designed to serve.