High-End Audio
High End Hi-Fi Designers & Installers
Specialist Dealers for Magico, Steinway Lyngdorf, Soulution & Premium Audio Since 1998
Custom Controls are independent designers and installers of high-end hi-fi systems, with no manufacturer targets or tie-ins to compromise a recommendation. We are Steinway Lyngdorf Room Perfect Certified installers, and authorised dealers for Magico, Soulution and Lumin, among other reference-grade brands. We have been designing and installing premium audio systems for homes, cinemas and dedicated listening rooms since 1998, across London, Cheshire, Surrey, Dubai and the French Alps.
Design
Calibration
Installation
Integration
Multi-Room
We Are Not a Hi-Fi Shop
We are designers and installers, not retailers with sales targets to hit. That difference matters: every recommendation we make is based on what suits your room, your listening habits and your existing collection — not on which brand we need to move that quarter. We have specified and installed systems from Magico, Steinway Lyngdorf, Soulution, Bluesound, NAD, Burmester, Esoteric, Lumin and Bowers & Wilkins, often combining brands within the same system where that combination genuinely serves the client better than a single-brand solution would.
Steinway Lyngdorf Room Perfect Certified
We hold certified installer training in the Steinway Lyngdorf system — proprietary digital processing, active bass management, room correction and calibration protocols. Steinway Lyngdorf systems combine hand-built loudspeakers with integrated digital signal processing and active subwoofer integration. The Room Perfect system uses speaker placement, room geometry and listening position to create a calibrated, phase-coherent listening environment. Every installation is profiled, measured and tuned to the specific room acoustics. Read our full Steinway Lyngdorf page →
Flagship Installation: Magico & Soulution, Dubai Private Estate
Within the same Dubai estate that won Custom Controls the Crestron Integration Award for Best International Project sits a dedicated two-channel listening room built to reference standard: Magico S5 Mk II loudspeakers and a Magico Ssub M subwoofer, driven by Soulution 511 power amplification and a Soulution 520 preamplifier, with a Lumin U1 network streamer and LAB12 Gordian power conditioning completing the chain. The room draws from the same centralised music sources as the estate’s wider Crestron audio distribution — a dedicated high-end endpoint on the whole-home system, rather than an isolated standalone system, with source selection handled from the same touchpanel used throughout the property and the reproduction itself left entirely to a signal chain with no compromise anywhere along it.
Read the full Magico & Soulution system case study → · View the Dubai estate case study →
Brands We Specify
Magico. Sealed-enclosure loudspeakers built around beryllium tweeter platforms and Nano-Tec driver cone construction, engineered to remove coloration rather than add character. Our reference recommendation for clients who want the recording, not the speaker, to be what they hear. Read our complete guide to Magico loudspeakers →
Soulution. Swiss electronics built to the same zero-compromise philosophy as Magico — extremely low distortion, ultra-wide bandwidth, and current delivery that stays effortless as speaker loads get harder. We pair Soulution with Magico on our most ambitious two-channel systems.
Steinway Lyngdorf. Hand-built loudspeakers with integrated digital signal processing and Room Perfect calibration — the right choice where a fully integrated, self-correcting system matters as much as outright performance.
Bluesound & NAD. Multi-room streaming and amplification that scales elegantly from a single room to a whole property, with the audio pedigree of the NAD engineering team behind it. Our recommendation for clients who want serious sound quality across several rooms without the complexity of a fully custom installation in every one of them.
Burmester & Esoteric. Reference-grade electronics and source components for clients building a two-channel or multi-channel system around a specific sonic signature — Burmester’s for its refined, musical presentation, Esoteric’s for its exceptional digital source engineering.
Lumin. Dedicated network streaming transports, built specifically to deliver music data with the lowest possible jitter and noise floor ahead of D/A conversion — our standard streaming recommendation on systems where the source needs to match the quality of everything downstream of it.
Design & Installation
All high-end audio systems begin with design — equipment selection, placement, acoustic treatment and system integration. We work with architects, interior designers and contractors from the planning stage through commissioning. For existing spaces, we measure the room, analyse the acoustics and design a system that works within the constraints of the space. For new builds, we advise on room geometry, speaker placement, cable routing and acoustic treatment during the construction phase.
Commissioning & Calibration
Installation quality and commissioning determine how well a high-end audio system performs. We use professional acoustic measurement tools, spectrum analysers and listening assessment to commission every system to standard. Steinway Lyngdorf systems include automated Room Perfect calibration. Bluesound systems are configured and tested for wireless coverage, lip-sync and audio quality across multiple zones. All installations are handed over with training and documentation.
Integration with Your Wider Smart Home
A dedicated hi-fi system does not need to sit in isolation from the rest of your home. Where a client wants it, we integrate high-end audio sources into the same Crestron control system that manages the rest of the property — source selection and playback from the same touchpanel or keypad used throughout the house, streaming from Roon or a centralised music library shared across every room, while the reproduction itself remains entirely dedicated, reference-grade electronics with no compromise introduced by the wider system. Equally, we design and install purist, fully standalone two-channel systems for clients who want a listening room with no automation involved at all. Read more about our whole-house audio systems →
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you tied to any particular hi-fi brand?
No. We are independent designers and installers, not a retailer with sales targets. We specify Magico, Steinway Lyngdorf, Soulution, Bluesound, NAD, Burmester, Esoteric and other brands based on what best serves the room and the client’s listening priorities, not on any manufacturer relationship.
What is Steinway Lyngdorf Room Perfect?
Room Perfect is Steinway Lyngdorf’s proprietary room correction technology, using speaker placement, room geometry and listening position measurements to create a calibrated, phase-coherent listening environment. We are certified installers, trained directly by Steinway Lyngdorf in the calibration protocol.
Can a high-end hi-fi system integrate with my smart home?
Yes. We regularly integrate dedicated hi-fi systems into a wider Crestron installation — source selection and playback from the same interface as the rest of the house, streaming from a centralised music library — while keeping the actual signal chain fully dedicated, reference-grade electronics. We also design fully standalone two-channel systems for clients who prefer no automation in the listening room at all.
Do you design systems for a single dedicated listening room, or whole-home audio?
Both. We design purist two-channel systems for a single dedicated room, and multi-room systems using Bluesound, NAD and Crestron distribution for clients who want high-quality audio throughout the property. Many of our clients have both — a dedicated listening room and a separate whole-home system.
What loudspeakers do you recommend for a dedicated listening room?
It depends on the room and the client’s priorities, but Magico is our most frequent recommendation for clients seeking the highest level of accuracy and neutrality — sealed-enclosure designs engineered to remove coloration rather than add character. Read our full guide to Magico loudspeakers →
Can I hear a system before committing to it?
Yes. We can arrange demonstrations of the brands we specify, either at partner listening facilities or, where practical, in your own home with reference equipment, so you can hear how a system performs in your actual room before any final decision is made.
