DIAMOND CINEMA
B&W AT ISE AMSTERDAM, 2018
Bowers & Wilkins’ custom install Diamond speakers at ISE Amsterdam
If it’s AV and systems integration you’re after, the leading European show is ISE (Integrated Systems Europe), filling 15 halls of RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre — and growing, with exhibitor numbers up 25% on 2017.
For the second ISE in a row, one of the star turns was Bowers & Wilkins with its demonstration of the ‘Diamond Cinema’ — a custom home cinema solution built on the prowess of B&W’s legendary 800 Diamond Series reference hi-fi loudspeakers, and using the same Diamond tweeters and Continuum and Aerofoil driver technologies as used in the latest D3 versions of 800 Series. Last year at ISE 2017 the ‘Diamond Cinema’ range was just freshly announced; this year the company went all out with the dedicated cinema pictured here, in addition to showing the rest of its custom installation range, its new 700 Series loudspeakers, and its DB4S subwoofer.
CINEMA SHOW
B&W partnered with other brands to handle the visuals and automation in the Diamond Cinema, but needless to say the loudspeaker complement was all its own. It totalled what might be called a 9.2.6channel system, including a ‘Voice of God’ central ceiling speaker which ensures not only compatibility with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X immersive soundtracks but Auro-3D as well — all formats being handled by the Trinnov Altitude32 processing electronics. All 15 channels of the system were said to deliver equal sound pressure levels and, subwoofers aside, full frequency response all round as well.
The main speakers for front, sides and rears were the flagship CWM8.3 D (pictured right with grille off and on). It’s a three-way model with a decoupled 25mm diamonddome Nautilus tube-loaded tweeter, a 130mm Continuum midrange driver (dark-coloured in the CI range, rather than the hi-fi series’ notable white drivers), and twin 180mm Aerofoil bass drivers. And crucially, as with all the range they sit within a dedicated back box (as shown
with B&W’s CWM8.5 D shown with its back box, as used across the Diamond Cinema range. the CWM8.5 D below left). The back boxes are braced using the company’s Matrix system for rigidity and improved performance, and include bi-wire cables that connect to the baffle with a multi-pin connector. Anyone using the non-Diamond CI range will be pleased to
hear that the new models have all been developed to fit into the same back boxes as that existing range, so it’s relatively easy to upgrade.
The smaller two-way CWM8.5 D in-wall model was used in this ISE cinema only in one position — for the mentioned Voice of God position directly above, while the other five height speakers were CCM8.3 D Diamond in-ceiling models. Both these are two-way designs using the same 25mm Nautilus tube-loaded diamond-dome tweeter and a 180mm Continuum cone bass/midrange driver., The in-ceiling model gains a rotatable aluminium mini-baffle to allow ‘toe-in’.
Twin DB1D active subwoofers were located at the front of the cinema, each bringing 2000W of internal power and dual balanced 12-inch Aerofoil bass cones to the party. And to isolate the Diamond Cinema from the ISE show floor (in both directions!), the whole room was built as a 12,000kg box-in-box construction, with an internally doubledecoupled sprung system.
We’re told Australia will enjoy its own Diamond Cinemas in due course! Meanwhile you can get full details of pricing and availability of the custom install range from B&W Australia and its dealers: www.bowers-wilkins.com