One press starts the film
Lights dim to the cinema scene, blinds close, the screen drops and the source switches, all from a single keypad or app action.
Derby · Cinema, audio and video distribution
Home Cinema And MultiroomAudio In Derby, CabledRight The First Time
Dedicated cinema rooms, discreet multiroom audio and whole-house video distribution, designed at first fix and integrated with your lighting scenes. Commissioned so one press dims the room and starts the film.
Sonos and HD Anywhere integration by an official Loxone Partner · 6-year NAPIT-backed workmanship guarantee on qualifying installations
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16+ years
Domestic, commercial and industrial experience
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Full Scope
NAPIT registered for all aspects of electrical work
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6-year
NAPIT-backed workmanship guarantee on qualifying installs
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£10m
Public and employers' liability cover
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Free
Initial consultation, no obligation
The service
Cinema and audio are a cabling job first, a kit list second
Home cinema and AV covers three things. A dedicated cinema or media room with a projector or large display and surround speakers. Multiroom audio to kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, garden and gym. And video distribution that lets any source play on any screen without a stack of boxes under every television.
All three depend on cable going in the walls before the plaster goes on. Speaker runs at the right gauge to the right positions, HDMI over structured cabling back to a central rack, mains and data at the projector position, and a rack with proper ventilation. Wireless speakers have their place, but they can't stand in for infrastructure when you're building the room from scratch.
Having an electrical contractor do this means the AV, lighting and power get designed as one job. The cinema scene dims the lights, closes the blinds, drops the screen and switches the source in a single action, because the same team wired and programmed all of it.
Who this is for
- New builds and renovations wanting cinema or audio infrastructure installed before plaster
- Basements, garden rooms and loft conversions being turned into media rooms
- Homes wanting music in kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and gardens without visible clutter
- Clients tired of a set-top box, streamer and games console under every television
- Anyone whose existing system needs three remotes to play a film
- Hospitality and commercial spaces needing zoned background music and screens
What it costs to leave it
The cheapest time to run a speaker cable is before the plasterer turns up
AV cabling is the classic thing left too late. Once the ceiling's boarded and painted, adding in-ceiling speakers to the kitchen means access hatches, chases and redecoration. The cable itself costs very little. It's the making good afterwards that costs, and a plan at first fix avoids it entirely.
Compromise then becomes visible and permanent. Surface trunking running to a wall-mounted television. A projector cable draped across a ceiling. Bookshelf speakers standing in for the in-ceiling pair that never got wired. Each one sits there as a daily reminder in an otherwise finished room.
Reliability suffers as well. Long HDMI runs on unsuitable cable produce intermittent handshake dropouts that only show up when a source changes resolution, a fault that's hard to diagnose and impossible to fix without pulling new cable. Poorly ventilated racks cook equipment and shorten its life. Both come down to getting the spec wrong.
Mistakes we get called out to fix
- Boarding and skimming ceilings before deciding where speakers will go
- Long passive HDMI runs instead of HDMI over structured cabling to a central rack
- No mains, no data and no ventilation planned at the projector or rack position
- Speakers positioned for symmetry on the ceiling plan rather than for the seating
- A rack squeezed into a sealed cupboard with no airflow and no rear access
- Room acoustics ignored completely, then the speakers get the blame after installation
How the job runs
A fixed sequence, so nothing
gets decided on the fly
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01
Free consultation
We look at the rooms, the seating, the screen or projection position and how you actually watch and listen, then set out what the space can realistically support.
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02
Design
Speaker layout, screen or projector geometry, cable schedule, rack elevation, the source and control plan, and the lighting scenes the AV system will trigger.
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03
First fix cabling
Speaker, HDMI-over-structured, data and mains runs go in to every position, plus rack power, ventilation and screen or projector fixings.
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04
Install and calibrate
Speakers, displays, projector, screen and rack equipment go in, then levels, distances and picture get set up in the finished room.
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05
Integrate and hand over
Control is tied into lighting and blinds so one press sets the room. Everything gets demonstrated to the household, with remote support available afterwards.
What you actually get
Measurable outcomes, not adjectives
Nothing visible that shouldn't be
In-ceiling and in-wall speakers, concealed cable routes and a central rack keep boxes and wiring out of finished rooms completely.
Sources shared across the house
Video distribution means one set of sources feeds every screen, so you're buying and maintaining fewer boxes.
Reliable long runs
HDMI carried over structured cabling with proper extenders removes the handshake dropouts that plague long passive HDMI cables.
Equipment that lasts
Ventilated, accessible racks with managed power and clean cable dressing keep equipment running cool and make upgrades a simple swap.
Guaranteed installation work
Qualifying installation work carries a 6-year NAPIT-backed workmanship guarantee. Other work carries a minimum one-year guarantee.
In detail
Cinema rooms, multiroom audio, distribution and rack design
Every AV project comes down to four questions. What goes in the room, what feeds it, where does the equipment live, and how is it controlled. Here's how we answer each across the East Midlands.
Dedicated cinema and media rooms
We design a cinema room backwards from the seating position. Screen size, viewing distance, speaker angles and sightlines get set first, then the equipment list follows on from that.
- Projector and screen geometry, or large-format display sizing, set from seating distance
- 5.1, 7.1 and object-based layouts including in-ceiling height channels
- In-wall and in-ceiling speaker positions cut and braced before boarding
- Acoustic treatment allowances planned at design stage
- Blackout blind, riser and seating power coordinated into the same scene control
- Mains, data and ventilation provided at the projector and rack positions
Multiroom audio
Multiroom audio should be invisible and just work. Sonos is the most common choice, and we wire it where the building allows, because a cabled endpoint never drops out halfway through a party.
- Sonos and comparable platforms integrated with the automation system
- In-ceiling and in-wall speakers in kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and hallways
- Weatherproof garden, terrace and pergola speakers on protected external circuits
- Amplification centralised in the rack instead of a separate box in every room
- Zone grouping, volume limits and door-chime or alert integration
Video distribution and networking
Distribution turns a stack of sources into something the whole house can share. It depends on the structured cabling being right, so we design the AV and the data network together.
- HD Anywhere and comparable matrix distribution over structured cabling
- Cat6 or Cat6a home runs to every screen, access point and rack position
- 4K HDR distribution with correct extenders for the run lengths involved
- Wireless access points positioned deliberately for streaming coverage
- Wired backhaul to every access point so streaming doesn't fight the rest of the network
Racks, power and control
The rack is where an AV installation quietly succeeds or fails. Heat, poor access and unmanaged power cause most of the faults that get blamed on the equipment itself.
- Ventilated racks sized with spare U space for future additions
- Managed and sequenced power with surge protection on a dedicated circuit
- Front and rear access planned so service doesn't mean dismantling joinery
- Labelled, dressed cabling with an as-installed schedule handed over at completion
- Control integrated with Loxone lighting and blind scenes for one-press operation
Before you enquire
Home cinema & AV questions,
answered straight
How much does a home cinema installation cost?
The range is huge. A pair of in-ceiling kitchen speakers and a dedicated cinema room with acoustic treatment are completely different projects. The consultation is free, and a written quotation follows.
How long does installation take?
First fix cabling for a whole house is typically a few days within the build programme. A dedicated cinema room install and calibration usually takes several more days once the room is decorated.
Can this be retrofitted into a finished house?
Often, yes, where loft or floor void routes exist. We'll be straight with you at the consultation about which rooms can be reached cleanly and which can't.
Do I need a dedicated room for a cinema?
No. Plenty of clients run a media setup in a living room with controlled lighting and blinds. A dedicated room just takes out the compromises around light control and acoustics.
Will it work with Sky, Apple TV, games consoles and streaming?
Yes. Sources sit centralised in the rack and get distributed to whichever screens need them, with control unified so switching doesn't mean picking up a different remote.
How long does AV equipment last before it needs replacing?
Cabling, speakers and screens are long-life items. Source devices and streaming boxes change fastest of all. A central rack means upgrading a source is a simple swap.
Can the cinema be integrated with lighting and blinds?
Yes, and it's the main reason to use one contractor for both. A single scene can dim the lights, close the blinds, lower the screen and select the source.
Do you provide support after handover?
Yes. Remote and in-person maintenance packages are available, and we handle most configuration changes remotely without a site visit.
What guarantee applies?
Qualifying installation work carries a 6-year workmanship guarantee backed by NAPIT, with a minimum one-year guarantee on other work. We hold £10m public liability and £10m employers' liability cover.
Which areas do you cover?
Derby, Duffield, Belper, Ilkeston, Long Eaton, Ripley, Ashbourne, Matlock, Burton upon Trent, Nottingham, Chesterfield, Sheffield and the surrounding East Midlands.
Related services
Where we work
Derby · Nottingham · Duffield · Belper · Burton upon Trent · Sheffield · Ilkeston · Long Eaton and the wider East Midlands. See areas covered, read more about the company or return to the homepage.
Get the cables in
while the walls are open
Book a free consultation and we'll map out the speaker, screen and rack positions your rooms need, before the plasterer turns up and makes it all expensive.
NAPIT Full Scope · Official Loxone Partner · 6-year workmanship guarantee on qualifying installations · £10m public liability