Why two different speaker models in one cinema?

Oak and Willow do different jobs. Oak (350W RMS, 40–22,000Hz, 90dB) sits behind the acoustically transparent screen for the main channels, reaching the deepest and widest response of any XSCACE architectural speaker. Willow (300W RMS, 45–22,000Hz, 88dB) covers the side and back walls for surround imaging — matched in character to Oak, but placed for envelopment rather than direct on-axis output.

Why four 18-inch subwoofers instead of one or two?

A 50x40ft room is roughly ten times the floor area of a typical living room case study. Multiple subwoofer positions, rather than one larger unit, even out bass response across every seat — a single sub creates strong peaks and nulls at that scale that no amount of extra power fixes.

What does the Root 4 amplifier drive in this system?

The Root 4 is a 4-channel, 250W-per-channel DSP amplifier — 1000W total — the amplifier tier XSCACE routes theater-grade multi-speaker builds through, distinct from the 2-channel Air Amp used in the smaller stereo case studies.

Can a speaker really sit behind a projector screen?

Yes — modern acoustically transparent (AT) projection screens are woven to let sound pass through with minimal loss, which is why placing Oak directly behind the screen is standard practice for a dedicated cinema: it puts the main channels exactly where the picture is, not off to the side.

How is this different from the other living-room case studies?

Scale and product tier. Most XSCACE case studies are a stereo pair plus one subwoofer in a single room under 700 square feet; this is a discrete multi-speaker, multi-subwoofer theater build in a 2,000-square-foot dedicated cinema — the difference between a room with a TV and a purpose-built screening room.

What kind of screen is required for speakers mounted behind it?

An acoustically transparent one — either woven or micro-perforated. A standard matte screen blocks high frequencies and will dull dialogue noticeably, which defeats the point of putting the centre channel behind the image. This has to be decided alongside the speaker specification, not after the screen is ordered.

Case Study: Private Home Cinema Sound System, 50x40ft

Most case studies in this series are a stereo pair and a subwoofer in a single living room. This one is a different order of project: a 50×40ft private home cinema, its ceiling carved into tiered, backlit ribs, built for an immersive private movie experience with theater-grade surround sound — while still keeping every speaker out of sight.

The System

XSCACE Oak speakers placed behind the acoustically transparent screen for the main channels
XSCACE Willow speakers on the side and back walls for full surround balance
Four 18-inch XSCACE custom subwoofers
An XSCACE Root 4 amplifier

Two Speakers, Two Jobs

XSCACE Willow in-wall home cinema speaker installed behind an acoustic finish

Oak is rated 350W RMS across 40–22,000Hz — the widest, deepest response in the pairing — and sits directly behind the screen, so the main dialogue and effects channels originate exactly where the picture is. Willow, rated 300W RMS across 45–22,000Hz, covers the side and back walls: matched closely enough in tonal character to Oak that the transition between screen channels and surrounds doesn't announce itself, but placed for envelopment rather than direct output toward the seats.

Why Four Subwoofers, Not One Big One

At 50x40ft, a single subwoofer — however powerful — creates strong peaks and nulls in bass response depending on where you sit relative to the room's dimensions. Distributing four 18-inch custom subwoofers around the room evens that out, trading raw output-per-unit for consistency across every seat, which is the actual goal in a room built for multiple people to watch from meaningfully different positions.

Case Study at a Glance

Room: Private home cinema, 50×40ft
Use case: Immersive private movie experience
System: XSCACE Oak (screen channels), Willow (side/back surrounds), 4× 18" custom subwoofers, Root 4 amplifier
Placement: Oak behind the screen, Willow on the side and back walls for full surround balance
Goal: Cinematic sound clarity and depth with seamless immersion, preserving architectural elegance

Read the contemporary living room case study for a single-room take on the same cinematic brief.

Planned, controlled and calibrated to reference

Every XSCACE installation follows the same three stages: planned in the simulator, controlled from the app that matches the hardware, and calibrated with measurement. A cinema is the one room where the geometry is defined for you, and where getting it wrong is measurable rather than a matter of taste.

Planned

XSCACE Floorplan Sound Simulation takes a plan from trace to bill of quantities in the browser. For a room like this the outputs that matter are:

Full Dolby reference geometry checked speaker by speaker

Coverage at every seat, not just the reference seat

Room modes and first reflections located before treatment is specified

XSCACE Floorplan Sound Simulation showing first reflections on a traced room plan

Trace, place, predict — before anything is ordered

Controlled

The amplifier is configured and controlled from XSCACE Studio on macOS — routing matrix, per-channel gain and delay, parametric EQ, crossovers and limiting, with network-wide discovery rather than one amplifier at a time.

Calibrated

The calibration toolkit inside XSCACE Studio measures what the room actually does — eleven instruments covering SPL, delay, levels, polarity, frequency response, THD, sub alignment, transfer function, RT60, RTA and export, free on macOS. Here the ones that earn their place are:

Delay and polarity per channel, with delay figures agreeing with REW to 0.01ms

Sub Align, then a re-measure to verify the correction did what it claimed

A PDF report documenting the calibration for handover

XSCACE Studio calibration toolkit — Sub Align

Oak publishes 90dB sensitivity and a 117dB maximum SPL — the figures the coverage prediction works from, and the ones the finished room should measure.