HMV has returned to its spiritual home with the opening of hmv 363 Oxford Street, London, the landmark location of the very first HMV store. The original 363 Oxford Street store opened in July 1921.
In designing the new store, hmv were unequivocal in the importance of a quality sound system and turned to JBL Professional loudspeaker portfolio, supplied and installed by Inurface Media via UK distributor Sound Technology, to deliver audio for all the shop floors, and the HMV live performance stage.
Providing consistent and high-quality coverage on the Ground Floor are ten JBL Control 65 full-range pendant loudspeakers. Programmed as stereo pairs, with three Control 60 pendant subwoofers providing additional low-frequency support.
The lower ceiling height of the 1st Floor is more suited to JBL’s Control 23-1 surface-mount loudspeakers mounted at high level. A total of twelve Control 23-1's are installed on this floor, with low-end enhanced with four JBL Control 50 surface-mount subwoofers, also mounted overhead to maximise the use of the shop-floor foot print.
Similarly in the basement, a reduced height ceiling suited the Control 23-1 product, where a total of ten Control 23-1 speakers and three Control 50 Subwoofers are installed. The Basement also includes a small area for in-store appearances and signings, for which HMV were able to specify a pair of JBL PRX One columns speakers, the flagship of JBL’s portable PA range.
All installed speakers are powered by Crown amplifiers, specifically Crown CDi and XLS Series amplifiers, with networking control provided by BSS BLU-100 and BLU-326 digital signal processing. BSS EC-4BVs wall panels are installed to provide local source and volume control on each floor.