When homeowners Michael and Jackie Moloney want to escape from their Long Island home for a night in the city, they can go right to the hustle and bustle of midtown Manhattan. Or at least they can look down on all of it from their 50th-floor apartment in Times Square.

With floor-to-ceiling windows providing extraordinary views that extend from Central Park into New England on a clear day, the Moloneys might have preferred to face their L-shaped couch in the opposite direction. Though the current setup gives them plenty to see when they’re not gazing out the windows.

In adhering to the simple, contemporary aesthetics of the apartment, electronics installation firm AViX followed interior designer Cliff Young’s lead to create a relaxing, minimalist environment that still offers a quality audio/video experience in this 12-by-17-foot family room. The centerpiece is a custom wall cabinet designed by Cliff Young to house the television, electronics and center-channel speaker.

“The homeowners wanted to have good viewing angles and distance for the TV and to complement the architecture of the room with a simple, elegant design that provided enough storage and seating while adding some warmth,” says Cliff Young senior designer Jerry Cmehil. “It’s very inviting, and all of the pieces work really great together.”

AViX managed to hang the Sony Bravia 42-inch TV on the cabinet and ran the cables and wires behind it for a clean look, while Cmehil included a cavity and grille cloth to conceal the T+A TLP 10 center-channel speaker. A T+A TLW 2A compact subwoofer remains relatively hidden beneath the wall unit, while four T+A TLR 20 bookshelf speakers are mounted just below the ceiling in the room’s corners to complete the surround setup.

Because of the richly textured wallpaper behind the TV, the cement ceilings and all the windows, in-wall or in-ceiling speakers were not an option. But while most of the room’s electronics remain hidden, the T+A speakers tucked into the corners add to the contemporary flair.

“The aluminum-finish German design of T+A definitely fits into the aesthetic,” says AViX’s New York branch general manager George Katsiris. “We put them high and out of the way so they’re pretty unobtrusive, and we calibrated the audio to have them angled in properly so there wasn’t too small of a sweet spot for the listener.” Of course, in this family room, every spot is sweet.

Arlen Schweiger
Managing editor of Electronic House, EH Publishing

Arlen contributes product news items to electronichouse.com along with his role on the print publication. Got a tip? Send it along!

Arlen Schweiger can be reached at aschweiger@ehpub.com