Directional Audio helping out with BBC DIY SOS

If you watched DIY SOS on BBC One on Tuesday night, you saw what happens when tradesmen and suppliers turn up for a family and ask for nothing back. They give their time and their kit. The family gets a home that works better for them. We were one of those suppliers, and we’re proud of it.

Nathan loves the BBC’s In the Night Garden. The music most of all. He plays it over and over.

That’s a problem in a family home. Turn it down and Nathan can’t enjoy it. Switch it off and you’ve taken away something he loves. Leave it playing and everyone else in the house gets the same tune on repeat.

So we put a Sonic Beam SB47 in the main family space, under the TV. A directional speaker sends sound in a narrow beam instead of spraying it around the room. Whoever is in the beam hears it clearly. Everyone else hears very little.

Now it works two ways. While the family watch TV, the SB47 handles the TV sound. When the TV is off and Nathan wants his music, he plays it and hears it comfortably, and the rest of the house carries on undisturbed.

We supplied the SB47, the bracket and the amplifier, and gave our time to specify the setup and help with the installation. Like everyone else on the build, we did it without charge.

This is what we do, just in a living room instead of a museum or a shop floor. We’ve supplied and hired directional speakers since 2010, and we test every speaker that comes onto the market, so we know which one suits the job. Controlling where sound goes without losing the message is the whole idea. Sound without the noise.

Thanks to the DIY SOS team, and to everyone who gave their time to this family.

If you’ve got a space where sound needs to reach the right people and nobody else, whether that’s a home, a gallery, a store or a trade show stand, get in touch.