Hi Steve,
Congratulations on your choice to go after a Shape. To me it's one of the good old fashioned B&O magic things like ib the past even thought it has no glass moving parts.
I do not own one but have thought about it many times and to be honest in many ways (mystery…). Anyway, while waiting for a more educated answer here is some of my thought:
One thing that struck me is that the Shape is bigger than expected in real life. The individual tiles are massive and bigger than I thought. If your thinking rubout it for a long time you should be ware of this but still, don't let yourself be surprised: going 8 tiles over 6 may really be 2 tiles too much.
Colors is a matter of taste. I do think that part of beauty lies in contrast but all the Shapes installations I've seen I've liked were mostly shade on shade. You said the wall is white, but for a clean installation you will need to make a groove to pass wires, meaning you'll certainly need to paint after. Even if not, painting a wall is quite cheap. I would consider installing a Beosound Shape as it should be: like a piece of art, that is considering the tiles AND the wall and the surrounding environnement.
I'll stay away from mixing fabrics, they away different grain and that would immediately make it look like a mix and match, second hand, not coordinated thing.I would also think it twice on the dark oak tile: even if I like it too, I think it ruins the "Shape effect" by saying "under this tile there is something different than under the fabric tiles so this is a sound installation". And wood ,appart on the floor, tends to be a very fashion turning material.
Things I would you depending on what you have at hand:

• Use extensively the Shape simulator on the B&O website (Sure you have!).
• Use a projector if you have one, to display the configuration, including colored wall on your actual wall.
• Print fake tiles on A3 paper, stick them on the wall, let them for a couple of days and see.
• If you're handy at Photoshop, make simulations.

Hope this helps, lucky guy you are!

Hi Steve:  You’ll love your Shape.

Before getting to specific answers to your questions, strong recommendation to follow Matador’s advice: play with the Configuration tool at B&O’s site, then use the B&O A/R Experience app to see what a given config looks like in your environment.

Q1.  Number of tiles:  audio quality and cost play here, along with esthetics.  Ranked by cost, tiles can be dampers, speakers, or amps.  (One tile is always a Core — it’s required.). If you exceed 4 speaker tiles, regardless of the number of total tiles, you’ll need a second amp to drive the additional speaker pair.  (Speakers always come in even-numbered pairs.). Exceed 8 speakers, you’ll need a 3rd amp, etc.  More speakers > more amps > more cost > but theoretically better sound.

Q2.  Colors:  IF you have a white wall, and IF there’s pretty good natural light in the room, I wouldn’t be afraid of dark colors.  IIRC, the A/R app will show the tile colors you’ve selected in the Configurator.  Play around.

Q3.  Kvadrat :  My Shape is 8-10 feet from my listening area.  I have a mix of Kvadrat and non; I can’t see the texture difference.  I also have 2 Skiniplay covers.  These work great and give you flexibility to choose different color schemes after purchasing the Shape.

BTW:  Matador said: “To me it’s one of the good old fashioned B&O magic things like in the past.”  Exactly right, imo.

Matador also said:  “Print fake tiles on A3 paper, stick them on the wall, let them for a couple of days and see.”  Yep, I did this too after I’d settled on my config.  Helped enormously in getting the height-on-wall correct, as well as finding the precise center placement.

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2 amps + 8 speaker units

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recommendation:
-. pre install Line IN (even if not directly needed)
-. pre install Powerlink cable (even if not directly needed)
during in-wall installation of cables.

 

link

Matador also said:  “Print fake tiles on A3 paper, stick them on the wall, let them for a couple of days and see.”  Yep, I did this too after I’d settled on my config.  Helped enormously in getting the height-on-wall correct, as well as finding the precise center placement

B&0 does have an online tool for this: link

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second one: but will be installed at my sisters living (1 amp + 4 speaker units)

Carolpa wrote:

recommendation: -. pre install Line IN (even if not directly needed) -. pre install Powerlink cable (even if not directly needed) during in-wall installation of cables.

Yep, great suggestion.  I used one of Steve’s cables to connect my BC 9500 to the Shape.

Thanks so much for all your kind responses.

I decided to go ahead with 8 tiles in all Kavrad (no oak).

May take a while until it is set up, but will report back.