Sitting Room as Home Cinema

SachaJ · 21-10-2014 9:45am #1

I thought I'd put together a post on my soon to be sitting room setup. The focus is mainly on the big screen hence this sub-forum. I'm hoping to have all setup for Christmas.

We moved into our current house back in March after spending a number of months renovating. In regards to AV, this is what I installed during the renovation:

I wanted a central point for my AV kit so decided under the stairs in the hall was the best option. So all my wiring runs back there and I have a 19" rack.
In the sitting room I ran 14 speaker cables: right (+bi-amp), left (+bi-amp), centre low, center high, height (left/right), wide (left/right), surrounds (left/right), rears (left/right) plus two coax for dual subs.
To where I expected the TV to be located I ran 9 CAT6 so I could have 4 HDMI's fed from under the stairs plus the extra CAT6 for IR control.
Again to where I expected the TV to be located I ran 2 pairs of satellite coax and 2 CAT6 for 1GB network
To the back of the room where the projector was going I ran 4 CAT6 to give me 2 HDMI's.
I also ran multiple CAT6 to other rooms for distributed AV.

My kit list is as follows:

The main TV is a Sony 46HX853
Looking at getting a Sony HW40es projector
Have a Draper/Euroscreen motorised ReAct 2.1 tab tensioned screen. Basically the screen out of a Sesame case.
Looking at getting an Oppo 103D Blu-ray player
Currently a HTPC running XBMC is the main source for movies being fed from a 14TB server
Currently have an Arcam AVR350 AV receiver but that only does 5.1 so looking to change that but maybe not in the short term. Candidates are the Denon 4520, Denon X5200 or maybe one of the new Marantz models. Also with Atmos just coming out I'm not sure whether to go that way or not.
Speakers is where I'm having the real dilemma as they are my weakness. I have Monitor Audio RX2's and an RX Center which I used in our previous house. I already have RX1's for our kitchen system and brand new RXFX in the attic. While I love the RX2's, I have 3 kids under 4.5 so stand mounts are not the best idea. I've also purchased a Monitor Audio Apex A40 and looking at either a couple more A40's, a couple of A10's or last night I got a lead on some Monitor Audio RX8's. The RX8's would suit me best for where my speaker cables are located in the room but then the Apex speakers can be bolted to the walls (but would mean channelling out the walls which we've just had plastered. The wife won't be happy). But the RX8's might be out of budget. I have no idea what to run for rears. I could get another set of RXFX but I fear they would be too close to the back/side wall (ie. in a corner). I'm stumped for subs also but I'll possibly get something from BK Electronics if/when funds allow. They seem to be the best bang for buck.

Here's a rough Google sketchup of the room. It's around 14 feet wide by 22 feet long.

Speakers in the image are more or less where I currently have cables hanging out of the wall. Over the window is where the screen will come down and I'll build a pelmet around the top of the screen to hide it a bit.

To the right of the window is where all the TV connections are coming out of the wall but with the screen now coming down there I'll have to move it. The only place I can think of is above the fireplace but that again means channelling out the walls to get some CAT6 down there. I'm considering running some coving around the top of the walls so I can run additional speaker cables for the Atmos ceiling speakers.

So that's my plan, how much I'll actually get done I'm not sure.

slave1 · 23-10-2014 3:20pm

Looking forward to the pics!!

SachaJ · 23-10-2014 3:23pm

No real update aside from the fact I've decided to go with the Monitor Audio Apex system. I now have a single A40 and two A10's. So I have enough for Apex L/C/R but ideally I want 3 x A40's across the front with A10's as height and/or rears in a 7.1 or 9.1 setup.

So on the hunt for more Apex speakers.

SachaJ · 23-10-2014 4:34pm

Thought I'd post a photo: one of the A10's that arrived today.

SachaJ · 28-10-2014 6:01pm

Fancied a fondle today so I took out my A40 for a look. Still on the hunt for a couple more....

SachaJ · 17-11-2014 4:53pm

So a small update but no photos today. I'm hoping things will kick off in the next week or two with installation.

The big news is that my Draper ReAct 2.1 104" motorised screen is sold. It's been replaced with a 130" Draper ReAct screen in a Linea case. The old screen was 16:9 but the new one is 2.35:1 so proper cinema dimensions. I have to say the screen is massive - 1 inch longer and it wouldn't have fit into the car (and I have my wife's Sharan/Galaxy thing). I'm looking forward to getting this hung so I can get a good feel for the size.

While I was collecting the screen I got a demo of a JVC X500 projector. Holy **** that projector is good. Maybe I need to win the lotto.....

On the speaker front I've committed to the Monitor Audio Apex and waiting on another pair of A40's to arrive so I'll have the same speakers across the front. I'll run A10's as rears and I have my RXFX which will be the side surrounds. I also picked up a BK Electronics XXLS400 sub which will do the job for now. Ideally I'll want two subs but need a change of amp before I could do that. I do like the look of the new Marantz 7009.

That's it. Hopefully a few photos soon with the screen in position.

SachaJ · 11-12-2014 12:23pm

It's started......

I now have the screen mounted so I have a idea of size. The case is more or less the full width of the room but once the screen is down I should have around a foot either side which should fit the Monitor Audio Apex speakers nicely. For an idea of size, the screen wall is around 13ft or 14ft wide. I'm still waiting to buy those speakers but hopefully I'll have those next week along with some sort of 3D Blu-ray player. Initially I'll only be running 5.1 as I'm nearly out of money but as mentioned the room itself is wired for 11.2 although I'm seriously thinking of rewiring for 7.2.4 Dolby Atmos.

The next two weeks are going to be very busy as my aim is still to be watching movies on Christmas day. My 5 year old is getting Frozen 3D, Maleficent 3D and Brave 3D in her Christmas stocking so there'll be war if she can't watch them.

The big arrival next week or early Christmas week (hopefully) is the Sony HW40ES projector. I've read an awful lot about these so really looking forward to getting my hands on it.

Here's a crappy phone picture for now. At the moment the room is a bit of a shell. White walls that my 2 year old loves to draw on with crayons and the 46" TV bolted to the wall. After Christmas the room will be painted with the wall around the window/behind the screen being a darker colour than the other walls.

peterwhit · 28-12-2014 2:11am

Hi Sacha, following with interest. Dublin-based myself, and considering a ReAct 2.1 screen and your sony HW40 (or a panny AE6000). Where did you pick up the screen? Is there much of a market in Ireland for second-hand sales?

SachaJ · 28-12-2014 12:05pm

peterwhit wrote: »

Hi Sacha, following with interest. Dublin-based myself, and considering a ReAct 2.1 screen and your sony HW40 (or a panny AE6000). Where did you pick up the screen? Is there much of a market in Ireland for second-hand sales?

Update coming soon when I get a chance to post. Working hard yesterday getting speakers mounted and lining up the projector. Around 12 last night we got 5.0 and projector/screen running so watched Maleficent. Kids are downstairs watching Brave now. Lots of "wows" coming from the 5 and 2.5 year olds. No audio calibration done yet. Today hopefully installing the sub and on Tuesday the two Apex A40's as I'm still waiting for one to arrive. At that stage I'll be running 5.1 plus "front presence" (or front height) speakers (have cables located at the back for "rear presence" also). Toying with the idea of moving the "front presence" speakers 6ft or so across the ceiling towards the seating position and going Atmos 5.1.4 but not sure if I want the grief. Also need to sort out my IR situation. Plan is to run an IR extender over CAT6 back to the cabinet under the stairs.

Honestly I don't know if there's much market in Ireland for second hand Draper screen sales. I was very lucky in that I got my first one from a guy in the North. I sold that to a chap in Wales and bought my current one from a guy in Donegal. In the last 6 months or so they are the only two I've seen for sale in Ireland. Your best bet is to watch the classifieds on AVForums.com and get it shipped over. niparcels.com only charged me £60 to have my first draper screen shipped to Wales which is not bad. They'll, through DHL, take anything under 3m.

So far everything looks good. There's times when the picture looks a bit blurry but that could be a number of things 1) the €60 Blu-ray player I have, 2) sitting too close to a 126" (viewable) screen, 3) focus not set properly, 4) the reality creation on the HW40, 5) just not having everything set up properly.

Overall I'm happy so far but still have work to do.

slave1 · 28-12-2014 12:37pm

I'm not sure sound gets any better than 5.1 in a home cinema environment, I setup 7.1 and 7.2 via high front speakers and also tried it with extra rear speakers and being honest there was very little if any improvement over 5.1 and that was via an Onkyo THX receiver, I ended up disconnecting the extra set of speakers and selling them in the end.
5.1 in a small home cinema is perfect once positioned (both speakers and you) properly.

Calibos · 28-12-2014 2:48pm

Im a bit perplexed about Atmos in the home both from a functional and a logistical perspective.

In the cinema venues it delivers very accurate positional audio for every viewer using overhead speakers to fill in the large positional audio void in the large floor area between the fronts, backs and side channels.

In the home environment, there just isn't that kind of positional audio void. Then there is the fact that very very few people will be prepared to ceiling mount never mind cut into their ceilings for an Atmos speaker array. WAF makes it hard enough just to fit anything larger than subsat 5.1 for cryin out loud.

slave1 · 28-12-2014 3:04pm

Calibos wrote: »

Im a bit perplexed about Atmos in the home both from a functional and a logistical perspective.

In the cinema venues it delivers very accurate positional audio for every viewer using overhead speakers to fill in the large positional audio void in the large floor area between the fronts, backs and side channels.

In the home environment, there just isn't that kind of positional audio void. Then there is the fact that very very few people will be prepared to ceiling mount never mind cut into their ceilings for an Atmos speaker array. WAF makes it hard enough just to fit anything larger than subsat 5.1 for cryin out loud.

I agree, there's a big difference between sitting either end of the couch in a home cinema environment, not sure if Atmos would deliver significant improvement...

SachaJ · 28-12-2014 5:06pm

Yes I agree, it could be a case of diminishing returns once you go over 5.1 but I guess I'm in the lucky position where I wired the room for 11.2 during a renovation so the wires are there. If they're there I might as well use them or at least test with them. I'm also very lucky in that my wife doesn't mind (too much) with me installing the speakers etc. She sees the benefit of putting it all in as the kids really love it.

As for Atmos. Again I have the wires almost in place. For the front two in a .4 setup I can just extend the front presence cable 6ft into the room but it will require lifting a couple of floorboards in one of the kids rooms. The rear two of the .4 are fine with the rear presence speaker locations. I can't say if there's much benefit in running Atmos but from anyone I've read that did the upgrade, they really saw the benefit (perhaps some of that was justifying the cost). Whether it was the ceiling speakers or the new codecs I can't tell, but even in a home environment they said it was night and day. A very immersive sound.

But with every home install there's compromises. This room is the main sitting room so is very social. To really see the benefits of Atmos the side surrounds need to be at ear height when seated. As I have 3 kids, those speakers are higher, around ear height when standing.

peterwhit · 28-12-2014 5:51pm

now there's a good dad, optimising his Atmos setup for his kids...awww.

You're also blessed with three mobile, wireless sound emitters to add to your 11.2 setup.

rolion · 29-12-2014 1:28pm

Got my self a present and the system is setup in 3 front,2 side,2 back,2 high_front and 1 sub.

Most of the movies are 5.1 or very very few are in 7.1
How do you get the Atmos for the movies in 5.1 !?
Kind of pointless to get the AV setup correct but if the sound carrier is not there !?

SachaJ · 29-12-2014 2:26pm

rolion wrote: »

Got my self a present and the system is setup in 3 front,2 side,2 back,2 high_front and 1 sub.

Most of the movies are 5.1 or very very few are in 7.1
How do you get the Atmos for the movies in 5.1 !?
Kind of pointless to get the AV setup correct but if the sound carrier is not there !?

Do you have an Atmos capable AV receiver? Atmos is delivered over TrueHD (I think) so you need to set the receiver to decode the new codec. From there the receiver should remember to decode that particular Blu-ray each time. Off-hand, the Atmos receivers are the Yamaha 3040 & 2040, Marantz 7009, Denon X4100 and above and a couple of Onkyo's and Pioneer's. Most of these also can up-mix 5.1 to an Atmos like setup (can up-mix 5.1 to use the high/overhead speakers). Only 3 or 4 Blu-rays out with true Atmos though.

The minimum speaker layout for Atmos is 5.1.2 where the .2 are overhead speakers located directly above the seating position. As you have 2 height speakers they might do the job although would be better if you could move them across the ceiling closer to the seating position. I'm in the same boat now though. I have the 2 front height and contemplating moving them nearer the seating position. My two rear presence (rear height) are in a perfect position to act as the rear 2 (of the .4) in a 5.1.4. My AV receiver is Atmos capable.

rolion · 29-12-2014 4:16pm

Thanks.

Mine is a Pioneer vsx924...not Atmos just 7.2 output with all the Dolby types.

I've used MCACC to calibrate the speakers but I really had to "fight" with my wife re position and cables and so on...really a big compromise in my side as the speakers are not really top position as they should be (living room VS dedicated room)

I'm looking to get a new projector, an upgrade to 1080 and 3D from my current 720 but I still try to find a reason to do it as I'm not sure I will see the difference of 300px... what to you think ?

Enjoy it...

SachaJ · 30-12-2014 2:38pm

rolion wrote: »

Thanks.

Mine is a Pioneer vsx924...not Atmos just 7.2 output with all the Dolby types.

I've used MCACC to calibrate the speakers but I really had to "fight" with my wife re position and cables and so on...really a big compromise in my side as the speakers are not really top position as they should be (living room VS dedicated room)

I'm looking to get a new projector, an upgrade to 1080 and 3D from my current 720 but I still try to find a reason to do it as I'm not sure I will see the difference of 300px... what to you think ?

Enjoy it...

Compromise is a big thing in a family room and I seem to have gotten away with quite a bit. All my cables are buried in the walls which I ran before the walls were plastered so no cables on show. I may have to reposition a few speakers so some trunking will be seen. I don't have the heart to dig into walls that have been so recently finished. Might do in a year or two down the line. As for the speakers my wife has been fine with what I'm doing. Everything is give and take - I guess she got her dream house in her home town so I have a few brownie credits built up.

As for the projector. I went from a 720p projector on a 80" screen to a 1080p projector on a 126" (excluding borders) screen. I wasn't sure earlier in the week if I could see any difference but we watched Gone Girl last night and the picture quality was amazing. Some of the shots where he's driving through the town early in the movie looked great - crystal clear reflections off the car etc.

I've not tried 3D yet as my Sony RF glasses don't work with the projector; it has an IR emitter. Ordered 4 glasses from eBay for €40 so I'll try 3D next week hopefully.

So, yes, I think it's worth upgrading from 720p to 1080p. Although I went for an relatively expensive projector, a BenQ one can be had for under £500 on richersounds.ie.

SachaJ · 30-12-2014 2:57pm

I thought I'd take a quick opportunity to list what kit I currently have and where I got it.

Speakers
Main front left, centre and right are all Monitor Audio Apex 40's. Two were purchased new from richersounds.ie and the third second hand off Adverts.ie

Side surrounds are Monitor Audio RXFX and again purchased from richersounds.ie when they were clearing the last of the RX line last January (I think). They had been sitting in the box until this week.

The current front presence/height speakers are Monitor Audio Apex 10's and again purchased from richersounds.ie. One was ex-demo and the other was new. These speakers will become the rear two in a Atmos 5.1.4 setup should I go that way.

The subwoofer is a BK Electronics XXLS400 purchased second hand off Adverts.ie.

Projector & Screen
The projector is a Sony HW40ES from idealav.co.uk.

The screen is a Draper Linea Tab Tensioned 130" (including borders) screen with the ReAct 2.1 material. This was purchased used from AVForums.

AV Receiver
The amp is a Yamaha 3040 11.2 channel receiver with the Atmos firmware upgrade. Also purchased from from idealav.co.uk.

Video Sources
The video sources are a home built PC running XBMC/Kodi and a Panasonic 3D Blu-ray player that I picked up from Curry's last week. It's a BDT-160 or something like that and cost €60.

Various HDMI cables, a TP-Link Gigabit switch, Neet HDMI over Ethernet converters (from Amazon) and so on make up the accessories.

Outstanding Items
If I go Atmos I'll need another two speakers and they will either be Monitor Audio Apex 10's or CT265-IDC's (if I'm brave enough to cut holes in the ceiling).

I'd like a higher end Blu-ray player but not sure would I see any benefit over the Panasonic. Really it would only be used for 3D as XBMC does everything else.

Darbee Darblet from idealav.co.uk for some image processing. I could get an Oppo 103D which would do both my Bly-ray 3D and Darbee processing but budget is spent at this stage. Also would make it more difficult to have XBMC processed. That said, if I can't get XBMC to easily play well with two sources (multichannel amp and stereo TV) then I might be forced to introduce a second media player (I know I can have different profiles in XBMC but it's more messing around).

Two channel power amp for speaker cables I've run to the back garden should I decide to install outdoor speakers.

slave1 · 30-12-2014 7:36pm

I use XMBC for my 3D viewing, no issues to date on my BR rips, via Panny AE8000

SachaJ · 30-12-2014 7:41pm

slave1 wrote: »

I use XMBC for my 3D viewing, no issues to date on my BR rips, via Panny AE8000

Thanks for that. Might give it a bash and see what it's like

slave1 · 30-12-2014 7:43pm

SachaJ wrote: »

Thanks for that. Might give it a bash and see what it's like

You may need to rename the file name to .mkv as it would not playback .mk3d file association

rolion · 30-12-2014 7:55pm

slave1 wrote: »

I use XMBC for my 3D viewing, no issues to date on my BR rips, via Panny AE8000

How do you find the AE8000 ?

Later Edit:

Why i'm asking is because i have paid over 2k in the 2011 best Panasonic plasma TV and I feel that Panasonic stopped supporting /updating that TV long ago, maybe a day after I bought it !
The EPG is crap as doesn't have Live TV, I cant see EPG and the image on the telly.
No more updates and the Smart part of it...well, is gone as a big stupid and silly...no more applications and /or updates to it.
I am using it as the best Plasma monitor with my separate dedicated units and I don't regret it !

The other projectors...DLP well I had only bad experience .
SONY, not sure..
Optoma had a very bad experience with few business projectors supplied by Optoma to another company and all failed in less than 3 years !
Epson, i am using at home and in business and im happy with them but the most affordable one, the 6100 series went off sale recently !

I'll like Panasonic to keep it same with TV but not risking again...

Thanks.

SachaJ · 31-12-2014 1:40am

rolion wrote: »

How do you find the AE8000 ?

Later Edit:

Why i'm asking is because i have paid over 2k in the 2011 best Panasonic plasma TV and I feel that Panasonic stopped supporting /updating that TV long ago, maybe a day after I bought it !
The EPG is crap as doesn't have Live TV, I cant see EPG and the image on the telly.
No more updates and the Smart part of it...well, is gone as a big stupid and silly...no more applications and /or updates to it.
I am using it as the best Plasma monitor with my separate dedicated units and I don't regret it !

The other projectors...DLP well I had only bad experience .
SONY, not sure..
Optoma had a very bad experience with few business projectors supplied by Optoma to another company and all failed in less than 3 years !
Epson, i am using at home and in business and im happy with them but the most affordable one, the 6100 series went off sale recently !

I'll like Panasonic to keep it same with TV but not risking again...

Thanks.

The Epson 6600 doesn't look bad if you can afford the extra few quid. Limited offer going where you get a free soundbar and glasses with it. Chances are you could sell the soundbar to cover some of the added expense. Epson also have a laser projector coming out in the summer but that's going to be fairly expensive.

I have to say I'm being more and more impressed with the Sony as the days are going. I think it was switched on today around lunch for "Despicable Me" and was switched off at 12am. Probably a break of a few hours in between so somewhere between 6 - 8 hours use today. Kids can't get enough of it and when they're gone to bed I get to watch a movie. "Joe" tonight.... bit of a slow burner.

If you buy a projector from Richer Sounds in Belfast they now give you a 5 year warranty by default so that should make you feel comfortable with whichever brand you go with.

rolion · 31-12-2014 3:01am

Hi, thanks.

An Epson TW6600 comes at around €1,400
A SONY I hope to get it at around same price.
A Panasonic goes well higher...

I like the shape and look and feeling of the SONY but I think Epson going to win my "pocket" over the PiP function and that it has a local presence better than SONY.

SachaJ · 31-12-2014 12:55pm

rolion wrote: »

Hi, thanks.

An Epson TW6600 comes at around €1,400
A SONY I hope to get it at around same price.
A Panasonic goes well higher...

I like the shape and look and feeling of the SONY but I think Epson going to win my "pocket" over the PiP function and that it has a local presence better than SONY.

I'd say you might be doing well getting the Sony for that money unless you can get it for cost or ex-VAT. Demand is greater than Sony can supply them at the moment so I can't see any price reductions. I was very lucky to get mine before Christmas.

slave1 · 31-12-2014 6:06pm

rolion wrote: »

How do you find the AE8000 ?
...
Thanks.

Very happy with it, I had the 4000 for a few years and no crosstalk issues which is a biggie for me with so many bits and bobs connected here and there so wanted to stay with Panny. I got it in Florida when on holiday so a real big saving there, the 3D is a nice feature but I'm not really sold on that, it's brighter and all around a bit crisper, I think a bit quieter too. If I was to buy over here then chances are I would probably go for another brand as it's expensive relative to it's 'rivals'.

gomamochi1 · 05-01-2015 8:55pm

SachaJ wrote: »

Compromise is a big thing in a family room and I seem to have gotten away with quite a bit. All my cables are buried in the walls which I ran before the walls were plastered so no cables on show. I may have to reposition a few speakers so some trunking will be seen. I don't have the heart to dig into walls that have been so recently finished. Might do in a year or two down the line. As for the speakers my wife has been fine with what I'm doing. Everything is give and take - I guess she got her dream house in her home town so I have a few brownie credits built up.

As for the projector. I went from a 720p projector on a 80" screen to a 1080p projector on a 126" (excluding borders) screen. I wasn't sure earlier in the week if I could see any difference but we watched Gone Girl last night and the picture quality was amazing. Some of the shots where he's driving through the town early in the movie looked great - crystal clear reflections off the car etc.

I've not tried 3D yet as my Sony RF glasses don't work with the projector; it has an IR emitter. Ordered 4 glasses from eBay for €40 so I'll try 3D next week hopefully.

So, yes, I think it's worth upgrading from 720p to 1080p. Although I went for an relatively expensive projector, a BenQ one can be had for under £500 on richersounds.ie.

Wow that sounds great ! I am in the middle of renovating and would like to run cables etc now. What do u recommend?

SachaJ · 05-01-2015 11:58pm

gomamochi1 wrote: »

Wow that sounds great ! I am in the middle of renovating and would like to run cables etc now. What do u recommend?

Absolutely run multiple CAT6 cables to at least 1 point in each room of the house. CAT6 is very versatile and you can run HDMI, USB, 12v triggers, IR, computer networking and so on. I'd run at least three which will give you two for HDMI (either run HDMI over dual CAT6 or using HDBaseT which is HDMI over a single CAT6 but more expensive) and a third for whatever you need it for. I'm currently running HDMI over dual CAT6 as the HDBaseT devices are still too expensive for my liking. Remember to run all your cables back to a central point though and in my case it's under the stairs where all my AV kit is. Search eBay for item number 231393410823 and you'll see the cable I used. Unshielded CAT6 solid core. I think I paid around £155 a roll and used two so have a look around for better prices.

Wherever you run the CAT6 to it makes sense to also run good quality co-ax for satellite TV. It might be redundant if all your kit is in a central spot but I ran it anyway should I ever need it (eg. when the kids are teenagers they might want a DVR). I ran twin WF100 to each point. Again search eBay for WF100 shotgun.

Flexible as CAT6 is, it's can't take the place of speaker wire so you'll have to decide your speaker locations in advance and run the cable. I ran cable to 11 locations in the sitting room, two to the kitchen and two out to the back garden. Search eBay for item number 190512703927 as that's the cable I used. Bought a couple of rolls. It would really make sense at this point to study the speaker locations for Dolby Atmos and Auro3D and run your cables there so all bases are covered (including cables in the ceiling should you want overhead speakers). More than likely Atmos or Auro3D are going to be the dominant codecs in the next few years so will be handy to have speakers cables there should you want them. There's also a new codec from DTS coming soon but not much info in relation to speaker locations. Also while you are at it, run some of your WF100 co-ax cable to each corner in the room as you can run your subwoofer signal over this cable. Now you have the option of putting the sub in any corner. I've done it and works a treat.

SachaJ · 07-01-2015 12:36pm

Took a couple of photos of the setup today. Still very much a work in progress as can be seen with some exposed cables etc.

Here's a photo from Oblivion with all the curtains open in the room, just the lights off. Between the high lumen output of the projector and the ReAct screen, the picture looks great. Obviously better with curtains and blinds closed. Had the 1 year old helping me this morning.....

Still undecided what do do with the two Apex 10's being used as front presence/height. Have the option to move them behind and use as a proper 7.1 or buy another couple to do Atmos 5.1.4. Had to place one of the Apex 40's above the screen as with small kids (and that radiator) it didn't make sense to mount below.

A shot of the projector and one of the RXFX.

The mess under the stairs. AV Receiver, 1GB switch, XBMC PC, patch panel, Blu-ray player and will move the Sky box in there in the next day or two.

slave1 · 07-01-2015 1:17pm

Nice shots, have a Silverstone case too, they rock in black aluminum.
I'm really unsure of the sonic impact of your centre speaker that high though, considering 60/70% of all sound comes from it, it seems out of synch so high up...

SachaJ · 07-01-2015 1:28pm

slave1 wrote: »

Nice shots, have a Silverstone case too, they rock in black aluminum.
I'm really unsure of the sonic impact of your centre speaker that high though, considering 60/70% of all sound comes from it, it seems out of synch so high up...

Yeah I agree that the centre is not in the optimum position above the screen but it was a compromise I had to make. With three kids under 5 I had to think of them in everything I did. I would have loved floor standing speakers but the Apex range can be bolted to the wall. In 5 years or so I can revisit the speakers locations but for now I'm very happy. The centre is angled down exactly at the seating position but I do have to admit that I do notice the sound from above occasionally.

Like I said I'm very happy with what I could achieve. The kids love it and for the first time my wife is getting into watching movies. I don't think the system would have had the same impact on us if it was in a dedicated room. The fact that everything is in the family room makes it much more social.

As much as I like the 2.35:1 screen if I was buying new I'd either get a 16:9 or borderless (including no top border). It's only now I realise how much is in 16:9 and it's a pain with no memory function or motorised zoom on the lens.

slave1 · 07-01-2015 2:26pm

I had the problem with radiator too, I just moved it to an adjoining wall. My Panny had motorised zoom and memory function but I never use them prefer to move at the unit itself for zoom and just don't see the need for memory when using a 16:9 screen

SachaJ · 07-01-2015 3:15pm

slave1 wrote: »

I had the problem with radiator too, I just moved it to an adjoining wall. My Panny had motorised zoom and memory function but I never use them prefer to move at the unit itself for zoom and just don't see the need for memory when using a 16:9 screen

Yep, a 16:9 screen would be perfect for me. I don't mind the black bars top and bottom when watching a movie. Also it gets over the fact that not all movies are 2.35:1. I think Frozen is 2.24:1 and others are 2.40:1. All the different aspect ratios are a bit of a pain.

gomamochi1 · 16-01-2015 3:21pm

SachaJ wrote: »

I thought I'd put together a post on my soon to be sitting room setup. The focus is mainly on the big screen hence this sub-forum. I'm hoping to have all setup for Christmas.

We moved into our current house back in March after spending a number of months renovating. In regards to AV, this is what I installed during the renovation:
I wanted a central point for my AV kit so decided under the stairs in the hall was the best option. So all my wiring runs back there and I have a 19" rack.

In the sitting room I ran 14 speaker cables: right (+bi-amp), left (+bi-amp), centre low, center high, height (left/right), wide (left/right), surrounds (left/right), rears (left/right) plus two coax for dual subs.

To where I expected the TV to be located I ran 9 CAT6 so I could have 4 HDMI's fed from under the stairs plus the extra CAT6 for IR control.

Again to where I expected the TV to be located I ran 2 pairs of satellite coax and 2 CAT6 for 1GB network

To the back of the room where the projector was going I ran 4 CAT6 to give me 2 HDMI's.

I also ran multiple CAT6 to other rooms for distributed AV.

My kit list is as follows:
The main TV is a Sony 46HX853

Looking at getting a Sony HW40es projector

Have a Draper/Euroscreen motorised ReAct 2.1 tab tensioned screen. Basically the screen out of a Sesame case.

Looking at getting an Oppo 103D Blu-ray player

Currently a HTPC running XBMC is the main source for movies being fed from a 14TB server

Currently have an Arcam AVR350 AV receiver but that only does 5.1 so looking to change that but maybe not in the short term. Candidates are the Denon 4520, Denon X5200 or maybe one of the new Marantz models. Also with Atmos just coming out I'm not sure whether to go that way or not.

Speakers is where I'm having the real dilemma as they are my weakness. I have Monitor Audio RX2's and an RX Center which I used in our previous house. I already have RX1's for our kitchen system and brand new RXFX in the attic. While I love the RX2's, I have 3 kids under 4.5 so stand mounts are not the best idea. I've also purchased a Monitor Audio Apex A40 and looking at either a couple more A40's, a couple of A10's or last night I got a lead on some Monitor Audio RX8's. The RX8's would suit me best for where my speaker cables are located in the room but then the Apex speakers can be bolted to the walls (but would mean channelling out the walls which we've just had plastered. The wife won't be happy). But the RX8's might be out of budget. I have no idea what to run for rears. I could get another set of RXFX but I fear they would be too close to the back/side wall (ie. in a corner). I'm stumped for subs also but I'll possibly get something from BK Electronics if/when funds allow. They seem to be the best bang for buck.

Here's a rough Google sketchup of the room. It's around 14 feet wide by 22 feet long.

Speakers in the image are more or less where I currently have cables hanging out of the wall. Over the window is where the screen will come down and I'll build a pelmet around the top of the screen to hide it a bit.

To the right of the window is where all the TV connections are coming out of the wall but with the screen now coming down there I'll have to move it. The only place I can think of is above the fireplace but that again means channelling out the walls to get some CAT6 down there. I'm considering running some coving around the top of the walls so I can run additional speaker cables for the Atmos ceiling speakers.

So that's my plan, how much I'll actually get done I'm not sure.

Hi OP
That is a fantastic setup and I am trying to do thew same in our setup.-
living room size 20' x 14 ' for a projector and Screen.
I am going to order the CAt 6 double cable x 2 and run it to under a cloakroom beside the office and to all teh rooms. can you have a type of smart home technology this way? I am slabbing all teh external walls so this is the time to do it!
any advice very welcome as I am a chippy not a sparks so will get someone in to do the connections etc as I can run the cables and do the donkey work.
Cheers

rednik · 17-01-2015 6:01pm

I got the home cinema bug 6 years ago and I have upgraded quite a bit over the years. The kit I have now will last for a while. I am not that interested in Atmos/DTS X. I use my projector for almost everything I watch now.

JVC X35, Anthem MRX 510, Kef LS 50s, Kef R200C, Kef 400B, Oppo 105D

SachaJ · 17-01-2015 6:47pm

That looks a great system. Any reason you went for the 105D over the 103D? I would have thought the Anthem's DAC's are fairly good. Maybe not as good as the Oppo?

rednik · 17-01-2015 8:00pm

SachaJ wrote: »

That looks a great system. Any reason you went for the 105D over the 103D? I would have thought the Anthem's DAC's are fairly good. Maybe not as good as the Oppo?

The reason I bought the 105 is I have an older receiver which has the analogue inputs but I have yet to take it down from the attic, I only bought the 105 a month ago. The Anthem DAC is excellent but I am looking forward to comparing it when I finally get to it.

SachaJ · 19-01-2015 10:38am

gomamochi1 wrote: »

Hi OP
That is a fantastic setup and I am trying to do thew same in our setup.-
living room size 20' x 14 ' for a projector and Screen.
I am going to order the CAt 6 double cable x 2 and run it to under a cloakroom beside the office and to all teh rooms. can you have a type of smart home technology this way? I am slabbing all teh external walls so this is the time to do it!
any advice very welcome as I am a chippy not a sparks so will get someone in to do the connections etc as I can run the cables and do the donkey work.
Cheers

Not sure what you mean by smart home.... You probably could but I'm guessing you'd need to run CAT6 to some wall panels for control etc. Not something I'd know much about.

That said multi-room audio and video is easy enough once you've run multiple CAT6 and/or speaker cables to each room. I have my Yamaha 3040 feeding audio and video to multiple zones

gomamochi1 · 19-01-2015 12:11pm

SachaJ wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by smart home.... You probably could but I'm guessing you'd need to run CAT6 to some wall panels for control etc. Not something I'd know much about.

That said multi-room audio and video is easy enough once you've run multiple CAT6 and/or speaker cables to each room. I have my Yamaha 3040 feeding audio and video to multiple zones

Hey
What is an Yamaha 3040? All this home entertainment is new to me! That is what I meant by smart home ish! Audio and visual to rooms. Thanks

SachaJ · 19-01-2015 12:23pm

The Yamaha 3040 is an audio visual receiver (AVR). Basically it takes audio (CD player etc) and video (Blu-ray player, media player) as inputs and pumps audio out through it's onboard amplifiers to speakers.

In the 3040's case it also has multi-zone outputs so I can have speakers in a couple of different rooms and it also feeds audio to the stereo in my kitchen. It has a network connection so can play Internet radio, Spotify etc or music I have stored on a computer.

http://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx-a3040_g/?mode=model

Not cheap but there are cheaper AVR's that have the same functionality. Look at the Marantz 7009 that does 99% of the same things and half the price (The Maranz can also do Auro3D (a new audio layout that uses 10 or so speakers in a room) which the Yamaha can't).

gomamochi1 · 13-02-2015 2:41am

Getting into wiring now guys can anyone recommend what projector and screen to get ? Was looking at the optima hd projector that was on bargain alerts recently but that's shot up to 500 odd sterling. Any other suggestions welcome?

SachaJ · 13-02-2015 11:54am

gomamochi1 wrote: »

Getting into wiring now guys can anyone recommend what projector and screen to get ? Was looking at the optima hd projector that was on bargain alerts recently but that's shot up to 500 odd sterling. Any other suggestions welcome?

I'm afraid I don't know of any projectors for much less than the £500 mark. You could try the BenQ 1070 but even that is £469 in Richer Sounds
http://www.richersounds.ie/p-12120-w1070.aspx

take everything · 24-02-2015 1:38pm

SachaJ wrote: »

Took a couple of photos of the setup today. Still very much a work in progress as can be seen with some exposed cables etc.

Here's a photo from Oblivion with all the curtains open in the room, just the lights off. Between the high lumen output of the projector and the ReAct screen, the picture looks great. Obviously better with curtains and blinds closed. Had the 1 year old helping me this morning.....

Still undecided what do do with the two Apex 10's being used as front presence/height. Have the option to move them behind and use as a proper 7.1 or buy another couple to do Atmos 5.1.4. Had to place one of the Apex 40's above the screen as with small kids (and that radiator) it didn't make sense to mount below.

A shot of the projector and one of the RXFX.

The mess under the stairs. AV Receiver, 1GB switch, XBMC PC, patch panel, Blu-ray player and will move the Sky box in there in the next day or two.

Jesus that is amazing.
I want. I want.
Makes my setup look crappy.
You've got me thinking of spending needlessly again.

deano59 · 26-02-2015 6:35pm

Hi guys - I am currently building a home cinema as well. SachaJ that setup looks class. I have wired for 5.1 in a 18 by 13.5 foot room. I have a Epson TW6100 - huge upgrade from a cheap DLP I had years ago.

I am thinking of getting Zensor Dali 1 5.1 or Zensor Dali 5 5.1 - anyone got any opinion on these?

I am going get a fixed 100" or 110" screen and pain the wall it is on brown and then paint the ceiling matt beige and the walls either side of the screen I hope will start off at brown and gradually become beige as it gets closer to the other end of the wall.

I will post pics when its finished.

I love this thread - it is brill to see Irish home cinema setups.

SachaJ · 26-02-2015 10:36pm

deano59 wrote: »

Hi guys - I am currently building a home cinema as well. SachaJ that setup looks class. I have wired for 5.1 in a 18 by 13.5 foot room. I have a Epson TW6100 - huge upgrade from a cheap DLP I had years ago.

I am thinking of getting Zensor Dali 1 5.1 or Zensor Dali 5 5.1 - anyone got any opinion on these?

I am going get a fixed 100" or 110" screen and pain the wall it is on brown and then paint the ceiling matt beige and the walls either side of the screen I hope will start off at brown and gradually become beige as it gets closer to the other end of the wall.

I will post pics when its finished.

I love this thread - it is brill to see Irish home cinema setups.

Sounds like it'll be a great setup. I've never used any of the Dali speakers as I have a bit of a thing for Monitor Audio so I've just stuck with them. Is it going to be pure cinema or will there be some music also? Reason I ask is that for a pure home cinema experience a sub/sat system is recommended. That said, I'm kind of wondering am I missing out by not getting the Monitor Audio RX8's that I mentioned earlier in the thread. I don't listen to much music in the sitting room but the times that I do, I'm just expecting a little bit more. For now I'm going to put that down to XBMC/KODI so I might have a bash at using Foobar2000 or JRiver (tried installing last night but having issues with the movie scraper). Overall I'm investigating whether XBMC/KODI is good enough (quality wise) at playing media.

The colours definitely sound good. My walls are still white and it really something I need to address. Even if I can get one wall dark (behind the screen) it will be a start. I'd be really interested to see the colours you go with and how it works out with a screen on top.

Good luck!

SachaJ · 03-03-2015 11:23am

No real updates on the hardware front but I'm spending some time seeing can I increase quality from KODI (XBMC). From reading around it seems that KODI is not one of the better video players quality wise although I have to say it's GUI and video wall are exceptional.

My first attempt is by using MPC-HC with madVR as a KODI external player which is working perfectly except for a massive flaw on the KODI side. In KODI you can set it to play the next video automatically which I need as the kids tend to watch a few episodes of their cartons at a time. When using an external player KODI does not recognise the "stop" command. Essentially what happens is when watching a movie with the external player and you press stop, MPC-HC recognises it, stops the movie, shuts itself down and KODI comes back into focus. KODI assumes the movie came to a natural finish (ie. played to the end) and so starts the next movie. So you are into a loop until the last movie in that view is reached. Not optimal but the video quality is great. I could get around this by disabling playing of videos automatically and using playlists for the kids cartoons. That might be my best solution.

My next attempt was to remove KODI from the equation altogether and use JRiver Media Center again with madVR (Red October HQ). On the latest version of JRiver it's not scraping the artwork for movies at all so that's off the cards. Video quality is great though.

On the hardware front I'm finding it difficult to access my 18u cabinet in it's current location which is under my stairs. It's a bit of a squeeze to get in there. In my wisdom I've gone and bought this http://www.adverts.ie/servers/server-cabinet/7079308 with the thinking of moving all my kit into the garage. It's going to be a pain trying to extend all my speaker, coax and CAT6 cables but other than building an extension to the back of the house where the stairs is, I have no choice.

I'm also on a bit of a quest to get 3D working from my KODI machine using an external player but having no luck. I bought an Nvidia GT730 card for the PC and have tried various players like TMT, Stereoscopic player, PowerDVD etc but nothing working yet. Essentially I want to play 3D MVC rips which are exact 1:1 quality movies ripped with MakeMKV. I had considered a Mede8er 600X3D but would really prefer not to have an additional device if I can avoid it..

deano59 · 03-03-2015 12:25pm

I use plex - I have the server on my main computer and then I have an old mac mini as a HTPC under the TV - if you have a xbox one or PS4 you can get plex pass for a fiver and stream from your computer to either console. I have never had any problems with Plex. Good luck with it.

positron · 03-03-2015 3:47pm

Subscribing to this thread. This is a basic idea of my current very basic setup.

HP Microserver running UnRaid and Plex acting as file & media server and phones auto backup to it as they come into wifi. An older version of LG TV with MediaPlex as well as PS3 can play content from the Plex server (PS3 does it over DLNA for now as the Plex client app is not free). PS3 is connected to a ceiling mounted Optoma 141x HD projector which throws an image approximately 3 meters wide on to the wall opposite the 2seater sofa. (Room is approximately 5m x 4m, slightly less perhaps)

I am delighted with the picture quality from this setup, even with projecting to a cream wall. Sound setup is not great though (old Yamaha amp without any HDMI ports, basic NSP110 speakers). Over all is a decent low cost setup, and I am hoping to learn a thing or two here as I plan to improve the sound setup in future.

positron · 06-03-2015 1:24pm

Bad quality photo of how the above setting looks. Picture is actually very crisp and sharp, all the blocky stuff you see is from poor quality phone camera (nexus 5).

And you can see from where I have mounted the projector, I can't get the picture to fit in the wall. I got used to it so it doesn't bother me, but I am imagine it could be irritating and a big no-no to others.

SachaJ · 06-03-2015 1:42pm

positron wrote: »

Bad quality photo of how the above setting looks. Picture is actually very crisp and sharp, all the blocky stuff you see is from poor quality phone camera (nexus 5).

And you can see from where I have mounted the projector, I can't get the picture to fit in the wall. I got used to it so it doesn't bother me, but I am imagine it could be irritating and a big no-no to others.

That looks pretty good to me. As with everything there is compromises. For instance my screen has defects so the borders are not square so I'm use to everything not being perfect. And watching 16:9 content the picture spills over top and bottom.

My next purchase is a Darbee Vision 5100CIE
https://www.idealav.co.uk/product/darbee-dvp-5100cie-custom-installer-edition/

If you've never seen a Darbee in action they are spectacular. In my opinion they at least double the value of a projector or TV. Essentially it adds a level of sharpness to the picture that can only be had by buying a projector for twice the amount (in my opinion). I had the below model and in a moment of madness sold it:
https://www.idealav.co.uk/product/darbee-darblet-dvp-5000/

Well worth it if you can spare the €275.....

It seems to enhance blacks a bit amongst other things

Sitting Room as Home Cinema

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