Home Cinema Setup

Now for something completely different!

Now our kids are all the little bit older we are able to transform an old play room into a dedicated home cinema. It's one of the few things we get to enjoy as a family all at the same time.

Initially I had a local company quote to do the entire work BUT as always we couldn't agree on budget for the set up.  They had specced out some options but they didn't want to do the work for the cheapest option with some upgrades.  I ummed and ahhed but finally decided to go ahead and complete the build on my own. It's nice to have a project to work on (other than a 15 min 5k) in my retirement !!

It's a concern as it's an expensive waste if it doesn't go well BUT we did project manage an entire refurbishment of the house including some really tight spots so how hard can it really be !!

First up, the project timescale has been taken right back. Ideally if a company was doing all of this I would want it done in two weeks to minimise disruption. Plus I am an impatient little sod.  Now I am giving myself the whole summer to get it sorted. Plan it right, do some research on each element and make good decisions. It's not rocket science - although there are plenty of elements I don't understand .... yet. But really, it can't be that difficult can it?

The project plan - i.e speccing out the room is pretty straightforward as the room size only really gives one option there -

[insert room layout]

The company that quoted did a great job of listing out what equipment I would need. Some R&D of my own tightened that down - not having anyone taking a margin means that I can actually upspec some of the equipment.

I have to say I have zero knowledge of what I am doing BUT my reasoning is that I can employ some expertise in the right places.

Companies that I have spoken to outside base trades that specifically deal with home cinema installations don't want to touch the trade work with a barge pole which tells me all I need to know - like weddings they are making a fuck load of margin because people do not understand what they are going on about !!

The initial research stage was to look at equipment. What elements do I need? How do they connect to each other? Will it all work as intended and not be a damp squib?  The second phase is how do I make the room come together and really look like we have walked into an Odeon? 

The second part I am actually not too worried about. Having seen how much you can do do a place with some thought and the right trades people I am very confident we can make that happen.

It was the actual cinema system that had me most worried. After looking at the spec I had to hand and then doing a hell of a lot of research and taking some guesses here is the system I orderd...

So, equipment.

Projector - Sony VPL-VW270 4K Projector

I decided to upsec this from an Epson projector as picture quality is much higher and this one is considered Rolls Royce in this price range. It's well within the designers margin so this is a free upgrade at this level.

I have to admit I have no idea how to mount it but my plan is once I have the basic room set up I will pay a company to professionally set this up. In fairness the initial set up is just ceiling mounting it in the correct place which shouldn't be a problem, after that it's just plugging it in to the AV and burying the power cable in the attic.

Reciever - Denon AVC-X3700H Amplifier

This was a small spec up from the initial design. Had a play around with it (more on that later) and it's a really cool piece of kit. For our purposes this is absolutely A1 for the cash.

Front Speakers - KEF Ci4100QL-THX

I have the 3 Kef in wall speakers. This is the tricky part, I need to have a baffle wall built as the wall they are going on is block. Basically you build out a stud wall, insulate, well battened and clad in plasterboard. The speakers are then cut into the plaster and screwed in to mount. The idea is this baffle wall will sit behind a screenwall that the projector projects on to, giving the THX cinema experience. Basically the sound comes from behind the screen. I just need to make sure the plaster is bonded to the stud wall with some kind of damping to stop vibrations BUT in reality I don't think our set up will be crazy enough to cause problems. We want it loud BUT not bleed your ears loud (we do have lovely neighbours we don't want to upset - Hi Tim !!)

The baffle wall was my biggest headache as I really couldn't get my head around it BUT I've pretty much solved that now and am confident either my carpenter or my plaster guy Dave can do what I need here.

Biggest concern - these speakers may not be powerful enough BUT I think that they will be for our needs.

Subwoofer - KEF Kube12b

No research, pure guess work. Seems expensive, don't have the leads to test it yet BUT they are coming tomorrow. Gets good reviews and looks cool so gets thumbs up so far.

Rear speakers - KEF Q150 Bookshelf Speakers

Completing the Dolby 5.1 set up the Kef Q150s. Have set them up to test (more detail later) as fronts and they have a decent sound. I think they'll be perfect for purpose and they were very reasonably priced.

Projection Screen - Sapphire Fixed Frame 203x114cm Acoustic Transparent Front Projector Screen 16:9 92"

In front of the three front speakers will be a 2m x 1.15m Fixed Screen. It's a nice big acoustically transparent (sound travels through it) screen.

It's a nice big solid screen. I'll need my carpenter Will to knock up a screen wall. This will basically be a big fake wall that sits in front of the speakers so that the screen is flush mounted. It's a fairly simple job BUT I have two options. Ideally I would like him to mount a frame that has detachable top and sides (4 sections) Those sections will be wrapped in fabric and slot into place giving a really luxury feel to the front wall (like at the pictures!). If not then it'll be a simple stud wall painted in a dark luxury colour.

That is basically my equipment set up and most of the room itself!

Now, I have had delivery of the receiver, the bookshelf speakers, the sub and the amp. So rather than leaving them and letting someone set them up, I have set them up with our old playroom TV in our guest room. The good thing is - I KNOW THEY ALL WORK !! That's a big plus! I also know how to use them. Now, I have not set them up properly, I just want to test.  I've even managed to set up bluetooth headphones, realised I can't pair two pairs at once and ordered a bluetooth transmitter - more on that when it arrives - so that I can have that do exactly what I want.

So that is the guts of the cinema room.

Next up I have ordered made to measure electric blinds so that we can darken the room. They were from blinds2go so cheap as chips but it'll be pretty cool to press one button and have the room go pitch black for a film. Once they are installed I will see if they work as intended. I may need the chippy to create a build out from the wall so they become pocket blinds (so the blind edge runs inside the edge of the wall. The would look pretty cool to be fair.

I am going to have to raise a platform at the back of the room as we are having 2 cinema sets at the front and 3 at the rear (so they can see over the top). Once this is done the room will be carpeted in a nice and deep pile carpet to give a really nice feeling to it. Plus that also soaks up some sound vibrations. Decoration wise the room will be very dark and most likely I'll have it wallpapered with a very dark blue/grey or black wallpaper to dampen the sound.

I have asked for a custom coving to go up too, that'll allow me to put strip led lights up. The initial designs for a dropped ceiling were coming in at extortionate money (this is where the budget issues arose with the designer). My workaround gives the same feeling for about 5% of the cost! The idea is that the coving hides the strip light and then kicks up so the led lights upwards to the ceiling giving that modern cinema look.

Once the guts are all set up in place the decorating and carpet will be done and then the seats will go in. Once they are in place it's finalise the equipment set up professionally for picture and sound. The final touch will be to program a universal remote so that the whole room will fire up a film at the touch of a button rather than using 5 or 6 remotes to start.

That's the plan anyway.

Right now I have the set up being tested in the snug. It's all firing up and working (so far) and I've surprised myself with how easy it's going. The next step will be once trades are on site and have the speaker wall and screen wall in place.