home cinema and audio set-up
Discussion
We are mid-way through extending and refurbing our house, and the electricians are about to finish their first fix. They've been asking if we want to do anything with our AV set-up as now is the time to do stuff like wired in speaker systems etc. To be honest I'd not really thought too much about it as its not a big priority but now its been mentioned it makes sense to make some practical decisions. So I'm going to run through my thoughts with some questions along the way and would appreciate any feedback/advice!
Our current set-up is Panasonic plasma, sky, Marantz amp/blueray with kef sub and some old jamo speakers (5.1 set-up) (all in the living room). We've had the speakers floating around the living room which is a bit annoying as they get moved, or knocked on their side, or put behind a curtain etc! So the plan is to fix the TV on the wall and tidy the sky and Marantz boxes into a nice built in unit with the HDMI cable chased in up to the TV. If I can afford to I'd like to replace all the jamo speakers and mount the front speakers and centre appropriately either side/below the TV. The rear speakers I'm thinking of using in-ceiling speakers as it will be a neater solution. One problem is the room layout:
___________________________________
[.....TV..........[ chimney ].................]
[
[
[
[
[
[
[
[..x..{........sofa.........}...............x..]
---------------------------------------
The TV is pretty much flat against the wall as there is an opening in the left hand wall through to the extension and there will be another sofa over to the right somewhere! So the question is, will in-ceiling speakers work at the points marked 'x'? Or should the right hand one move across to be closer to the sofa? Any recommendations for in-ceiling speakers?
Second area to consider is the extension (open plan kitchen/diner/living space) where we are again thinking of having in-ceiling speakers for music. I assume I would have to run these through the Marantz amp in the living room? Or could they be linked into a 'one-box' type cd/ipod dock in the extension? 2nd option would obviously be much easier to use and preferable if possible... And would the same in-ceiling speakers be suitable for this application as well as in the living room as part of the 5.1 set-up?
We also plan to have a wall mounted TV in the extension, is it possible to link this to the sky box in the living room? And the blueray/amp?
I'm a bit rubbish with all this stuff so now is the right time to get it sorted whilst ceilings are down and walls are unplastered to get the cabling done right and hidden away!
Our current set-up is Panasonic plasma, sky, Marantz amp/blueray with kef sub and some old jamo speakers (5.1 set-up) (all in the living room). We've had the speakers floating around the living room which is a bit annoying as they get moved, or knocked on their side, or put behind a curtain etc! So the plan is to fix the TV on the wall and tidy the sky and Marantz boxes into a nice built in unit with the HDMI cable chased in up to the TV. If I can afford to I'd like to replace all the jamo speakers and mount the front speakers and centre appropriately either side/below the TV. The rear speakers I'm thinking of using in-ceiling speakers as it will be a neater solution. One problem is the room layout:
___________________________________
[.....TV..........[ chimney ].................]
[
[
[
[
[
[
[
[..x..{........sofa.........}...............x..]
---------------------------------------
The TV is pretty much flat against the wall as there is an opening in the left hand wall through to the extension and there will be another sofa over to the right somewhere! So the question is, will in-ceiling speakers work at the points marked 'x'? Or should the right hand one move across to be closer to the sofa? Any recommendations for in-ceiling speakers?
Second area to consider is the extension (open plan kitchen/diner/living space) where we are again thinking of having in-ceiling speakers for music. I assume I would have to run these through the Marantz amp in the living room? Or could they be linked into a 'one-box' type cd/ipod dock in the extension? 2nd option would obviously be much easier to use and preferable if possible... And would the same in-ceiling speakers be suitable for this application as well as in the living room as part of the 5.1 set-up?
We also plan to have a wall mounted TV in the extension, is it possible to link this to the sky box in the living room? And the blueray/amp?
I'm a bit rubbish with all this stuff so now is the right time to get it sorted whilst ceilings are down and walls are unplastered to get the cabling done right and hidden away!
Edited by addey on Sunday 13th October 20:39
Gassing Station | Home Cinema & Hi-Fi | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff