Cinema rooms - what have you got?

[Harry Flashman]

Harry Flashman said:

On the room thing, my dark room is also sometimes used as a playroom by my girls, and they like it just fine. I actually wish I had a dark ceiling as the white ceiling is a distraction. One day, going to have a false/suspended ceiling done, with Atmos speakers and fun mood lighting LEDs done. Easy to do, just messy.

Another question, chaps, I like my Sony 1080, but would quite like a noticeable upgrade for audio. I use the room to listen to music, too, and whilst an AVR will never give audiophile performance, I reckon the Sony (which is a great amp) hits its limitations here.

This is all streaming services, so sound quality is not CD level anyway, but o do go with lossless/HD content so not that bad. Mainly electronic music (house and DnB) so needs a bit of attack. Vocals are key as I like vocal electronic music.

My PMC TB2+ front speaker setup is very good at this. I hooked them up to my old Musical Fidelity and got a noticeably better performance than the Sony delivered (no surprise there).

So a couple of ways to work this, and advice courted;

1) just upgrade the AVR. Denon 6700h. Expensive method

2) as above, but use amp pre outs (my Sony lacks these) to connect the Musical Fidelity to the fronts. Use 2 channel stereo mode to effectively bypass the AVR and use the PMC/MF setup for music, but with the input functionality of the AVR.

3) cheap and cheerful. Connect the hifi amp to my PMCs fronts alongside, but separately to, my current Sony AVR. Have a streaming device connected to the hifi amp for music listening purposes. But how do I do this? Can you have a device that allows separate amplified sources to connect to one pair of speakers, and safely swith between them? And also, I still have to pay for a decent streaming device anyway, whereas the Denon AVR has integrated streaming

Reposted to the new page in case it gets lost...

And does this do the job?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amplifier-Receiver-Speake...

Edited by Harry Flashman on Sunday 3rd April 12:37

[justin220]

Denon aren't known to be particularly musical, more movie biased. Would some sort of stereo amp work?

[Harry Flashman]

That's just it. I have a Musical Fidelity A3.2 dual mono amp lying around. Old, but excellent. If want to use it for the front speakers, but my current AVR has no front speaker pre-outs.

[justin220]

Douglas Quaid said:

My room is fully treated with black carpets, walls, ceiling etc. the room is still useable for listening to music and whatever I just have the lights on (low). Once the lights are off the screen is the only thing that you see, no reflections. The pic above of the all white room are terrible, nice potential though with good seating etc. If you can treat the room your picture will improve 1000 fold.

Paint isn’t enough as even black paint is still reflective. You need something non reflective.

I assume you are talking about my white room. Hence my post I want to paint. But I also don't want bat cave style either as its also a playroom during the day. So no hanging carpet over the walls etc.

Just want a nice compromise between the two. Grey walls, dark ceiling. Or all light grey.. Might look a bit monotone?

[paralla]

I love the satin black surround around my telly. I really think it improves the perception of picture quality. The rest of my room has light grey walls and a mid grey ceiling. Walls and ceiling are Little Green Absolute Matt Emulsion that has very low reflectivity.

I’d go black or very dark grey at least on the wall where the screen/TV is.

The difference between the last two pics is that I closed the window blinds on the window closet to the telly.

[stevoknevo]

Harry Flashman said:

Reposted to the new page in case it gets lost...

And does this do the job?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amplifier-Receiver-Speake...

Edited by Harry Flashman on Sunday 3rd April 12:37

There's a speaker switching box like this often recommended for your situation on AVForums, I'll try and dig out the name of it (be cheaper than buying a new AVR with pre-outs at least, but think it's maybe a coupla hundred?)

Edit - this one, and I was wrong, it's £93! http://www.homehifi.co.uk/S/tc-7220mk3.htm

Edited by stevoknevo on Sunday 3rd April 19:18

[justin220]

paralla - Thanks. Thats the sort of confirmation I was hoping for.

I think I'll go for grey walls left right and rear, then a darker ceiling and front wall from seated.

[Harry Flashman]

paralla said:

I love the satin black surround around my telly. I really think it improves the perception of picture quality. The rest of my room has light grey walls and a mid grey ceiling. Walls and ceiling are Little Green Absolute Matt Emulsion that has very low reflectivity.

I’d go black or very dark grey at least on the wall where the screen/TV is.

The difference between the last two pics is that I closed the window blinds on the window closet to the telly.

I've said it before Paralla, but I love this. I'm nicking the idea for my next renovation/refurb and claiming it for my own!

I shall do it with a beautifully grained wood like zebrano, and matt oiled for low sheen, but to bring out the grain. The panel/wall behind the wood battens will be painted in a fun contrasting matt colour, possibly a real blue, or even copper/gold.

To me, even a dedicated home cinema room should be beautiful when the screen is not running. The idea of a matt black cave just isn't for me.

Edited by Harry Flashman on Sunday 3rd April 21:17

[Harry Flashman]

stevoknevo said:

There's a speaker switching box like this often recommended for your situation on AVForums, I'll try and dig out the name of it (be cheaper than buying a new AVR with pre-outs at least, but think it's maybe a coupla hundred?)

Edit - this one, and I was wrong, it's £93! http://www.homehifi.co.uk/S/tc-7220mk3.htm

Edited by stevoknevo on Sunday 3rd April 19:18

Thank you!!

[paralla]

Harry Flashman said:

stevoknevo said:

There's a speaker switching box like this often recommended for your situation on AVForums, I'll try and dig out the name of it (be cheaper than buying a new AVR with pre-outs at least, but think it's maybe a coupla hundred?)

Edit - this one, and I was wrong, it's £93! http://www.homehifi.co.uk/S/tc-7220mk3.htm

Edited by stevoknevo on Sunday 3rd April 19:18

Thank you!!

Thanks Harry. You can’t see it in these pics but the slats are one inch square Baltic oak painted to show, rather than hide the grain. The MDF backing is painted satin black.

A similar look can be achieved using cheaper, commercially available acoustic panels but it’s MDF on felt like backing, I’m all about authentic materials so mine was done by a cabinet maker.

https://www.naturewall.co.uk/products/slatwall-aco...

My Amazon recommended purchases were screwed up after I bought some winter weight ladies stockings to cover the speakers that are hidden behind the slats in cutouts of the MDF.

Don’t forget about the hidden cocktail cabinet with 14 lights on three seperate dimmer circuits

[PH User]

I'm not a fan of all that black, but each to their own.

[pmanson]

Just in the process of planning out a new dedicated room. It will be small but we’ll formed.

[Bam89]

Evolved said:

Here’s my last room.
Sony 65” OLED
Denon AVR
Monitor audio surrounds with center.
BK 10” sub x2
Philips hue bridge and HDMI sync
All iPad controlled.

Edited by Evolved on Sunday 26th September 07:50

The iPad control is very intriguing.. obviously a very old post by Evolved, but does anyone know how to go about such a set up? I'm going to have a blank canvas for a TV wall in the living room of my new house once an internal wall is removed and a rewire takes place, so can do pretty much anything with it

Key requirements are to have a Sky Q box, PS5 and Amazon Fire box hidden away as much as possible, I'm looking at a 77" LG TV and a Sonos Arc/Sub set up to get me started

Any thoughts on what I should be looking for to get cables hidden away and the iPad set up would be much appreciated!

[Harry Flashman]

So a bit of a gem find - a second hand, mint condition PMC centre speaker to match my TB2+ fronts.

Upgrading from a Monitor Audio centre, which is the same as the rear satellites, but obviously sonically very different to my studio monitor fronts.

Haven't even set the PMC up by recalibrating the room, but the clarity of vocals and mobility in the front soundstage is already better. Audibly better.

I thought the mantra to match the fronts to the centre sonically was a but of an audiophile emperor's new clothes myth. Turns out, well, it wasn't. You notice it with increased vocal clarity (but this could be just because the PMC is a much more expensive speaker originally than the one it replaces). But you also notice it as voices/objects move sideways through the soundtage. The latter is very noticeable.

Not the prettiest of designs, mind. But I'm used to it from my front speakers. And just like those, worth it for the sound.

Edited by Harry Flashman on Wednesday 6th April 17:56

[pmanson]

Bam89 said:

The iPad control is very intriguing.. obviously a very old post by Evolved, but does anyone know how to go about such a set up? I'm going to have a blank canvas for a TV wall in the living room of my new house once an internal wall is removed and a rewire takes place, so can do pretty much anything with it

Key requirements are to have a Sky Q box, PS5 and Amazon Fire box hidden away as much as possible, I'm looking at a 77" LG TV and a Sonos Arc/Sub set up to get me started

Any thoughts on what I should be looking for to get cables hidden away and the iPad set up would be much appreciated!

Logitech Harmony IR control + a raspberry pi running homeassistant would work

I’m in the process of doing something similar (we’ve used the harmony and alexa for a few years to set certain actions - watch tv, films, listen to Sonos)

[Bam89]

pmanson said:

Bam89 said:

The iPad control is very intriguing.. obviously a very old post by Evolved, but does anyone know how to go about such a set up? I'm going to have a blank canvas for a TV wall in the living room of my new house once an internal wall is removed and a rewire takes place, so can do pretty much anything with it

Key requirements are to have a Sky Q box, PS5 and Amazon Fire box hidden away as much as possible, I'm looking at a 77" LG TV and a Sonos Arc/Sub set up to get me started

Any thoughts on what I should be looking for to get cables hidden away and the iPad set up would be much appreciated!

Logitech Harmony IR control + a raspberry pi running homeassistant would work

I’m in the process of doing something similar (we’ve used the harmony and alexa for a few years to set certain actions - watch tv, films, listen to Sonos)

Thanks, looks like the Logitech Harmony remote has been discontinued and can only be bought for a premium on eBay. Will do some digging on how good the app is

[Pflanzgarten]

Beware the Logitech, as good as ours is it is as you say discontinued-the MacBook app hasn’t worked for ages and how long until other software doesn’t get updated?

[OldSkoolRS]

I've had Harmony remotes for a long time. Currently using one that works via RF to a 'base' near my rack which is outside the living room. The 'Activities' are a bit wonky now and sometimes I have to manually change an input on the AVR or my video processor. I must try to see if I can access my account and do a fresh set up before they disappear completely (if not already).

I don't want some complicated set up using something like Crestron or whatever, but doesn't seem like there is anything to follow on from the Harmony remotes. I certainly don't want to start knobing around with a Rasberry Pi or whatever: I remember years ago building a 'Home theatre PC' and spent more time messing about doing updates and driver swapping than actually using it. Was supposed to be like a home made PVR back before they were easy to buy and it gave me some HD sources from BBC HD and some other channels from Freesat. Great when it worked, but mostly didn't...

[Harry Flashman]

I have a similarly shonky experience with Harmony - at least on the remote. Having to switch between devices to change things is stupid and buggy.

I just have the Harmony hum set up with Alexa to turn the TV on and off, and use the TV for its inboard streaming, and an Apple TV (with separate remote) for Apple specific services when I need them. I don't have blu ray or a console.

[OldSkoolRS]

Don't get me wrong; the Harmony was fine for years, but I changed some configuration on my AVR and changed my video processor for a 4K version and while the remote codes are similar, there must be some that are different between models. The main thing is having RF control over pause/play and volume/mute, the rest I can live with even if it means turning on all the rack gear myself because I have to go to it when I put a disc in the UHD player anyway (old fashioned I know ). I never did set my projector up on the Harmony as I didn't want it turned on and off by accident if my wife selected the wrong 'activity' so I just accept putting that on using it's own remote.

Just seems a shame that once this one has packed up then I'll be back to using various remotes and lose the 'through the wall' option unless I resort to just using an Apple TV with it's own remote for my viewing.

Having said all that; in an attempt to cut down our electricity bills I don't switch on my AV amp/power amps during the week as it's mainly just watching the News or chat shows, so the standard TV remote works fine for that, even using it's own built in Netflix app: Time was I wouldn't watch anything unless I had the full AV gear powered up, but seems pointless having 11 amp channels powered up for...er...Pointless.