Lounge based AV install - inspiration required!

[aspender]

I grew up with a love of music and Hifi instilled into me by my dad. I have fond memories of the separates setup in our old living room and still have two Thorens TD160 turntables which were the only remaining bits left when he passed away ten years ago. That and his extensive Jazz vinyl collection

In my younger years I had a pair of B&W DM601 S3s paired with a NAD C320. Then that progressed to a more AV oriented 2.1 system with Yamaha CDX493 receiver. Now in our current house we inherited a multi-room ceiling speaker install which I've linked up to some Bluesound Nodes with Tidal Connect and Roon.

However I now have management buy-in to build a 'forever' system for my 50th birthday and with a healthy budget! But it needs to be in our lounge and it will still need to work as a space for the three of us (incl. 9yo daughter) and therefore I'm aiming for a 5.1.2 based system that is as good as possible for music. The equipment is all demo'd, decided and ordered - the key parts being:

B&W 702 S3 Signature fronts
B&W HTM71 S3 Signature centre
B&W 705 S3 Signature rears
B&W CCM684 heights
REL Carbon Special sub
McIntosh MX200 AV Processor
McIntosh MC257 Amp
LG G5 77" TV (not yet fully decided)
Existing Pro-ject Carbon Evo turntable

Here's the room. It's 7m x 4m. Neither of us are particularly happy with it as-is so a big part of the buy-in from SWMBO is to end up with something far more resolved.





The fireplace will go. The piano we inherited from the previous owners and looks much better than it actually is (and is worth firewood...) and can go - the Wattbike will go elsewhere and all furniture can go. Other than that we don't want to entirely gut the room so no taking the whole ceiling down etc.

The location of the entrances at each end are not ideal and make it feel like the only viable option is to have MLP across the width of the room which would essentially segment the room into thirds, something like this (I haven't finished putting in rear/sub etc):



I've been trawling avforms/houzz/insta etc for various bits of inspiration but struggling to find any better ways of placing. Of course this could be flipped so the TV is against the other wall (and that may well be better but there are rads under each window which need to be considered too)

There will also need to be a cabinet to house the electronics + turntable which I want to try and avoid being under the TV as I really want the centre speaker to float' below the TV in this style:



So - any other ideas for layouts - no projector allowed.

Edited by aspender on Wednesday 7th May 10:51

Edited by aspender on Wednesday 7th May 10:53

[blindspot]

If music/hifi is the priority, d'you really need surround sound?

A really good 2 channel system will still sound great with movies - and you'll have way more to spend on the amp & speakers.

If you were primarily a cinema fan, sure, surround - but by the sounds of it music comes first, so surround sound may be the wrong compromise.

[page3]

aspender said:

So - any other ideas for layouts - no projector allowed.

Ha! That's a shame, was about the recommend dumping the TV and getting a projector instead.

Personally I'd drop the heights, change the rear to on-wall and push the sofa back against the wall. It might not be perfect, but more liveable with. Atmos is a waste of time so no loss there.

Edited by page3 on Wednesday 7th May 13:55

[dozen]

How about a nice bookshelf with some space for the TV and speakers?

[aspender]

blindspot said:

If music/hifi is the priority, d'you really need surround sound?

A really good 2 channel system will still sound great with movies - and you'll have way more to spend on the amp & speakers.

If you were primarily a cinema fan, sure, surround - but by the sounds of it music comes first, so surround sound may be the wrong compromise.

Good challenge. Whilst my bias for the system is musicality, in terms of actual usage the majority will be AV. And I'd always be thinking 'what if' if we don't go multi-channel on that. I'm very happy with the system chosen in terms of music listening.

[aspender]

dozen said:

How about a nice bookshelf with some space for the TV and speakers?

Don't know how floor standers fit into this type of approach. I've seen examples of them being built into the bookshelf but that's going to compromise their performance.

[TEKNOPUG]

2 subs

[aspender]

TEKNOPUG said:

2 subs

That’s the first thing the installer said! Will reserve that for a potential upgrade as getting it past the wife might be tricky. The processor has two discrete sub outputs.

[OMITN]

Here’s our room (was a bedroom, now TV/films/music room). Note - in line with the above comment - we don’t have full surround sound. Don’t feel the need for the faff.

Custom made to our design by a local built-in furniture business. Does the job for us and the rest of the room is still quite useable. All the equipment is in the lower cabinets - just keep them open when using to avoid heat issues.

ETA: room is 4.5x3.5m (so a bit too square for a decent sound). TV is 77” for scale.

Edited by OMITN on Wednesday 7th May 19:20

[dozen]

aspender said:

Don't know how floor standers fit into this type of approach. I've seen examples of them being built into the bookshelf but that's going to compromise their performance.

I didn’t realise that you had chosen floor standing speakers. That will make it tricky to get a really tidy look. For home cinema it can be better to have smaller speakers and a couple of subs. My setup in the photo has 2 x MK V12+ subs hidden in the cabinets at the bottom.

[TEKNOPUG]

aspender said:

TEKNOPUG said:

2 subs

That’s the first thing the installer said! Will reserve that for a potential upgrade as getting it past the wife might be tricky. The processor has two discrete sub outputs.

You don't need a £4k REL sub. Spending half as much on a pair of subs would be better balanced, especially given the size of the front speakers.

[aspender]

page3 said:

Ha! That's a shame, was about the recommend dumping the TV and getting a projector instead.

Personally I'd drop the heights, change the rear to on-wall and push the sofa back against the wall. It might not be perfect, but more liveable with. Atmos is a waste of time so no loss there.

Edited by page3 on Wednesday 7th May 13:55

Thanks. Spent quite a bit of time trying 5.1 vs 5.1.2 and for me there was an appreciable difference e.g. in the car chase scene in The Batman. I fully get it is subjective and arguable on the value for money front. In the context of the question posed it's the least constraining factor though.

I did consider the use of in-walls for the rears. The actual walls are solid brick and structural so it would most likely mean building another false wall behind the main listening position which would eat up nearly as much space as the 705s will anyway. It is a good callout though.

[aspender]

OMITN said:

Here’s our room (was a bedroom, now TV/films/music room). Note - in line with the above comment - we don’t have full surround sound. Don’t feel the need for the faff.

Custom made to our design by a local built-in furniture business. Does the job for us and the rest of the room is still quite useable. All the equipment is in the lower cabinets - just keep them open when using to avoid heat issues.

ETA: room is 4.5x3.5m (so a bit too square for a decent sound). TV is 77” for scale.

Edited by OMITN on Wednesday 7th May 19:20

Thanks - lovely job.

How do you find the fronts being so far in front of the rest of the setup? Also, how far away are you sat from the 77". It's looking like it will be about 2.5m for us. Given the largest TV I've ever had is 49" then 77" feels and looks massive but a bit of me is wondering if we'll quickly realise we should have gone bigger!

[aspender]

TEKNOPUG said:

You don't need a £4k REL sub. Spending half as much on a pair of subs would be better balanced, especially given the size of the front speakers.

This is certainly the part of the whole equation I've least experience and opinion on. I've not yet listened to a system with two subs.

The REL is ex-display and costing about half retail price. I'll go back and discuss.

[gangzoom]

aspender said:

[


So - any other ideas for layouts - no projector allowed.

You can easily put an drop down projector screen in that setup that comes over the TV. Wiring in a projector at the opposite end of the room isn't hard if you are redoing the whole room anyways.

A 70inch TV screen is quite a bit smaller than a 100inch screen, and don't forget get you easily go bigger than 100inchs with a projector image.

I know you can get 100inch TVs now but I find watching films/gaming on the projector has a different 'feel', where as watching just normal stuff (like the news) on a 100inch screen I find overkill.

So why settle for one fixed screen size when you can have multiple.

[OMITN]

aspender said:

Thanks - lovely job.

How do you find the fronts being so far in front of the rest of the setup? Also, how far away are you sat from the 77". It's looking like it will be about 2.5m for us. Given the largest TV I've ever had is 49" then 77" feels and looks massive but a bit of me is wondering if we'll quickly realise we should have gone bigger!

Thank you. We are very pleased.

To answer your questions:
Front speakers - they’re about 50cm in front of the cabinet. They’re positioned there primarily for music (they’re old Quad 21L, which are rear ported so need some space around them). The AV amp is a Yamaha, which has a simple to use speaker set up mode with a microphone. So everything seems well enough integrated for our standards on movies.

Distance to TV - just measured it. The front of the sofa is 3.2m from the front of the cabinet (the TV is set back 10cm). It seems perfect to us..! In our sitting room we have an old 65” TV, so this didn’t feel excessive in comparison. Being incorporated into the cabinets helps it feel less prominent.

My tips here:

You can get a cracking sound without spending an absolute fortune. True AV fans and audiophiles will emphasise the tuning of the room. I do need to do some of that, but I’m not playing music or films at really loud levels. I’m nearly 50 and have had tinnitus for 30 years..!

TV size - go as big as you dare it only feels large for a week or so (said the actress to the bishop) and then you get used to it. High quality sound is important to me, but the film’s image is essential when watching a movie. Our TV is a Sony OLED.

Hope that helps..!

[Panamax]

aspender said:

I did consider the use of in-walls for the rears.

For that shape room, which appears tricky, have a look at Focal's on-wall speakers. Otherwise you'll have a room full of clutter and a particular problem with the centre channel. One of these Focal speakers can easily be fitted above the TV screen.
https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/speaker/in-wal...

Stands are available if required.

[Chilly for June]

Excited to hear what you think about the McIntosh Av processer and Amp.

Way out of reach for me at the moment but I appreciate the build quality and design of them.

I have Atmos speakers in the ceiling and I don't feel you hear them too often during films but it is another level of sound and they also can be used in multi channel stereo when you are listening to music.

[paralla]

Due to the size and shape of the room I’d consider wall or ceiling mount rears.

I have a pair of ceiling mounted Beolab 8’s as rear surrounds. Modern DSP/room correction can compensate for less than ideal positioning.

Floor standing speakers as rears is a lot of visual bulk/clutter.

A pair of wall mounted dipoles the same colour as the walls might be something to consider.

[NorthDave]

I think if we were trying to design that room I'd be going for B&W integrated speakers for the center and surrounds and then your floor standers for left and right. I'm not particularly up to speed with the B&W range but I'd probably look at in-ceilings for the rear channels as it will help furniture layout. The ceiling layout would look OK too if you had atmos speakers in front of the sofa. Floor standers either side of the false wall TV cabinet would look good too.

The integrated speakers will probably be cheaper than boxed speakers so you might have more money to up the spec of your floor standers then too.

If you have an installer on board are they not able to help with design?