Education Home Cinema Renovation - Project Log

Did a bit more work this evening with the intention of getting the bracket up, but the mount points on the TV aren't flush to the back of the TV, so need to rig up some spacers - totally don't understand why they would design it like that, unless the Samsung branded TV brackets just so happen to fit precisely in the insets... oh wait I totally know why they designed it like that.

Do we reckon that these 3x 2x4s in the middle more than enough to take the TV? They're secured with a pair of 3" screws on either end.



I mean, they're definitely enough, but I'm going for more than enough. I might sleep on it.

I tried to dry fit the granite this evening as well, but turns out I'm a victim of tolerances... I'll need to scrub away a few mm from the inside of the inset for the slab, but no more this evening... turns out manhandling slabs of granite is fairly tiring... but then I knew this already by going the DIY route for this in the kitchen.

A man also came this afternoon with another bit of granite (that initially wasn't polished correctly) - this is to top the small cupboard in the back corner of the room (next to the window), cut-out for the soil pipe box in the corner.

 

I reckon any one of those uprights would take 27kg, so three will be plenty.

 

This may be a stupid question, but with seemingly everything else in the UK being brick, I'm a bit surprised to see not only a wooden fence, but also wood frame construction. Are you brits starting to import softwood lumber for building or are the exterior walls at least all still brick?

2x4x 92 and 5/8ths here are about 50 pence ($1) each, what're you paying?

 

Its fairly normal in the UK to use wood for partitions and non structural walls.

Brick is mainly for the opposite.

 

You're right... last TV bracket I installed (for a "main" TV) was attached by 8x resin-set 200mm M8 threaded rods to a block wall, but that might have been overkill.

Put my shoulder down in to one of them and didn't even so much as flex to that, so I'm clearly just being paranoid.

Nothing ever went wrong through over-engineering though

I'm now re-thinking the racking approach as I'm not happy with the clearances for a rotating rack, which would limit component depth in future, and in general the entire approach would need quite a bit of engineering to pull off elegantly.

A 2-poster with sliding shelves to maximise access might do the job. I've also considered that there's not a really good reason to not just install all the components rear-side out... just a not so good reason that it won't be as pretty

 

Ooohhh... Couldn't you put in two more little alcoves either side the TV?

Then you can have the cables routed out a little bit if you made fake sound insulation pads! (Wooden frame with fabric wrapped around it.. Like what they hide the speakers behind in a cinema!)

That could give an extra inch or two without looking out of place! You could also put in the front speakers behind them.. Giving the illusion that you have Planar Magnetic Speakers! (They're the top speakers to have for hi-fi!)

 

hmm I'm not sure they are TOP speakers, but that's because hifi is mostly subjective! I don't like them, they are quite inefficient and require massive subwoofers as they don't play too low. But like I say it's a personal thing

 

I've left the gap to the right of the screen open just in case (though now that the TV hole is boarded up, it's needed to get behind the partition until I knock through the door), however I'm 99% that I want everything in the cupboard, as opposed to in the room.

Totally covering the components presents it's own challenges as they won't be able to receive remote commands.

In terms of making claims about the "best" speakers, you're lucky this isn't a hi-fi forum To my ears ProAc standmounts are the best for vocals/acoustic and the B&W 800 series best for film and rock... but then there are lots of speakers my ears haven't heard yet!

Got the bracket and TV up this evening, which has cleared up a lot of floor space and made it much easier to work.



Made some shims to put the TV out an extra 15mm from the back of the inset (so that it will be flush with the finished wall) by finding a hard plastic tube (no idea what it was from) and creating a heavy duty cutter with a bench vice and a razor blade... that was somewhat unnerving.

The astute amongst you will notice the TV isn't level - it's okay though as there's enough play in the bracket to sort it out, the TV is just up there as a temporary measure to clear some space.

Whilst it's been a good friend for many years for more vanilla DIY, I've decided that my trusty Makita 8931D is no longer cutting the mustard for this job and I've ordered a new toy(s) for delivery tomorrow

 

Yep, this is getting beyond awesome. Envious isn't the word!

 

Bit of input here if I may gentlemen (and ladies?)

For the centre speaker shelf I'm thinking about what connectivity I'd want at the back of the inset for cutting the holes out. I'd like to cut the holes before I fit the granite shelf, and I'd like to fit the granite shelf ASAP so it's not sitting on the lounge floor waiting for someone to step on and crack in half.

So far I'm thinking:

- Speaker outlet, goes without saying. I've not decided whether I'm doing speaker terminals, brush plates or a custom grommeted blanking plate yet. If I go for the speaker terminal will install a double to allow for bi-amping in future.
- HDMI aux input
- Power socket - this won't be used for anything in particular, but with the wall going up there are no more power sockets on that side of the room, so seems like it would be useful.
- Phono aux input? I'm not sure this would ever get used, but it could.

Anyone able to suggest anything else that I might be missing? I don't want to have too much of a proliferation of sockets at the back, but don't want to miss something months down the line either.

 

It basically depends on what you might plug in to the front...

HDMI is a given, though I might opt for two just in case. The other thing I might be tempted to add is a USB power socket, or even a USB pass through if your AV hardware supports media players over USB.

 

I'd hedge bets on a USB hub too. It's definitely something that's also pretty useful to wire a house with alongside the standard power sockets.

What about your Ethernet runs? Would it be worth setting up a couple of spare ports along with everything else in case you ever want to add anything extra in the way of local storage or anything?

 

What about maybe a infrared port in case you want to run a new remote point?

 

One infrared port linked to multiple blasters for the kit in the equipment rack and an AIO remote - but obviously the IR port needs to be visible

I'd second a USB port too.

 

Thanks for the input, gents.

I will put a couple of USB ports come to think of it - charging playstation controllers would be useful - haven't used USB for media since I got Spotify, but at least two would be on a plate anyway, and easy enough to plumb in to whatever needs it in future.

For the IR, I'm using a Harmony Ultimate, so sorted in that area - the remote talks to the hub over RF and the hub and attached blasters talk on in IR.

Not necessarily any need for an ethernet run in the HT room itself - there is of course ethernet to the cupboard though.

This of course means I'll be cutting for 5 wall plates, which is kind of a pain - power, HDMI, USB, speaker and phono... might be some combo plates for HDMI+phono or HDMI + USB - ideally need to match as closely possible to the range that's all over the rest of the house - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Masterplug-...76077&sr=8-2&keywords=masterplug+socket+plate

Some new helpers arrived today, hoping to break them in this evening... wild Saturday night for me



DTD146 impact driver, DHP458 Combi and impact bit set

 

I have that kit; though possibly a tad* overkill for what you're doing, you won't be disappointed! The only downside to the drill is its weight, the only downside to the impact driver is its power - problem being it has too much, if such a thing is possible... I wish you many happy hours of drilling and screwing stuff.

If you give it a 5mm pilot the drill'll do five holes of 16mm to a depth of 100mm into concrete blocks on two batteries, by which time the first is fully charged again.

As/when your bit set wares through, I highly recommend Milwaukee's impact set. It's no more expensive than Makita's and much more complete.

*sorry, couldn't resist

 

*Definitely* overkill... but then again I'll never be wanting. The last one was definitely under-kill.

Rack ordered - http://www.racksolutions.co.uk/relay-racks.html

The drill will definitely earning it's keep for fixing it, as I'll have to sink 4x 1/2" bolts into poured concrete.

Will be bolting to the floor/walls and not bothering with the rotating solution, and can go with all fixed instead of sliding shelves (thus saving ~£1k). My wife pointed out that we can simply have a hatch (hidden by a large painting or the like) in the downstairs toilet (which also borders the A/V cupboard) to gain access to the cabling for the odd occasion that it's required.

 

Your wife is very understanding, and is actually helping solve the problem! Lucky b*stard!

 

*drools* Needless to say, subscribed and excited!

 

Kenable have a good selection of faceplates... http://www.kenable.co.uk/?cPath=293_295

I've bought from Kenable many times and found them very helpful.

Lindy do modular faceplates and modules... http://www.lindy.co.uk/audio-video-c2/wall-plates-c170/modular-av-faceplates-c172#:page1

Euronetwork seem to have a large selection... https://www.euronetwork.co.uk/audio-video-distribution-plates?limit=all

Alibaba seems to throw up a massive selction - interesting how some of the multi-component faceplates are marked as "for hotels"... could be a clue on how to find what you want. http://bjjinshi.en.alibaba.com/productgrouplist-212084651/Wall_Plate.html



To be honest and if it was me, I would make my own - that way you are guaranteed that you get the exact connections you need in the style you want.