I've finally started the project I've been really wanting to sink my teeth in to since moving in to my current house last September. In the previous house, I sadly had to curb my enthusiasm for A/V shenanigans on account of having to share "cinema" with "lounge". This restriction has now been uplifted on account of having a room separate to the lounge where A/V can be the main focus... so the Mrs and I can still seem cultured when we tell people that we don't even have a TV in the lounge The blank canvas The plan, which has been developing over the past several months (well, started planning before we even moved in), is at a mile-in-the-air level... - Partition wall straight across the nook to create an A/V cupboard. This will be accessible from the utility room, which is directly on the other side of the wall - Flush mount TV to said wall - Inset large shelf underneath TV for centre speaker - Develop some sort of racking system inside the cupboard for all the gear. I'm still figuring this out, but I'm thinking a slim server rack on a turntable, so the back is easily accessible - Build a small cupboard at the rear of the room next to the sofa for remotes, controllers and the the like - Build tray ceiling, around 8" drop and 18" border - For lighting, remove the ceiling rose, main room spot lighting installed in the tray along the edges of the room and LED strip mood lighting in the centre of the tray. Ideally integrated with Harmony, however having priced up the Philips HUE strips and bulbs, I might reconsider this aspiration. - Embedded cables everywhere, of course The general high level plan is set, but in terms of the details I'm working a lot of things out as I go along, so open to comments or ideas. There are a few bits that have be scratching my head a bit which I'd love some feedback on as I go along. So with that, on to update number 1...
First step, which actually took place several weeks ago, was to install a Cat6 FTP run up to the loft. The AP (and server) will be installed in this room, however it's a fairly large three storey house, and wireless signal on the top floor (where the office is) was dire. Cue a giant pain in the back side of running a cable down from the loft through walls and ceilings across the other side of the house and down to Node 0... and then the cleanup that ensued. Didn't help that all of the walls are internally insulated and cross-braced between studs every 18 inches... arg. The entry point... This makes it's way up to the loft where there's an access point, a gigabit switch (with the office then cabled) and a Sonos bridge. This week the work started in earnest... Nothing particularly exotic, building with 2x4s and making sure I over-engineer everything just a little bit for my peace of mind. Work on the rest of the room has yet to start, though yesterday I received a big slab of granite which will form the inset centre shelf below the TV (granite on the sofa)... Ordered the sofa when we moved in - wanted something to really veg out on for films and telly. It's modular so can form a large U-Shaped sofa when there's people round that you don't necessarily know well enough to basically lie in bed with. Purchased from Arichi Bianchi in Macclesfield, and I can wholeheartedly recommend it (the shop and the sofa) http://www.arighibianchi.co.uk/p/fama-arianne-modular-corner-group Two corners, two middles and two ottomans make this up, but there's a ridiculous combination of fabrics, leathers and units to build just about anything.
Woah.. This is BEYOND what I was expecting! This isn't just building a Home Cinema PC, this is building.. A Home Cinema!
Ha - good point! Title updated from "build" to "renovation" to more accurately reflect what's going on here.
+1 On another note, I like how I didn't need to look too hard to see something Sonos related in these piccys If I won the lottery my first purchase would be a Sonos Soundbar, Sub and two Play:1s for rear surround... A man can dream...
If you won the lottery, GK, you'd aim much higher than that, I'm sure In saying that, Sonos is amazing, and I wouldn't give mine up for anything I don't think! Tad - this looks ace. Can't wait to see the progress! Home cinema is one of my passions!
I decided my Sonos repertoire was complete ages ago, and have somehow expanded at least a couple of zones since then - 9 components and counting ... next deal that comes up I'm liable to have a "guest ensuite" zone
I know a guy who sells pretty high end (15k plus) hifi sets.. In his opinion, Sonos are one of the top wireless speaker systems! Well, of the all-in-one variety, not some modded high end speakers and amp!
Subscribed. If your "A/V" room is deep enough, why not put the rack in sideways so you can access both front & back - no need for turntable.
+1 With this.. You could even put it on an angle and put a window on the server case if it cant quite fit..
I started with the standalone players to plumb in the hi-fis in the lounge and office, and the A/V setup when I started to get tired of searching the house for CDs. Only after I was bought in went for the S5 and was seriously impressed with the sound for a fairly small box, even moreso in stereo. Only within the last 6 months have I added a Play:1 and a Play:3 to the setup and massively impressed by both of them - the Play:1 is fantastic for the price and size IMO. I just wish Sonos would make a "high end" Connect to pair with my lounge hifi setup, and in fact have asked so myself - https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/_connect_pro_high_end_sonos_connect The room will be 660x2560mm, however the inset shelf projects 330x1500mm in to the room, so that puts the footprint available for the rack at 660x760mm at the end of the room - only just enough to be able to rotate a 2-poster. The kind post-fairy just turned up with a bracket for the TV... Spent ages trying to find a bracket that didn't itself foul connections on the back of the TV - this is apparently for up to 50", however it supports 45kg and VESA400x400, so don't see the problem with my 27kg 65". Bargain at £17 delivered, the last bracket I bought was £130 IIRC, how times change! Have a fair depth to play with, the TV itself will need to be 35mm from the back of the inset to be flush with the finished wall, this bracket is 20mm so will just add some spacers. I'll be putting an access hatch for the connections panel on the TV in the A/V room once it comes time to finish.
Those TV mounts are actually quite decent. LOADS easier to fit than some - my mate had that exact one that I put up for him. cheap, but amazingly good.
Got a similar bracket for our TV's they are easy to install and seem very robust. We did a similar thing on a smaller scale in our place, the alcove was an old doorway though, so it was only 3ft wide, false front, couple of shelves underneath for the sky, ps3, amp etc. I'm still quite a novice on the AV side of things, but it is a nice feeling to sit down and relax without seeing a mess of cables. We did look at the hue bulbs too but decided against it. In the end we opted for a varilight remote dimmer, it worked great, until we got the logitech harmony remote, then it all went a bit quirky with the blasters firing signals and turning lights on and off at funny times, either that or I programmed it wrong, which is more likely. I'll keep an eye on this and see how it ends up, it looks like it will be good though. What are you going to do about the windows?
The vertical blinds are blackouts, not sure I'll do much else. Will probably take a view once everything is done as to whether the windows need any additional dressing.
If anyone gets inspired by this, a company on Amazon is having a RIDICULOUS sale on! Eg: http://www.amazon.co.uk/VonHaus-Des...=UTF8&qid=1403788981&sr=8-1&keywords=lg+60+tv *As mentioned by AlphaAngel in the HW Bargains thread.