[Stuart Wright]

So having recently moved to a new house, we have a room (the dining room, actually) which we currently use as a play room for the kids.
We're thinking of making it a dedicated home cinema room as well.
The dimensions are 4.27m x 5.76m x 2.34m height.
Let's name the walls for clarity. You go through the door near the corner of the west wall. That's 4.27m long.
Look to the right and you see the south wall with radiator in one corner and patio doors in the other:

Look straight ahead and you see in front of you the east wall with a patio window in the corner.

Walk over to the east wall and look back to the west wall and you see the door you just entered through.

Look right and you see the north wall.

Here is a video I just took of the room.

Dining Room - YouTube

We don't use either of the patio doors.
So we are going to keep the two 50" plasmas and games consoles. There will be a Sky feed and 3D Blu-ray player.
We will need a ceiling mounted 3D projector, screen (which comes down in front of the TVs), amp and 7.1 speaker system.

Given the limiting obstacles of the wooden door and two patio doors, what are your suggestions for the orientation of the seating and screen? What wall would you put the screen against?
Create a bulkhead for the speakers which hides the electric screen box behind it?
Or have the speakers wall mounted behind an acoustically transparent screen?
I will most likely want to commission the work from an installer. The only kit I would get myself would be the projector.

We're at the start of Picture House #4.

Your input invited.
Thanks.

[JonathanAV]

Hi Stuart,

room going to be used for both the kids play area & Home Cinema room?

On first glance it might be best to have the projector screen where the TV screens are at present, it would envolve less work.
There is also the possibility of building a Stud wall infront of the white patio doors, the front speakers could then be built into the stud wall with the screen nicely hidden (but a lot more work)

Jonny

[Stuart Wright]

Jonny thanks, yes it will still be used as a play room for the kids, but shouldn't really impact either use as a home cinema or play room since all they do is sit in there and play games on the tvs.
Reluctant to wall up the east patio window as it would reduce the amount of natural light too much, plus we could instead build a shutter or have very thick curtains over it (or either). We had a bulkhead in the last home cinema which served to hide the screen and mount the speakers angled down. Or even easier I was thinking about three tall speaker stands across the front (speaker - TV - speaker - TV - speaker) with an acoustically transparent screen to drop down in front of them. But then you have the screen box just bolted to the ceiling which might not look attractive.
My concern with having the screen on a long wall (north or south) was whether the throw for the projector would be far enough to have quite a large screen.

[cjwood555]

Given the long discussion over HDMI distribution last time - WHAT'S YOUR BUDGET?!

[Stuart Wright]

You know for less than £300 we got everything we wanted re TV distribution including hooking up a new Freeview signal to the kids' bedrooms.

This is the official AVForums home cinema so she who authorises the budget has mandated a realistic figure.

[cjwood555]

Your brief was for HD, though, which is what we all gave estimates for. If you'd requested a lower spec or stated a £300 budget we could have come up with the same (sort of what Vex was suggesting towards the end of the thread). Anyway - glad you found a solution you are happy with!

What %age importance would you put on the cinema vs kids aspects of this room? That will impact seating positions significantly, which in turn dictates speaker placement/choice and screen size/type.

Personally I would suggest losing one set of patio doors and compensating for loss of natural light with a new window. However, it is not normally a criteria of a dedicated cinema room that it should have good natural light!!

Chris

[solaris0121]

Chris is right - lose the end set of patio doors (actually, you could box over them, bring the wall into the room 50cm and wall mount the speakers nicely.

Plasma can then be recessed with bulkhead over the top for screen to drop down.

Whats your budget ?

Is there a 'themed' look for the room that interests you.

Whats your budget ?

How dark will the room decor be allowed to go ?

Whats your budget ?

Where are you based ?

Whats your budget ?

[crestron boy]

i'd go for a acoustically transparent screen myself with the speakers behind, As chris already mentioned there is alot you could do for room treatments and things like that

How much potential is there to get fabric on the walls?

[cjwood555]

how about getting one of us to do a design for you in exchange for some free advertising?

[Stuart Wright]

While I'm happy to build some kind of pelmet to hide the screen box, or bulkhead to also mount the speakers on, I don't want to alter the room as significantly as losing a set of patio doors.
The majority of the time, the room will be used by the kids to play games in on their TVs, with the patio windows uncovered to let natural light in.
I was thinking maybe have patio curtains which, every so often, we will draw, drop the screen and play a game, watch TV or a movie.
I don't have a particular theme in mind, but am happy to paint necessary walls with dark paint (blue like our last home cinema) and place acoustic treatment panels where necessary. Picture and sound quality are paramount within the parameters of a multi-function room.
We're in south Birmingham and I don't want to discuss the budget in public.

[cjwood555]

Hi Stuart,

I'm in Shirley so if you want me to pop over and go over some ideas then no troubles. Not expecting a job out of it, but seeing the room in the flesh and being able to visualise things helps no end.

Will PM you my number.

Chris

[Neil Davidson]

Dont want to replicate ours then Stuart?

[Stuart Wright]

Originally Posted by Neil Davidson

Dont want to replicate ours then Stuart?

Apart from the fixed screen, there is little reason why ours can't look like that when finished

[solaris0121]

If you give Justin a call from Home Cinema & Beyond, he has recently completed a £50k reference cinema room in Sutton Coldfield and another that won him artcoustic installation of the month. Thx Ultra 2, anamorphic curved screen, the works. He can handle all the woodwork required too. Good guy, very experienced.

Regards, Sean.

[DLoop]

Originally Posted by Neil Davidson

Dont want to replicate ours then Stuart?

image

Was there yesterday! Was impressive.