[nad]

Hi All,

I've been frequenting AVF for quite some time and it's been a very inspirational to what I’ve been building over the last month or so. So I’d like to start by saying thanks to Steve and his thread “New In Wall System”. I thought he had done a superb job and achieved a very smart install.

I also thought that it would be good to share my build with other forum members too

A bit of background …

We moved to this house just under two years ago and we have been renovating for about a year now. It’s been going on for so long because I’m doing the work by myself and plans/ priorities seem to change quite a bit, not to mension having a few lazy weekends and other obligations, so now most of the house looks like a building site!

As Christmas is round the corner we have decided to get the living/dining room in a livable state so we can actually have a Christmas at home this year! In order to achieve this goal I have to build our floating wall. I doubt I’d be ever allowed to make this kind of mess again once the room is finished so it was now or never.

What the rooms looked like back in June 2008 …

The AV Gear:

Sony KDL40V2000 (I think this may be due for an upgrade)
Denon AVR 1910
Speakercraft AIM Cinema Three (Left and Right)
Speakercraft AIM LCR Three (Centre)
Speakercraft AIM Wide One (Rear Left and Right)
Subwoofer – TBD
Sony PS3
Nintendo Wii
Sky HD
HTPC
X-Box 360 Elite (Planning to get it at Christmas)

The plan is to have everything bar the Wii being fed via HDMI into the Denon and then a single HDMI connection out to the TV. The Wii will be connected via component and then up-scaled.

A bit about the floating wall:

The wall on which the floating wall is being constructed is just over 8m long. The floating wall section itself will be just over 7m long (hence the title) with the last 1m having a cupboard built to hide a treadmill away. I wish this wasn’t the case but my wife has a treadmill and there is no way I’m going to put it on the 1st floor nor am I willing to have my garage turned into a makeshift gym!

I can foresee that this treadmill is going to give me considerable grief during the build, but such is life!

The floating wall will have to house the TV, three front speakers, electric landscape fireplace and some shelves. Below is a quick google sketchup I did of what I hope it will look like.

As mensioned before, I started the floating wall build about a month ago (I have to count in weekends as that's the only time i get, with that would be 4 weekends ago) and I've managed to make some good progress.

Let the build begin!!

1st bit of 2x4 on the wall and secured using M10x100mm frame fixers and pink grip. Little did I know that I would be using about 12 3.6m lengths of 2x4 before i even got to building the treadmill cupboard!

Top and bottom supports done. There are 3 layers of 2x4 on each rail which will give the final wall a depth of 160mm once the 18mm MDF face was installed. the 1st layer of 2x4s are held on with pink grip and M10x100 frame fixers, the second layer is held to the 1st layer with pink grip then M10x160mm frame fixers in to the brikwork. The 3rd layer is held on by pink grip and 6.0x120mm Paslode Proscrews.

All this is most definately OTT but frame fixers and screws are cheap so I'd rather have more than I need in place rather than find out that I didn't put enough in. I can very easily climb up on the frame and walk along it with it moving at all and i'm no light weight at 95Kg!

Quick test fit of the TV so i can mark out where the bracket needs to go. That's dust on the camera lens, not the TV. The TV lives in our bedroom at the moment so is safely out of harms way.

Test fit of the fireplace to mark out the bracket location. The top and bottom support beams have had 2 of the 2x4 sections removed with only the final one spanning the gap allowing a very large space for heat to be transfered through.

TV Bracket installed and channels cut for AV (right) and power (bottom). The bracket has been spaced out from the wall by 30mm so the TV will be fush with the face of the floating wall.

More studs installed to make the speaker housings and shelving areas.

Weather Seal spread in all the joints and gaps to stop any rattles.

Front MDF sheet going on and appature for TV cut out. The centre speaker sits a bit lower so i had to extend that section a bit more hence the cut out.

T&Gd the face and the extension bit so it can have a stronger joint. Which would hopfully reduce the risk of cracking. (I'm so glad I decided to buy a Router!)

TV side almost complete. How many screws around that speaker hole?? I think its about 56 placed at 50mm centres! That's two sets of 4mm speaker cable in there. The Cinema series of speakers allow you to bi-amp them so I can make use of the unused two channels (i'm going with a 5.1 setup due to the depth of the room only being 3.3m) on the denon.

Test fit of TV and front speakers. I've never really had a decent AV setup before (just the usual 5.1 commercially available home cinema setups) but these speakers sound awsome already and I've only ran them with a small sony midi hifi. Being inwall units i was expecting them to sound kind of tiny and bright but i was plesantly supprised when they sounded full and warm. Can't wait to get them connected up to the Denon.

Test fit of fireplace and view of shelves.

How the wall is looking right now.

The TV And the fireplace sit about 2mm behind the face of the wall so I may go and get some washers to space them forward. Yes I really am that fussy!

If i get time during the week, I'm going to try and tidy up a bit. I've Ignored that for a while now and it's gotten out of hand

Hmmm ... a bit of a long post but I guess there was 4 weekends of work in there I hope people finds this of some interest and please feel free to post any comments (good or bad) or questions.

Thanks.
Nad

[mike69]

Very interesting so far and looks very well planned and executed.

I'll be following this one for sure.

[ukprometheus]

nice work fella i will be watching with interest what are the speakers you have installed ???

[DJMALLZ]

sweet project!! will keep an eye!

[alz2605]

Interesting project, nad. Did you have the chimney breast that the TV was originally on taken out too?

I have the same TV by the way! I keep thinking I should upgrade it too but it works perfectly fine so I can't justify a new perchase just yet.

[Jamclock]

Looks very good so far, I am looking forward to seeing more pics

[Smurfin]

Looking good What are the speakers?

[justin@hc&b]

very nice well done!
speakers are speakercraft aim cinema three if im not mistaken we have fitted a fair amount at various customers and have always been impressed with the sound quality
keep up the good work

justin

[nad]

Evening all,

Thanks for the encouraginf coments so far i really appreciate them

As Justin has pointed out, the speakers I chose to go with are from a company called Speakercraft. Not very well known in the UK but guite big in the US custom install market. I originally went for the Cinema Ones but i was lucky enough to get an up grade at a cost which would have just been plain rude for me to refuse I went with speakercraft over the B&W LRC7s primarily due to price but in the end i think i ended up with a better set of speakers all round.

Speakercraft

Alz,

I know exactly what you mean. My dad bought one of the new Samsung screens a few months back and to be honest i think the V2000 still looks better. In any case, I've made the appature big enough to fit a 46Z5500 if I can convince the wife that it's a good idea

Or just keep the V2000 and buy a PJ and electric screen

Thanks,
Nad

[Laudrup1]

Looks good so far. Will be keen to see how something so mammoth pans out!

[alz2605]

Originally Posted by nad

Evening all,

Or just keep the V2000 and buy a PJ and electric screen

Thanks
Nad

You need a PJ! TVs are for watching telly on and PJs are for watching Films on

[ninG]

wow!

this is quite different to the standard floater, well done mate and keep going.

[S2Tigger]

Hi

Great start, can't wait to see it complete

I am in progress of building new house and was going to go for AIM cinema One, but if you got a great deal, I may be pushed to the threes....willing to share your source and price if possible?!

Darren

[nad]

Alz,

It'll come down to PJ in the living room or move the V2000 into the bedroom and get one of the newer Sonys to replace it. I know exactly what my wife is going to say and i'm sure it won't include the words "Lets get the projector" ... lol

Darren,

To give you a rough idea, the current price for the Cinema Ones are £325 (inc VAT) each and the Cinema Threes are £650 (inc VAT) each. I thik I would have been more than happy with the Ones but because of a balls up in my order and a small miracle (very rare for something lucky to happen to me ) I ended up with the Threes for the price of the Ones. So i just paid the extra to upgrade the LCR One to Three to keep the front speakers the same series as they are tonally matched.

I got my gear from a company called Audio Venue in Maidenhead. They also have a branch in Ealing and I felt more comfortable spending a lot of money with a company that has a store I can just walk into if i have a problem.

They (I dealt with Nimish) were very helpful and did originally do me the best deal (I had already done all my research so i just needed to order the equipment)... and i did a lot of searching before hand! So i'm sure they should be able to sort you out a good deal. The other place that came close was Peter Tyson but they are no where near me!

There seems to be a fair bit of interest in these speakers so I'll get some better pictures of them over the weekend

[Sofa-loafer]

Inspired & simple, I like it! Nicely balanced design... & breaking new ground!

Crack-on fella... can't wait to see the finished product!

Regards,

SL...

[nad]

It's been a while since i've updated this so here goes

For anyone who is interested in the speakers them selves, i've taken a few shots (admittedly not very good shots) and can be found here.

In 2009 I promised my wife that we would have a christmas tree and be able to sit in our lounge and enjoy our christmas break so to achieve this goal i had to cut a few corners to get the room livable. This did and still does mean that i will have to come back to this room to finish it all off once the rest of the house is ready for carpeting.

Unfortunately i was not able to put the rear ceiling speakers in the ceiling. It looks like the back of our living room seems to have odd joist spacing compared to the rest and there are 1st floor radiator pipes running right above where the rear right speaker was to go. So i decided to build a box section to house the rear speakers which also doubles up as a really handy location to mount a projector drop

One of the rear ceiling speaker boxes (efforts to minimise sound travel into the room above). Made of 18mm MDF with acoustic wool.

Same box but from the front.

Rear speaker box installed. The boxes are glued into place and then the rest of the framework built round it. Its strong enough for me to hang off it so no worries there about strength.

Finished article in place and painted.

This is how the whole rear box section turned out. I'll try an dget a wider angle picture later on when i actually finish the room.

This is how it's currently looking. The wall has had 3 coats of MDF primer so far and will be rubbed down and have the final coat of paint sprayed on.

From the other side. It's a bit too long to be able to get the whole lot in one picture using my little Ixus 800

With the Rope light turned on. The colour is looking a bit blue here because of the auto white balancing of the camera. It's actually a cool white as can be seen below.

Unfortunately I don't think there is going to be much progress in this room for a few more months now but I don't mind to be honest. It's been nearly 18 months since we have had a usable living room so at this point we don't even care if it's not finished ... lol

Conclusions:

I love the way the speakers sound, my initial fears of a very tiny/ bright setup didn't come to pass.
The Rel Q200E integrated very easily with the speakers will start to look at REW to set things up properly when the carpeting is done.
I'm very pleased with the way they look, it turned out (even at this middle stage) to be exactly what i planned which was a very plesant surprise indeed.
It took a whole lot longer than i thought it would take!
It takes me 3hrs to paint it with a paint brush!

If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask

[smithr99]

Originally Posted by nad

TV Bracket installed and channels cut for AV (right) and power (bottom). The bracket has been spaced out from the wall by 30mm so the TV will be fush with the face of the floating wall.

just my 2p worth - i'd always try and channel power cables (and most other cables for that matter) vertically, rather than at an angle. Just something my dad's always taught me - that way if you forget where you put the channels (or if someone else buys the house and doesnt know) you tend to steer clear of drilling directly above/below electrical outlets.

Other than that, its looking great !

[alz2605]

Wow still looks impressive despite not being totally finished, mate! Where do you plan on housing the big bulky kit?

[truxntrax]

Looks really good - well done!

About to start my floating wall soon so have a couple of q's if you don't mind!

Why did you go for mdf and not plaster board with a skim finish?

Also it looks like your tv bracket isn't retreactable.... So how do you get behind to secure your leads/ connections to the back of the tv? How would you do this if you fitted a tv with a snugger fit?

Can't wait to see more pics!

[nad]

Originally Posted by smithr99

just my 2p worth - i'd always try and channel power cables (and most other cables for that matter) vertically, rather than at an angle. Just something my dad's always taught me - that way if you forget where you put the channels (or if someone else buys the house and doesnt know) you tend to steer clear of drilling directly above/below electrical outlets.

Other than that, its looking great !

I did think about that long and hard before i chose to do what i did. All the other lights and power points in the house are run vertically but i was trying to minimise the runs under the speaker areas and keeping in mind that i will be drilling a load of holes into the wall to support the frame. Also i intend to remove all the power points from below the wall so then i woul dhave had trouble with cable routing. So decided to go down this route as a workable compramise

[nad]

Originally Posted by alz2605

Wow still looks impressive despite not being totally finished, mate! Where do you plan on housing the big bulky kit?

Thanks

As for the kit ... still thinking about that. Ideally I don't want it under the floating wall but realistically I don't think I have much choice so will have to build a custom enclosure for it which fits in with the design of the wall.

[nad]

Originally Posted by truxntrax

Looks really good - well done!

About to start my floating wall soon so have a couple of q's if you don't mind!

Why did you go for mdf and not plaster board with a skim finish?

Also it looks like your tv bracket isn't retreactable.... So how do you get behind to secure your leads/ connections to the back of the tv? How would you do this if you fitted a tv with a snugger fit?

Can't wait to see more pics!

I went with MDF because I wanted a 50mm lip along the top and the bottom. I didn't feel comfortable about the strength Plaster board would provide. Also, our family is going to expand sooner or later so I decided to put a rounded edge on too. Less pain for little skulls and what not. In hindsight though ... plaster board and plastering it would have been a whole load easier! I don't know how many hours I spent filling and sanding screw holes!

As for the bracket, I just made all the connections, secured them on the tv and hung the TV. There is enough slack in the cable feeds for the cables to be pushed back down and this is made easier with the way the feeds are aranged. Ideally I'd like to go with a retractable bracket, but the depth of my TV and the depth of the enclosure wouldn't allow it. I can probably get one when i change the TV as the new TVs are alot thinner than the old KDL2000.

Thanks.

[peace1]

Very nice, Looks like a very modern look