Thought it was about time to post pictures of progress of my living room home cinema project.

Moved into the house in January 2004 and it looked like this:-

After way too long, the peaks of the atrex were chipped off and the room was skimmed over.

That horrible 70's fireplace just had to go, so then we come to this state:-

You can partially see some of my kit there, originally consisting of Pannasonic PWD6, Pannasonic Tuner Box, LG dual DVD/5.1 receiver & included speakers and sub, Sky Digital, Samsung VHS, PS2. All of that connected with the cheapest leads available and perched on my mums old coffee table

Now for the fun work...

The chimney breast was built out with different sizes of timber so that the screen could be flush with the final wall. I bought the slim mount from RS100, and there is perfectly measured timbers behind where each mounting screw will be.

There is also a 1" gap behind the screen to allow the cables to drop down. They go into the wall and through the hole where the fire used to be, and out the other side to where all of the equipment will be.

I should probably add at this point that the Tuner Box was taken back and swapped for a Yamaha DSP-AX750, a component input board, a JS RGB-VGA Convertor and a host of decent leads.

I also got a Toshiba SD340 with a component lead, another component lead for the PS2, and some decent speaker cable.

The wall was now looking like this:-

This is where the av rack will be going (a really trendy looking one from Argos ):-

Next on the list was to fit the leads for the screen, power, vga & component:-

They all went in really easily as the timber on the chimney breast was designed around their installation.

Next up was plaster! This brings us right up to date, as I sit in my office the plasterer is merrily plastering away downstairs!

This is the most recent shot:-

You can see the white speaker cable has been placed in aswell. I bought a Canton CD2.22 set of Jake (top service by the way) which will all be installed in time.

Well, thats my living room, I'll post up more progress as and when it happens!

Roll on the first showing of Blade Runner...

[inzaman]

Thats going to look pretty once its all in

[mason]

I cant wait to see this one motoring on!!

[Supernatural]

Looks great. Glad carpet has gone

[Flimber]

Nice to see a 'normal' looking house on here !

[Kenny Glasgow]

looks good so far

looking forward to the next photos

Ok, next installement... its really getting there now, the Cantons are great, superb finish and with a quick try they sound superb too.

The bracket went on well:-

And with 12 screws securing it to the timbers which are secured to brick, it should be secure enough:-

And here we are! In (almost) all its glory, the room staill has a bit to be done in it, flooring, skirting etc:-

2 action shots:-

The height is great, I thought it might be a little high, but sat down with it on it works a treat.

I still need to wire up the 4 CD10's for the surround, but even the 2 CD100's and the CD50 are really good.

The floor is being fitted on Saturday, and hopefully the skirting on Sunday, so more pics to be posted soon!

Please excuse my overuse of the word secure in previous post...

[stripe]

Very nice, but not so sure about the screen shot!

[inzaman]

Looks very smart , i like the way you have left enough room for a future plasma size upgrade

Hello Coolasacuccumber

Your setup looks fantastic .

Would you mind to tell me if you would have made a design with a sunken recess if you had not had a chimney breast in the room. Sorry to bother you but I am gathering ideas for my new cinema room and I was wondering if I should sink the screen in to the wall. Also how did you make the shelf under the screen for the center speaker? Is it just a wooden shelf painted the same colour as the wall?

Thanks in advance for any help and well done again with your design.

Billt

[mason]

Thats looking great now mate. Very neat indeed.

Cheers for the nice comments!

billt - In my opinion, having the screen set back takes the install to another level. It makes the whole thing look more complete, as oposed to the screen 'on top' of the wall looking a bit like an afterthought.

I thought it was going to be complicated to get it just how I wanted it, but with the help of my friend who doubles up as my designer/builder/plasterer, it was really easy.

I would deffinately reccomend doing it!

Good call inzaman about the size upgrade, i hadnt thought about that but there is 3" all the way round.

oh and that shelf is one called 'lack' from Ikea, it has hidden brackets and is very sturdy. It only comes in a couple of colours, and it has a plastic coating, so painting isnt really an option.

Ive got the 4 CD10 rears provisionally set up now, I just keep listening to the THX cows at the beggining of Monsters Inc., they sound fab!

Originally Posted by coolasacucumber

Please excuse my overuse of the word secure in previous post...

dont be so insecure

coming together lovely. should look fab once the floors in.

Originally Posted by coolasacucumber

I just keep listening to the THX cows at the beggining of Monsters Inc., they sound fab!

Nice to know i'm not alone with the THX thing

looks really nice keep the pikkies coming

That Lack shelf is a great buy for the money IMO

Originally Posted by coolasacucumber

oh and that shelf is one called 'lack' from Ikea, it has hidden brackets and is very sturdy. It only comes in a couple of colours, and it has a plastic coating, so painting isnt really an option.

Thanks for the info, I will check out the colours of the Lack shelf and then decide.
I am pretty much decided now on the sunken screen idea and I hope I can achieve a result as good as yours – yours really looks professional, well done!

thanks! I havent had a 'proper' longe lounge since moving out of my previous house, it will be so nice just to have a finished room, let alone my new toys...

The lack shelf is only about £12 if I remember rightly, very good value. The av rack is from Argos, good finish on it and it looks great, but Yamaha amp is very slightly too deep, so it sits over the front. I did think about putting it on the very top, but that might look a bit crazy! Ah well, I'll live!

[Ray]

Originally Posted by coolasacucumber

Ive got the 4 CD10 rears provisionally set up now, I just keep listening to the THX cows at the beggining of Monsters Inc., they sound fab!

Hi Coolas,

I have 4 CD10s for the rears but not set up yet (still doing walls and ceiling!). I am worried they may sound too directional (not di-pole/tri-pole etc). You finding them ok ? What heights/angles have you positioned them in and how far behind you are they ?

Cheers

Ray