Cosmic's Attic Cinema Room.

cosmic023 · 10-10-2007, 8:10 PM

Hello All,

Well i thought i'd best post info on my cinema room........

Spec.

Attic room in a terraced house (17' x 14'), with a partition and then this follows onto the equipment room 4' x '14.

HTPC:
AMD x2 3800 / 1gig ram / ATI 2600XT / M-Audio Dio2496 / Nebula DVB TV Card / Modified Black Silverstone LC03 Case / Theatretek DVD Player.

(Spec has changed: Intel 6600 Quad Core, Asus P5KC Mainboard, ATI 3650 Graphics, Analogue audio (Till i can get HDMI audio!!))

Samsung dual format HD DVD Player (When It Arrives!!

Fat chance of this as it has been canceled)

The other equipment same as my Sig.......

I'll post some pics soon as i get hold of a camera!!

Cheers
Lee

albriscoe · 10-10-2007, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmic023

Hello All,

Well i thought i'd best post info on my cinema room........

Spec.

Attic room in a terraced house (17' x 14'), with a partition and then this follows onto the equipment room 4' x '14.

HTPC:
AMD x2 3800 / 1gig ram / ATI 2600XT / M-Audio Dio2496 / Nebula DVB TV Card / Modified Black Silverstone LC03 Case / Theatretek DVD Player.

Samsung dual format HD DVD Player (When It Arrives!!

)

The other equipment same as my Sig.......

I'll post some pics soon as i get hold of a camera!!

Cheers
Lee

you`d better or else

Allan

miceri · 12-10-2007, 11:28 AM

Over 24 hours and no pictures, are you an AV junkie or not cosmic?

You do know we all wait to be drip fed on other peoples setups?

cosmic023 · 12-10-2007, 5:47 PM

No Camera till Sunday night, so should be posting sometime then.

Sorry about that, but i'm sure a bit of patience will help!!

Cheers
Lee

dbs2 · 12-10-2007, 6:12 PM

I am not going to post till i see some photo's aswell

DOH !!

cosmic023 · 12-10-2007, 7:40 PM

Here we go, just for you lot..........

This is my MAME Games Machine, and this will be in my cinema room. (More other stuff to follow!!)

cosmic023 · 12-10-2007, 7:57 PM

Here's a few pics of my DIY sub i built a few years ago, still in use and kicks ARSE.

(This will be in use as well in the new room)

I love this driver, it's such a shame it's in an enclosed box!!

But i think it could do with a bigger amp. Maybe the BK 200w bash amp, instead of the 100w one. (It spends most of it's time at 75% - 80% or higher!!)

Cheers
Lee

cosmic023 · 12-10-2007, 8:16 PM

Something that will NOT be in my cinema room, is my lovely Barco 801s Graphics. (Couldn't do a ceiling install, Otherwise i'd have replaced it with an 808) But got the Z5 to replace it.

cosmic023 · 12-10-2007, 8:27 PM

Well i'm sure the suspense is too much, but i have managed to haggle & get the camera for the weekend. Took a load of shots, and the batteries ran out!!

So tomorrow night i'll post some pics, as i don't have a compact flash reader on me laptop!!

I hope you have enjoyed the pics posted so far.......?

Cheers
Lee

cosmic023 · 13-10-2007, 7:33 PM

Finally Here we are, some piccies of my cinema room. Excuse the mess, it's a work in progress. (Well it's taken over a year to get this far!!)

Stairs leading up to the attic....

This is the view from the front........

And the view from the rear......

And the amp, HPTC in DIY rack. (Note: Speakers are a temp. fix till the satellites are wired in place.)

[IMG]

That's about it for now, work is very slow in progress, due to lack of spare time. But it's taking shape slowly, and still need a/v cabling, lighting & carpet tasks still to be done. (And the odd bit of painting left to be done.)

Cheers
Lee

dbs2 · 13-10-2007, 7:44 PM

That's a great size room you have to work with there Lee

I think i will enjoy watching this one develop....... Smashing

cosmic023 · 13-10-2007, 9:43 PM

Yes Dean, it's a great room (17' x 14') well minus the header tanks. (They are boxed in, but easy to access if needed.)

It's a shame i don't have another empty room, to put the contents in to help with the progress of the room. (Takes a while to move all the bulk about, before you can start work in a particular area.)

Oh well, i'll struggle on.

Hopefully get the lighting & carpet tiles ordered this week, so that'll give me a task or two to do.

Plenty still to be done in the equipment room, as cabling still has to be routed. Partition wall boarding needs to be fixed / caulked & Painted. And also the access panel to the roof timbers, which needs finishing off.

My current plan is to get the back room finished first, as i can get the a/v kit in there and that'll free up some space.

I'll try an add more pics as i go, because i'm sure ya all want more pics!

Cheers
Lee

**inzaman** · 14-10-2007, 1:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dean1474

That's a great size room you have to work with there Lee

I think i will enjoy watching this one develop....... Smashing

Same here

lone ranger · 14-10-2007, 2:15 PM

why do i feel like we are about to see the ben wilcox mark 2 project here,cant wait.

cosmic023 · 14-10-2007, 3:05 PM

Thanks All, for the kind comments. I'd love to do a massive project, but then my skills are limited.

I do the best that i can, and do have several people to help me with complicated tasks.

I couldn't see my project been as good as Ben's, which is a fantastic project. That is a lot more complicated then i'd want. But then saying that, if i'd wanted to go down that road. I would have started with a bare shell, and built up. (Plus i love the idea of a 2.35 screen / Dual CRT setup)

A large percentage of my budget has been blow, buying the Z5. I'm sure i'd be able to get a good cinema room within the budget left.

I'm still after a HD player, and maybe a new HDMI 7.1 amp. But the amp can wait as it's not an essential item needed. (But it would be nice!!

)

Oh the joys of upgrades, patience is needed!!

Cheers 4 now
Lee

miceri · 14-10-2007, 7:31 PM

Plenty of potential in that room mate.

Loving the Barco PJ...

cosmic023 · 19-10-2007, 10:06 AM

Well I'd just do an update, to keep everyone in the loop.

I'm currently chasing A/V & network cables in the roof eave space behind the walls. It's a dusty & messy job, but it'll keep all the cables out of the way, and it wouldn't be too much trouble to adjust / run new cables if needed. (And cabling for surround speakers in partition wall.)

But i'm trying to keep the network cables away from the AV cables, as i've problems with tv reception on the HTPC, when network cables were run in the same path as the aerial cable. Not sure if anyone else has had that problem? (i'm going with the option of crossing each cable at 90 degrees if they do need to cross each other.)

Once the cables enter the equipment room, they'll be run under the floorboard and exit out the edge of the floorboard. These will not be noticed once the fibreboard is placed on top of the floorboard to level the floor for the carpet tiles.

Trunking will hide the cables exiting the floor, i was going to chase the cables into the wall and exit in a faceplate. But i'd have to rethink that option because of the plaster lath walls. Maybe trunking and a back box & face plate?

Other work been done, finished access door to roof eaves on one side.

I've now got the down-lighters, and currently planning a layout for the lights. Will have a sparky over in the next couple of weeks, to get that lot installed.

So plenty going on, i'll keep everyone posted on the progress.

Cheers
Lee

cosmic023 · 19-10-2007, 8:14 PM

Here's a bit more on the progress, i've done the holes for the down lighters. (Yes i know i made a mistake on one of 'em. But that's what you get for multi-tasking & not concertrating.

)

Oh yes excuse the cabling nightmare, it'll be tidied up. Honest!!

Right onto the photo's..............(It don't look much in progress, but i did state that in the previous post!!) The flash does bugger up the paintwork, but it doesn't look like that in person!!

This is the equipment room (r/h side), with the access panel.

This is the equipment room (l/h side), with TV dist/amp and Wireless router.

This is where the equipment will go once this part of the room is finished.

A Shot of the screen wall, with holes in ceiling......

And the back wall with speakers installed...........

And the window side, with diy speaker bracket.......

Well that's about it for this week, more progress next week!!

Cheers
Lee

dbs2 · 20-10-2007, 3:13 PM

Nice progress Cosmic

Will your rear surrounds angle in towards the seating position ??

albriscoe · 20-10-2007, 3:53 PM

Hi Cosmic

it all seems to be coming on nicely

, so keep it up mate you`ll soon get there

cheers Allan

cosmic023 · 20-10-2007, 6:00 PM

Thanks guy's for the kind words......

I can't see much getting done this week, but it'll be busy for parts.

I'll have a pallet of carpet tiles delivered on Tuesday, along with a big order from screwfix, and hopefully another wood delivery. (If in stock?)

So i'll be busy making space for that little lot, but hope to get the cable routing finished this week. That'll be a bonus for me, and then i can work on the skirting board / trunking / cable tidying.

As for the surround speaker question, i'm not sure at the moment Dean what i'm doing with the surround speakers. The back surrounds will stay as they are, as i'm happy with them there & they seem to work ok.

I'm still toying between leaving them as they are, or do a similar setup like i've done for the front speakers.

Ah well, time will tell.

Cheers 4 now
Lee

cosmic023 · 27-10-2007, 10:42 PM

Hello All,

Afraid no progress this week

, but i've managed to stock pile on materials for the job!!

The sparky has started on the lights, but due to lack of time on my behalf it could be another week before he can finish the job off. (And i'm still waiting on the remote dimmer.)

So hopefully more progress & piccies next time.

Cheers
Lee

dbs2 · 28-10-2007, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmic023

.......

So hopefully more progress & piccies next time.

Cheers
Lee

Good O........ Ordering the gear is sometimes the hardest but one of the most enjoyable parts of it all..... well, you know what i mean

Kenny Glasgow · 29-10-2007, 7:52 AM

looking forward to seeing the finished job. Keep up the good work

cosmic023 · 29-10-2007, 6:32 PM

Many thanks Dean & Kenny, i'm looking forward to the finished article myself. (Just need effort from me to get there!!

)

Well i was glad that my sparky could fit in an hour or two yesterday, but i'm still waiting on the dimmer switch & problems with the main light wiring stopped us from wiring it all up. But after pestering him to get the lights working

, he did say that there was no problem in using a regular 13A sockets as a temp. measure till we get to sort out the wiring later in the week!!

So i have lighting now, but not as intended. as the lighting circuits are wired up, but not connected to the main lighting circuit. Ah well it's better than nowt, and it looks good too.

Busy week ahead at work this week, so means less time to be at home doing my project!!

Cheers
Lee

cosmic023 · 29-10-2007, 6:41 PM

cosmic023 · 16-11-2007, 8:56 PM

Ok back on track now. Had a busy couple of weeks with the wiring in the room, but it's all ok now. Even if i've got to make some alternative plans for lighting in the back room.

But the main room has lights, and the wiring has been redone and routed out of sight. (You can see in the pics where the old lighting rig used to be, and the new dimmer switch. Yes i would love to flush mount all sockets and switches, but i've been advised against this.

)

Other changes include finished off speaker brackets at the front of the room, and made alternate brackets for the rear speakers. (So they toe inwards like stated in an earlier post.)

Right onto the new pics.......not much progress.......but it does look better.

One thing i do confess, is that the back boxes of the electrical sockets have not been painted yet. (But it's been added on the list!!

)

Cheers 4 now
Lee

cosmic023 · 13-05-2008, 11:44 AM

Hello All,

Well since i haven't posted since 16th Nov last year, I thought it was time for an update!!

I've managed to upload more pics to my Photobucket site, but for now i'll post a few here.

This is the entry into the room, I only put the wallpaper up yesterday!! (Needs paint!!

)

The view from top of the stairs.

Main view of the room from seating position, also notice my mk2 upgrade of the MAME games machine!!

View of the seating area, still plenty of work to do yet. More pics soon!! (I promise i won't make you wait as long!!

)

Cheers
Lee

PS: Oh and before anyone asks, the carpet tiles change do vary in colour / shade depending on where you view them. It does like different colour tiles in the pictures, but that isn't the case!!

albriscoe · 13-05-2008, 12:15 PM

Bloody hell Lee

its not that long is it !!

keep battling on mate you`ll get their

Al

cosmic023 · 13-05-2008, 1:16 PM

Yes Al, it has been that long!!

I'm sure you feel the same knowing it's the finishing touches that take the longest time, maybe more than the rest of the job put together!!

One thing that is taking longer to do (Because of poor planning) the cable runs & faceplates & back boxes. And having to alter/redo sections, that should have been planned properly in the first place. (Note to self Next time: Must design a plan, and stick to it before opening the toolbox!!

)

Oh and the other lesson i've learnt, keep the toys in the boxes until the room is ready!!

(That's why progress has been so slow!!LOL

)

Cheers
Lee