[Macron]

I'm in the process of completely decorating a new flat. Basically we've ripped everything out including the old heating system, walls, floors bathroom and kitchen. In the lounge I'm going to have my new Samsung 40" wall mounted and then have 5.1 ceiling speakers connected to an onkyo amp. I'm going to have pipes in the walls for the TV cables and also a media centre PC in the attic to view movies from the PC.

I've made a couple of other threads about the kit I will be using here:

Urgent Advice Needed About Ceiling Speakers
Some Questions About The Onkyo TXSR606

So far everything is on hold until I can get advice about which speakers to go for and I also need to know what the optimum height is for the TV. In the picture of my lounge the TV will be on the left hand wall with the PC above it in the attic and the rest of my kit below in a new unit. Any advice about this would be most welcome.

Here are some pictures which I will update as time goes on...

Attic where the PC will be, electrician has now put power points up there for me:

My new TV currently sitting in my old place showing BBC HD:

The lounge as it is now, the TV will be on the left hand wall with the sofa directly opposite:

Holes already made for the in ceiling lighting to go in:

The bedroom which currently contains the new kitchen units and will have my old 32" LG TV wall mounted and freeview piped through:

[Macron]

Looks like normal TV reception is going to be awful at this flat so it looks like I will also be getting Freesat to pipe around to all 3 TV's: Which setup to get?

Had the builders in today to discuss how the cabling is going to be done and to move / add some electrical sockets. The labour costs are starting to add up now.

Going in tonight to mark out where the TV's will go and the pipes for the cables to go to the other two rooms.

Have decided to get the tannoy speakers that someone here reccomended to me am just awaiting quotes for 5 of them. (can anyone advise about whether its really best to have the centre in the ceiling as well?)

[ronaldhardie]

Hi Macron

is it not possible for you to run the cables yourself and get the sparky to attach the extra mains where needed it will save a fair bit on labour costs and not the most difficuilt thing to do

[Macron]

Things are slowly moving ahead. The ceiling is now plastered, the kitchen is being painted and the whole place has been cleared of the old kitchen etc...

I've found someone who will hopefully be supplying most of the AV kit and fitting the speakers for me as well as helping to run all the cables.

Right now I need to choose the furniture for all the kit so have started another thread here: Please Help Me Choose Some AV Furniture

Aiming to buy all the kit by the end of this month and then things will hopefully start moving quickly.

[Macron]

Time for an update. Things are moving quickly now. These pics were taken on my old phone as I've managed to break the screen on my N95...

Here's the channel in place for the main cabling in the lounge:

Closeup:

With the cover on and showing the centre speaker hole:

At the bottom, that power socket is being lowered and moved closer to the rest of the cabling:

Holes for all speakers and lights are done now:

This hole goes straight into the attic where the PC will be:

Tomorrow the guys will be running the coax cables from the main and spare rooms to the rest of the kit and putting in panels with brushes on where the wires will come and go in the lounge.

Today I also ordered my AV unit. It's going to be custom made by Ian Edwards it's going to be a solid oak unit with spaces made to measure for my kit and drawers underneath. Will post a sketch when its ready.

[Macron]

Right, had a whole load of kit delivered today thanks to the amazing people at WireFreeHomes who have given me loads of help in sorting it all out:

In the pictures are My Samsung LE40A559, My 360 Elite, HDDVD drive, Onkyo 606 Amp, Kef Kube 1 Sub, Tannoy 401E Eyeball Ceiling Speakers, about 40m of QED speaker cable, one profigold sub cable and whole bunch of banana plugs

It's kinda like my dream christmas present only it's June and I had to pay...

Tomorrow I'm expecting the 2 TV mounting brackets and brush faceplates for the cabling.

On Saturday I'm going to take it all to the new flat along with my old TV and install the speakers into the now painted ceiling and give it all a test, should be fun

[inzaman]

Originally Posted by Macron

Right, had a whole load of kit delivered today

It's kinda like my dream christmas present

Wow thats some delivery - awesome

[Macron]

Right time for some pics from last Saturday. It took us about 4 hours to get the speakers up and wired in. A lot of that was spent by me crawling around a dark, hot and dusty attic and it wasn't much fun. Looking forward to getting the PC up there

We installed the speakers, ran the wiring down the channel and put banana plugs on the ends (after having to rip out the centre of the speaker connectors on the Onkyo which was un-nerving to say the least).

Then we set up my old TV, the amp and sub and my xbox to give it all a test.

Setup of the amp was a breeze, we used the enclosed mic to auto calibrate the speakers which was easy and I could not have been more happy with the sound and the quality, in fact we were amazed by it! The opening to Saving Private Ryan was amazing (until the guy who lives downstairs complained) and music DVD's and Halo 3 sounded fantastic too.

Now comes all the decorating.

Sorry about the poor camera phone pics...

One of the speakers in place

These pics really don't do the speakers justice, they look fantastic!

The centre speaker showing where the wires come out

My little test setup

And showing the sub

The back of the amp with banana plugs in place

[jolly]

Going to be a really nice install when you've finished, not to sure about your tv stand

[Macron]

Just a quick update from tonight (I'm getting excited now)

The channel is now covered and ready to be plastered tomorrow and I've run loads of bits of numbered string up and down to make pulling cables through easier.

All bagged up ready

Kitchen's getting there too

Getting the lights sorted this week too

[wolfboy79]

It really is looking great. How do those speakers compare to your previous set up, particularly surround effects steering and that centre channel re dialogue?

After reading the posts in this forum its seems the popularity of htpc's is on the rise, due you know any other good sources of info on speccing, building and setting up a home theatre pc. I've ripped a few dvds but struggle with different file types and codecs required for surround sound and a reasonable quality picture?

I'm looking forward to see how this turns out for you, it's gonna be good

[Macron]

Originally Posted by wolfboy79

It really is looking great. How do those speakers compare to your previous set up, particularly surround effects steering and that centre channel re dialogue?

After reading the posts in this forum its seems the popularity of htpc's is on the rise, due you know any other good sources of info on speccing, building and setting up a home theatre pc. I've ripped a few dvds but struggle with different file types and codecs required for surround sound and a reasonable quality picture?

I'm looking forward to see how this turns out for you, it's gonna be good

Cheers. Actually I build and repair computers for a living so that's going to be the easy bit. If there's anything you want to know just ask. I'm just using my 3 year old pc now with Media Centre loaded on it. Configuring codecs and getting the best out of it can be time consuming and sometimes very annoying but there's plenty of help on the internet.

I highly reccomend using this page as your source for codecs: http://www.m5studio.internetdsl.pl/codec.html

It's an all in one pack with very easy to configure options. I find HD video looks and sounds great on my TV using this.

[inzaman]

Originally Posted by Macron

Just a quick update from tonight (I'm getting excited now)

I was excited when i saw the pictures of your kit delivery

Its definitely looking good

[jolly]

Kitchen looks nice as well, are you tiling the splash backs?

[Andy104]

doesnt the elite have a hd drive built in anyways?

[Macron]

Originally Posted by Andy104

doesnt the elite have a hd drive built in anyways?

No.

[Macron]

Brief Update, started filling in the main channel. I used some stick on gauze to make the pollyfill stick to the plastic and I also sealed up the edges of the cover with tape and then used that squirty foam stuff down the edges:

Step 1:

Then started filling

Looks a mess right now but this is just the first layer

Will hopefully only need 1 or maybe 2 more layers of filler to smooth it over. The gap at the top will be tricky.

[Macron]

Originally Posted by jolly

Kitchen looks nice as well, are you tiling the splash backs?

Gonna put red tiles behind the sink but that's about it.

[jolly]

Originally Posted by Macron

Gonna put red tiles behind the sink but that's about it.

Should set it off nice

[Macron]

Just another quick update. Got my lights in the lounge, they look great. Was debating about getting directional ones but to be honest these look fantastic. Not great pics, forgot my phone so had to use gf's. There's 8 lights altogether going on a dimmer and now I just have to buy something to backlight the TV and also soundproof the floor (suggestions needed!) Please have a look at my threads:

Acoustilay?
and
Questions For Ikea Dioder Owners

Channel is now fully plastered up and ready to paper

Close up of one of the lights

[paulw77]

Macron,

Those in ceiling Tannoys look great. How do they sound ?

The price on Wire Free Homes is £74.99. I assume that is for a pair ? Do you know if they sell them in singles as I may need 3 of them for a 6.1 setup I'm planning.

Cheers.

[Macron]

Originally Posted by paulw77

Macron,

Those in ceiling Tannoys look great. How do they sound ?

The price on Wire Free Homes is £74.99. I assume that is for a pair ? Do you know if they sell them in singles as I may need 3 of them for a 6.1 setup I'm planning.

Cheers.

They sound amazing (to me anyway) they are £74.99 per speaker though. Wire Free Homes have the best price, I looked everywhere for them.

[loadedben]

Looking great i cant wait to start on the living room but gotta do upstairs first

[Macron]

Just a few more snaps now things are starting to take shape.

The cabinet for all the kit is now being built and I've been to have a look at the designs, its going to have space to hide all the power sockets etc... and is looking really good.

I'm going to soundproof the whole lounge floor and this should be happening next week. I'm also going to get a Logitech Harmony One remote to control everything including my new dimmer switch.

Sorry about the quality of some of these pics, they're just off my phone:

Lounge now has lining paper up and you can see the plug socket has been moved to a much more sensible position

Kitchen is coming along

Yes our posh new kettle is unpacked

My wine rack is up

The new remote controlled dimmer

My soundproofing solution, reccomended by a good carpet fitter and I was too tired to research any more so I went for it

A bit of my handywork in the spare room, this coax cable can go anywhere in the house (once I've decided what I'm plugging it into)

Brackets for the TV's ready to go and new surge protectors sitting with all my new kit which is sadly doing nothing right now

[Macron]

Brief update just to say wallpapering and painting now done in the lounge, just need to finish the gloss around the skirting boards and window, get the soundproofing layed and the carpet down and then I can start hanging the TV

GF seems happy

[Macron]

Ok so after my recent disasters (Total Disaster!) I'm back on track again now, here's some new pictures:

Bathroom Before:

Bathroom Today:

Damage Caused By The Leaky Roof:

They Are Finally Up There Mending The Roof:

Kitchen Is Pretty Much Done:

Sofa And Chair Have Now Arrived (BTW They Are Not Green They Are Black, I Don't Know Why They Look Green Here, Probably My Phone):

Current View From Sofa:

Best Of All The AV Furniture Is Done And Waiting To Be Delivered:

Looks Great Too:

Even Hides All The Cables At The Back:

So week after next the soundproofing goes in and the TV's will be hung, followed by the carpets, blinds and curtains and the rest of the furniture.

[Macron]

Another brief updated. Decided to move the AV rack and most of the kit in to do some testing. Been delayed another week or so overall for various reasons. All the water damage is now fixed and next week we get the soundproofing, the carpets and the curtains and blinds, as well as both TV's hung

Just another test setup with the old TV for now, all speakers are still working and its looking and sounding fantastic, the dulux dog was given to us by the shop for buying so much paint in the last few weeks

[jro7563]

Glad to see your up and running again, that cabinet looks very nice

[Macron]

Wooo! New Toy! My PS3 arrived today thanks to the good folks at Carphone Warehouse. It was totally free and it came with GT5P and Spiderman 3 on Blu Ray. Now really I should have left it all boxed until the flat was ready but then I'm far too childish for that so I unboxed it straight away and its now sat in my old flat for "testing". First impressions are very good, a doddle to setup and it looks very nice. Will be testing out the issues with my TV and the 24P "judder" problem tonight.

[DaveR1682]

Looking sweet man - should maybe rename thread to Macron's Home Decoration thread (Home Cinema, Bathroom and Kitchen)

Looking forward to seeing the Home Cinema finished.