The 'Ba's' Dedicated Cinema Build

[ashcurrie]

Good afternoon chaps, i thought i would take the opportunity to share with you a little project i have been working on over the holiday season while i was at home from uni. Been a long time audio/visual enthusiast and i have had many set-ups through the years however i have always wanted to build a dedicated cinema room at my family house. Well after a bit of persuasion i was finally given the go ahead to put to good use what was my first bedroom which was now just being utilized as a storage room. HAPPY DAYS!

The room is not completely finished as all the work you are about to see took just three weeks, but everything is up and running, unfortunately it got finished as soon as i had to return to uni for the second semester, so as you can imagine i can't wait to get back for easter and complete the project.

The stats of the room are: 4.55m x 3.15m with a ceiling height of 2.45m, the room would also be completely light controllable.

The Kit List:
Projector: Panasonic PT-AE3000E
Fronts: B&W 685's
Centre: B&W HTM62
Backs: B&W 686's
Sub: REL T3
AV Reciever: Denon AVR-1909
BLu-Ray: Denon DVD-1800BD

So here is as far as i have gotten enjoy

My first purchase was the Panasonic which i bought from 'The Home Cinema Centre' in Edinburgh and i can't recommend them enough! i travelled from Dundee one afternoon to demo the Panasonic against the Sony HW10. What struck me about the panasonic over the sony mainly was the extra level shadow details! Also the frame creation modes work fantastic, and i also wanted to implement the lens memory function so i could use a 2.35:1 screen which works a treat! All these extra features were well worth the extra bit of money.

And here she is back home safely!!

This is the room i had to work with before anything had started! it took nearly a week of tidying up and finding places to put this stuff else where before i had a blank canvas to work with.

Thankfully my best mate is just as enthusiastic about this malarkey as me so i had rather alot of help from Gav which made the project increase in banter as you will see

We got the wallpaper stripped and the first coat of black paint onto the screen wall and ceiling done in one night, we were knackered!

Gav in a forensic suit we had kicking about the house which came in handy for the painting but mostly just for a laugh

First coat of black the next day.

The paint came out really well, took two coats for everything.

You can see the colour of the remaining walls which added a warmth to the room but still dark enough to work well with the functionality of the room.

Also the screen fabric was mounted. The screen is 104" 2.35:1. The fabric was taken from an old 16:9 manual screen which the had broken so i took the fabric and stapled it around a sheet of MDF making sure no creasing occurred. I then used simple metal brackets attached to the back of the board to then screw it directly to the wall, which worked out very nicely.

A few closeups of the detailing.

Next we measured and built the frame to sit on the outside of the screen which would then be clad in black velvet.
The frame consisted of creating strips about 50mm wide from the spare MDF which would sit flush against the outer edges of the screen. Then skirting board timber was cut which had a beveled interior edge, this was 70mm wide which once cladd would be tacked onto the MDF hence it would sit fluch which the screen but still have a profile.

Here is a pic of the MDF strips attached.

Skirting board tacked on to double check measurements and spacing to allow for the velvet.

Frame fully tacked on.

[SG-22]

Looks great, certainly looks like you had a good time creating it all with your mate!

Look forward to seeing the finished pics! (although doesnt look to far off now)

[ashcurrie]

Always need a spirit level lol

Each seperate part was removed to then be cladd in the black velvet, mmm velvet.

Tacking back on the frame panel pins where then hammered in and will the help of a nail punch are completely invisible which makes it look mint and totally professional if I don't say so myself.

Inspecting the pins.

Nail Punch.

And the finished product all for less than £30! Bargin!

Next the matter of mounting the Projector

I had an old vogels ceiling bracket which I could use however I had to oder a few extra bits so that the center point of the lens of the projector was level with the top edge of the screen so i could implent the lens memory function! So I needed a new ceiling plate and a 30cm extenstion tube.

Aligned the bracket to the middle of the room.

I had to place a block of wood between two joists so i could mount the bracket there allow two of the screws do go directly into a joist. In the end this thing is solid

Also you can see above the black conduit running along the ceiling which connects the required cables to the PJ.

View of the back of the room, with a PS3 hooked up testing everything and allowed me to calibrate the PJ, also you can see the new curtains and curtain rail installed. The curtains have blackout linnings for viewing durring the day, but that window dosn't usually get that much light anyway.

Next are pictures of a few movie posters which will be put up, i am currently waiting for the rest of the custom cut black mount i have ordered to arrive, the first two, batman and star wars and complete. Batman, star wars and blade runner are all reprints. Back to the Future, LOTR, and I Am Legend are originals which I got from USA. I have to say they look stunning in person. The frames where purchased from Ikea each for £18 The cheapest i could get custom frames made for was £50 even with student discount lol, so for a total of £25 per frame i think they look pretty slick.

[ashcurrie]

I next step install the speakers. Simply ran conduit around the far edge of the room from just to the left of the window to the screen wall.

I got QED Silver Anniversary for the front & centre,QED original for the backs and QED Micro Sub cable.

Purchased a black floating shelf from Ikea for the centre which blends in perfect with the screen wall.

The speakers are 'wenge' which is the darker of the wood finishes of the 600 series, this helps tie in the mahogany skirting boards and door. Unfortunately I will have to wait until march to pick up my 685's in wenge as B&W have so many on back order which is crazy. But my dealer has quality customer service and has lent me a pair of 685's in light oak in the meantime, now that is service

Next a shot on the AV kit in the shelfing unit from again Ikea. It has two drawers at the bottom for the expanding Blu-Ray collection, then i purchased a running shelf to set the 1909 on so if i ever need to get to the cables the whole av reciever just slides out and it works beautifully.

A few shots then of it almost completed. When i head home i have to mount the picture frames, paint the conduit along the screen wall, purchase stands for the front and back speakers, and get some proper seating in there!!

[rusty73]

Its Altern 8!

[ashcurrie]

And finally a selection of a few screen shots! I am super happy with the quality of the image that the Panasonic produces. I have been spoilt the past few months since we installed a Pioneer PDP-LX5090 in our living room and that definitely is a reference display no doubt but for the real cinematic experience and immersion that a 104" 2.35:1 screen creates is unreal!!!

We had our premier on the 15th of Jan and watched Blade Runner, the system has totally blown me away, picture fantasic, £30 screen amazing, Sound is so detailed and I think my biggest suprise was the REL sub, for such a small unit it really does puch above its weight and creates a really nice blanket of bass, perfect in my opinon for that size of room, but i would always be tempted by adding another

Well guys that's about it for now, until Easter
Can I thank everybody on the forums because without you guys and the generosity of you sharing your knowledge this little project wouldn't of been possible.

Adam.

[Quantas]

Well, done great build on a budget!

[ashcurrie]

Originally Posted by Quantas

Well, done great build on a budget!

Thanks Quantas, love your set-up by the way awesome build, glad to see you got ur heating issues with your projector sorted!!

[Jobjohn]

Looks great, am very impressed with the finish. And you managed to avoid the almost compulsory rope lights!

How do you find the Denon ARV-1909, a mate has just bought one and we waiting to install it as we stuck in the building stage, Dibb & JD Do AV.... How do you find the 1909 to setup and run? Is it hot? Am currently on page 21 of 54 in 1909 owners thread.

Well done, JD.

[ashcurrie]

Originally Posted by Jobjohn

Looks great, am very impressed with the finish. And you managed to avoid the almost compulsory rope lights!

How do you find the Denon ARV-1909, a mate has just bought one and we waiting to install it as we stuck in the building stage,

. How do you find the 1909 to setup and run? Is it hot? Am currently on page 21 of 54 in 1909 owners thread.

Well done, JD.

lol, yeah rope lights ain't my sort of thing but I definitely understand why ppl use them!

The Denon is a quality piece of kit! I hunted the country for one seeing as they are in such short supply but thankfully the dealer whom I bought all the B&W kit just got one in so it worked out really well.

I have pretty much thrown every type of sound i can think at it and it does brilliantly. At low levels it has a real depth and clarity to it. Then as the volume increases it retains its composure really well, I think that is helped tho by the quality of the B&W speakers. I see you are using the Q-Acoustics package, i reckon as a pair they will work really well together and have ample amounts of power

Setting up the Denon was a breeze! I ran the Audyssey which set-up all the speaker levels via the mic. All the levels came back looking like they were in the right ball park. Also make sure you have dynamic volume off so the sound is at the volume intended for each speaker
I guess because I only have the 1800 hooked up to it at the moment there isn't much that can go wrong lol, but i reckon once i add a few more items it will be just as easy

Heat wise it runs exceptionally cool, as you can see it is in a fairly small unit with the 1800 just a few cm above it. We watched kung-fu panda and iron man one after the other and afterwards I put my hand above the Denon to check for heat and I did not feel any raise in temperature I also check the back and the same. So for me I am 100% confident with it!

Enjoy reading the rest of the manual it was bedtime material for me a few weeks a go lol

[andy900uk]

nice work guys, now pull your god dam jeans up

[Dony]

Really nice job, and you have made it look/sound very easy which gives us all the encouragement to do something similar.

[ashcurrie]

Originally Posted by andy900uk

nice work guys, now pull your god dam jeans up

I'm sure I probably had a ton of nails in my back pocket at that point, or maybe its just the youth of today lol

[ashcurrie]

Originally Posted by Dony

Really nice job, and you have made it look/sound very easy which gives us all the encouragement to do something similar.

Cheers Dony, really appreciate the comment! Looks like your project is coming along nicely to I will be keeping an eye on it

[Lemon_Sherbert]

Very nice setup, and love the arty pics of the hazmat suited workers