Having lived with his existing set up for the past three years, our member Jenz decided it was time for a change.
For a quick frame of reference, this is the old room how it was when Jenz, again, caught the bug to upgrade (this was his third home cinema room, already) so it wasn’t exactly too shabby when he started but the requirement was now a dedicated room.
This was the general plan:
Stage 0 – Decorating
Deep Charcoal Grey thick underlay carpet
Stage 1 - Existing Kit Review fixing flaws in current setup
Fit Fixed Frame Screen with existing Speakers, Amp, Sub, Projector and Oppo 103D.
Add Ikea Poang Chairs and Footstools.
Test current Audio Setup and get some feel as to how it sounds in this new room
Stage 2 - Maximising Contrast and Audio
Add Acoustic Panelling to the area behind the screen, 4ft out on either side of screen, and 4ft out from Ceiling
Cover Acoustic Panelling with Devore
Retest Audio with acoustic panelling
Stage 3 - Upgrading Audio
Add additional acoustic panelling to back of room if needed
Change Subwoofer from Kef Cube 2 to something else to be determined (XTZ Cinema 1x12, Paradigm Seismic, JL Dominion etc)
Stage 4 - 7.1
Change all 3 fronts from Kef to something else to be determined
Move 2 x Kef Eggs to rear for 7.1
Stage 5 - Upgraded Speakers
Change all rears to matching fronts
Add second matching Subwoofer
The room was actually a bedroom when it started and looked like this; you can see Jenz has already earmarked the space with where the kit is to be placed.
Stage 0 – Decorating
Deep Charcoal Grey thick underlay carpet
Stage 1 - Existing Kit Review fixing flaws in current setup
Fit Fixed Frame Screen with existing Speakers, Amp, Sub, Projector and Oppo 103D.
Add Ikea Poang Chairs and Footstools.
Test current Audio Setup and get some feel as to how it sounds in this new room
Stage 2 - Maximising Contrast and Audio
Add Acoustic Panelling to the area behind the screen, 4ft out on either side of screen, and 4ft out from Ceiling
Cover Acoustic Panelling with Devore
Retest Audio with acoustic panelling
Stage 3 - Upgrading Audio
Add additional acoustic panelling to back of room if needed
Change Subwoofer from Kef Cube 2 to something else to be determined (XTZ Cinema 1x12, Paradigm Seismic, JL Dominion etc)
Stage 4 - 7.1
Change all 3 fronts from Kef to something else to be determined
Move 2 x Kef Eggs to rear for 7.1
Stage 5 - Upgraded Speakers
Change all rears to matching fronts
Add second matching Subwoofer
The room was actually a bedroom when it started and looked like this; you can see Jenz has already earmarked the space with where the kit is to be placed.
And here’s the room cleared and ready to paint
Here we go – paint is up. Nice and dark to maximise image contrast- we like it!
And even better, new kit has arrived - Anthem MRX710 AV Receiver, XTZ 1x12 Subwoofer and 3 x XTZ Cinema Stands. The picture of the ‘large banana’ (and dog) gives you an idea on the scale of the big old sub.
More progress as batons for acoustic panels and Devore are finished; Homeplugs checked for NAS connection and streaming to Oppo; Screen frame fitted screen and support bars, also, to make sure on sizing and so that the Speakers did not encroach on the screen. Van Damme Speaker cables cut, measured and terminated Amp end with Nakamichi Banana Plugs
Speakers and trunking now going in and the Anthem is wired up..
Speakers and trunking now going in and the Anthem is wired up..
And now the sub, all the speakers and screen is in place so Jenz is very nearly there, with just a few odds and ends to take care of but it’s definitely time to sit back, relax and enjoy!
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