1st home cinema system...

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Always wanted to have a fairly meaty system but because my old house was a semi and walls fairly thin I decided to wait until we moved into our next home. Finally we moved early part of the year to a new house and because I'd been saving for some time I had a fair bit of money to buy my setup in 1 go :D

Here goes....

I plan to build a fake chimney stack about 30cm deep by about 2 meters wide, floor to ceiling. Incorparating the TV 3 speakers (Left, Right & Below), a new electric fire (would have preferred a gas one but more child friendly :mad:). I did think about a shelf above the fire as I've seen threads on tvs possibly over heating. But as the tv will be set into the wall and the fire blows the heat outwards I can't see it being an issue. As a test I left it on full for a couple of hours with a board poking out directly above the fire sticking out about 6", it didnt get hot at all so I can't see it causing an issue. Although if im honest I can't see us using the fire at all really, just the "pretty lighting".

Any way down to my setup
-TV Philips 52" LED Ambilight recessed into the chimney with 4" gap all around





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- 5.1 tannoy system -place around room, cabling inside the walls/under the floor
- 2 Cambridge audio speakers (Left & Right of telly)





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- 2 Cambridge audio speakers for dinning room (Zone2)
[Need to insert pic, think they are S90's]
- Yamaha Amp,RX 767 - (in old chimney stack)



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- Virgin box - (in old chimney stack)
- PS3 - (in old chimney stack)
- Sling box - (in old chimney stack)
- Sonos SP90-into Amp - (in old chimney stack)




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The new stack will be in place of the old fire here:




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During my tinkering I found an old square part of the room which I couldn't figure out what it was. After my initial bit of investigation I decided to drill into the wall and discovered an old fire place which was cut off upstairs but not downstairs. I plan to clear this out, tidy it up, shelve it out and put my equipment in there as its nice and out of the way. plus has plenty of room to breath, unlike it would in a cupboard.




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I have a diagram (thanks google sketchup) of how I want it to look but its on my home computer, I will post later today! :smashin:

I plan on running all cabling from the old chimney stack (back left of the room) under the floors too all the relevant speakers/TV. The only connection to the TV will be Power, 1 network cable from study & 2x 15m hdmi (1.4) cables which will go under the floor to the amp in the old chimney stack. I am only running a second HDMI under the floor just in case something goes wrong or in case I need it in the future, I also plan on sticking some rope under there incase I need to pull anything through (can't see it being a major problem but dont want to worry in the future).

As the arm of my bracket is so long I plan on attaching it to the original outside wall and poking it through the middle of the stack so that there is a fairly large opening behing the tv so I can get behind there if needed.





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Front room
-TV
|AMP| - 7.1 system (front room)
- Virgin
- PS3
- Sonos
- Sling Box (to be purchaed)

Dinning Room
2 Floor standing speakers (Zone 2 from Amp)

Kitchen
Sonos Zone Player

Bedroom
Sonos Zone Player

Only thing I am in half a mind about doing it creating a fake ceiling around the edge of the room for rope lighting but not sure if it would be too much.

BTW near on 100% of my inspiration has been pulled off of this site in 1 way or another, so thanks all for your assistance, even if i've not posted on your thread! Just doing a search on google images near on always sends you here, so again thanks to all who contribute!

I will post as things move along
 

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Will keep an eye on this one, looking forward to seeing it progress!

Regards
James
 
I think that bracket is the same as mine however i dont use it anymore. Its a chunky old thing and as you say, it comes out a fair distance from the wall. Looking forward to the finished product :smashin:
 
Hey looks good, being a philips fanboy I would love to know the model of that telly as I currently have a 52pfl5605 without ambilight :( but I would love to have the ambilight again which I miss from my old 42"
And out of curiosity what are the extra 2 CA bookshelves for?
 
Hey looks good, being a philips fanboy I would love to know the model of that telly as I currently have a 52pfl5605 without ambilight :( but I would love to have the ambilight again which I miss from my old 42"
And out of curiosity what are the extra 2 CA bookshelves for?


The bookshelves were originally going to house all the bits and bobs but during a party I had to pull them out as it kept over heating with the door shut or open (I also removed the rear plate). These will be for DVD's/Games and I have 4 of em not 2, shame I didn't think about it before as i spent a few hundred on em because the look really nice :suicide: They will prob go either side of the stack if they look right, if not another room as the whole house is work in progress. :facepalm: :D

The TV is the 52" LED 3d version, dont know the exact model, will try and find it at post at some point.

Got a chippy coming next week to build the stack so just clearing and prepping the room. Ideally wanted to have the old fire place bored out before but can't see that happening till after he's been and gone. Shouldn't be too big an issue as Ill just leave plenty of slack on each bit of wiring. :smashin:
 
Few more pics of before the build..

Updated some of the info above on model numbers etc..

Front room, middle to front of house..

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Front to middle..

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Pulling up the floor to lay the cabling from the old stack to the back wall and over to the new chimney. Thankfully the floor is slightly raised between each joist so running the cables shouldn't be too much of a task. Also going to leave plenty of slack on every run of cable just in case I move the amp in the future.

Back wall
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Chimney
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Am running this lot under the floor from the telly to the old chimney tonight...

1x 15m network cable
3x 20m speaker cables
2x 15m hdmi 1.4 cables
1x 20m bit of rope

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Will post more as it moves along!
 

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As I was pulling the carpets up, I was thinking to myself, they aint half bad could do something with these.... Then I got half way down the room past the fireplace and hit a concrete floor! :mad: Not too big a problem as the Virgin & sky come in at the front of the house so I can pull off the skirting and hide the cables in a 2" gap at the bottom. I will do the same with the right side speaker along the back wall. The Carpet will be going back down once the work is done, however will see how it looks as we have wood in most of the house down stairs and the wife wants it "cozy", well till a bomb drops in saving private ryan and the speakers & Sub kick in :laugh::thumbsup:

The TV I got from philips direct got a 25% off deal through work when they had a sale on, so although I still paid more than I originally wanted too i got a tv with everything I wanted 3d/ambilight/52"/LED/Smart tv etc..

Itching to get out of here tonight and get this done, am away on holiday for the stack being built so will hopefully get the chippy to takes some pics as its built!

One thing I do need to sort out is knocking that old chimney wall out linning, skimming and getting a shelving unit to fit, just seen one another thread below which I like the look of. but no rush as it can sit on top of the units I already have temp.
 
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Hit a problem tonight, ran the cabling over to the old chimney and it's only about 30ish cm wide my amp is 40+ and virgin/ps3 will barely fit the depth ain't great either. So I'll have to have a rethink about the positioning :(

I've always hated my the way the door opens so I might put a unit against the old chimney, chase the cables out up the middle of the old chimney and have the door opening onto the cupboard, but get the chippy to rehang the door the opposite side with one of those automatic shutting hinges - either way not ideal or happy about it :(
 
Right finally got round to building the stack and boarding it, its being plastered at the weekend - cant wait!

Boarded up

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Ambilight looks superb, picture doesn't do it justice, id actually say its better than on a plain wall!


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One of the speakers.
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Hit a problem tonight, ran the cabling over to the old chimney and it's only about 30ish cm wide my amp is 40+ and virgin/ps3 will barely fit the depth ain't great either. So I'll have to have a rethink about the positioning :(

I've always hated my the way the door opens so I might put a unit against the old chimney, chase the cables out up the middle of the old chimney and have the door opening onto the cupboard, but get the chippy to rehang the door the opposite side with one of those automatic shutting hinges - either way not ideal or happy about it :(

Can you get an in wall sliding door put there. I had one in my last house for the kitchen.
Looking forward to see the finish on your project looking good so far
 
Did think about knocking thr whole chimney out and starting again on it but with cost/mess and time opted to use those 4 units, 2 either side of the new stack. They look nice as is so just need to pull the cables back towards the stack. Shame really as it was all ready to go, but on the bright side if I decide to move the front room around at a later date, the cables are long enough :)
 
Right been a bit busy but still not finished, none the less here is the latest pics, be careful you may need some shades! :)

When I came home and the painter had first done this I wasn't really liking the colour at all, but as the other items were added to the room it certainly toned it down and I've grown to like it..

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Fitting and getting the bracket was a little fiddly due to tv size/weight but went in eventually.

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Bracket fitted
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The "Finished" product.. Need to get carpets laid, wiring run behind cabinets, speakers installed and skirting but def getting there!! :clap:

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Ambilight looks so much better in the person the camera just doesn't do it justice!

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Like you, when I just saw the green with nothing else in it, it looked very out there, but the colour goes with the wallpaper and it all merges better than I thought it would.
 
Like you, when I just saw the green with nothing else in it, it looked very out there, but the colour goes with the wallpaper and it all merges better than I thought it would.

To say I was a little worried would be an understatement, but as I said once the paper went up and some of the furniture went in it really toned it down. Thing is 3 of the walls are actually a cream colour but never took a picture of that.

What tv bracket did you get and what size plasma. Cheers


Its the 52" Phillips Ambi light LED, fantastic TV so, so pleased! The Ambi light is amazing, I think it actually works better with the box around the sides rather than on a flat wall. :smashin:

The bracket is from Ebay this one... eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

Works really well, installed a power point just above it and routed all the cables just below it (hdmi's, network & and a draw string).
 
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Very similar to my planned paint scheme, what make and colour name is it?


Thanks
 
Very similar to my planned paint scheme, what make and colour name is it?

Thanks

Ill find out, all the wifes choice it was def crown though.
 
Very nice conversion, looks great.:smashin:
The bright green goes great with the wallpaper and curtains, like to see it fully decorated....................
Like it so far:thumbsup:

Greetz Richie
 
Very nicely put together that. You were very brave with that colour on the wall, but now you have the wallpaper and curtains in it goes really well.
 
Thanks for all the comments, really happy with the results, bit touch and go with the green at first but well happy with it now the surrounds/furniture have toned it down.

Still not found out the colour type, lost the little bit of paper with it on, we have the decorator coming back today to finish off the skirting/rubbing down an uneven surface under the fire, Ill ask him what it was.

I finally managed to run all the cables and get the network cables from the stack to the hub in the study. so glad I really through about it before I attempted doing anything.

Now if I want I can have my stereo/ps3/virgin either side of the stack :clap: Just means a matter of pulling it through the stack from one side to the other..

I bought 2 ofthese brush plates from Screw fix and put one either side for easy access... Little fiddly to get under the fire place and over to the other side but done it once just to test I could.

Cabling..
Grey tube - 7 speaker cables
Black x1 - HDMI (1.4) cables
Grey Cable - Network

What you dont see, 1 network going to TV direct & 1 HDMI cable going to the other side (for virgin) decided to have amp one side and vigin the other. These cables should all be pretty much hidden by the 4 units im putting in (2 either side).

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This will prob be my last update before I'm totally finished, will try and get pics of all speakers funiture etc..
 

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