Chevy's little theatre...

Chevyonfuel

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Some history first - my interest in home cinema started in around 2001 (I was 16, and a bit silly). Having been given £400 by my grandfather, to put towards a car, I immediately went to Currys, and bought a JBL 5.1 speaker kit. Hooked up to a Playstation and 14" Matsui portable...those were the days...

The current iteration of my small home theatre started in 2011, when I went the PJ route (an Optoma HD67N & 3D-XL box), and a cheapo Panoview screen. I still have both...they refuse to sell.

My speaker and amp setup from then still remain, with just the BD spinner and PJ being upgraded (I had quite a bad case of upgrade-itis - the first Optoma being retired for a HD33, and that then being retired for a JVC X55 - which I'm more than happy with, fortunately). A big thank you goes to Allan at Ideal AV, as most of this wouldn't have been possible without him - thank you Al

Onto the room...

A first floor flat, windows everywhere, not a great shape, a bit smaller than I'd like, but I've achieved what I wanted given the constraints.





A 107" ReAct 2.1 screen in a 2.35:1 ratio, hung from some Draper brackets, to get around the wall mounted lights that were already here.


The rack (quite a basic Tesco 5 shelf jobbie). JVC DLA-X55, Onkyo 608 AVR, Oppo 103. Out of shot is a Humax freeview HD box.

Speakers have stayed the same since day one. An all Wharfedale affair, the Diamond 10.1 series.



They're beautifully made, and with the grills removed, have some nice details, but I leave the grills on to avoid distractions (the machined bits are a bit too reflective with the PJ pointing in their direction).


One day I'll get a Harmony remote...






As a bit of a Bond fan, it was nice to have the postcards with the 50th BD set.

I'm slowly building up the memoribilia side of things. At present it's just some posters - Pulp Fiction, Skyfall, and a few others dotted around the place. My Death Proof Duck is currently on a plane from the US.



If I can make space, my ultimate would be a Tony Stark Armour Iron Man suit, to sit in the corner of the room - that's a long way off though...
 
Nice to finally see your set up Chevy. :thumbsup: It looks good and I like the way you have your equipment and projector together at the back of the room (something I'd like to do eventually too).

I bought the really cheap Harmony 300 for my conservatory set up but had a play with it running my main system...it stayed in the living room since but a quick tweak and I have even set my second system running from it too by using some off the learning buttons to trick it into operating more than 4 devices. ;) I think it was about £16 or so.

I'll be interested to see this 'Death Proof duck' too since I enjoyed the film, but can't remember a duck. :confused::D
 
Hi Kelvin, and thank you Sir :)
The duck is the hood ornament that Stuntman Mike had on both the Nova and Charger:

nickle-duck_1.jpg


The chaps that make them were the same ones that made the film's original ones, so it's relatively genuine. Hopefully arriving early next week - customs in the US seem to want to keep for a few days first though :facepalm:

The Harmony remote seems a sensible route to go. If I wasn't so anti-Apple, I'd get an iPad and try and co-ordinate it all via that. Truth be told, I've put up with having a cluster of remotes for years, it's more a case of just tidying up the living space.

Note I purposely didn't show any of speaker cables that are duct taped to the carpet - having moved the room around, all that fancy Chord silver screen cabling was too short, so it became a 'as the crow flies' audio installation :laugh:
 
Looks very nice but could do with some wider shots so we can see the whole of the room better. Nice choice of PJ, seen the X55 and its very good :smashin: Hope Allan chucked in the Darbee for free ;)
 
Looks very nice but could do with some wider shots so we can see the whole of the room better. Nice choice of PJ, seen the X55 and its very good :smashin: Hope Allan chucked in the Darbee for free ;)
Thank you Sir, apologies for the lack of wide shots - I need some batteries for my point & shoot camera, then I can take some wider shots (my posh 1D Mk2 only has a 50mm prime at the mo).

The Darblet I had long before the JVC arrived - it's that little box of voodoo that just makes things...better :)
 
The Darblet I had long before the JVC arrived - it's that little box of voodoo that just makes things...better :)

OK, keep meaning to get one but something else always comes along first.
 
Some nice equipment there! I also run the X55 with a Darblet V3 and wouldn't live without it now!
Agree some wider shots would be nice. Thanks for sharing.
 
Hi J

great room you have and you seem to be enjoying it as well which is the important thing

glad you like the screen a well, they really are good in ambient enviroments aren`t they

I love the Duck btw :D

thanks for the praise as well J , its been a pleasure working with you :smashin:

cheers

Allan
 
How far away is the PJ from the screen and how far away is the sofa from the screen? I am looking to do a room but didn't think i had enough room to fit a screen that size in until i saw this!
 
How far away is the PJ from the screen and how far away is the sofa from the screen? I am looking to do a room but didn't think i had enough room to fit a screen that size in until i saw this!

From memory, throw distance is 145", and viewing distance to the screen from the sofa is just under 90". By my maths, this sits within the 2 - 2.5 x screen height for CIH, so is quite immersive (I've only had one comment about the screen being too big :laugh:).
 
It took a while, but the duck has landed...







Just need to sort a plinth out, since the bolts in the bottom are designed for your Chevy Nova or Dodge Charger :D
 
:offtopic:

The smallest of updates - no new kit to speak of, but the original plan of getting the duck mounted somewhere for show, has evolved a bit. I'm returning to racing in the next season or so, so the duck will take its position on the bonnet of the new racecar (just for giggles) :)
 
New toys...

10009915_10152067286113881_1715711556_n_zpsa1ee52f9.jpg


:D (thank you again Allan, I'm assured of an ASBO following complaints from the neighbours by the end of Sunday :rotfl:)...
 
be sure to enjoy those MK`s Jon, they really are the doodahs :thumbsup:
 
Nice upgrades. Look forward to seeing the MK speakers in place. I hope to have them in my setup someday.
 
Nice upgrades. Look forward to seeing the MK speakers in place. I hope to have them in my setup someday.

the mk2's S150's really are the pinnacle of home AV Speakers so your looking in the right place

Allan :smashin:
 
A quick update, a change of subwoofer as my Velodyne was starting to become a problem child again. A JL Audio E-110 takes its place (and it's a lot smaller which is a bonus). Some photos of the new bits:

The S150 MkII LCR's
IMAG1649_zpscdcef758.jpg


M7's acting as front wides
IMAG1652_zpscdbbdaf4.jpg


150T's for surrounds and surround backs
IMAG1651_zps08fb4280.jpg


Jay Low, the 10" of deep throbbing pleasure...
1911615_10152101794368881_153941852_n_zpsb0c820c8.jpg

And I'm on baked beans on toast for the remainder of 2014 :facepalm:.

A big big thank you and a man hug for Allan at Ideal. Gentleman, legend and a joy to do business with. Makes a cracking proper Northern cuppa, also :smashin:.
 
if you run out of beans Jon give me a shout ;)

I bet it sounds great and I`m sure your neighbours will agree :rotfl:
 
Tonight's quick project (halfway towards being complete)...some bias lighting behind the screen. I ran out of strips, but it looks OK so far I think.

DSCF1487_zps171c1550.jpg
 
that looks very good Jon, I hope you have left room for Atmos speakers in the ceiling though :D
 
Harmony 650 changed my life
 
hi. what about the sound? how much better is it?
 

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