Dining room becomes Cinema room

barry7767

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Moved house in early 2014, and decided we would get more use from the dining room as a cinema room! Who wouldn't? The room has evolved slightly since the first install, which I never got around to documenting. So finally, here is the evolution of my modest room, for which I have many more upgrades planned. It is only 3.3m length x 2.9m width.

Equipment so far:

Panasonic AE3000 (purchased from the forums from @Bert Coules)
React 95" screen (from @Ideal AV)
Arendal Sub2 (purchased from @Steven1210)
Monitor Audio Mass LCR & rear surrounds
Monitor Audio BXFX side surrounds
Yamaha V675 receiver
Sony Bluray player
Mede8er med600x3d
Xbox One
Sky HD
Darblet 5000s

Original room prior to purchase

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Work begins

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Electrics in place, HDMI cables & Cat5 run, time to plaster over artex

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Bracket and projector in place (bracket chosen as if needed the projector can slide partially into the bay for additional throw).

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Cables chased for surrounds (originally 5.1)

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Walls patched and painted. Paint is Dulux Grey Steel 2 walls and 3 ceiling, both flat matt. Bargain of the century due to a mix up, a damaged tin and the range being discontinued at B&Q. Believe it or not, they actually paid me 50p to take the paint!

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We have light. 9 x LED's replacing the hanging fitting originally in place

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Radiator moved from behind sofa

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Quick test to ensure cables working prior to speakers being mounted

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Carpet laid and screen assembled
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Temporary sofa moved in, BlocBlind (not fully closed) and curtains up

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Back to the Future LaserDisc hung just in time for the grand premiere...

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One for the family

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Finished right? Wrong. Black/grey bars annoyed me on the 16:9 screen, so made a mask having picked up some tips from the forums. Covered in Devore, and velcro'd to the screen frame. The Panasonic electronically shifts the image to the bottom, which meant I only had one to make, so went hi-tech.

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And in place

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Lights off

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This made a big difference to the perceived contrast. But...the sheer (wrong word) blackness of the Devore drew my eye. So...

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The whole rear wall got the treatment

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And the mask in place

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I know people's thoughts about CIW screens and the loss of impact on scope films, but I watch 50% sport in the room and benefit from the larger screen. I also get the IMAX benefits, though scope films are the 'smallest'. I could zoom back the sports and 1.85:1 and leave the mask in place, but I'm happy with it as it suits my viewing habits. It has made a massive difference, and feels much more cinematic. And I still prefer watching scope films with the mask up, it just feels right. The original screen on the grey wall felt like a big TV, and wasn't as immersive. This set up makes the picture float. This is also a cautionary tale of how you end up chasing Devore around the room! Further changes have been made, but will post tomorrow as need to take more photo's (7.1, new sub, more Devore!) and off out soon.
 
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And here is the room as it stands today. New 3 seat recliner, with original side surrounds moved to the rear within the bay window recess.

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Monitor Audio BX-FX installed to the sides to give 7.1. Sofa is around 15" off the back wall, and they are recessed another 6" or so giving around 80cm (on the angle) clearance from MLP.

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View of the front wall. LCR now covered in Devore as they stood out against the blacked out wall. I have also covered the top of the Sub2 and AV cabinet in Devore to eliminate reflections.

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Sub2 (beast)

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Temporary (read likely permanent) home for my Pepsi Perfect bottle!

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And finally, kicking back and enjoying it

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You can see how effective the Devore is, without it the glass top lights up like Blackpool. That will be it for a while, but my wanted list consists of XTZ Cinema M6's, Atmos and a 4K projector when things settle down and the prices are more affordable. I'm also planning some Devore curtains to cover the door and opposite side wall, but will have to get these made as stapling to frames is my limit. This should improve the contrast on screen by reducing the side reflections; though the React screen does a good job this will certainly benefit the set up.

Anyway, hope you like it - I certainly do, as do my family. Who needs a dining room? :smashin:
 
Very nice. My, almost finished, cinema room used to be the dining room as well.

John
 
Very nice. My, almost finished, cinema room used to be the dining room as well.

John
It's cost me in the long run though, next job is knocking kitchen/utility into one to make a kitchen diner :facepalm:
 
I believe it is. Can blow through it and light passes through. It hasn't made any noticeable difference to the audio, nor has the auto calibration altered the levels.
 
Great job, well done.

Have you stapled the devore to the battens around the screen? Do the staples show?

Thanks
 
Thanks. Yeah stapled, but the staples are on the rear so you can't see them. The frames friction fit, so came back down for stapling
 
Very nice job. Much better than a dining room, just eat popcorn from now on!
Your carpet is distracting against the Devore,better cover it. And the skirting/door/wife and kids etc etc
 
Thanks. Yeah stapled, but the staples are on the rear so you can't see them. The frames friction fit, so came back down for stapling


Hi Barry

I'm not sure what you mean. One picture shows the battens up on the wall and the next shows the devore all up and nicely fitted.

I don't understand how you've put the devore on the battens once they've been screwed to the wall. Could you please explain?

Thanks very much
 
Hi Barry, nice room. Did you do the work yourself?
 
Hi Barry

I'm not sure what you mean. One picture shows the battens up on the wall and the next shows the devore all up and nicely fitted.

I don't understand how you've put the devore on the battens once they've been screwed to the wall. Could you please explain?

Thanks very much
No probs - the battens aren't screwed to the wall, they simply fit between the screen frame and the wall/ceiling by friction only. As such, the photo of them on the wall with no material was just a test fit. I took them back down, stapled material on, then put them back up - no screws/wall fixings needed.

Hi Barry, nice room. Did you do the work yourself?
Thank you. I had an electrician do the extra sockets/HDMI run through ceiling joists. A plasterer in to re-board and skim the ceiling and a plumber move the rad. The rest I pretty much did myself, with my Dad helping out when needed. The framing on the screen wall was fairly easy, followed advice from the forums, as with the screen mask. The rest was painting and mounting the equipment, so not too much really. Haven't soundproofed as we are detached and the room above is a spare, so not too bad throughout the house.
 
No probs - the battens aren't screwed to the wall, they simply fit between the screen frame and the wall/ceiling by friction only. As such, the photo of them on the wall with no material was just a test fit. I took them back down, stapled material on, then put them back up - no screws/wall fixings needed.


Thank you. I had an electrician do the extra sockets/HDMI run through ceiling joists. A plasterer in to re-board and skim the ceiling and a plumber move the rad. The rest I pretty much did myself, with my Dad helping out when needed. The framing on the screen wall was fairly easy, followed advice from the forums, as with the screen mask. The rest was painting and mounting the equipment, so not too much really. Haven't soundproofed as we are detached and the room above is a spare, so not too bad throughout the house.


Thanks, I get what you mean now. Did you reinforce the batten structures with anything? ie additional battens through the middle etc.

Cheers
 
Thanks, I get what you mean now. Did you reinforce the batten structures with anything? ie additional battens through the middle etc.

Cheers
The second of the photos showing the frames, without the material, shows 3 frames in total. The outer 2 were simple rectangles with no additional support, the middle piece was one longer rectangle with 2 supports to prevent it bowing. All held together with 90 degree cabinet fixing blocks, similar to these
Sliding Wardrobe Door Fixing Blocks, Pack of 10 | Departments | DIY at B&Q

Under screen was a bit fiddly as I made smaller frames to fit around sockets. I still plan to cover the skirting board on the screen wall as it is a bit too visible. Need to see if I have enough off cuts of Devore as it ain't cheap!
 
Really like it and the laserdisc is a great touch I might pinch that idea
 
Really like it and the laserdisc is a great touch I might pinch that idea
Cheers. Paid something like £5 for the laserdisc, but about £80 to get it framed o_O. Preferred the scale/novelty of it to a larger movie poster.
 
Just wait until you get the xtz cinema m6 LCR...........and a power amp! You know you want/need to:D
And Atmos. And a 4k projector. And Ultra HD Bluray. And a... :)
 
Under screen was a bit fiddly as I made smaller frames to fit around sockets. I still plan to cover the skirting board on the screen wall as it is a bit too visible. Need to see if I have enough off cuts of Devore as it ain't cheap!
Just read this thread (from seeing your post on Gary's Devore thread). Good work Barry. Do you just keep the masking frame on the floor when not in use, did you try a hinged design given you expanded the Devore above (and below) the screen wall?

I've a similar DIY mask on my diy screen, albeit shallower in depth as I just used Velcro loop and overlapped the existing Velcro border at top of screen. It's just a bit of pita when it's not in use, to store.

I have a white door just like you do adjacent to the screen, and i found it really distracting once all the Devore was in place (I have pinned some Devore to the side wall on other side out to just over 1m). So I ended up using double-sided sticky tape to attach Devore to the door, which was a right old bodge job - I had applied the Devore quite taut, so it didn't look all saggy on the door, but over a few weeks the Devore started to pull away from the edges of the door/tape, and now looks very messy, but I try to ignore it. But as I say, the door was the brightest thing in the room before I did it. Do you have any plans to do anything with it?

Edit: just read your comment about having some Devore curtains made up for the door. I know what you mean about the skirting board though!!
 
Yes, the mask lives behind the sofa when not in use. It literally takes 30 seconds to put on and take off as it friction fits between the screen frame and the Devore frame above with simple right angle brackets. I did consider hinges but concluded this was simpler and more within my very limited DIY capabilities!

The door is a bit of a distraction, but I've never known any different as this is my first set up. Perhaps the React screen limits it as I must say I don't notice it all that much now. I will explore curtains though at some point, and I have covered the skirting board at the bottom. Will update with a photo later when I'm watching the footy.
 
Thanks, I see I guess your React screen limits the reflections, whereas I have a white screen, so it always "lit the door up" (compared to the screen wall). So you just slot in the brackets into the slight gap between the top of the screen & the bottom of the frame above, yes? Very clever.
 
Yes, just slots in the gap. Tried Velcro first but it came off over time, and then I added the frames above which provided the slot, by chance rather than design.

The Devore is addictive, covered the font skirting with the scraps I had left.
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That looks really nice. I'm starting plans for my living room so I'm reading everything I can for ideas. I don't have a seperate room so I'm going to be limited and have to be very careful with my choices, if I covered everything with black material I think I'd be wrapped up in it and buried in the garden!
 

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