beechy06
Prominent Member
Hi everyone, welcome to my living room project, started back in 2017, will update things as I go along,
(Latest major update 26/06/2020 post 64)
————-
First the before pics / story (early 2017) -
The living room was due for a change looking tired and a bit dated in parts, I was also looking to create more space in my kitchen so made plans to square off my L shape living room and bring things more up to date. The room itself was roughly 6.5m by 3.5m (not counting the extra to be given to the kitchen)
As you can see from the last picture this space wasn't used properly so made sense to make use of it as part of the kitchen.
Kit list at this time was -
Pioneer 50" Kuro
Arcam AVR750
Arcam UPD411
PMC TB2i front 3 + PMC Wafer 1 rears
BK XXLS400DF
PS4
So I started to draw up plans as to what could be achieved with the space, goals where for it to be modern, minimal and be able to accommodate a nice big projector screen!
I'd always wanted to try a projector set up but until fairly recently not having the space for one. After searching online / using the forums i decided to go and check out the Epson 7300/9300 range. It was a quick trip down the M62 to see Allan at Ideal AV and within 10 minutes i was sold on them! That said thanks to Al's great hospitality I must of been there a good 4 hours atleast!
Another reason for me getting a demo with Allan was i was curious to check out some MK speakers, I'd heard many a good thing and was also tempted by the thought that these could be 'hid' in wall for a nice discreet set up. So i took the plunge, as much as I love my trusty PMC's I couldn't see how they would fit within the new living room idea i had so there now doing a great job in a simple 2 channel set up in another room instead.
Stage one - clear out and running of wires!
Gone with the old pool table and clutter!
Fishing rod came in quite handy to run all the various wires!
One thing I wanted to do was to move all the AV equipment out of sight, i toyed with either a unit at the back of the room but ultimately settled on under the stairs, plenty of space / ventilation in there plus internet (Virgin) already comes into the house here, i just had to run new SKY feeds and then the various speaker / HDMI & Cat 6 cables too and from, a few late nights and all was in place ready.
As you can see on this and the other picture i marked out very roughly where the screen was to go and the new stud partition wall. The plan was to have the TV recessed in a false wall and then for the projector screen to drop down in front of this.
Few weeks later and work started on the stud work
Now you can better visualise the new layout i had in mind.
One stumbling block I hit was how to install the rear speakers (MK IW85's) these are mainly designed to go into stud walls but my walls are solid block work. Spoke to Allan and few emails to MK, (i almost decided to go for in ceiling in the end) but with the help of my Dad (he's pretty handy with these sorts of things!) we came up with a solution -
Excuse the bad photo but we came up with this wooden box to house the speakers which could then be inserted into a cut out made in the wall. Tested a few different sizes / depths but this is what was settled on. So the holes where then cut in the walls -
Never underestimate the amount of dust cutting block work causes! You may be able to see here that there is a compromise with the rear surrounds, ideally i'd want them to be further forward towards the screen / listening position but due to the large (4m) window this is a no goer, I suppose every none purpose built room has its compromises!
It was at this point that i decided to go head first and make the system a full Atmos (7.1.4) set up. I originally discounted it (partly due to me thinking i may need to go with in ceiling rears) but I thought with the room in the state it was that if i don't do it now i either never will or regret i never did in the first place!
More to follow....
(Latest major update 26/06/2020 post 64)
————-
First the before pics / story (early 2017) -
The living room was due for a change looking tired and a bit dated in parts, I was also looking to create more space in my kitchen so made plans to square off my L shape living room and bring things more up to date. The room itself was roughly 6.5m by 3.5m (not counting the extra to be given to the kitchen)
As you can see from the last picture this space wasn't used properly so made sense to make use of it as part of the kitchen.
Kit list at this time was -
Pioneer 50" Kuro
Arcam AVR750
Arcam UPD411
PMC TB2i front 3 + PMC Wafer 1 rears
BK XXLS400DF
PS4
So I started to draw up plans as to what could be achieved with the space, goals where for it to be modern, minimal and be able to accommodate a nice big projector screen!
I'd always wanted to try a projector set up but until fairly recently not having the space for one. After searching online / using the forums i decided to go and check out the Epson 7300/9300 range. It was a quick trip down the M62 to see Allan at Ideal AV and within 10 minutes i was sold on them! That said thanks to Al's great hospitality I must of been there a good 4 hours atleast!
Another reason for me getting a demo with Allan was i was curious to check out some MK speakers, I'd heard many a good thing and was also tempted by the thought that these could be 'hid' in wall for a nice discreet set up. So i took the plunge, as much as I love my trusty PMC's I couldn't see how they would fit within the new living room idea i had so there now doing a great job in a simple 2 channel set up in another room instead.
Stage one - clear out and running of wires!
Gone with the old pool table and clutter!
Fishing rod came in quite handy to run all the various wires!
One thing I wanted to do was to move all the AV equipment out of sight, i toyed with either a unit at the back of the room but ultimately settled on under the stairs, plenty of space / ventilation in there plus internet (Virgin) already comes into the house here, i just had to run new SKY feeds and then the various speaker / HDMI & Cat 6 cables too and from, a few late nights and all was in place ready.
As you can see on this and the other picture i marked out very roughly where the screen was to go and the new stud partition wall. The plan was to have the TV recessed in a false wall and then for the projector screen to drop down in front of this.
Few weeks later and work started on the stud work
Now you can better visualise the new layout i had in mind.
One stumbling block I hit was how to install the rear speakers (MK IW85's) these are mainly designed to go into stud walls but my walls are solid block work. Spoke to Allan and few emails to MK, (i almost decided to go for in ceiling in the end) but with the help of my Dad (he's pretty handy with these sorts of things!) we came up with a solution -
Excuse the bad photo but we came up with this wooden box to house the speakers which could then be inserted into a cut out made in the wall. Tested a few different sizes / depths but this is what was settled on. So the holes where then cut in the walls -
Never underestimate the amount of dust cutting block work causes! You may be able to see here that there is a compromise with the rear surrounds, ideally i'd want them to be further forward towards the screen / listening position but due to the large (4m) window this is a no goer, I suppose every none purpose built room has its compromises!
It was at this point that i decided to go head first and make the system a full Atmos (7.1.4) set up. I originally discounted it (partly due to me thinking i may need to go with in ceiling rears) but I thought with the room in the state it was that if i don't do it now i either never will or regret i never did in the first place!
More to follow....
Last edited: