Really enjoyed reading this thread. Amazing job and well done. One for the bookmarks for when I do get around to doing my next project.
Some questions if you don’t mind, and Purely Out if my own curiosity.
1. Did you mention above that you lowered your entire ceiling by two inches? Did I read that right? Must have been a hell of a job.

2. How’s the sound seperation for the surrounds working out for you from your seating position?

3. Any reason not to put the sub at the front, I’m guessing aesthetics? Any difference in base quality/feel/punch with it being behind the sofa instead of the front have you tested it?

4. Just awesome man. I really love the projector lift. Really opens up viewing and ticks the right boxes for a clean room.
Personally I would be too chicken :) to install it my self. Don’t get me wrong no issues ripping up floor boards, doing stud work and plasterboards or installing atmos speakers. I just don’t think I’ll have the confidence. Wondering if you did any videos of the install process at all?

Your end result looks like you created a place you could relax and enjoy movies in and have great family time.

Any thing you would have done different? Any lessons learned for “next” time. There’s always a next time!!!
 
What an absolute transformation, you should be very pleased with the result
Am sure there was a lot of thought went into this
Have you added/changed anything in the last year? Cant see it been needed but you know what this game is like

Paul

Thanks Paul

No new AV has gone in since the Fathom, my savings account needed some repair time :rotfl: But like you say I know what this game is like so the next upgrade is never too far away although I have thoroughly enjoyed the hours of enjoyment its brought me over this past year or so.

If I was to look at next upgrade could see this in three ways: power amp for the front 3, second sub or upgrade the front 3 to latest versions but we will see, like I say though still loving the current set up so i’m in no hurry :thumbsup:

How about you? That’s a heck of a system you have but whats next?

Couple pics below of how the room is now, added a bit of furniture and got round to changing out the old door

2F6E7628-25D1-45C9-A6E5-6A7030E52373.jpeg


8393876B-1CC2-492E-99D7-F5FA2A32987D.jpeg


820B3B5C-76C6-448C-80F3-25707E0874B1.jpeg
 
Really enjoyed reading this thread. Amazing job and well done. One for the bookmarks for when I do get around to doing my next project.
Some questions if you don’t mind, and Purely Out if my own curiosity.
1. Did you mention above that you lowered your entire ceiling by two inches? Did I read that right? Must have been a hell of a job.

2. How’s the sound seperation for the surrounds working out for you from your seating position?

3. Any reason not to put the sub at the front, I’m guessing aesthetics? Any difference in base quality/feel/punch with it being behind the sofa instead of the front have you tested it?

4. Just awesome man. I really love the projector lift. Really opens up viewing and ticks the right boxes for a clean room.
Personally I would be too chicken :) to install it my self. Don’t get me wrong no issues ripping up floor boards, doing stud work and plasterboards or installing atmos speakers. I just don’t think I’ll have the confidence. Wondering if you did any videos of the install process at all?

Your end result looks like you created a place you could relax and enjoy movies in and have great family time.

Any thing you would have done different? Any lessons learned for “next” time. There’s always a next time!!!

Thanks for the kind comments :smashin: in response to your questions-

1. Yes I did (the lift is bloody massive!) although like you that job is far beyond my skill set so the builder I had in doing the structural work did that job, I was apprehensive at first but tbh you wouldn’t notice the loss in ceiling hight if you weren’t to know. The guys simply put up battons through the existing ceiling then boarded up.

2. It works fine, i’ve played round with the sofa so that now from my seating position the side surrounds are at about a 15 degree angle 1.6m / 1.7m away. Manage to get a good ‘bubble’ effect for atmos soundtracks as they integrate well with the hights. I know the preference is to go with a surround speaker that can disperse the sound rather than direct but this was a no goer for me as wanted to be as discreet as possible.

3. Two reasons really, one I’d not hard wired for a sub to be positioned at the front :facepalm: But yes also aesthetics, we did do a sub crawl and did notice the sound was slightly more ‘boomy’ from the front so made the decision relatively straight forward in the end. The sub itself sounds fantastic and does give an almighty slam and weight to any soundtrack, definitely get that punch from it too, you can’t pin point where the sub is during a film. For stereo listening i’d say this is the only part were the position shows up, it still sounds great and I only notice with certain tracks but I do think it would integrate slightly better near the front.

4. Yep the lift is great, still get that wow factor from it too if ever I have friends round that don’t notice it till I flick the switch and it all lowers! As per the roof I didn’t instal the lift, due to the size it needed a joist removing and re braced so it wasn’t a job I could take on myself!

Overall as mentioned on my last post i’ve been loving this past year + since its all been finished, next time I want to go with a dedicated room but that isn’t an option while i’m living here! Learnings wise as mentioned i’d wire in for multiple sub points if I were to do it again and possibly add extra insulation into the roof but other than that nothing much else comes to mind.

Good luck with your own build :thumbsup:
 
Thanks Paul

No new AV has gone in since the Fathom, my savings account needed some repair time :rotfl: But like you say I know what this game is like so the next upgrade is never too far away although I have thoroughly enjoyed the hours of enjoyment its brought me over this past year or so.

If I was to look at next upgrade could see this in three ways: power amp for the front 3, second sub or upgrade the front 3 to latest versions but we will see, like I say though still loving the current set up so i’m in no hurry :thumbsup:

How about you? That’s a heck of a system you have but whats next?

Couple pics below of how the room is now, added a bit of furniture and got round to changing out the old door

View attachment 1082178

View attachment 1082180

View attachment 1082179
Whats Next.
Doing what we did with our room was to draw some closure into the game, with swapping out too often, we do feel its done this as we are very happy with the way things sound and improvement would only be done by fine tuning the eq side but! we have been thinking of bringing a stereo possessor into the system, we are still pondering on this one, is it really needed is our question and if yes, should we just get a Arcam 850/860 or do we incorporate it separately
We are still smiling :):D
 
Whats Next.
Doing what we did with our room was to draw some closure into the game, with swapping out too often, we do feel its done this as we are very happy with the way things sound and improvement would only be done by fine tuning the eq side but! we have been thinking of bringing a stereo possessor into the system, we are still pondering on this one, is it really needed is our question and if yes, should we just get a Arcam 850/860 or do we incorporate it separately
We are still smiling :):D

An Arcam would definitely get my recommendation, brilliant AVR’s / processors, will keep tabs on your thread if you decide to take the plunge!
 
Nice work ... thought about fitting a pelmet to the head of the curtains to stop the overspill of light up onto the ceiling ? ... could be covered in the same material as the curtains - might improve the contrast on a summer's eve viewing ?
 
Nice work ... thought about fitting a pelmet to the head of the curtains to stop the overspill of light up onto the ceiling ? ... could be covered in the same material as the curtains - might improve the contrast on a summer's eve viewing ?

Thanks,

I’d not thought of that but not sure it would work with me having the coving up. I’ve considered installing some blinds but given the size of the window it would have to be 3 sperate ones! It’s not a major issue though & seens as we’re in winter i’m more than content :D
 
Fabulous looking system Chris, congrats. Really looking forward to hearing it at the weekend :smashin:
 
Fabulous looking system Chris, congrats. Really looking forward to hearing it at the weekend :smashin:

Cheers Richard, as much as I enjoy seeing my family & friends reaction to it, it’ll be good to get a fellow AV enthusiasts take on it who actually understands / appreciates this hobby of ours!
 
Cheers Richard, as much as I enjoy seeing my family & friends reaction to it, it’ll be good to get a fellow AV enthusiasts take on it who actually understands / appreciates this hobby of ours!
I would like to pop over and have listen,:) anytime
 
I would like to pop over and have listen,:) anytime

Yeah sure Paul will have to arrange something, be good to get a listen to your set up too!
 
heard a b&w PV1D subwoofer today in this blokes house i purchased some speakers off wow it was out of this world i never new a subwoofer would make so much difference in a set up ive got a kef cube thats ok but the diffrerence in quality gear makes all the difference
 
heard a b&w PV1D subwoofer today in this blokes house i purchased some speakers off wow it was out of this world i never new a subwoofer would make so much difference in a set up ive got a kef cube thats ok but the diffrerence in quality gear makes all the difference

Yep, a good quality sub underpinning a system makes such a difference. My Fathom was one of the best investments I made, its an absolute beast :eek::D
 
never heard that fathom but a good sub makes so much a difference ill have a look at that fathom ive never heard of them to be honest
 
bloody hell they are expensive to buy i bet ur set up sounds fantastic
 
what i noticed you dont need big speakers to get a brill sounding system i think its the subwoofer that makes the difference correct me if im wrong im only learning but what i heard 2 day will do me just fine
 
never heard that fathom but a good sub makes so much a difference ill have a look at that fathom ive never heard of them to be honest

Here’s the forum thread if you want to read up on them a bit more and the rest of the JL Audio range-

JL Audio subwoofers thread


bloody hell they are expensive to buy i bet ur set up sounds fantastic

Ha yeah they’re not cheap but sound great & she’s built like a Tiger tank!!

Plenty other decent sub options out there that would be a good upgrade from your Kef if you were looking to change it out, if you check out the subwoofer sub page in the speakers page there’s allsorts of options available :smashin:
 
yeah with the avreciever i have just upgraded to theres the option 2 add another subwoofer if wouldnt be nesasery with a upgraded sub would it room only small not large one
 
so which subwoofer would you recomend beechy06 ive been looking and its so difficult as i want to place it next to my cabinet ive got enough room for a smallish one as the kef cube 2 ive had put in corner and its not correctly placed i no
 
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so which subwoofer would you recomend beechy06 ive been looking and its so difficult

You’re probably best starting a tread in that forum or asking in one of the specific threads as there’s guys with plenty knowledge & have heard the various options (more than I have) in that part of the forums.

Personally I used to have a BK XXLS400 which served me great for several years
 
Cheers Richard, as much as I enjoy seeing my family & friends reaction to it, it’ll be good to get a fellow AV enthusiasts take on it who actually understands / appreciates this hobby of ours!
Had the pleasure of listening to Chris’s system earlier today and it is a fantastic home cinema. Oodles of fun, dynamics, clarity and a wonderful, seamless bubble of sound. The speakers, amp and room gel wonderfully. Luckily it’s a detached house so we had chance to push the volume and everything still sounded ‘together’ with no hardness to the sound.

The bonkers opening to Dredd was an awesome spectacle. Gravity was a delight, real reference Atmos sound steering and dynamics. Music on the opening to Inside Man showed great timing, beautifully underpinned by the JL Fathom. The Spectre Bond theme showed off how well Dirac kept the sound more coherent and focused, when toggling the EQ on/off. Also enjoyed the Opera scene in MI:5 Ghost Protocol and finished off with a few favourite tracks from Hans Zimmer in concert.

Conclusions? The MK speakers, Arcam AVR and JL Fathom are all quality components and added together show that although not cheap allows you to get a really immersive, high quality home cinema experience in a well set up room. For me, I will be swapping out my old PMC rears for MK S150Ts and adding MK IW95 for the 4 height channels. Then I will need to look for a replacement for my Classé Sigma processor, with an AV860 certainly in the mix. I’d like to see how it compares to the current Arcam AVR range used as processors only. There are also the new Lexicon and Emotiva processors I’d like to hear as well. Should keep me busy well into 2019.

I’ve just realised I’ve not even mentioned the Epson projector and screen yet, which again added to the enjoyment and overall experience.

Thanks again to Chris for inviting me over, it was an absolute treat and great company to boot. Hopefully I’ll get to return the favour at some point soon.
 

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