Living room conversion to MK 7.2.4 dedicated room

Good idea about going for something cheaper for the back row - it would let me spend more on the front row which will be used more often. Could I ask which brand of cinema style seats you went for at the back?
Of course each to their own, and some can afford the space and cash for luxury seats front and back (which also looks neat), but a) I didn't have the space and b) our front row will be used on it's own 99% of the time, and when we have more than 2 friends watching, we'll sit in the back and let them enjoy the nicer seats.

The cinema seats I went for take up less depth and less width. I bought used real cinema seats from mycinema. The ones I got were Roma fixed (can't see them in stock at the moment, but they look like these: Ex Demo Home Cinema Chair - My Cinema UK )
They recovered them in new black faux leather (they sent me samples, which seem good). I got a row of 4, with 5 cup holders total. I paid £165 a chair, delivered. There are scratches on the plastic arms and cup holders, as expected, which is fine for me, as no one will notice.

The FrontRow seats look nice - do they do discounts on the shown prices at all?
 
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first time coming across this build. Looking really good, keep up the good work, will all be worth it when finished!! 👍🏻
 
Good idea about going for something cheaper for the back row - it would let me spend more on the front row which will be used more often.
Just thinking more about this:
Your original room was 5.11m long, and you're using an AT screen. I'm not sure that leaves a lot of room for 2 big rows of seats. What are the finished room dimensions, and what is your distance from front row viewers to screen?
 
Just thinking more about this:
Your original room was 5.11m long, and you're using an AT screen. I'm not sure that leaves a lot of room for 2 big rows of seats. What are the finished room dimensions, and what is your distance from front row viewers to screen?

The final room dimension from screen wall to new back walls is reduced to 4.62m, this results in a viewing distance of about 2.61m to a 3m wide screen, so it is below the recommended minimum I've seen quoted of 1:1 ratio of the scope screen width to viewing distance.

I would have been happy with a single row of seats as this would have been fine for how the room is used the majority of the time. Unfortunately having two rows of seats was one of the non-negotiable conditions of me getting agreement to have the dedicated room. The amount of space on the riser platform means that you can't get past adjacent seats if they are reclined so a more traditional cinema style seat here would be both cheaper and more practical but I'd lose that uniform look that you mentioned.

At the moment I'm finding the viewing distance from the MLP isn't a problem and I'm enjoying the immersion. It surprised me a bit as I wouldn't normally choose to site towards the front of a cinema. I'm running CIH and for narrower 16:9 content the viewing distance is absolutely fine.

Not that I had a choice in the end, but due to the width restriction of the room I was a little concerned that if we had gone for a single row of 4 seats then the outer seats on the row would have been pretty close to the surround side speakers. More a problem for the family than me!

Layout + seating.jpg
 
Just because you like them more or is there any other factor behind your preference?
Mostly just because I like them more. Some seating options only appear to come in leather so it won't be a deal breaker but given the choice I'd go for fabric.
 
The final room dimension from screen wall to new back walls is reduced to 4.62m, this results in a viewing distance of about 2.61m to a 3m wide screen, so it is below the recommended minimum I've seen quoted of 1:1 ratio of the scope screen width to viewing distance.
And I see from your drawing that you've got a width of 3.78m?
My finished dimensions, from screen to back wall (with speakers behind screen) should be 4.61m x 3.69m, so almost identical to yours. My side and rear speakers will be slightly into walls.

I have a chimney breast on one side, so you can take another 30cm off the width where the seats are. So where the seats are I've got a width of 3.39m. I've ordered a row of 4 Valencia Verona seats, with centre love seat, which come out at 2.82m. That leaves me 57cm to pass for the back row. I'd actually be ok with 30cm, because we'll rarely use the back row and it's easy to squeeze past a sofa/chair.

My seating distance (eyes) will be about 10' (3.05m). I've then allowed just over a foot to the back of the seats, which leaves 1.2m for the back row. That's enough for the seating I've ordered. Fancy seats at the back would push my front row closer to the screen than I'd like (room nulls and being able to see the screen weave).

Have you got any space from your screen to the front wall? You may want to avoid your ears being at 0.625 (5/8) * the length of your room (you'd get a null at about 600 Hz).


I would have been happy with a single row of seats as this would have been fine for how the room is used the majority of the time. Unfortunately having two rows of seats was one of the non-negotiable conditions of me getting agreement to have the dedicated room. The amount of space on the riser platform means that you can't get past adjacent seats if they are reclined so a more traditional cinema style seat here would be both cheaper and more practical but I'd lose that uniform look that you mentioned.
How the room looks is important to me too. When the film isn't on I'll be lighting up the skirting, soffit, screen, riser steps etc, and I'll have a couple of poster light-boxes. I'm not sure the black rear seats will stand out much in my otherwise black room, and you do notice them, they're still cinema seats.


At the moment I'm finding the viewing distance from the MLP isn't a problem and I'm enjoying the immersion. It surprised me a bit as I wouldn't normally choose to site towards the front of a cinema. I'm running CIH and for narrower 16:9 content the viewing distance is absolutely fine.
Excellent. And if you really needed to make the screen smaller for some fast pace films, couldn't you mask it down? I'll have 4 way masking for mine, for that very reason, although my viewing to screen with is about 1:1.



Not that I had a choice in the end, but due to the width restriction of the room I was a little concerned that if we had gone for a single row of 4 seats then the outer seats on the row would have been pretty close to the surround side speakers. More a problem for the family than me!
When I first planned my room, I anticipated the 4 primary seats being 2 at the front and 2 at the back, but I since learned that the audio at the back wouldn't be good, and the screen size would also be quite different between rows. Get the audio (and video) right for 4 at the front is just easier, and the seats I've ordered aren't too wide, so those at the sides will be far enough off the side surrounds (which will be behind us slightly, and aimed at the furthest seat, so the closest seat is a bit off axis, with resulting lower SPL).

And when it's 3 of us watching, I'm going to push the seats (on carpet sliders) so that we're all closer to the middle.

But if your solution of having the front row closer to the screen works, then that's even better.
 
A few overdue updates.
The carpet finally got installed in July and it really helped with contrast and reducing the light bouncing back from the (temporary bedsheet) screen. Also had a bit of an improvement in the acoustics after adding the carpet compared to the timber floor.

Before
IMG_1604.JPEG

During
IMG_1608.JPEG

After
IMG_1618.JPEG


IMG_1619.JPEG
 
After going to all the effort of installing new walls and ceiling for sound reduction to the adjacent rooms I did some acoustic testing to see what sort of performance I was getting.

The 'dodec' speaker
The 'dodec' speaker


The amplifier
The amplifier


The Norsonic Nor140 calibrated sound meter
The Norsonic Nor140 calibrated sound meter


The results below are the normalised level difference according to ISO 140-4, field measurements of airborne sound insulation between rooms.

To the upstairs bedroom (above the ceiling) [56dB DnT,W]
Cinema Sound Insulation Test Results_bedroom.jpg


To the adjacent room (behind the screen wall) [56dB DnT,W]
Cinema Sound Insulation Test Results_study.jpg


To the adjacent corridor (outside the door) [29dB DnT,W]
Cinema Sound Insulation Test Results_corridor.jpg



Not too bad a performance overall. Clearly the door is the weak point!
 
Sort of related to the cinema build, the Covid home office has taken over the spare bedroom which is the room the other side behind the cinema screen wall. In here I've added some wall treatment above the desk. Don't think it will help much with additional noise reduction from the cinema but it has helped with acoustics in this room when on online calls and I think makes a nice feature wall.

Desktop created from a cutdown kitchen worktop with some drawers underneath from Ikea.
IMG_1682.JPEG

Battens installed on the wall above the desk for fixing the wall treatment and give a void for the insulation.
IMG_1750.JPEG

Adding Rockwool insulation and the wall treatment. Have included pattresses so we can wall mount the monitors later if we want to, and allow us to hide the cables for a more streamlined appearance.
IMG_1751.JPEG

The wall treatment all in place. Also added an aluminium profile along the base of the treatment for a Philips Hue LED strip.
IMG_1753.JPEG

With all the work equipment back on the desk.
InkedIMG_1759_LI.jpg
 
Last month I bought one of the new Violet SmartSwitch Lite to go in the cinema to control my Philips Hue lighting scenes, with an added bonus of Sonos control.

For maximum laziness I've been using this just sitting on top of the table that is by my seat (powered by USB) rather wall mounting on the mains lighting circuit as I've found it more convenient for controlling the lighting scenes before, after, and during films being sat right beside me rather than getting up to go over to the wall. I might build it into a custom built side table eventually.

Violet are adding more integrations, with Home Assistant just added, so there are lots of possibilities for control of more things outside Hue lighting in the future. Screen masking maybe.

IMG_1937.jpeg
 
Room is looking great.

It might be my eyes, but I think I can see a wrinkle on your screen?
:D Thank you. Yeah, it's an absolute pain getting the wrinkles out of those bedsheet screens, just can't get the tensioning right! Despite that I've still been watching stuff on it almost everyday for the last six months, and honestly stop noticing it after a while once immersed in the film or TV show.

Got my new screen installed last week so no more wrinkles! Not surprisingly it's a much better image than before :clap:
 
Light switch looks nice but bit rich for me. Need these smart switches to drop in price a bit ideally. Home office looks amazing.
 
Light switch looks nice but bit rich for me. Need these smart switches to drop in price a bit ideally. Home office looks amazing.
Thanks for the compliments.

I agree that these switches are still too pricey, even with the special deal price I got from Amazon at the time. I’d love to use them in more places around the house but can’t justify the cost.
 
Are you still planning to get different seats?
I’d like to get some Valencia seats when funds allow. I’ve sized the gap on the front row between the steps to accommodate a 3 seater row.

How are you finding the Valencia seats?
 
I tried one out, but now it's back in the box like the others. My room still have a bit of work to do before I can put them in.
What do you still have left to complete? Have you started your fabric walls yet?
 
What do you still have left to complete? Have you started your fabric walls yet?
I started putting insulation in the ceiling and walls yesterday. There's still a lot of that to do. I've got to add the fabric tracks, some diffusion panels I'm making. I've got to make panels for the ceiling - think picture frames with black fabric. I have to do the same for the back wall, but I'm planning to do that after we've started watching things. A bit of painting, fit some downlights in with the ceiling panels I make. Some door stops with associated sound-proofing. And finally, before installing the gear, I've got to build the frame.

I also won't do the ventilation dead-boxes until after we're in. Same with all the DIY speakers and subs I've got to make (I've got the front 3 speakers, and will use some old bookshelves elsewhere until I've built the rest).

I all adds up, but hopefully not too much longer.
 
Sort of related to the cinema build, the Covid home office has taken over the spare bedroom which is the room the other side behind the cinema screen wall. In here I've added some wall treatment above the desk. Don't think it will help much with additional noise reduction from the cinema but it has helped with acoustics in this room when on online calls and I think makes a nice feature wall.

Desktop created from a cutdown kitchen worktop with some drawers underneath from Ikea.
View attachment 1624118
Battens installed on the wall above the desk for fixing the wall treatment and give a void for the insulation.
View attachment 1624120
Adding Rockwool insulation and the wall treatment. Have included pattresses so we can wall mount the monitors later if we want to, and allow us to hide the cables for a more streamlined appearance.
View attachment 1624121
The wall treatment all in place. Also added an aluminium profile along the base of the treatment for a Philips Hue LED strip.
View attachment 1624122
With all the work equipment back on the desk.
View attachment 1624125
Love what you've done with your office - really tasteful.

I see you said you didnt think it would, but have you found the Rockwool makes any difference to sound transmission from the other room?
 
Love what you've done with your office - really tasteful.

I see you said you didnt think it would, but have you found the Rockwool makes any difference to sound transmission from the other room?
Cheers, that means a lot. Been following your build, your room is amazing.

I don’t think the Rockwool has made any appreciable difference to the noise transmission as it works better as an absorber but reduction requires mass and decoupling.

I’m going to try to do some more sound performance testing over Christmas to see how my new door is performing so I’ll also test between the cinema and office again to see if the addition of the Rockwool + timber slats has changed the results since testing last time and will let you know.
 
Thanks!

Yea, I didn't think it would either. I'm in similar situation, in that my monitor wall in my office is shared with the living room.
 
It has made a positive difference in the office to reduce reverberation as it was all hard surfaces before so it was worth it from that perspective.

Do you have space to build out your monitor wall with some resilient channels and a layer of Soundbloc?
 

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