Modest home cinema room

Luminated67

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Thought I might share my modest home cinema room, nothing too fancy but has given many enjoyable hours.

I originally got into this hobby back in 2016 with a secondhand Epson 6100 and a dirt cheap electric screen which showed me what I was missing just watching stuff on my TV and at this point the bug had definitely bit. At the time I had a KEF egg system complete with sub sitting about and thought buy an AVR (Denon 2400) and a cheap 1080P Panasonic BR player and I can have some relatively cheap entertainment instead of having to sit with the wife watching Eastenders or some other awful program women seem to be into. LOL

Unfortunately my Epson developed a fault a few months later which was going to cost too much to fix so went and got a Sony HW45 and at the same time took the decision to change the screen getting a fixed frame, two of the best decisions I have made because not only did the Sony show just how much things had progressed from the 6100 but the switch to a screen that was perfectly flat made the whole viewing experience so much better.

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The reason I went fixed frame despite the door that obviously leads into another room is that this is where most of the Home Audio equipment sit, the stuff that you seldom need to touch once you have hooked up an IR transmitter/receiver to control everything. Plus is only takes two people a minute to remove the screen when excess is required.

At the same time I decided to get some decent chairs and these are things that can't be dismissed because sitting 2 plus hours no one wants a numb bum. LOL

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Basically lived with the system this way for about 12 months and was truly a happy bunny....... but as is always the case you search for ways to improve things and this search took me to IPL Acoustics as I use to own a Car Audio store and fabricating sub boxes and door builds was something we did and the idea of building my own set of speakers was something I had always fancied. Needless to say a lot of research went into finding what I reckon was the best DIY speakers at a reasonable price finally settling on their M1TML Ribbons for the mains and AVC Pro Centre for the centre channel.


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Early on I took the decision to keep the main pair wood finish mainly because if I ever did decide to ship these on to a new home a nice oak finish might be a better option than satin black. The reason I went transmission line instead of traditional ported box design is mainly the deep of bass and it's control that a transmission line brings, of course none of this is important for home cinema as the sub/s deal with all the low stuff but as I do enjoy just listening to music then the added bass control of these speakers do come into their own. The centre I decided to finish in black mainly due to it's position below the screen, this is a beast of a centre, it's actually made out of 25mm MDF, yeah that's right the same stuff guys use to make their sub boxes, to say this thing is acoustically dead is an understatement and boy does it delivery, I have heard most exotic speakers over the years and these ILP Acoustic speakers match or better most of them and for a fraction of the price if you exclude your time building them and I have yet to hear a mainstream centre speaker sound as good as that AVC Pro Centre, in fact the whole front soundstage is truly amazing.

The other improvement I made and this is probably the greatest anyone can do to their home cinema room is cover all the walls and ceiling in non reflection velour. You just can imagine until you experience it the difference this makes to the image you see on the screen.

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The black went from OK grey to properly dark grey and in turn colours because more intense too. At first I thought of only doing out about 6ft from the screen and to be honest this is where most of the difference on the screen is noticed but what also happened is that out of the corner of your eye you notice the reflection on the walls that haven’t been covered. So I took the decision to extend this right back to the projector and the seating which has removed the reflection being seen and locking your attention on the image in front of you.

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At this point I decided to order additional material and cover both the velux window, there's velcro stapled on to the plaster directly above and below the window and then velcro attached to the backside of the material so if and when I need excess to the windows is dead simple.

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I have since covered the radiator in the room and added two big black rugs directly below the screen that come out 2 meters as changing the carpet wasn't an option without the wife's approval which wasn't coming any time soon. LOL
 
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Images shot when I had the Sony

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Both images were after doing the black velour covering over the walls and ceiling. Like I said the blacks are now properly black.
 
Images since I got the Epson TW9400, all these images are 1080p Blurays and the Epson was calibrated superbly by @Gordon @ Convergent AV

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All these images are 4K on the Epson

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Amazing images and love the set up. I too am interested in the epson, thinking of upgrading from my current Epson TW 3200 projector which I have had for a number of years now. Considering either the Optoma UHD 65 or the Epson, although haven't demoed either and won't be able to for a little while!!!!
I just wondered though on a separate note, what velour you used and how you fixed it to the walls and ceiling? Thanks
 
Looks fantastic - I'd say it's certainly a tick above "modest"!

May I ask where you got the black velour from?

No problem, here's the link to the company I dealt with.


And here's a link to the thread I started on the subject.

Self Adhesive Flock

Brilliant stuff but seriously sticky so really you need two people to put up, in my case I had only myself and as this was a personal home cinema room I wasn't that particular about doing the strips in full 1300mm width so I basically half the width. Another worthwhile thing to do is draw a line to attach it to as it's so easy to run off especially when doing the ceiling.

It really is the black hole of Calcutta with the lights down. LOL

Hope this helps.:smashin:
 
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Looks fantastic - I'd say it's certainly a tick above "modest"!

May I ask where you got the black velour from?

Thanks mate, I call it modest because of the outlay.
Total costs for all the equipment comes in at £5650 including chairs, velour and rugs.

So much less than the cost of a JVC N5.

Admittedly the speakers can be bought pre made which would have added £1600 to this price but still it’s a modest outlay for a full home cinema room.
 
Amazing job for the modest budget 👍
 
There’s a few companies that build these speakers for you which would have added around £1600 for the front three but even then it’s still a reasonable outlay for a complete setup.

I’m not saying it’s the absolute pinnacle of home cinema excellence but I do know you would have to spend a significant amount to see a huge difference and frankly I don’t use the room enough to justify spending more. One thing I definitely wouldn’t change is the sound, very happy with how everything gels.
 
Thanks mate, I call it modest because of the outlay.
Total costs for all the equipment comes in at £5650 including chairs, velour and rugs.

So much less than the cost of a JVC N5.

Admittedly the speakers can be bought pre made which would have added £1600 to this price but still it’s a modest outlay for a full home cinema room.


looks superb but come on you know you NEED the N5 ;)
 
having said that those are some cracking images from the 9400
 
looks superb but come on you know you NEED the N5 ;)

Oh someday, if I had sold the other house there would have been an N7 sitting on my door but with this pandemic I doubt this will be sold any time this year.
 
bummer

there's always the N75 or whatever they call the eventual replacement and rumours sti abound of an Epson native 4K pj at some point
 
bummer

there's always the N75 or whatever they call the eventual replacement and rumours sti abound of an Epson native 4K pj at some point

I seriously doubt we will see a Native 4K from Epson before Autumn 2021.
 
agreed but no hardship to watch that 9400 for 18 months looking at those images
 
agreed but no hardship to watch that 9400 for 18 months looking at those images

Agreed it’s not as if I’m slumming it. LOL

Took a few more images from RH, cracking sound track but wouldn’t say it’s the best picture quality I’ve even seen.

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Love the set up. I’m in process of doing my own at the moment. Spoke to you recently regarding speakers. I’m looking at speaker cables at the moment and was going to buy a reel of amazing basic 14gauge cable would this be a good or bad idea. Can there be much difference in cables.... say if I got blue van damme in same gauge.
 
Love the set up. I’m in process of doing my own at the moment. Spoke to you recently regarding speakers. I’m looking at speaker cables at the moment and was going to buy a reel of amazing basic 14gauge cable would this be a good or bad idea. Can there be much difference in cables.... say if I got blue van damme in same gauge.

Personally I’m of the opinion that you don’t really hear a huge difference in cables. Here is the brand I used which isn’t dirt cheap but likewise not seriously expensive.

Hope my images inspire you with ideas and realise you don’t need to spend big, just spend wisely to get decent results

BTW which speakers did you end up buying?
 
Just finished watching Le Mans 66 on regular Bluray and I have to say it’s an awesome movie with similar photography scene to the original Le Mans movie with Steve McQueen.

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Here’s a link to the images in Dropbox
 
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loved the film as in the top 2 or 3 films last year - the 4K disc with atmos is pretty special as well
 
loved the film as in the top 2 or 3 films last year - the 4K disc with atmos is pretty special as well

I enjoyed it that much I wish I had bought it in 4K. Maybe Atmos is my next project........o_O
 
definitely worthwhile but I would not personally advise the upfiring route - once some sense returns to the world my next spend will most likely be a pair of svs subs but that may well be next year
 
definitely worthwhile but I would not personally advise the upfiring route - once some sense returns to the world my next spend will most likely be a pair of svs subs but that may well be next year

My sloped ceiling is the only reason I haven't done it yet, most who have heard mine as is when they hear a chopper fly over head in a movie actually think I have Atmos which I to agree it does give a believable experience of going over head so I can only assume the sloped ceiling is adding to this affect.

I use to have one of the BK Electronics subs which I got at a cracking price but a mate heard it and bought it from me for more than I paid so the business man in me couldn't resist. LOL Plus I felt one didn't balance the sound across the front as well as two and frankly the wife would have been on my back with two of those so when another KEF subs came up secondhand at an unbelievable price I jumped on it and in all honesty it still sounds decent if not quite going as deep as I would ideally like but hey ho live is full of compromises.

I can't recall which sub/s you currently have.
 

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