Luminated67
Distinguished Member
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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