My 5.1.2 Atmos cinema with devore, link recliners & DIY masking!

New Center speaker arrived courtesy of a large discount from Amazon. A Monoprice monolith thx 365C. It’s lovely looking.

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I will replace the missions at some point but there doesn’t seem to be too much of a noticeable mismatch between them that I can tell.

I’ve also ordered some pvc soffit board and some velvet in a bid to make a budget masking solution for 2.35 movies. I’m hoping it works well.
 
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If you play exactly the same sound through the mono and 1x Mission speaker you may not notice any tonal difference.

Center looking in its place.
 
Amazing setup!

How did you do the masking for scope? Is it easy to remove and put back in?

I bought a 5m long 9mm thick soffit board from Eurocell and cut it to size. For my 110" screen the black bars were 350mm which is exactly one of the sizes they do so I didn;t need to cut it horizontally at all. . I then covered it with MLEV using my staple gun ensuring it was tight enough to not sag. The board just sits on the bottom lip of the screen and just squeezes in tight enough left and right to not move or fall off. I've no fixings keeping it up just gravity and friction. I then just take it off and drop it down behind the speakers when not needed. Total cost was around £80, £50 for the upvc and £30 for the fabric.
 
I bought a 5m long 9mm thick soffit board from Eurocell and cut it to size. For my 110" screen the black bars were 350mm which is exactly one of the sizes they do so I didn;t need to cut it horizontally at all. . I then covered it with MLEV using my staple gun ensuring it was tight enough to not sag. The board just sits on the bottom lip of the screen and just squeezes in tight enough left and right to not move or fall off. I've no fixings keeping it up just gravity and friction. I then just take it off and drop it down behind the speakers when not needed. Total cost was around £80, £50 for the upvc and £30 for the fabric.

Hi. I was just looking at the Eurocell website as I intend to make panels like yours. Is it the hollow soffits that you purchased? What material is it? Like a UPVC or something?

Many thanks.

PS: Am I right in thinking that you've the single panel (at the lower portion of the screen only) as opposed to two panels top and bottom? That's a very neat solution. Love it.
 
Hi. I was just looking at the Eurocell website as I intend to make panels like yours. Is it the hollow soffits that you purchased? What material is it? Like a UPVC or something?

Many thanks.

PS: Am I right in thinking that you've the single panel (at the lower portion of the screen only) as opposed to two panels top and bottom? That's a very neat solution. Love it.

I'll check my order and post a link.


This is what it was. 9mm thick. At 110" the borders on a normal 2.35:1 aspect ratio is exactly 350mm, so go with that width if you have the same screen size.

Yes I move the picture up and rest the upvc on the bottom lip of the screen and it just wedges in nicely either side so it doesn;t fall off. When not in use I drop it down behind the speakers.
 
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Brilliant thanks. I just ordered some panels. :)
 
I'll check my order and post a link.


This is what it was. 9mm thick. At 110" the borders on a normal 2.35:1 aspect ratio is exactly 350mm, so go with that width if you have the same screen size.

Yes I move the picture up and rest the upvc on the bottom lip of the screen and it just wedges in nicely either side so it doesn;t fall off. When not in use I drop it down behind the speakers.

Does your panel just lean against the screen then? I'd considered dong mine like that but I was worried about it marking the screen fabric.
 
Does your panel just lean against the screen then? I'd considered dong mine like that but I was worried about it marking the screen fabric.

Yeah it does kind off, but it was cut quite tight so it’s only very gentle if it does touch the screen. I also wrapped the velvet round both sides too. I’m more concerned about it marking the screen velvet border on either side than I am about the screen fabric itself as it’s the screen edge that is keeping it in place rather than it leaning on the screen. The screen lip is around 1cm so easily takes the 9mm panel and supports it fully.

I’m sure there are other methods of attaching the panels, but as my screen only cost £150 I wasn’t that worried really. It’s been up for some time now and there’s no marks yet.
 
Panels have arrived. Queue a very angry wife at the sight of 5m length panels.

Going to have a go cutting these. Seems like it's easy to cut.
 
How did you get on?

I made my own DIY screen fitted with magnets on the frame. The thinner panels I made out of soffit (1.85:1 and 1.66:1) work well and hold under self weight when secured to the frame using magnets. But the soffit is too heavy for scope panels. So I switched material to polystyrene and it works well.

I prefer soffitt due to its seamless length (polystyrene is available at shorter lengths so requires a few panels to cover the screen). Soffitt looks neater. But I have masking solutions using input from yourself (thanks again) using a combination of soffitt and polystyrene.
 
Why don’t you put the grilles on the speakers? You could wrap the fronts underneath the grilles with self adhesive black flock material too and then they’ll be invisible against the wall.
 
Why don’t you put the grilles on the speakers? You could wrap the fronts underneath the grilles with self adhesive black flock material too and then they’ll be invisible against the wall.

I do have the grills on, just not on the photos in the thread. I’m waiting for tia to restock the black velvet and I’ll be doing the side walls and wrapping the speakers too.
 
I've swapped out the Monitor Audio c165 ceiling speakers for some c280-idc units. Definite upgrade.
I have the 165's. What improvement did you notice?
 
I have the 165's. What improvement did you notice?

I’ve always felt the ceiling speakers were there but were drowned out by the rest of the speakers. Increasing the levels never felt quite right either which is why I wanted to upgrade them. I’ve also felt I placed them to far to the side of the room near the walls, following the Dolby advice and there being a joist running in exactly the wrong spot.

I swapped out my rear speakers last year with an old set of kefs and that was a huge difference to the sound, similarly with the Center speaker too. So I’ve been scouring eBay for ages for the bigger speaker and also the IDC unit to allow me to point the midrange to the sweet spot too. Managed to pick one up for £159 and the other for £224 instead of the £285 - £315 rrp.

Now I actually notice the sound more, it’s subtle but it’s there when I want it to be, there’s an advert on at the moment where there are some creaking floor boards and it sounds much better, crisper, more bass and just more noticeable that it’s coming from overhead. Both the bigger unit and the moveable mid range and tweeter helping.
 
I’ve always felt the ceiling speakers were there but were drowned out by the rest of the speakers. Increasing the levels never felt quite right either which is why I wanted to upgrade them. I’ve also felt I placed them to far to the side of the room near the walls, following the Dolby advice and there being a joist running in exactly the wrong spot.

I swapped out my rear speakers last year with an old set of kefs and that was a huge difference to the sound, similarly with the Center speaker too. So I’ve been scouring eBay for ages for the bigger speaker and also the IDC unit to allow me to point the midrange to the sweet spot too. Managed to pick one up for £159 and the other for £224 instead of the £285 - £315 rrp.

Now I actually notice the sound more, it’s subtle but it’s there when I want it to be, there’s an advert on at the moment where there are some creaking floor boards and it sounds much better, crisper, more bass and just more noticeable that it’s coming from overhead. Both the bigger unit and the moveable mid range and tweeter helping.
Ive had the same feeling about the 165's. They simply cant hang with the rest of my setup. Upping the level seems do do nothing.
Id been thinking about building back boxes for them to see if there is any improvement.
Got me thinking about upgrades now :-|
 

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