My first UST Laser Projector? Asking for some help and advice for a purchase :)

I keep scouring the Web for a cheap cabinet that could house and keep hidden my Vividstorm floor rising screen and LG UST.

Only options seem to be some IKEA Bestas which I would need to butcher. Woodwork was never my strong point.
The hu85ls (if that is what you have) is 680mm wide so you would need to make the centre bit to take the pj . As the internal bit is approx 560. You could get 2x besta units and get shelves cut to size @ b and q ? Then just a case of fixing it together 🔨🪚🔧
 
The hu85ls (if that is what you have) is 680mm wide so you would need to make the centre bit to take the pj . As the internal bit is approx 560. You could get 2x besta units and get shelves cut to size @ b and q ? Then just a case of fixing it together 🔨🪚🔧
Yeah, that's what I am thinking. Units would need to be long enough to house the Vividstorm and deep enough to house the screen, the HU85 and my Sonos Arc this side of the PJ.

Also to be positioned so it rises just in front of the wall mounted 65" CX.
 
If you used 2 x 120 besta like I have and say 70cm in the middle that will be approx 15-20 cm bigger than the vivid storm so it could sit behind on a platform .

I had to raise mine but that's down to my pj needing to be quite low for 120'. I think the lg is better
 
If you used 2 x 120 besta like I have and say 70cm in the middle that will be approx 15-20 cm bigger than the vivid storm so it could sit behind on a platform .

I had to raise mine but that's down to my pj needing to be quite low for 120'. I think the lg is better
Got any pictures please mate?
 
Good luck, level is our friend . My floor was not ! But got sorted in the end so I don't use any screen correction on the pj

I think my floor is level, thankfully, though I have a 20cm and 60cm (approx) and just laying on the top of the screen on the floor, the bigger one is out a little more than the smaller one… not sure how?



Sorry for your loss Nero. Stay strong buddy.

Thank you matey, keeping as busy as I can.. and getting this room and cabinet sorted is certainly doing that!

I keep scouring the Web for a cheap cabinet that could house and keep hidden my Vividstorm floor rising screen and LG UST.

Only options seem to be some IKEA Bestas which I would need to butcher. Woodwork was never my strong point.

That’s my problem with the besta units, I’d want to hack them apart, but they are hollow. Wood chip frame covered in veneer of of sort and the inside space filled with recycled paper. Just like solid wood or chipboard to work with.

Better than that 🤣



Show off 😝

I managed to get some wood to make my cabinet to house this lot.. 240x60x15cms.
This stuff is just oak effect chipboard furniture panels, I bought 5 at £39 a piece.
I’m thinking of three separate units to the overall width of 3m.

The center one will have the projector on, though the manual says that I need 19” either side for air flow for the fans, so I can pull that off now I have the wood. The middle one would need to be 180cm to allow for 19” each side of the projector… and I’m hoping my center speaker will go underneath it when I have the screen up on the brackets. I’m hopefully going to be able to have no correction on the screen. My ceilings are only 8ft high, so the projector will only have a certain amount of height from the floor.
That leaves 60cm for each side unit, though I can go up to 75-80cm for each side unit at max if needed I think as the wall is 11ft wide.

I’ll need to find someone to come round and cut the wood to size for me though, I’d never get it cut correctly myself.

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I think my floor is level, thankfully, though I have a 20cm and 60cm (approx) and just laying on the top of the screen on the floor, the bigger one is out a little more than the smaller one… not sure how?

🤣🤣🤣Yes I am . Yes the besta units have very little strength in them . So it was defo a case of finding the stronger parts to screw the draw sliders to .



Thank you matey, keeping as busy as I can.. and getting this room and cabinet sorted is certainly doing that!



That’s my problem with the besta units, I’d want to hack them apart, but they are hollow. Wood chip frame covered in veneer of of sort and the inside space filled with recycled paper. Just like solid wood or chipboard to work with.



Show off 😝

I managed to get some wood to make my cabinet to house this lot.. 240x60x15cms.
This stuff is just oak effect chipboard furniture panels, I bought 5 at £39 a piece.
I’m thinking of three separate units to the overall width of 3m.

The center one will have the projector on, though the manual says that I need 19” either side for air flow for the fans, so I can pull that off now I have the wood. The middle one would need to be 180cm to allow for 19” each side of the projector… and I’m hoping my center speaker will go underneath it when I have the screen up on the brackets. I’m hopefully going to be able to have no correction on the screen. My ceilings are only 8ft high, so the projector will only have a certain amount of height from the floor.
That leaves 60cm for each side unit, though I can go up to 75-80cm for each side unit at max if needed I think as the wall is 11ft wide.

I’ll need to find someone to come round and cut the wood to size for me though, I’d never get it cut correctly myself.

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Also, I must ask, how do you set Alexa up when you say home cinema to include the projector coming on, the screen rising and the music to play?

I’ve used the usb thing and got the screen coming up when turning the projector on with the remote so far
 
It's an alexa routine see attached picture

The shelf works with an actuator that has a switch that is centred by ewelink and that is controlled by alexa . The music I bought on amazon so it can be played
 

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It's an alexa routine see attached picture

The shelf works with an actuator that has a switch that is centred by ewelink and that is controlled by alexa . The music I bought on amazon so it can be played

Ah ok, thank you. I'll have to have a look and play around.

I think I've come up with a final design for the cabinet's now, the one with the projector on is going to be the biggest at 160cm long, the two side ones are 70cm long each, all 60cm in depth and I can also bring the units forward so the front of them is two and a half feet from the wall/screen. So I'm assuming that'll be plenty?

I've also worked out how far up the brackets need to be to mount the screen to the wall, but I think I may need to call in some help to make sure they get up in line and nice and level. When up, it may not look level as I know my wall is 2 inches higher from one end of the room to the other.

Once it's all built, I'm also thinking of leaving in 3mm clearance at the front to add on some dark grey/black tinted perspex doors to each of the smaller cabinets and two parts either side of the center speaker on the larger one... then make a 3mm wooden frame to wrap around some speaker cloth to go in front of the center speaker... presuming that I'll be able to place my center speaker under the projector.

I've got a long cabinet for the projector to go on top of as the manual states that it needs 19" each side for ventalation in an enclosed space... though it's not totally enclose as it'll be on the top, but want to make sure to make sure it's got plenty of air flow all around. Also should be wide enough to not clip on the edges of the other two cabinets with the projected image I think?

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That should work ok with 30cm difference and it should be wide enough for the pj picture to not hit the 2 x60cm road me parts 👍
 
The only problem i see with what your planning to do is where your going to put your centre speaker. Unfortunately that is going to be the worst place to put it and your front soundstage will be seriously comprimised. If i were you i would completely do away with it and run a 4.1 setup where the centre channel information gets spread between the front left and right speakers as that will sound alot better than using the centre speaker in the position that your planning to put it in. That way at least your whole front soundstage will be at the same height and you won't be continuously drawn to the centre speaker's output. Apart from that problem it looks really good and you should be proud of yourself as you'll have a very nice setup once you get it all finished mate:thumbsup:
 
That should work ok with 30cm difference and it should be wide enough for the pj picture to not hit the 2 x60cm road me parts 👍

Yep, I'm hoping so!

There's 14 inches below the bottom of the screen, around 12 inches of black border, plus about 4 inches of case, so I can have the top of the projector 28 inches below the screen if it needs to be, but I think I only need it to be 12-14 inches below the screen for a 120" image... not sure I'll have to check... I have just got the screen up, so I'll do it later or in the morning as I need to go out now.

The only problem i see with what your planning to do is where your going to put your centre speaker. Unfortunately that is going to be the worst place to put it and your front soundstage will be seriously comprimised. If i were you i would completely do away with it and run a 4.1 setup where the centre channel information gets spread between the front left and right speakers as that will sound alot better than using the centre speaker in the position that your planning to put it in. That way at least your whole front soundstage will be at the same height and you won't be continuously drawn to the centre speaker's output. Apart from that problem it looks really good and you should be proud of yourself as you'll have a very nice setup once you get it all finished mate:thumbsup:

I was thinking that a bit, I may be able to put it behind the projector on a shelf coming from the cabinet a bit higher than the projector.. I need to have a play around once I get the cabinet built, just need to find out how high a cabinet I need in order to achieve 120" projection image.

I can't do without a center speaker.. I tried it a few times before and hated it. My center speaker was a further forward and a foot higher than in this current design and I found it just fine after some tweaking, though having the center channel that low does concern me a bit, so I'll try and see if I can do it the way above, or even put it in front of the projector when in use, then put it away underneath afterward... though that would be a hassle.

Got the brackets and screen up now with the help of a neighbour, damn it's heavy! Got 14" below the bottom of the bracket and 1.5" above the screen between the top of the screen and the ceiling... So worked that out just right.

Really looking forward to getting it all set up properly with a cabient and the rest of my gear, then I'll be able to get everything in from the bedroom that I took out for decorating and gain both my bedroom and living room back without them looking a tip, so that'll be much more relaxing :)

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It really depends how big your centre speaker is . Possibly you could make a small slimmer shelf over your pj . Yes above is best but after I ran audassy I have no real issues . I think you said you have got a denon . Give it a try when you have your cabinet together. As Andrew Robinson says "only you need to like your setup" 😃
 
The shelf my pj is on is 87mm below the shelf my screen is on . Below but it all depends on angle of pj and screen . I know I had to adjust mine a few times
 
It really depends how big your centre speaker is . Possibly you could make a small slimmer shelf over your pj . Yes above is best but after I ran audassy I have no real issues . I think you said you have got a denon . Give it a try when you have your cabinet together. As Andrew Robinson says "only you need to like your setup" 😃

It’s a mission 77 series, so a bookshelf kind of size. I’ve had the missions for 20+ years now, the right channel one started to crackle and pop, even with nothing going through it, changed cables and tested the left one on the right channel and that was fine. So I think it’s internal, maybe dry solder joints, if so I’ll need to get a mate round to fix it as I’m no good with a soldering iron these days.

Yeah true, I have had the center on the floor before, wasn’t great if I’m honest, do prefer it up higher, even after tilting it more toward the listening position. No matter what amp I’ve used through the years though, I’ve found I need to bump the center up a little more after using audassy, always found it too quiet.

The shelf my pj is on is 87mm below the shelf my screen is on . Below but it all depends on angle of pj and screen . I know I had to adjust mine a few times

Oh, if that’s the case, my cabinet will need to be a fair bit higher than expected with 28 inches to play with… that’s 71cm!
 
I didn't measure properly, so it's 31.5cm from the floor to the bottom of the projector and I forgot to try and take into account and measure from the bottom of the projector to the laser... this is why I'm taking my time and making a mock up with old wood.. :rolleyes:

The image was horizontally skewed, was a minute before I worked out that moving the projector from side to side wasn't going to help, had to twist it..

Also have some vertical skewing on the bottom which I'm not sure how to get a rid of.

I guess it's a lot of playing about and trying to get just the right height to get it all aligned properly, then take the height to add that measurement to my cabinet design, get a carpenter in to cut the wood for me as I can't cut straight and always a few mm out, then align again and don't ever touch it!

It'll all be worth it in the end though :)

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Edit: Forgot it had feet.. adjusted them a bit and have a vertical skew at the top now.. filled out to the sides of the screen a little more and still needs to go x amount of inches downward to help fill the lowrr 3-4inches of screen.

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Get the width right first then you can sort out height as you can adjust the rise You may need a packer under the screen one or both sides front and/or back to make sure it's true vertical when up as the wall your brackets are attached to may not be straight
 
I’ve taken the bottom board off now, so the temp stand is 30cm high.

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Though I have the left leg up about 1cm and the right on up about 2cm

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I didn’t think of the wall possibly tilting… checked and it seems to be by about 1mm.. so wouldn’t have thought that would affect it that much?? Not sure how I’d get that exact or what I’d use??

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The screen and temp stand are definitely level.

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I’m just trying to figure out exactly how high I need my stand to be so I can get a carpenter in and get it all cut and ready to build, that’s my main goal today. Looks like it will be 27-30cm, not sure what to go with for the final cabinet.
 
Ok.. so had to improvise a bit rather than spent time cutting up wood, but found some plastic tubs that when stacked are exactly 28cm high. I’m thinking this may be the sweet spot height for tweaking.. So do you think 28cm in height for the projector cabinet to be the best bet??
I guess it’s hard to tell from photos..

EDIT: I forgot to put something under the back feet to account for the lip of the lid that the front
feet are on, so done that, and it messed everything up, I'd have to raise the back legs higher (the
adjustable ones) and it skews the screen far too much. So I am guessing that I will need to lower it
so the bottom of the projected image is spot on and go from there??
I'm honestly getting lost now, can't fit to the edge of the screen unless I mess the height of the
image up.
Wish I knew someone that could come over and help with this, might have to try and get someone from richer sounds out at this rate which I don’t want to do.


..though I have a slew to the top left and bottom right of the image, so guessing it’s something to do with using these stacked storage things rather than one thing completely flat..

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Left side about 2” gap to edge of screen
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Right side about 2” gap to edge of screen
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Top flush though a little skewed to the left
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Bottom about 1” gap to bottom of screen skewed a bit to the right
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It does take a bit of messing . I would start by making sure the screen is level vertically when up . I.e the actual screen . Then line up projector to that . As said you may need to pack aittle between the brackets and case . Also you will then have to close and open to see how it settles by its self then repeat once that is close to true vertical both sides line the pj to that
 
It does take a bit of messing . I would start by making sure the screen is level vertically when up . I.e the actual screen . Then line up projector to that . As said you may need to pack aittle between the brackets and case . Also you will then have to close and open to see how it settles by its self then repeat once that is close to true vertical both sides line the pj to that

You’re telling me.. damn this is frustrating.

The screen material it’s self of the screen casing?
 
The material needs to be plum and straight both sides. You would think getting the case straight would do it but it didnt for me . I had to reaise the front to get mine straight .Then it's easier to line the pj upto
 
Ah, I've checked that and the screen material is level vertically.. had to be gentle, didn't want to damage the screen with my level's.

Got the height of the temp stand down to around 25.5cm now the image still tapers at the bottom, and I can’t get the image right up to the edge of the sides of the screen.. though it is at the very edge of the top and bottom.. not that I want to get it to the very edge on the sides as it has the tension wire there with holes in.

I can't really get it perfect yet as it's a temp stand.. I've spent all afternoon just trying to work out how high my stand needs to be before I get the wood cut. I'm sure the projector needs to be somewhere between 25-30cm high. It's proving damn difficult to nigh on impossible as I change the heights and even just twisting the projector left and right. Very frustrating.

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To fix that problem you have is quite easy as all you have to do is either raise the back of the projector or lower the front of the projector. The back being closest to the screen. Then you'll probably need to re-adjust the height and distance from the screen of the projector.


PS. Don't bother about the projector itself being level as the reality is that it doesn't work that way. Focus on getting the image sized and squared onto the screen instead then it's alot easier.
 
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