My home my castle - Living room theater 5.1.2

Cerda

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Hi guys, i have decided to upgrade my home theater devices to help me to enjoy my movie hobby even more.
I live in prefabricated flat i rebuilted but unfortunately without a chance to have my own dedicated batcave theater so i had to make some compromises to live in peace with my neighbors and my lovely girlfriend to get i wanted :).
My setup:
Sound stage 5.1.2 (AVR Denon X2500H + 6x Q Acoustics 3010 speakers + Q Acoustics 3090 cen + Sub Proson rumble r-10) isnt something what will blow me up but it's still a decent surround..
I am in the process to change my screen and PJ right now, previously i have used an Optoma HD141X with Optoma 92'' manual matte white screen wich i really enjoyed for three years but it's a time to step up.
New 110'' HiViGrey Cinema 5D MP acoustics screen from Hivilux and Epson TW9400 are my successors and i would like to know if i can do something more to get even better result.
My living foom is pretty light (no direct sunshine), i will paint the walls with darker colours (grey and chocolate colour combination) but not too much..still need to have consider my girlfriend, she is not big fun what i am doing with the living room but she will used to it :D..

I have a few questions regarding to paiting of my room and hope someone of you can help me.

1st question - does it exist any special (but not much expensive) essence or paint what decrease a reflection from the PJ i can use?
2nd question - will i notice a better contrast if i paint the ceiling with light grey colour instead of white? I know its hard to answer but do you have any experiences with it? My girlfriend doesnt give me a permission to touch the ceiling so i need to be very careful with a tone.

Here are some pics of my previous set and cable management process.

old Optoma manual screen
1.jpg

surround speaker
2.jpg

corner cable management in process
4.jpg

5.jpg

Hivilux is hangs up
6.jpg

engine room needs some order :)
7.jpg

whole living room before
8.JPG



thank you very much for any advice,
Jan
 
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Lovely room. Only one thing and that's the position of the front speakers. They are far too high. They really do need to be at seated head height. There needs to be a good separation between the floor layer and the Atmos layer and your fronts and the Atmos are too close.
 
Lovely room. Only one thing and that's the position of the front speakers. They are far too high. They really do need to be at seated head height. There needs to be a good separation between the floor layer and the Atmos layer and your fronts and the Atmos are too close.

I know what is your point, i am aware of this incorrect position of my front speakers. I had a long discussion with my girlfriend that speakers need to be set lower due to correct acoustic execution but guess what..she doesnt care :D .. so we made a deal, she stood below the point of the front left speaker, i marked where is the top of her head and placed the speakers on this position so she can't hurt herself..
I have tilted them little bit down and its all i can do.. i hear it during the movie that sound is too high so i hope that a new screen will help me a little.

Nothing is pefrect, but i can live with it and you know the magic words.. happy wife happy life :)
 
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Hi guys,
just small update with my "project". I will have more time during a week to finish the painting.

corner finally looks better
IMG_2762.jpg


My engine room before/after
IMG_3776.JPG


start with the paiting
IMG_2763.jpg



next time with the final product :), cya
 
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Hi there, i have finished the painting (the whole flat in the end).
Had some issue during the painting with the ceiling so i solved it with an acoustic ceiling panels which improved the sound stage too so win win situation :).
IMG_0037.JPG
IMG_0039.JPG
IMG_0040.JPG
IMG_0041.JPG
 
so we made a deal, she stood below the point of the front left speaker, i marked where is the top of her head and placed the speakers on this position so she can't hurt herself..

Look, far from me to try and create any tension between you and your lovely girlfriend, but I agree with Gibbsy and I think you could easily move both your Front L&R speakers down to head height whilst seated without causing any harm to your partner.

Looking at your pictures, your Q Acoustics left speaker seems to sit pretty much flush to the edge of the door frame, so it's not sticking out that much. Also, we hardly ever go through doors closer to the hinge, we instinctively move closer to the handle as the space to go through seems bigger.

Alternatively, how about you relocate the left speaker underneath the left edge of your TV? You could also move down the Front right speaker to the same height. I notice that you've got your Rear Surrounds at more or less head height, if you get your Fronts in a similar pattern then you'll really get much better separation between the different sound layers.

Don't worry that all the speakers may not be equidistant from your MLP, Audyssey will sort that all out.

Worth a try?
 
Look, far from me to try and create any tension between you and your lovely girlfriend, but I agree with Gibbsy and I think you could easily move both your Front L&R speakers down to head height whilst seated without causing any harm to your partner.

Looking at your pictures, your Q Acoustics left speaker seems to sit pretty much flush to the edge of the door frame, so it's not sticking out that much. Also, we hardly ever go through doors closer to the hinge, we instinctively move closer to the handle as the space to go through seems bigger.

Alternatively, how about you relocate the left speaker underneath the left edge of your TV? You could also move down the Front right speaker to the same height. I notice that you've got your Rear Surrounds at more or less head height, if you get your Fronts in a similar pattern then you'll really get much better separation between the different sound layers.

Don't worry that all the speakers may not be equidistant from your MLP, Audyssey will sort that all out.

Worth a try?
thanks for your feedback, unfortunately the only place how to improve separation would be to set the fronts lower to the same height as rears and i had a deal as i wrote... Other places are not possiblle because the left speaker would be hited by me or someone for sure. The corner we are talking about is in the center of my flat and it is the most "busy" place.
IMG_0043.JPG
 
Hi @Cerda

I do understand what you're saying, but did you understand my suggestion?

Sit on your sofa and look at your TV: you've got a cabinet with your Centre speaker and a table lamp. And above these, underneath your TV is dead space on the wall - you could put your Front L+R into this space at head height?

Okay, so you'd be narrowing the sound field in terms of width, but you'd probably be increasing it as those speakers will be at the right height and well away from your Atmos speakers.

It's just a suggestion, that's all, I know most Home Cinema rooms are a compromise and I just see another way of possibly improving your system without having to make any drastic changes. Regardless, you've done very well with the space. :)
 
Derek S-H: thank you for your suggestions, i believe that your advice would make the sound separation much better but a design aspect is importand for me and i think it wouldnt look nice.
I have to admit you put the worm in my head so it is a matter of time when i decide to set the front speakers lower..
Anyway I am really happy with current setup even its not perfect:)

I will let the PJ calibrated once the lamp reach out about 100 hours and than i am done for a while with it.

Picture is pretty good with lights on
IMG_0045.JPG


Lights off
IMG_0048.JPG
 
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the only issue i have to solve at the moment is an automatic switching the output HDMI of my AVR. If i set it for "Auto" there is no picture on my TV if the PJ is off, once i turn the PJ on the screen of the TV will show up.
I have tried to change all the passtrhough settings in my AVR, TV, PJ but the result is still the same. It is sad that i can change the HDMI inputs on my AVR remote but there is no quick button for HDMI output for 1 or 2 output..
If i buy HDMI splitter it will solve my problem but i dont like and idea to put next device in to the chain of my other devices just because AVR is lazy..
 
It's been a while since I've used the actual Denon remote but can't you set the output to the quick select buttons?
 
It's been a while since I've used the actual Denon remote but can't you set the output to the quick select buttons?
you are right, i have checked the manual of my Denon but cant to figure out how to set "9" HDMI Video output..
i have followed the process:
1. press Main zone button with the remote
2. press and hold quick select with number i want to memorized on the display
3. how the hell can i choose "9" HDMI output?

- when i follow the manual i just memorized the input selection for those quick select buttons..am i stupid ot i just missed something?

1569789707531.png
 
Hi Jan

I think you’ve done a super job within the constraints you’ve had to work with, particularly the location of the door and obviously the tastes of your wife. As much as us AV nerds laugh about these things, keeping your wife happy IS important!

I also notice that when the PJ screen is down, the cat is still provided with easy access / egress to the other room. 🤣. Excellent foresight again on your part.

One little suggestion though. One common issue many of us have is getting the best of the centre speaker. Most of the time, due to constraints of the location of the TV or PJ, we tend to site the centre speaker too low. One way of reducing the ill effects of a centre speaker sited too low is by angling the speaker up at an angle, firing directly toward ear height in the seated position.

I’ve used Auralec MoPads before: acoustic foam wedges that not only angle the speaker up, but also help isolate the speaker from the cabinet it’s sitting on. Quite a simple fix and prevents the treble of the centre speaker pointing at your knees. Might be worth a try, particularly as your centre is sitting so much lower than the left and right speakers.
 
I’ve used Auralec MoPads before: acoustic foam wedges that not only angle the speaker up, but also help isolate the speaker from the cabinet it’s sitting on. Quite a simple fix and prevents the treble of the centre speaker pointing at your knees. Might be worth a try, particularly as your centre is sitting so much lower than the left and right speakers.

Do you mean these?


This seems like a good alternative:


I use a slim version of the Soundxtra for my Atmos upfirers - they work well and are very solid.
 
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The table stand you show does look a little smarter than the foam pads, although the benefit of the Mopads is their help in isolating the speaker’s vibration from the cabinet they’re sitting on.

Also, the Mopads come with two wedges that you can use singularly or together to give you two angle options.

But the pads or the stand would have the principal effect of aiming the directional treble where you need it - toward ear height in the listening position.

After all Neat’s Iota Alpha speakers use this same approach to good effect by angling the baffle of this speaker that’s much shorter than listening height, but the angle fools the listener into thinking that the source is coming from a much higher location.
 
Hoku: thank you for your suggestion my friend. I will definitely lift the center as you described, it is already lifted a little by small pads which are used for the chairs to protect the floor but not enough high :).
I have leftovers of acoustic foam so i will cut it with an angel i need, should be enough i hope.
 

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