My living room and cinema room

boardy

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Right well I had a thread on here before but my hosting for the pics died so I thought I'd start a new thread as I have all the pieces to the jigsaw in place now.

First off the equipment -

Optoma ThemeScene HD70 HD PJ
Denon AVR-1507 7.1 receiver
Xbox 360 (HD)
Toshiba Region 1 DVD player (SD)
Home built HTPC through HDMI to PJ (having issues)
Kef iQ1 rear speakers on Apollo A1/6 stands
Kef iQ5 front floor standing
Kef iQ2c center speaker
Wharfedale Diamond SW150 Sub
QED interconnects (Phono, Component, HDMI, Optical TosLink, S-video, and speakers)

What started out as an upgrade from a 42" Panny standard def plasma to HD, turned into a complete home cinema setup thanks to this forum :smashin: which my wallet is not happy about at the moment :thumbsdow Personally I am over the moon with the setup and can't stop watching DVD's with the DTS soundtrack.

The HTPC used to run off the Creative SB Audigy soundcard into a set of Cambridge Soundworks THX 5.1 speakers designed for computer use, and I thought that was great with the plasma, then the PJ came in and the picture was there but the sound was a little thin. I went to my local Superfi in Lincoln and tested a range of speakers, me and my girlfriend fell in love with the Kef's and ended up getting them ordered there and then. I now don't use the Audigy and have the Denon connected to the HTPC with optic to the built in HD Audio processor. I do not regret it one bit.

Gotta love student loans!!

Anyway, here are a few pics of how things were before (first install of PJ) -

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As you can see, not the nicest thing to look at, cables all over the place and the Denon perched on the HTPC. I actually pushed the sofa into the rack the watch the Denon wobble and start to fall off before I dived at it and caught it.

This is how it is now, and probably will remain for a while -

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If you look carefully you can see the SW150 between the 2 sofas. It's not the most ideal setup granted but it's all I can do with the space I've got.

The PJ is used all the time for TV, DVD, DivX, 360, everything basically. I think it's possibly one of the best purchases I've ever made in AV kit. Just need to sort out the HDMI sync problem with the DVI-HDMI cable from the HTPC and all set and running perfectly.

The last pic is just a show off even though there is no screen, it still looks awsome. Ep1 wasn't my choice it was the girlfriends, I wudda gone 3, 5, or 6 but hey, every Star Wars fan knows they are the best.

What do you guys think then? Comments welcome as always :)

Cheers
Adam
 
I think you should make it look tidier - you can pick up a cheap rack from Ikea for not much, and some stuff from B&Q to attatch the cables to the walls.

Other then that, pretty cool. :)
 
Great set up there, but as indicated above - a good tidy up of the cables and the room and it wil look even better.

If you don't mind me asking......what are your speakers like and how much did they cost you?
 
Some nice gear but as others have said - the cables need hiding!

What's the thing on top of the projector?

Cheers
Mike
 
With some cable management, this could go from good to great.

PS Your MacBook looks very precariously placed.

PPS You bought all of this on a student loan?? What are you going to EAT?
 
Looking at the number of cans he'll be to drunk to think about food.

Same as the others, needs a tidy up. I'm on the side of the fence where home cinema is just as much about art as well as function. Relaxing when it's switched off is just as important as when it's switched on.:). Still, with that many cans you're probably relaxed no matter what;)
 
I'll try to answer these in order :) First off thanks to all for the comments and advice.

@WilliamTM - I have thought about getting a better rack from Ikea but it would probably be a waste of money as all the kit needs to be high to get to. I am however thinking of adding a wood look to the rack that is holding the equipment at present to hide the fact its steel. As for the cables I have started to hide them using stuff from B&Q but ran out of time so had to call it a day.

@Kenny - Is that Kenny from EP-UK? I did have a good night, first time I've had the entire system running fully and properly.

@Max Payne - The cables are in the process of being tidied and the room, well that's always in a bit of a state. I will be tidying it up and taking pics in the next few days without all the cans and stuff around. The speakers are amazing and I would highly recommend them to anyone. The entire system (Kef speakers and Wharfedale sub) came to just shy of £900. Reduced from what it should have been over £1k.

@Sawdust - I assume your referring to the black plate above the PJ. It's actually the wall mount for the PJ, which is a 15" TV wall mount from Argos :D I saw a few other people doing the same so thought I'd go the cheap route also and copy them.

@ohoward - The MacBook was a little stupidly placed I agree. Not really sure why I perched it there, think it was something about keeping it from overheating. I didn't pay for it all with the student loan, I work as a self employed web developer so get money through from contracts there. Some of it is paid with student funds but mostly from earnings.

@andyhofer - I wasn't exactly drunk, intoxicated I like to say :rotfl: I agree with the functional as well as relaxing. With 4 of us in the house we need to be able to use the living room for chatting and getting drunk :devil:

Thanks for all the comments guys, I'll update as things happen.

Adam
 
I'll try to answer these in order :) First off thanks to all for the comments and advice.


@Kenny - Is that Kenny from EP-UK? I did have a good night, first time I've had the entire system running fully and properly.


Adam

Nope, it's Kenny from Livingston (ne' Glasow) :D
 

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