I had a few ideas in my head about on wall speakers so we took a trip down to
@Rob Sinden at Gecko. Whilst there he showed us a few pics of
@orange55 's lovely setup documented here:
Living Room Luxury
Seeing that pic, my wife got incredibly enthusiastic and pretty much the minute we got home we spent the afternoon doing a floor plan:
Once I'd triple checked the dimensions and angles, I placed the order for 3 x MK IW150's with
@Seriously Ltd
Unfortunately no progress pics, but I'm really pleased with the overall result. We've managed to get 2 x 2 seat sofas in there as well as the 3.5 seat yet the room feels much larger. Budget wasn't massive and most of it was blown on the IW150s! Some compromises had to be made particularly with the rears and the old Atmos positions.
Kit list is:
* Panasonic 65 DX902B
* Panasonic UB900 UHD player
* Marantz SR7010 AVR
* MK IW150MkII for LCR
* MK K4Ts from eBay for L/R Surround
* DIY rears (honestly, they sound great):
My DIY rear speakers for behind sofa.
* 2 x Monitor Audio ceiling speakers for Atmos
* REL HT1205 sub for normal day to day sub duties
* 15" Peerless ST350 DIY build run off an iNuke3000DSP:
Another Peerless/Tymphany STW-350F 15" sub build
I built a 2.5m long by 10cm deep false wall using 2 layers of soundbloc plasterboard (gosh that's heavy!) using a LOT of battening to the wall, which was then stuffed with sheep wool insulation (gosh that stank!) and then cut some slate effect porcelain tiles to use as the top (gosh those are hard to cut!). Took about 2 full days by the time I'd built it, painted it, done the skirting, cut the carpet back 10cm and refitted it. The equipment 'table' to the right of the wall took an afternoon and I think finishes it off nicely.
Main view:
For anyone concerned about the proximity to the stove, I tested that before I built the wall (incidentally my wife kept yelling "BUILD THE WALL!" during the project). With the stove raging at 300degC the side return gets to a max of 45degC. That side bit is also Hardieboard, i.e. concrete so no problems there. Where the left speaker is barely gets above room temp even after hours of the stove on...
Kit lives under a table I made from a worktop, normally hidden by the sofa, but pulling it away slightly for this pic:
Over to the left, behind the wood basket and hidden under the table with the lava lamp on is a REL HT1205. I've done REW sweeps with and without the basket and there's no measurable difference..
My DIY Sub lurking in the back corner under another table I made from worktop:
Annoyingly the Atmos speakers are now in the wrong place as the TV shifted 1m to the left. Maybe later this year I'll look at moving them and patching up the holes. Possibly a .4 setup too.
Down the other end of the room is a reading area for the kids along with the L surround on the bookcase. It's a bit of a pain as it does mean we have to shut the doors for proper surround but hardly the end of the world
Close up of the L surround, with a Sonos 5 behind it that I covered in 'book pattern' fabric so it blends in !