New house new home cinema setup.

PHarrod

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We have a new house build completing later this year and I'm having fun dreaming of how to setup a good TV/Movie room, without turning it into solely a cinema room. I want to get the wires in whilst we can, including networking for most rooms.

I'm thinking of going for a 7.1.4 setup, with in ceiling speakers. I've got a pair of floor standing speakers (Klipsch R-620F) and a centre to match, along with a Sony STR-1040?? amp but the that will need updating to something newer for Atmos.
I'm not sure about in wall units for the sides and rear. I think it will partly come down to the orientation and which room gets used for it.
The right hand Snug has great views and higher ceilings of 3m and was my first choice, with the tv on the north wall. But blocking walk throughs and limiting furniture placement with speakers is going to annoy the other half.

I'm leaning towards an 85" oled screen. But a projector with retractable screen is an option for a bigger picture. There's a lot of full height windows though and we wouldn't want to always have them blacked out for viewing normal tv. Maybe we start with a smaller oled for day to day viewing and add the projector and screen further down the line.

I'm wondering what others would suggest, I've only started researching this and very much an amateur, so I'm sure there's things I'm not considering.

Here's the plans, two good sized options. Neither room will have the stove indicated.

LivingRooms.jpg
 
So, several quick points before i head out for a family (PlatyJoobs) day.

If you can not or dont want to control the light in a room, a projector will always washout, lasers are getting better and Ultra Short Throw's with an ALR (ambiant light rejecting) screen work bloody well, but no replacement for a BIG oled type tv.

For speakers, if you like and are keeping the Klipsch then stick with Klipsch all around. They are traditionally quite a bright sound and trying to match with something else will the tough. Other than subs, thats the weak point for Klipsch and most go for an alternative.

One final thought, at home we run a smaller 50" 4K tv and then use the 120" 4K PJ and screen for event and movies (with light control) any larger in tv size and we would use the PJ less and less.

HTH

Chris
 
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We have a new house build completing later this year and I'm having fun dreaming of how to setup a good TV/Movie room, without turning it into solely a cinema room. I want to get the wires in whilst we can, including networking for most rooms.

I'm thinking of going for a 7.1.4 setup, with in ceiling speakers. I've got a pair of floor standing speakers (Klipsch R-620F) and a centre to match, along with a Sony STR-1040?? amp but the that will need updating to something newer for Atmos.
I'm not sure about in wall units for the sides and rear. I think it will partly come down to the orientation and which room gets used for it.
The right hand Snug has great views and higher ceilings of 3m and was my first choice, with the tv on the north wall. But blocking walk throughs and limiting furniture placement with speakers is going to annoy the other half.

I'm leaning towards an 85" oled screen. But a projector with retractable screen is an option for a bigger picture. There's a lot of full height windows though and we wouldn't want to always have them blacked out for viewing normal tv. Maybe we start with a smaller oled for day to day viewing and add the projector and screen further down the line.

I'm wondering what others would suggest, I've only started researching this and very much an amateur, so I'm sure there's things I'm not considering.

Here's the plans, two good sized options. Neither room will have the stove indicated.

View attachment 1704844

Very tricky as both rooms has many doors and windows in places where you wouldn´t want them cause they limit the speaker placement. Also trying to put 11 speakers so that wife won`t freak out requires some magic touch and thick wallet. It´s really shame you don´t have spare work/bedroom which you could have transformed into cinema room with projector & screen & cinema chairs and for the family/living room you would then bought some basic 65"-75" tv.

The family snug looks bit better, but man it`s so hard to optimize everything and you probably need something very wife friendly speaker wise. The 3m ceiling height is quite nice for atmos though. What kind of budget you had in mind? Does wife let you place speakers and couch where they need to go, not where they look best?
 
Thanks for the reply.
I'm not totally against light control, I just know it's not a thing we'd use daily.
I'm starting to think of two setups. The Snug can have an Oled of reasonable size for daily viewing. The living room can have a hidden cinema system and black out blinds for movie nights, although finding the right adaptable seating for this could be tricky as we'd want it as more of a formal reception room for the rest of the time.

I might need to pre-wire both rooms so we can be adaptable.
 
Very tricky as both rooms has many doors and windows in places where you wouldn´t want them cause they limit the speaker placement. Also trying to put 11 speakers so that wife won`t freak out requires some magic touch and thick wallet. It´s really shame you don´t have spare work/bedroom which you could have transformed into cinema room with projector & screen & cinema chairs and for the family/living room you would then bought some basic 65"-75" tv.

The family snug looks bit better, but man it`s so hard to optimize everything and you probably need something very wife friendly speaker wise. The 3m ceiling height is quite nice for atmos though. What kind of budget you had in mind? Does wife let you place speakers and couch where they need to go, not where they look best?

The spare rooms are getting used as a second home office and hobby room.

Yeah with the windows, I'm flipping between orientating things with the screen on the north wall or on the west wall of the snug. Both seem like they'd need rear speakers on pedestals but that's going to cause some friction if it blocks paths and placement of other furniture.

Budget is looking bigger every time I browse RS. I think equipment will be bought over time, but the TV and projector options seem to go a little too high at 5k alone. I think 3k will be the limit there.
Amp probably 1k but if advice says otherwise I can think again.
 
The spare rooms are getting used as a second home office and hobby room.

Yeah with the windows, I'm flipping between orientating things with the screen on the north wall or on the west wall of the snug. Both seem like they'd need rear speakers on pedestals but that's going to cause some friction if it blocks paths and placement of other furniture.

Budget is looking bigger every time I browse RS. I think equipment will be bought over time, but the TV and projector options seem to go a little too high at 5k alone. I think 3k will be the limit there.
Amp probably 1k but if advice says otherwise I can think again.

Check the Dolby`s speaker placement recommendation so you get some idea how to optimize things and then which room order of those would work best.

If it´s too much hassle then 5.1.4 should still work great. You can look some bipole/tripole/tri-axial type speakers for surround channels at the side wall - each side of listeners so it creates nice bubble.

There is also some on-wall speakers if they work better as you have some doors. Otherwise you have to choose carefully if you going to keep the front speakers against front wall which i can imagine coming from your Mrs as they never understand why the speakers need to be brought more toward room.

There is ton of dealers including forum advertisers like American Audio UK which might give you good deal, but depending which brands you are looking for. You shouldn´t limit yourself to RS yet.

You don`t get 7.2.4 capable (out of box) receiver for 1k£, Denon X3700H is cheapest at that price which has 11.2 processing but you need to add 2ch poweramp as it has 9 internal amps so 300-500£ extra. New models should be introduced at later of the summer if everything goes normal, that could be ideal time to get these "old" models cheaper then. If you want one box solution the cheapest would be Denon X6700H at 2k£ roughly, that is for 7.1.4 system. However if you feel the 5.1.4 would be the way to go then the X3700H can do it without extra units. As you will be shopping later there is good chance that Denon X4700H price drops closer to 1k£ if there is new model introduced for it. X6700H won`t until 2023! If you aren´t familiar with the Denons then read the AVF review so you get good idea why it`s one of the most popular picks with the X3700H in this price range. There isn`t much between these two so it depends what kind of deals can be had by the time you are shopping.


You want to consider going with either one larger subwoofer as the room is decent sized or another option would be two slightly smaller ones (assuming wife won´t let you have two larger boxes there) placed in specific spots to give you smoother bass response without localization. You need to think carefully the sub placement even with one as it can really make such big difference.
I would say roughly ~400£/each up you start to get quality products, but you won´t find them from RS. You want to buy something from certain companies that specialize in woofers. There is plenty of options and also fairly wife friendly if it comes to that. Taller or lower but deeper boxes, driver and grille not visible (downfiring)/driver on the side with small grille etc., wood veneer finishes or gloss white/black or satin. I think you have to show some of them for wife and also with tape measure show how large they really are. Couple times there has been bad suprises. Making a cardboard mock up is also popular way to get idea how large it is. As you are building big atmos system i assume your taste goes toward blockbusters so it´s not just comedy/romantic dramas. Don´t skimp with the subwoofers, rather buy bit more than you think you need. It could save you lot of money later on.
 
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Thank you very much. That's great info. How much power might be needed was one of the things I was wondering about and I might have to think about upping the amp budget to get the best long term option. It gives me some good stuff to think about and it could be a year or two until I put it all in place.
Maybe 5.1.4 is the way to go with the challenges of locating speakers by windows. I can imagine the looks I'll get if I put two subs in a room....
 
Thank you very much. That's great info. How much power might be needed was one of the things I was wondering about and I might have to think about upping the amp budget to get the best long term option. It gives me some good stuff to think about and it could be a year or two until I put it all in place.
Maybe 5.1.4 is the way to go with the challenges of locating speakers by windows. I can imagine the looks I'll get if I put two subs in a room....

You probably aren´t going to be listening at real cinema levels. Most people don´t when they watch movies with family as the wife is screaming to turn it down. So in that case example Denon X3700H/X4700H should be fine for a lounge cinema. The difference in power output is rather low compared to higher models, example 4700 vs 6700 with 7channels there is 14w difference which nothing. The difference is more in the internal amp counts and the latter being made in Japan if that matters. Keep in mind that you can always add poweramps if you require more power as each of the Denon units comes with preouts.

Rather than paying big bucks for few extra watts you should eye the "sensitivity" figure of the speakers and something around 90db give or take would be great. Klipsch shows in-room sensitivity in their specs so it isn`t comparable to other brands. As you aren´t in hurry i would wait to see what the new receiver models brings, for certainty they will have more hdmi 2.1 connections, but unless you are console gamer it isn´t that big deal. Best time to buy av-receiver is usually when new models are in store so old ones goes on heavy sale assuming they have everything you need. Electronics get old soon as there is constantly new models out it`s annoying, but at least there won´t be any new hdmi change ahead in near future so you should be set for long.

Read the link below in the part "comparing speaker sensitivity" so you understand what example 3db jump in sensitivity means.
 
@PHarrod

You would be suprised how compact and good looking subwoofers there are. Depending where the couch/seat goes you could think about having two subs at front corners or diagonally opposite front/rear corners with the cables hidden. We can have a look with program which location is most optimal for the subs as that can really make massive difference. I have no idea how large it/they can be and what kind of experience you are after (how loud you listen?) as some people are looking room shooking bass while others just want some decent punch and clean quality bass. I would say buy little more sub wise than you think you want if you watch lot of action/scifi/horror/war type flicks and generally love tactile bass. There is models from 13" (33cm) cube to larger boxes. Also depends lot which finish you require to keep wife happy. Black ash/oak is typical for the larger boxes, but there is also couple in satin black and white. For smaller cabs also gloss finishes. In the "budget" range there is also wood veneer finishes if they are must have.

Let`s put couple subwoofer examples so you get idea what is available without breaking bank. For SVS you typically get -10% discount from forum advertisers linked below.

Small box, you would require two for your ~3600cuft room. If you crave strong rumbling deep bass then these are not going to do that in your room. Ideal for 1500-3000cuft room, but having two corner loaded raises them in the Large rated room class which is 3000-5000cuft.

If you listen loud and want bit more performance/headroom while keeping the compact size then consider the two below models:

Slightly larger ported box for more impactfull bass. Ideal for 3000-5000cuft room:
Earlier generation cylinder model from SVS, new PC2000 Pro costs over 1k£ so this is going cheaper and doesn`t take much floorspace either. Port is behind and driver is downfiring. Light weight to move. It does look quite special, you can check some youtube videos which shows the size in room better.

Best performance for buck (UK) unit with high build and sound quality together with 5year warranty comes from Monoprice with the THX Ultra rated product. It´s ideal for the room you have. However the unit is fairly large, depth wise especially. The price is amazing as comparable competitor costs over 1k£, Monoprice sells direct to customer like Arendal Sound. So you get almost two for the price of one competitor. We have owners thread at the subwoofer section if you need more information. This is super popular in US and now available in UK/EU...


Something more wife friendly finish wise with larger box from Arendal, notice the driver is on right side (with grille) so you need to have 5-10cm clearance, however the cabinet width is narrow. This is ported version of the earlier linked 1S so you get bit more performance and "earthquake feel" for action/scifi movies due to rear sloth port and big cabinet.

Check the dimensions and finishes of each sub. Show them to wife and have a talk which of those are green lighted. Then we have better idea.
 
The problem you have with both room layouts is the focal point of the rooms are out of the windows, which i am presuming have good views.

So as it is not a dedicated viewing room you dont want to do is build a system that means you have to look in totally the other direction.

Applying this rule then sort of dictates that the Living Room is the better of the two rooms for layout.

Looking at it, you should be able to achive close to recommended 5.1.x setup. None dedicated rooms are always an esthetic challenge.
 
Thats a great round up of subs, thanks. I think I have some leeway with the missus, she doesn't mind front speakers I have. We're both pretty geeky. So much so that we both work in the computer games industry, which leads to having many consoles to hook up... currently 4 consoles are out and wired up, plus an Apple TV which we use for most of our viewing.
I really need to ensure we get a nice solution for lots of power sockets...

I will rarely be watching stuff at room shaking levels, I'm sure I'll get told to turn it down when at anything approaching blockbuster movie volumes.
Which makes me think, do ceiling mounted speakers have a tendency to transmit their sound through the roof cavity to other rooms? The snug side of the house is single storey with an office right next door to the snug, is there going to be sound leakage to it?

For furniture arrangement, I think we'll have the main tv viewing positions with their backs to the windows but then, in the snug at least, a second 2 seater sofa can be more window focused. Pretty much a U layout in that room. Not sure about the living room.
 
For building regs, ceiling speakers would need to have fire and accoustic hoods fitted behind them to re-instate a fire barrier.

They do a good job of stopping sound bleed upwards and you can pack behind them with with rockwall.

Also, as the ceiling will be predominantly for Atmos use, there will be even less high volume sound transmitted through them.

Good idea on the room layout, just as long as you are thinking about it, then you are on the right lines of getting what is right for the house, you and family.
 

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