Eye of Harmony
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- Aug 17, 2012
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After a very cold winter last year, we decided we needed to seriously increase the amount of insulation in our roof. We'd already tripled it in most of the house, but three rooms have vaulted ceilings which means no loft access. The only way to add more insulation is to rip down the ceilings and start again. As they're between 3m and 5m high that's not much fun. But hey ho, it has to be done.
So as we approach the lounge, I think to myself - while the ceiling is down I could take the opportunity to add some cable for the surround sound speakers for my poor little all in one cheapo home cinema system. This quickly escalates to swapping out the all-in-one package speakers for some nicer in-ceiling speakers. But of course, if the rear speakers are bigger, it makes sense to change the front speakers as well
This ultimately led to the idea of demolishing the chimney and creating a nice built in "media centre" with recessed telly, in wall speakers, and niches for AV equipment etc. But why stop there? The room is ideally configured to add a projector and electric screen, so why not put in place cabling for these too?
Here's the story so far in pics (sorry, this is the boring stuff first, breaking the room apart!)
Here's the room to start with, before chaos ensues:
The chimney will go and that wall will be rebuilt. Eventually an electric screen will be installed behind the beam nearest the chimney. A projector can then be installed either on the middle beam (3m away from the screen) or the back beam (6m away). Not sure which yet, depends on projectors and screens, neither of which I can afford immediately.
Here's what I have in mind for the AV centre to replace the chimney (not to scale):
Not sure if the centre speaker will be above or below the TV, it depends on the height the telly ends up at.
First day's work, get rid of the existing ceiling, and the chimney:
The wooden beam on the top weighs 150kg. It wasn't easy removing it on my own! Rather than break up the base of the old chimney, it will be extended to the left and the AV equipment niches will be built into it:
Next, a new pellet burner is installed in the room that backs onto this one, replacing the ageing wood burner from the chimney. It blows hot air out through the two flexible tubes. Those will go in the recess under the TV, well insulated of course:
Now to start putting in the insulation and the suspended ceiling system. Here's about a third of the insulation that has to go in:
The first layer in, along with the suspended ceiling brackets:
Now to run the cabling before putting in the next two layers:
HDMI, coax, cat 5e, and power. Oh, and lots of 2.5mm2 speaker cable of course, including two extra runs to accommodate 7.1 rear speakers if I decide to add them later. Once all this is in I will have the choice of being able to mount a projector under either of the beams. Here are the speakers:
Polk RCis for rears, SC85s for fronts, and an Apart for the middle (please don't laugh, my budget, and knowledge of AV, are severely limited!)
Still need a subwoofer. I'm thinking of a BK Gemini II as that's what seems to be well respected here (as far as my tiny budget goes).
TBC...
So as we approach the lounge, I think to myself - while the ceiling is down I could take the opportunity to add some cable for the surround sound speakers for my poor little all in one cheapo home cinema system. This quickly escalates to swapping out the all-in-one package speakers for some nicer in-ceiling speakers. But of course, if the rear speakers are bigger, it makes sense to change the front speakers as well
This ultimately led to the idea of demolishing the chimney and creating a nice built in "media centre" with recessed telly, in wall speakers, and niches for AV equipment etc. But why stop there? The room is ideally configured to add a projector and electric screen, so why not put in place cabling for these too?
Here's the story so far in pics (sorry, this is the boring stuff first, breaking the room apart!)
Here's the room to start with, before chaos ensues:
The chimney will go and that wall will be rebuilt. Eventually an electric screen will be installed behind the beam nearest the chimney. A projector can then be installed either on the middle beam (3m away from the screen) or the back beam (6m away). Not sure which yet, depends on projectors and screens, neither of which I can afford immediately.
Here's what I have in mind for the AV centre to replace the chimney (not to scale):
Not sure if the centre speaker will be above or below the TV, it depends on the height the telly ends up at.
First day's work, get rid of the existing ceiling, and the chimney:
The wooden beam on the top weighs 150kg. It wasn't easy removing it on my own! Rather than break up the base of the old chimney, it will be extended to the left and the AV equipment niches will be built into it:
Next, a new pellet burner is installed in the room that backs onto this one, replacing the ageing wood burner from the chimney. It blows hot air out through the two flexible tubes. Those will go in the recess under the TV, well insulated of course:
Now to start putting in the insulation and the suspended ceiling system. Here's about a third of the insulation that has to go in:
The first layer in, along with the suspended ceiling brackets:
Now to run the cabling before putting in the next two layers:
HDMI, coax, cat 5e, and power. Oh, and lots of 2.5mm2 speaker cable of course, including two extra runs to accommodate 7.1 rear speakers if I decide to add them later. Once all this is in I will have the choice of being able to mount a projector under either of the beams. Here are the speakers:
Polk RCis for rears, SC85s for fronts, and an Apart for the middle (please don't laugh, my budget, and knowledge of AV, are severely limited!)
Still need a subwoofer. I'm thinking of a BK Gemini II as that's what seems to be well respected here (as far as my tiny budget goes).
TBC...