"The Grove" Entertainment Complex - from start to finish - Page 3

Happy to have decided to upgrade my aging Denon 3806 receiver. It will stay with the current theater when we sell it.

The leading candidate for replacing it is the Pioneer Elite VSX-53. I like the sound of the Elites and intrigued by many of the new features it offers. All the Apple stuff in particular and the two HDMI outputs (which I want so that I can show the same programming at the bar in the next room simultaneously). Also like what I've read about the Yamaha Aventage 2000 level units. Anyone listened to both and have a preference? Audio quality is number one priority. The nice thing is how many features you can get these days on great sounding $1000 units.

Yeah I hadn't realized how full featured the Denon 3000 series had become. Two subwoofer outputs would be nice. Im looking add adding a second. That 3312 looks great. Has Denon improved their user interfaces at all? My 3806 is awful in that regard.

Hmmm, read some reviews on the Denon. Sounds like it's sonically very good but still the type of problems that annoy me:

Complicated setup
Menu difficult to navigate
Remote not backlit, missing some functions
No satellite radio
Sluggish app interface

I think I'll try Pioneer Elite this time. Sounds like it's *very* polished. (and looks sweet)

Interesting idea there for sure. Particularily if one is width challenged I would definitely think that would be a good option. Would prefer in walls even, but no go there in my case due to the window obviously.

The sad thing is that I essentially had a blank canvas and 750 square feet to work with for two rooms. I never should have somehow screwed myself into a suboptimal surround setup. Sigh. Realistically I think I'll be happy with the setup when it's done anyway. It's just the only thing that isn't quite coming together as well as I'd hoped...

That's exactly what we're doing - building a bracket down from the soffit. It will hold the speaker at a downward angle, just put in from of the double heavy navy drapes that will block the windows.Will post some pics when that's done next week.

And yes for real extreme need I'm planning to have some sort of styrofoam plug for the windows if the drapes alone don't quite cut it...

Love it once the screen wall is up. Gives you a good feel for the size and scope of the screen! Feels just right to me. The opening is exactly the size of the screen, the frame will attach to the surrounding wood. Screen will be 130" wide 2.25:1 from Seymour AV. Cinema XD fabric.

After some more research I've decided to go with the Yamaha Aventage RX-A2010. More power than the Pioneer and better reviews for sound quality, plus a friend's recommendation (thanks T). Also has a second sub output natively which is nice and still good networking features.

Lots to think about. I ordered the Yamaha RX-A2010, though it's on backorder until April. Fine, since that's when we're moving anyway. Got a very fair price from a local dealer too, I much prefer than to ordering online for something like this.

Looking at installing the new Fiber Optic service available here in Atlantic Canada. Bell Aliant Fibre Op, offers true Fiber To The Home, with 30 mbps for download AND upload speeds, plus TV and home phone all in a bundle that makes it cheaper than Bell Satellite and home DSL/phone. I hear the HD TV quality is not quite as good yet, but the convenience factor sounds amazing, and they're expecting tweaks to HD channels over time.

I got a Slingbox Pro HD to hook up to the TV receiver in the home theater room. That way we'll be able to stream TV to computers and iPads throughout the house, plus watch from our cottage without having to get a satellite receiver out there.

Got a barely used Lutron 6 zone Graphik Eye for $300 from an Amazon seller - great deal.

Wow, saving all kinds of money I guess! Makes me feel less guilty about splurging on that new receiver.

Lots of more progress in a few weeks. Here are some pictures from about two weeks ago with some painting done and the media shelves at the back installed. The first pictures shows the soffit and screen wall edges. The colors are much better represented in the second picture. We went dark blue on the celing both for reflection control and lighting effects.

After painting but before acoustic treatments. The crew hadn't realized there was no real point in painting behind the screenwall.

So construction proceeds quickly, along with the rest of the house. We move in in two weeks. The bar room next door is coming together nicely as well. I can post pics of that here is people would like.

I like the wall and ceiling colors that we (well, OK, she) picked out. Carpet now going in, it's similar to the wall color. Drapes, chairs and ceiling are all dark blue.

The electrician has almost everything done. Will do some close up pictures of the lighting scheme when I have the chance.

I am removing my speakers and projector from our current house today and taking them over. I picked up my new Yamaha RX-A2010 yesterday - very excited to hook that thing up.

Need to put together my Middle Atlantic Slim 5 rack

Need to figure out the best spot for the projector on the ceiling. I have a broad area of the ceiling re-inforced with wood behind the drywall to accommodate the current projector and possible future changes.

Will put up more pics today or tomorrow

Front wall 2" linacoustic and bass traps done

Speakers going in, questions next post...

1. Not sure what to do with screen height and L/R mains. I specified the screen height that you see here, but my speakers (Paradigm Studio 100s) have so many drivers that they come below the screen bottom. My options are:

a) leave as is, allowing a driver below and above the screen frame - the spacing is actually pretty decent
b) lower the screen opening - sounds appealing in some ways but not in others - would have to be pretty low to get all drivers behind the screen
c) build small platorms to raise the speakers up
d) a bit of b and c

2. What height and orientation for the center channel? I've mostly read that given the choice it should go vertically as shown. Is there good info supporting this? If I do, what tweeter should I like up with the tweeter of my mains?

Thanks! I LOVE the blue ceiling. It just got the final coat today. As is often the case, the pictures I took don't show it quite right. Same for the carpet. Yes, it's textured, but also currently covered in dust (hahaha) and the picture is brightness corrected to show the screen wall better.

Will take more of the rest of the room and try to get the brightness right for those details.

They're just these little plastic snap things that do happen to look like reels. Not deliberate. Just something my builders use when securing this type of stuff in large quantities. But you're right, should cover them over with something dark.

Here's a picture I'll share to show some other details. As you can see, pretty messy. However, this shows the ceiling color quite accurately. The carpet looks lighter than it really is, but that's the weave in it.

Also, can see the rear shelf surround speaker placement, and the Slim 5 rack I'm putting together.

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm sure you're right about the center channel. Will do a bit of checking but will likely mount it horizontally.

Yes, the screen will be surrounded by Guilford of Maine acoustically transparent fabric. The screen frame goes right on the wood so should work out fine re the woofers.

Also need to decide exactly where the projector goes. I got a 130" diagonal 2.25:1 screen, with side masking panels. Will be using zoom method with my JVC RS-15. Used Projector Central calculator last time. Is it still the best online throw/brightness calculator on line?

As much as all the construction was done for me by professionals, I'm fussy about doing the wiring and component installation myself. This weekend I ran all the needed wired through the pre-installed conduits. I love conduits. My equipment closet at the back of the theater has conduits to the projector mounting area, the front screen wall area, and to the TV area in the games/bar room. This allows any future cable/speaker upgrades and added features obviously.

I bought a new 13' cable to run to the projector. For the first time ever, I bought the highest quality (ultra high speed) Monster cable that Future Shop has to offer (I am no cable snob and usually avoid overpaying for Monster branded products. But for this critical run I thought what the heck, get top quality and future proof). The white wire you see is scrap CAT-6 that was used as a wire pull and will be left in place, tucked away out of sight for future use.







I already owned a 40' HDMI cable from my current installation. I ran this to the TV area in the bar/games room. This will allow me to duplicate the output to both rooms simulataneously.

I then ran my 12 gauge speaker wire from the equipment closet to the three front speakers. I cut, trimmed and threaded them in place - bare wire connections.

I had pre-installed a run of RG6 cable with a coaxial termination and hooked up the sub with this.