[bear123]

No dedicated theater, but here is what I have been able to do with my main living room. It's really the only place I have to set up for movies and music. The room is by no means ideal but I tried to make compromises of performance and aesthetics. There is a lot that is less than ideal, but it works pretty good regardless. I figured it might be fun to get this started and track changes and updates that I do over time.

More images are attached to see the rest of the room and how it opens to other areas of the house. I also included a closer shot of the equipment....did my best to keep the cabling routed neatly and as hidden as possible. Had to drill a handful of holes through the bookcase in various areas, as well as notch out the rear corners of some shelves to make everything as neat and hidden as possible.

Here is my current equipment list:

AVR: Denon X3300
LCR: Revel F36 Towers, Revel C25 center
Surrounds: Revel W263 in wall
Subs: Rythmik FV15HP x 2
Blu-Ray: Sony BDP-S5100
Display: Samsung QLED 75" Q80R
Media player: Apple TV 4K
Remote: Logitech Harmony Companion
Headphones: Sony MDR-7506
Speaker Cables:Yes(12g OFC)

 

[bear123]

Just finished up my dual sealed DIY sub build. I am very happy with how they turned out. The performance exceeded my expectations by a considerable margin. I installed quieter fans in the Inuke6000 and happy with that mod so far. I chose not to get the whisper quiet fans, as far too many people doing that end up with thermal shutdown issues. I chose fans with better airflow and quieter than stock. They are not dead silent but quiet enough to not bother me. I will be watching quite a few action flicks the next few days but I don't foresee any issues.

I have also been taking my recent time off to catch up on some odds and ends. Spent an hour or two perfecting my wiring...disconnected and removed all components. Rerouted and tidied up all the cabling, notched the rear corners of three shelves to keep the wires tucked neatly in the corners etc etc. Also left enough slack in the bundle to pull out the gear enough to work on things.

As you can see, my bookshelf speakers, unfortunately, actually sit in my bookshelves. I picked up a roll of that foam type tool box liner and put it under the speakers. I noticed that I was getting some resonance and vibration in the bookcase and the objects on them with the speakers sitting on bare wood. So this was a simple and effective improvement.

At this point the only upgrades in the near future will be the addition of Hsu in wall surrounds. These will be an exact match to my front L&R speakers so I am looking forward to that. Hard to believe I have lived this long with no surround at all.....really looking forward to this as it will obviously be a massive upgrade for my home theater experience.

Down the road someday I would like to upgrade the screen to a 65 or 70". It is just hard for me to justify right now as I have a perfectly good 50" plasma. If I do that, I might consider building a longer, shallower center that is also not as tall and mount it under the mantle. That would allow me to lower the TV much closer to the mantle. I was thinking something like this if it could be made with a shallower depth:

 

[gbreda]

Bear, that looks awesome !! I would love to make everything almost disappear the way you did and I am sure it sounds great. I really have to make sure that my better half doesnt see these pics

 

[bear123]

Bear, that looks awesome !! I would love to make everything almost disappear the way you did and I am sure it sounds great. I really have to make sure that my better half doesnt see these pics

Thanks very much for the compliment! That is one of the things I think I accomplished well...the system does not overtake the room and almost blends in unnoticed. Until you turn it on! Then peoples heads are on a swivel trying to figure out how the room, floor, couch, their clothing, and the entire house are shaking.

Can't wait to get the surrounds installed, they will be in wall with the covers sprayed to match the wall color.

 

[bear123]

So, I've been trying to figure out the best way to incorporate keyboard control into my system. The blu ray player that I use for streaming is a pain in the rear when trying to type anything......one letter at a time with a half dozen clicks per letter. I tried a wireless keyboard and it worked on some apps but not at all on others. Sony's smart phone/tablet remote app is terrible.

So I picked up a Roku 3 today....wireless keyboard does not work with it at all but it has a great remote app. Even using my iphone works really well. So I may add a cheap tablet someday if I decide to have a dedicated device. Until then, we have plenty of smart phones and ipads in the house that we can all use the remote app on. So far the remote app works really well....allows use of the devices keyboard for typing..yay.

Biggest thing I would like to figure out how to do now would be user friendly access to something like Spotify, so that I can choose specific songs, or specific albums or artists when listening to music. I would rather pay a small monthly fee and be able to listen to anything I choose versus paying for everything individual thing I might want to try out.

 

[LastButNotLeast]

I just ordered a GlareStopper. I'm hoping it helps my plasma, since I have windows directly opposite it. You may have a similar problem, judging from the pics. Beautiful room, BTW.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/167-plasma-flat-panel-displays/1959929-samsung-pn51f5300-glare.html

 

[bear123]

I just ordered a GlareStopper. I'm hoping it helps my plasma, since I have windows directly opposite it. You may have a similar problem, judging from the pics. Beautiful room, BTW.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/167-plasma-flat-panel-displays/1959929-samsung-pn51f5300-glare.html

Thanks. Yes, glare is an issue. The windows to either side of the TV are very distracting when it is bright outside, and I get glare from a wall of windows behind the main seating in the next room. The solution is going to simply be some curtains that can be kept completely open when not watching a movie. It's going to be a bit of a battle with the other half; she likes the windows completely uncovered. I'll include this as an update when I get it resolved, but I am reluctant to put anything over the TV.

 

[UGAd13]

I just ordered a GlareStopper. I'm hoping it helps my plasma, since I have windows directly opposite it. You may have a similar problem, judging from the pics. Beautiful room, BTW.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/167-plasma-flat-panel-displays/1959929-samsung-pn51f5300-glare.html

Please let me know how you like it. My plasma is set up just like yours and makes it difficult to watch anything but sports during the day (on the rare occasions that I actually get to watch TV during the day...).

 

[bear123]

OK, so I discussed putting up some type of black out curtains on the windows throughout the living room and adjoining room behind the seating area with my better half. Absolute no go. However, she is perfectly open to putting up Roman Shades of some sort. These of course are available in room darkening/blackout configurations. So this upgrade is a go whenever I allocate some funding for it, as I will have to cover at least 8 windows, and possibly 11, with matching shades.

The surround speakers are the next item on the agenda though, so it will have to be after that. As for mounting a center channel under the mantle to allow for a larger TV and lower mounting...also a complete no go. However, we did agree that the Fusion 4-Quad for I linked above would work well to replace the current center channel. This will allow me to lower the screen several inches when I do upgrade it. Looking further down the road, I expect that I may look into some DIY Fusion-8's to replace my mains some day, since they are 94dB efficient! I think this will give me clean reference level playback capability even with my bottom of the barrel AVR. At worst, I should gain 6 dB of headroom(due to speaker efficiency).

Of course, if upgrading my speakers is a possibility in the future, I question whether I should bother getting surround speakers to match my current mains.

 

[Bladerunner87]

The screen height is a bit of a problem. How badly do you need a usable fireplace?

 

[bear123]

The screen height is a bit of a problem. How badly do you need a usable fireplace?

It's actually not bad. Believe it or not, I don't usually sit bolt upright and stare straight ahead where most people put their screens low to the floor. So sitting comfortably I find I actually have a very comfortable viewing angle. Whereas at most people's typical screen height I would have to look down.

 

[LastButNotLeast]

Please let me know how you like it. My plasma is set up just like yours and makes it difficult to watch anything but sports during the day (on the rare occasions that I actually get to watch TV during the day...).

Done.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/167-p...samsung-pn51f5300-glare-fix.html#post35257074

Tedious, but the results are very impressive.

Michael

 

[csnow]

Room looks great. Is there any way you could bring that center down and mount it on the bricks so your TV could come down a bit? Not sure if heat would be an issue, but it looks like you have plenty of distance to play with. I really like how you have everything integrated. Very clean....

 

[bear123]

Room looks great. Is there any way you could bring that center down and mount it on the bricks so your TV could come down a bit? Not sure if heat would be an issue, but it looks like you have plenty of distance to play with. I really like how you have everything integrated. Very clean....

Thanks! Moving the center below the mantle is an option I considered but not feasible. The mantle only extends 3-4" beyond the brick, and the center is a good 9" deep. Was also a big no go with the wife. I do have a plan though. After I get my surrounds installed, I am going to work on building the Fusion-4 Quad 4 from diysoundgroup to use as my center channel. It is only 5.75" tall but wider. I probably won't adjust this tv, but when I upgrade to a 70" it will allow me to mount it several inches lower.

 

[ahblaza]

Hey Bear I still have my Panny 50P77U in a bedroom, I can't believe that thing is still looking like the day I bought it. Nice room indeed my friend, I wish I had a WAF to contend with as that would make me do a better job at keeping things so nice and tidy like your place. My misses just shakes her head and laughs, I think she's just having fun with me but actually she's laughing at me.............

Cheers Jeffrey

 

[bear123]

Hey Bear I still have my Panny 50P77U in a bedroom, I can't believe that thing is still looking like the day I bought it. Nice room indeed my friend, I wish I had a WAF to contend with as that would make me do a better job at keeping things so nice and tidy like your place. My misses just shakes her head and laughs, I think she's just having fun with me but actually she's laughing at me.............

Cheers Jeffrey

Thanks for the compliments Jeff! And yeah, my Panny is nothing fancy but dang, it looks good enough that I just can't bring myself to part with $1500-$2k for a decent 70". I've planted the seed about a recessed projection screen but the projector itself is meeting with much resistance so far.

 

[ahblaza]

Thanks for the compliments Jeff! And yeah, my Panny is nothing fancy but dang, it looks good enough that I just can't bring myself to part with $1500-$2k for a decent 70". I've planted the seed about a recessed projection screen but the projector itself is meeting with much resistance so far.

Bear I hear you my friend, I dropped $2100 on a Panny 65ST60, the last of the Panny plasmas but it was well spent. I think a PJ will be my next purchase but I have a lot of research to do as I'm lost when it comes to them. Could you give me a hint where your subs are, man you're good....

Cheers Jeffrey

 

[bear123]

Bear I hear you my friend, I dropped $2100 on a Panny 65ST60, the last of the Panny plasmas but it was well spent. I think a PJ will be my next purchase but I have a lot of research to do as I'm lost when it comes to them. Could you give me a hint where your subs are, man you're good....

Cheers Jeffrey

Haha one is in the corner behind the chair with flowers on it. The other is next to the door between the couch and wall.

 

[ahblaza]

Haha one is in the corner behind the chair with flowers on it. The other is next to the door between the couch and wall.

If you didn't tell me I would have never found them.......... I can't find one cable in your entire room, are you using all wireless components... You should change your avatar to Bear Copperfield.......again really nice job my friend..

 

[bear123]

If you didn't tell me I would have never found them.......... I can't find one cable in your entire room, are you using all wireless components... You should change your avatar to Bear Copperfield.......again really nice job my friend..

Thanks Jeff. Sloppy wires are a pet peave of mine. I never understand why people spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on their home theater/AV setups only to have sloppy wires haphazardly strewn about in plain view. Honestly, it was probably at most a few hours work, some holes drilled, various cable ties and nail/screw wire clamps to make everything nice and tidy.

Still waiting on surround speakers.... Wife starting work in about a month so hoping to have them soon.