A Space Oddessy!

[Nevyn72]

Hi all!

Well as some of you may be aware I have recently moved from a one-bedroom unit to a 4 bedroom house which finally gives me the space to set up various HT and audio components properly!

For those that don’t recall the old setup, here it is.

The available wall space was only 1.2m and the plasma is a 46” because if I bought a 50” I couldn’t actually open the front door!

Anyway the new place is bigger (and How!!) and I now have two rooms to spread various bit around in. I have a Lounge 5.6m long, 4.4m wide with 2.4m ceilings. I also have a Rumpus 6m long, 3.7m wide with 2.4m ceilings.

The original intent was to split the 2ch and HT functions with music in the lounge and HT in the Rumpus. However it has since become apparent that the Lounge is not very good acoustically (dimensions especially) but the Rumpus is. Both rooms are full of hard surfaces and exceptionally bright……

My current thinking is have the Lounge “downgraded” to a general function room which will be used for general TV watching, occasional music and general entertaining. This will allow me to focus most of my efforts on developing the Rumpus into a dedicated entertainment space with usage split between music listening (60%) and Movie watching (40%).

Here are the two blank canvasses;

Lounge

Rumpus

As you can see both spaces will require a lot of work to sort them out, particularly the Rumpus!

Given the general purpose nature of the lounge and design constraints imposed by the layout I’m not going to get very carried away in this space but it will still retain a significant portion of my current gear including the 46” plasma and Paradigm monitor speakers plus a Blu & HD DVD player. Oh and before anyone comments the wall colours will be changed and the fish tank on the wall has to go!!

The Rumpus will be set up with two rows of seating, the second on a riser. One of the seats in the front row will be in the sweet spot for music listening and about 4m back from the front wall. The visual side will be taken care of by projection and I have already painted the front wall white to experiment with different screen sizes. I also managed to aquire an Epson TW-700 projector for trial purposes as I’m still not convinced that projection is the way I want to go in the longer term (Vs. very large plasma).

Unfortunately I will not be going anywhere near as advanced as some here have both for financial reasons and also because I want to be able to retain the ability to easily convert the Rumpus space back into it’s current state. This limits me in many ways as I won’t be able to permenantly carpet the floor without damaging the tiles, or enclose the stairwell, etc….

Also the Rumpus is directly beneath the main bedroom and soundproofing the space by relining all surfaces won’t be financially viable. Good thing I live alone!

Anyway having just moved (and gone hideously in debt in the process) this is all going to happen slowly over a fairly extended time frame. I will aquire components and do work as time and finances permit.

However while things gradually take shape I’ve at least set things up temporarily in the lounge (on the night I moved in actually! ) so at least I’ve something to keep me amused in the mean time. It also allowed me to unbox the CA 840 integrated 2ch amp which has greatly improved music quality in conjunction with having the speakers properly spaced.

Here’s some pics from the night I moved in....

Here’s some pics of the temporary setup as it is, note the high grade acoustic treatments on the floor in front of the speakers (Doonas)

The lounge will be replaced by something similar to this in about 5 weeks.

Here’s a pic of a new toy that I just couldn’t resist!

Sorry about the length of this first post, I’ll update this thread as things develop and evolve over time.....

Now for some questions that you might be able to help me with

1)I will most likely get some carpet cut and edged for the rumpus, should I have this extend all the way beneath the speakers and use spikes or should it stop short and leave the bare tiles beneath the speakers?

2)I will be transferring both the CA 840 & Onkyo 705 amps to the Rumpus and replacing them with a single unit in the Lounge. What is a good all round AVR for the lounge to drive the Paradigm Monitor 11s/cc-290 + surrounds for both HT & music?

I’m currently thinking Denon, Marantz or Yamaha (say around $1-1.5K)

3)I plan to run a dedicated 7-channel power amp in the Rumpus, the HT-bypass is a bit clunky on the CA 840, is there any reason I couldn’t use a y-splitter and run both sets of pre-outs directly to the power-amp?

(yes I know I would have to be careful not to have both “pre’s” on at the same time)

4) Does anyone know tonight’s powerball numbers?

Cheers,

Pete

[50mxe20]

Interesting wall colours.

Ooops - no comments allowed.

A work in progress!

Should be a lot of fun.

Look forward to the updates.

[mcduck]

your tv looks tiny now

and you gots a poang chair

and the corner lounge, me might be a little jealous, almost got one until i saw Purple

and really jealous of all the space you have

i have to share mine

so i'm looking forward to watching it come together too

and for the fun of it, here's some numbers

16, 21, 27, 44, 45

and 5

hey why not?

[Nevyn72]

Interesting wall colours.

Yes a fairly "interesting" chioce by the previous owners in the lounge there!

[Nevyn72]

your tv looks tiny now

46" @ 5.5m is a little far but I find it fine for general TV viewing.

and you gots a poang chair

Probably one of the most comfortable on the planet!

[myrantz]

subscribed... I used to move around a lot.. and the first thing I always do is to move and set up the HT stuffs first... Seems you follow the same checklist..

[Gutty]

Ain't moving fun !? How you liking the CA gear Peter ? Bet those 11's are liking being fed some quality

Let me know when i'm bringing that six pack around

[Nevyn72]

Ain't moving fun !? How you liking the CA gear Peter ? Bet those 11's are liking being fed some quality

Let me know when i'm bringing that six pack around

I (and the Monitor 11s) am loving the CA gear

I never realised just how much the the Onkyo was pushing the low Mids and upper Bass, I even hooked up the old CD player just to be sure it was the amp!

[Foggy]

Looking good Pete.... it's now time to plan for real Home Cinema..... a projection setup!

[Nevyn72]

Looking good Pete.... it's now time to plan for real Home Cinema..... a projection setup!

Here's stage 1!

I have painted the wall white to try out various screen sizes and see what works best.

Viewing distance from the prime seating position will be around 4m, 5.7m from the second row and the wall space will allow me to go up to 120"+ @ 16:9.

Initially I'll be using an Epson TW-700 (720p) @16:9 to trial the whole projection concept and see if works for me. The projector will be mounted on a shelf on the back wall as ceiling mounting is impractical with a 6m throw.

I will then look at upgrading and possibly CIH down the track as funds permit if I stick with projection......

[Nevyn72]

Now for some questions that you might be able to help me with

1)I will most likely get some carpet cut and edged for the rumpus, should I have this extend all the way beneath the speakers and use spikes or should it stop short and leave the bare tiles beneath the speakers?

So does anyone have any thoughts on this question?

[50mxe20]

Now for some questions that you might be able to help me with

1)I will most likely get some carpet cut and edged for the rumpus, should I have this extend all the way beneath the speakers and use spikes or should it stop short and leave the bare tiles beneath the speakers?

I'd extend the carpet under the speakers and use the spikes.

[Foggy]

I'd extend the carpet under the speakers and use the spikes.

that's a definite "+1" from me.

[Nevyn72]

Thanks guys

Carpet comes in rolls 3.6m wide and the room is 3.7m wide so it should work well, there'll be a small gap along each side edge but at this stage I plan to hang heavy curtains along each side wall for effect and acoustic purposes which should cover these. This will also have the advantage of being able to use a section of drawn curtain to "mask" off the stairwell up to the living area.

Unfortunately things are very much on hold until I settle on the sale of the old place and get the finances under control!

In other developments, the acoustics in the Lounge space are giving me a serious dose of the galloping Sh/tz!

No matter where I place items on the floor I am finding that mid-range frequencies are being muffled and become a little indistict. This is rectified by removing all floor coverings but as a result things become very bright, to the point that on some tracks it almost sounds like the inside of a pipe!

I think I'll hold off doing anything else until the new lounge arrives in about a month (cloth covered rather than the current leather lounge) and I shift the whole setup a little to the left to it's final position. This space will always be heavily compromised acoustically but I hope I can get a better final result than what I have currently, I still need to choose an AVR for this space too, perhaps something with warmer characteristics to compensate and do without the floor coverings?

I have curtains all along one side but nothing elsewhere which probably doesn't help.....

I also still need to setup the workshop so I can start building some entertainment units for each space.

Hmmmm, time and money, anyone got some to spare?

[*Psycho!*]

I think it will look great when you have it all in place!

:0)

[Nevyn72]

I think it will look great when you have it all in place!

:0)

I hope so, just need to aquire some more bits to complete the equipment set like speakers & a power amp.......

Update later today with pics!

[mcduck]

you're going to beat me

i have it all here, but am at the mercy of the men of the house

doesn't that just suck?

but really looking forward to seeing the pics ...

[mquin1503560492]

I'd extend the carpet under the speakers and use the spikes.

I would avoid spikes as they might damage your wooden and tiles floors.

Also, buy a large (thick) rug rather than carpet. Have the speakers standing on the hard floor (without the spikes)

Edited April 1, 2009 by mquin

[50mxe20]

I would avoid spikes as they might damage your wooden and tiles floors.

Also, buy a large (thick) rug rather than carpet. Have the speakers standing on the hard floor (without the spikes)

LOL.

As many people as you ask, that is as many opinions that you'll get.

Reasons?

[Nevyn72]

I would avoid spikes as they might damage your wooden and tiles floors.

Also, buy a large (thick) rug rather than carpet. Have the speakers standing on the hard floor (without the spikes)

I understand this is your opinion, but are there any underlying reasons for it?

I would prefer to go the carpet route as I will be installing a riser and it will be neater extending the carpet along the length of the room tacking it to the frame of the riser even though it won't be secured directly to the tiles themselves.

If it helps I plan to use a heavy/thick carpet and underlay (with gaps for the cabling under the carpet).

[50mxe20]

Acoustically, my thinking was that the carpet would be better.

Hence my comment.

But I could be wrong, of course.

[Nevyn72]

Ok now Update time!

I still haven't settled on the sale of the old place yet but there have been a few developments....

Firstly the new lounge turned up 3 weeks early so this afternoon I unpacked and installed it in the lounge room.

As you can see it took a bit of unpacking and assembly but it achieved the desired result and is really comfy!

Plus I finally got rid of the horrid fish tank that was on the wall!! Using the landscape picture to cover the holes and marks for the moment.

This will allow me to move the old blue leather 3-seater down to the rumpus and it will eventually end up on the riser for second row seating.

I also aquired two new toys!

This is part of the process of duplicating the systems.

The Pio SC-LX71 AVR and Pana BD-35 Blu player will be part of the lounge system paired with the plasma, an EP10 HD DVD player and the old CD player.

The rest of the gear will migrate down to the Rumpus/HT and I will start experimenting with screen sizing and speaker placement.

I have also made a start on the new entertainment unit for the lounge by getting some 19mm MDF cut down from a full sheet.

I just need to find the time to start putting it together!

It'll end up being a similar simple clean style to the exisitng (yellowish) unit in the lounge but in a lowline format....

Anyway that was my token day off, back to work tomorrow.

I think I get another day off sometime next week!

[The D-Train]

Great thread Pete, thanks for sharing.

Looking good Pete.... it's now time to plan for real Home Cinema..... a projection setup!

I agree, hence if anyone wants my 60" pio, its FS over in HD Displays.

[mcduck]

nice corner suite

bet you had fun unwrapping it

and a BD player

be expecting a full report on that i think

looks good the way it's allstarting to come together

i wish i could have a dedicated room

but no point really

they wouldn't leave me alone anyway

[Gutty]

Mmmm... new toys *drools*, i like new toys

Nice one Pete ! Good to see it all happening reasonably fast.

6 pack on ice