5.1.2 + projector looking for advice

[trooper]

I'm renovating my living room and thinking of doing a 5.1.2 setup. Mostly optimising for movie watching, but also occasional gaming and enjoying music. The room is roughly 14 sqm (150 sq ft).

I've never done anything even remotely similar, so looking for all sorts of advice and guidance. Also, if you have a good tutorial for a first-time builder that you would recommend, I'd love to hear about it! I appreciate any tips in advance!

I was thinking of the following layout:



Movie screen (marked with blue colour in the picture) will be some 3m away from the audience (green colour). There are some shelves on the left and right of the screen (yellow colour)

I was aiming for a 5.1.2 setup:

1. Fronts - Monitor Audio Bronze 50
2. Center - MA Bronze C150
3. Woofer - MA Bronze W10
4. Surrounds (or "Rear"?) - MA Bronze 50
5. Height - MA C165

I was pretty happy with Monitor Audio in the past, although only in a simple stereo and never in surround setup, but heard good things about them and they have amazing support.

For the Height channels, I was hoping to install them in the ceiling (ceiling height is at around 255cm from floor level)

I am on a modest budget, so I was looking at some of the low-end speaker series, but am open to suggestions. Intention was to be pairing this with something like a Denon AVC-X3700H.

Video-wise, I was planning to run an HDMI cable through the wall, which would require some 7-8m in length.

In addition to general recommendation, I had a few other questions:
a) Would a 5.1.2 setup work well here? I was considering 7.1.2, but given the budget and relatively small room, I thought it may be an overkill.
b) Can Front speakers (marked with number "1") be installed on existing book shelves? Given that they would not be free standing on the firm ground, would the possible vibration of the shelves negatively affect the sound quality? Alternatively, the speakers would have to sit in front of the shelves, which would not be ideal. The shelves are wooden for what it's worth. I was thinking of putting them at ear height (e.g. around 1.6m height)
c) Are the proposed positions for side speakers (marked with number "4") suitable for Surround channels? At which height would you place them?
d) Given that the speaker cables will run through walls, I was thinking of fixing a speaker panel plate onto the wall behind the amplifier. Is there anything I should be on a lookout regarding the type of the panel or wiring to/from it?
e) In terms of HDMI cables, I'd like to make this future proof and looking at 4k-grade cables. What would be a reasonably priced cable to look for, suitable for in-wall routing?

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[bigboss]

Monitor Audio speakers are excellent. I've got the W280, W260 and C260 speakers in my setup (7.1.4) with Denon X6300H AVR and the performance is superb. I've got the KK DXD-808 subwoofer.

7.1.2 or even 7.1.4 will work well in your room. I got a very good discount on the speakers, so you may find that they may come in your budget.

MA Bronze 50 will be absolutely fine on the bookshelves, provided the shelves are well made.

Denon make very good AVRs and they pair well with MA. Check out equivalent Marantz as well.

With regards to the subwoofer, you can do a lot better than the W10. Check out SVS SB1000 subwoofer with its 12-inch cone. It's far superior than the W10 and cheaper too. SVS is one of the best subwoofer manufacturers in the world.

For a 5.1.2 setup, the surrounds should be fine there. For 7.1.2 however, you should have proper side surrounds and rear surround placements.

Speaker panel is fine which is what I have got.

With regards to the HDMI cable, what's the length of the cable you're going to need? I put in 2 HDMI cables as well as a couple of ethernet cables and I'm glad I did that. After 5 years one of the HDMI cables failed. I simply swapped it. I've still got another backup on HDMI over ethernet if needed. Focus on the build quality of the cable and they should be rated HDMI 2.1. Do check it works before putting into walls. I bought Neet and Ibra cables from Amazon. You also get fibre-optic HDMI cables which are more reliable over long distances. But they are expensive.

 

[bigboss]

Oh, and buy 2 different HDMI cables from different manufacturers. Buying 2 cables of the same brand which may have been manufactured in the same batch may fail at the same time.

 

[trooper]

Thanks a lot for the response!

7.1.2 or even 7.1.4 will work well in your room. I got a very good discount on the speakers, so you may find that they may come in your budget.

I would love to do that, but I think it would look too awkward in this room. It's not pictured in the diagram, but to the left there is a bay window and to the right is a double-doorway. Putting some side channels there would get in the way. I might even be tempted to do it, but I think my partner will simply say "no" 🙂

Do you think 5.1.2 would not be enough to fill out the room?

Check out SVS SB1000 subwoofer with its 12-inch cone.

Looks great, I'll check it more thoroughly. One thing that's concerning me with big woofers is the amount of noise and low-frequency vibrations which I am not sure my neighbour will like. The wall behind the screen is a party wall, shared with the neighbour. It's a brick wall though. Is this something I should be concerned with? I was hoping to avoid sound-proofing the room as that would blow up the budget even more (plus make me lose on square footage)

With regards to the HDMI cable, what's the length of the cable you're going to need?

Around 7-8m probably, maybe 10m just to be on the safe side.

Oh, and buy 2 different HDMI cables from different manufacturers.

That's a great idea, thanks!

 

[bigboss]

If you can't accommodate 7.1.2 speakers, 5.1.2 will be great, 5.1.4 even better especially when you have scenes of a helicopter flying over your head.

My dealer once told me to go for the biggest, ugliest subwoofer I can afford and accommodate. This gives a clean bass. It's not only about the loudness (which you can control anyways). You can also get a subwoofer isolation platform to minimise vibrations.

 

[Tinman1952]

Do you think 5.1.2 would not be enough to fill out the room?

Most certainly! I have a 5.2.2 set up and surround effect is excellent especially with the Dolby Atmos height channel.
Your MA speakers will sound absolutely fine. Be flexible with the sub placement though as essentially it’s ‘non directional‘ at low frequencies. You may find it fits with your room better in say the left corner or even at the end of the settee! I’ve seen that too! 👍

 

[daytona600]

If you have the budget these are outstanding
one speaker ( speaker / subs / atmos ) use 4 off + centre for a 5.4.4 Atmos system
5 channels / 4 Subwoofers / 4 Height ( 9.4 with 5 speakers not 13) main channels are dipoles front & rear firing
or use 2 off + centre for a 3.2.2 Atmos system ( 5.2 with 3 speakers not 7 ) & add matching surrounds from the range

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