Absolute Noob with noob like questions on Home cinema set up and wireless speakers.

[admin_exported]

Hello All,

My wife has decided that we are going to convert our double garage into an office and home cinema (aren't I lucky

). She has tasked me with coming up with a decent set up for the home cinema.

The room size will be approx 3m by 5m, so we've decided on a projector to get a good sized screen.

The components we are considering are

Projector: InFocus-IN80 or Sony VPL-HW10

Amp: Sony STR-DA2400ES or Yamaha DSP-AX863SE

Blu-Ray: Panasonic DMP-BD60 or Sony BDP-S550

Which would you suggest as a good combo?

The problem comes with the speaker set up... One thing my wife hates is wires and cables. She is not happy about having cabling running along the floor/walls to the different speakers. We were going to ceiling mount the projector and have the amp and player on shelving behind the sofa. There is a wireless setup by KEF but does this just work with rear speakers or is it fine for front speakers as well? Also could we keep the subwoofer in a position behind the sofa to keep the cabling all behind there or do we need it up in front?

Any help would be appreciated.

M0zza.

 

[d4v3pum4]

If you're about to embark on a conversion, you'll be insulating/sound proofing the walls etc. and fitting plaster so you have the ideal opportunity to hide the cables. Wireless speakers are never truly wireless, they inevitably need power from somewhere and often the rears are connected together. I would do a google on home cinema DIY, there are various sites and forums around that will show step by step what others have done. You can keep cable entry/exit points tidy with cable grommets (see satcure.co.uk) or brush faceplates. Keep mains and av cables separate and run in trunking where possible.

I would recommend buying from a store too, if you buy a job lot of equipment, you should be able to negotiate a healthy discount, get the benefit of their knowledge and experience, so listen to their advice but most of all, choose your equipment based on how it looks/operates and sounds to you. The most important piece of the jigsaw is getting an amp and speakers that sound good together, which seems to be getting forgotten about in the online buying era.

As for subwoofer placement, true audio/videophiles will tell you to use a spl meter and place the subwoofer in the best position but this is not always practical in modern homes but as you will have a dedicatd cinema, hopefully you will have a bit of leeway for its positioning. The norm is to put it in a corner. The sub is an important part of the setup and as such, I would recommend getting a good one. The ones shipped with packages aren't always the best and the dedicated sub manufacturers excel in this regard. BK, SVS, Velodyne, REL etc. all make subs that don't cost the earth but offer good performance.