My home cinema build thread

[bigboss]

Will do, at some point. For now, have to get my bank balance right. *crazy*

 

[Deleted member 2457]

No projector

No Issue - just sit much closer to the TV... Problem solved

Not really. I compared with standing 2 feet from the TV. You just can't compare it. Besides, your speaker position will mean it will sound all wrong from that distance.

That was a joke BTW

I really enjoyed Transformers 4 - especially with the Dinobots Reference - that was a real blast from my childhood - I loved that

I would like to spin it again as my system is muc better setup and optimized and now my bass is insane good. First watch had the system on its limits at times it seemed

You need to come and listen BB and hear just what the SB13 can do - its an eye opener in the righ hands

I thought Transformers four was cool too. *dirol*

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Wow! What an experience!!! Forget 65-inch TVs, projector is the way to go! *clapping*

Absolutely stunning! Sony HW40ES is superb out of the box! I haven't changed any settings yet. Even Sky TV is pin sharp quality (HD).

And sound is mind-blowing! Vastly superior to my previous setup. Even my father in law who is 75 commented on how good the sound was. These Monitor Audio speakers and Marantz AVR are highly recommended.

Wow! What an experience!!! Forget 65-inch TVs, projector is the way to go! *clapping*

Absolutely stunning! Sony HW40ES is superb out of the box! I haven't changed any settings yet. Even Sky TV is pin sharp quality (HD).

As the world's biggest fan of 65" (and larger) televisions, I say - bah humbug!!! *smile* It's just that I've never been particularly impressed with projectors, even calibrated ones at proper dealers.

Let me know when you're coming towards Yorkshire. I'll show you the real experience. Trust me, you'll want to replace all your TVs with projectors!

One of the reasons why you were underwhelmed may be because you watched it on a white screen. Even I felt the same, until I demoed on a grey screen.

Well, I'm prepared to be convinced upon demonstration. Yes, it's true that all the projector screens that I can remember seeing have been white, not grey like yours. I will have to be convinced though, using my own eyes and ears. Remember that I'm the man who was not convinced that a £1,200 subwoofer, in direct comparison in the dealer's shop, was better than his own £400 Tannoy TS12 subwoofer.

I have to go to my brother in Basingstoke to set up the Panasonic 42ST30 plasma that I bought for him on eBay over Christmas. Perhaps I could stop by you for a few hours on the way down? I'm planning for the end of February / beginning of March. I'll be coming by public transport. Tomorrow I'll see if we can exchange a few PMs on AVForums.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Just watched Transformers 4 in Dolby Atmos. Rubbish film, but Dolby Atmos is superb!! This is my first ever experience. I didn't expect the effects to be so powerful!

Without a doubt, 5.1.4 is superior to 7.1.2 for those considering between the two.

I'll be getting Transformers The Age of Extinction before I run my next fund-raising film nights at the end of April. I hope that it sounds almost as good on my 11.1 Audyssey (spelling??) set-up with front heights, front wides and rear-backs as it does on your Dolby Atmos system.I get decent height effects with helicopters etc in films like Argo, Zero Dark Thirty and Blade Runner, but I don't deceive myself that my height effects are as good as your proper 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos setup.

Your sentence that I have emboldened is really important, I don't think that the professional reviewers have stressed that as much as you do. Go 5.1.4!!

One question. I gather that it is possible to use the Dolby Atmos speakers even if the film is not a true Atmos encoded Blu-Ray. How does using the pseudo Dolby Atmos compare to regular 7.1 for non-Atmos films? Steve Withers and Richard Stevenson have both praised the pseudo Dolby Atmos effect.

 

[bigboss]

I have to go to my brother in Basingstoke to set up the Panasonic 42ST30 plasma that I bought for him on eBay over Christmas. Perhaps I could stop by you for a few hours on the way down? I'm planning for the end of February / beginning of March. I'll be coming by public transport. Tomorrow I'll see if we can exchange a few PMs on AVForums.

That'll be great! Let me know your plans.

 

[bigboss]

One question. I gather that it is possible to use the Dolby Atmos speakers even if the film is not a true Atmos encoded Blu-Ray. How does using the pseudo Dolby Atmos compare to regular 7.1 for non-Atmos films? Steve Withers and Richard Stevenson have both praised the pseudo Dolby Atmos effect.

I didn't know this was possible. Will check and let you know.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Damn! My memory isn't as reliable as I thought that it was. Steve Withers didn't after all mention the pseudo-Atmos effect, but Richard Stevenson did, in his review (in Home Cinema Choice 243, February 2015) of the Denon AVR X5200W receiver, which does Atmos and via an upgrade, Auro 3D. The review isn't yet online, but he says "A sideline of Dolby's Atmos initiative is the new Dolby Surround feature. This post-processing reduces user options but self-selects the best option for your chosen speaker setup. Thus if you have height channels connected, for instance, the Dolby Surround mode will default to Dolby Pro-Logic IIz in the absence of an Atmos bitstream. The best part of Dolby Surround is its ability to 'upscale' non-Atmos material and map some information to your Atmos speakers. This gives a solid 3D sound effect even with Dolby Digital 5.1 material. It's something of a 'virtual height' system and works well. If you have gone to the effort of setting up Atmos speakers, Dolby Surround will be your friend no matter how many channels the incoming stream has."

Mind you, Steve Withers does say in his Marantz SR7009 review, (yours!) that "Of course the big new feature is Dolby Atmos and it didn't disappoint, delivering the most immersive surround experience we have had at home. We found that we preferred using the 5.1.4 configuration, as opposed to the 7.1.2 because the sense of immersion was greater and we didn't miss the two rear speakers. In fact the precision of the localisation of effects and the panning of sounds was quite remarkable, even with just five speakers." which you yourself have now endorsed! *smile*

 

[bigboss]

Pseudo Atmos can be a bit unnerving, because they're bit louder than the surrounds (almost as loud as the fronts). Basically, it's the same sound that comes from surrounds.

 

[bigboss]

I'm going to start a new thread with finished pics shortly, just want to check the best site to upload pics on to so it doesn't distort here.