Two Screens - Plasma and Projector Screen on two different walls in my Lounge / cinema room

[admin_exported]

Hi All,

This is my firstmessage to a forum such as this, so please excuse any variation to acceptedetiquette!

I am intregued to hearyour advice for a problem I face that is similar to one posed by dmkt in early 2008.

I have a newroom that has been completed as a sitting room / home theatre combination. Theroom has a fireplace, above which has been sited a plasma screen, however tothe immediate left of the fireplace is a walkway through to another part of theL shaped room therefore it has proved impossible to site the projector screento lower in front of the plasma or on the same wall. We have been forced tosite the screen to lower from within a ceiling void on the wall at 90degrees tothe left of the plasma. The projector screen lowers infront of a shutteredwindow (this feature making it impossible to site the plasma on this wall. Itherefore have no choice but to site the plasma and projector screen ondifferent walls and at 90 degrees to each other and the room has beenconstructed to accommodate this configuration.

I have been expectingthat the issue of changing the speaker delay timing would be my biggeststumbling block in finding an audio solution for the changing orientation ofthe room to suit the change from TV to Projector viewing. I believe I might beable to overcome this issue by installing eight, ceiling mounted,Speakercraft Time Five speakers (in addition to the sub-woofer) arranged in asquare and arranged with one speaker in each corner of the square and onespeaker half way down each edge of the square, thereby maintaining the speakerto listener distance even as the orientation changes.I had envisaged that Iwould be able to accomplish a 7.1 configuration with front speakers, sideeffects and rear surrounds. If you can envisage this "Square"arrangement, I had anticipated that the same speaker set could be used for bothconfigurations with only the definition of which speaker represented eachposition relative to the listener changing between the two orientations ie thespeakers would all be similarly specified and their role would change with thefront left, centre and right speakers for Plasma viewing would become the frontright, right effects and right rear speaker when watching the projector etc... I have prewired two speaker cable runs to each speaker point to allow switching of configurations back in the cable closet if that is required.

I had hoped to connect each speaker twice using the twinned pairs to each point with a 12v DC fired switch to select either speaker configuration A or B depending on which display (and therefore orientation ) is in use. With this configuration, I had hoped to use a single amp/receiver, such as the Denon AVR-4810 with all sources connected to it and one its HDMI Outs connected to the 1080p plasma and the second HDMI Out connected to the 1080p Projector. I am however struggling to source a switch to take the 7.1 speaker out's and patch them to the A and B speaker wiring. I appreciate that without a drawing it is difficult to envisage, but I hope the above is intriguing enough to spark the imagination of the experts who peruse this forum.

I am sorry if anextended message,such as this, to the forum is inappropriate, but given that Inow have the structure of the room in place and am seeking to procure the techto make it happen, I would be grateful for whatever constructive advice isavailable from the well informed.

I thank you in advance

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

Do you need to hae two surround sound set ups in the same room. If I were looking at this layout I would install a top flight system around the PJ and keep the TV on its own. If you need sound there a sound bar or a simple stereo set up may be an option.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Nick,

I expect (although may be proven wrong), that the TV will be used as the most convenient way to watch satellite content, and the Projector will be used for movies and certain sporting events. The projector screen is vast 5m wide and will dominate the room when down, so I can't see this as the principle screen. It seem unfortunate that, given the investment in speakers, amps/receivers, that this orientation problem would cause half of it to be unused or duplicated at any given time.

I confess that whilst it feels defeatist, I may be faced with this as a backstop approach.

Is this requirement so one-off?

Thanks for your time and thoughts

 

[Anonymous]

I have the same situation as yours. Differnce here is that instead of window, my screen is on a curved wall which cannot have a TV. Few points I faced while designing the room (still being made)

1. Projector has no sound output, so it is a must that speakers be positioned in accordance to the PJ. This is a 5.1 as PJ will be used for movies.

2. TV has speakers of its own and though they are not even half as good they can suffice for news, etc.. Also you can use four of your already installed speakers in the square for 4.0 setup. Now if you want differentiation between right/left, front/back you will need to swao cables at the back for 2 out of the 4 speakers. Notice that 1 speaker remains back and 1 remains front in both orientations. Also you need to add a 6th speaker below your TV to make it a 5.1 config as well.

3. The above was complicated. Simpler just use the 4 speakers with the TV in a mode where all speakers emanate the same sound. All AVRs have this mode. Another option is to buy 2 more speakers to add to your TV and connect them to zone 2 of the AVR.

4. I have a L-shaped seating where 3 sit in front of TV and 3 in Front of Screen. Plus 2 small backless chairs are movable. This is a Lounge-*** HT Room. My AVR is Marantz SR6004 with 2 HDMI outs and full support for Zone 2.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input RB107!

I am cheered to hear I am not alone in the need for a AV room with screens on two walls, i was begining to think I was on my own! It seems a dreadful waste to have invested so much in the receiver & speakers to only use them with the projector and not with the TV though.

I have eight speakers in mind for the room, arranged in a square around the seating area, with a speaker in each corner of the square and another half way down each edge of the square. I will also have a horseshoe of seating - ( essentially a square of seats within the square of speakers. The horseshoe just missing the chairs immediately in front of the fireplace). The subwoofer will be placed separately.

I was hoping create a symmetrical arrangement of speakers and seating to overcome the need to change delays and speaker levels as I change from one orientation watching the Plasma to the other watching the Projector.Am I foolish to think this would work, if I could just switch the speaker lines to the seven speakers relevant to the particular orientation in use? (assuming a 7.1 configuration with side effect speakers using the speakers mid way down the line of the square in each configuration)

I wonder if an arrangement of relays might work? If I hard wire the amplified channels as inputs and then use one set of speaker cables to wire the relay outputs for the projector configuration of speakers and another set of speaker cables to the other relay outputs wired to the correct speakers for the Plasma viewing.

Might this work?

 

[Anonymous]

Heading toward a solution here - perhaps

I have identified the following two items that might help me;

1. It appears that the higher end Pioneer AV receivers/Amp have the ability to store multiple and selectable listening position configurations and, my understanding is, that these configurations can be selected as required when viewing. The example from the Pioneer documentation is that of sitting back to watch movies or sitting up close to the screen for gaming.

Does anyone have experience of this?

Does it work for significant variations in seating positions?

Also, my preference is for a Denon amp, do you know if there is a similar ability within the Denon camp? Older marketing materials for previous models suggest there is, although more recent documentation doesn't mention it?

2. I have found an eight way relay switch from ADA (Audio Design Associates) in the USA called an MORB-1 (Morb standing for Mother Of Relay Boxes), http://www.ada.net/products/bb/morb_1.php , which seems to be built for the purpose of switching speaker configurations for a change in room orientations. their example is for a screen on a swing out arm, but I am hoping the principles are the same.

Unfortunately, whilst I can find RBGComms.co.uk are the UK distributor, I have as yet been unable to locate a local dealer that might confirm the cost, so perhaps this option might get excluded as being not economically viable? Anyone come across this before or know a UK dealer?

Thanks for your interest