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RedCharles9001
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2025
- Messages
- 137
I have a living room set up I built a few years ago. Took all my spare time for about a year and half to do. I took out a bedroom and hallway and converted it into a living room. I live in an old home that's been remodeled multiple times, and it is unoptimized to say the least. Ripped down all the drywall so I could rewire it.
It's a 120 inch motorized screen. I got a 295ES on an Amazon warehouse deal. I also use a Vertex 2 to spoof the Sony X800 into running Low Latency Dolby Vision which improves picture quality significantly. Although I have read that the tone mapping on new projectors is very good now, it was necessary for the 295 ES.
I use an LX701 receiver to run 5.2.4. I've run it quite loud, beyond the limits of enjoyment, and it's been fine. There are also two speakers outside, but I have to change the receiver settings to get those to play sound. The ceiling speakers and rear surrounds are Elacs, and I chose Elac because they have in ceiling speakers that point at an angle. The LCR are SVS Ultras. Only two SB2000s up front, although it's wired for two more subs in the rear.
There's a TV mounted behind the motorized projector screen, but I'm limited to TV's that are a little over an inch thick.
I ran a long fiber optic hdmi cable from the computer in my office to the receiver. That has performed flawlessly. I also ran USB extender with a Lan cable, which is ok. It used to work 100%. Lately though, I'm now getting drops in connection every few minutes. Not sure if it's Windows, the lan cable, or the OREI USB extender itself.
I ducted the cabinet for the receiver. I used a AC Infinity fan that is typically used for weed grows. It is turns on based on temperature. Wiring all the speakers, installing smurf tube, was one of the simpler challenges. I ran 10 gauge speaker wire in the walls, if I to do it over, I would have ran 12 gauge, because the 10 gauge was too big for Sewell deadbolts. The smurf tube going to my office was ran under the floor in the crawl. Most of the speaker wire was ran into the ceiling down to the bed layer. I used a router and a kreg jig to build the cabinet doors.
The entertainment center was difficult to build. Cost about $1000 in plywood and $1000 in maple to trim it out. Sandpaper, Paint and wood filler were probably $250. I used a small sawstop table saw and a kreg track saw to make the boxes. Everything was screwed together using kreg's system and wood glue. Took quite a bit of planning to get everything to fit. There were four parts that made it extra challenging. One, the floor is sloped, so I had to use a 4x4 as a shim and cut it at an angle to make a level base.
Two, the screen area is wider than 8 ft, which means I had to V out the seam in the top and bottom and fill it, block sand it and fill it again and block sand it again until it was smooth. Three, the wall is also wavy and at an angle, so where the sides meet the wall, I filled the space with insulation foam, dug it out some, and filled that with wood filler, and then block sanded it until it was smooth.
Four, shooting the entertainment center and all the trim was the most difficult paint job I've ever done. Very intense. I used a Graco battery powered sprayer. Paint was SW Urethane Trim enamel. There are few changes I would make if I did it again, but I never want to build one of these again. I built it in an 13.5 x19 room, and it was really tight. Woodworking needs space.
I hesitate to call it a home theater, because it isn't a dedicated space with flat black paint and soundproof walls. WAF, Wife Acceptance Factor, was a major factor. The contrast ratio of the 295es isn't great, and the room doesn't help either. But it's still pretty awesome. I can run it during the day, but it doesn't look good. I can cover the french doors with curtains, which helps a bit, but using the projector in the daytime sucks.
TV's have gotten very large since I built the home theater/living room. But projectors are much better for eyestrain than screens. And they're just cool. More cinematic. I'm mean just look at this thing. It's cool. I have about a 40 degree viewing angle which is good. I don't feel the urge to get a larger screen.
This calculator was helpful. http://www.hometheaterengineering.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html
Also projector central was an excellent resource for determining throw distance. There's about one inch of extra space behind the projector. I didn't even put drywall back there; the header is right there. The 295 ES exhaust's the vast majority of the hot air out the front of it on the left side, so the cabinet is not a problem.
I spent a lot of time researching every aspect of the theater to make sure all the angles were ideal for the MLP, and the surround sound is very even. I spent many, many hours planning out every aspect of this and it paid off. I also test ran the theater during construction multiple times to make sure everything would work and fit before moving forward.
Most games don't support Atmos. DTS X upscaling is more aggressive than Dolby, and I like it. It works well for a lot of games. For music Dolby is better. In Skyrim, the rain and thunder sounds do come out of the ceiling speakers even though it's a 5.1 game. So there's that aspect to consider if you're considering building an Atmos set up for your pc or living room.
The implementation of Atmos in most movies is subtle. The Atmos track in the Matrix is incredible. It is night and day better than the 7.1 track. The Atmos track for Lawrence of Arabia is also impressive; the sound of planes flying overhead is cool. In Blade Runner, there's some rain sounds and some flying cars, but it's not an effect that you notice in every scene.
Dolby Vision on the other hand is a simply stunning.
I've spent about 12k on the gear, but I spread most of that cost out over years. And I searched for every deal I could, open box, used, on sale, and it still cost 12k. And the cost of all the cords and cables is more than you might think. The remodel with the deck, covered porch and the living room cost about 25k, and that was mostly material. Wood was extremely expensive at the time. I did everything except spray the drywall texture and stretch the carpet.
Having a real, true Atmos set up and 120" screen is really cool. I don't know anyone that has done what I've done to an ordinary home. I enjoy it almost every day. Currently watching X-Files. But I don't think I would take things so far knowing what I know now. There is a large increase in expense going from 5.2 to 5.2.4. 4k HDR is great, but it costs a lot more than regular old Blu-Ray, and regular old Blu-Rays aren't bad, even projected onto a 120" screen. I think I could have achieved 80% of the effect at half the cost and most importantly, about half of the time. I also thought I would utilize my PC more in the living room, but I don't, largely because I'm competing with my family for the screen and I don't game for hours at a time anymore. It's funny to me that I built it for Lawrence of Arabia and Skyrim, and it mostly gets used for kids movies. And X files.
Also, I used shutters to diffuse the sound reflecting off the window. Made a huge difference.
If you have any questions, please ask.
It's a 120 inch motorized screen. I got a 295ES on an Amazon warehouse deal. I also use a Vertex 2 to spoof the Sony X800 into running Low Latency Dolby Vision which improves picture quality significantly. Although I have read that the tone mapping on new projectors is very good now, it was necessary for the 295 ES.
I use an LX701 receiver to run 5.2.4. I've run it quite loud, beyond the limits of enjoyment, and it's been fine. There are also two speakers outside, but I have to change the receiver settings to get those to play sound. The ceiling speakers and rear surrounds are Elacs, and I chose Elac because they have in ceiling speakers that point at an angle. The LCR are SVS Ultras. Only two SB2000s up front, although it's wired for two more subs in the rear.
There's a TV mounted behind the motorized projector screen, but I'm limited to TV's that are a little over an inch thick.
I ran a long fiber optic hdmi cable from the computer in my office to the receiver. That has performed flawlessly. I also ran USB extender with a Lan cable, which is ok. It used to work 100%. Lately though, I'm now getting drops in connection every few minutes. Not sure if it's Windows, the lan cable, or the OREI USB extender itself.
I ducted the cabinet for the receiver. I used a AC Infinity fan that is typically used for weed grows. It is turns on based on temperature. Wiring all the speakers, installing smurf tube, was one of the simpler challenges. I ran 10 gauge speaker wire in the walls, if I to do it over, I would have ran 12 gauge, because the 10 gauge was too big for Sewell deadbolts. The smurf tube going to my office was ran under the floor in the crawl. Most of the speaker wire was ran into the ceiling down to the bed layer. I used a router and a kreg jig to build the cabinet doors.
The entertainment center was difficult to build. Cost about $1000 in plywood and $1000 in maple to trim it out. Sandpaper, Paint and wood filler were probably $250. I used a small sawstop table saw and a kreg track saw to make the boxes. Everything was screwed together using kreg's system and wood glue. Took quite a bit of planning to get everything to fit. There were four parts that made it extra challenging. One, the floor is sloped, so I had to use a 4x4 as a shim and cut it at an angle to make a level base.
Two, the screen area is wider than 8 ft, which means I had to V out the seam in the top and bottom and fill it, block sand it and fill it again and block sand it again until it was smooth. Three, the wall is also wavy and at an angle, so where the sides meet the wall, I filled the space with insulation foam, dug it out some, and filled that with wood filler, and then block sanded it until it was smooth.
Four, shooting the entertainment center and all the trim was the most difficult paint job I've ever done. Very intense. I used a Graco battery powered sprayer. Paint was SW Urethane Trim enamel. There are few changes I would make if I did it again, but I never want to build one of these again. I built it in an 13.5 x19 room, and it was really tight. Woodworking needs space.
TV's have gotten very large since I built the home theater/living room. But projectors are much better for eyestrain than screens. And they're just cool. More cinematic. I'm mean just look at this thing. It's cool. I have about a 40 degree viewing angle which is good. I don't feel the urge to get a larger screen.
This calculator was helpful. http://www.hometheaterengineering.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html
Also projector central was an excellent resource for determining throw distance. There's about one inch of extra space behind the projector. I didn't even put drywall back there; the header is right there. The 295 ES exhaust's the vast majority of the hot air out the front of it on the left side, so the cabinet is not a problem.
I spent a lot of time researching every aspect of the theater to make sure all the angles were ideal for the MLP, and the surround sound is very even. I spent many, many hours planning out every aspect of this and it paid off. I also test ran the theater during construction multiple times to make sure everything would work and fit before moving forward.
Most games don't support Atmos. DTS X upscaling is more aggressive than Dolby, and I like it. It works well for a lot of games. For music Dolby is better. In Skyrim, the rain and thunder sounds do come out of the ceiling speakers even though it's a 5.1 game. So there's that aspect to consider if you're considering building an Atmos set up for your pc or living room.
The implementation of Atmos in most movies is subtle. The Atmos track in the Matrix is incredible. It is night and day better than the 7.1 track. The Atmos track for Lawrence of Arabia is also impressive; the sound of planes flying overhead is cool. In Blade Runner, there's some rain sounds and some flying cars, but it's not an effect that you notice in every scene.
Dolby Vision on the other hand is a simply stunning.
I've spent about 12k on the gear, but I spread most of that cost out over years. And I searched for every deal I could, open box, used, on sale, and it still cost 12k. And the cost of all the cords and cables is more than you might think. The remodel with the deck, covered porch and the living room cost about 25k, and that was mostly material. Wood was extremely expensive at the time. I did everything except spray the drywall texture and stretch the carpet.
Having a real, true Atmos set up and 120" screen is really cool. I don't know anyone that has done what I've done to an ordinary home. I enjoy it almost every day. Currently watching X-Files. But I don't think I would take things so far knowing what I know now. There is a large increase in expense going from 5.2 to 5.2.4. 4k HDR is great, but it costs a lot more than regular old Blu-Ray, and regular old Blu-Rays aren't bad, even projected onto a 120" screen. I think I could have achieved 80% of the effect at half the cost and most importantly, about half of the time. I also thought I would utilize my PC more in the living room, but I don't, largely because I'm competing with my family for the screen and I don't game for hours at a time anymore. It's funny to me that I built it for Lawrence of Arabia and Skyrim, and it mostly gets used for kids movies. And X files.
Also, I used shutters to diffuse the sound reflecting off the window. Made a huge difference.
If you have any questions, please ask.
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