# Iskras cinema/apartment combo!



## iskra (Jan 30, 2012)

Herrow.

Figured I might share some of my home with you. We live really small - two people at 398ft². Having a very small apartment has forced us to be quite creative and the apartment is now more of a movie/gaming den than an apartment, really. 

Our system as of today consist of
*Speakers:*
B&W DM685 (L+R)
B&W HTM62 (C)
B&W M-1 (L+R SURR)
Argon Sub 840 (SUB)

*Electronics:*
Marantz SR6006 (AVR)
MacBook Pro Late 2011 (Laptop/music streamer)
MacBook White/Unibody Early 2011 (Laptop/music streamer)

Apple TV 3rd gen (Movie/music streamer)
iPhone 4 8gb (music/movie streamer)
PS3 (Game console/blu-ray-player)

SONY EX501 (TV)
Epson TW3200 (Projector)
Multubrackets Motorized projection screen (90")

Lots of Apple products as you can see. I am not, however, one of those die hard apple fans. I do however like Apple and their products. Let me say a thing or two on how everything comes into play.

For music streaming, I use either a MacBook together with AirFoil to stream directly into the Maratz SR6006. I do not, however, notice any difference in quality when streaming through my Apple TV, so sometimes I do that. If I'm in the mood, I'll use my iPhone to stream to the Marantz, which works just aswell.
Primary music source: Spotify.

For movies and TV-series, it's abit more komplex in theory, but very easy in reality. See, the Apple TV cannot decode .mkv-containers. Well, the Apple TV can barely decode anything. So you have to go through a very laborious workflow to convert the files so that iTunes can decode them (.mp4, for example). I know, running EVERYTHING through iTunes is clumsy. 

Thats why theres another, much simpler way of doing everything. And it's spelled Air Video Server. You can setup the server on both OSX and Windows. I have it on my MacBook Pro. Then I got the Air Video Application on my iPhone. The App is basically everything - it live converts the movie files while you play them. Simply find the folder on your server with the iPhone and redirect the stream to the Apple TV. And boom, everything runs smoothly.

As for movies themselves, I tend to only watch Blu-rays. Ripped materials just cannot come up to the same standard as blu-ray (in my oppinion) - not to mention the HD sound decoding, which is awful. So no, Blu-ray all the way for me, via the PS3.

I bet you're quite bored with reading now? Wanna see some pictures do you? 

Okay then.

The breains (and unforunatly, for now the brawns aswell):









Marantz's iPhone application. I have never used it, but I like the look if it. When I had an Onkyo, I used the App alot, since it point for point could replace the contoller. The Marantz App however, cannot. 









Ah, the B&W M-1. A very small speaker indeed. But surprisingly plays quite large. I would be happy with these at the FRONT of the system to be honest. Really, really nice speakers, although abit pricy to use as dedicated surround speakers.









A closer look at the M-1.









My trusted Epson TW3200. We have it pretty near our heads, but the volume has never bothered us. The lens-shift is good, although abit cheapish feel.









The sweetspot with some absorbents on the walls.


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## Cyberfloatie (Jun 1, 2011)

Good job making a small space work!

I'm on my fourth Epson and the lens shift on all of them has been nearly useless. The slightest vibration and then lens drops... Every week or so I have to get on the step ladder and lift if back up.


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## Sunlesstrawhat (Mar 2, 2012)

Nice. I live in an apartment too and it is nice to see Theater Rooms like this. How's the sub and the neighbors? Mine is okay, I just can't turn it real loud and I have to switch off the sub sometimes. I looked into room treatments but they are costly and they can not really block the lower frequencies unless I put up sheetrock with green glue or a rubber sheet.

Do you have a picture of the screen? What treatments are you using? How high is the projector mounted? Many thanks.


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## iskra (Jan 30, 2012)

Cyberfloatie said:


> Good job making a small space work!
> 
> I'm on my fourth Epson and the lens shift on all of them has been nearly useless. The slightest vibration and then lens drops... Every week or so I have to get on the step ladder and lift if back up.


Mine isn't quite that bad, but is can get really anooying trying to center the picture.



Sunlesstrawhat said:


> Nice. I live in an apartment too and it is nice to see Theater Rooms like this. How's the sub and the neighbors? Mine is okay, I just can't turn it real loud and I have to switch off the sub sometimes. I looked into room treatments but they are costly and they can not really block the lower frequencies unless I put up sheetrock with green glue or a rubber sheet.
> 
> Do you have a picture of the screen? What treatments are you using? How high is the projector mounted? Many thanks.


Thanks! We and the neighbors have come to an understanding - they can party every weekend as high as they want to, until 11pm, and we can watch movies as high as we want to until 11. It's quite a nice contract really.

I'll upload some pictures at the front setup in a few days, I'm right in the middle of changing speakers from B&W to KEF, so I'm just waiting for my centre speaker to arrive. I think the projector is mounted at about 2-2.5 meter hieght, the last few inches I used lens shift 

As for the treatments, it's them you see right there on the walls. 100 millimeters thich and about 50 mm between the insulation and the wall. They really worked wonders I tell you. A small benefit of living compact is that one don't really need to do that much treatment, since the sofa, bed etc. takes up most of the livingroom giving me "free" sound absorbtion.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

You guys should consider looking into an Auralex Gramma Pad (or a subdude, which is sold in smaller sizes). It decouples your sub from the floor and helps to reduce sub vibrations, etc. while I was researching them, I remember a lot of folks in apartments commenting on the fact that it helped them!

T


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

Great job working with your smaller space, and nice pic of the Marantz. You're lucky you seem to have pretty cool neighbors who understand a little give and take.


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## bidston (Nov 3, 2010)

hi iskra, love your set up, i notice you talk about your acoustic panels being 50mm from the wall, does it make a difference to lift them from the wall, cheers


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