# Kingpin748's Media Room



## kingpin748 (Feb 20, 2013)

Hello all. New to the forum but I've owned speakers and TVs for years. I just moved into a new house last fall and was finally able to start planning a good family media room. A lot of the stuff I've bought on sale or through Kijiji here in Calgary.

Originally I liked the idea of a dedicated home theater but lately I'm starting to think a good media room with some nice components and comfy chairs is a better way to go. I'd like to blame the wife but I've kind of come to that conclusion myself and I like the idea of having a space for everyone, rotten kids included. 
Here is what I came up with on Sketchup:

















And here is how it's shaping up in real life.

Before:








After:

















I went from a Samsung LED Backlit 9 Series to the projector which was a big shift, one I certainly do not regret. It’'s an Epson 6020. I went with the Pro version because I got a good deal and considering the mount and extra bulb, extra year warranty, there wasn't’ much of a price difference.

















I also placed an order today for a PC-12Plus to replace the Paradigm DSP3100. 








I can’'t wait for that. I've got to hand to Sonicboomaudio.com, the SVS vendor here in Canada. I got a shipment notification with tracking number 11 minutes after placing the order online. It was actually on the courier truck within 11 minutes. 

Current equipment includes:

Denon 3311
Oppo BD-83
HTPC with XBMC
Server with Microsoft Server 2012 Essentials – 18TB 
Fronts: Paradigm Monitor 7
Center: Paradigm CC-190
Surrounds: Paradigm ADP-190
Rears: Paradigm Atom Mini Monitors
Sub: SVS PC12-Plus
Epson 6020
Grandview Fix Mount 120”

I've got more plans for wall treatments and a space for the kids but I’'m pretty sure the new sub blew the budget for the next few months. Glad to be part of the community and hope to pick up some new ideas from others.


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## BD55 (Oct 18, 2011)

Welcome to the Shack! BTW pics ain't showin. Looks like you have a great setup already 

Can I ask what are the details to your HTPC running XBMC? I would love to eventually build a little guy running XBMC, maybe a Raspberry Pi with XBMC and am curious what you are using.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Welcome mate - that looks like a great space. Well done!

The center stand is very interesting - is that a DIY project?


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## kingpin748 (Feb 20, 2013)

BD55 said:


> Welcome to the Shack! BTW pics ain't showin. Looks like you have a great setup already
> 
> Can I ask what are the details to your HTPC running XBMC? I would love to eventually build a little guy running XBMC, maybe a Raspberry Pi with XBMC and am curious what you are using.


The HTPC is a basic Gigabyte board that's 2 years old now, 4gb of ram, and a 32gb SSD. I just upgraded to a Gigabyte GTX 650 video card which gives me HDMI passthrough of TrueHD and DTS-HD audio to the amp along with 3D. I run XBMC on top of Windows 8 which is actually really good for HTPC IMO. That home screen is perfect for navigating through with a remote once you have your tiles setup.

XBMC now supports Bluray .iso’s or disk images so I can basically put all my movies onto the server and switch between Brave and Predators without leaving my couch. With the new video card I get everything I was missing from my Blurays. I love XBMC, I can’t say enough good things about it.

I'm not sure how much support there is for various drivers with Raspberry so I would suggest going with Unix or Windows just to avoid any possible hassles. You can go with a little box but I decided to go with a HTPC case since it looks fine beside all my other components. It also gives me plenty of room to work in and great airflow. I really haven’t looked into Raspberry though so don’t take my word for it. This is just based on stuff I’ve seen while browsing the forums.

Here is a picture of my AV cabinet with the HTPC in the bottom of it. 








With the new room layout I put the AV Cabinet into the furnace room and use an IR repeater to control it. Works like a charm and give the room a much cleaner look. It also makes it harder for the kids to wreck my stuff.


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## kingpin748 (Feb 20, 2013)

ALMFamily said:


> Welcome mate - that looks like a great space. Well done!
> The center stand is very interesting - is that a DIY project?


It's an Erkornes coffee table which I'm using until my VTI DFC19 arrives. Erkornes makes beautiful stuff and the most comfortable reclining couches I've ever sat on but unfortunately I can't afford $8000 for a couch, I could only afford an end table.


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## kingpin748 (Feb 20, 2013)

*SVS PC12-PLus*

Got my sub yesterday and all I can say is wow. I plugged it in, ran Audyssey and this thing is shaking my house. I wonder what it will be like after spending some time placing it and adjusting it a little. I watched the depth charge scene in U571 that I just watched a few days ago and ti was a completely different experience. I'm finding new rattles in my kitchen upstairs that I didn't know about. It's too bad the previous owner didn't insulate the ceiling last year when they finished the basement.

After talking with Sonicboomaudio.com here in Canada they suggested getting the PC12-Plus(cylinder) instead of the PB12-Plus(box). They said it sounds basically the same and the footprint is smaller and shipping is half what it would be for the box as it's half the weight. As it was I was barely able to pack the box downstairs. Once it was out of the box placement was easy. It came packed in a single box with packaging they obviously put some though into. I suppose you could have double boxed it but I don't think it matters. Personally I approve of less packaging as a rule. This might be the only box I ever keep since I might have to ship it someday.




























This thing is also huge. I figured maybe I could put it in the corner and the wife wouldn't notice for a bit but upon placing it I realized I need to come clean right away. There was no way should wouldn't immediate notice the gigantic black cylinder in the corner. I think I was in serious denial.

I've decided to move the atom monitor to my computer and try out some SVS SBS-02 for the rears. Since they aren't vented I can flush mount them on the wall. I even grabbed an extra pair for some front highs which are going to sit in the furnace room for a few months. I've decided to get a Denon 4520 to replace my 3311 and at $150 a pair I think these are a steal.


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## kingpin748 (Feb 20, 2013)

My center stand showed up last night. It's a VTI DFC19 which can be found here. The flat side of the base is suppose to be facing forward but I decided I wanted it towards the back. I pealed off the VTI logo and cranked the front set of spikes up while the back ones are as low as possible. You can't see it very well but it actually gives me a decent upwards angle on the speaker.




























It does the trick if you ask me. It was about $60 but shipping to Canada killed it with another $40 charge. I believe they ship free anywhere in the US though from these guys. I couldn't find anything else that competes locally and I'm really happy with this. 

The stand is made out of cast iron and you can fill it with sand if you want. I probably will when it warms up outside. Base came with 2 pairs of spikes to punch through the carpet to the concrete which makes is very stable. They also included 5 double sided foam pads for between the top plate and the speaker. You're also able to run the wires straight up from underneath the base to a grommet just below the top plate.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

Very nice room. I know you enjoy it tremendously. My wife and I are in our HT every night.


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## kingpin748 (Feb 20, 2013)

My Denon 4520 showed up the other day and I've decided to go with Front Height speakers which should be here tomorrow. I ran the wires tonight so I can just drop the speakers in tomorrow afternoon.










Now I need to decide what to do with all the speaker wire coming out of the walls. Front Heights look like this:










So I need to decide weather to go with what I did on the floor standing speakers:










Or I was thinking I should change all 5 fronts to a wall plate and make my own cables just for fun.










I'm going to make the cables look all fancy regardless but I need to decided on which direction to go. At one point I figured the less interruptions in the wire the better. Last week I compared a long piece of wire made up of 3 different sections to a single one and couldn't tell the difference in sound. I kinda feel like the wall plates make it look like I actually paid someone to do this...


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## yoda13 (Feb 14, 2012)

Loving the room!! and very clean looking. I agree with SonicBooomAudio, Mason as been great to deal with. And if you ever have the misfortune of relying on warranty for a problem, feel at ease, they are as quick to ship you your warranty part then they are to ship you your purchase. SonicBoom is affiliated with another store that are as awesome to deal with. Ordered speaker stands on Monday morning before work and they were at my door the next day when I came back from work (Ontario to NB).

Anywho, again great room. Looking forward for your impression on the front heights,

cheers


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## kingpin748 (Feb 20, 2013)

The SBS-02s showed up on Friday and I wasted no time putting them up. They came well boxed and were bigger than I expected. 



















The speaker box isn’t my favorite as it looks a little like plastic in my opinion but the speaker grills are very nice. I wished they matched my Paradigms better but it’s not very noticeable when they are up on the wall.



















Unfortunately right out of the box I had to do some surgery. While up on my ladder mounting the front heights the binding post keep turning and I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Turns out the little nut on the inside was loose so I had to open it up to fix it.










I’ve got them mounted flush right now since my mounts didn’t arrive. I grabbed some Omnimount 20s so that I can aim the surrounds at the listening positions better. Very solid mount and very adjustable with a lot options for ceiling or wall mounted, connecting to the top back or bottom of the speaker. Spec says they can hold up to 20lbs.

I’ve also decided to just sue the grommets instead of a wall plate. I feel like they just blend better with everything else while wall plates catch you eye. Now I just need to patch up the big holes I needed to fish the wire.

Once I got everything mounted I ran Audyssey and listen to some music and watched a few shows. I was very happy with the sound out of the SBS-02s, they seem to blend in nice with everything else I got. I’m pretty sure the Denon 4520 helps with that.

Here is how everything looks now. The wires will be cleaned up later and speakers will be aimed down more.










That should be about it for the AV end of things for me. Next up will be some paint and wainscoting which should make the place much more inviting. Place seems like a basement with a screen on the wall right now.


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## B- one (Jan 13, 2013)

I like your grommets they do look nice, so dose the rest of the room. I have been thinking about height speakers may have to pull the trigger on a set of klipsch rb-81's. Do you get a lot of sound from the heights compared to surrounds? Hope you enjoy the new toys.


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## kingpin748 (Feb 20, 2013)

I haven't listen too hard but they definitely make a difference. They seem to make they soundstage higher. I was kinda hoping they would pull the voices up so that they were coming out of the screen rather than below it. They don't though which kinda makes sense. It's really just environmental audio like bullets, helicopters, explosions. I like it though and it was fun putting it all in.


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