Taffs New Study and Home Cinema Room
- Thread starter Supertaff
- Start date
Spent last night taking old desk out of room and having a tidy up.
Wife has just phone to say my new desk has arrived and also my new Corsair 800D case, Saphire 5970 and H50 cooler.
Hope to be able to spend some time tonight putting some of this together.
Think I'll start with getting the monitors on the wall and getting some basic cable management in place around the room and check everything is working with the current rig. Then I'll do a rig update to move my stuff to the Corsair 800D.
Decorator is booked for the middle of March, so have want to get everything in place, drilled, cut etc So that then I can take it all down, he can come in and decorate the room and then I can re-assemble everything into the places it should be. This will give me the chance to get everything in the right places. Hopefully this will then stop me from having to redecorate because something is in the wrong place.
Will post up a couple of pics over the next few days as changes happen.
Taff
Wife has just phone to say my new desk has arrived and also my new Corsair 800D case, Saphire 5970 and H50 cooler.
Hope to be able to spend some time tonight putting some of this together.
Think I'll start with getting the monitors on the wall and getting some basic cable management in place around the room and check everything is working with the current rig. Then I'll do a rig update to move my stuff to the Corsair 800D.
Decorator is booked for the middle of March, so have want to get everything in place, drilled, cut etc So that then I can take it all down, he can come in and decorate the room and then I can re-assemble everything into the places it should be. This will give me the chance to get everything in the right places. Hopefully this will then stop me from having to redecorate because something is in the wrong place.
Will post up a couple of pics over the next few days as changes happen.
Taff
Well here's a little update
Desk adn other goodies arrived today. So have spent this evening putting desk together and getting pc back up and running. Need to do some basic cable management behind desk and for the netwrok cables (have some trunking for those).
But have a problem, bought 3 wall mounting arms for the Dell 2407's. I had a little fo trying to fit them together this evening, but I don't seem to have the correct fittings. The arms are normal LCD TV arms, so though they would fit the 2407's. Anyone able to help out?
Desk image
Other goodies for assembly tomorrow.
Desk adn other goodies arrived today. So have spent this evening putting desk together and getting pc back up and running. Need to do some basic cable management behind desk and for the netwrok cables (have some trunking for those).
But have a problem, bought 3 wall mounting arms for the Dell 2407's. I had a little fo trying to fit them together this evening, but I don't seem to have the correct fittings. The arms are normal LCD TV arms, so though they would fit the 2407's. Anyone able to help out?
Desk image
Other goodies for assembly tomorrow.
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Mark
Don't waste your money skimping on speakers, go for the KHT2005.2's (.3's as they've been upgraded), I have them and they're so much better, but still small. Come round for a listen one lunchour this week if you like??
Hi George and MumuUK
Thanks for the info on the chari, looks good, the only concern I have is that according to the IKEA web site the chair when in it's highest position the seat is only 51cm from the floor (presume that's the top of the seat pad). That's not going to be high enough as the desk is so high.
Any chance one of you can confirm a measurement, floor to top of seat pad when in it's highest position?
Tutts,
Will pop around maybe tomorrow if I get a chance, and I'll bring round the P900 case for you to puruse.
Taff
I probs won't get to measure his chair for a while to be honest, but for what it's worth I have this chair which has a max height of 50cm, and when measured it comes to around 54cm. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70133761
For the Markus, I reckon you'd be able to put spacers between the casters and the chair frame as you put them on yourself. Might be able to get casters with an even longer axle to allow you to raise it further.
One think, your desk (if that's the one you're using), doesn't look much taller than mine and at the max height it's, if anything, too heigh for the desk.
For reference, my desk is 70cm tall approx.
For the Markus, I reckon you'd be able to put spacers between the casters and the chair frame as you put them on yourself. Might be able to get casters with an even longer axle to allow you to raise it further.
One think, your desk (if that's the one you're using), doesn't look much taller than mine and at the max height it's, if anything, too heigh for the desk.
For reference, my desk is 70cm tall approx.
Didn't realise your in Brizzle. If ever you want to see a ropey old projector in action and a fairly beefy surround setup gimme a shout. I say ropey old projector, but it will still knock your socks off and make you realise how much you can get out of a shiny new one 
.
Link to my setup.
.Link to my setup.
High georges,
Desk floor to desk surface is 84.5cm (not a typo measured twice 84.5cm) so it's a very high desk. Tping this at present I feel like i'm a midget sitting on my dining room table chair. Dingin room chair is 49cm from floor to top of seat. So I think the Marcus is out.
Will keep looking for another one with a higher seat.
Hi Chris1712,
Thanks for the invite, might just take you up on the offer. I work in Bristol (Aztec west, near M4/M5 junction).
At present I have been looking at the cheaper plasma's from Toshiba as it seems you can pick up a decent 42inch for about £600. Much cheaper than the LED LCD that I was looking at.
Hi Tutts,
P900 in back of car, so will try to pop it round tomorrow lunchtime. Have put together my new Corsair 800D, and it will run fine with my old kit, but can't at present get the ATI5970 to work
Cheers all
Taff
Main problems I see with your build are:
1. If you hang your lcd / plasma above your gaming monitors you will have a fairly uncomfortable viewing position (a sofa places you fairly low down so you would be permanently looking up at quite a high angle)
2. You will need to callibrate your speakers very well as you have a full bookcase right by your front left speaker and some fairly large furniture in the room full stop.
3, Due to the multi purpose nature of the room so compromises / radical thinking might be needed.
so.....
how much will you actually use the tv/projector above using the monitors etc?
ever considered going up rather than down with the screen ??
or using a desk top one?
A shorter throw projector (optoma springs to mind) means you could unpack the screen every time you needed it then pack it away when you don't.
Get a decent av amp and take some time in calibration
(a bit like this http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-10171321-47.html)
A decent amp will have multiple settings you can save so calibrate for both pc use / music use and film use etc.
1. If you hang your lcd / plasma above your gaming monitors you will have a fairly uncomfortable viewing position (a sofa places you fairly low down so you would be permanently looking up at quite a high angle)
2. You will need to callibrate your speakers very well as you have a full bookcase right by your front left speaker and some fairly large furniture in the room full stop.
3, Due to the multi purpose nature of the room so compromises / radical thinking might be needed.
so.....
how much will you actually use the tv/projector above using the monitors etc?
ever considered going up rather than down with the screen ??
or using a desk top one?
A shorter throw projector (optoma springs to mind) means you could unpack the screen every time you needed it then pack it away when you don't.
Get a decent av amp and take some time in calibration
(a bit like this http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-10171321-47.html)
A decent amp will have multiple settings you can save so calibrate for both pc use / music use and film use etc.
Cheers for the advice Azra.
But I think I've discounted the projector option. Also wife has started to pick up on what I'm spending and TV system needs to be closer to £700 region than the £1300 that I was originally thinking of.
My current thinking is a Pansonic Viera plasma TXP42 (either G10 or G15).
Mount this above the 3 monitors that are currenlty in place. As the sitting area at the back of the room will be a relaxed two seater settee, I should be able to slouch in that and have a gentle upwards view to look at the TV. Bottom of TV is going to be approx 135cm from floor level Top of screen approx 205cm from floor.
Have mounted the 3 monitors on wall brackets now, See pictures below.
Desk with monitors floating above
View behind of the 3 brackets. Tooks some fiddling to get them in the correct position for hieght and width.
Taff
But I think I've discounted the projector option. Also wife has started to pick up on what I'm spending and TV system needs to be closer to £700 region than the £1300 that I was originally thinking of.
My current thinking is a Pansonic Viera plasma TXP42 (either G10 or G15).
Mount this above the 3 monitors that are currenlty in place. As the sitting area at the back of the room will be a relaxed two seater settee, I should be able to slouch in that and have a gentle upwards view to look at the TV. Bottom of TV is going to be approx 135cm from floor level Top of screen approx 205cm from floor.
Have mounted the 3 monitors on wall brackets now, See pictures below.
Desk with monitors floating above
View behind of the 3 brackets. Tooks some fiddling to get them in the correct position for hieght and width.
Taff
Nothing of help with your room build but an explanation about the 'strange' door.....Its actually a common design feature in architecture. Its all to do with privacy when entering a room. More common to bedrooms and bathrooms although all doors in my folks house (1960's bungalow with 1980's extension) open that way to shield the person from seeing into the room before they're in the room e.g gives a person time to say don't enter for whatever reason.....sitting on the throne
or in the bath.Yes it protected the Victorians idea of modesty.
Supertaff pop into town and buy yourself a poster / piece of card approx the size of your prospective screen and hang it on the wall. Sit and look at it to get a feel for the height and get an idea on centre speaker placement that will allow you to anchor the sound to the screen.
You might find the screen needs to be higher than you think to accommodate the speaker as you need proper clearance from the 3 screens below so they don't block / interfere with any of the sound.
Supertaff pop into town and buy yourself a poster / piece of card approx the size of your prospective screen and hang it on the wall. Sit and look at it to get a feel for the height and get an idea on centre speaker placement that will allow you to anchor the sound to the screen.
You might find the screen needs to be higher than you think to accommodate the speaker as you need proper clearance from the 3 screens below so they don't block / interfere with any of the sound.
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I can see you enjoying this setup.
Maybe you have completely written off a projector idea.
However thought id ask if youd of been interested in a Panasonic 1080p projector (AE2000) for under £900 with still loads of life on the bulb left?
I havnt used it in months with my current triple screen cockpit sitting in the way.
Maybe you have completely written off a projector idea.
However thought id ask if youd of been interested in a Panasonic 1080p projector (AE2000) for under £900 with still loads of life on the bulb left?
I havnt used it in months with my current triple screen cockpit sitting in the way.
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Hi Guys,
main reasons for discounting the projector/screen option are.
1) Because of the big window and south facing, I'd have to close the curtains to make the most of having the quality on the screen.
2) To use the screen would really have to be down over the monitors, therefore I couldn't use them both together. I think I'd like the option of having something playing on the TV and also being able to use the 3 monitors at the same time. Possibly even using a 4 screen set up. I'm thinking FSX cockpit view from the Plasma and using the 3 monitors to hold controls view and outside views etc.
3) Price. To get a decent projector set up for the quality I'd want I think even with the offer from MrLatte that the price would be outside of what I'm now being told I'm able to spend.
Cheers for all your help and tips though. It's really helping with my thinking, so keep them coming.
Still trying to source a chair with enough lift for the desk.
Taff
main reasons for discounting the projector/screen option are.
1) Because of the big window and south facing, I'd have to close the curtains to make the most of having the quality on the screen.
2) To use the screen would really have to be down over the monitors, therefore I couldn't use them both together. I think I'd like the option of having something playing on the TV and also being able to use the 3 monitors at the same time. Possibly even using a 4 screen set up. I'm thinking FSX cockpit view from the Plasma and using the 3 monitors to hold controls view and outside views etc.
3) Price. To get a decent projector set up for the quality I'd want I think even with the offer from MrLatte that the price would be outside of what I'm now being told I'm able to spend.
Cheers for all your help and tips though. It's really helping with my thinking, so keep them coming.
Still trying to source a chair with enough lift for the desk.
Taff
Hi, If you have a plasma or LCD chances are you will still have to close the blinds/curtains. You may get reflections and or a washed out image even with some LCD or Plasma sets. I still think this will be an issue but that should be aparent on your monitors as well if say watching a movie on them?
My own livingroom is effected this way with the Tv opposite the window but then I just adjust or close the vertical blinds, simples.
As for a projector it will never be as bright in a daylit room but has the advantage of a much larger impact. Ive used mine in the past with a similar multimonitor configuration as your doing here for multitasking apps/internet/chat/tv etc all at once.
Also such a setup is great when watching say F1 on the projector, having official timing, a website or chat on the monitors with also a 2nd BBC coverage for Red Button features (alternative views). This looks great when its all going on...
The wife loved it when used for searching for holidays.
Heres an example. Google maps is great on a big screen and being able to zoom right in on the locations. Brill for checking for holiday offers using with the monitors. Once she joked the room kinda looked like something out of the Bourne Movies with info on flights,hotel all on seperate monitor/webpages and the large satelite map overview.
Id say your mad not going projector route to add to the entertainment side of it, but then untill you have a good projector its easy to not know what your missing. Even if you get/buy new you should look into it more and hold off save a bit more if you have too.
When it comes to games and entertainment a 50",65" screen is nothing and with a model like my own with a powered zoom its easy to resize the screen and have it smaller say 40-50" above the monitors just like a LCD or plasma will do. Then Have it designed that the screen can come in front of the monitors for just watching movies etc on a bigger scale.
Look forward to your updates...
My own livingroom is effected this way with the Tv opposite the window but then I just adjust or close the vertical blinds, simples.
As for a projector it will never be as bright in a daylit room but has the advantage of a much larger impact. Ive used mine in the past with a similar multimonitor configuration as your doing here for multitasking apps/internet/chat/tv etc all at once.
Also such a setup is great when watching say F1 on the projector, having official timing, a website or chat on the monitors with also a 2nd BBC coverage for Red Button features (alternative views). This looks great when its all going on...
The wife loved it when used for searching for holidays.
Heres an example. Google maps is great on a big screen and being able to zoom right in on the locations. Brill for checking for holiday offers using with the monitors. Once she joked the room kinda looked like something out of the Bourne Movies with info on flights,hotel all on seperate monitor/webpages and the large satelite map overview.
Id say your mad not going projector route to add to the entertainment side of it, but then untill you have a good projector its easy to not know what your missing. Even if you get/buy new you should look into it more and hold off save a bit more if you have too.
When it comes to games and entertainment a 50",65" screen is nothing and with a model like my own with a powered zoom its easy to resize the screen and have it smaller say 40-50" above the monitors just like a LCD or plasma will do. Then Have it designed that the screen can come in front of the monitors for just watching movies etc on a bigger scale.
Look forward to your updates...
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Hi Azra,
Will deffo be taking a sheet of A0 home from work to try this out as you suggested.
MrLatte,
Your doing an excellent job at selling the projector set up to me. So what I'll do is try to find somewhere where I can get a demo of a projector beforan.e I commit.
I love your suggestions of the uses as well of this set up especially as I'm a huge F1 fan.
Next a couple of questions
1) I'm driving the 3 monitors via a 5970 using 2 * DVI + 1 Display port. How can I drive this screen. Another gfx card or a tv card or both?
2) Positioning of front left and right speakers. Where should they be? On Desk below left and right monitors, midway up monitors to the left and right. In the corner of the room left and right. Note : I planned to use small speakers, probably no bigger the 10 inches tall and 6 inches wide. Back speakers willl be in the back left and back right corners of the room. High up above picture rail.
Cheers all
Taff
Will deffo be taking a sheet of A0 home from work to try this out as you suggested.
MrLatte,
Your doing an excellent job at selling the projector set up to me. So what I'll do is try to find somewhere where I can get a demo of a projector beforan.e I commit.
I love your suggestions of the uses as well of this set up especially as I'm a huge F1 fan.
Next a couple of questions
1) I'm driving the 3 monitors via a 5970 using 2 * DVI + 1 Display port. How can I drive this screen. Another gfx card or a tv card or both?
2) Positioning of front left and right speakers. Where should they be? On Desk below left and right monitors, midway up monitors to the left and right. In the corner of the room left and right. Note : I planned to use small speakers, probably no bigger the 10 inches tall and 6 inches wide. Back speakers willl be in the back left and back right corners of the room. High up above picture rail.
Cheers all
Taff
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Liking the triple dell's bud. Fwiw the ae2000 is a cracking projector, even at RRP. Depending on how much under £900 and bulb hours you'd be getting a bargain.
When I bought my place I had ideas of putting a cinema / den room into the loft, nice comfy large leather 2 seater, projector etc etc. Unfortunately kids came and now it's 3 bedrooms, a bathroom and the smallest study for the kids I could get away with up there instead. Interesting to see how your room turns out in a 'normal' sized room.
When I bought my place I had ideas of putting a cinema / den room into the loft, nice comfy large leather 2 seater, projector etc etc. Unfortunately kids came and now it's 3 bedrooms, a bathroom and the smallest study for the kids I could get away with up there instead. Interesting to see how your room turns out in a 'normal' sized room.
Even if you are using small speakers so positioning will be necessary (angling downwards if in the top corner etc) and like I said before I would only go with an amp that has calibration options. (doesn't need to be expensive to have this option)
Most speakers come with recommended positioning charts so get as close as is possible then calibrate to your personal taste and viewing position.
Most speakers come with recommended positioning charts so get as close as is possible then calibrate to your personal taste and viewing position.