I'm after some sites, forums etc that show you how to plan for a home cinema. I'm not really talking about dedicated rooms or any of that nonsense but more about planning for a clutter free setup in the Lounge. I've recently bought a new house and now would be the perfect time to get ready for it as it needs re-plastering, re-wiring, central heating etc so I'd rather tear it apart whilst I can. I'm particularly interested in the wiring (or hiding it), switches/network stuff.
Home Cinema Installation tips/guides
- Thread starter Arcane
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Soldato
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- 14 Apr 2014
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Best thing to do is to post on somewhere like AVForums with blueprints of the room it'll all be in, and take a look at "Post your home cinema setup" style threads to get a bit of inspiration 
It can be one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions. You'll also find that what you think is important now won't be the same as what you come to appreciate is important after the build. Hindsight is a wonderful tool 
If there's one really important tip I can pass on, then it's this. You can't plan or future-proof for technologies or standards that haven't yet emerged. But what you can do is to plan to make changing the wiring much easier for when these new things become real. In a practical sense, this means putting any existing wiring in to trunking buried in wall so that old cable can be pulled out and new cable threaded through.
If there's one really important tip I can pass on, then it's this. You can't plan or future-proof for technologies or standards that haven't yet emerged. But what you can do is to plan to make changing the wiring much easier for when these new things become real. In a practical sense, this means putting any existing wiring in to trunking buried in wall so that old cable can be pulled out and new cable threaded through.
I can only help by sharing my experience, go to the bottom and work your way upwards
https://cookhousestory.wordpress.com/category/lounge-cinema/
https://cookhousestory.wordpress.com/category/lounge-cinema/
Soldato
- Joined
- 14 Apr 2014
- Posts
- 7,402
- Location
- Hampshire
Soldato
- Joined
- 14 Apr 2014
- Posts
- 7,402
- Location
- Hampshire
Planning where everything is going to go is the way to do it with as much detail considered as possible. The best setup for a clean install and good for the missus factor is the speakers built into the walls with a ceiling mounted projector and an electric screen that drops down when you are ready for viewing. You could wall mount a TV for regular viewing and the screen could drop down in front of it for films. All cabling can then be built into the walls with conduit or trunking so they are hidden and replaceable - hidden cables make your install look its best. Think about ceiling speakers if you want the likes of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X and include cable runs for any Sub Woofers or bass shakers in the seats.
My setup is in my signature although its a dedicated room it may give some ideas - also worth looking into lighting control and a system for remotely controlling everything - such a Control4.
My setup is in my signature although its a dedicated room it may give some ideas - also worth looking into lighting control and a system for remotely controlling everything - such a Control4.
Soldato
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- 6 Sep 2016
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It's difficult as things change but I'd say don't have a shiny reflective room nor empty , place display in a good place, think what type of speakers will work best for your room, decide whether avr or separates, subwoofer design and preference for.music or movies, place down cabling but want to have access to it as things change, but certain things should be ok to have fixed install like network and speaker cable, for hdmi use trunking. Have enough mains outputs, buy a meter.