AfterGuy T.’s 7.1 installation . many of you reacted on the Son-Vidéo.com Facebook page. It is now Sylvain C.’s turn to present his 7.1.4 home theater installation fully equipped with Klipsch Reference Premiere speakers.
How big is your home theater room? From the technical area (electronics)?
My room is 16 m2 and is optimized down to the centimeter. The technical area is in a custom-made rack: 50 x 79 x 141 cm
How long did it take you to make this home theater room?
It was almost daily work for 8/9 months. The room is a dedicated room that was originally requested during the construction of this house. For an obvious question of sound insulation, I asked the architect to double all the walls: floor, ceiling, and walls. The room is also equipped with an armored door which weighs 90 kg! On the plans of the house, there was written “cinema room”, a dream was coming true.
When did you decide to design a room dedicated to home theater? Why create a dedicated room?
Because cinema is my passion! I have always had a home theater system for almost 20 years. The first was an Eltax system. But for this last system I decided to start from scratch and that’s why I called Son-Vidéo.com to create this dedicated room with clear specifications: ALL in Dolby Atmos and UHD 4K , as well as full compatibility with management by voice assistant.
How did you organize the construction work? What was the most problematic aspect?
We made 90% of the room with my wife and the remaining 10% with my daughter. No professional craftsman worked on this room. What caused me the most concern was the integration of a formwork for the passage of cables from the screen on the front to the ceiling. The latter with Atmos speakers and a starry sky including 3 km of optical fiber. The result is up to the efforts we have made to create this luminous ceiling.
What is the budget allocation for materials and works?
The original budget was €15,000 but recently increased with the installation of acoustic panels and the calibration of the video projector by a professional. For the same room done by a professional, I believe the budget can be close to twice as much. This budget also includes the 3 electric armchairs, which are essential to be comfortable while watching movies.
Can you list the equipment used and tell us why you chose these brands?
Klipsch and Denon were recommended by Victor of Son-Vidéo.com customer service for their excellent value for money and brand consistency at the time of purchase. Especially since I wanted to switch to Atmos and have the same brand on the entire 11-channel system. I have done many sound and image shows and I have always preferred floorstanding speakers for home theater sound. Klipsch speaker have a great look with their copper drivers. Love it or hate it, but I really like it. I really like these speakers because the sound is very pure, crisp and the center speaker is crystal clear for vocals… it’s perfect. I removed all the covers because I find them really beautiful. The floorstanders are bi-amplified, bi-wired and powered by a Rotel THX 1075 power amplifier.
The whole room is voice controlled viaAlexa . Lights and electronic devices. Everything is vocally controlled
- Alexa, turn on the starry sky,
- Alexa, turn on horizon (LED strip framing the starry sky),
- Light up the podium,
- Alexa, light the steps
- Alexa, turn on Leon (progressive lighting of the movie poster behind the screen),
- Alexa, light the pillars.
- Alexa, we’re watching a movie: Alexa replies “Have a good session, I’m going to turn everything off! »And that switches all the lamps to OFF.
My specifications were that all equipment could be controlled using the iPad. So this is my universal remote control and I find it very convenient. For example, I took the network drive Zappiti Pro 4K HDR because it included a controling application for iPad and I admit that this one is perfect, really practical.
For the projection, I had originally opted for the Benq W5700 , but I admit that I did not like this model, mostly because of how loud it is. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Son-Vidéo.com’s after-sales service which bent over backwards to have the projector taken back. I was therefore reimbursed and then purchased the Epson TW9400 projector. This was a big win because this Epson projector is truly magical. In the end, I think I was lucky to encounter these issues early on! The operating noise of the TW9400 is very acceptable and it is critical considering that the device is right above my head.
I am using an Epson TW9400 projector which is just magic!
All the equipment of this cinema room:
- 1 x Apple TV 4G (32 GB) ( AV network players )
- 1 x Panasonic DP-UB820 ( 4K UHD Blu-ray players )
- 1 x Denon AVC-X6500H ( Home theater amplifiers )
- 1 x Klipsch SPL-120 ( Subwoofers )
- 1 x Klipsch RP-502S (the pair) ( Surround speakers )
- 1 x Klipsch RP-500SA (the pair) ( Surround speakers )
- 1 x Klipsch RP-504C ( Center speakers )
- 1 x Klipsch RP-8060F Dolby Atmos ( Floorstanding speakers )
- 1 x Lumene Coliseum UHD 4K / 8K Platinum 240C ( Electric projection screens )
- 1 x Epson EH-TW9400 ( 4K UHD Projectors )
- 1 x Zappiti Pro 4K HDR ( AV network players )
- 1 x Audioquest PowerQuest 2 ( Mains conditioners )
Did you use an acoustic treatment if not, do you plan to use one in the future?
The room was acoustically treated right off the bat. We used carpeted floors and under carpet tucked away under the wallpaper on the walls. In addition to the partitions which were lined during construction, I over-treated by gluing on all these walls 5 mm sheets of a double absorbent rubber and cork coating. In addition, there is an acoustic carpet on the podium, the steps, the stage at the back and the rest of the room.
I devised adjustable acoustic panels. There are adjustment knobs on each side of the panels for ideal orientation. These knobs also allow the panels to be very close to the wall without being stuck to it, in order to avoid unwanted resonances. The panels are thus decoupled from the walls like spikes that are used for the enclosures in order to isolate them from the ground. I also recently attached an acoustic panel to the door to the room.
I also put bass traps behind the curtains of the front stage. For fun, I even personalized the panels with a logo that I invented “HC Acoustic” thanks to a charity that makes embossed seams on fabric. I wanted people to think that the panels were designed by a professional manufacturer.
I attach great importance to this acoustic treatment, especially in a room like mine, which is small.
What is the first movie you saw? Which one gave you a taste for home theater?
We watched the last Avengers: Endgame because it was in 4K and Atmos. What gave me a taste for home cinema is not one movie in particular, but the experience with a friend 20 years ago. I was really overwhelmed by the emotion of being wrapped in sound.
How often do you use this home theater room?
Absolutely every day, without exception!
Do you watch anything other than movies? Sporting events? Series? Video games? Concerts?
No sports or video games but a lot of series on Amazon Prime, Netflix, concerts also and especially films with the Zappiti Pro 4K HDR player (the holy grail for a dedicated room).
How do you want to upgrade your system?
I only treated the front of the stage acoustically and I now want to treat the back of the room with diffractors in particular. I am really happy with the musical result of these Klipsch floorstanding speakers and I would like to pair them with a hi-fi amplifier. I am considering the recentCambridge Evo 150 which is a magnificent model. I dream of acquiring this device… Ideally, I would also like to upgrade the 4K image with a true native 4K projector. But that’s double the price of the Epson!
What piece of advice can you give to someone who wants to make a room like this?
These tips will depend on the budget and I would go for upgradeable hardware. With Klipsch speakers, for example, the ranges are important and really allow a Klipsch speaker system to evolve easily with the same driver technologies. I had the bad experience of mixing different speaker brands, however good they were, the overall result was really inconsistent. For example, I had a Jamo THX speaker in the middle of two non-THX floorstanders from another brand and the consistency was really not there. Also, buy a mat to dampen the sound and prevent reverberations between the listener and the main speakers.
Finally, I would like to especially thank Victor who was lovely and extremely patient because I really asked him a lot of questions and I am really happy with the result of my room. As long as Son-Vidéo.com persists in this consistency between the prices, advice and after-sales service, I would not hesitate for a single second to upgrade my system by buying from you, with great pleasure! If I succeeded in realizing the room of my dreams, it is thanks to your teams, your advice and the appropriate prices.
Discover Sylvain C.’s dedicated home theater room.
