Hello,
Bit of a text wall, apologies for that! Im looking at putting a lot of home cinema kit into my front room and was after some advice. The room will function mainly as a front room, this is not a dedicated home cinema room. The advantage I have is it’s a top floor flat so have a roof space I can use for cabling etc
What I have now:
TV: Sony KDL40X2000 (HD ready, its that old it doesn’t even have an HD tuner!)
Amp: Onkyo TXSR007 (capable of 7.2 but no overhead speaker capability)
PVR: A BT supplied Humax UHD set top box. I tend to use this for all TV watching as it has an HD tuner, also its where I stream from
4k player: Sony UBP-X700, chipped to play US dvds
Games: Sony PS3 (very rarely used, originally purchased as main Bluray player)
Speakers: KEF 5.1 wireless 5001.2 speakers (front, centre and sub wired to amp, 2 rears are wireless)
All controlled by a Harmony Elite
What do I use them for? Watching TV, films and streaming. TV and films either from broadcast (freeview, or from the BT tv package I have), or streaming from Amazon, Now TV or Netflix, or films from the 4k player. Haven’t ordered 4k streaming yet as the TV isn’t capable, but intend upgrading when it is. Games I don’t use, I only had the PS3 from years ago as I wanted to get into Hi def films and at time I didn’t know if bluray or HD-DVD would win. Opted for a bluray PS4 as I thought I could use for other things if id made the wrong format choice. Not interested in sports much, the odd time on freeview I can see Harlequins or the formula 1 is all. Films and TV are id say 99% of what I view
So, what do I want?
TV – am currently looking at a 65” LGCX. Im trying to keep up with the tech and terminology but I think it has at least 4 lots of hdmi2.1, but lacks HDR10+ (however, my 4k player doesn’t have it either so maybe not a problem). Other possibility is a Panasonic equivalent to CX, which does support all the HD formats
Amp – looking at Denon AVC-X4700. Future proofing as far as poss for 8k in the future, has HDMI2.1 inputs and outputs, and has decoding for overhead speakers
PVR – will keep as is for BT TV, imagine I can get Now, Prime and Amazon direct on the TV whereas now I stream through the humax box
4k player – is it worth binning and getting one that plays HDR10+? If yes that would influence the TV choice as well. This is what im stuck on, will HDR10 format overtake HDR10+, or vice versa or will both roll along together?
Games – unlikely to do anything. PS3 will prob be sold, don’t think ive turned it on in over a year and a half. Was only bought to play blurays and that’s been superceded now by the UBP-X700
Speakers – keep current set with 2 or 4 height speakers installed in ceiling
Money permitting, id like to have a screen and PJ. This will go across the shorter width of the room as opposed to the longer length. Currently I don’t have either. Width of room is 11ft, imagine that’s reduced to maybe 10 or so if screen is in front of TV and I guess I wont want PJ back right up against wall
Connectivity and positioning
At the moment, the TV is on a wide AV table, with the front and centre speakers. Sub on floor next to it with wireless rears on the opposite wall. My sofa is between the 2 rears, so they are almost in line with me as opposed to being rear. My intent is to have the new tv wall mounted, also the speakers. Cabling to be either chased into the wall or run through ducting; for both versions for rear speaker cable id need enough to go up a wall, over the ceiling and down the other side.
The new amp I would think to connect via eARC to the TV, and have all the devices connect to the amp, with only the amp connecting to the TV. Id also want an output cable from amp to PJ that would be fairly long, enough to go up a wall, across a ceiling and get to where the PJ is
Is there anything I should think about for settings? As im trying to get this professionally done I imagine an installer can do calibration etc, but should I be aware of anything I think the tv should default to (like pick up correct type of HD signal) and it actually requires me to go to settings to turn something on? Changing the picture where you use slidey bars until you “can just about see the black image” are useless to me, I generally get all the way to one side and still think I can see something.
There’s also the possibility of doing this in stages, stating with buying amp and fitting everything to the wall, and laying power and source cabling for a screen and PJ and overhead speakers, then buying them and tv later (making sure front speakers are positioned to accept a larger tv between them.
Does this sound right? Is there anything else I should be thinking about? Id like the PJ and powered screen for 3d films, but can live without them, they are in category “nice to have”. I very much want the overhead speaker for height effects, in turn that needs a new, modern amp. I contacted KEF last year (when I was gainfully employed and all this looked at the time like it was going to happen soon!) and they recommended these speakers Ci130ER.
Is there anything I should look at in terms of hdmi cables and how to get a signal to a projector on the other side of a room? Sources to amp I guess will be fairly standard, amp to TV im imagine 3-4 metres, amp to PJ in region of 15 metres.
The only other thing I think I haven’t mentioned is my BT hub is in another room. Currently stream though a device that sends a signal through electric mains, id probably change that to a cable form the hub, through ceiling in the spare room and across and down into the front room and a splitter into tv, amp and sources so they can all get updates etc. For the cabling, im assuming if I look at the cable that comes with it, connecting hub to PC, I want something like that just a great deal longer, with a splitter on the end?
Finally, anyone know of a good installer round SE London? Id love to be good enough with tools and my hands to do this myself, sadly though I will need a professional! They may have views on all of the above, but id like to hear from people who don’t have a vested interest in selling me stuff!
Bit of a text wall, apologies for that! Im looking at putting a lot of home cinema kit into my front room and was after some advice. The room will function mainly as a front room, this is not a dedicated home cinema room. The advantage I have is it’s a top floor flat so have a roof space I can use for cabling etc
What I have now:
TV: Sony KDL40X2000 (HD ready, its that old it doesn’t even have an HD tuner!)
Amp: Onkyo TXSR007 (capable of 7.2 but no overhead speaker capability)
PVR: A BT supplied Humax UHD set top box. I tend to use this for all TV watching as it has an HD tuner, also its where I stream from
4k player: Sony UBP-X700, chipped to play US dvds
Games: Sony PS3 (very rarely used, originally purchased as main Bluray player)
Speakers: KEF 5.1 wireless 5001.2 speakers (front, centre and sub wired to amp, 2 rears are wireless)
All controlled by a Harmony Elite
What do I use them for? Watching TV, films and streaming. TV and films either from broadcast (freeview, or from the BT tv package I have), or streaming from Amazon, Now TV or Netflix, or films from the 4k player. Haven’t ordered 4k streaming yet as the TV isn’t capable, but intend upgrading when it is. Games I don’t use, I only had the PS3 from years ago as I wanted to get into Hi def films and at time I didn’t know if bluray or HD-DVD would win. Opted for a bluray PS4 as I thought I could use for other things if id made the wrong format choice. Not interested in sports much, the odd time on freeview I can see Harlequins or the formula 1 is all. Films and TV are id say 99% of what I view
So, what do I want?
TV – am currently looking at a 65” LGCX. Im trying to keep up with the tech and terminology but I think it has at least 4 lots of hdmi2.1, but lacks HDR10+ (however, my 4k player doesn’t have it either so maybe not a problem). Other possibility is a Panasonic equivalent to CX, which does support all the HD formats
Amp – looking at Denon AVC-X4700. Future proofing as far as poss for 8k in the future, has HDMI2.1 inputs and outputs, and has decoding for overhead speakers
PVR – will keep as is for BT TV, imagine I can get Now, Prime and Amazon direct on the TV whereas now I stream through the humax box
4k player – is it worth binning and getting one that plays HDR10+? If yes that would influence the TV choice as well. This is what im stuck on, will HDR10 format overtake HDR10+, or vice versa or will both roll along together?
Games – unlikely to do anything. PS3 will prob be sold, don’t think ive turned it on in over a year and a half. Was only bought to play blurays and that’s been superceded now by the UBP-X700
Speakers – keep current set with 2 or 4 height speakers installed in ceiling
Money permitting, id like to have a screen and PJ. This will go across the shorter width of the room as opposed to the longer length. Currently I don’t have either. Width of room is 11ft, imagine that’s reduced to maybe 10 or so if screen is in front of TV and I guess I wont want PJ back right up against wall
Connectivity and positioning
At the moment, the TV is on a wide AV table, with the front and centre speakers. Sub on floor next to it with wireless rears on the opposite wall. My sofa is between the 2 rears, so they are almost in line with me as opposed to being rear. My intent is to have the new tv wall mounted, also the speakers. Cabling to be either chased into the wall or run through ducting; for both versions for rear speaker cable id need enough to go up a wall, over the ceiling and down the other side.
The new amp I would think to connect via eARC to the TV, and have all the devices connect to the amp, with only the amp connecting to the TV. Id also want an output cable from amp to PJ that would be fairly long, enough to go up a wall, across a ceiling and get to where the PJ is
Is there anything I should think about for settings? As im trying to get this professionally done I imagine an installer can do calibration etc, but should I be aware of anything I think the tv should default to (like pick up correct type of HD signal) and it actually requires me to go to settings to turn something on? Changing the picture where you use slidey bars until you “can just about see the black image” are useless to me, I generally get all the way to one side and still think I can see something.
There’s also the possibility of doing this in stages, stating with buying amp and fitting everything to the wall, and laying power and source cabling for a screen and PJ and overhead speakers, then buying them and tv later (making sure front speakers are positioned to accept a larger tv between them.
Does this sound right? Is there anything else I should be thinking about? Id like the PJ and powered screen for 3d films, but can live without them, they are in category “nice to have”. I very much want the overhead speaker for height effects, in turn that needs a new, modern amp. I contacted KEF last year (when I was gainfully employed and all this looked at the time like it was going to happen soon!) and they recommended these speakers Ci130ER.
Is there anything I should look at in terms of hdmi cables and how to get a signal to a projector on the other side of a room? Sources to amp I guess will be fairly standard, amp to TV im imagine 3-4 metres, amp to PJ in region of 15 metres.
The only other thing I think I haven’t mentioned is my BT hub is in another room. Currently stream though a device that sends a signal through electric mains, id probably change that to a cable form the hub, through ceiling in the spare room and across and down into the front room and a splitter into tv, amp and sources so they can all get updates etc. For the cabling, im assuming if I look at the cable that comes with it, connecting hub to PC, I want something like that just a great deal longer, with a splitter on the end?
Finally, anyone know of a good installer round SE London? Id love to be good enough with tools and my hands to do this myself, sadly though I will need a professional! They may have views on all of the above, but id like to hear from people who don’t have a vested interest in selling me stuff!
