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Post by pinkie on Sept 25, 2016 14:17:48 GMT
And now for the AV setup. Again - there is a bit of tidying and decorating to do. We hit joists on the initial install of the ceiling speakers These little babies  And - in situ  The AV set up from the listening seat - to compare with the 2 channel set up  Showing Batman - its better in the dark!  The projector - featuring the new "Darbee" chip  And the engine room again  Few teething troubles on both video and audio. I actually had to read the manual and configure things! Not really sure why they were different from in England, but I had to tell the Yamaha that the Quads were "small" speakers, because otherwise the bass it fed them triggered the crowbars, and sent the AHB2 into protection mode. Very Very impressed with it now  |
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Post by MartinT on Sept 25, 2016 14:39:41 GMT
Thanks, Richard. I hope to be in installation and 'shake down' mode too by around November.
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Post by pinkie on Sept 25, 2016 15:13:58 GMT
Good luck with that Martin. It's been tough without vinyl - I realised how much I missed it when I got the system working today. Just awesome. If I hadn't been so busy I could have sat and listened all day. And there are still some tweaks to sort out. If I don't get too much PT bashing or yawning from other members, I'll talk a bit about what we have been doing with the turntable. But for now, suffice to say, I am very happy with the result.
Tough while you wait to get back up and running - but the bonus is a blank canvas on which to create something. Roll on November!
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Post by MartinT on Sept 25, 2016 16:14:28 GMT
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Post by BilliumB on Sept 25, 2016 16:50:19 GMT
Can you tell us a bit more about the AV setup - I'm planning something similar in the next year or so. Cheers. Bill
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Post by Stratmangler on Sept 25, 2016 19:26:16 GMT
Pinkie That hole in the ceiling by the projector looks a mess. Can't you use a desktop cable access cover or something similar to make it look a bit better? ![]() |
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Post by Greg on Sept 25, 2016 21:08:11 GMT
Hmmm, I assume it's shrouded? Looks fine to me! It's a taste/perception thing, ain't it?
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Post by Stratmangler on Sept 26, 2016 8:22:43 GMT
If you look closely you can see the ragged edge where the hole saw went through the plasterboard.
There's insulation in the space above, but there's nowt to cover the hole.
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Post by markgrant on Sept 26, 2016 9:10:45 GMT
Ideally needs a white brush strip plate to cover it, unless the hole that has been cut is larger than a UK socket faceplate size.
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Post by pinkie on Sept 26, 2016 9:14:45 GMT
OK. Briefly - there is a custom round plate that fits that hole but was out of stock when installed. There is a need for some filler down the channel the cables descend to the amp, and several holes in the ceiling to fill. The projector and screen and the bare cables were installed by a local installer (used to crawling in narrow loft spaces). They are due to return to do finishing. We are due to decorate at some stage. But we have a log burner to install first - and electric shutters on the French windows maybe, and then we can do decorating Bill - I will try to dig out details later, but have spend the morning discussing the pool installation with the engineers, and need to do some work right now  |
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Post by pinkie on Sept 26, 2016 16:46:11 GMT
The AV set up
The screen is a motorised 3m screen x1.68m Europsonic EPS135RC
The projector is an Optoma HD28DSEOPE - the first I am aware of to feature the Darbee processing chip. It is mounted 4.6m from the screen
The AV Amp is a Yamaha RX-V773 - which we used previously
We have a 48 inch Phillips LED TV
The V773 has 4HDMI inputs and numerous other inputs, and 2 HDMI outputs. One HDMI output feeds the TV and feeds it sound. The other HDMI output feeds the projector and has its sound muted.
We are running a 5.1 system . Rear Left and Right are 2 Kef Ci 160QR ceiling speakers, Front centre is a 160QR just in front of the screen, the subwoofer is self powered BK XLS200
Front left and right are handled by the Quad ESL63's - via the 2 channel set up (Pip2 and AHB2) using 10m cable with a Jensen transformer next to the Pip to break ground loops.
We have a Sony blueray player
It took a bit of fiddling to get it set up this time. The picture is better on the projector with straight through rather than the amps processing. HDMI clearly allows one device to control another, and we kept turning the DVD off half way through a movie when the Phillips TV powered down through inactivity (watching on the projector)
I have manually set the speaker levels and distances on the amp because I have temporarily mislaid the microphone for the auto setup. Early on we had issues with the Yamaha overloading when we used both HDMI outputs instead of just one or the other, and the AHB2 tripped when we tried to feed the Quads too much very low frequency bass, and triggered the crowbar protection. It is easy to overdo the Darbee image enhancement - settings at about 50% seem to work best
Overall we are very very pleased. Excellent 1080p images and excellent sound. The ceiling speakers work well for us because we are a bungalow and so it makes the cable routing easy (and we have no carpet to run cables under)
Ask away if you would like further information.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2016 17:24:40 GMT
Let me know if you want to borrow a microphone.
I have one that came with my Sony AV amp, and one that came with my subwoofer DSP.
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Post by BilliumB on Sept 26, 2016 18:19:23 GMT
Thanks Richard - interesting stuff, and now a few questions:
How well do you find the ceiling mounted centre integrates with the Quad L&R speakers, especially as voices are panned across the screen?
Do you find that voices appear to come from the ceiling, or does the illusion work as the screen itself is close to the ceiling?
What sort of viewing distance do you find comfortable for that size screen?
When do you tend to watch the big screen, rather than the TV - or is it too early to take a view?
I've been wondering about doing without a centre speaker and possibly without a sub - I guess I'll have to suck it and see!
Thanks again, Cheers. Bill
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Post by pinkie on Sept 27, 2016 7:28:04 GMT
The front centre works fine for us. TBH I often think you can do away with Front centre all together and rely on Front L & R. I don't think I would go for ceiling speakers for front L&R - those really need to be "regular". The Quads are particularly good (even on things like international rugby) and even well out of their ideal position as dipoles. They just need to be able to peek round the screen (they get moved to a proper dipole position for 2 channel, as shown in the first set of photos)
I postively prefer ceiling mount for the rear speakers. In truth - if we had had a wall behind the screen instead of a window, I would probably have opted for a regular centre speaker (I have one I could and might try). But the ceiling option works fine
We are viewing from about 4m back (head position). Probably we could go as close as 3m (the sofa was there during installation). I was really surprised. I thought the screen was much too big, and bigger than intended when the installers turned up. I had said "about the width of the window" and allegedly this was the smallest option which "covered the window". But actually, its really good, and there is no feeling of being too close at all.
We came up with the idea for the projector with the first house we wanted to buy and were beaten to. It would have been the only TV option. We don't really watch that much TV now we don't have teenagers. But we decided it would be a bit of a palaver pulling down a screen to watch the news for 5 minutes and intended to keep a "small" TV (28"?). Actually - although we have to move a speaker to see the screen, its not that much hassle, and in a big room the big TV fits fine. Indeed - with the sofa so far back now it seems tiny. We mostly use it for watching our compulsory daily dose of French TV as part of our language programme. BUT - we are probably not typical. We listen to music, read, or sit outside looking at the sunsets and the stars more than we watch TV. And we are just Sue and I most of the time (her son Harry was with us last week, so a lot of films got watched). We are building a "degagement" - a sort of bit of space at the end of the hall, and may put a sofa and TV in there, which may make the living room one redundant
It depends on your main setup I suppose, but in my view a sub is essential. It certainly is for the Quads which don't have cinema bass. Its location is not that critical. Ours is nearly central because we want everything else in the corners, but you can hide a sub away. Bass is not very directional. We are fortunate to have a well controlled (even slightly "dry") room, due to that thick insulation you can see in the hole in the ceiling being in all the walls and under the floor too.
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Post by pinkie on Sept 27, 2016 8:11:35 GMT
Let me know if you want to borrow a microphone. I have one that came with my Sony AV amp, and one that came with my subwoofer DSP. Thanks. If you remember when you come over, then please bring it. I have one somewhere. It's in a box. The problem is - which box?  |
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Post by BilliumB on Sept 27, 2016 20:41:33 GMT
Thanks Richard - really useful feedback.
Cheers. Bill
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Post by pinkie on Oct 1, 2016 10:56:09 GMT
Empathising with Martin about his house move has reminded me this blog needs an update. Among my many frustrations - or - to put a slightly more positive spin on it "looking forward to next year when its all done" is the building site outside my office while I work. Herewith gentlemen, a 180 degree panorama from North to South    The last picture is not our new pagan temple (there is one up the mountain from us - a stone circle of giant star wars statues!). This is the metal supports for the wooden frame for our new swimming pool. The final float is due to be poured on Monday. Expect to see a recognisable pool there by next weekend "Peu a peu" as they say here |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 11:42:51 GMT
At least there is less grass to cut.
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Post by pinkie on Oct 2, 2016 5:35:49 GMT
I'll let you put that very positive perspective to Mrs pinkie personally Kevin. Wear a bash hat.
Still - as we keep saying when we look at the view - "we live here". We are off on the cathar castle run again with guests today - a fully fledged guru and wife. The talk will be curtains and wall colours in the back of the car, and motor drives and headphone amps in the front. I have been offered a board to build of the new design - I assume tongue-in-cheek, since Owen doesn't really want to barbecue my fingers, and knows my dexterity with a soldering iron. I realise measurements leave most people cold but noise of - 150db. 28 years experience suggests it won't just measure well.
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Post by MartinT on Oct 2, 2016 6:32:00 GMT
I'm hoping our garden won't look quite like that, but it will need some TLC. And a good few tons of topsoil.
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