Media Room/Home Theatre Build (NZ)

[JPK]

Posting here to document my build. Hope it helps out any others with ideas.

The brief is basically to be a multi purpose media room in a new single level home build. There will be quite a few compromises as a result, but is mostly set up for and will be used for movie watching. The room is situated on the other end of the house from the bedrooms and has the main living area in between. There is 1 1/2 shared walls with the interior of the house. This room will also house a fairly modest AV setup for the rest of the home - mainly signal splitting satellite and blu ray to TVs in main living area, bedroom, garage gym etc and running some outdoor speakers. It also needs to house my large movie collection "out of sight".

I have gone for a clean look by having all surrounds and heights in wall/ceiling. This also keeps the room tidier as it is only 4.5m x 3.9m (excl cabinetry).

I decided to 'sound proof' the room as I have had spousal issues with volume in the past and in that context its a worthwhile investment. It is also nice to be considerate to neighbors with late night viewing and I like the idea of creating 'quiet zones' throughout the home. It also 'future proofs' the room as I will probably end up upgrading the subwoofers at some point in the future.

This room is 7.2.4 and the adjacent room is 2.1.

Gear:
- Sony X900F (75")
- Marantz SR6012 (used as a processor)
- Emotiva A-5175 Amplifier (5 channel)
- Emotiva A-700 Amplifier (7 channel, utilising 6)
- OPPO UDP-203 4K Player (region free BD)
- Apple TV 4K
- Xbox One X
- 2x KEF R300 (L/R)
- KEF R600C (Centre)
- 4x KEF Ci160QL (Side & Rear surrounds)
- 4x KEF Ci160QR (Atmos)
- 2x KEF Kube12B Subwoofers
Cables are a mix of Blue Jeans Cables, Worlds Best Cables and Monoprice.

Living room: (the rack/shelving houses AV gear for this too)
- Onkyo TX-RZ710 (my older main receiver, utilising 2 channels + zone 2)
- Sony X900F (55")
- 2x Goldenear Invisa HTR-7000
- KEF Kube8b Subwoofer
- Pioneer BDP-100 Blu Ray player
Plus various HDMI splitters, Satellite box, security system etc.

I have also run HDMI, Ethernet and power has been supplied to a point behind the rear bulkhead in the room for future possible projector.

'Sound proofing'/Sound control
- Acoustica Quietwave membrane, sandwiched between two layers of higher density drywall on all internal walls and ceiling.
- Green Glue sandwiched between two layers of higher density drywall on other side of wall (living area)
- Pink Batts Silencer (Acoustic insulation)
- All power and low voltage outlets treated with acoustic putty pads
- Acoustic caulking/sealant (went through about 25x tubes)
- Solid Core door with sound seals and door bottom seal
- The cupboards/shelving etc in between this room and the main house will also assist with sound control
- Windows are all low-e double glazed with thermal break
- Exterior is mostly brick
- Window coverings are blockout cellular blinds (minor acoustic benefit)

I have also used acoustic batts and some sealant around the bedrooms and the home has solid core doors throughout.

Will post photos below in some order as I progress.

[JPK]

Some of the speakers

[JPK]

Pre line and Soundproofing

Ran several hundred metres of low voltage cabling all over the home. All of it terminating in this room.








Front speaker cabling (going to run wires straight out the wall and into the speakers)

[JPK]

[JPK]

The adjacent room (living room)

Note the two layers going on this side

[JPK]

Cabinetry delivered and partially installed. Stopping and painting is being done afterwards it appears.
The shelving depth is 135mm (Blu Ray case) and there is a couple more shelves being added above.

[slimdude]

You got money.

[Barry_NJ]

Very Nice!!!

[kopkiwi]

Yeh bro. That's awesome. If you haven't got the emotiva stuff yet I can get you cost.

[JPK]

Originally Posted by kopkiwi

Yeh bro. That's awesome. If you haven't got the emotiva stuff yet I can get you cost.

Thanks. I got it a while ago (probably prematurely). I've also been sitting on the speakers and receiver for over a year and the TV for close to that.

[R3P0]

Damn man thats a lot of taping and mudding lol

[JPK]

Fairly slow progress with the build in general.

Here is a few update pics. Painted the KEF Ci speaker surrounds the same colour as the room which looks a lot nicer. Against the wall colour they looked off-white. I am okay with the grilles staying as they are right now.

A few 'user error' issues with fitment. Cut a hole in the wrong place for the rear right speaker and had to do a plaster repair with the sound control factor taken into account (painful). Also didn't take into account the door architrave on the left side speaker so we are having to cut into a (non load bearing) steel stud to fit this in.

Haven't put in any backer boxes. Will see if I am happy with the level of sound reduction before looking at that.

Also resolved the birds nest of cables coming into the AV rack.

[JPK]

Installed the Goldenear Invisa HTR7000's in living room as well.

[JPK]

Almost finished. Didnt manage to get our furniture for this room delivered before 'lockdown', so using a couple of beanbags for now.

Very happy with the setup overall, but needs a little fine tuning. Will wait until all the furniture is in place before running Audyssey again.
Have a few more items to put on the top shelf and connect up, Satellite box etc, but haven't got around to it yet

Loads of power and low end for my needs and the sound control treatment is working well. Can have it at reference whilst the kids are sleeping and have no issues with neighbours - have checked with them and they havn't heard anything. The homes around me are all new builds (thick insulation & double glazing) and the sections are larger so that helps I guess.
It is hugely important to have that added peace of mind that I can play it loud when I want to and I am not affecting others negatively - not having to sit there and ride the volume button is a great feeling.

It is great having custom storage for my movie collection, but I need to do a bit of a clear out as you can see. Have about 80 more movies than I have space for currently and the plan was to limit myself to 1200 movies so that is what I have built storage for. A one in one out sort of system. Most of what I will be doing moving forward is replacing BDs with 4Ks as they come out and replace some of the 'less important' movies with digital copies on Apple TV.

[JPK]

[kopkiwi]

Got dam that's a lot more movies

[BizCat]

Looking nice

[StalkerVette]

Audio wall rack is very clean - well done!!!

[thecalm_7]

Looks very good, I hope to have a dedicated media room once we get settled. In no way should this be taken as critical but only curious. Can the AV items breathe? I only ask because I know just my OPPO and PS4 feel rather warm in an open shelf. Not critical or judging. I want to do a similar in wall for AV equipment at some point

[JPK]

Originally Posted by thecalm_7

Looks very good, I hope to have a dedicated media room once we get settled. In no way should this be taken as critical but only curious. Can the AV items breathe? I only ask because I know just my OPPO and PS4 feel rather warm in an open shelf. Not critical or judging. I want to do a similar in wall for AV equipment at some point

There is 250mm behind the components from top to bottom and of course the front is open.

It depends on what components you choose I guess. The Marantz receiver is the only one I purchased a cooling fan for. The Emotiva amps don't get warm at all really. I give the Xbox One X a bit of extra space on either side and it has a fair bit on top, consoles tend to get warm regardless.