The New Small Room

I have lived in a unit since I sold my house in 2006. Moving into a unit has forced me to deal with the challenges of setting up my CIH 7.1 system in a limited space. This also given me the opportunity to thin out some components [no longer used] and re-wire the EQ Rack. There have been a few updates to this post, and like the my AT Screen page, I have added the latest updates to the top.

UPDATE 3: The new sled that will allow inverted mounting as well as a new [someday] projector.

New Sled and Mounting Plate

The new mount is 700mm x 600mm with a sprung loaded thread adjustable mounting plate behind the Sled that allows the Aussiemorphic Lens to be moved out of the light path when not in use.

The New Surround Panels

The new side panels for the surround speakers and acoustic treatments are 2300mm x 1200mm and will be connected from an over head support system that will also be used to suspend the projector's new mounting system. 2300mm will also be the top of the new AT screen when it is installed, so I will most likely have to raise the seating as the screen will once again be 1200mm off the floor.

I am hoping to paint these with the same suede paint [Pompeii Ash] that I used on the surrounds [and ceiling of my house prior] so that everything matches.

UPDATE 2: The room is soon to undergo another modification to allow a longer throw [for the new coming soon projector] as well as to allow more seating with the AT screen. I am also getting ready for the new Surround speaker mounts that will also feature sound absorption panels.

CAVX-LCR - Aimed at the Seating Position

UPDATE 1: These speakers are very directional, particularly in the vertical plain as they are designed to provide a dispersion pattern that is wider horizontally than it is vertically. As result, if your seated position whilst listening to them is not directly on axis [vertically], they will sound dull. I have titled the LCRs [their mounting system allows for this] to aim them up towards the seated ear height as their current mounting position is too low. This has greatly improved their performance making every word of dialogue perfectly clear. When the new AT screen is installed, the rig will be at a height so that the three LCRs are at seated ear height...

The "Scope" Screen

The CAVX-LCRs hang from a new baffle below the "scope" screen and the two CAVX-SUBs reside beneath them. The four CAVX-SURs are on stands for the time being until I can make new "side and rear" wall panels…

The EQ Rack

The EQ Rack is at the back of the room. The newest upgrade here apart from the switch to HDMI which runs directly from the SAMSUNG HD-950 to the SONY VPL HS-3 is the new "SLED" for the Aussiemorphic Lens. Digital audio is via a NEOTECH coax SPDIF and 6 very nice leads made by LeeS from HTD are used for Hi-Rez Multi Channel analogue connections...

The SAMSUNG player is an up scaler, and with the help of a "hack" I found on the Internet, I have been able to disable the region coding, HDCP and allow up scaling over component. The last time I tried this, I was NOT impressed with the PQ. However over HDMI the image is much better, and seems to have better colour fidelity than component. It does however hard clip the blacks and whites, which is not what I wanted in a player. In fact the older TOSHIBA SD2106 interlaced player sitting on top of the Samsung passes both BTB and WTW without a problems and was chosen over several progressive scan players due to that fact. I would like to replace it with a player like the OPPO which passes PLUGE over digital.

The Aussiemorphic Lens [the MK II has new optic coated anti-reflection prisms] sits in front of the SONY projector which is currently shelf mounted. The PIONEER VSX 1011 [THX Select 7.1] AVR sits below that.

The new area is small, and the seating distance to the screen is too close for my liking, however, thanks to the "Aussiemorphic Lens" which allows the full vertical rez of the projector to be used, the image is still quite watchable. A longer throw projector would make the image smaller and more manageable.

The next upgrade I am planning is my AT screen from Oz Theatre Screens [which is still sitting in the shipping carton]. It uses a similar weave product to the SmX Movie Screen, so I will be interested to hear how it performs with the CAVX-LCRs behind it. I'd still like to get a a new projector - a DLP this time and with the prices of the 720 models dropping, this might be soon...

Mark

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