New Home Build (Newbie)

M

Mofireman

Audiophyte
Hi all! Long time lurker, first time posting to the forum. The wife and I are building our first custom home, a floor plan that we fell in love with. The somewhat unfortunate thing is that the floor plan does not include a dedicated theater room. Like many others, this means that our living room area (open floor plan) will be our "theater".

We have a newer 55" 4k Ultra television that will be mounted above the fireplace mantle. I've been speaking with a custom AV Install/Sales company in town and he's given me the following recommendations to purchase. He also visited the home so he knows what we are working with...

1. Denon AVR-x1300 Receiver
2. (7) Episode 350 "in ceiling" speakers
3. (1) Episode In Wall Sub (ES-Sub IW Dual 8" and E-2100 Power Amp)

We will also have two speakers outside on our "covered" deck so we'd prefer a 2-zone AVR. We do not currently have an AV Receiver and this was his recommendation. The three speakers nearest the TV will be aimable and the two rear speakers and the two out on the deck will be flat (non aimable). I've attached a rough sketch of the layout. All AV equipment will be housed in a closet just beside the living room. For all of the items listed above, the cost was just under $2,000, and does not include any install.

Questions

1. Any concerns with anything that I've listed?
2. Should that Sub be plenty for that room? FYI, I went ahead and pre-wired the opposite wall too, just in case I needed to add another in-wall sub down the road?!
3. Is the HDMI cable "really that important? I purchased one for $10 that said it was true 4k quality, but it looked somewhat basic?! It was 25 feet long in order to be run through the wall to the AV closet. I'd hate to get the drywall installed and then find out I've got a diminished picture quality because of a less than stellar HDMI cable!!
4. He suggested we not install a volume control on the deck and just utilize an App on our phones to control the volume out there. Could this be a mistake down the road if/when we install a TV out there?

Thanks so much in advance.

Slightly technologically challenged firefighter, Jeff
 

Attachments

Mike Ruby

Mike Ruby

Audioholic Intern
Hi Jeff,

My humble opinion, I'm sure you will get a lot of ideas,

I have a little company that installs mostly upper end systems in Chicagoland, but the aesthetics become a big deal for us as much as performance.

1. I have always found that inwall speakers sound much better than inceiling for Front channels. I often don't use a flush mounted center channel for center in most of my multichannel "above the fireplace installs" and invest in bigger/better left right channels that are integrated in the space flanking the TV. It may not be possible for your room/look. Do you have an elevation for the TV wall?
2. It really depends on output required for your listing habits, however building in a sub makes a room more practical. I believe that amp does have the capability to drive two of the passive subs.
3.Critical, We have come across a lot of wrecked in wall HDMI cables. If possible I would always recommend a chase to to TV monitor location. A chase has allowed for a lot of old component jobs we did 10yrs ago to be replaced with HDMI cables. An extra HDMI is never a bad idea. We always run 2-3 cat6 runs for backup as well.
4.I tend to think that VC's are old school, its kinda like controlling the speed of your car with your brake. Most HTR apps today are pretty simple to operate a second zone, however don't forget that if your wi-fi bubble doesn't extend outdoors you will lose control. There are inwall controls not VC's to allow for control of second zone as well if you want hard buttons
Good luck I hope this helps,
Mike
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
Welcome. :)

All depends what is important to the both of you, but there are a number of issues unless this isn't a serious setup.

Over the fireplace TV while looks good will become too high to look at. You have a chair only in direct view of the TV. Not sure how far the chair is, that 55" may be too small, especially if you have all those speakers. If people watch from the other seats, they will get a sore neck quickly.

In wall sub is not very good. Room interacts much with low frequencies and you cannot move it if is a big issue. Issue is that some frequencies will be unnaturally loud or too quiet.
An 8" sub will not give you a chest felt low level.

As stated, in ceiling will sound as all the sound is coming from above, very bad idea.

But then, if this is just a casual setup, then none of this is much of an issue.
 
M

Mofireman

Audiophyte
Actually, yes, this is just a "semi-casual setup." I realize it's somewhat limiting in terms of the floor plan/layout. Our desire has been to keep the clean look in the living room, so floor standing speakers are out. We're going to try our luck with the aim-able ceiling speakers in the front and see what we think of it. Neither of us are audiophiles, so it may end up sounding just fine for us....Time will tell.

Thanks for the input!!
 
mtrycrafts

mtrycrafts

Seriously, I have no life.
Actually, yes, this is just a "semi-casual setup." I realize it's somewhat limiting in terms of the floor plan/layout. Our desire has been to keep the clean look in the living room, so floor standing speakers are out. We're going to try our luck with the aim-able ceiling speakers in the front and see what we think of it. Neither of us are audiophiles, so it may end up sounding just fine for us....Time will tell.

Thanks for the input!!
Even for casual listening and TV watching, In ceiling front speakers will sound as though the action is in the ceiling. And long TV watching will give a sore neck after a while. Almost like the very front seating section in a theater.

If you can listen to such ceiling speakers beforehand be sure to sit in a couch or chair, not standing up and at a distance you will be in your home.
Hope it works out for the family.
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Samurai
There are many in-wall speakers that look very discrete and many here (me) would strongly encourage you to go that route for the reasons mtrycrafts has mentioned. You would really appreciate the difference versus ceiling speakers from the first sounds coming out of them.

Or just skip it entirely with installed speakers and go with the new Bluesound (PSB made) soundbar. It would be SO much better than an all-ceiling speaker arrangement. I hate soundbars, but my mind has changed completely after hearing that thing today, and the Yamaha Atmos one last week.
 
J

Jeffrey S. Albaugh

Audioholic
Here's my 2 cents worth. Nothing wrong with In Ceiling speakers since they have aimable tweeters. Nothing wrong with an above fireplace TV, if you use a pivoting mount (you can aim the set down at least 15%) which will not give you neck aches. Use a separate Stereo Receiver for other rooms or areas. Episode Speakers from Snap AV are great & robust. Also nothing at all bad about the In wall Episode Are great.They have dual 8" woofers and they are enclosed with a back box. You can power 2 of them with the Episode Sub Amp. We have installed these systems. There are outdoor grade Volume controls. Some have options like IR window. I recommend Niles (nilesaudio.com). If you are still in the construction stage, we run PVC run in Ceiling from TV location and equipment room. This is cheap to do and allows you to replace older or outdated cables. I recommend 2" or larger PVC (pick it up at HomeDepot, etc.) We have used 4" PVC on jobs done in pre-construction. We ran it from the roof to the panel in the basement. Since we put a dish & HD Antenna up. It's simple to replace anything. At the roof location, we put a "U" piece of PVC so no water can go down thru the PVC. HDMI cable: Keep the one you already, but add another more robust HDMI cable. (now you have a back up). PVC is your best friend & futureproofs your installations. We also run string from one end of the PVC to the other end. Now, you can easily pull new cables thru. Also, In Ceiling speakers have an advantage over In wall speakers, when you can't symetrically install speakers apart.In ceiling speakers have more flexibility for placement.
 
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