Question for my buddy on his HT set-up

dromunds

He just picked up a Sony XBR-65X900F and he wants to put his new TV and his front speakers and center speaker on one end of his living room, and his Pioneer Elite SC receiver and Oppo on the other end of the living room. He had four ceiling speakers professionally (Lol) installed in his ceiling many moons ago for his prior TV. The reason his TV is now at the other end of the living room is because he had a smaller TV previously that fit into a custom "cabinet" built into the wall between his fireplace and the outer wall. The new TV will not fit into that cabinet and in fact there is no place for his larger TV on that wall. The speaker wires for his ceiling speakers come down into that custom cabinet. He is re-doing the cabinet to hold not only the receiver but also his Oppo and also a turntable. He says he really wants to hook up the ceiling speakers, not sure what he means by that, but the only speakers on the "floor" will be the two fronts and the center. What he's thinking is running long runs of speaker cable from the receiver down through the floor and across a crawl space in the basement and then back up through the floor at the other end of the living room to his fronts and center speakers by the TV. And I guess he'd need to run some connection from the TV to the receiver the same route, not sure if that would be a long HDMI cable or optic or what (?) He wants to keep the receiver and Oppo etc on the end by the fireplace. He would like to know if anybody has any different ideas on set-up, etc. I realize this may be hard to visualize so if more details are necessary let me know. His physical layout is that the living room is open on the side to the kitchen and a small dining area off the kitchen. Not sure how long the living room is, I'm guessing somewhat less than 20' - but maybe around that. Thanks for any help. I know enough to say I don't know enough about HT to give him an informed answer to his question about how best to set up his HT with the desires he's voiced. I suggested he consider wireless speaker, maybe KEF's etc but he said he couldn't afford it at this time.

tonyb

Sounds to me like your friend bought a TV with no idea of where to put it. Options are....get rid of the cabinets and run wires correctly to everything. Get a smaller TV that will fit into the cabinets.....ceiling mount the TV, but that will block some of the cabinetry.

Got nuthin' else.

rpf65

Think your friend should consult a local HT installer.

Jimbo18

Sounds like the speaker wire is doable, but that HDMI run would be expensive.

nooshinjohn

Get rid of the tv and go with a projector and a retractable screen.

mdaudioguy

Jimbo18 wrote: »

Sounds like the speaker wire is doable, but that HDMI run would be expensive.

HDMI extender over Cat6 Ethernet is what I'd do, versus a super long, in-wall/under-floor HDMI run.

EndersShadow

^This! HDMI over 15 feet can cause issues but @mantis is the expert..

mantis

Audioquest makes a Fiber HDMI cable Cherry Cola which can go up to 30.5M( About 100 feet). I suggest using one of these cables. They are not cheap but they will pass full 4k video HDR. This is the way to go.
The HD Extenders over Cat6 fall short but can pass 4k at 10Gpbs where the Audioquest passes a full 18Gpbs.
If only up to 15m needed you can get away with a Active Cinnamon HDMI cable 4k which will be less money then the Fiber Cherry Cola.

dromunds

Thanks all. I think 15 meters is about what his length would be. Now my buddy says his cable box will be on wall by TV. I’ll check into Active Cinnamon, and see if he can handle that.

dromunds

Audioquest website seems to suggest that Active Pearl, Active Forest, and Active Cinnamon carry full 18 Gbps up to 15 meters.

mdaudioguy

mantis wrote: »

Audioquest makes a Fiber HDMI cable Cherry Cola which can go up to 30.5M( About 100 feet). I suggest using one of these cables. They are not cheap but they will pass full 4k video HDR. This is the way to go.
The HD Extenders over Cat6 fall short but can pass 4k at 10Gpbs where the Audioquest passes a full 18Gpbs.
If only up to 15m needed you can get away with a Active Cinnamon HDMI cable 4k which will be less money then the Fiber Cherry Cola.

There are HD extenders that support 18Gb. The fiber solutions are good too. Ethernet did have the advantage of being easier to pull through tight places, too.

BlueFox

Nice TV. I have that one for general TV watching, but I only use a sound bar with it.

mrloren

I'd move the AVR and goodies to where the TV is. Better to have longer runs of speaker cable than HDMI.

I had the same problem. I had to run the cable TV outside to go around the fire place


Older picture but the TV use to go in the niche to the right of the fireplace.

You also said basement...Why not do a theater in there.