Certified: AV-Holic!
Home Cinema Choice|Xmas 2017

HCC reader Chris has revamped nearly his entire cinema setup to embrace 4K projection and 3D audio. Here he guides us through his kit choices, demo discs and why he has three screens...

Chris
Certified: AV-Holic!
Welcome to the AV-Holics Hall of Fame – again. Introduce yourself!

I'm Chris England, and I'm aged 48. I work as an IT Marketing & Business Development Director.

You've had a massive overhaul of your movie room since you featured in HCC #220 – so what's new?

My goal was to go full 4K with Atmos/DTS:X on a 5.2.4 bi-amped setup but have a choice of two projector screens: 16:9 for the content that needs it (Avatar, Transformers, Dark Knight, Star Trek Into Darkness, Planet Earth II, etc), plus a massive 3m-wide 2.35:1 screen for movies that use that format. I also wanted proper blackout blinds, all fully automated.

I have been wanting this for a long while but alas I had to stop working in March 2015 due to a rare cancer – this setup has helped me on my road to recovery!

The only items that survived the upgrade (apart from me) were the Grandview 16:9 Cyberscreen projector screen; Monitor Audio AW12 subwoofer (now used as a second sub); power and speaker cables; Sony PlayStation 4 (but I'm now considering a PS4 Pro); and the amazing Spectral Catena floating cabinets that are still superb.

My new system uses a Sony VPL-VW360ES projector, the aforementioned Grandview screen, and a new Vutec Lectric 1 RF 129in (2.35:1-ratio) screen. In addition, I now have an LG OLED65B7 TV (65in, 4K).

Speakers are KEF Ci5160RL-THX in-wall models for left (bi-amped), right (bi-amped) and centre; four KEF Ci200RR-THX in-ceiling Atmos units; Monitor Audio Gold FX on-wall rears; REL S5 SHO subwoofer; and the Monitor Audio AW12. Driving these is an Arcam AVR850 receiver, with Dirac EQ, and an Arcam P429 power amplifier for the Atmos channels.

This story is from the Xmas 2017 edition of Home Cinema Choice.

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This story is from the Xmas 2017 edition of Home Cinema Choice.

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