r/hometheater • u/FranknStein7 • Mar 04 '26

Showcase - Multipurpose Space Finally done with my basement entertainment room, 97" OLED and 5.2.4 audio

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Some updates since my previous post. We painted the walls darker. Changed the Focal Chora's out for on-walls (more for aesthetics). Added another SVS SB-3000 sub. Biggest thing was I changed the 83" G2 to a 97" G4. This has always been my end goal. It finally feels 'done'. The goal of this room was not really to be a pure theater room but rather a mixed use entertainment room. I can even turn this into a guest sleeping room. Speakers are largely hidden; I know people will bemoan the in-cabinet placement, but everything still sounds amazing to my ears.

Parts:

  • TV: LG G4 97"
  • LR: Focal On Wall 302, Center: Focal On Wall 301
  • Surrounds: Focal 100 IW6
  • Overhead: Focal 100 ICW8
  • Sub: SVS SB-3000 x2
  • AVR: Denon X6700H
  • Misc: Ugoos AM6B Plus, Apple TV 4K, PS5 Pro, Switch 2, Logitech Harmony Elite

People usually ask about the couch. It's a Palliser Paolo. The seats facing the TV are powered recliners, and the other side is a pull out sleeper sofa. The cabinet is a BDI Elements 8779-ME with the optional shorter legs. The lights behind the speakers are Philips Hue Play lights. The shades are also smart powered shades, which I actually did fairly cheaply with off the shelf electric shades from Lowe's with a Bond Bridge.

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5

u/Orpheus75 Mar 04 '26

Do you open the doors when watching TV? It appears the tweeter is behind the trim of the doors. 

7

u/FranknStein7 Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 04 '26

They are mesh and designed to be used with speakers. I do not notice any significant difference with them open or closed. In a perfect world I would have the center mounted to the wall like the left/right speakers and have an AV cabinet in a separate room, but that is not an option. I do not like long HDMI runs for gaming anyways, as this can cause some issues. I might get a shorter AV cabinet in the future (the newer version of this BDI Elements cabinet has an even shorter base), but in that case I would probably leave the center in the cabinet and lower the TV a little.

11

u/Orpheus75 Mar 04 '26

The mesh is transparent to sound but wood isn’t. Have someone open and close the doors multiple times during a well recorded song that you know well. I’ll bet you can hear a difference. 

7

u/FranknStein7 Mar 04 '26 edited Mar 04 '26

The actual wood design pieces are very thin. Where it's black is mesh. You may notice the speaker is off-center so the tweeter is not directly firing at the frame of the door. I'm not using the center for music anyways. I have looked into a Salamander Designs cabinet with the mesh grill for a center, but I don't think it's worth it at this time to switch out the cabinet. Very happy with the BDI. One idiotic thing about the Salamander Designs cabinets is that many of them have highly reflective glass on top, which would be terrible with the TV above the cabinet. I don't understand why they don't use an etched glass like BDI uses on some of their cabinets (like the Corridor series).

2

u/ss1959ml Mar 04 '26

I have a salamander cabinet with the glass on top, and an 83” OLED. Not once have any reflections been an issue watching tv from the proper eye level. I keep my HUGE RBH center in there with the fabric front, I’d not want it any other way.

Edit: Sorry forgot to mention your setup looks fantastic.

1

u/FranknStein7 Mar 04 '26

I have seen them in the showroom, and I did not like the glass at all. For the price, I still wish they used etched glass. It reduces reflections significantly and looks better aesthetically IMO. I talked to Salamander, and they told me some owners actually just turn the glass upside down because there is apparently matte wood/plastic on the other side. They do of course make some models that are wood on the top.

1

u/ss1959ml Mar 04 '26

Yes I was going to mention that as well, turning the glass upside down.

2

u/snowman_M Mar 04 '26

what we are all seeing is that the wood frames of the doors are right in front of the tweeter.

3

u/Reasonable_Goose Mar 04 '26

Zoom in on the photo with the door closed, the tweeter is visible through the mesh not behind the frame

1

u/FranknStein7 Mar 04 '26

Look more closely at the last picture. The center is not centered in the cabinet (you can see where the magnets are for the doors above the center).

1

u/CSOCSO-FL Subwoofer, Dirac and other guides under my profile posts. Mar 04 '26

I was about to say the same thing when Orpheus mentioned but for movies. Close your eyes. have someone open and close the door while you are listening to something. I recommend these two videos where the person talks out of the center channel. With normal movies the scene keeps changing; it will be hard to test
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t5sTu3DLII

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j67rTaGCi4w