Oil Platform Cinema
Discussion
I have somehow managed to inherit the job of updating the small cinema on the oil platform where I work, and would welcome some suggestions as to what kit comes recomended.
I would like to propose 3 budgets, say £4,000, £8,000 and £12,000.
Would be looking for -
a new projector (currently a 10 year old sim2 something)
a new amp that needs to incorporate HDMI switching -
a blu ray player
a sky HD box
potentially new speakers, (current set up is KEF THX certified 5.1 system)
possibly a new screen - current one is OK and about 10 years old, are new ones better?
all associated cabling.
What should I go for????
I would like to propose 3 budgets, say £4,000, £8,000 and £12,000.
Would be looking for -
a new projector (currently a 10 year old sim2 something)
a new amp that needs to incorporate HDMI switching -
a blu ray player
a sky HD box
potentially new speakers, (current set up is KEF THX certified 5.1 system)
possibly a new screen - current one is OK and about 10 years old, are new ones better?
all associated cabling.
What should I go for????
Rab,
Sounds like more of a pro than domestic application
ho many seats?
What is the internal volume of the room (lxwxh would be good).
Do you know what your current kit is?
I suspect that many options of e.g. new speakers would be a downgrade, kef's THX offerings used to be vrey, very good.
Sounds like more of a pro than domestic application
ho many seats?
What is the internal volume of the room (lxwxh would be good).
Do you know what your current kit is?
I suspect that many options of e.g. new speakers would be a downgrade, kef's THX offerings used to be vrey, very good.
Thanks for the replies,
The current screen size is 10ft 6" diagonal
The room dimensions are 16ft wide 26ft long and 9ft high and seats around 20 to 25 people at the moment.
Current kit is a bit of a mismatch. When the cinema was first set up around 12 years ago it was all top of the range kit - a figure of around £20k spend has been rumoured. Since then as things have broken they have been replaced with whatever was available from the argos catalogue.
Current set up is ceiling mounted Sim2 projector. Fed by an S-Video!!!! Lead from a Yamaha amp. Sorces are a distributed sky system (coax)through a VHS video to change channel and a nasty bush DVD player...
There is certainly room for improvement..
One consideration that I have been asked to take into account is bulb life on the projector. The current bulb needs changed every 4 to 6 months at a cost of around £400 per bulb.
Thanks again for your help...
The current screen size is 10ft 6" diagonal
The room dimensions are 16ft wide 26ft long and 9ft high and seats around 20 to 25 people at the moment.
Current kit is a bit of a mismatch. When the cinema was first set up around 12 years ago it was all top of the range kit - a figure of around £20k spend has been rumoured. Since then as things have broken they have been replaced with whatever was available from the argos catalogue.
Current set up is ceiling mounted Sim2 projector. Fed by an S-Video!!!! Lead from a Yamaha amp. Sorces are a distributed sky system (coax)through a VHS video to change channel and a nasty bush DVD player...
There is certainly room for improvement..
One consideration that I have been asked to take into account is bulb life on the projector. The current bulb needs changed every 4 to 6 months at a cost of around £400 per bulb.
Thanks again for your help...
"Sounds like more of a pro than domestic application"
"Did you actually read the original post"
Thanks for the helpfull reply. Sadly a pro instalation is not an option, there is not really the budget when you consider that any installers would need to do 5 day BOSIET training, a 2 day company induction, a one day platform induction. Also consider that we are at a bed bust till christmas at the earliest, due to an active drilling programme.
If it goes ahead, it will need to be installed by keen volunteers in our own offshift time.
"Did you actually read the original post"
Thanks for the helpfull reply. Sadly a pro instalation is not an option, there is not really the budget when you consider that any installers would need to do 5 day BOSIET training, a 2 day company induction, a one day platform induction. Also consider that we are at a bed bust till christmas at the earliest, due to an active drilling programme.
If it goes ahead, it will need to be installed by keen volunteers in our own offshift time.
Edited by rab.s on Sunday 15th August 20:05
Re. the "pro vs domestic" comment:
A set of e.g M+K THX "home cinema" speakers are awesome in a living room. They would be utterly rubbsh in the room you describe. Likewise, any "normal" 5.1 system (sub / sat0 simply will not fill the volume required to a decent level. 3744 cubic feet is quite a volume.
My recommendation would be roughly:
Get an entry level amp which would do what you want it to do on the AV processing and switching side of things. Make sure it has pre outs.
Use a few "pro" (i.e not "hifi" power amps to drive all channels. The reason I am suggesting going pre / power is ttwofold: That you can then update the system in the future by changing the processor, and that you'll get a hell of a load more power (which when driven hard will equal quality) for say 2k from a set of pro amps than a 2k hifi receiver. In 3 years or so, when technology moves on, you can again replace the surround amp to a "1 above entry level" model for 800 quid and get 90% of the benefit of spending 2k again.
Speakers wise, use higher power rated kit, possibly decent-ish PA speakers. If it's a dedicated cinema room, there are plenty to go at, as looks will be unimportant. You mentioned KEF THX speakers, and they are old. If they are the big black ugly things, they're still awesome. Back then, THX meant something more than the current dumbed down version (THX select).
I'm no expert on the vision side, that will have changed too much since I was in the industry - Nick (posted above) definately knows his stuff, personally I'd trust his reccomendations without a question.
oh, and John RB - you have 28,000 posts. I hope at least one of them was more interesting than todays effort. x
A set of e.g M+K THX "home cinema" speakers are awesome in a living room. They would be utterly rubbsh in the room you describe. Likewise, any "normal" 5.1 system (sub / sat0 simply will not fill the volume required to a decent level. 3744 cubic feet is quite a volume.
My recommendation would be roughly:
Get an entry level amp which would do what you want it to do on the AV processing and switching side of things. Make sure it has pre outs.
Use a few "pro" (i.e not "hifi" power amps to drive all channels. The reason I am suggesting going pre / power is ttwofold: That you can then update the system in the future by changing the processor, and that you'll get a hell of a load more power (which when driven hard will equal quality) for say 2k from a set of pro amps than a 2k hifi receiver. In 3 years or so, when technology moves on, you can again replace the surround amp to a "1 above entry level" model for 800 quid and get 90% of the benefit of spending 2k again.
Speakers wise, use higher power rated kit, possibly decent-ish PA speakers. If it's a dedicated cinema room, there are plenty to go at, as looks will be unimportant. You mentioned KEF THX speakers, and they are old. If they are the big black ugly things, they're still awesome. Back then, THX meant something more than the current dumbed down version (THX select).
I'm no expert on the vision side, that will have changed too much since I was in the industry - Nick (posted above) definately knows his stuff, personally I'd trust his reccomendations without a question.
oh, and John RB - you have 28,000 posts. I hope at least one of them was more interesting than todays effort. x
It will swallow most of your upper budget but one of the new LED Sim2's would be a good bet for the projector. They have instant on instant off and are quoting 30000 hours on the lamp life but more likely this figure would be double that. There will be a serious cost saving in bulbs.
The Mico 40 is the model to look at. Although they are not light cannon bright you will not need that with the screen size you have and if you watch in the dark. Only thing to consider is that they are quite a size.
Sound wise I would stick with the KEFs and get a new AV amp with a bluray player. An LX83 from Pioneer will drive that room and has RF control should the equipment be in another room.
Nick
The Mico 40 is the model to look at. Although they are not light cannon bright you will not need that with the screen size you have and if you watch in the dark. Only thing to consider is that they are quite a size.
Sound wise I would stick with the KEFs and get a new AV amp with a bluray player. An LX83 from Pioneer will drive that room and has RF control should the equipment be in another room.
Nick
Ultra Violent said:
Plotloss said:
Tsk, I'd put an M&K 150 system in a home and that would be more than up to the job of a sub 4k cube room.
Toole array of 4 350THX subs.
Lovely.
Budget f
ked, admittedly, but it would be a great sound.
Quality. Remind me not to ask you to help me spend money Toole array of 4 350THX subs.
Lovely.
Budget f
ked, admittedly, but it would be a great sound.
Complete sense of humour failure or something more serious?
Plotloss said:
Ultra Violent said:
Plotloss said:
Tsk, I'd put an M&K 150 system in a home and that would be more than up to the job of a sub 4k cube room.
Toole array of 4 350THX subs.
Lovely.
Budget fked, admittedly, but it would be a great sound.
Quality. Remind me not to ask you to help me spend money Toole array of 4 350THX subs.
Lovely.
Budget f
ked, admittedly, but it would be a great sound.Complete sense of humour failure or something more serious?
HowMuchLonger said:
Spend all the money on sound insulation. Mud pumps can ruin all those popular sentimental scenes.
I don't think you get much sentiment in back door babes.
Sounds like a decent rig to be on, the rigs I was on had a portable tv which picked up 3 channels if you were lucky.
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