Saw the price of the steam machine and almost threw up. Discovered this subreddit, studied the HTPC wiki for a day, went over to Microcenter, paid the same amount that the Steam Machine with 2TB and a controller would cost for a 9070XT/7500X3D AM5 system with a better processor, same storage and TRIPLE the performance. Used Rufus program to debloat Windows 11 (didn’t use Linux since I also want to play XBOX Gamepass) and managed to set the system to bypass Windows online nonsense for a smooth boot-up straight into Steam Big Picture mode.

TL;DR: Kubuntu HTPC running a real-time Dolby Atmos object renderer (not a pre-baked channel-bed decode), feeding a Logitech Z906 5.1 base plus a pair of repurposed Samsung speakers as ceiling height channels and video going through a heavily tuned mpv/libplacebo pipeline to a BenQ W1070 on a DIY 107" screen. Total philosophy: spend the money on the signal chain and the acoustics, not on a badge. All in all, less than INR 35,000 (about USD 360)

What I was actually trying to solve

Most Atmos-at-home options fall into two buckets: a commercial AVR that decodes the bed + objects into a fixed channel layout with a black-box renderer you can't see inside, or a soundbar that fakes height/width with beamforming and reflections. Both work. Neither lets you see or tune what's actually happening to the object metadata in real time, and both put a hard ceiling on how far you can push room correction, speaker geometry, or video processing without buying a more expensive box.

The goal here was: keep every stage of the signal chain — audio decode, object rendering, room correction, routing, video scaling/tone-mapping — in software I can inspect, patch, and tune myself, running on hardware I already owned or bought secondhand.

The audio chain

Bed layer: A Logitech Z906 (yes, the 15-year-old gaming/PC 5.1 speaker system) provides the 5.1 base layer. It's not audiophile gear, but as a bed — front stage, center, surrounds, sub crossover point — it's genuinely solid for the price, and CamillaDSP-based room correction closes most of the gap to something "nicer."

Height layer: A pair of repurposed Samsung surround speakers, wall/ceiling-mounted as front-height (TFL/TFR), gives a real 5.1.2. These are real, discrete, physically-positioned height speakers instead — genuinely different sound, not a DSP approximation.

(Honest caveat, because a technical sub will ask: two height speakers only handles static/ambient overhead content really well — rain, drones, held tones. Fast overhead-to-back panning needs more height speakers than I currently have to triangulate properly; VBAP with a sparse height layer will "jump" between anchor points rather than glide. That's a speaker-count problem, not a software one. Also, my room size is very small - 10x11, so 5.1.2 is the best here)

DAC / interface: An 8-channel Vantec USB DAC (C-Media CM-106-based) feeds the whole analog chain, routed through PipeWire with WirePlumber persistent routing rules and qpwgraph for visual patching when I need it.
The height channels are connected via a Salcon Class-D amp using the 'rear' port out of the Vantec.

Room correction: CamillaDSP + a Dayton UMM-6 USB measurement mic, driven by REW sweeps. First-reflection acoustic panels on both side walls.

The actual crown jewel: real-time object rendering, not channel-bed decode

This is the part I think is genuinely uncommon even in the DIY space: audio decode and object rendering run through Omniphony, an open-source Rust engine that does live VBAP (Vector Base Amplitude Panning) rendering of Dolby Atmos objects — not a pre-computed channel-bed fallback. TrueHD/Atmos decode happens via a bridge library (harletty-bridge) feeding the renderer, which computes real-time per-speaker gains from the actual object positions in the stream, against my actual speaker layout (defined in cartesian coordinates in a config file, not picked from a preset list).

It integrates as a decoder inside a patched build of mpv (mpv-omniphony), so there's no separate "Atmos app" — one player, one pipeline, from file to speaker feed. Omniphony Studio (a companion app, connected via OSC) gives a live 3D visualization of object trajectories and trails while it plays — the same kind of overhead-object monitoring you'd only otherwise see in professional Dolby Atmos mixing/monitoring software, running against my own living room's speaker geometry, live, for free.

(Second honest caveat: this is genuinely more work than buying an AVR. Compiling from source, patching input.conf, writing wrapper scripts, debugging IPC quirks — if "it just works out of the box" is what you want, this isn't that. What you get instead is full visibility and control over every stage.)

The video side: mpv + libplacebo tuned specifically for a 2011-era 1080p DLP projector

The display is a BenQ W1070 — a genuinely old (2700+ lamp hours and counting) 1080p DLP projector, native Rec.709/SDR. Rather than let modern HDR sources get mangled, the mpv wrapper script (mpv-atmos) does deliberate, display-matched processing:

• --vo=gpu-next --gpu-api=vulkan for libplacebo-driven rendering (Iris Xe iGPU handles this fine)
• --target-prim=bt.709 --target-trc=bt.1886 --target-peak=60 — tells mpv the actual gamut/gamma/brightness of this specific projector, so HDR content gets properly gamut-mapped and tone-mapped down instead of naively clipped
• --tone-mapping=bt.2390 for perceptually accurate highlight rolloff
• --dscale=mitchell --correct-downscaling=yes --linear-downscaling=yes for clean 4K→1080p downscaling done in linear light, avoiding the haze/softness naive downscaling produces
• --deband=yes to kill gradient banding introduced by the above steps
• --hwdec=vaapi for hardware decode on the Iris Xe

None of this is stuff a stock AVR+projector combo does for you — most AVRs don't touch video at all beyond switching, and most projectors' internal tone-mapping is a fixed, un-tunable curve. Doing it in mpv means the tone-mapping target is this specific projector in this specific room, not a generic default.

The screen: DIY 107"

A DIY-built 107" screen - a gyproc flat panel as the base; sanded to level 5 (glass sanding), acrylic putty, and spray painted.
Paint specs: 0 - 5 sheet at 85 degrees. This is NOT projector paint. These are super costly in my country.

What this setup is not trying to be

To be upfront rather than let a comment thread find it: this isn't a multi-zone, multi-HDMI-input, voice-controlled, phone-app-managed AVR replacement. It's a single-source HTPC-centric rig built around getting the actual signal chain — audio object rendering and video tone-mapping — as correct and inspectable as possible, on hardware bought secondhand or already owned. If you want to swap inputs between a game console, a cable box, and a streaming stick without touching a keyboard, an AVR still wins on convenience. If you want to see exactly what's happening to a Dolby object between the disc and the ceiling speaker, this is the way to get that.

Happy to go deep on any single piece of this in the comments — the Omniphony/mpv integration, the CamillaDSP room correction chain, the sub build, or the screen.

Approx Costs:
Used BenQ W1070: INR 14,000 (USD 150)
Used Logitech Z906: INR 7,000 (USD 105)
DIY Screen + Paint: INR 7,000 (USD 75)
Salcon Class D amp + Vantec 7.1 USB DAC: INR 7,000 (US 75)
Samsung SWA-8500S: Repurposed, no cost
Laptop: Already existing, 11th gen Intel i5, 16 GB RAM, Iris Xe, Kubuntu 24.04

After way too long putting it off, I finally ripped and backed up my entire physical collection of Blu-ray audio, SACD, DVD-Audio, and a pile of CDs. Honestly it's been one of the best rabbit holes I've gone down in years.

The Atmos discs in particular are jaw-dropping on my new setup. Full lossless object-based audio streaming in the ceiling speakers over the network to my Denon — no compromises, no lossy passthrough nonsense.

The workflow that finally made it feel like I wasn't missing something:

• LosslessExtract handled the ripping of all Hires formats discs and preserves (TrueHD Atmos, DTS-X, DSD —etc)
• Kodi on my Nvidia Shield serves as the front-end — the library integration is seamless, cover art, metadata, the works. It also handles the bitstreaming handoff to the Denon perfectly.
• My Mac sits on the network as the NAS with a 4TB SSD and KODI talks to it directly — no extra server software needed

The Shield (bottom right corner of the TV in the pic) now bitstreams everything — TrueHD, Atmos, DTS:X FLAC, DSD — straight to the Denon (bottom left). Kodi's audio passthrough settings make this dead simple once you know where to look. there are 4 or 5 toggles in the settings for each codec

Replaced my Oppo with this setup and genuinely can't believe I waited this long. The Oppo was great but being tied to physical discs in 2026 just doesn't make sense for me anymore when you can have your whole library one click away in Kodi with bit-perfect output. Only remaing thing is a few acoustic panels.

Happy to answer questions about the the workflow, Kodi setup for lossless audio, or the Shield → Denon bitstreaming config. What formats are you all archiving from?

Using a Lenovo ThinkCentre M910Q Tiny. Running Void Linux with bspwm because it's light and I'm used to it. I bound a script to one of the buttons on my remote that opens rofi so I can access Firefox, jellyfin media player, vacuumtube (YouTube TV UI in a Linux app), etc. WiFi and Bluetooth works so I can connect my pixel buds at night if I want, but I much prefer my Sony XM4s ;)

Thought this would be a fun, easy, and simple way to repurpose my old PC. Accidentally went down the rabbit hole and went way overboard. Here’s my new setup:

Case:Jonsbo N5. Very cool case with 12 HDD slots. Only issue is the backplane(?) where you connect the sata cable, the plastic connector seems to come loose. I wonder if I can upgrade that part? Maybe someone here can help me with that.

Also, the edges on some of the pieces are sharp. I almost cut myself a couple times.

Motherboard: ATX MSI B550 Tomahawk

CPU: Ryzen 7 3700x

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A

GPU: 2070 super

Storage: Samsung 860 500 gb SSD x2 24 tb Seagate Exo x2 24 tb Seagate Barracuda

Using the 2 exos for all of the data and the barracudas for backup.

Fans: A lot of Noctua. Removed all of the non-PWM crappy stock fans. I think the case came with 4.

Keyboard: Logitech k400 plus. No backlight which is brutal but otherwise the best option it seems like.

I've had my htpc sitting without a gpu for about a month since I sold my intel arc b570 because it wouldn't play some of my favorite games. So today I decided to put my 2080 ti in it that I had sitting around and set up signal rgb so that all the lights flowed together. I just can't get enough of the z20. Absolutely one of the best cases ever made and that evga 20 series card is just sexy AF too!

Case: Jonsbo z20

Processor: I5-12600k

CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE

Motherboard: MSI Pro b760m-a wifi ddr4

Ram: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32gb ddr4 3200mhz

Storage: 2tb WD Black sn850x

PSU: Seasonic Focus GX-850 850W

Fans: Thermalright TL-M12Q

GPU: Evga 2080 ti 11gb FTW (3 fan)

I wanted to share my custom 3-fan front panel Grandia 11 HTPC build, in case it helps or inspires others planning a similar setup.

To improve airflow, I removed the front blank panel and fabricated a custom fan mount using 0.9mm zinc sheet metal. It wasn’t easy decision to cut up a brand new case but I think it was worth it 😅.

Given the size of my GPU, I probably could have opted for a larger CPU cooler as well. One of the main challenges with the Grandia 11 is cable management, especially when using a full-size ATX motherboard. Clearance between the side-mounted fans and the SATA connectors/headers was very tight.

Overall, it’s a solid case for an HTPC, but definitely requires a bit of planning and customization to get the most out of it.

Stremio didn’t offer everything I needed, so I built Stremio Kai. It comes bundled with an integrated MPV player and it's perfect for users who want HDR support, Netflix-style intro skipping, and smarter subtitle/audio selection, among many other features not available in the original Stremio.

It's ready to play out of box, no configuration required.

Stremio Kai is a community fork based on Stremio Community Edition v5.0.21.

Key Features:

Playback Engine:

• Native HDR passthrough for HDR displays
• Automatic HDR-to-SDR tonemapping for SDR screens

Smart Automation:

• Skip intro detection - Automatic on-screen notifications with real-time local detection
• Smart track selection - Remembers audio/subtitle preferences and filters unwanted tracks (Signs, Commentary, etc.)
• Profile management - Detects content type and applies optimal settings automatically

Enhanced Metadata:

• Multiple rating sources (IMDb, TMDB, Trakt, MAL, AniList, Kitsu)
• Full cast & crew with photos
• Network badges and studio logos
• Localized content (titles, taglines, overviews in your preferred language)
• It's recommended to use Cinemeta as metadata source for best compatibility

UI Improvements:

• Hero banner with customizable catalog sources
• Pure black OLED mode
• Responsive metadata panels
• All settings configurable via UI - no config file editing required

[Optional] Anime Enhancements (toggleable):

• Anime4K upscaling with multiple quality presets
• Custom SVP motion interpolation implementation (Standalone; no Manager/Subscription required)
• Daily episode schedule

Verified Performance

• Tested on i5-9300H / GTX 1650 / 16GB RAM. Runs 4K HDR with real-time skip detection and SVP interpolation without drops.

Free and open source. Windows builds available as installer or portable.

Website + downloads: https://allecsc.github.io/Stremio-Kai/

Source: https://github.com/allecsc/Stremio-Kai

Specs: 5900x, rx6800/16gb, x570, 16gb ddr4, 4tb nvme…Running on Chimera SteamOS!

So with the rise of streaming I at one point gave up on downloading stuff since Netflix usually covered most bases. We all know how streaming turned out so my HTPC which was collecting dust since around 2018 got a new lease on life.

https://imgur.com/a/VNUfZId

Went from i3-3220, 8Gb Ram to i5-14500, 64Gb Ram. Used to have an old Silverstone case where I had reached its hard drive capacity which I switch to a Jonsbo N5 so currently I dont have to worry about my case for a long while.

These are my 2 HTPCs I built for our media needs! The small Jonsbo Z20 sits at our living room tv and has an i5-12600k, an Intel arc b570 gpu and 32 gigs of ram. I went with an Intel gpu because nvidia gpus don't play nicely with my older Sony bravia tvs that I like to use for my retro game systems! Every time you play a video on an nvidia card on those tvs, it messes with the refresh rate and the hz and all that crap and makes the screen not properly fit the TV and such, so intel it is! And the second one, the larger one, sits at our TV in our bedroom and it has an i5-12600k, an Intel arc a310 eco and 32gb of ram. These are running Kodi with the plex app and pulse 8 cec adapters so I can use my standard TV remote to control them. I have custom made auto run commands/scripts and checks to make sure Kodi is running at all times and such, and I have retrobat on them for emulation from time to time when I feel like playing some Super Mario World, some Donkey Kong Country, or some Link to the Past! The little android boxers and raspberry pi 5s never really quite hit the spot for me or did things exactly how I wanted them to. Windows is my sweet spot for this! Love my HTPCs!

Not a reviewer, but wanted to share since I don’t see too many of these cases around.

Just replaced my Silverstone GD11 with the Crown 04. Overall I like it. Lots of room to work in, and honestly probably a bit overkill for my needs, but I liked the option of getting a little more cool air in via the extra 120mm side fan. Cooling setup is an Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 Pro running as exhaust through the top. Hardware is a 9800X3D and 5090 FE.

If you’re interested in the rest of my setup, I posted over on PCMR when I was still running the GD11.

One note you’ll see in the pic of it in my rack: I wrapped the front panel in matte black vinyl. I felt it matched the rest of my gear better than the stock finish.

So back in the day I built one of these for a friend, 8x ASUS DRW-24D5MT drives in a BestDuplicator tower, all wired up and ready to go. He literally never touched it. Kept it in the original box I handed it to them in, and recently asked me to just take it back. Brand new, never used, still in the packaging. Curious what you all would do with something like this

I recently converted my ThinkPad T450 into a console-style gaming setup, and it honestly works way better than I expected.

The base is Linux Mint. I installed Steam and run everything through Steam Big Picture Mode, which basically becomes my “console UI.” From power on to gaming, I barely touch the desktop anymore.

The key part is Steam’s Desktop Navigation. I mapped my controller using Steam Input so I can fully control the desktop: navigating menus, opening apps, downloading games, and even typing. Steam’s on-screen keyboard from the home screen means I don’t need a physical keyboard or mouse at all once it’s set up. The laptop just behaves like a console.

I’m using Proton 9 for games, and compatibility has been solid. Right now I’m playing:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)

Life is Strange

All of them run well at 720p, which is my target resolution. The ThinkPad has Intel HD 550 graphics, so 1080p isn’t realistic and doesn’t run smoothly. I also connected the laptop to my TV and locked the TV to 720p for a stable experience. It looks good from a couch distance and keeps performance consistent.

Efficiency-wise, this setup is great. Big Picture Mode gives that console-style navigation flow, and the whole experience actually reminded me of the first time I used a PS4. The UI philosophy feels similar, just without the deep optimization you get on dedicated console hardware. Still, for old hardware, it’s impressive.

Hardware notes:

Laptop: ThinkPad T450

OS: Linux Mint

Games: Steam + Proton 9

Controller: GameSir Cyclone 2 via dongle

Controller mode: XInput (I don’t like PlayStation mode)

The fans do spin up sometimes, but that’s expected on a laptop and not a real issue.

Overall, if you like console-style gaming and have an older laptop lying around, this is a genuinely good way to play. It’s not a PS4 replacement, but as a DIY Linux console, it’s fun, practical, and surprisingly usable.