Well after some years being in this house of mine, I finally embarked on the journey to build out a dedicated room after pulling some equity out of the house to do other projects. The actual construction was a year long ordeal involving the use of a GC since I didn't have the time to be the GC and laborer on the project. The scope of the project was to add a 2 level addition to the back of the house and finish part of the basement. Right now I'm finally wrapping the last details of the project. So here's the progress from start to finish which includes some of the other non-theatre/dedicated room pics.

Start of construction:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/exterior/43600054.jpg

The after:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/exterior/final1.jpg

The plan for the basement:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/floorplan1.jpg

Start of basement framing:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/unfinished1.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/unfinished2.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/unfinished3.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/unfinished6.jpg

Shots of the "un-theatre" area:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/unfinished4.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/unfinished5.jpg

Dry wall goes up:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/43600033.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/43600035.jpg

The "un-theatre":

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/43600030.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/43600031.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/43600032.jpg

Flooring goes down:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/43600046.jpg

Flooring in the "un-theatre":

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/43600051.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/43600052.jpg

Construction near completion:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/recess2.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/recess4.jpg

The "un-theatre":

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/room4.jpg

Electrical:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/43600036.jpg

The office addition:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/study/study1.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/study/studynight1.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/study/studynight5.jpg

Construction finished:

Basement rec area:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/lind2.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/P1010137.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/P1010138.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/P1010139.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/P1010141.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/P1010142.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/basement/bigmike.jpg

Completed office:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/study/studyfinal1.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/study/studyfinal2.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/study/studyfinal3.jpg

And now the A/V equipment:

Bryston 6B-ST amp:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/bryston6b.jpg

Carver TFM-25 amp with Equi=Tech 2Q:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/carver.jpg

Velodyne HGS15II sub:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/hgs15.jpg

B&W Nautilus HTM1 center:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/htm1.jpg

B&W Nautilus 804 with tall Sound Anchor stands (front mains):
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/n804.jpg

B&W Nautilus 804 with standard Sound Anchor stands (rear surrounds):
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/soundanchor.jpg

Pioneer Elite Pro 1010HD 50" plasma:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/plasma.jpg

Meridian 568.2MM surround processor:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/568.jpg

Meridian 598DP DVD player w/ SDI mod:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/598.jpg

Velodyne DD18:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/dd183.jpg

Velodyne SMS-1 (mated with HGS15II):
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/sms1.jpg

All the equipment together in Salamander Synergy Twin 30 rack:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/htsetup2.jpg

Spacer System lighting control:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/spacer.jpg

Spacer System Master control unit at front of room for as IR repeater:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/room3.jpg

Maurice Villency Newbury sofa:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/sofa.jpg

Salamander Synergy media cabinet:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/htsetup5.jpg

Completed 100 A subpanel with Equi=Tech 1.5BQ:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/power1.jpg

Pics of the room now. I just received the acoustic panels and need to clarify with my supplier on vertical placement. Also, I am missing the bass traps in the shipment and need to check with them on where they are.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/panel1.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/panel2.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/panel3.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/panel4.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/panel5.jpg

Measured bass response in the room pre-room treatments:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/htsetup6.jpg

So this is my "un-theatre" dedicated room. I wanted a space which was a natural extension of the rest of my house without feeling like a room segregated fully for one purpose. Will post final pics when I get all the room treatments situated.

Thanks for looking.

Very nice. The microphone wall art is very cool

Very nice. The microphone wall art is very cool

Thank you. When I saw the microphone in the catalog, I thought it was cool too. Sort of sets part of the theme going into the room from the hallway.

For a while there I thought I was on crack. When I first checked this thread there was only the first post showing the new addition and then the rough framing. I come back an hour later and the room is done:eek:. That was some haulin ass DIY!

It turned out great. I like you sense of simply and modern decor/furniture. I enjoy your choice of wall art and paint colors. Excellent job indeed.

For a while there I thought I was on crack. When I first checked this thread there was only the first post showing the new addition and then the rough framing. I come back an hour later and the room is done:eek:. That was some haulin ass DIY!

It turned out great. I like you sense of simply and modern decor/furniture. I enjoy your choice of wall art and paint colors. Excellent job indeed.

Thanks for the compliment. Yeah, it's the extreme makeover edition for renovations. All along, I wanted to make sure this area of the basement (for that matter any part of the basement) didn't feel like....well...a basement. I think I was pretty successful with this as during the daytime the area down there is pretty well lit with natural light.

Again, I wouldn't have been this far without hiring out the work. I know I'm missing the full satisfaction of completing this as a DIY but if I did that I would still be looking at framing and breaking ground....not much spare time. This project began about 3 years ago so you're getting the time warped version. LOL.

Hopefully, this year, I can declare everything done and be able to not think about any additional projects to do.

Very nice indeed. Looks like a killer sound system.

Do you think you might ever try a Projector in that space?

very nice! We have that same Vettriano in our Dining Room.

Very nice indeed. Looks like a killer sound system.

Do you think you might ever try a Projector in that space?

Thanks, BMDC. It's funny about how this project evolved. I started off in this hobby with an emphasis on audio. So when I decided to get into a dedicated room, I made choices where I wanted to have audio quality to be the primary consideration with video second. Because audio quality was a primary consideration in my planning, I required that the center channel speaker's mid/tweeter had to be at the same height as the left/right mains. With the setup the way it is, the center is indeed at the proper height to match the left/right mains. One of my regrets getting in to the system build was the fact I didn't go with another N804 floor stander to be used as my center.

So with the audio setup the way it is, I had two choices with my video. Either a flat screen or a front projector. I wasn't too keen with having to deal with an acoustically transparent screen which left me with the flat screen option. Because I was already in to this project with some significant cash already spent, I decided to get the best plasma (in my opinion) on the market, the Pioneer.

I don't know if a projector screen would work in the room as this would require me to relocate my listening/viewing position. Moving the sofa back would encrouch too much on the rear speakers.

Thanks again for the compliments as I feel it's high praise indeed from seeing threads about your HT project.

very nice! We have that same Vettriano in our Dining Room.

Thanks! Another Jack Vettriano connoisseur. I have another repro of his upstairs in the entry hallway. I'll be ordering some prints from Brent Heighton soon. You should check out some of his work.

Update:

Panels are up. Here are some updated pics:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/front_040608.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/leftfront_040608.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/rightfront_040608.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/backleft_040608.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/backright_040608.jpg

In room bass response under Trifield:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/trifield.jpg

In room bass response under Dolby ProLogic II Music:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/pliimusic.jpg

Haven't had much time to see if I can dial in the curve a bit better. I guess I'll get to it as another weekend project.

Here are some pics of the room showing the various lighting zones:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/zone1.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/zone2.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/zone3.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/zone4.jpg

Shot of the ceiling showing some of the recessed lights:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/ceiling.jpg

Well, I guess this is about it for the room. I'll be ordering some more acoustic panels to treat the area behind the center channel speaker and the reflection points on the ceiling. But after this, I can probably call the room done.

It looks good.

I think a lot of forget that it is often very hard to dedicate a large area of our houses to nothing but a HT/bat cave.

Very nice. How does the Kuro do with all of those light surfaces and ambient lighting?

Thanks John for the compliment. The room is sort of a paradox. In many ways it's really a dedicated room as I doubt much of the stuff I did in there would be useful for any other purposed other than an A/V room. But I strove to make sure it didn't feel like a dedicated room. I feel as though I accomplished this goal. The room doesn't stick out from the rest of the house as an odd ball room and flows well.

The Pio panel does very well in the room. I have the panel on a 5 degree tilt down which isn't too obvious in the pictures. But it's not a Kuro. If I recall correctly it's about 2 generations back. Still a nice panel although I have been tempted to buy into the current Kuros and move the Pro 1010HD up to the family room.

I couldn't tell from the pics but did your GC create any kind of sub-floor before putting down the hardwood floor? I saw some kind of mat rolled onto the floor but I wasn't sure what it was. I too want to do hardwood floor in the basement (in the non HT area) but am not sure of what kind of sub-floor to do (i.e. dri-core) or just dry-loc it.

The flooring sub didn't put down any subfloor. The matting is some sort of compressible rubber material with a foil backing. The material works pretty well as it does insulate the cold temperatures from the concrete subfloor during the winter. The other ingredient in getting hardwood down there in my basement is the selection of engineered hardwood.

Some more updates of what I've added recently:

The pic shows the addition of an acoustic panel behind the center speaker and the DirecTV HR22 HD DVR in the rack.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/front_101208.jpg

The pic shows the two acoustic panels mounted to the ceiling.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/ceiling_101208.jpg

And finally, I added another Equi=Tech balanced power transformer a 2BQ to the setup feeding the dedicated 20A circuit I have feeding the two subs.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/power1-1.jpg

Yes, looks like a killer sound system you have set up with all the acoustic paneling in place. As someone else said, you have to go big with a front projector and screen to finish that room off. It is a totally different experience than with a large plasma tv. Once you go big, you can never go back.

Yes, looks like a killer sound system you have set up with all the acoustic paneling in place. As someone else said, you have to go big with a front projector and screen to finish that room off. It is a totally different experience than with a large plasma tv. Once you go big, you can never go back.

WonHung,
Really nice of you to share this! I could not help but notice the stands for your B&W, do you like them and where did you get them? I have googled for stands but did not find what I was looking for and as you I too have the hardwood floors.:o

WonHung,
Really nice of you to share this! I could not help but notice the stands for your B&W, do you like them and where did you get them? I have googled for stands but did not find what I was looking for and as you I too have the hardwood floors.:o

Hi SnS,

Thanks for the compliments. Yes, I'm very happy with the results. Especially now that I can pretty much say....I'm done. There are some equipment odds and ends I'll be acquiring in the coming months. One of them is most likely Meridian's new HD621 HDMI box which then would require a purchase of a Blu Ray player.

Cranking the system with some of my favorite music just takes me away to another world. Some of the artists I have music for, I've seen in concert. To say I can feel I'm almost there is a big statement.

Oh and I responded to your post in the Emotiva thread about the Sound Anchor stands before I saw your post here.

Did you consider Martin-Logan Descent-i subs? We had Velodynes, and the MLs are a lot clearer.

Some minor updates to post.

Addition of a Pioneer Elite Pro 141FD 60" plasma which replaced my old Pioneer Elite Pro 1010HD 50" plasma. I also added an Oppo BDP-83 and a second Salamander Synergy media cabinet.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/P1010584.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/salamandermediarack.jpg

I'd post a pic of the Oppo in the rack but I'm waiting on a new shelf.

sk20,

I didn't know you had posted in my thread. I hadn't had the chance to listen to any of the ML offerings. My local dealer had the Velo units and I liked what I heard.

Very nice setup!! Can you tell me where you get the acoustic panels? Thanks!!

I'm interested in the wall treatments too.
Larry

Thanks guys.

The panels are Alphasorb 4'x4'x2" wrapped in Guilford fabric. The ones on the ceiling are also Alphasorb but are wrapped in a white suede fabric to blend in with the ceiling. I got the panels from Acoustical Solutions ( http://www.acousticalsolutions.com )

Thanks for the compliment. Yeah, it's the extreme makeover edition for renovations. All along, I wanted to make sure this area of the basement (for that matter any part of the basement) didn't feel like....well...a basement. I think I was pretty successful with this as during the daytime the area down there is pretty well lit with natural light.

Again, I wouldn't have been this far without hiring out the work. I know I'm missing the full satisfaction of completing this as a DIY but if I did that I would still be looking at framing and breaking ground....not much spare time. This project began about 3 years ago so you're getting the time warped version. LOL.

Hopefully, this year, I can declare everything done and be able to not think about any additional projects to do.

Kudos to you. As I looked at your pictures, that was the one, over-riding thought I had: "That doesn't look like a basement." Really, really nice job.

I think it's a combination of three or four things that does it (for me): 1) light colors (esp the floor), 2) higher than normal basement ceiling, 3) use of lighting (both natural and electrical) and 4) use of open floor plan and window'd doors.

Fabulous. Envious :) But i still think you should consider projector. This fabulous setup is screaming for a projector . My basement set up is nothing compared to this. But i have a 150" screen. I watch from 15 ft. It gives a real satisfaction when you watch movies on a projector.

Fabulous. Envious :) But i still think you should consider projector. This fabulous setup is screaming for a projector . My basement set up is nothing compared to this. But i have a 150" screen. I watch from 15 ft. It gives a real satisfaction when you watch movies on a projector.

agreed. LOVE the room and the setup, but that screen is way way way too small for that whole room you built. even though I love pio. Maybe get a Pio projector. ;)

If you aren't into the dedicated room thing, I would consider getting a bigger flat panel screen. Its fine to not want a projector, but this screen is much too small for the viewing distance. I would consider getting a DLP projection TV, which they make 73" versions of for around $2k.

http://a248.e.akamai.net/pix.crutchfield.com/products/2009/04/690/p690WD73737-f.jpeg