$12,000 dedicated HT [Text View]

jandawil

10-25-05, 03:03 PM

OK here it goes. I have decided to build a dedicated home theater out of half of my garage. The dimensions will be roughly 12' W 22' L 8.5' H. It will be 12' in the front where the screen will go and taper down to 10.5 ' in the back. One wall will angle to do this. Hopefully this will help with any standing wave issues as well as give my wife room to pull in the van without plowing into my new theater. The back 7' portion will have a lower roof to allow the garage door to open above it. It will basically be a room whithin a room with the exception of the outside wall. Noise should be OK. Neighbors are far away and we will have 2 insulated walls between theater and house. If I close the door in the the gargage and crank my existing HT setup, noise is pretty minimal. One more wall should help a great deal. Some noise may come in through ceiling, but I can afford to do anything about that.

Here is what I am thinking so far - correct me if I am on crack on any of this:

PJ - Infocus SP 7200 (refurb w/ 4 yr warranty) - $2700
Receiver - Yamaha RX-V2600 (if it doesn't suck) - $1100 ish
DVD - Yamaha DVD C950 - $350
Speakers - Axiom Audio Epic 60 with Epicenter 500 Sub (6.1 set) - $3025
HD DVR - DirecTV HDDVR - $599
Seats - ??? Nothing custom. 4 love seats lines 2 X 2 with 7" riser - ???
cables - $350
Screan - Goo - $150
Construction:
Drywall - $200
Lumber - ??
Carpet - $300 for commercial stuff. Will install myself
DIY accoustic pannels - $200
Paint - $100
Still need to account for insulation and HVAC duct work, but should be pretty minimal

All this totals around $9000 so I have room to play with for anything I have not estimated correctly.

OK - fire away....Is this feasable?? Am I missing anything?? Suggestions.

scottyb

10-25-05, 05:21 PM

Carpet---Call a commercial carpet place and you can get a remnant big enough for you room for about $80.

Seats--watch Hom furniture or a stoere like that for clearance items. I got two set's of love seats with recliners on all for $400. Leather.

Do you need a sub floor?

I did the same thing in my garage, so if you want you can give me a call, as I'm a very slow typer and I can fill you in on some of what I did. email me for phone or I'll send you mine.
scottyb@scottyb.com
Scott

dsl1

10-25-05, 05:41 PM

If I was buying a reciever I would dual amp Panasonic sa-xr55 receivers unless you need the upconversion and some of the "spiffy" features of the Yamaha. Because of the XR55's digital amplifer design it will sound better/as good as the Yamaha and when you dual amp two of them you can have double the power of the Yamaha in a much smaller enclosure that gives off much less heat. Read the stickied thread in the Receiver forum for more information. If you do this you will have an extra 600$ to play with. If you want a reciever with all the bells and whistles that might not sound quite as good as the XR55 check out the Denon line and the Harman Kardon line.

For a DVD player check out the OPPO 971H dvd player. It is a great upconverting dvd player from a great company. This can save you another 120$ and in my mind is a better dvd player.

Did you check out other projectors? If not check out the Sanyo Z4 and the Panasonic AE900.

Great choice on the speakers. However I would look into other subs from SVS and HSU. They have great subs for great prices.

Do you need any sound isolation? If so factor in the cost for green glue, insulation, and double drywall.

The goo system should provide a nice screen if done correctly. However personally I would build an acoustically transparent screen and put the speakers behind the screen. This is only if you have enough room length (22 ft is plenty) to be able to move the screen forward to place the speakers behind. This will improve the soundstage as the sound comes from where the image is and can also make your setup look cleaner.

What screen aspect ratio are you going with? 2.35:1, 16x9, or 4x3? A 2.35:1 screen in my mind provides the best viewing for 2.35:1 movies and in my case the screen will be as big as I could fit anyway for a 16x9 screen. This does mean you will need to buy an anamorphic lens however which cost between 500 and 1000$. The larger picture for 2.35:1 movies is well worth it to me. The 2.35:1 forum has all the information you need.

Seating can be expensive depending on what you get. There are many great options so look around.

Sorry for the very long response.

If you have any questions post and I will try to clarify my answers.

ckaudio

10-25-05, 06:35 PM

I would say dump the yamaha dvd player. it is really ssssslllllllooooooooowwwww. The reciever however is great.
I also did a garage theater.

http://groups.msn.com/BicyclingForumPicPost/trainingsetuppics.msnw

mine is 23.5 ' deep and 19.5 ' wide. It was a 4 car garage to start with. Now it is a 2 car garage.

jandawil

10-25-05, 06:40 PM

scottyb

10-25-05, 06:43 PM

ckaudio,

How's that masking system work? Do you have a post or description?

Scott

ckaudio

10-25-05, 07:12 PM

The masking is pretty simple. At the top of the screen, I have 2 long narrow slats of plywood covered in black velvet. The two pieces of wood are hinged together like a bi-fold door. I just drop the boards down to whichever aspect ratio I'm using.

The bottom masking is now black.....not gray and is built with a 3/8" sheet of plywood covered in black velvet. There are actually 2 sheets. One sheet is fixed to the lower half of the screen. It is a 4:3 screen originally. I use a screw drive found at home depot that is normally used with a genie garage door opener. I just made a 2" drum at the top of the screw drive and it winches up the second sheet of plywood. just turn it to whatever height you need. I tried motorizing it once but the plywood is too heavy. I may redesign the lower masking to be lighter or in my next theater I may buy that new masking system. It sounds easier.

dsl1

10-25-05, 07:51 PM

Wow...all great responces. Much Thanks. I'll try to address these.

Q. Did you check out other projectors? If not check out the Sanyo Z4 and the Panasonic AE900.

A. I have not looked at any LCD projectors. Primarily because I can't find any dealers that have the upper end HD LCD's. I know they would be a significant cost savings, but have heard rave reviews on the SP 7000. I don't have an issue with rainbows. At under $3000 it seems like a nice deal. I would still like to see an LCD though for myself. Go to any dealer and they almost insult you for asking about LCD. The black levels I have seen are pretty unimpressive, but I hear they are improving. I will definately look into other DVD options, but this one seems to be the cheapest with an HDMI out.

I will also check the forums on other receivers. I have never considered dual amp. Although the option to do so is appealing. I have just heard good things on both the Yamaha as well as Denon on Audioholics. I will read the reviews on 11/5 when they are released.

As far as sound isolation goes, I am considering a sand filled stage. Green goo sounds pretty expensive. It may be a game time decision. Once it's framed I'll do another sound check (I also play drums and these will be in the back corner of my HT. If those are quiet, my HT will be as well) If noise is still an issue, green goo and double drywall seems like the best option. I'm just hoping it wont come to that.

I'll also set the screen out 3 ' or so so I will have room to have the speakers behind some accoustically transparent walls. I don't want to see any speakers acxept maybe the surrounds. It just looks cleaner that way. Center will have to mound under screeen behind transparent cloth as well. I'll go with a 16X9 ratio for the screen. Probably 8' or 9' wide. Should still leave me room for speakers on the sides and the SW just inside and behind the front RT speaker.

scottyb - Thanks for the info on the discounts. I never like to pay full price for anything so I'll look into remnants for sure. Seating will be my biggest challenge. I want seating for 8 so I'm thinking 4 loveseats. Hopefully my HT will be wide enought to accomidate. Again, I pretty much need to get the walls up and drywalles so I can really start getting specific. The room dimensions are set in stone for the most part so I'll have to be flexible with everything else.'

I would check out the LCD projectors and the other DLP's in your price range.

The OPPO dvd player does have DVI out and you can use it with HDMI using a cheap adapter.

If you are planning on putting your speakers behind your screen area most definitely go for a sound transparent screen. The dazian coated celtic cloth is cheap, looks good, and is sound transparent. Then just mount your speakers behind the screen and put the tweeters at ear level.

Remember equipment is easy to upgrade. Changing a room once you have finished it is not. A great room can make decent quality equipment sound and look great but a bad room can make the best of equipment sound and look bad.

Dual amping is something that if i had the money currently I would be doing. 200WPC that sounds amazing for 500$ is unbeatable. Sure you don't get upconverting and some other features but it sounds great.

Yamaha and Denon are good amps I agree however I believe I can do better with dual digital amps. I like the sound of one Panasonic 55 more then the Denon 2806 and receivers I tried.

Cheers

jandawil

10-25-05, 08:42 PM

dsl1

10-25-05, 09:48 PM

The speakers will be behind the screen as far as depth goes, but they will be on either side of the screen for maximum separation behind sound transparent cloth so I'm not sure the screen will be to be sound transparent as well. Can't see spending any more $$$ than I need to. I want to make it all look built in. Who knows though...if I can save money on some of the other items (like LCD vs. DLP) I may be able to invest in a screen. I just need to find a way to demo one or see one set up. Again, all the HT experts swear against them (probably becaus they sell the more expensive DLP's like Runco and Vidikron, both of which are awesome, but well out of my budget) I'll hit the receiver forums to look into dual amping. I don't absolutely NEED the upconversion features since all my material will be HDMI already.

ckaudio - Sweet theater BTW!!!! It would be nice to have that width to play with. What equipment are you running??

You actually don't want maximum seperation. To the best of my knowledge the best place for L/R speakers is 1/3 of the way in from the left/right walls with the tweeters at ear level. Center is in the center of the screen with the tweeter at ear level.

The dazian coated celtic cloth is actually quite cheap. $40 shipped I believe for a 6ft x 10ft piece. This is plenty to build a 16x9 screen that will fit in your room. The frame cost really depends on what you build it out of but it shouldn't be more then $50.

Do a search for the Dazian Coated Celtic cloth in the screen forum for other peoples recommendation. This is the best way to keep speakers hidden and it also has sound benifits.

Digital amplifiers provide the most pure sound of amplifiers. To some it may not sound as good but it is true to the source. Other amplifiers may make the sound warmer or change the tone. While this may be pleasing it infact not correct. In the reciever forum some users have ditched their high end gear for this 250$ Panasonic receiver. For $250 it is worth just buying and returing if you are not satisfied.

The OPPO dvd player will look great upconverting to 1080i over HDMI straight to your projector.

Feel free to post any more questions/comments and I will do my best to be helpful.

jandawil

10-26-05, 12:56 AM

dsl1

10-26-05, 08:21 AM

I will look into the dazian cloth for sure. Same with the Panny receiver. I can't imagine it being any good for only $250, but you never know. I do like the ability to run all my video through the receiver but not at a cost of A/V quality. The other bells and whistles don't mean much to me. All the DSP stuff usually sound like crap anyhow. Will also look into dual amps. I have no idea how that works, but we are getting into other forums here so I'll stay on topic. Should the one wall being at a slight angle help with standing wave issues??

Ya read the threads in the Amps/Receiver forum. Because it is all digital it doesn't need any expensive, heavy, and heat generating analog parts. Another benefit of digital amps is that they lose much less power to heat which means the power supply can be smaller so it has a smaller and cheaper case. In the next several years I believe most amps will be digital. It just makes sense.

I do not know a lot about acoustical treatments as I haven't started doing anything to my room yet. I moved a new house about a month ago and other things have been taking my time.

I do know you want to front wall to be dead to not let any sound bounce off it. You will want absorbtion where the first waves of the speakers hit the wall and you will want some bass traps. Bass traps prevent the bass from sounding too boomy. Many people put treatments all the way around the room below ear level also. A home theater room should be pretty dead (not many reflections). Many acoustical gods patrol this forum you can get amazing help in this area from them.

jandawil

10-26-05, 01:06 PM

dsl1

10-26-05, 03:07 PM

Yeah..I've seen a lot of acoustical advice and plan on implementing much of it. Especially the home made acoustical treatments for my walls. I'm hoping that the one wall being at an angle will help with standing waves. Otherwise I'll need to look into bass traps which can get expensive. With only about 2000 cu. ft. in my HT I'm not sure I'll need to run 2 amps, but I know either the Yamaha or Denon AV receivers will passive outs for running an amp if I choose to run a separate amp for my fronts and use the receiver for surround. The SW will have its own amp of course. Lots to consider.....

For some reason I was thinking the Yamaha amp was 150wpc. It see it is now only 110 and depending how accurate/not Yamaha is the Panasonic should be able to do close to if not the same WPC and loudness. Dual amping also has some disadvantages so you might as well just use one and save 250$. The Axiom speakers are fairly efficient and don't need a ton of power to drive them. Are you set on a 6.1 set of speakers? If you go with 5.1 you could biamp (not to be confused with dual amping) the L and R's using the extra surround channels. This will give you 200wpc (- whatever is lost) to the front. I don't think you will need to worry about power with 100wpc, the axioms, and a fairly small room.

Keep considering this is a big purchase and you want to be very happy with it!

jandawil

10-26-05, 06:19 PM

How would you bi-amp????

jandawil

12-10-05, 07:57 PM

Well...it's been about 45 days since I started this thread and my funds are here and I started construction today. Fortunately my father in law knows pretty much everything there is to know about construction and electrical so I'm in good hands. Went to Lowes and bought all the lumber necessary to frame the two walls. One is 1 1/2" from the main wall in my garage separating it from the home. I wanted to go with the room whithin a room thing here. Should isolate the sound pretty good. The other walls are just external. I'll do GG with double DW on those and possibly do GG on ceiling with DW. The other wall will go out 16' so my HT will be 22'x16'. Day one I only spent $200 at Lowes. I'm sure I'll have to back for a couple of things, but so far so good. Need to stay in the $12,000 budget including my gear. I had a water heater to deal with so we framed around it and will put in a door. Her are some pick of one days work.

Pringals

12-10-05, 08:25 PM

It's hard to tell by the photos, but I can see how it can be easily over looked. So this may be a "duh" dumb question ... but did you make sure to leave enough room and a way to access your Hot water heater should it fail and need repairs and/or replacement? Your second photo makes it look like a very tight squeeze should you need to pull that baby out. Plus keep in mind door trim and frame material. Also, be aware that if it is a gas Hot Water heater, it requires a certain amount of air exchange per square foot, so you will need to have an air opening like louvered doors or something.

jandawil

12-10-05, 10:15 PM

Yeah...it does look tight, but if you are standing in front of it and look in there is a lot of room. I'm not so much going to hang a regular door but a panel consisting of dual layer plywood with GG in between. Maybe even some sort of enforced double drywall panel that would be held on with some screws. I'll only need to open it every 10 years or so. My father in law has changed quite a few and he doesn't see any issues with it so I trust him. Good catch though thanks.... That wall that comes out and around the water tank will also be where my screen wall starts so the water heater enclosure will not be visible so it doesn't need to look all that great.

Marc Ye

12-10-05, 10:59 PM

Have you thought about budgeting anything for HVAC? It will get quite stuffy and hot if you plan on building a room within a room very quickly!

jandawil

12-10-05, 11:26 PM

Have you thought about budgeting anything for HVAC? It will get quite stuffy and hot if you plan on building a room within a room very quickly!

I live in the desert so it gets hot in any of my rooms very quickly. We have central swamp cooling as well as standard HVAC. I will have someone run some duct for our swamp cooler as well as HVAC. It also gets freezing cold in the winter so we'll need to keep it warm in there as well. I'll have to pay someone to do that, but I know some people in the business so I think it shouldn't cost too much. Does anyone know what type of ducting is best as far as sound goes??

garykagan

12-10-05, 11:52 PM

Just a thought - shouldn't you be using presurized wood for the floor wood in contact with the cement of the garage? From the picture, it looks like regular lumber on the floor plate. Not sure what the code is where you are, that's just one requirement where I'm at.

Good luck with the project and I hope it goes smooth.

I'm also going for the Yamaha 2600 and Axiom speakers, my theater should be done in 4 months...

Gary

JET99

12-11-05, 12:34 AM

"A. I have not looked at any LCD projectors. Primarily because I can't find any dealers that have the upper end HD LCD's. I know they would be a significant cost savings, but have heard rave reviews on the SP 7000. I don't have an issue with rainbows. At under $3000 it seems like a nice deal. I would still like to see an LCD though for myself. Go to any dealer and they almost insult you for asking about LCD. The black levels I have seen are pretty unimpressive, but I hear they are improving. I will definately look into other DVD options, but this one seems to be the cheapest with an HDMI out. "

The issue with DLPs goes beyond rainbows, one has to consider whether in a moderate high time situation, e.g a 3 hour football game, one has issues of headaches, dizziness and eyestrain. Also other audience members sometimes end up having these issues, even though the owner may not.

One needs to ask themselves why do stores that proclaim themselves as having the latest cutting edge audio/video products like Circuit City, Best Buy, or more specialized and more higher end regional stores like TWEETER Electronics tend to 1. often not have front projectors 2. if they do, its usually ultra-high end seemingly designed to convince someone 10 to 20k is normal pricing and therefore for example a plasma really is cheap 3. seem to always avoid the top selling new generation projectors, that independent reviewers seem to mention the most

Tweeter for example is a longtime dealer in Panasonic, and over the years I've bought specialized equipment there, yet when I visit anyone of 4 to 5 stores in my general area, I've only seen some 20k Sony's or a few yrs back boat sized CRTs. Very oddly they never carried the Panasonic AE700u, even though it ended up the best selling Hd projector in the world last year. I am absolutely certain that they fear (for understandable reasons) that an high peformance LCD projector that can produce a picture 3 times the size of the HD plasma in the front of the store, look equally as good and cost 30 to 50% less - could undercut their main business of selling plasmas, rear projectors, and direct view LCD and CRTs

While its good for business, its unfortunately steering consumers into questionable decisions on HD products today

The point is: today few in-person dealers have any credibilty or objectivity when it comes to newer generation front projectors, which typically weigh 8 lbs and are near ideal for low margin/high volume internet-based vendors

This isn't really about saving a few thousand for some of us, these high performance/inexpensive LCDs actually can be substantively better display units than DLPs, have more options on setups with more advanced lens, and optical lens shift capabilities allowing viable shelf mounting options, and avoid the serious issues that only 10 to 20k 3 chip DLP projectors can ultimately resolve - by bypasssing entirely the spinning color wheel issue

jandawil

12-11-05, 01:20 AM

Hey Jet99,

I hear what you are saying. Since I posted earlier in this thread, I actually have had the opportunity to see an LCD projector. It was at Tweeter actually. It was a Yamaha 510 (I think). Anyhow I researched it and it's pretty much one of the top of the line LCD and its' sold exclusively through dealers so there really is no bargain hunting on this one. That being said, I thought the picture was great, but I still saw SDE on it. It was very minor, but I did see it from where I would choose to sit. It was a $4000 projector. To me it also did not come close to the clarity of the InFocus SP7205 (DLP). The PJ I am looking to get is the SP7000 and is half the cost of the LCD I mentioned. I have watched DLP for many hours and never had any negative symptoms. My friend has a 63" DLP and does see rainbows, but to him it's a very minor issue for the picture quality. I have known a ton of people who have DLP and they love them. Not one has complained about it. I'm pretty sold on my choice considering it's my first PJ.

I hope to keep the direction of this thread focused on construction (with an occasional side bar on cool discussions like this of course). My goal is to do a very quality HT for a realistic budget and hopefully that may encourage others when they hear it will cost them $50,000 or more like it did me for several years. I make pretty good money, but not enough to compete with some of the HT's we see on these forums. I use those for inspiration and take ideas from them and than try to figure out how to emulate on my budget. Will I have to cut corners??Of course. Will I get the equipment of my dreams?? Most definitely not, but I am confident I will have a HT to be proud of and enjoy for a long time. Would it ever pass permits?? We'll never know. I plan on using this for a long time, maybe forever, but I can go back to a fully functional garage by taking down one wall if I ever sell the home or decide to add on to the house and include a fancier HT and than get my garage back.

ckaudio

12-11-05, 10:12 PM

That water heater will need some make up air. Either outside air or a grill so that it has some combustion air.

ckaudio

12-11-05, 10:33 PM

ckaudio - Sweet theater BTW!!!! It would be nice to have that width to play with. What equipment are you running??

for equipment, this is my current list.

reciever- yamaha rxv 1000
main left and right channel amp- adcom gfa 5400
surround and center channel amp- adcom gfa 7000

subwoofer amp is a pro sound yamaha rated at 750 watts per channel in stereo mode into 4 ohm - yamaha p5000s
bass shaker amp- pioneer elite 100watt/channel
concert sound enhancement amp- yamaha rxv-990
rear center channel amp - yamaha 150/channel..........can't remember model number

processors........

audio control phase coupled activator for main subs

audio control bijou constant q theater equalizer

audio control balanced line driver and reciever

video processor..........

ROCK PRO scaler from TAW

projector is TAW STEALTH 720p

marantz laser disc player
sony dvp-s7700 and dvp-s7000 dvd players

panasonic karoke player

tributaries s-video engine.

alpine electronic crossover with phase control for bass shakers.

all speaker wire is analysis plus oval 11

rgb+hv cables to projector are tributaries silver

interconnect cables by

transparent audio
transparent video
cardas
synergystic
analysis plus
audioquest
tributaries

main speakers plus main surround speakers are Apogee Auriga's

subs are (2) focal 12v726 drivers plus (2) TC SOUNDS TC2+ 15" subs in 4 cubic foot concrete lined sealed enclosures.

center channel is carver platinum ribbon laid horizontal plus 1 pair of speakercraft at8500 inwalls.

extra ambiance speakers are speakercraft 8.5mit's 2 pair plus one pair of B&W 6.5" in-ceilings.

concert speakers are some older bic venturi formula 6 speakers with some heavy mods to them by dynaudio, lpg, focal, and mods to the crossover with solen and mit musicaps with silver foil inductors.

The apogee auriga ribbon speakers in front and rear have also been modified with dynaudio 17w75xl midbass drivers.

all this and guess what........................ I have to do it all frickin over again because we plan on moving to a larger house.

sethwas

12-11-05, 11:17 PM

Uh...where are you putting your car?

Seth

jandawil

12-11-05, 11:38 PM

Uh...where are you putting your car?

Seth

Another good question. I love AVSers..they don't miss anything. The cars will have to pay the ultimate sacrifice and live in the driveway. Actually we are going to take our leftover roofing tile and make a car port extending off the garage roofline, but that will be phase 2 maybe sometime later next year We actually have not parked our cars in there for over a year since my drum set has been in there and some other storage stuff. Those photos look clean, but you should have seen it 2 weeks ago. I would rather have the HT. My original plan was to take up half the garage and divide it down the middle lengthwise, but long term I would have been unhappy with a very tiny garage with very little room to open doors, and a theater that was also too small. I will also use it for my drums to reside and there just wasn't enough room for everything.

Hey ck..I'll tell my father in law what you mentioned about the water heater. I'm sure we can fashion a vent somehow. Thanks for the heads up. I'm sure this forum will save me a lot of time and $$$ by eliminating costly mistakes.

ckaudio

12-12-05, 02:32 PM

jandawil

12-12-05, 03:31 PM

I built a 24 foot by 30 foot garage in back of the house. You could fit 4 cars in there if you wanted to. Our cars generally live in the driveway most of the time anyhow. The saturn is a lease anyhow so who cares. lease a vehicle and dont' worry about a garage to park in.

I was thinking about an external garage someday. We have a 1/2 acre lot so there is plenty of room. The only thing I want a car port for is to keep the windows from icing up in the winter. It gets really cold at night. All that being said, running the defrost for 5 minutes in the AM is a small price to pay for a HT IMHO. It will be nice to watch a movie after the kids are in bed and be able to turn it up. I can't freaking wait!!

8car

12-14-05, 08:33 AM

When I started my HT room I expected to spend $3K. Well $10K later I'm still going. There are just some things that you can't cut corners on.

jandawil

12-14-05, 01:07 PM

When I started my HT room I expected to spend $3K. Well $10K later I'm still going. There are just some things that you can't cut corners on.

I agree with that to some extent, but it's going to vary depending on each situation. I am doing all the work myself with the exception of HVAC. So that will save me huge money on labor. I am also starting out with basically a finished room in my garage that I am just taking a portion of for my HT. I know there will be some things that I did not count on that I will have to spend money on, but I have budgeted for that some. For example....I THOUGH my garage was insulated. I thought wrong. So....I get to to tear out all the DW and insulate then hang new DW. Those things will happen, but this only affects my budget by a two or three hundred bucks and some elbow grease. Now had I realized this after I did the GG and additional layer of DW..than I would have been F-ed. Hey 8car, can you tell me what you had to spend on that you didn't originally count on? Maybe it will give some additional heads up.

Thanks,

ckaudio

12-14-05, 07:37 PM

http://www.visualtour.com/applets/vt_viewer/skin_13/vt4_ie_l.asp?t=435269&dm=americanassociates.com&ismac=False

On the virtual tour here, hit "next" three times. This will show the indoor pool area. This is in a house for sale that we were kinda concidering. Unfortunately the house really needs a lot of updating. As far as layout is concerened the home is awesome with over 2700 sq feet and that doesn't even count the indoor pool area with built in hot tub. The pool is also in rough shape. I would love to have kept the pool if we were to buy the house, but it would also be an awesome room to build the new theater in. I was thinking of building a room within a room. The theater at the screen end could have 20 foot ceiling. The pool area is about 60 foot long. I figured, empty the pool and do some framing around the pool and partially into the pool to gain extra ceiling height when doing the risers. Instead of having to build up.............. build down! I keep thinking what an awesome huge theater could be built.

We were actually really starting to concider this house, but in our last house showing we found another real good possiblitly and the house is pretty darn awesome and doesn't need much work.

I'll post pictures of the house we will more than likely be buying and post pictures of my ideas for where the new theater will be.

The house we are looking at is a custom build contempory design from 1955. very eclectic and interesting construction. I'll be taking pics of it saturday.

jandawil

12-14-05, 09:08 PM

http://www.visualtour.com/applets/vt_viewer/skin_13/vt4_ie_l.asp?t=435269&dm=americanassociates.com&ismac=False

I would love to have kept the pool if we were to buy the house, but it would also be an awesome room to build the new theater in. I was thinking of building a room within a room. The theater at the screen end could have 20 foot ceiling. The pool area is about 60 foot long. I figured, empty the pool and do some framing around the pool and partially into the pool to gain extra ceiling height when doing the risers. Instead of having to build up.............. build down! I keep thinking what an awesome huge theater could be built. .

Isn't it scarry that our main thoughts when house hunting is "where can I put my theater?" I wish I had thought it through more when I built my house, but every penny counted at the time.

Pringals

12-14-05, 09:20 PM

jandawil

12-14-05, 09:28 PM

so true.. I'm closing on my 1st home on the 21st. My realtor was showing me around, trying to emphasize the "updated cabinets in the kitchen" and other "important" points to the homes, when all i wanted to see was how can i finish the basement and add a theater room. lol... What's up with guys and our "dungeons"?

I SO wish we had basements around here in So Cal...... They just beg to have a theater put in them.

johnnykretentiv

12-14-05, 10:16 PM

so true.. I'm closing on my 1st home on the 21st. My realtor was showing me around, trying to emphasize the "updated cabinets in the kitchen" and other "important" points to the homes, when all i wanted to see was how can i finish the basement and add a theater room. lol... What's up with guys and our "dungeons"?

We were looking to build recently and I shot down at least 200 plans based on the layout in the basement. One really good option is to use the bonus space above the garage. I would have no problems doing that.

jandawil

12-14-05, 11:15 PM

Hey Johnny,

Nice theater. I see we share the same affinity for Klipsch speakers. I too have the R5 reference towers with RC35 center and KSW12 sub. These will be staying in my living room for music and I will be auditioning speakers for my HT. Currently I am planning on auditioning the Axioms against my Klipsch's when the room is finished. How do you like your Z3?? Back when I was teetering on LCD's that was the one I was considering. Now of course the Z4 is out. How far back do you sit before you see the SDE??

johnnykretentiv

12-15-05, 08:48 AM

Thanks - I have been a Klipsch guy for a long time. I just added a SVS PB12-ISD/V to the arsenal. Man that sub really rocks.

Z3?- I would buy another one in a heartbeat. I have had no problems with it and it throws a great pic. I really like the lens shift too. IT's a lifesaver considering that i am really bad at measuring. :)

Axioms are really nice. I was thinking about going that route recently but I just can't justify the cost since my Klipsches are working great right now. But if I were to build another room... now that's a different story.

Good luck with you HT. Have fun too

tony123

12-15-05, 02:55 PM

johnnykretentiv

12-15-05, 03:10 PM

Were the two pjs in the same room under the same conditions? I saw a Runco this spring that looked like absolute horses**t. It almost scared me away from front projection all together. Then I saw one setup properly. Much better.

jandawil

12-15-05, 07:59 PM

sorry....I know you want to stay focused on the construction, but had to throw this in about your projector experience.

I auditioned that very Yamaha LCD you mentioned at a local Tweeter. I was disappointed. That being said, I purchased the Panasonic AE900. The results defy logic. The Panasonic is significantly better for less than half the cost. Go figure. Specifically, Screen door does not exist on the Panasonic.

I'm not trying to sell you on the Panny. Just wanted to point out that you cannot always dismiss other products based on cost or experience with similar units.

I will be looking forward to updated photos! :)

I would LOVE to see the Panny AE900 in person and than choose between it and the SP7200. As of now I am still set on the 7200, but it sucks not to be able to compare the 2. I don't know of any retailer who has them.

This weekend I will be putting up the other wall which should help the theater start to take shape. I'll hopefully have time to rip out the DW in the two 16' walls since there is no insulation. After that comes the electrical and and A/V wiring. I'll definitely post pictures of this weekends progress.

Thanks for all your input everyone. Keep it coming.

BTW...my wife has now requested to be in on the color layout and decor of the HT. This is a GOOD thing. She has great taste and that means she is getting used to my madness and maybe even looking forward to this theater being done...Stranger things have happened.

tony123

12-16-05, 09:20 AM

You got it made now that the wife is in on it! :)

johnnykretentiv

12-16-05, 09:50 AM

jandawil

12-16-05, 10:28 AM

I thought it was supposed to have some sort of budget? My wife could and would spend 12Gs just on decorating if we had the means.

But yes now you do have it made. Ask her to go to the store and pick out swatches and flooring samples. That will complete her journey to the dark side. :) :)

That's exactly what she will be picking out (with my final approval of course). The decorating will be minimal, but still.... sconces, carpet, wall coloring, fabrics for sound paneling. Should be enough to keep her busy.

Question for anyone out there....Where did you order your speaker grill cloth?? I pretty much need to do the majority of my front screen wall (16' X 8') in black cloth. Looking for good pricing.

Thanks,

johnnykretentiv

12-16-05, 10:51 AM

Parts express has some.

tony123

12-17-05, 08:53 AM

johnnykretentiv

12-17-05, 09:48 AM

I agree with Tony. Go to Target and get some curtains or make your own with fabric from walmart.

Checkout my site for an example of the target curtains. That's what I did.

jandawil

12-18-05, 08:16 PM

I found a very thin black cloth at Walmart. It was $1 per yard!!! For a total of $12, I hung them as curtains on my front wall, in front of my speakers. I couldn't tell a difference in sound quality. I imagine genuine speaker grill cloth would run much more. This may be a way to save a few hundred bucks.

Will do for sure...... Maybe I use the cheap stuff for most of the wall and than get the speaker grill material for in front of the speakers only. That way I only need to get a few yards of that I think it's only $5.99 a linear yard for it which isn't too bad. Thanks for the heads up.....

BTW... Framing is almost done now...I'll post pics of this weekends work tomorrow. Pretty happy with the progress so far.

mderka

12-19-05, 02:42 PM

I'm kind of at the same stage as you (finishing framing), and I just ordered drywall for the room (12.5x22.5x7.5) and the cost of double drywall was like $900. I bought 78 sheets (at $11/sheet delivered) of 4'x8' 5/8". I saw you budgeted 200 for drywall and was wondering where you were going to get it.

johnnykretentiv

12-19-05, 02:55 PM

mderka

12-19-05, 04:04 PM

I just checked home depot; 5/8" 4'x8' "firecode" drywall is $11.18/sheet. Ouch.

jandawil

12-19-05, 04:31 PM

I just checked home depot; 5/8" 4'x8' "firecode" drywall is $11.18/sheet. Ouch.

I was just at HD and I could have swore it was < $10.00 for two sheets. My math stated I need about 32 sheets, but it is a little bigger now. I'm doing 1/2" not 5/8". I'll double check. Even at $9.00 ea it would still be <$500 for what I am doing. I'll need to re-check the price. A little ouch...but definitely not a deal killer.

Update...after making a visit to my friendly neighborhood HD, DW is $8.19 each for 1/2" 8'X4'. After recalculating what I will need based on the new larger size of my HT, I will need 51 sheets so the total cost is $418 plus tax. The fact that they are packaged two sheets at a time threw me off.

tony123

12-20-05, 08:36 AM

so....a little over twice your budget. that should be about right for the rest of the project. :) Just ribbing you.

jandawil

12-20-05, 10:33 AM

so....a little over twice your budget. that should be about right for the rest of the project. :) Just ribbing you.

That's not too far from the truth :) . At least I had a pad big enough to absorb the cost. The lumber for the framing actually came in only about $40 over what I budgeted though. The insulation will cost more since those two walls are not insulated. I'm going to have someone blow it in and while they are at it blow the attic space as well. Don't really feel like messing with bats. That should pretty much double my insulation estimate as well. Woohoo!!!! At least my HT equipment prices won't surprise me. I actually know what I am doing when it comes to that. Should still come is around budget. If I have to make sacrifices it will be with equipment or seating. I can always upgrade those later whereas it will be harder to upgrade my room.

jandawil

12-21-05, 02:03 PM

sorry....I know you want to stay focused on the construction, but had to throw this in about your projector experience.

I auditioned that very Yamaha LCD you mentioned at a local Tweeter. I was disappointed. That being said, I purchased the Panasonic AE900. The results defy logic. The Panasonic is significantly better for less than half the cost. Go figure. Specifically, Screen door does not exist on the Panasonic.

I'm not trying to sell you on the Panny. Just wanted to point out that you cannot always dismiss other products based on cost or experience with similar units.

I will be looking forward to updated photos! :)

Hey Tony,

I've done a lot of research and based on numerous reviews and posts in the Panny 900u thread(including yours), I have decided to go with the Panny. The price is great and I like the idea of getting a NEW PJ with a 2 year warranty. RBE does not bother me, but I would HATE to spend all this time and $$$ on this HT and have friends (or my wife) be bothered by it. I plan on doing a lot of entertaining and movie parties and this has been a concern since the beginning. Well it's no longer a concern. I'll have new construction PICS up tonight. Finally found my misplaced digital camera...

chinadog

12-21-05, 04:39 PM

Not sure if it was mentioned, but take a look at www.monoprice.com and pccables.com for cables.

Bud

chinadog

12-21-05, 04:48 PM

Jon,

I took a quick look at the Ascend site (http://www.ascendacoustics.com) , if you were to go that route and went CMT 340s across the front (LCR) and CBM170s for sides and surrounds, plus a Hsu VTF-2 MK2 sub, you're looking at about 1900.00 inlcuding shipping. Now, the SEs are coming out in January and if you waited until then, you'd be right at 2000. That's 1K to cover your construction costs!

Also, Audioholics just review the Panasonic DVD-S97 (check the front page of AVS) and its a steal for about 275. I just ordered one myself. It'll go nice with your AE900.

Bud

jandawil

12-21-05, 09:16 PM

ricwilli

12-22-05, 11:33 AM

OK...I have pictures of this last weekends framing progress. It's about 95% done. Chinadog...thanks for all the advise on some cost savings. So far it's looking pretty optimistic. I'll check out those cable sites for sure. As of now I have them priced from Impact Accoustics. They have a 25% discount through 12/31. I was planning on using their top of the line SonicWave cables. I think the total cost for cabling was around $400 without the discount. The pictures below are of the second wall of my HT. I had to lower the ceiling about 17" the last 3 feet so the garage door can open. All in all I am very happy with how it turned out.

Jon

jandawil, your making good progress. I have to build a laundry and a play room in my garage since I took the extra room for my HT and I have to build an exact wall as your doing so that my garage door can open. Did you put pressured treated wood on the bottom of that wall or did you put regular 2x4? Also, are you putting carpet on the cement floor or are you making a floating floor?

jandawil

12-22-05, 12:59 PM

jandawil, your making good progress. I have to build a laundry and a play room in my garage since I took the extra room for my HT and I have to build an exact wall as your doing so that my garage door can open. Did you put pressured treated wood on the bottom of that wall or did you put regular 2x4? Also, are you putting carpet on the cement floor or are you making a floating floor?

I used regular 2X4. If I had to do it over again I probably would have used pressure treated lumber for the bottom plate. I will put the carpet on the concrete. I don't see a need for the floating floor. I will be building a stage filled with sand for the screen wall and front speakers and SW however. I you have any specific questions on the wall construction feel free to PM me. There were some little tricks we needed to do to get that wall secured to the truss above and still have the garage door hardware mounted to the same truss. I worked out really well IMO. Good luck with your project. Cool theater room BTW...

jandawil

12-28-05, 10:37 AM

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas....

I was able to get pretty much all of my rough electrical done this weekend so that didn't suck. I am now ready to insulate. I didn't post pictures because, lets face it, pictures of Romex and electrical boxes are boring. I will if anyone wants them though. I was able to run a dedicated 20 amp circuit for my audio gear as well as another one for my lighting and PJ. I am going to Smarthome today to get my lighting solution. So far I am sold on the Insteon solution http://www.smarthome.com/2493.html A friend of mine has it and likes it. I'll also run my speaker wire tonight as well.

Cool story.....This weekend I was talking with my cousin who works for Disney producing shows at their parks and he said "did you know you can get a screen that you can just paint on??" Apparently he's not an AVS forum visiter... I said yeah Screen Goo. Anyhow he said they did a demo for them and he said it was great. They are using it for a 50 foot screen for a show in Florida. He said it blew the cheaper and mid price screens away for the most part. They were going to go with Stewart (which is better), but it would have cost them tens of thousands of dollars for a screen that size. It made me feel pretty good about my choice... A little validation.

swithey

01-03-06, 05:55 PM

JOn,

Stumbled on your HT Construction thread today. Progress is good. Keep up the great work :)

jandawil

01-03-06, 10:48 PM

JOn,

Stumbled on your HT Construction thread today. Progress is good. Keep up the great work :)

Thanks!! I checked yours out as well. Very impressive!! We have similar taste in colors. My house is very similar. Not sure which colors I will use in my theater though. My wife is thinking something along the lines of black and a dark burnt orange. She has good taste so I'm sure it will be nice.

I've made good progress these last few days, just nothing that looks good as far as pictures go. Finished wiring my surround speakers and had DW delivered today. This weekend I'll head to Lowes and get an insulation blower and batts for the walls that are not yet dry walled. I also decided on seating. I found these (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?dest=9999999997&product_id=1977990&sourceid=1500000000000002028830) for the back seats (2 of them) and a really nice row of three black leather HT seats on eeeebay for about $900 delivered. So I will have nice seating for 7. My wife insisted on love seats for part of it for the "cuddle factor". Can't argue with that. My budget is getting bigger every day after deciding to splurge a little on seating (don't they always) but should still finish very close to my original goal.

My lighting plans are 4 sconces as well as a row of track lighting over the seating and will all be on Insteon dimmers. Will this be enough lighting for a 16' X 21' room??

swithey

01-03-06, 11:36 PM

Jon,

Thanks for the compliment on my HT. Burnt orange -- hmmm, your wife a Texas Longhorn fan :p :D

As far as lighting .. my HT is slightly smaller than yours (14.5 x 17.5). I am doing 6 cans on the ceiling with Insteon: 2 over the front area, 2 over 1st row and 2 over the rear bar stools (each "row" on a seperate dimmer).

I think you might want to add a second track to give you more felxibilty on lighting with your Insteon (and add more light to your room when it is needed -- i.e. for cleaning) As far as the sconces.. seems when people have them, they are always dimmed at a very low level for more accent lighting than for true lighting. I'm putting small 25watt "accent" lights in the top of my columns for effect (total of 8).

jandawil

01-04-06, 01:25 AM

Jon,

Thanks for the compliment on my HT. Burnt orange -- hmmm, your wife a Texas Longhorn fan :p :D

Too funny. Tomorrow I will be a huge Longhorn fan though. I'm a Bruins fan so nothing would make me happier than to see the University of Spoiled Children go down in flames. Heres hoping.

I think you're on to something with that second track light..... It would be easy to wire in and run off the same dimmer as the other one. I may see how the one does and make my decision after that. It would be easy to install any time since I have easy access to my attic above.

swithey

01-07-06, 10:46 AM

Too funny. Tomorrow I will be a huge Longhorn fan though. I'm a Bruins fan so nothing would make me happier than to see the University of Spoiled Children go down in flames. Heres hoping.
Great game!! One for the record books :)

I think you're on to something with that second track light..... It would be easy to wire in and run off the same dimmer as the other one. I may see how the one does and make my decision after that. It would be easy to install any time since I have easy access to my attic above.
One thing you might consider is putting each set of track lighting on a difference zone (assuming they are parallel with the seating). That way you could turn one on for your rear seating and off for the front seating. Since I have a bar table in the back (with bar chairs), I figured people might be eating in the back while the front people were "just watching" and would not need any light.

Just my .02.

jandawil

01-08-06, 12:13 AM

Great game!! One for the record books :)

I LOVED it!! My brother is still crying. My friend at work is a HUGE USC fan. I changed his PC wallpaper to a close up of Vince Young and made his Windows start up song the UT fight song. It's good to be in IT.

One thing you might consider is putting each set of track lighting on a difference zone (assuming they are parallel with the seating). That way you could turn one on for your rear seating and off for the front seating. Since I have a bar table in the back (with bar chairs), I figured people might be eating in the back while the front people were "just watching" and would not need any light.

I would like to do that. I still have one Insteon dimmer left, but the electrical may be tougher now that the insulation has been blown. It's way thick. It has an R value of 40. The track that is there now should do a good job on both rows since the lights as pretty aimable. We are thinking of some nice tall floor lamps perhaps if we can find a nice style. I like the decorative sense they add. I can easily put those on some dimmer outlets if we go that route.

jandawil

01-08-06, 12:36 AM

Lots of progress this week. Had all my DW delivered and stacked in my garage. Also went to Lowes and got everything I needed to insulate my two walls which are already drywalled and my attic space above. It's a great deal. You buy a minimum of 20 bags of the compressed insulation ($10 a bag) and they let you use the blower for FREE ($250 deposit). It was quite a bit more than I needed. I have at least R19 in the walls and by the graph on the packaging I have an R value of 40 in the attic space so I am very pleased with that. It was pretty simple to do. Just drilled out 2 1/2" holes with a hole cutter blade and put the blower hose (pretty much looks like dryer vent) flush and let her rip. Total cost was $219 after all was said and done. I need to get batts for the two remaining walls not yet drywalled, but that will only run about $120. Total = $340. I budgeted $650 so that will help a lot. I just need to plug the holes back up with what was cut out. It will look ugly, but another layer of DW will be up so who cares. Here are some pics.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/insulate3.jpg

Here is one of the walls after we drilled and filled with insulation.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/insulate1.jpg

jandawil

01-11-06, 12:16 PM

I am going to be buying the material for my stage and was wondering if there is any big advantage of going wit a 2X6" construction vs. a 2X4" frame? I figure with 2X4 and than 2 layers of 1/2 plywood that would get it to 4 1/2 " high. I do plan on filling to outside section with sand and the middle with insulation. Just trying to cut down the cost of lumber and sand. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

barhoram

01-11-06, 10:38 PM

For a stage, I think you may want it a little higher than 4 inches. I posted a thread earlier, and it seemed like a good height was 8 inches. I think that's about the standart height for a step as well. I'm going to go with 2X8's and 2 layers of 1/2 inch plywood to get to about 8.5inches for the stage.

chinadog

01-11-06, 10:58 PM

jandawil

01-12-06, 12:33 AM

Jon,

I used 2x8s for the base (main portion) and 2x4s for the height of curved portion to make a small step. I concur with barhoram, 2x4s just don't cut it. The difference in price of 2x4s versus 2x8s is really not significant. Maybe 2.00 per board. If your stage is less than 48 inches wide, you get double the bang for the buck (two boards for the price of one, assuming max length is 8 feet, then again, you can also get 10 and 12 footers). Why not do the whole thing in sand? If you compare the difference in cost of insulation versus sand, its not too much either. My 2 cents.

BTW, whats the height of your riser? Or did I miss it?

Bud

OK you talked me into it... I will at least do 2X6 and maybe 2X8. I am not going to do the curved section like most do. I think they look awesome, but my screen will not be exactly centered on stage due to ceiling restrictions so I don't think the symmetry will look right. So without that the 2X6 may look better since there will be no lower step. Also will do the whole thing in sand. I didn't realize the cost was similar. It will be 48" wide and a smidge over 16' long so 2X6X8' should do. I like your detailed plans and pictures so I'm pretty much going to steal them :)

On riser height....I am not sure yet. Once the drywall is up this weekend the room should take shape and I can better plan my screen wall and placement (the old blue tape screen). I think my early preliminary measurements I made with the screen height calculator put it at about 10". It could change because much has since than.

BTW..great progress on your HT!! It is really starting to come together and you can start looking forward to the fun stuff.

jandawil

01-16-06, 10:28 PM

Well I had another pretty productive weekend. I thought I was going to get to hang a lot of drywall this weekend, but the insulation batts took some time and we had to come up with some sort of box to frame around my garage door opener which protrudes about 18" from the wall. We came up with this:
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/opener.jpg

That should do the trick. I may even load the bottom and outsides with some 704 and make a bass trap out of it, but I am not sure. As you can see we did manage to get some DW up on the lower lid. The ceiling is already finished and as of now I don't plan on doing a double layer. We also hung the door leading out to what's left of my garage.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/batts1.jpg

Made for a pretty full days work. I have been limited to Saturdays only since Sunday keeps up busy with church and family stuff. I don't want to push my luck by spending all my spare time out in the HT working. I am so anxious to get this thing done, but am happy with my pace thus far. One more insulation pic...this is the double wall adjacent to the house..
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/batts2.jpg

Now I am officially ready to see who my true friends are and invite them over for a DW party. Beer's on me!!

swithey

01-17-06, 01:14 AM

Jon,

Making some progress. I love seeing things come together. I was wondering what you were planing for the Garage door opener. My wife knows I want to get my HT done and has given me the "ok" to work a bit more than normal. I'm also taken a few days off from work also to get extra stuff done.

Keep your pics coming. It's nice to know I'm not alone :)

jandawil

01-17-06, 01:44 AM

chinadog

01-17-06, 06:51 AM

jandawil

01-17-06, 10:34 AM

Jon,

I saw someone mentioned that the water heater needs proper ventilation, but didn't see our response as to what you were planning. I thought I saw you were going to MDF over it, but what are your plans for venting? Or did I miss/misundertand that? Also, was there any particular reason you didn't pull down the garage door opener. Would have made a nice projector box, BTW!

Bud

Hey Bud, I will definitely address ventilation. I am going to make an access panel out of MDF and will have two vents in that, one on the top and one on bottom. We can't have movie viewers passing out from carbon monoxide while viewing :) I still need the garage door opener. The garage door is still our primary method of entering and exiting our house and I don't want to lose that functionality. I considered looking into the side mounted openers, but they are very expensive and are pretty much crap!! I asked several installers and they all told me the same thing. The box is only mildly intrusive and just one of the concessions I had to make. At a glance though is does look as if it can have a PJ in it LOL!!! Although the ventilation would be horrific and the bulb would probably not outlive a BenQ7700;)

Phase two of this project will be a detached garage and I am looking into different options there. Once I have that I may take it out and than remove the box, although once I am used to it I probably won't bother. It will still be nice to have the door opener when I want to access the storage area the rest of garage has become. Keep up the great work on your theater, it's looking great!!

swithey

01-17-06, 11:21 AM

At a glance though is does look as if it can have a PJ in it LOL!!! Although the ventilation would be horrific and the bulb would probably not outlive a BenQ7700;)
Jon,

I had to laugh at that comment. I was considering the BenQ PE7700 myself and after reading about all the short-lived bulbs, it is NOT on the list anymore. Too bad, it's an excellent projector (IMO). And, even better now that the price has dropped from 2.7k to 2k with a free bulb. They are trying to win people back but I'm out :p

Matt Malone

01-17-06, 11:48 AM

jandawil

01-17-06, 01:32 PM

Are you planning on putting the drums in the corner of the theater or the corner of the other half of the garage? I forced my set into our general media room (klipsch speakers and sub all around and a 55" mits with pacman arcade games and random ******** like that) and the drums are a nightmare when watching movies. I usually just take the snare into another room when I'm not using it. Even with that gone, the rack and cymbals still rattle, and are very annoying.

That's not the best news I've heard. I was planning on having them in the theater and thought that it would not be an issue outside of the snare. It would not be a big deal to remove the snare for a movie. I may try some sort of cover over them to see if that helps. That room will need to serve two purposes.
Have you tried practice heads on top of them during movies. I know that takes almost all of the vibration out of the heads. They even make them to cover cymbals as well. I'll have to play around with it once it's all set up.

dd2

01-17-06, 06:34 PM

jandawil

01-18-06, 01:00 AM

Probably too late to mention, but I noticed your picture of your garage door opener. I have a Wayne Dalton opener on my door which mounts on the beam above the door, directly to the tension rod where the springs are. It spins the rod there to open and close the door - I have no mechanical gear/track running back into the garage from the door. Might be an option for you...

The Wayne Dalton was the one I was looking into and I couldn't find one installer that would say a good thing about them. I hope you have better luck than the picture they painted for me. That sounded like it would be the perfect solution for me. Maybe in 20 years when this one breaks I can look into it, but for now I'll probably leave it as is unless it creates any issues for me.

dd2

01-18-06, 07:53 AM

Cool. Just for closure on that topic we've had our Wayne Dalton opener almost 2 years without incident. But, maybe that's not long enough of a test period to know. Anyhow, enjoy your room!

jandawil

01-18-06, 10:05 AM

Cool. Just for closure on that topic we've had our Wayne Dalton opener almost 2 years without incident. But, maybe that's not long enough of a test period to know. Anyhow, enjoy your room!

That's good. Maybe to them (the garage door contractors) they expect nothing less than 20 yrs and anything less to them is unacceptable?? Who knows....

jandawil

01-29-06, 03:35 PM

Hey all....it's been a few days since my last post. I've been pretty busy doing my drywall. Got the first layer done last Saturday, and yesterday we got the second layer up with GG in-between. I was able to do 50% coverage on the outer walls away from the house and seeing as how I had more left than expected I did about 2.5 tubes per sheet on the adjacent wall to the house and on the other wall closest to my home so that was pretty sweet. So I would say it is 95% done except for the tape and mud which will be fun Iamb sure. I'll hit that next weekend. Here are a couple of pics of my progress..
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/DW1.jpg

and..
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/DW2.jpg

I was thinking of not even bothering to finish the wall behind where the screen will go since it will be covered with Linacoustic. Anyone else do the same thing??

Rob_McArthur

01-29-06, 04:06 PM

Hi Jon,

Great progress on the HT thus far.

I can't believe how similar our obstacles are. Looking at your garage is like looking at my own right down to the door style and garage door opener (Liftmaster). It is almost like looking into my own garage. I didn't have the water heater to contend with but I had a built-in vacuum I had to relocate.

I did do things a little different though. I considered doing exaclty what you did for the garage door and opted out of it. My HT is sideways in the garage and allowed me 19' in the length and 13' width finished. I decided to remove the garage door opener and cut down the garage door rails a little bit to maximize the width. The garage door still goes up fine although it is manual now and the rails were longer than they needed to be. We do not park a vehicle in the garage but use it for storage etc. The leftover garage is the full width of about 20' and about 8' of depth.

Are you leaving an access panel to get to the garage door opener if you need to service it?

Rob

Toon_time

01-29-06, 11:09 PM

Jon,

Stumbled onto your thread today .... great job on your HT .... fast progress, keepup the good work. I will be following your progress as I am about to embark on a similar journey myself ...
Good Luck

jandawil

02-04-06, 05:58 PM

Holy crap I hate drywall finishing. I got a good day in from 9:00 - 2:30 and I managed to get most of one coat done. I also had to do a couple of patches in my freshly installed drywall due to an electrical snafu. At least we caught it before we textured and painted. I was flying solo today. I need to find more friends :D If I can get one helper I should be able to finish this next week and move on to the stage. Anything sounds fun compared to drywall.....
My work in progress....
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/mud.jpg

I also managed to get four bundles of Roxul mineral wool for some bass traps. It should be enough to do 2 floor to ceiling corner traps 24"wide and 12" into the far corner. I found it by my work so no ridiculous internet prices and shipping!!! Two traps for $73 plus the cost of some fabric to make it pretty.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/roxul.jpg

Ready2Buy

02-06-06, 04:00 PM

Two traps for $73 plus the cost of some fabric to make it pretty.

Very nice! What "pretty" fabric are you going to use?

Also, are you going to build a wood frame for the 4"-thick traps or you just going to fabric-wrap?

John

tony123

02-06-06, 04:12 PM

I haven't posted here in a few months, but am still lurking behind the scenes, and enjoying the photos!

jandawil

02-06-06, 04:30 PM

Very nice! What "pretty" fabric are you going to use?

Also, are you going to build a wood frame for the 4"-thick traps or you just going to fabric-wrap?

John

I am planning on building some type of frame maybe out of 1X2. I'm not sure on the fabric. I'll look at Joannes or WalMart. Just looking for plain black. If I'm not happy with what I find, I'll order more grill cloth from Parts Xpress. I am pretty happy with how that looks and at 5.25 per yard that is a good deal.

ckaudio

02-06-06, 06:43 PM

man the cubes of insulation are expensive there in california then. In michigan you can get a cube from lowes or home depot for $6.89 a bag and the deposit on the machine is only a 100 bucks, plus you only have to purchase 8 bags to get the free rental.

jandawil

02-06-06, 09:20 PM

That is a little better than out here for sure, but if you ask me if I am upset at paying $200 to insulate the attic and two walls, definitely no. That was one of the pleasant surprises where it was actually LESS than I budgeted. I needed the 20 bags, so it didn't hurt me much. I get my Panny PJ tomorrow and receiver so I'll monkey around with it and let you all know my impressions. Hopefully it will not be a dud....

Ready2Buy

02-09-06, 11:11 AM

I am planning on building some type of frame maybe out of 1X2. I'm not sure on the fabric. I'll look at Joannes or WalMart. Just looking for plain black. If I'm not happy with what I find, I'll order more grill cloth from Parts Xpress. I am pretty happy with how that looks and at 5.25 per yard that is a good deal.

Jon,

I didn't know Parts Express sells grill cloth. (I just bought speaker wire from them.) I did however find it at Joann's for about $6/yd and they only have it in black. I have not checked Walmart yet, I have been told they carry burlap.

Also there are many who think these panels should be wrapped twice. First with polyester batting and then with the air-transparent fabric. The poly batting will contain the fibers as well as absorb high freq. sound waves.

Also when you build the frames for the traps please post some pictures.

John

jandawil

02-09-06, 12:34 PM

Jon,

I didn't know Parts Express sells grill cloth. (I just bought speaker wire from them.) I did however find it at Joann's for about $6/yd and they only have it in black. I have not checked Walmart yet, I have been told they carry burlap.

Also there are many who think these panels should be wrapped twice. First with polyester batting and then with the air-transparent fabric. The poly batting will contain the fibers as well as absorb high freq. sound waves.

Also when you build the frames for the traps please post some pictures.

John

Will do. I agree with wrapping them batting first to keep all the "stuff" inside. That is a good idea. Now if only I can get this friggin drywall finished......

jandawil

02-12-06, 04:34 PM

Well I got my Axiom M80's shipped Friday and after setting them up and comparing them to my Klipsch R5's (a fine loudspeaker by their own right) here are my initial thought's...."You've got to be freaking kidding me!!!!" Here is how I had them set up...
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/Axiom.jpg
Axioms are on the outside, Klipsch on the inside.

After hooking them up I listened to a couple of my favorite demo tracks in Direct mode on my Onkio receiver bypassing the SW. Dave Matthews "Rapunzel" and Stevie Ray Vaughan "Chitlins Con Carne". First I listened to them on My Klipsch's..nice of course, but you really need the SW on these to get the lows. Not bad though.
Than the Axioms.....ahhhh...pure bliss!!!! These are the finest speakers I have ever listened to hands down. No I have not listened to any of the mega $$$$ speakers that some claim the Axioms are on par with. Why would I?? I can't afford them, but I have listened to several sets of loudspeakers in the <$2000 category like Monitor Audio, Klipsch, PSB, and Energy. These were not even close IMO. I am still amazed and it's all I can do to get myself off the couch and in the HT to finish it. Rest assured I did finish the 2nd layer of mud for my DW and the light is near the end of the DW tunnel.
I feel bad for my Klipsch's. They are a fine speaker and will remain in my living room HT for years, but it just wasn't fair. Now the Klipsch speakers do look nicer and the grill is much better constructed, but it was all Axiom after that. The kicker is I paid almost $800 for the Klipsch pair which was a reasonable price after getting GG to knock $100 off. The Axioms were $1150 for the pair (outlet). So basically $350 more, and in my opinion these were worth several times more than that. I completed my order this AM with the EP500 SW, and 4 QS8 surrounds. I can't wait!!!! Now to finish this DW....

jandawil

02-25-06, 11:51 PM

OK..It's been a while since my last post and I feel like I haven't been moving at the pace I had wanted. That drywall was a pain, but it's finally done!!!! Just a little patch work around some outlets and lighting, but that's it. Today I finally got to work on my stage and made good progress. Anything other than drywall was actually fun imagine that.
Here is the stage before sand. I put down some roofing felt like others here have and than framed it out of 2X6s. It's 4'X14' at it largest point with another 16" wide section in front of the water heater. (Shown in last picture)
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/stage1.jpg

Front view...
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/Stage2.jpg
After it was framed I filled with sand all the way across, but forgot to take a picture until after it was covered. I than covered the sand and framing with another layer of felt to make sure there is no rattling and than used 3/4" plywood. I had planned on two layers, but it feels like you can drive a truck over it now and I don't see any need for a second layer.

I also got the main 9' wide part of my screen wall up and fastened in and plumbed.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/screenwall1.jpg
It actually looks like the beginnings of a home theater now. Pretty good progress for one day. Next friday and Saturday I hope to complete the screen wall and well as some sort of cabinet to house my equipment. Still not 100% sure how I will do that.

swithey

02-27-06, 01:40 PM

It actually looks like the beginnings of a home theater now. Pretty good progress for one day. Next friday and Saturday I hope to complete the screen wall and well as some sort of cabinet to house my equipment. Still not 100% sure how I will do that.
Jon,

Definitely doesn't look like a garage anymore :D I'm with you on not moving as fast as you had thought. I'm supposed to be done with my HT by now -- but feel I have at least a month to 6 weeks to get it completed. Keep up the great work.

jandawil

02-27-06, 04:01 PM

Jon,

Definitely doesn't look like a garage anymore :D I'm with you on not moving as fast as you had thought. I'm supposed to be done with my HT by now -- but feel I have at least a month to 6 weeks to get it completed. Keep up the great work.

Hey Steve,

Thanks for your kind words. I've been keeping up with your progress as well and it is looking great. The detail work you are doing, while slow going, looks fantastic!!! I'm not going quite to those lengths, choosing a complete black wall of GOM rather than the detailed wood work you are doing. That should speed things up some. I'd rather to it right than quick though. Hopefully a day off here and there will help that.

jandawil

03-06-06, 10:41 AM

Another productive weekend!! That makes two in a row. I took Friday off of work again to attend my daughters school play and had the rest of the day to work in my HT. I got the rest of my screen wall framing done along with the beginnings of my equipment rack. Still some detail left for me to decide, but it's a good start.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/rack.jpg

After that I used two 4X12 sheets of drywall to make the screen wall. I figure with the 12' sheets I can cut them down to 9' and have one less seem to mud. I had to reinforce the wall with fireblock type lengths across the seem to firmly screw in the drywall as well as along the top and bottom of the screen. It rattled pretty good before that but after the reinforcements it is really solid now..
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/screen.jpg
The mud on the screen is all done and I can say that I'm pretty good at seems now that I got to practice on all my walls. This is the most important seem seeing as how I can't cover up imperfections with texture. I have not sanded it yet, but after the 3rd coat it is very smooth and uniform. It should finish nicely.

Saturday's work doesn't show much, but it was very productive. We got the finish electrical done and everything wired up in the attic and we were able to prove that we actually knew what we were doing somewhat with the electrical. All outlets work great and the Insteon dimmers dimmed all the sconces as well as the track lighting assembly. I found these great sconces at a heck of a bargain. They were less than $1 each. Feel free to PM me if you want to know where I got them.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/light.jpg

Pretty sweet huh?? Seriously...we are shopping for light fixtures this week... I decided to run an additional track lighting assembly toward the front of the HT that will be on it's own dimmer. We'll do that next week and run it off the Insteon keypad dimmer that will set the lighting scenes and control the other 2 dimmers via RF.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/Insteon.jpg
Seriously, anyone looking into lighting solutions with lighting scenes who doesn't want to break the bank with Lutron type stuff should look into these. They work great for my purpose and it was only $150 for the whole set (http://www.smarthome.com/2493.html). That and the rope lights under the stage lip should be plenty of light. I'll control the rope lighting with another Insteon outlet dimmer. I can actually feel this thing getting finished now and can't wait to sit and enjoy the fruits of my labor soon....more to come.

swithey

03-06-06, 11:58 AM

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/Insteon.jpg
Seriously, anyone looking into lighting solutions with lighting scenes who doesn't want to break the bank with Lutron type stuff should look into these. They work great for my purpose and it was only $150 for the whole set (http://www.smarthome.com/2493.html). That and the rope lights under the stage lip should be plenty of light. I'll control the rope lighting with another Insteon outlet dimmer. I can actually feel this thing getting finished now and can't wait to sit and enjoy the fruits of my labor soon....more to come.
Jon,

I think I will be going the same Insteon route. I will have (6) lighting zones and the 6-zone Grafik-Eye gets a bit expensive at that level. Also, I think I am going to add more of them downstairs in the kitchen and family room and tie everything together with a Homeseer type application. My wife has been bugging me to put in dimmers downstairs and this would work out well.

jandawil

03-06-06, 12:51 PM

Jon,

I think I will be going the same Insteon route. I will have (6) lighting zones and the 6-zone Grafik-Eye gets a bit expensive at that level. Also, I think I am going to add more of them downstairs in the kitchen and family room and tie everything together with a Homeseer type application. My wife has been bugging me to put in dimmers downstairs and this would work out well.

I'm sure I'll be implimenting this in the rest of the house as well. This will be my little trial run and I'll expand from there.

jandawil

03-07-06, 02:26 PM

Anyone out there have any creative way of attaching GOM or speaker grill panels to their screen wall?? I've been considering this the past couple days and so far and still not sure how I will do it. Should I make separate panels and wrap them?? Any thoughts??

chinadog

03-07-06, 02:40 PM

Jon,

Take a gander at these:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=3

Bud

jandawil

03-07-06, 03:41 PM

Jon,

Take a gander at these:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&DID=7&WebPage_ID=3

Bud

Thanks Bud, but it didn't like that URL. 0 results found for search.

chinadog

03-07-06, 03:49 PM

Hmmm. Try this one:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&Webpage_ID=3&DID=7&CAT_ID=48&ObjectGroup_ID=141&SO=2

Or do a search on PartsExpress for "Grill Guides".

Bud

jandawil

03-07-06, 04:01 PM

Hmmm. Try this one:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&Webpage_ID=3&DID=7&CAT_ID=48&ObjectGroup_ID=141&SO=2

Or do a search on PartsExpress for "Grill Guides".

Bud

Got it!! So you were planning on building separate grill panels and attaching them?? I was also thinking along the same lines and actually have some 1X4 material and it's probably enough to build them. I was thinking 3 1/2" would be too thick though. That would be 7" considering both sides and may not be enough accousitcal transparency. Maybe I can get some 1X3 material or even 1X2. What were you planning on using?

chinadog

03-07-06, 04:51 PM

jandawil

03-07-06, 09:05 PM

I was going to build grills for those area I need to get access to only. Probably use the magnetic ones. I'll use 5/4 lumber (if I can fine some straight stuff) and rip it down to 1x2s probably Not sure yet.

Bud

Not a bad idea actually... So for the sections that will you apply the GOM directly to the wall, how will you attach it?? There are the sections above and below my screen that don't really need to be removed. Maybe in front of my center channel, but no where else.

chinadog

03-07-06, 11:44 PM

Staples. You just need to think through it to be able to ensure you can hide all the one you need to. The grills can hide staples as well as molding.

Bud

jandawil

03-08-06, 12:48 AM

Staples?? I get that, but how would you hide them?? Would you fold the material over the staples to hide them?? I can see that on one side, but not both unless you were going to use some sort of molding to cover the staples which you did mention now that I think about it. I think maybe I will panel everything. A little more work, but with 1/2" thick panels, it will bring everything out flush with the 1/2" drywall screen and that may look pretty cool. Plus both sides of my proscenium will actually be hinged panels to house my audio gear and DVD's on one side, and CD's on the other. It think it will be cool to incorporate and hide media storage cabinets into my proscenium so it will not clutter up another portion of the room.

chinadog

03-08-06, 06:48 AM

rsberg34

03-08-06, 07:50 AM

Jon,

Just read your thread from start to finish...sorry I missed it in the beginning....Looks like your doing a GREAT job...especially when dealing with the obstacles that a garage presents.

I was alos glad to hear you liked the Axioms...I was teatering between teh Klipsch THX Ultra 2 7.1 system and the Axiom Epic 80 . 500 7.1 (well 7.2 I guess since I want two subs) with an asdditional center as well...your the 3rd person I have heard that really liked them so I think the decision is final.....AXIOM for me!

Keep up the great work it looks awsome!!

Robert

jandawil

03-08-06, 10:53 AM

Sorry, I was tired!

You need to review some of the GOM threads, there is a lot of good ideas. You just need to think it through and plan it out. I have a pretty good idea how mine will work using panels/no panels and the order which I need to put it up to hide the staples. The rest will be hidden with crown and base molding. Some people use chair rails to hidden staples as well. Once I start, I'll post in my thread. Might be a week or two though.

Bud

Bud..thanks again...I'll look at the GOM threads. I never considered that since I'm not technically using "GOM" To rich for my blood....Funny story about you getting worked over by that horse man. Keep up the awesome work on your HT.

Jon,

Just read your thread from start to finish...sorry I missed it in the beginning....Looks like your doing a GREAT job...especially when dealing with the obstacles that a garage presents.

I was alos glad to hear you liked the Axioms...I was teatering between teh Klipsch THX Ultra 2 7.1 system and the Axiom Epic 80 . 500 7.1 (well 7.2 I guess since I want two subs) with an asdditional center as well...your the 3rd person I have heard that really liked them so I think the decision is final.....AXIOM for me!

Keep up the great work it looks awsome!!

Robert

Robert thanks for the kind words. You will really love the Axioms!! I'm not sure how they compare price wise to the Klipsch THX's, but I have never heard a better pair of speakers under $2000 than the M80's and these were WAY under $2000. I have not listened to anything that cost more than that since I couldn't buy them anyhow. I also have the Klipsch R5's in my home and I don't think I have been giving them enough credit since I got my Axioms. Since discovering the joy of "Pure Direct" for music on both of my receivers, my Klipsch speakers are really singing. I am enjoying them all over again. The Axioms still win out, but you couldn't go wrong with either.

rsberg34

03-08-06, 12:37 PM

Yeah I had heard that the Klipsch Thx series specifically for home theater were quite nice but every time I think I find something nice I keep finding myself pulled back to the Axioms. The entire set up from Axiom is a little more than I originally wanted to spend but I am trying to view it as an investment in my theaters future....hoping I wont need to replace them in a few yrs because they arent good enough....so the extra I spend now will save me more later. Funny way to look at it but I think in the end it will work out to my advantage.

Unfortunatly I wont get to start for another 6 weeks and I will only have about 3 months a yr to dedicate to it (Job outside the US) but I will have help so maybe it will go faster that way.

Keep up the excellent work, I love seeing others theaters start to come to life....

Robert

jandawil

03-24-06, 03:06 PM

It's been a while since I last posted. I have actually done quite a bit of work. Screen Goo screen is done and looks awesome!!! I made a really lame attempt at screen shots, but quickly realized I need a tripod. I'll dig it up and have another go soon. I will be texturing the walls and painting the ceiling this weekend so there should be some pictures of that. I finally found some sconces my wife and I both liked and ordered them:
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/sconce.jpg
They were pretty reasonable at only $45 each so 4 of them was under $200. What do you all think???

I also found a local supplier for Mason acoustic duct liner (Linacoustic clone) and got a 1" X 48" X 50' roll for $104 which should be enough to cover back wall and give me enough for some framed wall treatments. I'll do the back wall this weekend as well. That's about it for now. Hopefully I'll have a productive weekend in the HT.....I can see the light....... :)

chinadog

03-24-06, 03:43 PM

I like them. Pretty nice. Great price, too. BTW, where are you budget-wise? Whats left to be completed?

Bud

swithey

03-24-06, 03:51 PM

Jon,

It's about time you posted. My face was getting really blue holding my breath :D Sconces look great and would love to see how the Goo screen turned out.

On the Mason acoustic duct liner, be careful where and how much you put up. Chinadog/Bud had to rearange things a bit in his room after talking to bpape. Maybe Bud will ring in and share a bit with you?

jandawil

03-24-06, 04:29 PM

I like them. Pretty nice. Great price, too. BTW, where are you budget-wise? Whats left to be completed?

Bud

Thanks guys...budget-wise I am pretty close. I have spent exactly $10,312.95. I'm not anal or anything :D

Still to buy:
DitecTV HD DVR - $450
2 love seats (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?dest=9999999997&product_id=1977990&sourceid=1500000000000002028830) - $1100
Black leather HT Seating (set of 3 from eee-bay) - $1000
Seating Platform - $200ish
Carpet - $400

That is all I have left to spend minus a few odds and ends and maybe some decorative stuff. That totals $3150 so lets round it up to $3500 and that puts my total just over $13,800. I could have came in much closer to budget, but splurged a little (7.1 surround rather than 5.1, leather seating, extra lighting, external amp for front LR etc.) I think the $12,000 was reasonable, I just thought since Uncle Sam was a little more generous this year I'd be a good republican and put it back in the economy and spend it on more stuff for the HT :p

Hey Steve, right now on the duct liner, I am planning on all of the back wall and than making some 4' X 6' panels that I will place at the early reflection points (using the mirror on the wall trick to see where my speakers show up). I'll do that for both rows and maybe a couple panels on the back wall, but it should be still a pretty live room. Also will put them on the ceiling using the mirror. There will definitely be more uncovered wall than covered. I'm sure it will not be perfect, but by reading the acoustic treatment threads it should be pretty good. Also got mineral wool to make traps in the back 2 corners of the theater. They will be 2' wide corner traps floor to ceiling.

If anyone has some additional thoughts or ideas I am all ears. I do not have the $$$ for consulting now, but do see myself down the line looking into it once the room is done. I'll try not to be as much of a stranger, it's just that I usually don't work on it much during the week and the weekend of 3/11 I was in Vegas for the NASCAR race. I'm one of the few NASCAR rednecks here in SoCal, but we are growing..... I even got to see my boy Jimmie Johnson win so it was worth not working on the room that weekend. I'm pretty focused now on getting this baby done.

swithey

03-24-06, 04:46 PM

Hey Steve, right now on the duct liner, I am planning on all of the back wall and than making some 4' X 6' panels that I will place at the early reflection points (using the mirror on the wall trick to see where my speakers show up). I'll do that for both rows and maybe a couple panels on the back wall, but it should be still a pretty live room. Also will put them on the ceiling using the mirror. There will definitely be more uncovered wall than covered. I'm sure it will not be perfect, but by reading the acoustic treatment threads it should be pretty good. Also got mineral wool to make traps in the back 2 corners of the theater. They will be 2' wide corner traps floor to ceiling.
Jon,

Keep in mind, I am NO expert so take whatever I say with a grain of salt...

Looks like you have the basics covered. That should work out pretty well until you can tune the room. The only consideration you might make is possibly go 2" thick on your 1st reflections. I think Bud had to beef up a few of his to get a bit more absorbtion. No need to buy the 2" stuff, just double up the 1". Bass traps look good too. Are you going to fill them from front to back or do something like 6" thick with some airspace behind them? Don't forget to wrap that Mineral Wool in some cheap Muslim (sp?) from Joanns or as those fibers break down over time, they will become airborne in the room (no too good for your lungs).

Keep up the great work!

jandawil

03-24-06, 06:00 PM

swithey

03-24-06, 10:02 PM

I will definitely wrap the mineral wool before covering with whatever finishing fabric I chose. They will be cut in 2' triangles and I will have a wood frame around the wall framing them in. I have heard some use a layer of burlap and than the fabric so I may do something like that. Good call on the 2". I was thinking of going 1 1/2" for the walls and putting 2 layers in and compressing them some. I will have to see what 2" frames look like on the walls. I'll try to look up the absorbtion co-effecients on the 1" and see where I am at vs. what is recommended. Any thoughs on frequencies I am looking to target???
Bpape's idea of a controlled room is to have an even response across the entire spectrum. If you talk with others, they will have a different idea of what's perfect. I know for music you want a more "live" room and for HT you want it less "live" (but not "dead"). The issue comes up when you have a room that is built for both music and HT -- you need to find that compromise that works well for both. This is where experience and personal preference comes in to play.

The best example is to take a look at my room with nothing (extremely out of control), then with just bass traps and ceiling absorbtion and finally with full control. Click HERE (http://swithey.gotdns.org/swithey/ht/Album7.htm) to see the charts.

jandawil

03-25-06, 02:23 AM

The best example is to take a look at my room with nothing (extremely out of control), then with just bass traps and ceiling absorbtion and finally with full control. Click HERE (http://swithey.gotdns.org/swithey/ht/Album7.htm) to see the charts.

That last graph does look ideal for sure. It is definitely something to strive for and I will do at some point. Not sure of the cost though and will have to look into it. I would hope to be so in love with the audio/video experience with what I have, I will be content for a little while at leats, but with the investment I made here, it makes sense to go that last step and get some professional help. I would like to hear from someone who had their own room treatments and than went to someone such as Bpape and see what their impressions were of the changes. How significant were they??? That may determine how long I wait....

jandawil

03-26-06, 10:13 PM

OK...busy weekend. I got a lot done. First order of business was to spray texture. It actually came out pretty good considering I have never done it before. It's not as nice as the inside of my house, but after I applied primer it looks good. A good portion of the wall will be covered with acoustic treatments so even better.
After being tired of working amongst a pile of junk, sanded DW mud, and scrap lumber in the room, I spent a good two hours cleaning. I find I need to do that every now and than so I don't go insane. Next order of business was to get that huge roll of Akoustiliner out of the way so I put that up on the front wall.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/acoustic.jpg

That pretty much was the end of Saturday for me. Today I primed the drywall which took a lot more time (and primer) than I expected. That drywall soaked it up like a sponge!!! I did the first layer of black paint on the ceiling. I used Olympic Premium Black Magic flat from Lowes. That went on much better seeing as how the ceiling was already primed and painted white. Some pics...
Back corner of the HT after primer and ceiling painted:
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/primer.jpg

View of front of HT and screen wall after paint and primer (notice the custom screen cover)....
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/ceiling.jpg

I'm completely beat now, but it's only 7:00. Time to go put another coat of Black Magic on the ceiling....

jandawil

03-26-06, 11:16 PM

8:13....second coat done and paint cleaned up. One less thing to worry about tomorrow. Calling it a day.

rsberg34

03-27-06, 03:40 AM

Its looking good and I bet your glad to see things coming along well.....keep it up, you will be watching movies in no time!!

Robert

jandawil

03-30-06, 11:13 AM

OK....after a two day break due to a stiff back :mad: I was back at it again last night. With my brother's help I was able to get a lot done. First order of business was to mount the frame around my Goo screen. I used 1X4 lumber and ripped it on a table saw to the right size. Due to a mathematical error, I ended up needing the full 3 1/2" border on the sides and a 2" on top and bottom. I like the way that looks actually. I purchased some black velvet material from Joanne's and wrapped the frame in the velvet.
I found some nice thin black carpet for the stage. It's actually a marine carpet, but it looks pretty much like black auto carpet which is what I wanted for the stage. That and the pad was under $100 at Lowes....Here is a pic of the new screen and stage carpet.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/stage_Carpet.jpg

Before installing the carpet, I mounted track lighting under the stage. The front of the stage has a 2" lip that extends down to give it a nice clean look and hide the lights. Here is a pic (somewhat blurry, but you get the effect)
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/ropelight.jpg

I also got two of the speaker grill panels done last night as well. I had assembled them and painted them black over the weekend and wrapped them in black grill cloth I got from Parts Express last night....
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/panels.jpg

Here is a stage shot with the two panels installed...
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/wall1.jpg

Hopefully tonight I'll be able to get a couple of the side panels installed. I also will get my HVAC unit in today so this weekend I'll attempt to get that set up. It should be pretty easy, but I need to run two vents (about dryer hose width) outside for intake and air exchange. It will sit right in front of the water heater closet and the vents will run through it to the outside. The plants against the house will conceal it well. I need to figure out some sort of housing to go around the unit so it will look clean. I'll probably cover it in the same grill cloth so it will blend in with the stage and just leave their front face exposed.

jandawil

04-02-06, 07:34 PM

I got two more speaker grill frames installed. One to go plus the audio rack should complete my stage except for installing my gear. Getting there....

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/frames.jpg

It's hard to see the detail of the cloth, it pretty much looks like a screen in a sea of black (which is sort of what I was after). I'll try to get better ones once my real lighting is installed

I am considering the Harmony 880 remote. Can anyone out there tell me the advantages of that over a good AV receivers learning remote?? (I have the Yamaha RX-V2600)

rsberg34

04-05-06, 04:40 PM

looking good keep it up...

jandawil

04-05-06, 05:56 PM

Thanks..will do. Can anyone answer this?? I have some linacoustic left (1" thick) and want to make acoustic panels out of it. Would there be any disadvantage of compressing it to 3/4" to fit in a 3/4" thick frame. I have a lot of spare 3/4" lumber I can use to make the frames out of rather than ripping lots of 1/2" strips and doubling it up for the frames. If there are any disadvantages in it's effectiveness I'll suck it up and do it right. Any thoughts??

tony123

04-06-06, 12:22 PM

Does your receivers remote do macros? With the Harmonies, you can program what they call "activities". Hit one button and it will do a series of commands. I.E. hit the "Watch a DVD" button on mine, and it will do the following. Turn on the projector and switch it to component input, turn on the receiver and switch it to DVD input, Turn on the DVD and press play, Dim the lights to a preset level. Then, if I hit "Watch TV" it will change all the necessary inputs, turn on and off the proper equipment, etc. COOL STUFF.

Then, while watching the TV, the remote knows that the volume should operate the receiver, while the channel goes to the HD tuner.

Does your receiver remote do this?

By the way, the 880 is the fanciest one, but for practical reasons, doesn't do anything that the $70 Harmony 628 doesn't do.

Looking great! Still watching.

Tony

jandawil

04-06-06, 12:43 PM

Thanks Tony,

The 2600 remote will do macros, but I'm not sure hom many. I'll check the manual. I have not messed with it as it is all put away until I install it into the HT. I may try the 2600 remote and than upgrade later.

sdspga

04-06-06, 01:41 PM

In addition to Tony's comment, the Harmony is ultra easy to set up using Windows. Only took me an hour (would have been shorter, but I had to gather serial #'s from my components) I have tried to set up the "Universal" receiver remotes before, but the Harmony's blow them all away.

I have some linacoustic left (1" thick) and want to make acoustic panels out of it. Would there be any disadvantage of compressing it to 3/4" to fit in a 3/4" thick frame. I have a lot of spare 3/4" lumber I can use to make the frames out of rather than ripping lots of 1/2" strips and doubling it up for the frames. If there are any disadvantages in it's effectiveness I'll suck it up and do it right. Any thoughts??

I saw your post last night in the accoustic sticky (I think) regarding this. I think it depends on the function of your panels. i.e. Covering first reflection points - perfect Using it for bass trapping - not so perfect. Project is coming along great!

Scott

jandawil

04-06-06, 02:08 PM

In addition to Tony's comment, the Harmony is ultra easy to set up using Windows. Only took me an hour (would have been shorter, but I had to gather serial #'s from my components) I have tried to set up the "Universal" receiver remotes before, but the Harmony's blow them all away.

I saw your post last night in the accoustic sticky (I think) regarding this. I think it depends on the function of your panels. i.e. Covering first reflection points - perfect Using it for bass trapping - not so perfect. Project is coming along great!

Scott

I will be using it for early reflections on the walls and ceiling. I was not considering side panels for bass as I don't want thick 2" panels on the walls. I will start with 2 corner traps in the back corners floor to ceiling. They will be 2' across and will be 12" deep in the center. I was just wondering if compressing from 1" to 3/4" would hurt that for highs and mids. I may just use 1" since I have to buy more lumber anyhow. I'll calculate how many 1/2" plywood sheets I'll need ripping them to 2" strips.

tony123

04-06-06, 10:48 PM

If you get frustrated with your 2600 remote, I can't say enough about ease of setup with the Harmonies.

jandawil

04-17-06, 11:04 AM

I've been a little MIA lately. My PC at home took a dump and so far all attempts to fix have not worked so I have to do this from work. My lighting is all done and paint is done as well except for trim and doors. I let my wife pick the scheme and she did not disappoint. We went with a faux finish and it came out better than I could have hoped. Here is the first pic with flash:
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/paint1.jpg

Oh yeah...I also got my audio rack in this weekend and have one coat of black on it and it looks great. I should be able to get the 2nd coat on and install it tonight.
Here is another shot with no flash....
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/paint2.jpg
If you look at the floor you can see the concrete lip from the garage sticking up 2-3". The carpet installers want to charge an additional $250 to carpet that. That's crazy. My thoughts are I am going to paint it and than put the base board on top rather than carpet. My seating will cover most of it anyhow. How hard would it be to carpet myself if they leave me some scrap and how would you get it stuck down. Any thoughts???

Here is a view from the back to front with flash on. You can see the track lighting installed as well.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/track.jpg

I am going to make my final decision on carpet today or tomorrow and than set out to Lowes to get baseboard and door trim so I can get that completed this week/weekend before carpet is installed. Should keep me pretty busy. I'm in the home stretch.....

jandawil

04-19-06, 12:44 PM

Well I just ordered my front row of HT seating on the AVS powerbuy from HT Authority.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/seats.jpg
Has anyone sat in these before?? These were the only ones in my budget at $1000 delivered. The Berks were quite out of my price range, so I hope I'm happy with them. Still pondering what to do with the back row that will seat 4 at 11' wide or less. I was thinking love seats but I would like to look into HT seating with a loveseat in the middle and single seats on the outsides. I think they would match better than going with 2 loveseats. Anyone know of something like this that will come in under 11'??

swithey

04-19-06, 02:28 PM

Well I just ordered my front row of HT seating on the AVS powerbuy from HT Authority.

Has anyone sat in these before?? These were the only ones in my budget at $1000 delivered. The Berks were quite out of my price range, so I hope I'm happy with them. Still pondering what to do with the back row that will seat 4 at 11' wide or less. I was thinking love seats but I would like to look into HT seating with a loveseat in the middle and single seats on the outsides. I think they would match better than going with 2 loveseats. Anyone know of something like this that will come in under 11'??
Jon,

I read a while back that these chairs (Showtime) are smaller and not as "pillow soft" comfort-wise as the more expensive models (Studio/Director). But people have been happy with both styles. Check out these threads:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7325256&&#post7325256

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5266852&&#post5266852

I've never sat in either of these before but was originally looking at the Showtime/Studio seating. I did like the Showtime because they were smaller which fit better into my room. But, after reading the reviews, decided the Studios were a better option even with the slightly higher price tag.

Either way you go, Serge over at HT Authority will take care of you. He is a highly respected AVS community member/vendor.

johnnykretentiv

04-19-06, 02:31 PM

Those look like the Coasters that I have. I have 6 of them and they work perfectly. All the mechanics function smoothly and they are quite comfy. Everyone compliments the chairs when they come over to watch a movie.

I'm a very happy Coaster owner.

jandawil

04-19-06, 03:27 PM

johnnykretentiv

04-19-06, 06:00 PM

Thanks - I kinda want to build another house so I can do another theater. I built my first theater before I knew about AVS.

Ready2Buy

04-19-06, 06:48 PM

Well I just ordered my front row of HT seating on the AVS powerbuy from HT Authority.

Great seats with good back support. Just bought a row four myself (my second row) from Serge and couldn't be happier. You can't go wrong with these.

John

jandawil

04-20-06, 10:10 AM

Great seats with good back support. Just bought a row four myself (my second row) from Serge and couldn't be happier. You can't go wrong with these.

John

The back support comments sound very encouraging. I'd rather them be a little firm and support my back for longer viewing. My back isn't the best. Can't wait to get them.

JoelST

04-20-06, 11:47 AM

Still pondering what to do with the back row that will seat 4 at 11' wide or less. I was thinking love seats but I would like to look into HT seating with a loveseat in the middle and single seats on the outsides. I think they would match better than going with 2 loveseats. Anyone know of something like this that will come in under 11'?

Jon, a row of berk 088s with a loveseat in the middle will come in under 11' (actually 9.6' with a slight curve) but they may be out of your price range. Those are the narrowest of the HT recliner types that I have found. You could always give one of the dealers like Roman a call and see what may be available on closeout. Good luck.

jandawil

05-01-06, 05:04 PM

Well I'm in the last week and should be done by Saturday. I got my baseboard and trim painted this weekend (pics to follow) and that was about it. Had family stuff to do. I just spent about $50 on the remaining black fabric and polybat to finish my acoustic panels (I love WalMart....$2.49/yd) Carpet will be installed Friday and my front row of HT seats will be here that day to from HTAuthority (Serge rules!!!!). You know you are getting to the end of your project...AKA Out of $$$ when you are sweating the $50 on fabric :( :( DirecTV will be out on Monday to hook up my HDTV...HD DVR will have to wait....it's the whole out of money thing again. I have the DVR on my regular set so it's no biggie for now. I will pretty much only use it for live sports as far as TV goes. The only bummer is that I will have to wait on my back row of seats. I think I am going with the Berk 088's. They are very reasonable prices and not too wide.

There is a question in all this. Once my frames are complete...how should I hang them?? Anyone have some advice on this? I was thinking velcro, but I'm not sure if it will hold. I can also use DW screws with some screw covers into DW anchors which is sort of where I am leaning. The black screw covers make it look pretty clean. Any better ideas???

Also...any thoughts on a good first movie?? Something my young kids would also like.

jandawil

05-01-06, 11:18 PM

Here are some pictures of my freshly painted trim and doors. I just painted them tonight so they are still a little shiny. The color is quite flat once it dries. Any answers to the questions in my previous post???
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/door1.jpg

Only thing left to do on this one is the hardware and ADT will be out to alarm it this week too...
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/door2.jpg

Paint's real wet on this one..
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/door3.jpg

I'll try to start on the completion of my acoustic panels in the next couple of days. I'll post pics of how they turn out.

tony123

05-03-06, 11:35 AM

jandawil

05-03-06, 01:02 PM

Jon,

Yours is the first "Theater Construction" thread that I have followed from start to finish. I'm excited for you that the "end" is near. You realize this is not the end, don't you? It is the beginning of watching movies, but the construction tweaks will never end. :)

Congrats!

I hear ya man. There will be months of accessorising, adding, tweaking, etc. The immediate plans are to add the riser for the back row. I'll do that in a week or two. Than I need to save for the seating. I will also add a pub table and stools off to the side to give it a nice casual sports bar feel. It will always be a work in progress for sure.

air2mag

05-03-06, 03:23 PM

jandawil

05-03-06, 03:55 PM

Jon,
Great thread and great looking theater. Sorry to take you backward, but I have question on the blown in insulation. I am building my theater in an existing basement room. Currently there is no insulation between the joices in the ceiling. When I cut the hole for the new recessed lighting I plan to blow in the insulation. My questions is how far apart where your holes when you did the insulation? I want to fill the joices to the top, or would that be to the bottom: - ). How messy did this job turn out to be? Thanks for the help!

Mike

Not a problem man. Taking back to the good ol' days :) I based my holes on the studs which were 16" OC. I also had to drill one hole above and one below the fireblock so it was two holes (1 at about 30" high and one at about 6') every 16". It wasn't really messy at all. It came with about 100' of hose so the messy part was the loading the hopper but that was outside so the wind carried most of it away and I threw away the rest of what spilled. Just drill the holes a little smaller than the hose and nothing should leak out. We did 3" using a hole saw drill bit. It was pretty messy just by nature, but cleaning it up was easy. Just wear a mask when you work with it. All and all it was a pretty painless process for me and cheap!!! One thing to remember if you do multiple holes, just cover or patch one before starting on another or it will all blow out the other hole(s)

air2mag

05-04-06, 08:25 AM

jerrodshook

05-04-06, 10:24 AM

Looks great! I love the swirl on the walls.

jandawil

05-05-06, 03:39 AM

Jon,
When you blow in the insulation does it "mat together" or just pile up on itself? Since the ceiling is already in I will be blowing blind, if you will, into the ceiling joices. The room is approximately 14 feet wide and I plan to cut holes toward the sides of the room to install my lights and use the same holes for the insulation. If I were installing the insulation in the wall, I would fill up the cavity until it got to the access hole. Do you think this material will
pack together enough to fill the ceiling if I only use the two side holes? Thanks for the help!

It sort of sticks together, but it is very light so it does get pushed around by the force of the blowing. Once it piles up a bit though it will not move and since its not a wall you don't have gravity on your side filling it from bottom to top. To be safe I would cut a couple more holes strategically throughout the ceiling remembering to only have one hole open at a time. That will ensure a more even distribution. If you can angle the hose a bit to do a sort of 360 degree spray in each hole that would help as well. Sorry I took so long to answer, I've been working non stop in the room. Lots of fun stuff to post in the next two days. It will be 95% done by than.

jandawil

05-05-06, 03:41 AM

Looks great! I love the swirl on the walls.

Thanks....I am very happy with how it turned out. It was my wife's and her friend's inspiration really. The photos don't really do it justice either.

jandawil

05-08-06, 03:01 PM

Well I can honestly say that the room is 95+% done. Still to do:

Back row riser and seats (when $$$ permits)
HVAC tie in (2 weeks or so out)
Finish programing remote (Yammy 2600 is not easy)
Need to get pub table and stools
Place remaining acoustic panels (this week)
one more bass trap (have to figure out which corner)

Here is a little pictorial of this weekends progress...

Construction on 1" linacoustic wall treatment..
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/panel_back.jpg
I have 4 of these to place.
Corner bass trap made of 4lb. rock wool. Column is 12"X22"X8.5'
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/btrap.jpg
Just adding this one trap made a nice difference in bass response. Much smoother and less "boomy" Still have to place one more somewhere.

My seats arrived on Friday just as the capet guy was finishing up. They are wonderful seats for the $$ and set up very easily.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/4c5ecaf6.jpg
Still gotta add the back row soon.
Also spent the good part of a day setting up my new drum kit...
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/tama.jpg
I was worried about them rattling and causing issues during movies, but they don't at all. No issues. That is a huge relief.....
Some finished pics and screen shots to come.

jandawil

05-08-06, 03:35 PM

Here are some more finished pics with some pretty good screen shots IMHO..enjoy......

Here is one taken from the back/rt of the room....
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/front_left.jpg

Here is one of the front/rt
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/front_rt.jpg

No flash...
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/front_rt2.jpg
I didn't pause the DVD so the screen shot is blurry.

Here are some screen shots.....
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/shot2.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/gandol.jpg

Black level is not too bad on the Panny...
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/black_level.jpg

There is still more to be done, but I feel I can do it now at a little more leisurely pace. All and all I am extremely happy with how it turned out and the "WOW factor" was in full force when I demo'd it. Even for me. The sound and picture are phenominal. There is no better way to watch a movie.

BritInVA

05-08-06, 03:42 PM

Looking Sweet!

Do your equipment list stay the same as in post #1 and how far out are you with initial estimates?

jandawil

05-08-06, 04:19 PM

Looking Sweet!

Do your equipment list stay the same as in post #1 and how far out are you with initial estimates?

Thanks...here is what I origionally was going to go with and what I got is in red

PJ - Infocus SP 7200 (refurb w/ 4 yr warranty) - $2700 Panny 900u
Receiver - Yamaha RX-V2600 (if it doesn't suck) - $1100 ish got it
DVD - Yamaha DVD C950 - $350 Oppo DV971H
Speakers - Axiom Audio Epic 60 with Epicenter 500 Sub (6.1 set) - $3025 same but I went with the Epic 80's
HD DVR - DirecTV HDDVR - $599 no DVR yet, just HD sat.
Seats - ??? Nothing custom. 4 love seats lines 2 X 2 with 7" riser - ??? row of 3 Coasters in black leather. Back row to come.cables - $350
Screan - Goo - $150

BritInVA

05-08-06, 04:32 PM

How are you liking the Axioms?

Did you use the Qs8s for the side and rear surround?

jandawil

05-08-06, 04:50 PM

turt

05-08-06, 05:22 PM

I LOVE the Axioms!!! I went with the QS8's (4 of them) for surround. I got them from the Axiom Outlet so they were 10% off and than another 5% for 5 or more speakers so the savings was very good. I can't believe how great they sound in my room. Way above my expectations.

I'm contemplating Axioms for sides and rears myself. It seems most people suggest direct firing for the rears to get better stereo separation. Did you contemplate that and/or audition other speakers?

jandawil

05-08-06, 08:00 PM

I'm contemplating Axioms for sides and rears myself. It seems most people suggest direct firing for the rears to get better stereo separation. Did you contemplate that and/or audition other speakers?

No and no. I have used direct firing rear surrounds before and have heard the di-poles and preferred them. I did consider Klipsch as well as PSB, but after reading the reviews from the Axioms (especially the QS8's) I decided to audition them. I would recommend them to anyone for sides and rears.

drizznay

05-14-06, 03:35 PM

HT looks fantastic! Just read through the thread from start to finish and I was pleased to see you were completed. I have started many other construction threads and when i get to the last posts discover that they are not completed yet. Also great to see a HT that didn't cost the owner $30k+ lol

Enjoy it!!

arttu

05-14-06, 08:28 PM

Read the whole thread and I got to say that I really like the attitude presented in your project. Its a pleasure to see that one can do so great a job with reasonable money. Great HT!

cajun_junky

05-15-06, 08:02 PM

jandawil

05-16-06, 07:59 PM

Read the whole thread and I got to say that I really like the attitude presented in your project. Its a pleasure to see that one can do so great a job with reasonable money. Great HT!

Thanks guys for the kind words. That was definitely my goal. To create a HT with the "Wow Factor" without breaking the bank. I feel I have achieved that and more. I have sat in numerous expensive boutique type theater showrooms and enjoy mine just as much. Actually more because I don't have to worry about a snooty sales person kicking me out :D

jandawil

05-16-06, 08:11 PM

Awesome theater! I have been following this thread closely since this is close to the type of theater I want to design (especially budget-wise) in the near future.

I hope you don't mind a couple of newbie questions. In the front front of your theater it looks like you have your equipment rack to the far left, then a black space that is angled towards the seats which I assume is the speaker grilles, then your screen followed by a black space to the right of the screen. Where did you put the front bass traps? Were they placed behind the speakers in front of the acoustic liner?

Where and how are you going to place your surround speakers? I must have missed that. Will they be enclosed in a column or in-wall?

Will you simply hang the acoustic liner panels on the wall or will they be screwed into studs?

Thanks again and great job!!

Thanks. The bass trap is behind the far right speaker grill column. That would be just right of the Rt. front speaker. It is in a space 14" X 22". I only have the one and am currently working out where to place the second. I have been on vacation the past few days so I'll re-address that in the coming days. You are correct in assuming the grills to the immediate left and right of the screen have my speakers behind them. I'll try to post some pictures with grills off this week if I have a chance to work behind there.
My surrounds are wall mounted and you can see them in a couple of the photos (like the drum set one). I did not want to encroach on the available space with columns. I have not hung my panels yet. I am waiting to build my rear row riser (some time in the next two weeks) and than see where the seating will go so I know where to hang them. I was going to use some DW anchors and place 4 screws in each and I have black screw caps that will make it look finished. They are very light so they won't require studs. I had the ones on the doors hung with velcro, but they fall off sometimes so I am looking for a better solution to hang them on steel doors. Anyone have any ideas on that???

TIMMEH

05-17-06, 03:27 PM

Very nice Jon...after reading your post on the "goo" screen in response to my post, I read through your intire process and I'm really impressed. I think I'm going to ask my builder to double layer the sheetrock in our soon-to-be built home for the media room. Obviously I can't have them build it completely out but it's good to know there are many people out there that have done it themselves and can give advice.

I'm not 100% sure I want to go the way of the "goo" screen just yet, seeing as how it would have to be on the opposite wall, or the back of my room...I dunno.

cajun_junky

05-17-06, 03:43 PM

I had the ones on the doors hung with velcro, but they fall off sometimes so I am looking for a better solution to hang them on steel doors. Anyone have any ideas on that???

What about a couple of strong magnets or industrial adhesive??? At least you would not have to drill a hole in your steel door.

lektern

05-17-06, 04:00 PM

I've read in several threads of people using industrial velcro. Seems to hold quite a bit of weight very solidly. I believe SandmanX used some in his theater.

jandawil

05-17-06, 06:11 PM

I've read in several threads of people using industrial velcro. Seems to hold quite a bit of weight very solidly. I believe SandmanX used some in his theater.

A couple of good ideas there. Where would one find industrial velcro? Industrial adhesive also could be a possibility. Thanks guys.

jandawil

05-17-06, 06:22 PM

greighn

05-17-06, 06:29 PM

You can find industrial strength velcro at both Home Depot and Lowes. I used it in my theater and when I had to take a piece off the wall, it pulled the paper right off the drywall.

Very strong stuff.

-Gary.

asem111

05-17-06, 11:56 PM

Great job with the HT. I love the color of the walls..I did a similar faux finish on mine as well with similar colors (just a tad bit darker).

Once again...great job and enjoy watching movies! I'm sure you'll love it.

jandawil

05-18-06, 10:51 AM

Thanks Asem. Your theater looks great!! You gave me a great idea also with your corner columns for your speakers. I'm going to steal it and that will be my solution for my bass traps in the back corners. Very nice finished look. You'll really like that Goo screen even more after a couple weeks. I think it's a great combo with the Panny. Nice choice on your sub as well. I have the Klipsch KSW12 in my living room with a Klipsch 5.1 setup. Great sub for the money.

TIMMEH

05-19-06, 12:16 PM

Jon, not sure about using the green glue yet. Hell I don't know if the builders are going to be willing to double up the sheetrock for me yet.

jandawil

05-19-06, 05:07 PM

Jon, not sure about using the green glue yet. Hell I don't know if the builders are going to be willing to double up the sheetrock for me yet.

I hear ya. Some builders don't do "out of the box" stuff. You could always have them do the first layer, than you can do GG and the second layer, and than have them do the finishing which is the hardest part of all of it. Just a thought, although if they are doing your entire house that may be difficult.

swithey

05-20-06, 11:00 PM

Jon,

Nice job on the theater. I'm jealous you are enjoying yours NOW. The wife is bugging me daily to get mine done. Planning to work on it all day tomorrow.

jandawil

05-21-06, 09:48 PM

Jon,

Nice job on the theater. I'm jealous you are enjoying yours NOW. The wife is bugging me daily to get mine done. Planning to work on it all day tomorrow.

Thanks Steve. I am enjoying it a lot, maybe too much. There is still some work to be done and I am too busy watching movies. Mostly finishing details but that makes a lot of difference. Also will build the riser next pay day and than save the $$ for seating. At least with the riser in I can just set up chairs and have 6-8 view comfortably. HVAC guy is coming in this week to pump in our central swamp cooling so that will be nice. It gets warm in there all closed up. I am looking forward to seeing yours when it is done.

swithey

06-08-06, 11:44 AM

Here are some more finished pics with some pretty good screen shots IMHO..enjoy......

Here is one taken from the back/rt of the room....
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/front_left.jpg

Jon,

Had a few questions about your faux finish on your wall if you don't mind.

1) Looks like you did a bright yellow with a reddish orange top coat. Is the top coat mixed in with a glaze or just regular paint?

2) If you did the glaze option, does it seem really shiny?

3) If you did the plain paint option, what sheen did you use for the top and bottom coat?

4) The colors you picked look great but was wondering if the brighter nature of the colors reflect light back on the screen (effecting the blacks and color depth)?

5) Does any reflection you get off the wall when viewing a movie distract you (at your seat) in any way?

I'm asking all these questions as we are thinking about doing a faux finish in our room. To make the faux finish work well, I must use a glaze. The glaze adds quite a bit of shine. If we decide not to do the faux finish and just paint the walls a solid color, the paint color is more of a medium intensity and was worried about light reflection.

Any help would be appreciated.

jandawil

06-08-06, 01:54 PM

Jon,

Had a few questions about your faux finish on your wall if you don't mind.

1) Looks like you did a bright yellow with a reddish orange top coat. Is the top coat mixed in with a glaze or just regular paint?

2) If you did the glaze option, does it seem really shiny?

3) If you did the plain paint option, what sheen did you use for the top and bottom coat?

4) The colors you picked look great but was wondering if the brighter nature of the colors reflect light back on the screen (effecting the blacks and color depth)?

5) Does any reflection you get off the wall when viewing a movie distract you (at your seat) in any way?

I'm asking all these questions as we are thinking about doing a faux finish in our room. To make the faux finish work well, I must use a glaze. The glaze adds quite a bit of shine. If we decide not to do the faux finish and just paint the walls a solid color, the paint color is more of a medium intensity and was worried about light reflection.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hey Steve:

1) Looks like you did a bright yellow with a reddish orange top coat. Is the top coat mixed in with a glaze or just regular paint? - I rolled a beige bass coat and than "ragged" on a pumpkin colored middle coat and than mixed the rust with faux glaze and ragged it on as well. It took some experimentation. If I had to do it over again I would have skipped the beige, rolled the pumpkin and than ragged the rust. Ideally the rust was supposed to be rolled on and be transparent enough for the middle coat to show through, but I think we got the ratios wrong on the glaze so while wiping it off we liked the look and went with it.

2) If you did the glaze option, does it seem really shiny? - Not at all

3) If you did the plain paint option, what sheen did you use for the top and bottom coat? - They were all flat.

4) The colors you picked look great but was wondering if the brighter nature of the colors reflect light back on the screen (effecting the blacks and color depth)? Thanks. I don't feel it's bright at all but you could go darker and be OK. I don't notice any reflections and the black ceiling and black front wall make for a really dark movie experience where the screen disappears in a sea of black which is what I was going for. Even with a good amount of ambient light it has a dark appearance near the screen. There are occasions where I may want it fairly bright thus the medium dark colors on the wall. The flash from the photos really make it look much lighter than it actually is. Look at some of the no flash photos for a more accurate idea.

5) Does any reflection you get off the wall when viewing a movie distract you (at your seat) in any way? - I don't notice any reflections.

Basically if my room was for pure HT and nothing else I would have gone slightly darker. I am very pleased with it now though and everyone who sees it loves it. I also use it for drumming and if I have friends over to play a little music I like the lights up. When my back seating is in (hopefully this weekend) I'll hang my acoustic panels which are black and it will darken the room up a little as well. I also need to get some decorative stuff on the walls like movie pictures, DTS/THX swag, and that will spice it up some as well. I am enjoying watching your room come together. Keep it up. You'll be enjoying the fruits of your labor before you know it.

swithey

06-08-06, 05:42 PM

jandawil

06-08-06, 06:04 PM

Thanks Jon. One the glaze, did you get the rust color pre-mixed in with the glaze or did you mix it yourself? If you did, what brand glaze did you use? We were looking at the Ralph Lauren and it does have a pretty good shine to it even when dry. I also tried it with a flat paint for the base.

hmmm...I still have the can at home, but I can't remember the name. We mixed it ourselves. I can check and get back to you. They all look pretty shinny in the can.

swithey

06-08-06, 06:09 PM

hmmm...I still have the can at home, but I can't remember the name. We mixed it ourselves. I can check and get back to you. They all look pretty shinny in the can.
Thanks for looking. Also, do you remember the ratio of glaze to paint?

jandawil

06-08-06, 06:15 PM

Thanks for looking. Also, do you remember the ratio of glaze to paint?

It should be 50/50 for a glaze look if I remember correctly. My wife's friend mixed it and it was probably more like 2/3 paint and 1/3 glaze which is why it was not transparent. I dare say the glaze would not be necessary accept it made it smooth and easier to wipe off for the desired look we wanted. Again, the whole thing turned out like it did accidentally.

swithey

06-12-06, 11:04 AM

It should be 50/50 for a glaze look if I remember correctly. My wife's friend mixed it and it was probably more like 2/3 paint and 1/3 glaze which is why it was not transparent. I dare say the glaze would not be necessary accept it made it smooth and easier to wipe off for the desired look we wanted. Again, the whole thing turned out like it did accidentally.
Thanks Jon. We ultimately decided to go with a solid color. We tried different faux techniques, colors, etc for 4 eves and finally decided on our colors. The painters are here today texturing the walls and will paint tomorrow.

Thanks again for the info.

Steve

jandawil

06-27-06, 05:22 PM

After a few weeks of sitting around and watching movies, I build my riser over the weekend and got the top covered with carpet. I still have to finish the carpet and clean it up but I am happy with how it turned out. It's 9.5 feet wide by 5' deep. It's 10 3/4" high with 2X10 construction and 3/4 plywood. Very solid feeling. I'll post pictures tonight after the carpet id finished. Just thought I'd post since it's bee a while.

RAPTORHT

08-09-06, 04:11 PM

jandawil

08-09-06, 04:33 PM

Jon,

I just finished reading your thread. The theatre looks great!

I've been through SandmanX's and Mr. Ps construction thread, which are both amazing, but yours has been the most helpful as it more reasonably fits into my (and probably most others') HT budget.

Just wondering if you had new pics of your riser and carpeting that you could post. Have you considered transducers for the riser?

Thanks for the kind words. Those other 2 threads are great for motivation as they are beautiful theaters, but have little use in reality for my (our) budgets. I'm glad it was helpful to you. I actually just finished carpeting the sides of the riser last night. Only the top was carpeted prior to that. I've been pretty busy. I will post some updated pics this weekend as I am heading out of town tonight until Friday. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll answer them the best I can.

jandawil

08-15-06, 10:36 PM

Well after much delay I finally finished and carpeted my riser for the back row. I was in no hurry since I don't have seats yet, but now at least I can bring some in from the living room if we do a movie night and everyone can see. Here are a couple of pics:

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/riser1.jpg

Notice the velcro strips on the wall...they did not hold my acoustic panels so I need to go another route. The industrial velcro holds fine, but the adhesive will not stick to the panels after time.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/riser2.jpg

When money permits (like it ever does :( ) I will complete the seating with a nice leather sofa.

Chiahead

08-15-06, 11:34 PM

can you forget the adhesive on the velcro, and use brads or staples to attach the velcro to the walls or panels?

jandawil

08-16-06, 01:34 AM

can you forget the adhesive on the velcro, and use brads or staples to attach the velcro to the walls or panels?

That's actually a great idea. I should be able to find a stud to attach it to the wall and than staple it to the panels. I can make that work I think. Thanks for the suggestion.

mderka

09-05-06, 08:53 PM

Use these to attach acoustic panels to walls. Super easy to do and they're solid as a rock:

http://www.rotofast.com/

jandawil

02-10-07, 04:37 PM

Hey everyone, It's been a while since my last post. I finally got a black leather sofa for my rear row of seating after having the riser sitting there empty for 6 months. I can now seat 6 comfortably and I like the look of it. Here is a pic of it now:
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f71/jandawil/COUCH.jpg

There is still some work I want to do like some nicer looking fabric frames on the walls for my acoustic treatment but that will be in a couple months or so. As of now we are still enjoying the heck out of it and now I don't have to drag chairs in there when we have guests over.

Cilent1

02-10-07, 04:58 PM

Looks very nice. Congrats Jon, looks like all your hard work paid off. Enjoy!!

phantomxc

02-10-07, 11:12 PM

I love the colors of the walls. Looks Great!

Kal Rubinson

02-11-07, 10:52 AM

can you forget the adhesive on the velcro, and use brads or staples to attach the velcro to the walls or panels?Or use RotoFast connectors. Small, strong and unobtrusive.

Milt99

02-11-07, 03:01 PM

Or use RotoFast connectors. Small, strong and unobtrusive. God I wish I would've known about these when I did my door section.

jandawil

02-11-07, 07:51 PM

Or use RotoFast connectors. Small, strong and unobtrusive.

Thanks for the kind words guys. Actually I am going to redo my panels. They just look functional only and don't look that great. I think I am going to copy another person I saw and get some nice picture frames or art frames and use those with some nicer fabric to make decorative frames to place over the linacoustic. I am not quite sure how to do that and am not sure if there are frames deep enough to place 1" thick material behind. If anyone knows of anything I am open to suggestions.

sharerware

03-01-07, 12:21 AM

johnnykretentiv

03-01-07, 06:28 AM

Accoustic treatments cover up things very nicely :)

jandawil

03-01-07, 10:34 AM

Jon, (or anyone that's used a faux finish before)

Here's a question regarding the faux finish you applied to your walls. How do you repair nicks and gouges in the wall without it looking like a repair. It seems to me than any repair to a faux finish would be obvious. I want to do something similar to my walls like what you've done, but I'm hesitating due to this question. Any insight??

I actually have had to repair some after pealing adhesive tape off my walls. I saved some of the top coat with the faux glaze mixed in and I just ragged it on. It blended very nicely. If there was a lot of white exposed I would probably rag on some of the bottom coat which is a sort of pumpkin color and than rag on the top coat after it dries.

Cathan

03-01-07, 01:30 PM

I actually have had to repair some after pealing adhesive tape off my walls. I saved some of the top coat with the faux glaze mixed in and I just ragged it on. It blended very nicely. If there was a lot of white exposed I would probably rag on some of the bottom coat which is a sort of pumpkin color and than rag on the top coat after it dries.

As long as you save paint from all faux finish stages you should be able to blend and repair areas. The few times I've done it only I knew where the hole use to be. But be warned, it's not easy. I often had to redo the area a couple of times before I got it to look right. Because of this I wouldn't recommend doing faux finishes in any really high traffic areas if you are particularly anal.

Overtone

09-14-07, 01:25 PM

So cool!

jandawil

09-14-07, 01:58 PM

Thanks appreciate that. It's been a while since this thread has come up. I'm actually starting HT 2.0 next month. Mostly just a face lift with some additional acoustic treatment. I'm going to paint my trim and doors semi-gloss black and also do a chair rail 4' high in black. I'm also going to paint the lower half of the walls flat black and than hang some Ready Acoustic pannels in black against the black wall so they don't stick out. I've never liked the look of the black panels on my regular painted wall. Hopefully it won't look like too much black and I'll still have enough color on the walls to make it not look like too much of a cave. If it's too much black than I'll still do the trim and doors in black, but I'll skip painting the walls and just hope it looks good. We'll see. If anyone out there has seen a setup like this and can direct me too some pictures I'd appreciate that. Thanks....