The house was burnt down in 1985 and we bought the property from the county for about $20,000. We have been basically building a new house there since 2003 and are almost done. 3600sqft 2 story house in southwest Miami-Dade.

The room is about 22'x15', all concrete construction. I plan on doing a riser for a second row of seating.

We are basically done with the soffit frame which is 4'x1.5'.


Looking from front to back:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_DSCF0020.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0020.jpg)

Back to front:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_DSCF0019.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0019.jpg)

A side shot so you can see most of the space there.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_DSCF0018.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0018.jpg)

That window WILL be drywalled over!




In an effort to keep things organized here are the most up-to-date plans for the theater. Hell, we started this project thinking we would just use our original 70" SDTV and a HTIB... probably Bose *shriek*. Needless to say I have been enlightened by the guys here at AVS and HTGuide... The whole South Florida DIY crew, HTGuide DIY peeps, the DIY old-timers, and the IB Cult!

PJ: Some sort of 1080p digital PJ, they are just getting more affordable and easy to use and replace.

Screen: ~125-130" SmX 720 AT screen

Speakers L/C/R: Identical vertical towers DIY Khanspires WMTMW

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_IMG_44172.jpg (http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/?action=view&current=IMG_44172.jpg)

Speakers Surrounds: Bookshelf speakers, DIY Dayton Reference RS225/RS28A

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_RS225_2wy.jpg (http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/?action=view&current=RS225_2wy.jpg)

Subwoofage: Four MJ18" subs in an Infinite Baffle alignment. Inside of soffit serves as box.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_DSCF0073.jpg (http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/?action=view&current=DSCF0073.jpg)

Pre/pro: Onkyo 805

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_41JqxOHmfUL_SS400_.jpg (http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/?action=view&current=41JqxOHmfUL_SS400_.jpg)

Amplification: 6500 watts of separate amplifiers.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_amps.png (http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/?action=view&current=amps.png)

Acoustic plan:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/theater-new.jpg

Yellow-Absorbtion Blue-Diffusion


(There are plenty of design changes along the way and the plans continue to get refined as we get farther along in the project, the above lists the most recent changes in design and/or permanent changes)

Good luck with the theater, keep the pics coming.

Good luck with the theater, keep the pics coming.

I will, we still have to install those high-hat channels which go perpendicular to the top beams on the higher part of the ceiling.

I plan on stuffing alot of those fiberglass batts in the cavities, and then doubling up the 5/8" drywall sandwiched with GG.

I did some very simple drawings with all the right dimensions using AutoCAD and Photoshop.

Clickable thumbnails:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_ht_layoutfinal.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/ht_layoutfinal.jpg)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_ht-Model.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/ht-Model.jpg)

Here is the very basic layout and front view.

The mains are about 3-4' from the front wall angled inwards and the center channel is mounted on the front face of the soffit angled downwards. I am going to go with the Acoustech system and dual H100 subwoofers in the table behind the back row.

The screen is going to be about 140" and the front row is just over one screen length away. We are going to go with a Sony G70 (or equivalent) CRT projector.

The back table is going to be a combination
DVD cabinet / Component cabinet / HTPC desk / Space to put the two subs on either sides / Control area for the PJ

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, DISREGARD THIS POST ENTIRELY!

buddy what did i tell you about those side surrounds. 2/3 between front row and back row.

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, DISREGARD THIS POST ENTIRELY!



buddy what did i tell you about those side surrounds. 2/3 between front row and back row.
Yes, I have changed it, just have been too lazy to edit the picture.

UPDATE:

Here is some of the equipment being very seriously considered (or already bought), and any room design updates.

Audio:
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V2600 or Yamaha RX-V2500
Speakers: BIC Acoustech (2 large mains, 1 center, 4 surround)
Subwoofer: DIY RythmikAudio servo subwoofer (already bought). Considering buying a second kit sometime in the near future.

Video:
PJ: Sony G70 CRT projector
Screen: DIY Blackout cloth

Room Design Updates:
Floor: Nice thick carpet
Walls: Dont know if I need wall treatments yet, but prepared to do DIY absorbers.
Ceiling and In-Ceiling: Ceiling drywall will be double 5/8" with GG. Soffits will be stuffed with fiberglass batt insulation. PJ might have its own enclosure under the soffit which will vent DIRECTLY to the central AC return duct which is located inside the soffit.

Screen: DIY Blackout cloth
I can highly recommend painting it with the Behr Ultra White paint. I made my screen from BOC, used that for a long time. Then did a comparison by bringing back from the store one of the sample swatches, propped it up against my screen and projected a gray scale image. The Behr Ulra White was noticably brighter, so i painted the whole screen, and that resulted in a brighter picture. Well worth it IMO. (I had a picture somewhere of a comparison of the two, but i can't find it, otherwise i could show you.)

Some more updates on design changes.

Looking to do DIY acoustically transparent screen (like sandmanx has) and put DIY absorbers on the side walls.

There was also going to be a false fireplace to hide the room underneath the stairs. We decided to turn the room under the stairs into the equipent room.

edit: updated design, no more eqpt room under stairs, will be put under projector

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, DISREGARD most of the post!

Ok guys, HUGE design update. We got the inspiration to change our layout by a recent AVS g2g so I will present the design and explain all the crap on it.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/theater-model.jpg
Front screen is acoustically transparent and juts out ~9-10" to accommodate the mains and center. The four boxes are the four rclining loveseats we will get. We decided to completely cover the back window permanently after seeing the effect any ambient light has on PJ image. We want to go Sony G70 or Ampro 4600.

Basically on the back are two big media shelves, both 6' x 6'. The big ugly box in the rear middle is going to be an AV closet. Its dimensions are 6'H x 3'W x 4'D. It will be completely flush with the soffit in terms of depth. There will be a door on each side to access everything in the AV closet. Everything will be completely sealed off from the outside environment so there will be no noise coming from the closet.

VENTILATION
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_theater-ventilation.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/theater-ventilation.jpg)
There are two 8" AC ducts blowing into the room as well as two ceiling fans (shown in the next photo). We designed the AV closet to be flush with the soffit so that we could ventilate it without any fans.

We have the AC return duct in the soffit on the right side (not in picture), so we will have a duct at the top of the AV closet connected to the AC return so it will naturally suck in all the air in the AV closet. That led us to the new dilemna of how to introduce cool air into the AV closet without using a louvered door. So we decided to put a vent in front of the platform, and run a duct underneath the platform and then enter the AV closet at the bottom.

So all the equipment is cooled and easy to get to without the use of any fans or louvred doors. And all the AC that blows up in the room HAS TO enter through that vent and through the AV closet to go to the ruturn vent.

SPEAKERS
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_theater-speakers.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/theater-speakers.jpg)
So the basic 7.1 layout is here. I am going to use two Rythmik servo subwoofers in sealed enclosure and corner loaded. The mains and center is behind the screen.
The side and rear surrounds are on the walls underneath the soffits. All wiring is hidden. Both rear corners will be bass traps. There will be absorbers on all walls.

CEILING
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_theater-inceiling.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/theater-inceiling.jpg)
Here you can see where the lights and fans are located on the ceiling. The rear light is located there so that it lights up the AV closet



Everything all in one
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_theater-compiled.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/theater-compiled.jpg)

I am having my theater rendered by a friend so expect renders and walkthrough videos in a week or two.

Some more rough renders

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_theater13.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/theater13.jpg)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_theater10.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/theater10.jpg)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/th_theater11.jpg (http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/theater11.jpg)

Hey man, this looks great! Have you run any numbers for RT60 or room modes to see if it looks like it will sound good? You are very lucky to be able to build from scratch like this. Looking forward to seeing the final stages and then you can have all the SF nuts over!

Chuck

Hey man, this looks great! Have you run any numbers for RT60 or room modes to see if it looks like it will sound good? You are very lucky to be able to build from scratch like this. Looking forward to seeing the final stages and then you can have all the SF nuts over!

Chuck

Well I plan on getting an AT screen and putting identical DIY L/C/R speakers behind it as well as treating the front wall behind the screen. Since the subs will both be in the rear corners, I have made those parts of the corners a giant floor to ceiling bass trap. I also plan on making the area underneath the platform a bass trap also (I'll make openings on the front part of the platform.) The side walls will also be treated with DIY absorber panels and maybe some diffusor panels.

Though we have been working alot more on the exterior of the house and prepping it for hurricane season, expect alot more work done soon. We haven't even finished painting it, gotten a front door, driveway, columns, but at least the roofers finished installing the tiles!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/th_stevenfishingtrip5-2-06081.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/stevenfishingtrip5-2-06081.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/th_stevenfishingtrip5-2-06079.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/stevenfishingtrip5-2-06079.jpg)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/th_stevenfishingtrip5-2-06077.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/stevenfishingtrip5-2-06077.jpg)

I think we need to have a SF AVS House Party to go over your designs when you've taken care of the other silly stuff, like doors and such. I'll bring the calibrated mic and SPL meter!

Chuck

Well we finished framing the entrance to the theater. Basically the front part will have the old style marquee. The 'tunnel' that goes to the theater will look like something from a castle or a mine. The ceiling of the tunnel will be tongue and groove wood panels and will be stained cherry red (to match the kitchen cabinets). The walls will be a light colored stone. The two columns will be dressed in the same colored stone at the base and at the top, the rest of the middle will be covered by a cherry veneer.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/outside.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/side.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/closefront.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/Close.jpg


And this is looking out from the inside of the theater.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/lookingout.jpg


We are also going to make the door in the same shape that the roof is (an angled arch). It is going to be stained cherry and will look like a rustic castle door complete with clavos and straps. The work is going slow but it is going.

We decided that cherry stain was too light so we went with a red mahogany stain. Here we tested on the columns outside the HT. Most likely the columns are going to be covered up anyways so it is not our final.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/Column.jpg

Here is the completed frame for the door, the frame will be stained the same red mahogany that the columns are. We started on the inside panels for the rustic looking door but I didn't take any pictures of it yet; I want to surprise all of you when it is complete.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/Frame.jpg

We framed the front wall with 2x2's as furring strips since overkill is normal for us. (We poured our staircase and our interior walls are reinforced concrete!) I also took the time to map out where the screen will be. I can fit a 9'x5' screen there. The room is a mess so I can't get any decent pictures there.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/Screenback.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/Screen.jpg

Here is the door and frame completely unfinished.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/unfinisheddoor.jpg

Here's a picture with the door stained Red Mahogany and varnished (3 coats of Satin Clear). I still need to varnish the other side and then give it a few passes of steel wool to dull the shine a bit.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/door2.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/door1.jpg

What a neat entrance! I like the door shape. Very unique. I like reddish stains on wood. A winner! What kind of wood is the door made of? Looks like a knotty pine.

What a neat entrance! I like the door shape. Very unique. I like reddish stains on wood. A winner! What kind of wood is the door made of? Looks like a knotty pine.

Believe it or not, but the wood that was used for the construction of the door is just standard white pine for the panels and yellow pine for the planks. For about $50 we made the door. We still need to get the clavos and straps to complete the dungeon look. The door is not going to stay shut by a regular knob closer, it will use magnets to hold it closed. I also have a surprise for the handle we are going to get for it, but it will definitely make it different.

Here is an example of a door with similar accessories:

http://www.wildwesthardware.com/doorpulls/JimB_door%20copy.jpg

Chris, lookin good!
Thought about IB? :D

Chris, lookin good!
Thought about IB? :D

Nope, Im going with dual rythmiks in the front right under the screen.

I dont have enough space to sacrifice for IB. I figure the dual rythmiks should really fill up my <3000cuft room.

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, DISREGARD THIS POST ENTIRELY!

but IB takes up no room space :confused:

but IB takes up no room space :confused:

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, DISREGARD THIS POST ENTIRELY! Move to later pages!

Well, sort of.

It takes up other room's space. If I was to put an IB setup I would have just used the ceiling, but in my case, the theater is directly below grandma's room. I know she cant hear to well but I think she might freak out when her room starts shaking.

One of the major reasons I put in a soffit was to A: cover the AC duct and B: make some more space between the theater and the other rooms. Although every single square inch of wall, floor, and ceiling (floor of the 2nd story) is all reinforced concrete, I still dont want any leaking to occur to the rooms.

We even made the stairway completely solid concrete so we wouldn't have to hear the footsteps in the theater. The wall that seperates the theater from the grand room is 8" of COMPLETELY solid reinforced concrete, on that same wall is where the straight staircase is, which is about 4 feet wide of solid reinforced concrete, and then we have a wall covering half the stairway which is also 8" of COMPLETELY solid reinforced concrete.

Besides, I already have a rythmik kit. :p

I hear ya, can't do an IB with Granny so close...lol

The DS12 TC would make a great IB driver IMO. You want a low Qts driver for IB, like the Ds12 TC (.472) or lower. A few Rythmik kits (or at least 4 drivers w/ maybe one or two 350 watt amps) would make an awesome IB IMO. Im just itching for someone to try it out :-) don't mind me...;)

A few updates to this thread:

First off, I have decided to get a SINGLE vented 15" subwoofer (Which Rythmik Audio is currently developing). Then to take care of the really low frequencies down to 5hz I am going with dual buttkickers. The platform will also be modified so that there will be two levels of platform.

The first platform will be the first row of seating and the area where the sofas are located are going to be seperate from the rest of the platform ( to accommodate the Buttkicker so it will have less mass to vibrate.

The second platform will be for the back row of seating and there will also be a section of the platform which will vibrate, which is where the seating will be. Here is an image to help visualize what I am saying.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/ht-buttkicker.jpg





Also, I have decided to just fill up the entire ceiling cavity and soffit space with blown fiberglass insulation as well as double drywall with green glue on the ceiling to reduce sound going through.

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, DISREGARD THIS POST ENTIRELY! I know, it does have a pretty drawing... DISREGARD IT!

After visiting Chasw98 and getting some FR graphs of the Rythmik 12" (which is no slouch for being a sealed 12" subwoofer), we talked about an IB installation and using the garage as the empty space.

If only there was someone in South Florida that had an IB installation I could listen too!

Chris:
Go to the Cult of the Infinitely Baffled (http://home.comcast.net/~infinitelybaffled/) website. They have a map of IB owners that are willing to show their IB's off. I know of at least one on Florida's East Coast.

PS - The mic is not calibrated, it just has very flat response.

Chuck

Chris:
Go to the Cult of the Infinitely Baffled (http://home.comcast.net/~infinitelybaffled/) website. They have a map of IB owners that are willing to show their IB's off. I know of at least one on Florida's East Coast.

PS - The mic is not calibrated, it just has very flat response.

Chuck

I've had a thread running since I got to my house :p

http://ibsubwoofers.proboards51.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=projects&thread=1154298002&page=1

Im now considering quad 18" IB and the buttkickers as it will still keep me in budget. Placement of the drivers would be downfiring as a line-array from the bottom of the soffit in front of the screen.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/IBidea.jpg

poor grandma... ;)

Here are some drivers I have modeled. This is max power handling max output with four drivers.

The least expensive is the 18" driver from Mach 5 Audio at about $100/driver. This yeilds about 10 liters of air being swept.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/machfive18.jpg


Here is the values plugged in for a prototype IB driver being created by Hawthorne Audio. Close to $800/ quad drivers. If I went with these I would need to scrap the buttkickers cause budget wouldn't work. This yeilds about 13 liters of air being swept.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/hawthorne18.jpg

poor grandma... ;)

I figure the concrete shouldnt flex TOO much, that is an extreme amount of mass to shake so it shouldnt be too bad.

I figure the concrete shouldnt flex TOO much, that is an extreme amount of mass to shake so it shouldnt be too bad.

Point taken.

Point taken.

But if I can find a cheaper way to get shipping from Canada, I'm gonna order 8 18" woofers and tell her to buckle up! :p

Quad 18 IB concept.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/IB-concept1.jpg

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, THIS CHANGED SLIGHTLY

Cool that you are going with IB setup. I'm also thinking of the same setup similar to what you are planning, 4x18" drivers. For the amp, they recommended me EP2500 and the BFD(feedback destroyer). What amp are you planning to use?

Please let me know how it will sound. It's because I'm still worried, an IB user is having a hardtime setting up his IB. His thread made me worried.

Btw, cool plans on your HT. ;)

Cool that you are going with IB setup. I'm also thinking of the same setup similar to what you are planning, 4x18" drivers. For the amp, they recommended me EP2500 and the BFD(feedback destroyer). What amp are you planning to use?

Please let me know how it will sound. It's because I'm still worried, an IB user is having a hardtime setting up his IB. His thread made me worried.

Btw, cool plans on your HT. ;)

The same amp you were recommended.

Chris:
Did you ever calculate the cubic feet of the soffet that will act as the enclosure?

Chuck

Chris:
Did you ever calculate the cubic feet of the soffet that will act as the enclosure?

Chuck

No, because the soffit is just one small part of the whole enclosure. The 'enclosure' actually continues out of the theater into the laundry room attic, garage attic, and playroom attic. Theres PLENTY of volume in there. I havent spent time really measuring and calculating the empty space but there is alot of it.

Doing some rough estimates on my calculator I get an estimated 2800-3300 cubic feet.

~80,000 liter - 93,500 liter



EDIT: I will be buying the screen material as soon as the order page is up and running for SMX-720 Acoustically Transparent screen.
http://www.smxscreen.com/

What's this liter thing? Can you explain please in layman's term?

What's this liter thing? Can you explain please in layman's term?

Liters is just the metric measurement of volume. I just put both so people who aren't from US understand the measurement.

1 cubic foot = 28.317 liters

Doing some rough estimates on my calculator I get an estimated 2800-3300 cubic feet.

~80,000 liter - 93,500 liter



Actually, cubic feet should be converted to cubic meters for measurement of volume.
2800 cu. ft. = 79,24 cu. m.
3300 cu. ft. = 93,39 cu. m.

According to my conversion program...

Liters is primarily used with liquids. Thanks for thinking of the metric dudes, though.. :)

My how this thread and my plans really changed.

When I first started this theater I was ready to buy a sony HTIB system and some junk digital PJ. Now I'm going with DIY speakers, 4x18" IB sub, AT screen, and some good components!

My how this thread and my plans really changed.

When I first started this theater I was ready to buy a sony HTIB system and some junk digital PJ. Now I'm going with DIY speakers, 4x18" IB sub, AT screen, and some good components!

Do it once and do it right, quality materials first time around last longer and cost less in the long run. But, the way you are throwing concrete around makes me guess that you already know this :cool:

I just ordered 4 yards of SmX-720 screen material. It was $450 so it's not breaking the bank at all.

http://www.smxscreen.com/

I really wanted to do an AT screen so I could have a larger screen as well as have identical WWMT towers for the L/C/R. After looking at commercial AT screens, the price for my screen size was just ridiculous.

After plenty of searching and researching, I came across the smx screen. It is a lot more affordable and from the VERY extensive testing which has been conducted on the screen, it performs spectacular for the price of it. (I'm not gonna spend $10,000 on a screen that does slightly better with video and about 2db better in audio tests)

I'll let you all know when it comes in.

I just ordered 4 yards of SmX-720 screen material. It was $450 so it's not breaking the bank at all.

http://www.smxscreen.com/

I really wanted to do an AT screen so I could have a larger screen as well as have identical WWMT towers for the L/C/R. After looking at commercial AT screens, the price for my screen size was just ridiculous.

After plenty of searching and researching, I came across the smx screen. It is a lot more affordable and from the VERY extensive testing which has been conducted on the screen, it performs spectacular for the price of it. (I'm not gonna spend $10,000 on a screen that does slightly better with video and about 2db better in audio tests)

I'll let you all know when it comes in.

What is the screen that costs $10k and does slightly better than SmX in the video department?

Ruben

What is the screen that costs $10k and does slightly better than SmX in the video department?

Ruben

It was an exaggeration, I just made up some extreme price for the sake of comparison.

Why did you say steel wool dulls the shine? I thought it did the opposite...

Why did you say steel wool dulls the shine? I thought it did the opposite...

Nope, its just like a really fine abrasive.

Update for 9-6-06

It took a few weeks to show up but the material for the screen showed up. 4 yards of SmX-720. The new shipping method is absolutely perfect, the screens are now being shipped on hard cores to prevent damage as well as have plenty of padding.

Here's some hard DATA for you naysayers and DIY haters.

The Gain of the SmX Sound Screen is 1.16 (1.2).
SMX is currently the highest gain weaved audio transparent movie screen on the market.
This means you can now go bigger on screen size with a lower lumen projector.

• Guaranteed Moiré Free with all Digital and CRT projectors
• Acoustically Transparent - Needs No EQ
• No Hot Spotting
• No Sparklies
• Clear Consistant Bright Vibrant Image from Edge to Edge
• 160 Degree Viewing Angle
• Black Backing is Not needed for most situations.

To compare gain: SMX has a gain of 1.16; Studiotek 130 w/Microperf has about 1.2 gain; CP2 is at .85 gain.

http://www.smxscreen.com/images/DSC09487sm.jpg



On the otherhand, some information of other aspects of the theater construction.

The electrical for all the amplifiers and other devices in the theater will have it's own dedicated 100amp circuit.

As many of you may know, IB drivers have come in.

Testing of the IB will be sometime this week on an open bafle, actual install won't be until January or February.

I also want to do a star ceiling, I just need to figure out a place to get the bundle of wires. And where to get the illuminator.

Actually, cubic feet should be converted to cubic meters for measurement of volume.
According to my conversion program...
Liters is primarily used with liquids. Thanks for thinking of the metric dudes, though.. :)

Well, your conversion program sucks then.

We don't have different units of volume for measuring different things.

1000 liters is 1 m3, so writing 93000 liters is exactly the same as saying 93m3 and noone is going to be confused by it (well, except the few people from the 3 nations in the world that hasn't switched to SI already).

Moving the comma around in metric comes very natural when you have used SI all your life, so people tend to choose a suitable magnitude automatically, I actually read his post as "93 cubic-meters".

It's really nice to see some SI units, it makes the thread much easier to follow, btw.

It's really nice to see some SI units, it makes the thread much easier to follow, btw.

I always think of my European cousins!
Just because I like your funny accents. :p


So anybody know wheres a good place online to get a fiber-optic starfeild ceiling?

Any new pictures of the room (castle)?

Well for the theater, I've got some sad news for you all. We are going to frame it and drywall it like a regular room to pass final inspection. Then after all the county inspectors finally leave and give us the go-ahead to live in the house, we are going to completely tear apart everything in the theater and go with our plans we had.

Actual theater construction will happen around January and be done around the end of January, february.

As for the rest of the house progress, we are going to try for rough electrical in the next week or so.

Wow, that seems like a shame! Anyway you could get as close as possible with ... wait a minute ... why can't you just leave the room unfinished?? My theater room was unfinished when we built the house and we didn't finish it until 4 years later (I had a bedroom I finished 1 year ago as well).

Mike

Wow, that seems like a shame! Anyway you could get as close as possible with ... wait a minute ... why can't you just leave the room unfinished?? My theater room was unfinished when we built the house and we didn't finish it until 4 years later (I had a bedroom I finished 1 year ago as well).

Mike

Well, um, we are sort of going to leave it unfinished. For the final inspection it will just be a regular room.

Then inspectors leave.

We tear out all the drywall we put up, start tearing apart the soffit to make room for the IB, out in all our acoustic paneling, drywall, carpet, platform, electronics, etc....

So you can't just leave it framed with some electrical in (that's what my room had)? Then I just had to move the electrical around, insulate, run cabling, drywall w/GG, etc, etc. It just seems painful to have to pay to drywall twice...

Mike

Nope, county inspectors require the room to be completely drywalled to pass final inspection of the house.

We aren't paying anyone to do the drywall, though. Just me, my dad, and my brother are building the house. It really isn't that much work to take down the drywall.

That helps.

Well we finished the framing of the room. Of course the window will be covered also after anspection and any neccessary changes to the furring strips will be done after final inspection. We also have 2 cat5e running to theater. By the end of construction, all rooms will have at least 2 or 3 network cables... even the kitchen. (sorry, no bathrooms)

All furring strips are 1.5" thick. They are first glued with sub-flooring adhesive, then nailed to the concrete, stubborn peices were either shot in place or used tapcon to hold it.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC00243.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC00242.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC00241.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC00240.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC00239.jpg

The next step is insulation, all the walls in the theater will have 1.5" of rigid fiberglass in-between the furring strips and seperate foil on top of that. The ceiling will have loads of fiberglass batts.

Of course the fiberglass in the walls is there so when we pass final inspection, we can take off the drywall where we need to and have absorbtion panels flush with the drywall.

Chris, I am not sure why, but some of the pictures are coming through fine and others are not.

BTW, I like your hand sketches!

Chris, I am not sure why, but some of the pictures are coming through fine and others are not.

BTW, I like your hand sketches!

Fixed...

Thank you, I try my best to convey my ideas with a pencil and paper.

I finally got my digital SPL meter (Radioshack) :D

Since I have my 4 18" woofers downstairs and I can run them full-range from the reciever.


The ambient noise did not even register on the SPL meter at <50db without any drywall or insulation on the walls. All the walls, floor and 2nd floor decking above are pored concrete.

115db can be reached easily at seating position (12' // 3.6m) in-room with only the 4 18" woofers full-range (that's only at 40w/driver). (I was able to get 125db peaks at 12' // 3.6m)

Upstairs (without any drywall or insulation) I was getting ~85db. So I'm getting a 30db reduction just by having the concrete walls and decking.

Chris:
Did you run pink noise or just play some music and turn it up?

Chuck

PS - You only need 30 db more reduction to make the upstairs a comfortable light listening room! :)

Chris:
Did you run pink noise or just play some music and turn it up?

Chuck

PS - You only need 30 db more reduction to make the upstairs a comfortable light listening room! :)

Gosh don't you just love when you finish typing a long post then the internet goes haywire and you lose all your typing.......... [ :mad: ] I will paraphrase my lost post.

So yeah, i was just blasting a song there on the radio that had a melody of a Bass Guitar until I read about 120-125db nearfield then walked back to listening position and got readings of about 110-115db. I then walked upstairs and took a reading of the room directly above the theater and got the 85db reading. Keep in mind there have been NO interior doors installed in the house except for the theater door which was NOT closed during the readings so I could possibly get 20db lower readings when just the interior doors are installed.

We plan on stuffing most of the ceiling void with R-30 fluffy pink junk. And on the sides of the joists we plan on putting rigid fiberglass on like a sort of baffle. We are gonna be going with Greenglue on the studs where the drywall goes and will be sangwiched in between the drywall sheets. (I know we had a debate about this last time, Chuck, but I have seen too many positive reviews and the numbers to justify the cost.)

We are gonna be going with Greenglue on the studs where the drywall goes and will be sangwiched in between the drywall sheets. (I know we had a debate about this last time, Chuck, but I have seen too many positive reviews and the numbers to justify the cost.)

Thats OK. I know your old man. If it doesn't work, he will just take it out of your bank account! :eek: :eek: :eek:

So we built the doorway baffles today. Basically it consisted of using rigid poly-whatchamacallit board vertically above the entrance of the door, then sealing with two-part foam to make it air-tight, then repeating this many times. Then when done making the baffles, shove a ton of fluffy fiberglass and cover it nicely with R-19 fluffy fiberglass. So enough talking and some pictures!

Here is how you start, you make a quick cutting template and make your baffles. This is the rough cutouts, try to make them pretty close to size, they are just there to make you use less foam.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/door-baffle.jpg



Now that you have your baffles up, time to seal the HECK out of it, spray the foam into every single gap and seam you can see. Beware, this foam is hell to get off skin.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/door-baffle2.jpg



Now you got alot of empty space. Why not start packing it with your favorite fluffy fiberglass!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/door-baffle3.jpg



Get some nice rolls of R19 fluffy fiberglass and cover the mess you just made in the hallway.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/door-baffle4.jpg



So we got the part above the door covered. Our next weakest link is the door itself which will be reinforced soon.

As I promised you folks, here are some measured SPL numbers. The source is 4 x 18" woofers playing with the majority of sound energy in the 30-80hz. These are not for benchmarking or sound quality, they are strictly to measure sound transmission throughout the house.

For shits and giggles I wanted to see how loud my coffin could play at seating position and I measured this (12ft // 3.6m). It definitely was not distortion or rattle-free but it did REALLY shake the 6"concrete floor, 8" concrete wall, and 4"concrete decking above. It was hitting peaks of 125db but this was all I could catch with the camera.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/SPL-loud3m.jpg



Now for real measurements. I brought the volume down so the range would be around 112-118 with the song that was playing. Here is at (12ft // 3.6m) for the control measurement.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/SPL-inroom.jpg



Ok, so this is the reading I got from outside of the house without any drywall installed inside the house. This is with only concrete being the sound stopping material. The porch is on the outside of the theater. The wall I am facing is 8" of concrete and is the same wall where the sub is located.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/SPL-outside.jpg



This is the reading which is directly above the theater. It has only 4" of concrete decking seperating it from the theater for this measurement. It will soon have 16" of fiberglass and dual 1/2" drywall with greenglue. For this measurement only the theater door was closed, the bedrooms upstairs have no walls or doors so any sound can travel upstairs and is only reduced by distance.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/SPL-upstairs.jpg

So we finally got some of the insulation already installed in the other parts of the house. We are going with R-30 fiberglass batts on the roofs and R14 foil/foam on the walls. For reference, the ceiling cavity above the theater will be STUFFED with R30 fluffy fiberglass... probably double it up so we have 20" of fiberglass in there. As well as some parts of the trusses above will have baffles of rigid fiberglass to help even more. We have not started with insulating the ceiling cavity yet because I'm still waiting on the price quote for the rigid fiberglass.

Anyways, I have roughed out the acoustics plan. I am going with a LEDE approach for designing the room... Live-End Dead-End. Chasw98 first explained it to me and then gave me some links about it (and I looked up some other links too to make sure it was understood) The idea is to catch all your first reflections from your L/C/R and make the screen wall highly absorptive (the Dead-End of the room). The rear of the room will be made very diffuse so that the surrounds can easily scatter and broaden the soundstage even more to create a more ambient sounding rear of the room.

So absorbed all these concepts like a sponge and started to design the theater acoustics. I mapped out all the first reflections from the LCR for every single seating position for the side walls and ceiling.





http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/acoustics.jpg

In this drawing here, green squares are locations of speakers.

Blue is diffusion in the form of skyline diffusors and improvised diffusors in the back (bookshelf). The diffusors are deliberately put where the side surrounds are. Since you should not aim surrounds directly at the listener, they will be aimed at the diffusors of the opposite side-surround in order to prevent slap-echos since they are 90 degrees towards the listener. The diffusion on the back is also to help slap echos from developing from the L and R speakers by diffusing the sound.

Yellow is absorption, 3"OC703 with a 3" airgap to the drywall. The absorption on the screen wall is varied thickness to conserve some money as well as provide slightly diffuse reflections should any sound bounce off it. There is absorbtion on the front of the AV closet because I got to thinking about if I put on diffusion there it would not provide any good use for the people sitting in the back row and would just act like a nasty reflection for the people in the back row; also it serves to prevent flutter echo from the center channel.



EDIT: THE FOLLOWING METHOD IS FLAWED, PLEASE READ IN FURTHER POSTS FOR CORRECTION

Here is how to find out first reflections in 2d using a CAD program:

- Map out your whole room to scale with seats and speakers( the most important).

- Draw a straight line from to speaker to the listening position.

-The midpoint of this line is what is important because it is where the angles of sound being bounced from the wall will be equal to the angle of sound first hitting the wall. (Pure geometry)

- Mark the midpoint of the line from the speaker to the listening position.

- Draw a a line through the midpoint perpendicular to the line of the speaker to the listening position and make the intersecting line long enough so that it can hit any room boundaries such as walls.

- Where this intersecting line you just drew touches a hard surface such as a wall, door, or window; is where the first reflection WILL occur. Although this is just 2d mapping, you can get a more precise location by using the mirror method.

- If you want to have less lines on your drawing, you can connect the points where the intersecting line touches a room boundary so now you only have a line going from the speaker -> boundary -> listening position.

Here is an example of the first reflections of the center channel speaker calculated for all possible listening positions. Some listening positions actually shared a common first reflection point.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/theater-Model-center.jpg

If you are feeling ambitious and want to know, you should calculate the total RT60 and the Haas effect. But you are looking good.

Chuck

If you are feeling ambitious and want to know, you should calculate the total RT60 and the Haas effect. But you are looking good.

Chuck

I havent heard about Haas effect, is there a simple calculator there?

I havent heard about Haas effect, is there a simple calculator there?

Read this: Haas Effect (http://www.rane.com/par-h.html)

Chuck

I hope for your sake that I am wrong, but I don't think so. The technique that you describe to find first reflection points isn't quite right. The angles formed by a reflection should equal each other. "The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection." Using your system this is not the case. I did a test in autocad to find out a different system and think that I have figured it out. I don't know how well I can explain it but I will try. Start by creating a mirrored image of all the speakers and listening positions in the room using your side wall as the mirror line. Next draw lines from the listening positions through the wall to the mirror image of the speaker your are finding the reflection point of. The point where this line intersects the wall is the reflection point. I don't know how much this would affect your room, your absorbtion is covering a good portion of you wall, so you are probably ok. But for the use of others and in the future, I think that this system will give better results.

Hope this helps, and if I am wrong feel free to ignore this,

Brian


Edit:

I just looked closer at your room and the center speaker seems to barely make it onto the absorbers, but the front speakers have a lot of potential to miss them completely for some seats. I don't know where they are so I couldn't do too detailed a check but based on estimates I think you should look at your reflection points again in case I am right.

Good luck, hope it works out.

I hope for your sake that I am wrong, but I don't think so. The technique that you describe to find first reflection points isn't quite right. The angles formed by a reflection should equal each other. "The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection." Using your system this is not the case. I did a test in autocad to find out a different system and think that I have figured it out. I don't know how well I can explain it but I will try. Start by creating a mirrored image of all the speakers and listening positions in the room using your side wall as the mirror line. Next draw lines from the listening positions through the wall to the mirror image of the speaker your are finding the reflection point of. The point where this line intersects the wall is the reflection point. I don't know how much this would affect your room, your absorbtion is covering a good portion of you wall, so you are probably ok. But for the use of others and in the future, I think that this system will give better results.

Hope this helps, and if I am wrong feel free to ignore this,

Brian


Edit:

I just looked closer at your room and the center speaker seems to barely make it onto the absorbers, but the front speakers have a lot of potential to miss them completely for some seats. I don't know where they are so I couldn't do too detailed a check but based on estimates I think you should look at your reflection points again in case I am right.

Good luck, hope it works out.

The angles do equal eachother in the process I described. Make sure the intersecting line you draw is perpendicular to the line from the speaker to the listener.


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/firstrefexample.jpg

EDIT:Go to later posts to find out right way to do this

I think there is some confusion as to which angles should be equal. I think that this drawing will show the differences between the two systems. Maybe some other folks will chime in too. In any event I think it would be a fantastic idea for us to add this to the forum as a topic of it's own when we get it sorted out. The system using a mirror in a room is great but it requires that the room exist to find your points. Having a topic that shows the drafting system would be great.

http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/6aa0ea3f61.jpg (http://www.uploadfile.info)


By the way, your theater seems like it will be great, I love your doors and the hallway looks very nice so far.

Later,
Brian

I think there is some confusion as to which angles should be equal. I think that this drawing will show the differences between the two systems. Maybe some other folks will chime in too. In any event I think it would be a fantastic idea for us to add this to the forum as a topic of it's own when we get it sorted out. The system using a mirror in a room is great but it requires that the room exist to find your points. Having a topic that shows the drafting system would be great.

http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/6aa0ea3f61.jpg (http://www.uploadfile.info)


By the way, your theater seems like it will be great, I love your doors and the hallway looks very nice so far.

Later,
Brian

DAMNIT, I get it now.

Let me figure out a way to find an equal angles like that because I don't fully understand your mirror type method.

Edit: Ok, I understand the method you describe now, but there has to be an easier way to do this than copying your room twice. Working.

That first picture was sort of cryptic, I did a new one showing the whole room mirrored. The dark grey lines are the mirrored versions of the white lines. You will notice that the speakers are flipped in the mirrored image. It is not too easy to see the system in a symmetrical drawing, but since most of our theaters are symmetrical I figured that I would do it anyway. I've included the lines from the source to the listener as well as the lines from the listener to the source, in reality you only have to do one, because the point where they intersect the wall is the same. If you are using AutoCAD you can actually use the "mirror" command to save yourself the time of replicating your theater in a mirror image. I did a version of the drawing with all of the listener's first reflection points to all of the front speakers and it was a little confusing, so in this version I have only mapped the first reflection points of the single listener in the front right seating position. I hope this helps.
http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/79ad2e654a.jpg (http://www.uploadfile.info)

I did also find a way to get the same lines and angles I get this way with a different system, but it seemed much more difficult to explain. If this doesn't work out, let me know and I'll try to explain the other way also.

Good luck,
Brian

Edit:

oops, it looks like you figured it out before I could re-explain it.

I did also find a way to get the same lines and angles I get this way with a different system, but it seemed much more difficult to explain. If this doesn't work out, let me know and I'll try to explain the other way also.



Yeah, I've been trying to figure out a way to do this without breaking out the Trig textbook or mirroring the entire image in autocad.

If anyone out there can help figure this out, please feel free to chime in!

It just dawned on me that if you were in a situation where you didn't have something like the "mirror" command, you would really only have to redraw a mirrored image of either the speakers or the seating positions, not both. So in a theater with more speakers than seats you would redraw the seats, and in a theater with more seats than speakers you would redraw the speakers. In most theaters you are only worried about the first reflection points of the front speakers anyway so I imagine that you could get away with just drawing mirrored images of the front 3 speakers. The easiest way to do that is to just draw a line from the speakers through the side wall at a 90 degree angle and then put marks on it at the distance that the speaker is from the wall. Draw lines from the listening positions to the mark and where those lines cross the wall you have your reflection point.

Example:
http://www.uploadfile.info/uploads/d2c7102385.jpg (http://www.uploadfile.info)

I suppose I could stop filling your thread up with this, but I think it may help.

Brian

Alright, long time no update!

In summary:


Speaker wires were run with 12AWG Romex wire
Sub cables were run with 10AWG Romex wire
A bazillion network wires were run into the theater
Insulation for the walls was done with a Foil-Foam-Foil thin insulation giving our walls about R-14 rating and helping soundwise by creating a gasket with any drywall screwed onto it
Ceiling tiles were glued onto the inside top-side of the ceiling so that there wouldnt be too many hard surfaces (maybe not a huge difference but every little thing counts)


Today we started stuffing R-30 insulation into the soffit and rest of ceiling. We also built baffles out of hard polyiso-something-or-other which were put on the trusses to try to direct the majority of the sound towards the soffits and just create a longer distance for the sound to travel. We also put up some boxes to hold the speaker terminals.

Anyways, on to the pictures...

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/ins-height.jpg
Here you can see the insulation is about 12" thick.


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/soffit-ins.jpg
There's the old man stapling up some insulation.


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/soffit-ins3.jpg
A view from the bottom of a day's work.


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/soffit-ins2.jpg
You can see pink fluffy stuff everywhere, on the roof is some glued ceiling tiles.

Does anybody know of any good places online to get OC703 relatively cheap?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/theater-new.jpg

This is an updated acoustic plan. The absorber was added in the back because the reflection would have had less than 6 milliseconds to make it to the listeners head (it needs to be about 10ms for it to be negligible because of the Haas Effect which says if you have two equal sources of sound but they are 10-40ms off, the source of sound with less distance to you will be where the sound will appear to come from)

The diffusors were moved closer together to make them be the point where first reflections are with the side surrounds.

Heres the theater ceiling done with fiberglass:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0026.jpg





Where the IB will go:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0027.jpg








And my pet chicken performing a trick with the help of large crickets:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ready.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/go.jpg

Ok, with R30 fluffy fiberglass in the ceiling cavity I get a reading of 77db in the room directly above with 115db in the theater.

So there is a sound reduction of 38db so far and there still is not any drywall up yet!

That's good with no drywall on the theater walls! Are you going double thickness with offset seams?

That's good with no drywall on the theater walls! Are you going double thickness with offset seams?

Yes, sir. Dual 1/2" drywal and still contemplating whether or not to use GG. Also the cieling drywall is attatched to a hat channel, not directly to the trusses.

I would like to remind you that the 77dB rating was C-weighted meaning that it was reading a lot of low frequencies. The higher frequencies are almost inaudible upstairs. I really hope that the double drywall and sealing the room bring down levels to around 65dB.

nice thread, nice theater.

I got this program from anther user who designed it. It is really good for those who want a basic idea of where the first reflections from the LCR are going to be (Especially for the people doing LEDE-type rooms)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10076787&posted=1#post10076787

That is a nice chicken.

That is a nice chicken.

Um, thanks?


:p


And to update construction, we are waiting for the home security guys to run all the camera wires and alarm wires, then we'll start putting up our first layer of drywall.

We gotta be building the manifolds for the IB before we drywall.

Um, thanks?


:p


And to update construction, we are waiting for the home security guys to run all the camera wires and alarm wires, then we'll start putting up our first layer of drywall.

We gotta be building the manifolds for the IB before we drywall.

What???? You aren't doing your own in home wiring? Hey, I won't charge you too much to run all your coax and twisted pair, not much at all! Come on, Chris.

What???? You aren't doing your own in home wiring? Hey, I won't charge you too much to run all your coax and twisted pair, not much at all! Come on, Chris.

The guys are close friends of the family, we are telling them where we want all our wires and they'll set-up all the eqpt and stuff I just stand back and bark orders.

Besides, we have a whole house to build... it isn't just a theater. :D We are drywalling and they are doing their thing. We are drywalling the second floor, they are working on the first.


Edit: The alarm guys are supposed to show up this weekend, if they don't then Chuck, you get your ass over here and run some cable! :p

So the alarm guys didn't show up, guess we gotta do this ourselves... any body got some handy links with what cables I'll need and a cheap place to get electronics?

Well the craziest thing happened today.

A local alarm company came by and offered to do a free security system install, they are new in town and part of GE. They say all I gotta do is have a sign in the frontyard! I'll have a more extensive talk with him tommorrow, but if this works out, the drywall will be done sooner than I thought.

So that alarm company guys seemed like a scam since they asked for a social security number for a credit check to see if we were 'qualified'... not even to fill it out on a form, he wanted to put my social security number on his cell-phone. Very professional, buddy.

So we bought all the stuff to do the security system ourselves. So we get all the stuff and my pops gets the idea to test it out. We wire up the panel and some other sensors to test it out... we wire it straight from the wall. Neither of us saw the 'Do not use 120V, use the 16Vac adapter. Well there were fireworks and a capacitor exploded. Oops, time to but a new panel!

We did manage to buy the main power cable for the theater's electrical panel. We ran a ~60ft Romex wire and plan to run it right out of a secondary panel. We are going to run 220V to the theater panel so if we buy any 220v stuff, we can use it no problem. The wire is three 6AWG stranded wires, and a solid 10AWG ground wire.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0026-1.jpg

Expect first layer of drywall to go up on the first floor very soon. Next project for the theater will be to pop a hole in the return vent on the side to ventilate the eqpt closet and build the manifolds for the four 18" subs going into the ceiling. I'm still looking for any reasonably priced large OC703 panels.

Here's where I plan to buy my panels from:

www.atsacoustics.com (http://www.atsacoustics.com/)

The prices were the best I could find.

Good luck,
Mike

Here's where I plan to buy my panels from:

www.atsacoustics.com (http://www.atsacoustics.com/)

The prices were the best I could find.

Good luck,
Mike

Thanks for the link. I am trying to get into contact with a distributor that my uncle uses (he does AC work for a living). He told me he would try to get panels that were 5'x10' at a much lower price than all the online sites I could find. I can only cross my fingers and hope.

Bought the MDF to make IB manifolds, will post pictures of the finished manifolds when they are done sometime this week.

Drywall started on the theater entrance:


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0020-1.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0019-1.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0022.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0025.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0024.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0023.jpg

Dude your theater is going to be freaking awesome. Just looking at the unfinished entrance is cool as hell.

Who's the old fart doing all the work? Looks like that thar schoolin' paid off fer ya. All the lines look straight! Good job Chris! When can I come down and play?

Chuck

Who's the old fart doing all the work? Looks like that thar schoolin' paid off fer ya. All the lines look straight! Good job Chris! When can I come down and play?

Chuck

You can come down any time you want Chuck, 9am-noon weekdays. All day weekends 9am-6pm. And I forgot to show how the drywall is being installed for extra soundproofing on the ceilings:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0001.jpg

My uncle brought about 4 packages of ceiling tiles and gave it to us for free, so we are just throwing them up in the ceiling cavity. Since the drywall hat-channel gives about an inch or so of a gap, we looked at the empty space in-between and thought, damnit we can put some scrap pieces in there so we chopped up the scrap 5/8" drywall and installed it right on the trusses. Then we went 5/8" on top.

So it goes

Room-> 5/8" DW -> 3/8" gap -> 5/8" DW -> 1/2" acoustic ceiling tiles -> 16" gap -> 4" concrete -> cork and wood flooring on second floor.

Dude your theater is going to be freaking awesome. Just looking at the unfinished entrance is cool as hell.

Thanks! But just wait until we have the face of the entrance and columns covered in stone and have the entrance ceiling with some nice tounge-and-groove wood. :D

Finally got the first stage of drywall in!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0042.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0041.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0043.jpg


Before you say, "You really need a ton of caulking to fill those seams" it is the first stage in drywall.






Let me explain how things are going to get done.

Stage 1: Get the spaces in between the hat channels .

[Build and install IB manifold]

Stage 2: Get the first layer of drywall on the ceiling and walls.

[Maybe seal seams with caulking]

Stage 3: Get the second layer on the ceiling.

[Pass first drywall inspection]

Stage 4: Seal everything with caulking.

Stage 5: Mud and sanding!

[Pass second drywall inspection]

Stage 6: Cut holes in drywall where IB manifold is located as well as any other covert outlets, air vents, dedicated power cable.

Thanks! But just wait until we have the face of the entrance and columns covered in stone and have the entrance ceiling with some nice tounge-and-groove wood. :DSweet man. Man I can't wait til I have a house of my own and my own theater room...

I'm only 17 and my bedroom looks like no 17 yr olds you've ever seen. Its basically a theater i've got a 120" screen in there with my PJ plus the 7.1 surround sound. I didn't go on no budget and buy the cheap **** either...I got some Infinity speakers, $650 Denon receiver, 900 watt $600 15" soundsplinter DIY subwoofer, $1600 Panasonic projector, PS3, Xbox 360, etc.

Sweet man. Man I can't wait til I have a house of my own and my own theater room...

I'm only 17 and my bedroom looks like no 17 yr olds you've ever seen. Its basically a theater i've got a 120" screen in there with my PJ plus the 7.1 surround sound. I didn't go on no budget and buy the cheap **** either...I got some Infinity speakers, $650 Denon receiver, 900 watt $600 15" soundsplinter DIY subwoofer, $1600 Panasonic projector, PS3, Xbox 360, etc.

That's great! It really is a fun hobby to take part in.

Don't hate on the cheap ****, I've seen some stuff that would blow you away when you look at the price. ;)

So we have most of the first part of inner ceiling drywall in.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0044.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0045.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0044-1.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0045-1.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0046.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0047.jpg




Still gotta install the 6" return duct that will act as the exhaust for the equipment closet, hide the huge dedicated power line, and build and mount the IB before we can drywall the lower part of the ceiling. We are also sealing the first layer of drywall with compound since the caulking is only good for very small gaps. (Gravity and caulking don't mix, likes to drip from ceiling)

That's great! It really is a fun hobby to take part in.

Don't hate on the cheap ****, I've seen some stuff that would blow you away when you look at the price. ;)Yeah, that is until you hear the expensive "sh*t" haha

Ok, the IB manifold is mounted but the drivers aren't installed yet, we are waiting for the caulking to dry before we install the drivers.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/House/DSCF0067.jpg






This is an older picture, but it gives you an idea of each manifold's shape and location of drivers:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/House/DSCF0059.jpg

Chris, you may have some shaking issues with the framing/ceiling when that's done as the drivers are not mounted opposite each other to eliminate the vibrations. It probably won't be as bad as if they were all pointed down, but it's still not ideal.

Good luck with it and post up when you get them running.

Chris, you may have some shaking issues with the framing/ceiling when that's done as the drivers are not mounted opposite each other to eliminate the vibrations. It probably won't be as bad as if they were all pointed down, but it's still not ideal.

Good luck with it and post up when you get them running.

I hear that a lot from people but I don't understand how its possible when I'm seeing it. I mean, the thing is practically attached directly to the metal joist which is embedded in 4" of concrete decking above. I tried with all my force to budge it and it is rock solid.

So the second layer of drywall is going on the ceiling:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0076.jpg





This is another project in the works... concrete reinforced steel frame.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0077.jpg

1.5" solid oak door

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0078.jpg

Protecting the back of the door is 3/8" diamond plate.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0079.jpg

The room is basically going to be the storm shelter/bomb shelter/ whatever shelter. All the walls are 8" reinforced concrete, ceiling is the stairs which are 10" reinforced concrete at the thickest.

Yay! Drywall is put up!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0082.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0081.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0080.jpg


Before you ask, the thing on the center top of the front wall is a wall plate that holds binding posts for the L/C/R speakers. Yes, some screws are missing on the drywalls, that will be fixed tomorrow.

Man - how many screws did you use. Looks like they are evey 4" :eek:

Looking Good.

Cheers,
Mark

hehe :p HOLY SCREWS BATMAN. That sheetrock is going no where

Look at the bright side, it's a good thing you've got that storm shelter to hide in... especially with all those screws you used! Wouldn't want to be around when those things starts flyin!

Project is looking good.

The rest of the house is drywalled like that also :D

Are you mudding it yourself also?

Are you mudding it yourself also?

Yep and the rest of the 3600 sqft house is going to be mudded by us...

You'd better be, because someone coming in to mud and tape is going to charge you a FORTUNE to mud over those screws!

On an 8 x 4 5/8" drywall sheet I believe the norm is is 35-45 screws TOTAL. Overkills is nice in some situations, but WOW.

-drin

You'd better be, because someone coming in to mud and tape is going to charge you a FORTUNE to mud over those screws!

On an 8 x 4 5/8" drywall sheet I believe the norm is is 35-45 screws TOTAL. Overkills is nice in some situations, but WOW.

-drin

Mudding and sanding is extremely easy for us, we have plenty of experience doing it so sanding is rarely needed when we mud.

Overkill is the only way to go. ;)

Mudding and sanding is extremely easy for us, we have plenty of experience doing it so sanding is rarely needed when we mud.

Overkill is the only way to go. ;)

Good for you. :) Just so long as you're comfortable with the work. I'm curious though - why so many screws? I've never heard of a professional drywall hanger using that many, and everything I've ever read says fewer screws are better (within limits, of course). Even the 2006 National Building Code calls for drywall screws to be 7" on center on a 2x6 stud wall on 24 inch centers (8" on 16" centers). It looks closer to 3" on your walls.

-drin

Yep and the rest of the 3600 sqft house is going to be mudded by us...

You should get plenty of practice using stilts, Chris. And by the time you are done mudding, you will have learned how to mud so that you don't have to sand! Learn to feather those edges! Don't make your old man crawl around and do that work. Perfect job for your brother! :D :D :D

Chuck

You should get plenty of practice using stilts, Chris. And by the time you are done mudding, you will have learned how to mud so that you don't have to sand! Learn to feather those edges! Don't make your old man crawl around and do that work. Perfect job for your brother! :D :D :D

Chuck

Haha, I really want to get those stilts! As for my brother... it's hard enough work for him to find excuses to hide :p

The old man has the mudding ability and not need to sand, I'm still working on that.

All drywall is installed and the house is ready for rough inspection.

Well it looks like we aren't going to do the compound. We found a reliable company to do it for about $4k knockdown texture on all the ceilings, mudding over all seams and joints, sanding, and clean-up.

Any suggestions for the HT; caulking between major joints worth it?

For HT just be sure you caulk all spots that could be a sound leak. All electrical boxes, vents, door jambs, etc. I did double drywall with GG in between and just slapped a quick layer of mud over the seams on the first layer. Then I caulked the corner joints (walls & ceiling) all around the room as well as the floor. Each time I caulked something the sound leak went down in adjacent rooms so I thought it was worth it.

Mike

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/House/DSCF1546.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/House/DSCF1530.jpg

They still gotta sand, put on another coat and re-sand. Then they will put knockdown texture in entire house; light knockdown on walls and heavier knockdown on the ceiling.

I like you theater seat...ehhh throne. ;) :)

I like you theater seat...ehhh throne. ;) :)

I gotta admit... if you absolutely HATE missing part of a movie, then those seats are the way to go!

If it was cushioned and had cup holders, would there be a better seat?

LOL! That's awesome. You should post that on the thread about whether you can call your theater a theater unless you have rows of "theater" seats ;)

Mike

Well in under 10 hours we managed to put primer up on the whole house.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0086.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0088.jpg


Here is the color we are going with:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0087.jpg

I was thinking of going with a two tone color scheme in the room. The walls to have flat black on the bottom half and the dark red on top half separated by a black molding. The acoustic treatments would be hung like frames on the wall with a dark red AT cloth on top.


Expect theater to be roughly painted tomorrow.

Looks great! Really like the ceiling and color choice. After drywall it is supposed to be all downhill right?:D

Looks great! Really like the ceiling and color choice. After drywall it is supposed to be all downhill right?:D

I wish it was, the real construction starts after the whole house passes final inspection. Once that happens, the holes for the IB will be cut back out, riser platform will be put in, back wall will be transformed into shelves, window will get covered up, dedicated 50A @ 220v sub-panel will be installed, AV closet put in place, build speakers, build screen, install furniture, install eqpt, tune the HT....

I got a good 20 pages to go before completion. :D

this thread sux. lol j/k bra. i think the color should be darker like i told you but hey its yours not mine. my room theater is underway tho.:)

Looks really good.

Wow, you sure have had a gigantic project going on these last few months...

I am very impressed with the whole process that you have gone through, thinking out your theater room... very systematic!

I too am very intrigued by the IB concept, but as a rental house dweller, i am not sure that it is a practical thing for me.

I am thinking about something more like the SonoSub that SteveCallus Built as i have just sold my two smaller SVS tube subs to build a bigger unit.

As an AV Engineer, I can already tell you that you have made some very good choices as far as isolating the theater from other parts of the house. Just remember that it is the little things that count...

I.E. you can seal the begebes out of every wall and ceiling crack in the room, but if their is a 1/4" crack under the bottom of the door leading to the rest of the house, then you just cut the sound dampening characteristics of that particular wall by about 20%!

I have built several TV and many Radio studios + my own home theatre, and each and every one is part preperation and part experimentation (as you have found out...)

The channel behind the drywall is a great idea, but if it were me i would have not put so many screws...because acoustical energy is transmitted best by rigid and tight connections.

I know that I am a day late and a dollar short (but I only read this thread tonight ) but I decided to chime in for the others who are contemplating such an install...

If i were trying to build such a room for best sound isolation i would employ the technique of having materials in my wall of differing densities (which you did do with the foil/foam/foil insulation)... the problem is that with low freq. you need either an air gap between the rigid bodies (two walls built like 8-12" apart from each other and isolated from the floor with rubber disks & caulk.) and/or you might want to employ a highly dense material behind the drywall (between the first layer and the channel) such as the type that is available on large rolls (density 2-3lbs/sqf). the problem with this material or with lead lined sheatrock is the high cost!!

so here is what I would have suggested if this room were my project and I was constrained by a budget...

1. I would have forgone the wood strips that you went with and instead gone with metal 2x4 studs to the block wall with tapcons installing rubber disc insulators behind them to isolate them from the block wall, and I would have used as few screws as necessary to keep it attached. These have the advantage of having holes cut through them to eaisly run cable.

2. I would have installed resilient channel to the metal studs with screws again installing rubber disc insulators between it to isolate it from the studs, and again I would have used as few screws as necessary by code to keep it attached.

3. I would use silicone adhesive to glue a double layer of the pink foam insulation over the channel in order to ensure best isolation of the drywall from the channel (dont worry about screws as the drywall screws will go through it)

4. Put up a layer of 5/8" Drywall again following code for minimum # of screws.

5.Glue down another double layer of pink foam insulation...(again you could sub in super dense vinyl here for more deadining but I am using the pink stuff for isolation of the drywall because its cheap and not for its deadining properties...)

6. Second layer of 5/8" drywall offsetting the seams from the first layer...

7. mud/tape/sand/prime/paint/ENJOY

This is simplified obviously, and their are better ways to do it (like building two block walls with a 24" air gap in between them :) ) but i was assuming a tight budget and your original starting point of a block wall...

on the ceiling i would have employed a similar strategy using different materials but the same techniques.

Install the joists or steel Z beams 12" on center and screw 3/4' plywood decking directly to the underside for strength.
(In this one place screw the hell out of it 4" apart, you'll see why)

two isolated layers of 5/8" drywall and pink foam hanging from resilient channel which was isolated from the plywood with rubber insulators.

Cut a hole for your HVAC vents, lights and Infinite Baffle Sub and seal them to the drywall with silicone...

Fill the joist cavities 4" deep with dry! sand... then install plywood decking to the top of joists leaving an air gap inside...

I know you say i am crazy, but lead lined drywall is $250/sheet and dry sand is dirt cheap... Yes it does weigh 1600kg/m3 but one cubic meter should more than do the entire room and the weight is spread out over the entire ceiling... though I would install 1/2" threaded rod from the concrete ceiling above down to the metal joists below across the span of the room.

The best alternative would have been to pour in a second concrete sub-ceiling cast in the shape that your soffet is now with the gap in between them but that is $$$...

The cheapest way to do this is to put the kids in the room over the theater so you can just tell them to shut up!! and stop complaining :)

Final word... the only way to block serious bass like this is to add mass or build a room within a room like the pro's do... with airlocked doors and all... (which is impractical for a home setting)

All that being said, you have done a dang good job with the tools that you had at hand and I just wanted to add my two cents in for others...

--Matt G. CBRTE, CBT
Member SBE,SMPTE,AES,IEEE

BTW-- My HT at present is:

Panasonic PT-AX100U and 120" 16:9 Motorized Screen 1.3 Gain at 14' from Screen.

All my front speakers are behind my screen...
Dual JBL Control 28 each for L/C/R
Dual JBL Control 28 each for Left/Right Surround
(when I say dual I have one up high at a 45 downtilt and one down low on the side...)
Dual JBL Control 28 for Stereo Surround Back
Midbass 2x JBL SB210 Stacked Config. behind Screen
Subwoofer (Was 2x SVS CS-Plus 16-46) but I just sold them because I want a single 24" DIY sonotube with a lower tune of 8-10 HZ + I want to add dual buttkickers to the couch for the real low stuff 5hz and below...

All my Control 28s are powered with marantz ma700 monoblocs and my JBL subs are powered by a QSC1850HD Pro amp... I have a second 1850HD that did run my SVS pair but I saved it when I sold them to run my new DIY unit... hope it is big enough...

My Preamp is a ROTEL 1068 and I am keeping an eye out for an HDMI switcher to add to the mix...but

My next upgrade is to a an HD or BlueRay dvd player as I need more hidef sources :) My samsung HiDef tuner is all I have for now as the wife and I mostly watch DVD's and play our XBOX360,PS2, and WII that i have hooked up in component...

Thanks for the great thread!!!

Yeah those are all great tips, thanks!

Of course things would have been much differently if I started now with all the knowledge I've gained from being on AVS and other sites. But believe it or not, the sub bass is not that bad in the other rooms even at full blast. The concrete really helps keep it to a minimum. I get close to a 40dB reduction from the room directly above the IB. For the other frequencies from the speakers I have no doubts that the sound reduction will be closer to 50dB of reduction in the upstairs bedroom.

The doors are the current weakness so that will be dealt with as we finish tiling. I was thinking either installing rubber flaps attached to the bottom of the door instead of using a floor door jam thing.

The next theater will definitely be planned better than this one was. I really like your sand idea ;)


For a Blu-ray player I would suggest the PS3 especially since you are a gamer, too.

Weatherstripping the doors should make a heck of a difference for you, especally if you have a tile floor...

The last TV studio that i built, the owner wanted to cheap out and would not do a bunch of the things that I recommended that he try while the walls and ceilings were open...

Then he booked some studio time for a popular rapper (JaRule I believe it was) I am not a rap fan :( so I might have spelled it wrong.

Needless to say, he called me back the very next day to ask what he could do now (to his 4 week old building) to soundproof it better because when the rappers were there with their big speakers his other employees could not hear themselves think!

One of the biggest improvements that we made for him was to use commonly available weatherstripping products from Lowes to seal all of the doors leading from the studio to the rest of the building...

I used three different products (all of which will need to be periodically replaced due to wear and tear)

1. You can buy a semi-circular rubber strip with an adhesive backing which you should run around the entire door jam even between the hinges. This is a cheap product and should last 2-3 years between replacements if applied correctly. Get the large size, as it will compress a ton and get the rebber looking stuff and not the foam as it will last longer.

2. Leave a 2"-4" wide gap between the tile on each side of the door and purchase a good steel threshold which you can tapcon or ramset to the floor. Get one for external doors that has the replacable thick rubber strip and make sure that it will make good contact with the bottom of the door but not drag too much. (this strip should be replaced about every other year.) also use one of those screw-on rubber drag strips in addition to the threshold to double seal at the bottom of the door...

3. In addition to the rubber strip for the edges of the door, purchase some of the foam adhesave strip as well and apply it to the part of the jam that contacts the face of the door, which will give you a double seal on all sides... Foam on the face to kill vibrations, and rubber around the edges to seal the cracks.

These measures will give you quite an improvement in STC considering the already existing concrete wall that you have in place. I will not be a $2000 soundproof door but for $20-$30 it will make a huge difference!

You might also consider a few other things...

Isolate the HVAC Input and Return Grilles from the cheatrock with some of the Rubber strip like you used in the door to prevent rattling from the IB mounted in the ceiling.

Also, you or an a/c contractor should install a flexable register box for the return and the input so as to isolate them from the rigid ductwork leading to the rest of the house (disregard if you are using soft ductwork).

The a/c system (especially in commercial buildings where you are required to use steel ducts is a big transmitter of sound energy between rooms.)

Next, get some firestop (a red looking caulk) and fill all of the cracks around all of your electrical boxes in the walls... I only say use firestop because of building codes, silicone or even spray foam might work better but they are not rated for fire prevention. but you want to make sure to seal every possible crack or penitration in the sheatrock.

If you are using tile, you might gain a big advantage from building an isolated subfloor off of the slab, but that would be $$$ you might not want to spend, whereas the rest of this stuff is cheap to do...though it works well...

If i can be of any further help do hesitate...I just found this forum a while back and have been reading a ton of sub threads lately.. I know i will be asking questions of my own soon as I am starting to selve into building my own subs and speakers one by one :)

--Matt

Again thanks for the tips, they are really appreciated. :D

First of all, the floor is not all tiled, just the front part of the room. You see to the right of the theater is the garage and other rooms. So instead of having the carpeting get all the traffic, we are putting a tile 'sidewalk'. So people not using the theater and just passing through the room are not putting dirty feet on the carpet.

That rubber gasket around the door sounds very good! For now all the door has is the foam weatherstripping on the frame. I was thinking something like this for the door but have two rubber flaps hidden under the door so there's no visible metal on the door.

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/how-to-install-weatherstripping-onto-doors-1.jpg

I was thinking of putting silicone caulking when we are going to put on the AC grills. We made sure all the air ducts were made of rigid fiberglass so sound transmission through them is near impossible even at HT levels.

Well with DIY subs I can help you out, just drop me a PM.

You guys can find a picture of anything!

That is eaxctly what I was talking about with the metal sweaper... and actually it would hide quite effectively if you paint the metal part to color match the door with spray paint.

If you really want to break up the light down low you might try one of the new textured or possibly hammered finishes from rustoleam they look great (they have one that looks like cast iron that would match your hardware...as seen on the example door shown earlier in the thread) They also make these with the metal in both burnished and polished brass, but me thinks that won't match your decor as well as the cast iron hammered finish paint...

As for the wooden threshold in the picture (Underneath the door) I would get one with a removable rubber strip that looks like a dome shape with little ridges (it will be about the thickness of the door and squish down when you close it) You really want to have a double seal...

The foam that you have now is i am guessing sealing against the facing of the door touching to the frame, and the compressible rubber strip between the endgrain and the frame will again provide a double seal for you... and they do make two tifferent sizes so you may end up needing some of both depenting how tight the door is in the frame...

This stuff (the building and modding)can actually be (to me) just as fun as actually sometimes as watching movies in my HT :) But my wife would never understand that concept...

I want a giant sonosub like steves in my small 12'(w) X 15'(d) x 9'(H) HT room, but it was hard enough to convince her that we NEEDED the 120" screen and Hi-Def projector in our small space... But sitting 10' away from a 10' wide screen is pretty freakin awesome, even she has to admit!
(even my landlord was so impressed that he did not say a word about the fact that I drilled two holes in the ceiling to mount the sucker :) ! He has even been over twice to watch a movie (lives next door)

later, got to go see the dentist --matt

Well got the painting done. The finish is very nice and the pictures really can't get the color right. In bright sunlight the color is a burgundy although the camera makes it look slightly brown.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/House/DSCF0053.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/House/DSCF0052.jpg

We've rethought the ideas about half and half on the wall. The color looks so good it might just stay like this with only the molding and accents in black (Although the screen wall in front will all be black) During painting we noticed that the room started getting darker :D I can't wait to see how this looks at night. The knockdown finish and the white primer underneath make the paint have almost a 3d popping out effect; it looks like there's blood splattered on the walls (:p)

Looking great!

Who makes that Red Mahagony stain? It is exactly what I am looking for!

Looking great!

Who makes that Red Mahagony stain? It is exactly what I am looking for!

It's just regular Home Depot stain on white pine and yellow pine.

I love the color.

When we moved into the rental house we live in now, the owner told us we could paint it any colors we wanted...

So my wife and I went to Sherwin Williams and got some color samples, one in specific (theater red) I just had to know!

i actually liked it, but did not have the guts to go with that in the front room where my theater is, because it looked like we had slaughtered a sheep in there :) I was afraid that he would kick us out before we had finished moving in!

That being said, it did look cool and I might try it somewhere else down the road since I still have almost a quart lying around here in a closet...

Great job! --Matt

Well the color of the room is called Chianti (its really just burgundy with a bit more magenta added to it)

Today installed the recessed lighting which was painted flat black. As well as the speaker terminals on the wall which were also painted flat black. The Romex 12AWG wire was a pain in the ass to get into the terminal in the front which has the L/C/R binding post but the rest were much simpler.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/House/DSCF0060-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/House/DSCF0056-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/House/DSCF0058-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/House/DSCF0059-1.jpg

Again the colors came out funky and bright, so just imagine them darker ;)

Paint also needs to get touched up, too.

Chris,

It is likely that the reason that you can't get your camera to capture the true color of the walls is due to a white balance issue...

You have a incandescent can fixture shining down from above with a color temp. of apx. 3200k. Then you have the sunlight pouring through the window at a color temp of 5500-6000k and on top of that it appeared as though the flash might have fired as well, skewing the mix even further.

Try hanging a blackout curton over the window and turning off the cans as well... then illuminate the scene with a halogen type constructon light from a 45 degree angle (aim the light at the junction of the wall and ceiling if you are closer than 6 feet) but better yet position the light back about 12 feet from the wall.

This should light the wall pretty evenly, if you have two of the double fixtures on tripods then use both each on a 45 degree offset.

Then white balance your camera for 5200k or (outdoor) or halogen if it has such a mode, and snap a few pics.

You should have much better color representation that way because you are shooting w/o a flash with plenty of light and the light is spread evenly over the entire surface.

P.S. halogen construction lights make great DIY video or still photography hot lights as long as you don't mind the stands being painted bright orange or lime green...they pump out lots of light at a consistant color temp. for cheap $$...

Let me know how it goes --matt

Watch out for the grid that covers a number of halogen work lights. I tried using halogens for some of my pictures but ended up with a grid all over the wall and so went back to post processing my pictures to improve the colors.

Mike

Well the color of the room is called Chianti (its really just burgundy with a bit more magenta added to it)

Today installed the recessed lighting which was painted flat black. As well as the speaker terminals on the wall which were also painted flat black. The Romex 12AWG wire was a pain in the ass to get into the terminal in the front which has the L/C/R binding post but the rest were much simpler.

Looks really nice. I like your tray ceiling :cool:

Mike

Good call on the grid... I forgot to tell him to take that off, because mine don't have that...

I bought 4 sets of double lights on tripods several years back at lowes and they just have glass in front of the lamp...

I think that they were $90 each back then, but they have gotten cheaper now.

Still much cheaper than pro photography lights, and I painted them flat black to have them look more discrete when i am using them in public...

--matt

Been a while since there was an update, we've been working on painting and laying tile on the rest of the house and we got our first big room all tiled up. Although it isn't grouted yet. Took us about 3days to finish this room (~38' x 22' ???) The back wall is missing paint there because that is where kitchen cabinets and all that other stuff will go. PVC sticking out of the ground is the electrical for the island. Tile is real easy especially since the slab was poured so flat and has cured for 3 yrs already :D Second floor and stairs will be covered in solid oak.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0069.jpg

The next semi-tough work is doing all the crown molding but we got one of those monster double-bevel sliding compound miter saws to help get the job done.

http://www.dewalt.com//ProductImages/PC_Graphics/PHOTOS/DEWALT/TOOLS/LARGE/7/DW718_1.jpg




Theater tiling (the front section) will be finished this weekend.


EDIT: I can't wait to finish this house! Then the real theater construction can begin... And I can cut the drywall open and release the hounds!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0075.jpg

Alright so the ceiling fans are in and so is the front 'sidewalk' of tile is complete.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0073-1.jpg

Anything new in the past 3 weeks?

Nothing much, we are trying to get the floor done in the rest of the house as well as the final electrical inspection. We mounted the door underneath the stairway which is in the theater.

Looking good so far...

Wow...I am blown away! I would love to see/hear this in action! I would love to do my own custom home some day!

Progress is still veeeery slow in regards to the rest of the house. On a positive note, we just got most of the kitchen cabinets installed and are still waiting for the rest to be installed and the granite counter top. Only really major hurdles for us now is to finish tiling in the bathrooms and passing final electrical inspection.

Gosh, it's been a long time since this was updated!!

Last stages of the house are being completed. Tiling is finally complete. AC units are installed (not turned on yet) Electrical is DONE but we still need to pass final electrical inspection and then we'll be able to move into the house (since the construction is classified as a addition). Still, real theater construction won't start until final inspection is done and the county can get out of the house!

Well I for one am waiting to see this through!

Looks awesome so far.

Richard

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/zer04evr/House/DSCF1546.jpg


Was that fan specifically positioned? I mean, I guess taking a moment to reflect on the throne might require some ventilation...:eek:

LOL. I'm blown away.

Richard

I've never seen somebody use so many drywall screws. Why? I can't think of any benefits to overkill here, but I can think of several negatives.

I've never seen somebody use so many drywall screws. Why? I can't think of any benefits to overkill here, but I can think of several negatives.

Have you ever seen what a decent IB system can do to a room? I have. The less vibration that the drywall experiences, the better the bass will be and the longer the drywall will stay where it is.

For example, I've seen a room breathe when an IB was pumping out WOTW.

its been a while... any updates? love the progress...

its been a while... any updates? love the progress...

Nothing new to the theater, the house now only has about two or three inspections left.

Believe me, this thread will see plenty of action whenever we pass those last couple inspections for the house.

great, cant wait!

Wow it's been a long time since this was updated.

Remember we are building an entire house along with the HT. Hopefully next week we will go for electrical inspection and then we can have electrical hooked up and that means AC and a lot more creature comforts as well as one step closer to final inspection.

Here is some pictures. This is the entrance, many things are going to change on the columns and the mini-hallway leading to the door. Like lots more decorative wood to match the door. That piece of wood on the left is one of the steps for the stairs which has already been completed.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0495.jpg



Here we put up the Frame molding for the inside of the theater. The molding in the room will be painted black, not white ;) Also the frame molding for the mini-door will be painted black. And no those are not contemporary newspaper tiles with blue grout...

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0493.jpg



Here is to see the thickness of the wall and the door frame and the finish.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0494.jpg

Wow it's been a long time since this was updated.
Here is to see the thickness of the wall and the door frame and the finish.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0494.jpg

Couldn't you go just a tad thicker? :rolleyes: Things look pretty good from those three shots. Are you going to do acoustics in the theater as well? If so, what are you plans (you may have covered it, but it's been a while!).

Couldn't you go just a tad thicker? :rolleyes: Things look pretty good from those three shots. Are you going to do acoustics in the theater as well? If so, what are you plans (you may have covered it, but it's been a while!).

Well with the new REW having RTA as well as RT60 I think I will be using that to measure in room acoustics as I add them. I will build the panels myself, start with a wood frame on the wall, and a wood frame around the acoustic panel and then the two attach with some Velcro.

My basic objectives are the LEDE type room:

-A dead front wall behind screen
-Catching first reflection points of LCR are of most importance
-The front 1/3 of the room will be mostly dead
-Th side surrounds and rear surrounds will be treated with diffusion as well as very little absorption.
-Generally speaking, the rear of the room will be very live and diffuse with the corners being used as bass traps.
-The seating position is in between the live end and dead end of the room.

Of course many things will probably change as I thoroughly test all new acoustic changes with REW.

We passed electrical!!

Last inspection is the final. We have temporary electrical hook-up from FPL so we now have the AC running and we are laying the second floor wood. Hopefully we can get everything done in the 2 weeks that FPL gives us the temporary electrical so we can pass final and start work on the theater.

Expect an update soon.

Most impressive.

I love the theater entrance!

Most of us struggle to finish 1 room (HT room)...but you guys are doing an entire house....wow.

It looks great.

Most impressive.

I love the theater entrance!

Most of us struggle to finish 1 room (HT room)...but you guys are doing an entire house....wow.

It looks great.

Yep, it is very tough work. So far at the pace we are going doing the wood floors it takes about 2 days per bedroom.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0596.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0597.jpg



We are now seriously considering doing the HT floor in a very dark red wood floor and put some large area rugs in front of the listening position.

Ok the house passed final inspection and we finally got the C.O. (certificate of occupancy) so we just need to finish up the small stuff and move in.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am very, very happy for you. Now comes the fun part.

Chuck

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am very, very happy for you. Now comes the fun part.

Chuck

The fun part has begun!!!

We have been hearing some growling and tremors and we isolated it down to the theater. We decided to investigate.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0199.jpg




The culprits! :p
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0200.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0201.jpg



Here's the old man opening up the back which is where the AV closet will be installed. We took out the sub wires so we can see how sound traveled in the floors above.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0202.jpg

I put on some bass heavy latin music and set it to about 95-100dB in room which is pretty much the limit of comfort and regular listening levels. In the bedroom directly above, the SPL meter read 50-55dB. So the sound reduction is around -45dB to the bedroom directly above. Next major work will be designing and building the riser for the seats in the back as well as running any electrical and ductwork that's needed in the riser.

Expect more frequent updates.

On a side note we purchased some tv's for the house; a Samsung 67" LED DLP (looks fantastic) and a 50" Samsung Plasma (still hasn't been hooked up but looked great at the store).







Hey guys, got down to doing some semi-proper tests with the IB using a weak 75w amp, but thanks to the very high sensitivity, it went well. The IB is now properly sealed and is complete pending it's proper amplification.

All dB numbers on the post are as read on Radioshack SPL meter, no calibration.

I just wanted to see the roll-off of the IB. (all numbers are uncalibrated) I first ran a sort of benchmark at 20hz then dropped the frequency. It seemed the subs roll-off is at about 13-12hz because below that, there is no pressurization felt (although probably with SPL correction values it still is flat). It is strange because if you stand directly below the manifold you hear nothing at all, not even a sense of pressurization. Once you move back about 10ft it gets obvious as the ambient sound in the room begins to oscillate at low frequency and if you get to the back wall it gets ridiculously more powerful.

I tested it with 15hz to observe the phenomenon. I put the tone so at listening position it was 91dB(~15ft away). 1ft away from either manifold it was 88dB... at the back wall it was 98dB.

These were done at listening position
90dB at 20hz
88dB at 15hz
86dB at 12hz
84dB at 10hz (no sense of pressure or room activity)

So the sub system is flat to the low teens and I was able to reach a corrected value of 110dB @ 15hz (uncorrected 98dB@15hz) but I didn't want to push the system further since the amp was so weak.

Ive been gone for a while, and I just wanted to check in on the project and see where you were!

I just want to know when we are all getting an invitation to come over and watch a movie ?? :)

RMG

We'll be finished when we're finished! :D

Right now we are prepping our old house to get put up for rent before theater work continues.

Ive been gone for a while, and I just wanted to check in on the project and see where you were!

I just want to know when we are all getting an invitation to come over and watch a movie ?? :)

RMG

At 100 Db? :D I always wanted to watch tv at ABOVE reference levels. :p

Bought the stuff to build the riser for the second row as well as the AV-closet.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/wood.jpg


The dedicated circuit breaker box for the AV equipment, the wire we ran to the closet provides about 100A @ 120Vac.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/breaker.jpg

Here is the construction of most of the platform. Right now it only has one sheet of OSB but there will be another sheet put on.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/platform1.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/platform2.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/platform3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/platform4.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/platform5.jpg

Got the window covered today, it is a 3/4" Plywood and on on top is a 5/8" sheetrock. Inside we did put the blinds closed so you wouldn't know it was covered from the outside. Also got the second layer of OSB on the riser, so it's going to be 1" of OSB + 1/2" or so wood floor on top of that.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/window.jpg

Tomorrow we will start on the AV closet.

What the hell, let's knock out that AV closet frame tonight. :D

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/Closetskeleton.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/Closetskeleton2.jpg

So the explanations. The AV closet is going to be the part on the rear wall, interior (LxWxH) it is 30" x 24" x ~6'. It will have doors on both sides, one side to access front of components the other side for all the wires. The smaller box in the front is going to act like a small table between the sofas in the back row. It will also have a bunch of different connections so if anybody wants to hook in a device temporarily, let's say I want to audition a new projector, I will just plug into the HDMI jack and put it on the table. It will also house the breaker box for all the AV power needs.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/closetdoor1.jpg

Door is in.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/breakerbox.jpg

Went and purchased two 2500w amplifiers. One will power the subs and the other will power the LR speakers.

Have done a bunch of stuff, here is the updates:

Wired inside of closet with conduit (to shield it mostly). For here, each outlet will have its own dedicated 20A circuit which explains all the wires. So there are 2 circuits in each electrical box there.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/closetwiring.jpg

Here is the box for the theater as it is now, we may add more circuits as needed, we still aren't finished wiring completely so don't get crazy.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/earlybreakerwiring.jpg

And here is some rope light. We bought 6 boxes of the stuff!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/ropelight.jpg

Paint still wet

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0078.jpg

Put up moulding, the gaps are that big cause we didn't push them into place. When you do them like this for the rope lighting, you need to make spacers that fit in between the moulding and the wall to push it to the correct angle.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0079.jpg

Moulding caulked rope light in, still need to paint over those caulking marks.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0086.jpg

Bought all the stuff to do the wood floor on the platform and decided to just tile it all the way to the riser start.

So this is the info on finalized equipment, I will update this some more in the future, this is all equipment that is either in the theater already, waiting to be installed/built, or is currently being shipped.

Sub:

Quad MJ18 IB (old pictures)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSCF0073.jpg



L/C/R:

A slightly modified version of the DA Khanspire (http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=26309)

Each speaker has dual-8" woofers, dual 6" midwoofers, and an aluminum dome tweeter. They will be mounted to the front wall behind the screen. All drivers are Dayton Reference series. The design is sealed and will probably be crossed at 50-60hz with the subs. Already have all the parts to build, just waiting on some time to show up to get them finished :p

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/IMG_44172.jpg


Surrounds:

A slightly modified version of the Dayton Reference RS225/RS28A (http://www.audioheuristics.org/projects_gallery/RS225_RS28A_updates/dayton_reference_rs225.htm)

Each speaker has a single 8" midwoofer and an aluminum dome tweeter, all drivers are Dayton Reference series and the design is sealed. It's like the classic Modula MT design except it uses a larger 8" driver which gives almost as much displacement capability as dual 7" drivers.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/RS225_2wy.jpg


Amplification:

~6,500 watts with the two larger amps on dedicated 20A circuits per amp, and the smaller amps sharing a dedicated 20A circuit.
Sub - Behringer EP2500 (bridged)
Left / Right - Behringer EP2500 (stereo 1200w x 2ch)
Center - Behringer A500 (bridged)
Side Surrounds - Behringer A500 (stereo 230w x 2ch)
Rear Surrounds - Behringer A500 (stereo 230w x 2ch)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/amps.png


Pre/Pro:

Onkyo TX-SR805

It is an 'old' model but it still has plenty of great features. Has MultEQ XT room correction and EQ, as well as 3 HDMI v1.3a inputs and upconverts analog on digital signal to 720p. Can pass through 1080p fine.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0308.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0309.jpg

The Onkyo came in, saved about $150 by going redtag.com for overstock pricing.

Got most of the L/C/R speaker crossovers built, finished the wooden floor on the riser, mounted the rack and most of the amps. For ventilation we will install one or two 6 inch fans at the bottom of the equipment cabinet. Also wired the lighting for the riser step.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0540.jpg

Seats!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0541.jpg

Room is still a mess, tested all the wiring and amps today, everything went fine.

Got the PJ, Epson 6500UB, set up a temp screen to test, messed with settings a bit.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/apoc1.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/apoc3.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/apoc2.jpg

Building rear shelves:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0704.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0705.jpg

Complete!

Side Surrounds installed (need to clean and touch up!)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0707.jpg



And the mains L/C/R, the tape is the outside size of the frame:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0711.jpg

VERY nice man! Those L/C/R look pretty crazy. Any updates?

Chris:
You have come a long way with this project. You really have something to be proud of. What are you going to use for source equipment DVD, Satellite, Xbox, Playstation? When are you going to have the open house party for everyone to come and ooh and ahhh? Oh yeah, and bring housewarming presents to the theater!

Chuck

VERY nice man! Those L/C/R look pretty crazy. Any updates?
Not so much. We gotta fix the screen because the two 2x4's we put to reinforce the center show during some bright scenes so we need to take out the velvet behind the screen, take out the 2x4's and then put the 2x4's back on behind the velvet so it doesn't show. The sound is awesome and can play at reference and above all day.

We also cut a crude hole in the front of the AV closet so the projector is sitting in there, still everything looks rough. When we get some free time, we'll get more done and some more pictures.

Chris:
You have come a long way with this project. You really have something to be proud of. What are you going to use for source equipment DVD, Satellite, Xbox, Playstation? When are you going to have the open house party for everyone to come and ooh and ahhh? Oh yeah, and bring housewarming presents to the theater!

Chuck
Hey, Chuck!

Right now we have a PS3 and a Comcast HD box. We have all the absorbers up but of course they aren't finished yet and no big rug yet on the floor in front of sofa. Don't know about having a bunch of strange people over the house, but you can swing by anytime; bring your mic, mic pre-amp, and any other testing tools. Don't worry, I'll get the beer and grub!

Ok, seems we fixed the screen issue! :D We slipped some black velvet in between the offending frame members and the screen. Here are some screens.

Don't know why I can't get the damn color balance right when I photograph the screen:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0285.jpg


The white balance was better on the DVD shot:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_02893.jpg



Anyways, here is what is behind the screen with all the acoustics stuff. 1.5" rigid fiberglass un-faced and then 10 inches of fluffy fiberglass:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/crackyflipside/ht/DSC_0284.jpg