Im not sure how your speakers are mounted, do you have some pics of them? What I would of done would consist of multi layered MDF of differant Dimesions like 1/4", 1/2", and 3/4" basically building slim columns almost resembling tall, skinny picture frames with the blue color defining the "transition" layer giving it high contrast between different layers of the same black color. Because you would see the blue on two different axis it would have defined it even more if the transition were beveled on a 45 degree angle like moulding.

Its hard to explain but you have 45's going outwards (the columns themselves), the blue inlay would be going inwards defining a layer change leaving the columns and grilles black but on different levels of depth seperated by a thin accent of blue defining the transition.

I could build it and take a picture but explaining it is tough. It looks pretty cool in my mind and very Clean and not "cluttered"

The columns appear big enough to accomplish what I would do without looking too fancy or forced

What about columns like this? Also, any comment on the stairs?

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/6596/pass12test5gu.jpg

Mark, my speakers are almost the exact same shape as the columns. They are frickin' huge for surrounds.

Joe, the stairs look great. I didn't notice them because they blend so well. This reaffirms my decision to put a bullnose and wood facing on each of the steps as that will really bring them out. The entire vertical face of each step and the front face of the seating platform would have that wood veneer on it while the stair treads would still have the carpet.

Mark, my speakers are almost the exact same shape as the columns. They are frickin' huge for surrounds.

I like Reapers new render much better! I played with one of his earlier pictures and i am NO Reaper by a long shot but this is sort of what I am talking about but the columns didnt seem right from what your real pictures are. I took the liberty of changing behind the sconces to as well as slimming them up ( they look slightly too square to me). The blue transition would be much more slim than behind the sconces and on the prosenium, but thicker than on the columns and beveled. Where the sconces attached would be 1/2"-3/4" inset from the outer border, this same effect would be on the columns and give the black a layered look. If I had Reapers software i could possibly play with it and make it look like i am talking about

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/GoBigRed/poindexterpass1100074af.jpg

Oh, and I dont like the wood doors , can we make them Black? just kidding

I don't really like that black panel with the blue border on the proscenium, but it does look nice on the wall panels behind the sconces. They kind of remind me of the THX "The Audience is Listening" screen. Unfortunately that isn't a cheap addition. Those little borders would run approx. $453 in materials alone as I am using the track systems and don't want any seams on the panels so I would have to run the black panel, then cut out for the blue panel and then cut out for the black inset panel (and the left over wouldn't have enough play for me to use it again unless I made the blue trim much larger).

Of course it is always something that I could add later and I might just build one to see how it looks in person.

I don't know for certain which way I would run the columns right now but it would probably be one of the last 2 ways reaper uploaded them.

Oooh baby

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/7674/pass12test5qg.jpg

How do you account for the thickness of the carpet with the bullnose? It would seem that either you can't use a pad and need to use thin carpet, or you have to raise the bullnose to allow for the carpet and pad height. But then the cushion of the carpet and pad would be awkward directly next to the solid form of the wood bullnose..

I definitely like the look of the wood rise and the carpet tread though. I'm with Mike on liking the last two of reaper's renders on the columns. The wood on the bottom half is a good amount for the room. Some to tie in the door and trim, but not too much.

I REALLY like Reapers last render. That looks great. Especially with the steps having that wood facing. Really looks good.

So are the surrounds in front of the rear seating position? I take it the rear speakers are for 7.1 or are they B of an A & B 5.1 surround?

How do you account for the thickness of the carpet with the bullnose? It would seem that either you can't use a pad and need to use thin carpet, or you have to raise the bullnose to allow for the carpet and pad height. But then the cushion of the carpet and pad would be awkward directly next to the solid form of the wood bullnose..


Tim, the carpet and pad will have a certain thickness when compressed. You set the height of the bullnose to that height so that when one steps down there isn't a difference in height. You will see them in aluminum with running lights in some commercial environments and this wouldn't be that much different in implementation.

So are the surrounds in front of the rear seating position? I take it the rear speakers are for 7.1 or are they B of an A & B 5.1 surround?

Mark, there are two rear columns for the rear surround speakers in a 7 channel surround. My main system will be the Genesis and it is 7.7 while the secondary speaker system will be the Phase Technology and it is a 7.2 system.

There are two columns on each side and the rear one will have speakers while the front one doesn't have anything in them aside for the Lutron GrafikEye on the column nearest the entry door.

But are the surrounds in front of the rear seating position? In the renders it looks like the surrounds are several feet in front of the rear seating position and someone else has columns exactly like your positioning and I told him i thought the surrounds were supposed to be slightly above and behind but judging from your renders they are very high and infront for rear seating. I just want to call the person i may have missinformed and tell them not to worry about his column position and stick his speakers in there.

Mark,
If you believe dolby specifications, it is suppose to be slightly above and behind the primary listening position if your not using di-pole speakers. I believe it changes slightly if you are.

Here is a good link to speaker placement stuff:
http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/home/speaker_placement.html

I'll let MrPoindexter rip me to shreds now.

Wow, thats the first time I have seen a published report show the speakers in front of the head. It made me curious so I went and dug up the paperwork from an acoustician that visted and spent around 8 hours in our room examining our setup for "flaws" or things we could do to improve the sound, part of it includes a final Acoustical Analysis report that grades different aspects from A-F. There are two pages on surrounds alone, we scored a B on side surrounds because our surrounds are inline with rear seating, maybe ever so slightly forward and the recomendation was a surround B ( we have surround A/B capabilities) to be placed slightly behind rear seating to envelope the surround experience.

Not to hi-Jack but just want to know if surrounds are supposed to be infront of seating position to help someone else on this forum that I told this is a No-no, dipole or not. i have always been under the understanding that including surrounds into the front soundstage was not good for movies or SACD. We tried it even with second row seating and the front seating positions were great and the rear seating was terrible because it was 7' infront of seating position making a mess of the sound.

The other person on this forum had columns almost identical to Mr.Ps with 2 rows of seats, he was looking into in-walls behind GOM and maybe he does not have to.

Mark,
I would guess, it would change a little based on multiple seating locations ie rows. I believe
most of the dolby home specs are for a couch arrangement not a real theatre like everyone is
building around here. Here is another link to the source as it were:

http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/roomlayout.html#acoustics

I'll see fi I can find a commercial specification as I believe that would apply more to multiple rows of seating in the same room.

I bet MrP or Dennis could shed a lot of light on this.

Yeah, the guy who came out here was supposedly for "theater " applications since most diagrams are for a living room with a couch as you point out.

Mark,

The surround speakers are able to be switched between dipole and bipole via remote trigger relay - a VERY nice feature if you have your speakers in an installation where it is difficult to get to them. They are positioned such that when run in dipole mode they will put all the seats in the null spot.

For surround sound, you should have them pretty close to the 90' mark but different people have specified different degrees and you cannot really comply with everybody when they don't all agree. We have pretty much split the difference on the front/back row for having them on the sides and with the rear surrounds it isn't quite as critical that the sides are behind you since you do have the rear speakers. In a 5.1 setup it is more important that they are pushed back a bit.

Most of the documentation you will see for home use revolves around a single seating location and in theatrical settings it just isn't possible to have the speakers in a set area relative to the seat dictated within a few degrees unless you only have a couple of seats or your speakers are well outside the walls of the room. Besides that, all of that documentation is really written for the masses who generally are trying to set up their system in a living room and the documentation for theaters is typically for a cinemaplex and not really a home cinema.

In the renders there is a rather large opening for the surround speakers. Remember that I am running multiple speaker systems in this one room so the surrounds will be stacked. The initial thought would be for side by side to keep the height consistant but what would happen there is non-active speaker becomes a large reflective surface for the active speaker - especially since the surrounds have angled faces like most surrounds do.

In this regards, somebody gets the primary position while somebody has to "ride shotgun" and the Genesis speakers will get the primary position. For the Phase Technology speakers, I will run that center just above my Genesis center and raise the tweeter locations on the front up slightly to keep them in closer alignment with the surrounds.

So, anything going on in Clovis these days?

Sometimes it is hard to figure where a week went. At any rate, here is what has transpired as of late.

The columns are finally finished. Here you can see a subwoofer column in the back corner of the room. I can fit my surround subwoofers in there with no problems.
http://cinemawizards.com/photos/SubColumn.jpg

Once that part of the room was finished, it got some touch-ups with mud and texture on the ceiling in preperation for painting.

I started building my racks for the equipment room and you can see them here in the main part of the theater waiting to be put in their final home:
http://cinemawizards.com/photos/LeftRackRough.jpg http://cinemawizards.com/photos/RightRackRough.jpg

These are slide out racks designed to fit into custom millwork. They attach to a base with cable carriers on the back to prevent the cords from getting pinched when you slide the racks back into the wall.
http://cinemawizards.com/photos/CableCarriers.jpg

Since I will have a lot of cables, I have an extra cable carrier tray that fits between the side ones. I still have to install those.

This is where the racks are going to go:
http://cinemawizards.com/photos/EquipmentArea.jpg

In this photo the plugs are not finished by they are now with the exception of the 240V hookups, which I need to take care of. Yes, that is quite a bundle of cables on the left. I cannot imagine what it is going to look like when I get the interconnets in as well. Wiring hell!
http://cinemawizards.com/photos/Spaghetti.jpg

Once the final sheetrock was put up, it started looking a lot cleaner but that is still a lot of wire left. You can see the ceiling painting has started as well.http://cinemawizards.com/photos/EquipmentWall.jpg

Well, I am glad you were not slacking! :)

With the last of the sheetrocking finally finished, we get to paint the ceiling and the screen wall area:
http://cinemawizards.com/photos/CeilingBlack1.jpg

You can see the paper around the few lights we have in - those are not the fixtures! (I mention this because I saw some that looked like paper around a recessed light but priced like they were not just that simple)

Here the screen wall is pretty much finished. The areas that don't have paint behind the wall will have carpet and I will put up insulshield soon so this part is finished as far as paint is concerned. It does need a second coat on the ceiling, however.
http://cinemawizards.com/photos/ScreenWallBlack1.jpg

Well, I am glad you were not slacking! :)

Well there was a lot of other work to do as well. We had to weed and mow the lawn, but I didn't document that for any Internet forums.

I did keep myself busy in the family room, however. While in rack building mode, I put my equipment into 3 slide out racks above my TV set.

http://cinemawizards.com/photos/TVRacks.jpg

There are a few components missing right now and I covered their spots with 1U vent panels on the top and a 1U blank panel on the right side rack for right now to see how clean it is going to look. On the top left, I should have a Lumagen scaler, but I am waiting on that. I will pass the one from my theater down here when I get a Realta based unit up there - probably when I upgrade to a 3-chip 1080p DLP early next year.

In the middle rack on the top will be a thermostatically controlled fan. I had one ready to go, but I want their new decorator series fan instead as it looks a lot less industrial.

On the right side, I plan on putting my D-BOX Odyssee motion controller in the shelf that has an open slot. It is upstairs right now but I will have a third controller shortly so I can have one in the theater, one in the gameroom and one in the family room. There is also just enough room for a Kaleidescape movie reader and I would like to relocate that downstairs since that is the most convenient place to load new discs when I buy them unless I pick up a whole bunch at one time at which point I use the bulk loader.

Here is a closer shot of the rack. The screws are going to be covered with trim strips for an even cleaner look. I also need to see about getting a gasket to fill in the gap that is left when the rack is in place.
http://cinemawizards.com/photos/TVRacks2.jpg

Finally, the last update to get back up current with this project. I had my carpenter make me a candy counter. I showed him some sketches of what I was looking for and a picture of another one that had the look and feel I was going for. What I got was a clone of the one in the photo and not what I needed in terms of getting it to integrate with the fridge. Fortunately we are going to be able to save most of the work on this but it has to be totally rebuilt. I was worried after I saw this but once I saw the work done on the family room rack cabinet I felt relieved enough to have him take another shot at it before I brought in another guy.
http://cinemawizards.com/photos/CandyCounter1.jpg

I want the top to go from one side to the other with the mini-fridge underneath it. The fluting detail will go across as well, so the entire unit will have to be raised some 3-6" and a new top will be made. The only big loss was the veneer on the top and front but the front was using scraps anyway so that is tolerable.

The candy counter is mahogany. I couldn't get the same knotty alder I was using in the rest of the theater.

Speaking of the knotty alder, my doors, baseboard and crown came in. Once the second coat of paint is up, I will be able to continue on to the next step - attaching the baseboard, hanging the doors and rough fitting the crown.

I'm surprised that you aren't building your equipment room with access to the back of the racks.

I cannot get access to the backs of the racks without tearing up a lot of stuff in the bathroom. Instead, I opted for the AXS series of Middle Atlantic racks which slide out from the wall so I can still get access to the rear. This is an example of that rack in an installation both recessed and slid out to work on:
http://www.middleatlantic.com/images/irande/AXSINWLL.jpghttp://www.middleatlantic.com/images/irande/AXSOUTWL.jpg

Yes, walk in access to the rear would have been better, but to do that would have given me only a 24" wide doorway to get into the snack area. Sometimes you have to work with what you have and I felt this was the best solution given the room.

I was hoping to have photos of my doors installed today. I just found out my doors were all made with the hinges on backwards, so I won't have those in until I get back from China.

Can anyone tell me what software you use for designing a dedicated theater room?

Greatly appreciated.

Can anyone tell me what software you use for designing a dedicated theater room?

Greatly appreciated.

Visio.

First off, I would have to ask what aspect of designing. For drawing up the plans there are several programs people will use. Visio is one. AutoCAD is another. Some people will use D-Tools. Rendering is done in another program. Acoustic analysis is done with yet another program. There are some people who use different programs for drawing wiring schematics and racking diagrams (AV Snap and RackTools) while most just use Visio, AutoCAD and/or D-Tools for their entire installation plans.

Ideally, I was hoping for a software that I could not only layout the floor plan but could be viewed in 3-d. Much like home builder software. I have used Visio for floor plan drawing but i was hoping for something with home theater plug-ins (screen, speakers, theater seating, etc.)

Mr. Poindexter, what program did you use to create the rendering with the Batman scene on the screen?

I used a rendering service: www.renderreality.com

He is on this forum (reaper) and is excellent - I am very happy with his work. There are "quick views" you can do in most modelling programs that will give you a rough idea
what a change will do, but for a totally polished final image you would want to use a top notch ray tracing program or a professional who uses one.

Sadly, you are not going to find much that has the "home theater plug-ins" for a decent price and often those plug ins are a subscription fee and don't have all brands - only those that participate.

For 3D visualization software consider Sketchup

http://www.sketchup.com/

Thank you for taking the time to respond

So, any new progress?

For 3D visualization software consider Sketchup

http://www.sketchup.com/


I second Sketchup. While its not quite as impressive as some of the other stuff it does the job and has a 5 minute learning curve.

I love it.

Ronnie

I think he is in China

I think he is in China

Dont they have the internet in China also? :p

Ronnie

They do have the Internet in China, but I had some more pressing things to do there.

FYI, China has the worst alcoholic beverage in the world. I don't think mankind has come up with a nastier thing than what they have (pronounced pee-chew and tastes worse than it sounds and smells even worse than it tastes).

At any rate, here is what transpired during my absence:

My candy counter has been finished after being rebuilt to match what I was wanting. I still need to have the glass shelves made up and there will be 1/2" of wood on the left side of the fridge.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/CandyCounter2.jpg

The curve for the baseboards that are on the steps is finished. I think it came out very nice.
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/StepBaseCurve.jpg

The first column has had a veneer and baseboard put on it. I had to approve this before we could do the other columns. I will have a chair rail on the columns between the bottom and the fabric opening on the top.
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/ColumnVeneer.jpg

My doors got fixed, but now they are not exterior doors! Rather than push them back again, I will add the weatherstripping on site. They also changed my hinges and I need to discuss that with the lumber company. Interestingly, there doors were made in China!
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/NewDoor.jpg

Finally, the crown moulding has been put up. Here it a shot of the back corner of the room. It hasn't been stained yet. I still have to pick out the stain. I do not know yet if I want to match the stain that is on the mahogany candy counter.
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Crown1.jpg

Hi Mr.P, It`s comming on very nicely. The curved baseboard looks SUPER!

That re-vamped candy counter looks pretty sweet and the baseboard "wave" is a really subtle but groovy detail. NICE!

like the wavy baseboard. Gives me some ideas. Hmmmm!!

Glad you guys like the wave on the baseboard. It will add some complexity to putting the GOM up as well but I think it will be worth the effort.

Damn, I can't believe I just sat here and read all 10 pages of this thread...good stuff

Time for more updates!

I used a rendering service: www.renderreality.com

He is on this forum (reaper) and is excellent - I am very happy with his work. There are "quick views" you can do in most modelling programs that will give you a rough idea
what a change will do, but for a totally polished final image you would want to use a top notch ray tracing program or a professional who uses one.

Sadly, you are not going to find much that has the "home theater plug-ins" for a decent price and often those plug ins are a subscription fee and don't have all brands - only those that participate.

How much does reaper charge for a render and design?

It is not permitted to discuss business on the forums. Please feel free to PM or e-mail me. My e-mail address can be had on my website. :)

[QUOTE=At FYI, China has the worst alcoholic beverage in the world. I don't think mankind has come up with a nastier thing than what they have (pronounced pee-chew and tastes worse than it sounds and smells even worse than it tastes).[/QUOTE]

Ni hao,

You mean "Pi- Jo" - it is what they call white wine and it is awful. Looks and tastes like lighter fluid!

"Pee-jo" is beer, which I haven't found a bad one yet. I've lived in China for a year, with two to go on a JV assignment. I miss my home theater!!! But I do enjoy reading eveyone's efforts here in the AVS contstruction forum.

At least I talked my employer into a 1080P 37" LCD flatscreen mounted on the wall of my apartment :D

Bob

How about if I call one of my bunny girlfriends for a job??

http://www.winglake.com/images/components_current/party2.JPG

OK either I need new glasses or there's something horrifyingly wrong with the girl on the right's top teeth!

Mr.P everything you're doing is awesome and I hope you don't mind but I am definitely poaching your column ideas. I was looking for something different than semi-circle or rectangular, and you've given it to me. Only difference is my middle-surround speakers are small so the won't need the huge cutout, and also I believe I'll integrate a light (inset, behind a lens) in the tops. I think I'll make them all black too, like that modification of your render that someone else did.

If you have any tips on how to build these out of the MDF that would be great, and I'd love to see some closeups of any framing you did inside.

Equusz

OK either I need new glasses or there's something horrifyingly wrong with the girl on the right's top teeth!

Equusz

She is sticking her tongue out... :p

OK either I need new glasses or there's something horrifyingly wrong with the girl on the right's top teeth!

Equusz

I think you need new glasses!

She has teeth...?

Oh, wow, there's a guy in that picture too. Who knew?

Well there was a lot of other work to do as well. We had to weed and mow the lawn, but I didn't document that for any Internet forums.

I did keep myself busy in the family room, however. While in rack building mode, I put my equipment into 3 slide out racks above my TV set.

http://cinemawizards.com/photos/TVRacks.jpg

There are a few components missing right now and I covered their spots with 1U vent panels on the top and a 1U blank panel on the right side rack for right now to see how clean it is going to look. On the top left, I should have a Lumagen scaler, but I am waiting on that. I will pass the one from my theater down here when I get a Realta based unit up there - probably when I upgrade to a 3-chip 1080p DLP early next year.

In the middle rack on the top will be a thermostatically controlled fan. I had one ready to go, but I want their new decorator series fan instead as it looks a lot less industrial.

On the right side, I plan on putting my D-BOX Odyssee motion controller in the shelf that has an open slot. It is upstairs right now but I will have a third controller shortly so I can have one in the theater, one in the gameroom and one in the family room. There is also just enough room for a Kaleidescape movie reader and I would like to relocate that downstairs since that is the most convenient place to load new discs when I buy them unless I pick up a whole bunch at one time at which point I use the bulk loader.

Here is a closer shot of the rack. The screws are going to be covered with trim strips for an even cleaner look. I also need to see about getting a gasket to fill in the gap that is left when the rack is in place.
http://cinemawizards.com/photos/TVRacks2.jpg

Mr. P,

Can you give me some info on these racks--I have a media niche that I am going to convert into some kind of built-in and/or cabinet and these types of racks would work great.

Also, I must have missed it somewhere in this entire thread that I just read :) but who did the design of the theater or have you done it all yourself?

Impressive project and thanks for letting us be a part of the process!

She is sticking her tongue out... :p

OK now I see it - wow that was a weird optical illusion!

Finally, we have gotten just about finished with the woodworking. That has been a real nightmare on my timeline and my budget.

The candy counter, which was redone once is now looking a lot better with the hardwood floor put in. I still need to have the curve cut into the wood, but you can see how it will look here (please ignore the dust):
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/CandyFloor1.jpg
The wood trim is a little splotchy because it is pine. I want to change that to mahogany to match the counter. That can wait for now, though.

Also, the columns are finished - four of them are here:
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Column1.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Column2.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Column3.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Column4.jpg

I was wondering what was going on with your construction. We had not been getting any updates for a while. We are an impatient group of bastards!

And finally my custom wood bullnoses have been finished - almost. One piece should come in today. It was supposed to be finished Saturday but the guy wanted to double check the templates to make sure he had them correct.

Each piece is made a little long to we have to trim them on site - this is why they don't match up right now in the shots. Also, they tend to blend in with the plywood but will have a lot of contrast against the carpet.

Here they are set up on top of the right steps. The gap will disappear when the end is cut to fit the length:
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Bullnose1.jpg

Here you can see the right edge is too long - this was done on all the pieces so we could miter them if need be. Also we need to make them snug with the baseboard as well. The front facings will have a veneer of knotty alder to match.
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Bullnose2.jpg

The bottom step, while not fitted in just yet, shows very much like the finished step noses will look like.
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Bullnose3.jpg

Here is a shot of the back steps with their bullnose pieces laid out for install. These were some sharper curves and fairly tough to do I suspect.
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Bullnose4.jpg

I was wondering what was going on with your construction. We had not been getting any updates for a while. We are an impatient group of bastards!

I fit right in with that group! Carpet is supposed to be installed Thursday. I need to start staining and finishing the wood tomorrow to have it ready in time. I was told it will take 2 days to put in my carpet. They are sending out their best installer and he will be working alone on the project. I feel that pictures after he comes out are going to look VERY different!

Nice work indeed.

I grew up in Clovis and my family still lives there. How about those summers, eh?

Looking forward to the final product. Would love to see it in person since I go to Clovis about twice a year anyway.

90 degrees today and it is just going to get worse when summer hits. Fortunately the R-value of my theater is astronomical without windows and the double sheetrock, green glue and floating floor.

I will be done when summer rolls around. I only wonder how long it will take for me to get it tweaked to the level I am comfortable with.

Looks good. I wasn't 100% on board with the columns in the renders and under construction - but they look great now that they are up.

Mr. P,

Can you give me some info on these racks--I have a media niche that I am going to convert into some kind of built-in and/or cabinet and these types of racks would work great.

Also, I must have missed it somewhere in this entire thread that I just read :) but who did the design of the theater or have you done it all yourself?

Impressive project and thanks for letting us be a part of the process!

JJay, the racks are Middle Atlantic SR series racks. They slide out, but do not rotate. They have a rotating version, but I didn't have room for them. The only drawback of these is that they don't slide out that far - it is pretty cramped when you use deep components, which many of mine are.

I used Dennis Erskine for the acoustic engineering and worked with him on the design of the room. The system was designed by me and a lot of changes during the build out phase were done by me after being able to visualize things with Reaper's rendering. I figure all the money he saved me in not making mistakes I more than spent in making the room better. In the end, he probably cost me money but I end up with a substantially better looking room than I would have otherwise had.

A while back, somebody posted that if I went for a secret entrance to my theater, I would have to get a bust of Shakespear where I can tilt the head back and open the door just like in the original Batman series.

Well, I was just informed that my Shakespear bust is shipping today. I think I ordered it about 3 months ago.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/wickedcoolstuff_1893_28004264

Here is the same bust with the original Batman, Adam West!
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/wickedcoolstuff_1893_28075521

If you would like one of your own, they are here:
http://www.wickedcoolstuff.com/shrecobujpr.html

Too cool, Mr. P!

Randy

LOL...look at the expression on West 's face..lol.....looks real happy to be there.

I love your work Mr. P

...now all you need is a Suit of Armor like the ones in Scooby Doo :p

here's one! (http://www.mwart.com/xq/ASP.product/pid.345/qx/italian-suit-of-armor.htm)

Foghorn, I would like to have a nice wide hall with about 10-12 suits of armor from different periods and locales, making sure to have not only European armor, but also the suits Samurai would wear. Alas, I do not have enough room.

Mr.P,

The theater will be incredible. It looks like the "light" is peeking through at the end of the tunnel, at least for the major construction phase. Hopefully your Merc will come in at the exact time you are ready for it as well as the rest of your equipment. That would be tough to sit in a beautiful theater that is waiting for equipment.

This thread is a clinic!

Oh my lord, where to begin...

I have been racing the clock, trying to finish construction before my wife delivers our second baby - due in 10 days now. No time for updates, I guess - until now.

Bullnoses and woodworking are complete.

Here the room is fairly well cleaned up and waiting for stain and clear coat:
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/BullnoseComplete1.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/BullnoseComplete2.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/BullnoseComplete3.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/BullnoseComplete4.jpg

For those who have been paying attention, those last photos look a lot better than any of the previous ones. I just upgraded to a Canon Digital SLR camera with a nice wide angle lens. It is a whole new ballgame now!

Here are some closeups of the bullnose detail:
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/RightStepNose.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/RiserNose.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/LeftStageNose.jpg

You will notice no visible attachment - they were all attached via screws on the back side so nothing is visible attaching them to the steps. You can see the screws in the back side photos:
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/BathroomNose.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/EquipmentNose.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/LeftStepNose1.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/LeftStepNose2.jpg

And from the front it is nice and clean. Notice the two front veneers of knotty alder - one lower one recessed from the top one:
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/EquipmentNose2.jpg

Unfortunately, they do not have a lot of contrast to the plywood, but that will change when the stain hits it. Staining is going on right now - more beat the clock as the carpet guy comes Wednesday and is supposed to be finished Thursday. My HVAC guy is coming tomorrow evening as well - lucky him to be working in the attic after things heat up. :D

A while back, somebody posted that if I went for a secret entrance to my theater, I would have to get a bust of Shakespear where I can tilt the head back and open the door just like in the original Batman series.

Well, I was just informed that my Shakespear bust is shipping today. I think I ordered it about 3 months ago.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/wickedcoolstuff_1893_28004264

Here is the same bust with the original Batman, Adam West!
http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/wickedcoolstuff_1893_28075521

If you would like one of your own, they are here:
http://www.wickedcoolstuff.com/shrecobujpr.html

I want to take credit for that one. Those Shakespear busts are the coolest. That will be very high on the "cool factor" scale.

Congratulations on your new child. I wish you and your wife the best.

Mike

Mr. P., gotta say, that room looks big! Looks like things are coming along, now if only the new kid could wait a little longer and let you get more done.... :) Just kidding of course. Good luck with the new baby and also the amount of work that will get done after the new baby comes along!

Here is a little teaser - stained and sealed - still needs to be sanded lightly once and then have the final coat of polyeurethane applied.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/StainedBullnose1.jpg

Nice! I like the stain color.

Ooooh, that looks nice Mr. P.

Looking good! I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's update!

Just saw the thread for the first time today and read every page, I think I am going to cry.

I have previously held Art's theatre as the one to aspire too, I think when completed, it will be toppled from its perch.

Must win the lottery, must win the lottery, must win the lottery

(although I have my doubts about alot of the stuff included in your room even being available in New Zealand, but thats a whole different story)

Sen

I have previously held Art's theatre as the one to aspire too, I think when completed, it will be toppled from its perch.
Sen

2 G90s perfectly tuned to act as one.... I think not. But the room IS beautiful!

You ever seen a Digital Projections Mercury HD in action? You may change your mind.

Carpet has been put in - somewhat. They have finished about half of the room and will finish the rest on Monday.

Here it is with the pad going down:
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/CarpetPad.jpg

I got memory foam pad, which not only is really nice and comfy, but it also extends my carpet warranty substantially (like 5 or 7 years more - I don't recall exactly).

Now, here is how it looks with the carpet down. The lady in the background is my handyman's girlfriend - the only wide shot she was in was the only one that caught the carpet pattern well.
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Carpet1.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Carpet2.jpg http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Carpet3.jpg

Sweet! Enough said.

One more problem - apparently when the door company made my doors incorrectly the second time (I kept them since it was a minor correctable error) they must have splashed some oil on two of the doors. It wasn't visible until the stain was applied. Suddenly, the spots appeared where they didn't take stain the same way. We sanded them out and restained and had the same thing happen.

I might have to have new doors made - a 6 week endeavor.
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/DoorSpots.jpg

By the way, if anybody is wondering:

The doors and wood is all made from knotty alder. The stain is Minwax #222 Sedona Red. We are applying one coat of stain and then two coats of polyeurethane. Some of the wood in these photos doesn't have the polyeurethane applied yet, so there will be a different sheen to some wood. We are using a satin finish, not a gloss.

Dude, that is looking really classy. I don't know if that is the word you would have been going for, but that's what I see when I look at the pics. Very nice job.

That is pretty much the look I am aiming for. I want the theater to look like a million bucks without obviously looking like a million bucks. I want something that is elegant but not flashy. I figure I will have all the jewelry I need sitting in the equipment racks to impress the trained eye and what I wanted was a room that would impress somebody who doesn't care about electronics or theaters.

Come Monday I will have a better idea of how the room will look with the remainder of the carpet installed. Then I will get to start on the acoustic treatments and loading/wiring the racks. I should have the A/C system running by Sunday evening as well, which is good. I don't want to work in an oven.

Still a lot of work to do, but I want to get the system running as soon as possible now so I can at least listen to some music while I work.

By the way, my handyman called and told me he sanded the hell out of one big part of the door and got rid of the spots. I think he will finish that up Monday while the carpet man is getting things done.

Awesome Mike ! A great looking room not overstated just very very clean lines etc. As you said the equipment speaks very well for itself. I especially like that gigantic screen wall opening . Thanks for the updates. :)

Art

Very nice looking pattern on the carpet!

Did you have to have any carpet seams anywhere? If yes how did they come out?

Frank

Frank, no seams on the carpet - or at least none that I have seen. The carpet width is just slightly wider than the lowest section of my theater. I am going to have to guess the upper section will be the same way, but I cannot be here to watch him put it in - I have to go to work and make enough to pay for this endeavor.

I do know that for many top end carpet installers, they cut the seam in a wavy line so there isn't a straight seam that can be seen. With the curves, it is completely lost and you just cannot find it unless you turn the carpet over.

Just saw the thread for the first time today and read every page, I think I am going to cry.

I have previously held Art's theatre as the one to aspire too, I think when completed, it will be toppled from its perch.

Sen

Senator, that is probably the best compliment I have heard so far. I had the honor of being in Art's theater and that really drove home the need to have a room done right. His was the inspiration for mine more than any other theater I have been in. I felt like I was walking on hallowed ground when I first stepped in there.

I don't think you can really "top" Art's theater any more than somebody can say "Marcia Cross is prettier than Eva Longoria" because they are both 10's. At that point, it just matters what you prefer and preference is an opinion that isn't shared by everybody. We cannot all even agree Art's theater is the best, but everybody puts it in their top 5 on the forum so it is safe to say it is one of the best. My ego doesn't require me to have the best theater on the forum. I will have the best theater for 100 miles in all directions - that's good enough for me. ;)

Looking Real Good Mike. I love the woodwork trim on the steps and the carpet is incredible. Your going to have an amazing room when done.

Ruben

Still a lot of work to do, but I want to get the system running as soon as possible now so I can at least listen to some music while I work.
How about getting one of these (http://www.smarthome.com/9724WG.html) to use for music listening while you work. It'll fit right in with a small subset of your (future) equipment.. ;)

Looking very nice.. Especially now with the carpet.

Ruben, thanks. I did step it up just a little because of you - it is always nice to be pushed a little when striving for the top. I don't want to hear you say it is boring looking any more.

Tim, you are too cruel. Still, those are supposedly wonderful radios that fill the room with sound. My old clock radio couldn't do that and the sound just completely stopped after 10 feet. Quite side to see it drop from 85db at 1 foot to 75db at 10 feet to 0db at 11 feet. ;)

Heh, thought you'd enjoy that. I'm listening to some old computer speakers that I don't think reach below 200Hz.

I agree the Wave radios sound pretty decent compared with clock radios, but I don't buy too many $350 clock radios, either. I think I'd get some Ascends or something before I'd get a Wave radio.

Mr.P, Damn this is coming along great, kind snailed for a bit but man in like two weeks you like gone from 50% to 85% at the snap of your fingers LOL.

~Bob

Not a lot of nice pictures to post right now. Carpet will be finished (I hope!) on Monday. A/C system will be done then as well, but not much to post in the way of pictures for that.

My mother-in-law moved in today, so all my equipment boxes are in the room. This means the theater looks worse now than it did 2 days ago. Still, I should have some nice progress pics Monday evening.

Mike, you are a sick, sick man :D

Minor change in schedule - carpet guy won't be here today. He tells me it will take him 2 more days to do the carpet, so I won't be finished with the carpet until Wednesday evening. Of course, our baby is due Thursday, but I think that schedule is going to be just like the rest of the schedules around here - very iffy. The A/C should be running by tonight, at least.

With my mother-in-law around to help out, I should be free to get some work done before the baby comes at least.

The doors and wood is all made from knotty alder.
An unpleasant effect with the finish of the door. We chose knotty alder for all the millwork in our home also. Finishing it takes some effort. I learned by experiment with scraps that alder is porous, much like pine, and does not take stain evenly; gets really blotchy. I hired a team specifically to finish all our alder. To "stop/prevent" the blotchy characteristic an initial coat of extremely diluted, almost imperceivable white wash was done. This locks out the uneven absorption of stain and allows the true color of the selected stain to be perfectly even. Dried overnight, then sanded lightly. The stain coat was brushed on then quickly wiped, allowing darker tones to be retained in the knots and cracks, etc. Dry for a couple days. Final coat was Sherwin Williams Catalytic Laquer in "Dull Rub" finish. This stuff is almost flat, no real sheen, and it is bullet proof to stains, dirt, etc. The Dull Rub supports the rustic character of the knotty alder. There is a version of the laquer with a sheen. The catalytic laquer odor is so vile/strong, that no other workers could stand to be in the house when that is shot.

Mike, you are a sick, sick man :D

Why do you say that? Not that I disagree, I was just wondering what post gave you the proof?

Cam Man, the door problem isn't because it is knotty alder. One side of the door and one edge are a problem on two doors. The back side on each is fine and the entry door is fine on both sides. Also I had no problems on my columns, the baseboard, the bullnose, the chair rail (only on the columns Peter - don't have a cow) and the two differen crowns. The only issue I had was where filler had been applied to the crown in two small spots the size of a pea each and one on the bullnose the size of a half-dollar. My handyman was able to minimize that with some color matching.

i haven't had the splotching you are mentioning with the alder in my house and I have a hell of a lot of it. All the cabinets in the house are also knotty alder with a mocha almond glaze and they came out nice as well. I have one small area that some pine was used and once the rest of the important things are done, that little bit is going to be ripped out and done right with some mahogony (it is on the candy counter).

I thought about laquer, but opted for the polyeurethane because of my wife, child and I don't want to have that kind of odor around with my wife so close to delivery.

I thought about laquer, but opted for the polyeurethane because of my wife, child and I don't want to have that kind of odor around with my wife so close to delivery.
Yep, in re-model construction/occupied home you would have to shoot that stuff in the garage or in a shop.

i haven't had the splotching you are mentioning with the alder in my house and I have a hell of a lot of it. Did you finish your millwork yourself, or other? If your guys did it, they obviously have the code.

The catalytic lacquer is a very different animal from typical lacquers, and only available in their industrial line. They also have a catalytic varnish, but for some reason we did the CL instead. The knotty alder is a very pleasing choice, huh?

OK, for those who like the carpet I am putting in: beware! This stuff is an absolute PITA to install. It will easily bend across the width, but not lengthwise due to the fiber and the way it is stitched. My carpet guy has to cut relief cuts in the carpet for every curve and it is wearing him out. It will take him 4-5 days to do my room and I have to fit the extra days in between other jobs he has scheduled. I might get the carpet finished by Friday - maybe.

He has told me he will finish the job but if he knew what it was going to be like he never would have taken the job. (He subcontracts for the carpet store) This carpet is a "stanton carpet" whatever that means. After 30 years of installing carpet, he is telling me this is the hardest one he has ever had to do.

Since he is on another job today, I am taking the time to rebuild the rack enclosure a little bit. Once I got the racks in there, I didn't like the way they were looking. Hopefully I can have some good pictures up tonight or tomorrow.

Still no word from the stork, so I don't have a clue when the baby is coming. My wife's next appt. is Friday and I would think if she doesn't deliver by then, they will induce either this weekend or the beginning of the next week.

Has your carpet guy seen all these changes? Boy, is he gonna be happy. I would say you can figure on some "pricing" change orders I should have worded it " Your carpet guy is going to hate your room" instead, I knew he was going to be glad when he was long gone.

They saw the room with all the curves. The only thing that changed since they quoted the job was adding the bullnose and I told them about that going in. I truly think they didn't realize how hard this particular carpet is to work with. The initial estimate was 2 days for install. It has been 3 so far and will probably take 2 more.

Mr. P,

Very damn impressive. I hope you dont mind if I take notes (and copy some of that look) while my new house is put up. My budget for my media room is not as much as the MSRP of your screen alone 8) so I doubt that it could ever look anywhere near that good, but it certainly does give me a lot of great ideas.

Fortunately I already have my speakers that I am very happy with and my media room already comes with a lot of trim, canned lights, columns, and prewiring and those dont count against my budget. Along with the wood trim, carpet, seat layout (although not seats yet) and paint job, I think I am going to get my 2.35 screen, lens, and rack right first before I get the right PJ/processor combo.

We just contracted on our new to be built home this past Friday and I am going to have to look out for sconces and additional trim work to take from the light fixture and design allowances that will hopefully not have to come from my home theater budget (if I can slick it past my wife.)

I usually load up for performance instead of aesthetics but I think this go round I am going to get aesthetics done right, even if I have to go backwards a little on PJ and VP to begin with.

Very impressive watching the room progress through its stages of completion from the beginning of the thread to where it currently is. I cant wait to see what the finished product looks like.



And Mr. Bland, i am equally as impressed with you. 8) I have zoomed up your picture to see if I could find where you cut and pasted your head or your body into that picture and it does seem to be legit!

No new photos of the room just yet. I do have about 150 photos of my new daughter already, though. She was born yesterday at 5:55am and I just got home with her. I will try and get an update of the theater progress this evening.

PS: She was 9lbs, 7.7oz. so apparently we have to do everything big, much to my wife's discontent. ;)

PS: She was 9lbs, 7.7oz. so apparently we have to do everything big, much to my wife's discontent. ;)
That's 4 more pounds than I was. :-) (In my defense, I'm a twin so I had a co-pilot...)

Congrats!

Congrats. Hope the wife is well, too.

Mike,

I just wanted to send my congratulations on the new addition to the family and compliment you on the amazing theater you are building.

I stumbled upon this thread earlier today and have spent the last couple hours reading through all 12 pages of it. All I can say is: most impressive.

Congrats Mr. Poindexter! (and Mrs. Poindexter too). Enjoy the Micro Poindexter. They are great, once you get some sleep. I guess now the pictures and progress will slow to a crawl, but those of us with kids definately understand. Enjoy every minute of it!

Congrats on your baby daughter and hope everyone is doing well!

Gary

Congrats on the new addition!

Congrats on the baby!!

No new photos of the room just yet. I do have about 150 photos of my new daughter already, though. She was born yesterday at 5:55am and I just got home with her. I will try and get an update of the theater progress this evening.

Congratulations on your daughter!


Your theater is awesome, really. When folks talk about the evolving state of home theater, and what can be done, your theater is exactly what those folks are talking about! I can't wait to see the "final" pictures. Any thoughts yet on what movie you'll watch on opening night?

I am leaning heavily towards Ben Hur for the inaugural film. It is as wide as they come and I am completely set up for 2.76:1 with the masking system.

So, you have a new daughter and you still can't stay away from AVS? Man, you are hooked! :)

Congrats on the new addition to the family.

Congratulations on your new addition!!!

good one poindexter! is she big enough to sleep in those equipment racks for a while? they probably cost more than a basinet! :)

r-s

I am leaning heavily towards Ben Hur for the inaugural film. It is as wide as they come and I am completely set up for 2.76:1 with the masking system.

Do you have it in HD ? Congratulations also Mike. If this is your first be ready for experiencing why they have always said love comes from the heart. When I've held my babies to my chest..... nothing like it !! :) :) ..... OK, maybe Ben Hur in HD in your theater. :D ;)

Art

Unfortunately, I do not have Ben Hur in HD. I would gladly buy it if they would sell it, but I would want it to have some form of MMC with it.

congrats on the baby! and on the theater progress. It looks great. I especially like your finishing touches such as the stair trim. What's the estimated completion?

Yes congrats 0n the new ht buff but look out for her backfire's.

Yes congrats! Enjoy it for about 15 years because being a father of a daughter becomes something completely different around that age, Mine is sixteen and half and I still wonder how I have kept my sanity this last year or two. I cant remember how many times I have deferred some issues to good ole Mom just because I feel like I am on another planet and my judgement is better off not even being considered.

It was pretty funny when she learned to drive though, her mom would make her stop and change drivers if it wasnt cut & clear driving (highway intersections mainly, no deep in the city driving), the daughter asked if I would take her out and I took her straight down to the main drag where all the malls and restraunts are and kept her busy for awhile. Shes the best driver in the family.

Congrats, what is here name?

Her name is Lauren Mikayla. Our other daughter is Laci Marie, so we all have the same initials (Mike is my middle name).

Are you using the Black Backer on your screen?

Yes I am using the black backing. Even with everything behind the screen it should help the contrast even more.

Her name is Lauren Mikayla. Our other daughter is Laci Marie, so we all have the same initials (Mike is my middle name).
I thought Danger was your middle name...

Let me take this post as an opportunity to wish my heartfelt congratulations as well!

Mr. P, great looking theater and congratulations.

Looking at your color scheme in the 3D model, wondering is your walls are going to be painted in blue or you going to use the cloth? As GOM doesn't seem to have that color what are the other sources are you considering.

thanks
sri

Mr. P,

Congratulations to you and your wife on the new little girl. 8)

Between her and your new media room you probably will not be getting much rest in the near future.

Congrats on the new addition!

Your theater is simply amazing. There are no words to describe how cool it is - I can't wait to see the finished product. Sometimes I sit back and listen to my system and think "I have a pretty good setup." And then I see a theater like this and realize I have a looong way to go! :)

Congratulations! Can't imagine how you and your family feel. It's got to be exciting!

Well, glad to see that your HT is coming by nicely. I can't wait to see the final outcome. Post more pics soon Mr. P (hope you don't mind me calling you Mr. Poindexter all the time instead of Mike, it's just more proper and that's how I Was raised, it's just habit for me).

Best regards,
Chris

was enjoying the thread...is it still working? did it move? sort of confused.

was enjoying the thread...is it still working? did it move? sort of confused.
Hmmm.... New baby. Tired wife. Construct theater and post on internet. I think I know where my priorities would be! Patience - it'll happen when it happens.

Don,

That is very true. Add in a trip to Florida to work on a theater as well.

We are closing in on finishing up JohnTech's theater there - I don't think he has updated his photos, but I will post some on his thread this afternoon. It is also a smokin' theater. I want to do some concept vs. final comparison shots but I think I will wait until the theater is totally finished to do those. Plus, I need a wider angle lens - something on the order of 8-10mm to get a similar look to the renders.

I have set a date for the open house!

I will be keeping a list of the people who plan on attending in another thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=693011

The long and short of the post is this:

Saturday, August 26th, 2006 in Clovis, CA. Party stats at 1:00pm and stay as late as you like. PM me your address and I will mail a formal invitation with directions and a map.

OK, it has been way too long since I got pictures posted. I lost a lot of time between having a new baby, travelling and having my handyman being sick for the past few weeks. Back on track, cracking the whip and things are moving again.

The carpet is installed except for one piece that needed to be stitched so that I can easily remove it to get to the motion system. While you don't typically need to get at them, I will because I take mine out to show people from time to time. I might even take it downstairs for an outdoor movie event if I feel particularly brave.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Room.jpg

The columns are black inside as I have lined them in insulshield to keep them from resonating and cut down on any reflections. The Phase Tech dARTS have been installed but not the Genesis speakers.

You can see the racks have been installed in the equipment room. Here is a closer look:
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Racks.jpg

On the bottom, there are two Kaleidescape servers. Above that on the left I have a 4U drawer to store manuals and remotes and other accessories. On the right, I have space left for another component that I should have shortly. A 3U blank panel is there right now.

Above those, I have an Equi=tech 5Q balanced power transformer on the left and an open space on the right that will house a second one. It is shipping out to me tomorrow. That was a total beast to install - 175lbs. Going up from there on the left I have the Lexicon MC12b, blank space to house HD-DVD and BluRay players that I will get later, then I have the D-Theater deck, Lumagen scaler, HD-TiVo, Kaleidescape player, then some space for my Russound CAV6.6 for whole house audio as well as the Russound SMS3 and ST2-XM. Above that is a Russound amp so I can get more power.

On the right, above the space for the Equi=tech 5Q, I have a Crestron Pro2, a Crestron ST-LT, a keyboard drawer, a D-BOX 340c motion controller, then some space for my patch panels. On top, there is the Phase Tech amp for the dARTS system and the Adcom amp for the Genesis.

Above the racks, the opening on the right is for the projector. The opening on the left is the air return for the rack ventilation. That will be well damped.

Now, back to the room. Below, you can see some wood frames on the side walls. The inset portion will be black while the outside will be blue. Over the wood, I will have a 1 5/8 wide moulding to give a nice seperation between the two colors.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/SconcePanels.jpg

Finally, I have a little shot here of the room just outside the theater. Since I don't want the kids tearing up daddy's theater, I had to get them their own system. Yes, that is three D-BOX seats there. My 2 1/2 year old daughter gets up in them and says she wants daddy to move the chair, at which point I turn on the motion controller and watch the priceless look on her face.

Yes, the seats don't match. I planned on sending the black one downstairs to go in the living room. For some strange reason, my wife doesn't think we need motion in every room in the house. From my standpoint, we don't. They aren't in the dining room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, laundry room, closets, etc.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/QuestSeats.jpg

Mr. P, when you get far enough along, and have the time to, would you mind posting pictures of the speakers and such like your did with your component mount. It's highly unlikey I'll ever have the cash to buy a quarter of the equipment you have, so I'd really like to see it up close with a description. Bout the only way I'll ever see it. :)

Do you mean the surround speakers mounted in the columns? Or the front speakers?

Right now I only have the Phase Tech speakers mounted. I will be putting in the Genesis speakers soon but they will just sit in the cabinet and not be hard mounted to anything.

Just tell me what you would like a close-up of and I will get it done.

mr. p, welcome back.

i knew you mustve been busy. i had become addicted, and was vicariously enjoying your work! didnt mean to sound impatient...just amazed. cant wait to see the final product!

Do you mean the surround speakers mounted in the columns? Or the front speakers?
...
Just tell me what you would like a close-up of and I will get it done.


How about both? :o Sorry to sound demanding, but man I am very impressed to say the least and it's kind of exciting to see new pictures again. :) :)

Thanks
TREVOR

I will get some close-up photos of the surrounds tonight. I still need to build the stands for the front/center Phase Tech speakers. The Genesis mains are floorstanders, but they will need a stand for the center.

I read your entire thread a few weeks ago and am very impressed. Very nice work on a truly impressive theater. I look forward to seeing the end results. Clovis is about 5 hours from me. A bit far for a roady to the open house sadly. I would love to see in it person, but will have to settle for your pics. Keep up the great work and a belated congrats on your baby girl!! I'm sure you are thoroughly wrapped around her tiny little fingers as I am mine who is 7 already . Time flys by, enjoy it.

Jon,

Too bad you cannot make it. If you are ever coming up to the area, let me know.

This is my second daughter - there really is nothing else like having kids. I am sure Lady and the Tramp will be one of the staples in the new theater (and filmed at 2.55:1 aspect ratio I might add).

Jon,

Too bad you cannot make it. If you are ever coming up to the area, let me know.

This is my second daughter - there really is nothing else like having kids. I am sure Lady and the Tramp will be one of the staples in the new theater (and filmed at 2.55:1 aspect ratio I might add).

I hear ya.....I have a 7 yr old girl and a 5 yr old boy and they are spending as much time in the theater as I am now that it's summer. They really enjoy it and The Incredibles is really cool on a 118" screen with 7.1 surround. I'll make sure to look you up when I am ever up in Central Cali. I'm sure it would be worth the trip.

How about both? :o Sorry to sound demanding, but man I am very impressed to say the least and it's kind of exciting to see new pictures again. :) :)

Yeah, uh, basically what he said. I'd just like to see what all the equipment looks like up close. Obviously if you take a picture of the left front speaker I wouldn't need to see the right one too. Basically close up shots of any equipment your willing to do would be great. I have dreams of one day being able to afford this kind of stuff. At my current salary, it ain't gonna happen. But who knows one day? I'm not even 30 yet after all. :)

I will see what I can do about some closeups. Most of my photos are pretty high resolution but I can't really post a link to an 8.2 megapixel shot so I either have to crop them or make a closer shot for you.

On an update note: they finally came by last night with the final carpet section that goes over the motion platform. They cut and sewed it CROOKED!!! It was 1.5" too narrow and the front had over 1" of drift from one end to another. They will be remaking a new one next week. It seems par for the course. Hopefully I will have a lot of progress this weekend as I should be able to put up the rest of the acoustic treatments. That will allow me to put up the GOM on the walls and mount the sconces - two things that will make a HUGE difference in the look and sound of the room.

I also should be able to level out the motion platform this weekend if all goes well.

First off congratulations on the baby!

Secondly, DAMN! This is a massive build. I've never seen an undertaking like this and i am definately impressed.

Pictures coming tonight!!!

I got almost all the acoustic treatments up and started hanging the fabric. I had to stop and get my studio lights up into the room so I could see better to make sure there isn't any puckering.

I should have the first panel done late this evening and even have one of the sconces mounted. I am excited, as this will be a big step towards completion.

OK, hectic time recently, but here are some updates. I have almost 100% of the acoustic treatments up now. Here is a nice shot of one of the sconce areas:

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/AcousticTreatments.jpg

The inset is insulshield, while the outside part is 16 oz. poly batting. The wood in between will have a stained moulding that will match the rest of the woodworking in the room. I had to lower the electical plates from their earlier location to make the sconces look better.

First, I had to put the blue border on. I covered the entire wall and then removed the inset so that I would have a solid piece without seams around the perimeter. It takes a little more material that way, but I felt it was worth it. The GOM here is Anchorage Midnight.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/BlueTrim.jpg

There is a slight amount of puckering that I noticed in this next shot. I went back and fixed that. The black strips you see are FabriTrack. With them in place, I can touch up the fabric at any time or even change colors without having to pull staples or remove woodworking. It is a little more work for the set-up, but the fabric install goes quicker then.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/BlueTrimClose.jpg

Next, I put the black inset panel in. While this was easier to put in, I had to be careful that I didn't get the very hard to see pattern crooked. While it wouldn't turn up in a photo, it would be visible in person. You can see where my electical connection for the sconce is by way of the little nipple my wall has now.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/GOMPanel.jpg

And here it is from back a little so you can see how it matches with the rest of the room. I had to bring in one of my studio lights to work on is since it is kind of dark along the edges without a sconce there. It turns out that I needed it there for the photo. These walls absorb so much light that the autofocus wouldn't work on my camera (a Canon EOS 30D, which isn't too shabby) so I am pretty happy with the results.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/GOMPanel2.jpg

Finally, I had to cut an opening for the electrical and get ready to mount a sconce. I stapled the fabric to the wood around the panel, although it didn't pucker when I cut the fabric and it doesn't tear since GOM is pretty damn strong. This is one step you can probably skip if you have to but since I had staples to spare...

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/ElectricalPlate.jpg

I then mounted my sconce, but I didn't have them wired up yet so I won't show a photo of them until I can get a shot with the lights on.

Looks really nice. I like the inset color look, different than the standard styling. That is one thing that people on the forum are starting to do, make things different than the standard two tone, one color on the bottom and the other on top....

Took longer to get the pics than you were saying per your previous post, slacker.


:)

Yeah, it took a while longer. Somehow, my daughter came down with pneumonia. I don't know how that happens in the summer, but it took a bit out of my "work on the theater" time. She's fine - just really cranky and it was too much to expect my wife to take care of her and a newborn.

Looks great and congrats on the baby. My son had pneumonia twice. There are different types. Not a pleasant thing to go through.

Looks like you used a track system around your perimeters. Is that the fabricmate, wallmate or something else?

Bud

Thanks, Bud.

It is the Fabricmate system. They are all pretty much the same in terms of technology of the track. The main differences would be in the options they have as far as profiles. I don't need a whole slew of bevels and curves so I just went with this.

Sorry if it's been asked already, but what colors/paterns did you go with on the GOM ?

The Blue looks really nice. I've ordered like 2 dozen samples off their website, but none of them ever look even remotely close to the shade they did online :rolleyes:

Well, if the colors look the same online as they do in real life, the need for samples would be much less. While one can have a monitor color corrected, it is likely a problem that very few photos online are color correct.

For the blue, I used Anchorage Midnight. It is a little darker than the photo shows - I have the room lights on, a studio light on it and the flash.

For the black, I used Streetwise Asphalt. While not as "flat" as FR703, it looks much, much richer. I find the FR series to look too much like an office cubicle. The Streetwise Asphalt has a slight sheen to it in the pattered dots, but I didn't find them to be offensive. Art Sonneborne also used Streetwise Asphalt for the black in his theater as well.

Things are coming along very nicely! Especially the colums.

How did you attach your insulshield to the drywall? Any close up pics of the items you used for attachment?

If appears that you used a very large amount of staples to attach the batting. Why so much? Are the staples flush with the drywall? What size staples did you use.

Regards
Frank

I didn't want the fabric to have a pushed out look anywhere. As it stands now, it is TOTALLY flat on the walls.

TO attach the insulshield I used staples. They went right through the insulshield. TO make sure it held up while I had a friend over to help my with the screen wall, I put some cardboard in front of the staple. I will remove those shortly and replace them with what I used on the walls and soffits - GOM. I cut small squares of the GOM and stapled that to the insulshield. The GOM wouldn't let the staple pass through because it is very strong and the GOM is too fat to slip through the insulshield.

It is nice to see that you really like ht and movies and know how to build a dedicated room properly and are not just someone with big money and spends it all wrong, just to have a ht room and impress the guys next door!. But, although you can spend many, many times more than i can, luckely the basic idea still remains the same: How can i enjoy my movies in the best possible way. Looking at you're foto's, the idea is great from start, it has vibe and looks fantastic!! What can i say as a poor 20k+ ht owning dutchman. WOw, keep up the good work!! :)

Just finished reading through all fourteen pages and I must say this is looking fantastic. Your attention to detail is inspiring! I've been land shopping and reading threads like yours has me so incredibly frustrated that we aren't even close to breaking ground yet...not that I'll have anywhere near the pricetag yours does, but the idea is there. You've been keeping me highly inspired and entertained while I wait to get going. Thanks!

Mr.Poindexter, great thread, great ROOM!!
Your set-up is awesome. Wish I could attend your meet, but I am sure Art, our HEMI rep will fill all of us HEMI nuts in on how nice your room is.
Looking forward to more pic's and updates.

Craig

I have a lot of the GOM up now - mostly I am just waiting on the staining and polyeurethane on the back subwoofer columns before I finish the last panels.

Here, you can see the back wall and under the back soffit. The openings will have black grill covers over them, but I might paint the inside of that area black so it won't have a white area visible back there. I should have painted the entire room black before I started putting things up on the walls. Oh well.

You can see the window the projector will shoot through. No need for a hush box, we will have a projection booth instead!

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/RearWall2.jpg

And here you can see the back wall, or at least most of it. The projector area will be painted black and the equipment/concession area will have GOM on the walls as well, but I will start that once I finish the main room. The doors still need to be restained but that should be done soon.

Looking at the right column, you can see the wood that I have a black plate on. That is 7.75" thick so it won't resonate. The Phase Tech dARTS speakers will be mounted on those for the surrounds, since the cabinets are too deep for them (in order to have room for the Genesis surrounds, which are beasts).

On the right, you can see into the bathroom. I will probably repaint in there, but that will wait until the rest of the room is finished - low priority and all.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/RearWall1.jpg

Mr. P.

A close up of the columns would be great if you have time. Those are fantastic.!!

Mr. Poindexter,
I just came across this thread myself, and I have to say, that is a most impressive demo facility!

Congratulations on your new daughter, as well. I hope your 2-year-old is feeling better after pneumonia. I have the most helpless feeling when my son gets sick. It is a rare occurence, but still tugs at me, though he is 9 now.

...and to think i am losing sleep over spending $2,500 on the audio (Ascend Acoustics Speakers/SVS Sub/Yamaha Receiver) and remote control (Philips Pronto 7000)...

Truly amazing... One day I hope I can afford a house as expensive as your theater!

Kermie, I will get some close-ups tonight or tomorrow.

HiFiGuy, thanks. It is a horrible feeling when your child is sick.

Steve, I am right now trying very desperately to keep my theater construction cost below my home cost. ;)

Steve, I am right now trying very desperately to keep my theater construction cost below my home cost. ;)

All I have to say is God Bless America! And thanks to all those men and women who came before us to give people like Mr. P (and others) the oportunities he has had! :) :) :)

I have been checking this thread regularly as it is very engrossing. The theatre is coming out very nicely. Thanks Mr. P for a lot of pictures and detail which makes this thread such a good read. :cool:

Mr. P.

I have been following your fantastic theater build since the beginning. I can't wait to see the completed project pictures. Hopefully everything is falling into place for your open house. Can't thank you enough for sharing your experiences and vast knowledge.

Scott

Wow just came across this a couple of days ago and had to read the entire thread. Very nice system I am one for highest quality audio and your setup is truely amazing. And the picture quality is going to be unbelievable as well. I would love to see a theater of this magnatude in person someday.

Looks great man
Nate

Mr. P,

What brand of carpet did you use?

Chris

Mr P.,

Any new pics coming soon?

Mr. P,

What brand of carpet did you use?

Chris

This might help:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7294301&highlight=carpet#post7294301

Actually, the carpet is Stanton and has a couple of different retail names. It is pretty nice stuff, I will say.

OK, it has been a while since I have updated this. I took some photos this morning and will get them resized and uploaded shortly. I do see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Oh, where to begin...

I have most of the equipment in the rack now. There are only a couple things I need to do here - most having to do with the patch panel. You can see all the holes in the 6U of rack space - those will be connectors that will allow me to bypass almost anything in my system should I need to hook something up to do a comparison. I have a feeling it is going to be very busy looking and so I have decided to move it back and mount it on the back side of the rack and have a couple removable access panels that will allow me to get at them. I might even try to fit a small LCD monitor in front of that area as well so that I don't have a big square of black metal looking at me there.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/RacksWithPanel1.jpg

You can see two openings above the rack. The left will be part of the air return system and will have a forced air fan system with a lot of acoustic damping in the enclosure to cut down on the fan noise. The opening on the right is for the projector. It is a pretty big space, so I could actually fit just about any projector short of the big 18-22K lumen monsters and I think I could even fit those if I reworked my air return box but what the hell would I do with that kind of light output?!!?

So, if that was the electronics side, let's talk speakers now...

Here you can see one of the subs sitting in a rear column. These two sub (there is a matching one at the other corner) will tie into the surround speakers from the Genesis system and will bring them into full range. They will also get L/R sub data from the Lexicon MC-12 and will be running with both the Genesis and Phase Tech systems. Final tally on bass drivers will be: 10 powered 12" woofers for the Genesis system, 4 powered 10" woofers and 4 powered 12" woofers for the Phase Tech dARTS system. I could run the dARTS system without the two extra subs and will try it both ways to see which I prefer.

You can see the acoustic treatments up, but no GOM yet, as well as one of the surround speakers sitting in the column on the right.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/RearSub1.jpg

Here is a little detail on the surround columns. I have the Genesis speaker on the bottom and the Phase Tech on top. The inside has a lining of JM Insulshield Black, 1" thick. I might go back and put even more in there, but I have bigger fish to fry right now and will have pleny of insulshield left over anyway. I do need to get my grill covers made, however. I will be removing the Phase Tech speaker's grill covers when I finish.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/SurroundColumnSpeakers.jpg

Now, here is the front speaker array. I have the main Genesis speakers there, plus a Genesis sub, two Phase Tech dARTS subs and the three front Phase Tech dARTS speakers. Notice there are no stands for the Phase Tech speakers yet and the Genesis center speaker isn't there yet either. I will remedy that shortly...

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/FrontSpeakerArray.jpg

Hmm, speaker stands - left and right done. Now I just need the center...

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/SpeakerStands.jpg

But wait, what is that in the background? I see a large shipping crate that is empty and what looks like a standard interior door that has been removed. I wonder what else is going on...

So, what was in that crate and did it make it here in one piece?

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/BrokenMirror.jpg

Whatever that is, it didn't make it here undamaged. Looks like I will need to do a little repair on that. First, let's just take the broken mirror out so I don't have glass getting anywhere. Then, let's see what it looks like...

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/NewDoorClosed.jpghttp://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/NewDoorOpen.jpg

Well, that's cool. I just need to put a new mirror in it and paint it. Wait though. Before I get ahead of myself, we have to uninstall it. My chairs will not fit through the opening in the moulding and my chairs won't be here for a few days so we will just leave it in place for now.

What's beyond the door? A small hallway that we set aside as a construction area. We are jsut winding down with that, so the insulshield is going up and GOM will follow shortly. The black insulshield makes the hallway look pretty narrow, but I hope that putting some of the midnight GOM up makes it look a little less claustrophobic.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/EntryHall1.jpghttp://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/EntryHall2.jpg

On the photo on the right, you can see the back of the door. I will have to do some work on that, since they are crap for acoustic properties. Fortunately, we have another door between here and the theater and might not have to do much to the door aside from some weatherstripping and a threshold seal.

AMAZING project!! thank you so much for sharing. I have been following this thread for months and have basically watched it grow from the beginning. I can't wait to see the finished product and find out what it sounds like. With that audio system and the shakers--it should be like a roller coaster ride during bass heavy movie sequences. Truly a beautiful system. Congrats so far and best of luck through the completion. I will be eagerly watching and wishing I lived a bit closer to Clovis. St. Louis is a long haul. Thanks again.

bsheldon: Thanks. While it sounds nit-picky, D-BOX motion simulators are not shakers. It only takes a couple of seconds on them to completely notice the difference. Next time you make it out to California, drop me a line. I am just outside of Fresno.

Now, where was I in the updates? Ah, yes, speakers and electronics covered, door covered, how about the room...


Here you can see the rear sub on the left side. Some of the GOM isn't tucked in at the top. There was a little error in placing the fabric track system and I needed them to fix it before I could finish that up. I need to get that done tonight. I accomplished nothing in my room yesterday as I took the family to the mall last nigh to let my daughter ride the casousel. She is finally potty-trained. Woo-hoo! I think my wife is as happy about that as I am about getting the sound running in my theater. :D
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/RearSub3.jpg

Here is the sub on the other side after most of the GOM has been applied. I still need to put the wood trim inbetween the blue border and the black inset panel. The unstained wood is just a pine underlayer to bring it out to the right elevation.

The flash brings out a lot more color in the walls than you will see in the room just due to the light levels. Also, the wood here needs a final finishing on it, so it appears a little on the dull side. I don't want a mirror finish, but it will have a little more sheen to it than I get right now.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/RearSub2.jpg

Speaking of lighting, I am ready for the GrafikEye, but the one I got was DOA. They told me that never happens, but I have been installing equipment long enough to know that failures always "never happen" and just roll with it. The unfinished part of the column is going to have a fabric grill looking cover so that it matches the other columns. I have to put up a little bit of the batting here, but that will be done tonight.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/ColumnLightControl.jpg

Speaking of lighting, this shot of the front shows a more realistic look at the colors. The blue and the black come close to blending in together. The end of the proscenium panel does blend into the black at the back side of the screen, but there will be a set of draperies there to cover up that gap. The draperies will be motorized and I needed the space there for the stackback. While I would have liked a bit wider screen wall, I wanted to be able to fit back there without having to go on an Olsen Twins diet plan first so I had to limit the width of the screen wall to that. I should be able to pull my speakers out should they need servicing without having to remove the screen - a good thing since it weighs in the neighborhood of 400lbs. (That's not a typo, btw).

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/ProsceniumPanel1.jpg

Now, here are a couple shots of the wall panel that has a sconce on it. The first one is with the flash off. This shot was taken before I put the GOM up on the underside of the soffit and the Genesis surround speakers are not in their places yet here either, but you can see how the sconce and wall will look during a film with the lights off.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/SconceDark.jpg

Here is a shot with the flash, showing how it would look with lights at full, but notice the sconce is still not lit. I need that GrafikEye first! I also left the plastic wrap over the most delicate parts of the sconce just in case.

On the top left of the blue GOM, there is a shadow that looks like puckering. It is just a shadow, however. The only places I had puckering problems is doing inside corners on the GOM around the chair rail on the columns. Straight lines are simple and outside corners are pretty easy too. Curves can be tricky but generally are manageable. Inside corners are just a flat out bitch. Word to the wise, if you can set up your fabric track system and avoid inside corners, do it. I couldn't and hoped I could install it without any puckering, but it just isn't going to happen when dealing with large pieces. I might be able to go back and fix them at a later date, but right now I again have bigger fish to fry and more important deadlines to meet.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/WallSconce2.jpg

Thanks Mr. P.! :D

When I asked if you had any new pictures, I didn't expect so much. :eek:

It looks awesome!

TREVOR

Thanks, Tevor. I hope to have some more again soon. Tonight I plan on getting some more of the GOM in place and we should have the door to cover the projector box installed as well. I want to be in position to mount the screen next week, or even this weekend. My main impediment there is getting the stand for my center channels made.

Mike,

Thanks for sharing, I had no idea you had devoted so much of your life to this project. Truly an amazing piece of work. Nice to see good people succeed.

John

Mr. P:

Incredible....

What does GOM stand for?

John, thank you. I hope your house and theater are just about finished as well. We need to get these things done so we can enjoy them. Getting there isn't half the fun here. :D

LJG, GOM stands for Guilford of Maine, which is an acoustically transparent and fire retardant fabric that is put over the sound treatments in a room. Office cubicle panels are an everyday example of it, but there are GOM fabrics that are much, much more attractive.

Hmm, speaker stands - left and right done. Now I just need the center...


Coming along nicely. Did you make the speaker stands? If so, is that a solid 4" x 4" beam used or is it hollow? I am trying to figure whether to wall mount my Klipsch Ultra 2's with omni mounts or build floor stands.

Ruben

Yes, we made the speaker stands. It is a solid 4x4. I think it would cost more to make it hollow just due to the labor and then I would need to fill it with sand and try to keep it from leaking, so this was the best way.

Wall mounting is generally not preferred, but the omni mounts don't transfer much in the way of energy into the wall. I prefer floor stands when I can get away with them and they are pretty easy to make for something like this. My center channel will be another story, however.

The HT is coming into its own now and looking really beautiful. :cool: I can't wait for it to finish. Well done Mr. P!

Any chances of a 3-D virtual tour of your finished HT on your website? That would be fantastic.

Looks like progress is really happening. Good to see that. When you are done, I assume you will be taking professional photo's with wide angle lenses?

Haroon, that is a good idea. I will see what I can do about that. I have a professional HD camera, so I am pretty confidant I can get some good footage. While I don't have a steadycam, my cousin does (a glidecam, actualy) and that should work for what I would need. I only worry about getting enough light to let the camera's autofocus work.

Scott, yes I will be taking professional photos. I picked up a Canon EOS 30D for just that reason. I need a wider lens, but I am split between getting the 10-20mm rectalinear or the 15mm fisheye. You can de-fish the image with the new version photoshop (I have an older one so I would have to upgrade) but I am not sure which I would want. I shot mine with an 18-55mm lens.

This photo of JohnTech's room was taken with the lens at 18mm, no flash and tripod mounted:
http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Reese/ReeseFL.jpg

While it is pretty good, I think going to about 10mm should be better for matching the angles of the computer renderings we had to show a concept vs. reality. It is either that or crop the renders down to match the angles of the photos.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/NewDoorClosed.jpghttp://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/NewDoorOpen.jpg



Nice door! It definitely looks like it has a bit of heft to it. What kind of hinge do you need to use? It is hard to tell from the picture.

Andy

A 10-20mm rectalinear? :eek: That must be one of the digital-only lenses? Either way, I'd go with the rectalinear over the fish-eye. I've got both a fish-eye and a rectalinear super-wide (I'm an old Canon FD mount luddite), and I haven't used the fish-eye for years. And the EOS 30D has a zoom-factor over film (I think), which will cause some issues with a full-frame fish-eye.

Wow Mike. Wow. Wow...and double Wow.

I've been mostly "off AVS" for a number of months (I have a *horrible* habit of spending money when I'm on AVS, and had to institute a "hands-off" policy when I was in a non-upgrade period), but jumped back on today and your PM led me here.

Wow.

I had *completely* missed this thread, but have just finished reading it front to back. Holy moly. Class all the way around, with no detail left unattended to. Amazing.

I did have one question I'd not yet seen addressed. IIRC, your previous home was much more "country" than this one, and the shots of your neighborhood seem to indicate you have relatively close neighbors - is there *any* chance they'll not be listening along with you anytime you decide to really let the audio go a bit..? ;)

Just incredible.

Congrats Mike.

Nice door! It definitely looks like it has a bit of heft to it. What kind of hinge do you need to use? It is hard to tell from the picture.

Andy

Andy, it uses a piano hinge. The door looks hefty, but it really isn't. The problem with having a thick door is that it either is a very bulky slab taking up room when the door is opened, or there isn't much room left for the "cabinet" to be put in.

The biggest downside is that it has crap acoustic isolation. I will be doing some modifications to fix that, but I don't need a lot since this is the second door from the theater and would just be blocking sound that spills out the first door and travels down the hall or catching sound that comes out when the main door is opened while something is playing. I need to get the first door's sound treatments on first and see what I have to work on.

We will be putting a new mirror in it and then painting the door white to match the rest of the cabinets in the house. The back side is stained to match the theater.

A 10-20mm rectalinear? :eek: That must be one of the digital-only lenses? Either way, I'd go with the rectalinear over the fish-eye. I've got both a fish-eye and a rectalinear super-wide (I'm an old Canon FD mount luddite), and I haven't used the fish-eye for years. And the EOS 30D has a zoom-factor over film (I think), which will cause some issues with a full-frame fish-eye.

Sounds like 10mm rectalinear is it then. I know it works on the digital, but maybe it doesn't work on film - not that it matters to me, I am never going back. I just hope it will work with the RedRock Micro M2 adapter for the HD Camera, although I don't know when I would need 10mm for video.

Wow Mike. Wow. Wow...and double Wow.

I've been mostly "off AVS" for a number of months (I have a *horrible* habit of spending money when I'm on AVS, and had to institute a "hands-off" policy when I was in a non-upgrade period), but jumped back on today and your PM led me here.

Wow.

I had *completely* missed this thread, but have just finished reading it front to back. Holy moly. Class all the way around, with no detail left unattended to. Amazing.

I did have one question I'd not yet seen addressed. IIRC, your previous home was much more "country" than this one, and the shots of your neighborhood seem to indicate you have relatively close neighbors - is there *any* chance they'll not be listening along with you anytime you decide to really let the audio go a bit..? ;)

Just incredible.

Congrats Mike.

Thanks. Yes, my previous system was the only house on 200 acres. With my new one, I have neighbors. To deal with this, we put a lot of effort into sound isolation. All the walls have insulation in them. The ceiling was attached using resiliant sound channel and clips. Windows were covered up. We removed all the recessed electrical plugs and converted them to surface mount while filling the small hole for the wire with acoustical caulk. We double sheetrocked all the walls and the ceiling in the room, lapping all the seams. Audio Alloy Green Glue was used as a visco-elastic dampener between the sheets of sheetrock to decouple the layers of sheetrock and to convert sound going through into heat instead of transmitting it to the second layer. Also, we put in a floating floor by using acoustimat and putting 3/4" tongue and groove plywood on top.

I just need to get my doors converted over and we should be good to go. Any sound that does get out of the room at that point should be below the legal limit at the property line.

Are you coming over on the 26th?

Sounds like 10mm rectalinear is it then. I know it works on the digital, but maybe it doesn't work on film - not that it matters to me, I am never going back. I just hope it will work with the RedRock Micro M2 adapter for the HD Camera, although I don't know when I would need 10mm for video.
The digital-only EOS lenses produce a smaller image circle that won't work on film or full-frame digitals (like the 1D).

When would you need 10mm for video? How about that virtual tour? You wouldn't have to focus at all-- set it at infinity and everything will be in focus from about five inches in front of the lens to infinity.

Yeah, but I don't think I need 10mm on the video walk through. Zoom out and you get a lot of scope and little detail. I do think I might need to do that if I cannot get enough light in the room, but aside from that I am thinking something not quite so wide for that.

...I just need to get my doors converted over and we should be good to go. Any sound that does get out of the room at that point should be below the legal limit at the property line.I'm having visions of the low-frequency sound knocking small children off their bikes... :p
Are you coming over on the 26th?Count me in! I'll PM you my info this evening, when I'm home from work.

Thanks again for the PM.

Nice Theater, Mr. P! I'm anxiously awaiting more pics.

Wish I could make it to your open house. I'll have to just appreciate from the pics. :(

I will be working on the room for most of the next 2 days pretty much non-stop. Will try and post pics if I get a break. I should be able to get a movie running tonight except for not having the screen mounted - maybe hang a sheet for a couple days but that would take out a lot of productivity!

These pictures were taken with a fish eye then a program was used to reduce the distortion. Since as I stand in my theater the things which are visible at the periphery of my vision are similar to this but, without the room lengthening effect ,I wonder what my eye does.


http://www.artsonneborn.com/assets/images/db_images/db_Wide_HT_01w1.jpg

http://www.artsonneborn.com/assets/images/db_images/db_Wide_HT_06_w2.jpg



Art

Well, I will probably try out both lenses if I can find a photographer that has one of each.

I am taking a slight breather from wiring the racks - only a little more to go: XLR's and the D-BOX, plus some networking cables and my subs. Gotta run to the store to get a switch and power strip.

The rate I am going, it looks like I won't be able to watch a movie in there until about 3:00am!

Mr. P that is a fantastic setup you will have. A few questions.

Which seats are in the picture below and are they the same seats you will be using?

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/Reese/ReeseFL.jpg

Lastly I am flying down to California from Australia in September and would love to see your setup if possible. Wish I could be there for your opening.

Keep the pics coming.

Spero

Those seats are Fortress Matinee in premium leather with wood panel tilt-out cupholders and aisle lights. I will be using the exact same seats except I opted for the down and memory foam pillow back and seat options. I also requested a different stain on the wood panels to match the stain in my room.

Lastly I am flying down to California from Australia ... Hmmm.... I always thought Australians had to fly UP to California?

Some Aussies put the South pole on the top of the map, I guess.

Maybe he is coming from the Bizarro world, where up is down and down is up.

Some Aussies put the South pole on the top of the map, I guess.

Maybe he is coming from the Bizarro world, where up is down and down is up.

let's hope not, because he called your theater "fantastic". i'd hate to think he meant crap-tastic. ;)

Hmmm.... I always thought Australians had to fly UP to California?

Funny, I was thinking the same thing!

Well, I am getting close to finishing up all the audio wiring. Now I will have to go back and do some more with the video. I just picked up an HD-DVD and a BluRay player. I still need to wire up the X-BOX 360 as well. Let's all see how many HD sources I can get...

Well, I am getting close to finishing up all the audio wiring. Now I will have to go back and do some more with the video. I just picked up an HD-DVD and a BluRay player. I still need to wire up the X-BOX 360 as well. Let's all see how many HD sources I can get...
Hmmm....

Dish
DirecTV
Cable
OTA HD receiver (standalone)
D-VHS
HD-DVD
Blu-ray
HTPC
Xbox 360
PS3 (when available)
TiVo series 3 (when available)

Anything else worth mentioning?

The theater looks great. My folks moved to Hanford to retire and maybe I'll time my next visit to coincide with an open house at your place!

Wow, outstanding job on the theater! I can't wait to hear how blown away everyone is at the open house. Looking forward to seeing the completed pics.

I am not going to double/triple up on services. I did that with DirecTV and Voom then switched to Voom exclusively for a while. I miss Voom, BTW.

DirecTV HD TiVo
Kaleidescape
D-Theater
Blu-Ray
HD-DVD
X-BOX 360
PC
Video Camera

I don't know why you would have a stand alone ATSC tuner in your list when the sat services provide that functionality. If one was using cable, I could see the point...

I guess I am set at 8 for now. :D

Mike why two complete sound systems Genesis, and dARTS?

Will, this is a showroom as well as my personal system. I will also be using it for doing side by side comparisons of equipment so I have it wired to run an additional 2 sets of speakers should I want to - but those speakers wouldn't be hidden in the columns.

OK, what have I been doing lately? Well, let's look:

Here is the back of one of the racks. This one doesn't have a lot wired in, but it will be the fastest part to complete as it is straightforward runs to the same rack. The wires already done are going to the secod rack and are a pain.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/WiringWorkInProgress.jpg

Here, you can see I have finished wiring up both the amplifiers with speaker wire and have the Phase Technology dARTS amp wired up with single-ended RCA cables while the Adcom GFA-7807 is wired with Balanced XLR cables. Below the amps you can see a bunch of holes for the patch panel. That will have to wait, as I need to have a panel box built for it so everything will be wired directly for this meet. In the future it will run through the panel, which will allow me to bypass almost anything without opening up my racks.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/AmpsWired.jpg

Wires from up top run down the back of the rack shown here. I have a couple more things to plug into the power system but I left them out of the way for right now.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/WiringBundles.jpg

Most of these wires run either to the speakers or to the other rack, so they have to be attached to the cable carriers. With the carriers, I can have the cables neat and still have enough slack to roll the equipment rack out to get access to the rear. With the tight quarters, I have to remove the door from the hinges to access both racks and be able to work on them at the same time - something I am only likely to need to do during installation.

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/CableCarriers.jpg

The messy cables on the right are ones I still need to wire up. The ones on the top right are for the whole house audio distribution system, which is a lower priority right now. It will also be a pain since the home builder gave me a whopping 4 feet of cable to work with - thanks guys! I need about 12-15 feet depending on where in the rack the wire goes, so I will have to do some splicing. This is work for September, I think!

http://www.cinemawizards.com/photos/WiringToDo.jpg

Now, back to the grindstone...

Good heavens. You can come wire my racks any time. What a neat job!

Who makes the nice little bars you have across the back to tie up your cables?

Good heavens. You can come wire my racks any time. What a neat job!

Who makes the nice little bars you have across the back to tie up your cables?

Thanks. Those bars are made by Middle Atlantic. They are lacer bars, part number LBP-1A. They come in packs of 10. The ones with an offset are also Middle Atlantic but I don't recall the part number. They have different amounts of offset depending on the model and also come in 10-packs which is a lot if you only need a couple with offsets and you need different offset lengths. I use them generally to go into the rack for cable strain releif for short components, but I had to use one that went the other direction for the Adcom amp since it was so frickin' enormous. I would have used them like that for the Equi=Tech 5Q, but it was in the lower part of the rack and they would hit the cable carriers. I could have moved the 5Q power transformer up higher, but with a 148lb 7-channel amp at the top of the rack and a 16-channel amp underneath it, I didn't want to mount the 175lb transformer too high. The only other hefty component in the rack is the 100lb +/- Kaleidescape server. They normally aren't that heavy, but this one is almost fully populated - 11 drives out of 12 full.

Thanks for the info!

Mike, Belmont isn't that far from Fresno. Why don't you come on out for the open house?

I hope to make it! I RSVP'd awhile ago, and am looking forward to it very much.

Thanks. Those bars are made by Middle Atlantic. They are lacer bars, part number LBP-1A. They come in packs of 10. The ones with an offset are also Middle Atlantic but I don't recall the part number. They have different amounts of offset depending on the model and also come in 10-packs which is a lot if you only need a couple with offsets and you need different offset lengths. I use them generally to go into the rack for cable strain releif for short components, but I had to use one that went the other direction for the Adcom amp since it was so frickin' enormous. I would have used them like that for the Equi=Tech 5Q, but it was in the lower part of the rack and they would hit the cable carriers. I could have moved the 5Q power transformer up higher, but with a 148lb 7-channel amp at the top of the rack and a 16-channel amp underneath it, I didn't want to mount the 175lb transformer too high. The only other hefty component in the rack is the 100lb +/- Kaleidescape server. They normally aren't that heavy, but this one is almost fully populated - 11 drives out of 12 full.

Lord help you if that rack ever tries to topple over... man, that is some serious weight.

Absolutely. At least the Kaleidescape servers are on the bottom and the Equi=tech transformers are not too high up - only 10U of rack space beneath them so their center of gravity is just slightly above the 28% mark on the rack height - certainly a stabilizing force.

I think all those cables so neatly tied into a single bundle would be able to support the weight of it all.. (like the cables on the Golden Gate bridge). :-D

The only other hefty component in the rack is the 100lb +/- Kaleidescape server.
Must be the knew solid gold HDDs ;)

Are the components mounted on trays or rails and do they slide out like a server rack? I know it doesn't really matter since you have access to the back of the rack, but I'd be curious if home theater type racks have that feature. Would make swapping out components real easy for people without space behind the rack.

RE: 10-20mm versus 15mm fisheye, after you finish un-fisheyeing your photos in PS, you're going to be left with a lot less than 15mm of FOV. I'd opt for the 10-20mm (well, I'd actually opt for the 12-24mm but that would require you returning the camera for a Nikon ;)). And any lens made for digital cameras won't work on prosumer video cameras unfortunately. Would be sweet having that much angle for little cash outlay. I've got the Sony FX1 and found their wide angle adapter to be really good with little distortion, may want to check out what's available to your camera for add-ons.

Your theater room looks great, even more so cause of all the DIY time put into it, nothing beats that.

Chip-

Must be the knew solid gold HDDs ;)

Are the components mounted on trays or rails and do they slide out like a server rack? I know it doesn't really matter since you have access to the back of the rack, but I'd be curious if home theater type racks have that feature. Would make swapping out components real easy for people without space behind the rack.


I don't have access to the back of my rack. I don't have slide rails for components to slide out, which is an option by the way but only really used for computers. Instead, my entire rack pulls out from the wall so I can access the back of the rack. Works like a charm.


RE: 10-20mm versus 15mm fisheye, after you finish un-fisheyeing your photos in PS, you're going to be left with a lot less than 15mm of FOV. I'd opt for the 10-20mm (well, I'd actually opt for the 12-24mm but that would require you returning the camera for a Nikon ;)). And any lens made for digital cameras won't work on prosumer video cameras unfortunately. Would be sweet having that much angle for little cash outlay. I've got the Sony FX1 and found their wide angle adapter to be really good with little distortion, may want to check out what's available to your camera for add-ons.


Any lens made for digital camera will work with my video camera. I have a Panasonic HVX-200 and can attach any Canon FD, Canon EOS, Nikon, Olympus, Pantax K, Pantax S, even Arriflex PL lenses with the M2 adapter, which will work on other cameras as well. The only downside is that it isn't a the "run and gun" style of shooting. Check this out:
http://www.redrockmicro.com/

Of course, the Panny HVX-200 isn't at all prosumer. There really isn't anything consumer about it.


Your theater room looks great, even more so cause of all the DIY time put into it, nothing beats that.

Chip-

Thanks, but I think a room that looks great does so because it looks great, not because of who did the work. The work should stand on its own without qualifiers.

Of course, the Panny HVX-200 isn't at all prosumer. There really isn't anything consumer about it.


Actually they are prosumer as they get, I demoed them when they were new at 6K and they had a brilliant picture but their P2 cards were awkwardly expensive for no more than what you got from them.

You can get them for 3K-4K now and atleast a month ago their cards were still half that price for 16 minutes of video ( this is off memory, and an older by the minute one at that) The one I demoed for a couple days was extremelly heavy ( even my crane had a slight flex at quick pan to 15' high under its weight.

Granted its a crane I built but I built it well
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/GoBigRed/cranefront.jpg

The low res LCD was alittle annoying as well but not a deal breaker like the P2 cards were

I understood the logic of carrying a laptop along but HDV is HUGE and you can fill a 83 gig Hard Drive on a toughbook in no time.

I may still end up with this camera if they improve the P2 but the new JVC 3-chipper has some super sexy options for free and it looks like I have another 4 months to wait and see if the price drops even more on these units. I learned my lesson on the first HDV camcorder and got cold feet on round 2 lucky enough that I didnt need to get one last March like originally planned.

I didnt like the Sonys at all. No 720P which I think looks better.

The 24FPS was a nice feature but the new JVC had this as well

Actually they are prosumer as they get, I demoed them when they were new at 6K and they had a brilliant picture but their P2 cards were awkwardly expensive for no more than what you got from them.

You can get them for 3K-4K now and atleast a month ago their cards were still half that price for 16 minutes of video ( this is off memory, and an older by the minute one at that) The one I demoed for a couple days was extremelly heavy ( even my crane had a slight flex at quick pan to 15' high under its weight.

I think you and I have a different definition of prosumer. Prosumer is generally the upper end of consumer equipment that is used by some pros. There are no real "consumers" using the HVX-200, so it isn't prosumer but just plain pro.

I still see them selling for $5995 at B&H. I think the prices you are seeing would have to be gray market - I got mine for about $4200 but I bought it in Japan. A quick search on Froogle doesn't show anything in the $3K-4K range except for the Chrosziel 450-HVX200K2 which isn't even the camera but a matte box with french flags. Hell, you want to gripe about the cost of a screen, look at how much the french charge for a flag.

16 minutes of video on P2 can be done on 2 x 8GB cards which are $1150 each now - a good price drop from when they first came out. That is, of course shooting 1080p or 720p60. If you shoot 720p24N, then you can get 40 minutes on it but then you are down to 720p and at 24fps at that.

The low res LCD does suck, but how the heck are they going to get an LCD that is that small and have that high a resolution. Rather than use a laptop, you can get an 8" LCD outboard monitor. You need to have at least 1/4 HD resolution if you want to have a chance at maintaining good focus in HD.

I wouldn't call less than 7 pounds extremely heavy, but yes it isn't light - especially compared to all the palmcorders that people are getting used to. All in all, I think it is a smokin' machine, but it certainly isn't geared towards everybody - certainly not the videographer crowd and not even the hard core consumer. P2 workflow is great, but it is geared towards the crowd that is used to working with film, not towards those working with miniDV.

Nothing wrong with miniDV except the bitrate in my mind. I would be an HDV advocate if they could get their bitrate up, but 25mbit just isn't enough - especially when there is likely going to be a recompress downstream for any pro work.

http://www.ccicameracity.com/panasonicaghvx200.html

Oops wrong link, for $3800 you get a buch of hokie crap, they are as low as $3200
http://www.shopcartusa.com/Product/AGHVX200/Electronics~TV_Video~Camcorders/Panasonic_AG-HVX200/PT_Y/?ic_campID=98

My local Pro shop will let loose for $3500 if I buy a couple P2 cards with it, aint nothing gray about them. Then again I have dumped 30K at their place in last 4 years

Heck I call the Sonys "pro" but mostly anything thats a camcorder is considered Prosumer. They Panny is classified as prosumer in article after article. I did some serious research on it and the JVC and both are still in my sights but that P2 needs to get a little more bang for the buck and I will jump all over the Panny. The new Cameras are coming out soon and all these second generations will be even cheaper which will be good for everyone. The reason most upper consumer wont touch this camera is the weight, you can not steady this camera by hand and that turns anyone but pros off. Lucky for me I have steadycams and cranes even though I am a prosumer that often gets paid for the projects I am involved with, and no its not porn.

What editing software do you use? I would assume youre an Avid type of guy, I use Vegas and some Adobe, if you use either of these check this out http://www.cineform.com/ I have been using this since the inception of HDV almost 3 years ago and it is amazing

And youre right, the French Products are certainly scams arent they. Actually the Matte boxes are always outrageous.

Yeah, I think the Panny is classified as prosumer since it isn't shoulder mounted but there isn't anything geared towards consumer-grade use in it. $3500 is a damn good price for a camera that fine.

P2 will get cheaper over time and it does have some great benefits. For editing, I use Final Cut Studio. I bought a Mac Book Pro for it and that thing is awesome, especially with boot camp. I just wish it had a 2-button mouse/touchpad.

I wouldn't classify French products as scams, but the Matte boxes always seem to be priced pretty high for what you get. I suppose it is R&D and tooling costs divided by a very low number.

$3500 is a damn good price for a camera that fine.
That's a steal. My camera was >$5000 several years ago, but I paid it just so I could be the first on the block with a 3 chip mini DV camera (even if it has a consumer lens). It needs to be replaced soon. Hmm-- you say the Panny can use Canon FD lenses?

Yes, but you need an adapter from RedRock Micro. That adapter allows you to use almost any lens with it. There are adapter rings to allow you to switch from Canon FD to Canon EOS and another to use Nikon lenses. The adapter is rather large, however and certainly not a run and shoot type of unit. It is geared towards the independant film industry.

http://www.ccicameracity.com/panasonicaghvx200.html

Oops wrong link, for $3800 you get a buch of hokie crap, they are as low as $3200
http://www.shopcartusa.com/Product/AGHVX200/Electronics~TV_Video~Camcorders/Panasonic_AG-HVX200/PT_Y/?ic_campID=98

My local Pro shop will let loose for $3500 if I buy a couple P2 cards with it, aint nothing gray about them. Then again I have dumped 30K at their place in last 4 years


Incredible wiring job Mike. I am a fan of nicely routed wires and I love what you did. I love all the colors too, it's just like Skittles :D

Those online spots for low prices are a bunch of crap. I was going to buy a Sony HD camera that goes for $5k at B&H for $2700 on a few of those sites and when I called up they said it was the camera body only, No Lens, battery, Battery charger or anything else. By the time they added all the other crap that comes with the camera when you buy it at B&H its the same price maybe $200 less.

Ruben

The adapter is rather large, however and certainly not a run and shoot type of unit.Anything smaller than an Arriflex in a blimp is run and shoot in my book. :)

Anything smaller than an Arriflex in a blimp is run and shoot in my book. :)

Well, if you want Arriflex we can do that, but I don't know about the blimp. :eek:

OK, things are shaping up here pretty nicely.

1. Carpet was installed in the hallway leading into the theater.

2. My chairs shipped and are going to be delivered to my house tomorrow afternoon. How the heck I am going to get them upstairs remains a mystery, but at least they will be on the premises.

3. Crestron programmer is going to be here on Tuesday.

Schedule is as follows now:
Wednesday - final wiring of the rack
Thursday - installation of the seating
Friday - rough audio calibration - set subwoofer levels prior to putting screen in place
Saturday - assemble and mount screen, system troubleshooting
Sunday - Hang draperies. First official test movie. Hmm, what to watch...
Monday - final installation of GOM in entry hall and equipment room, repair mirror in entry door and paint entry door.
Tuesday-thursday - Crestron programming and Crestron troubleshooting during the day, movies during the evening.

I will be headed home during lunch and snap a couple of photos of the room and hall.

All sounds very exciting Mr P! Hope to have a theatre half as good as yours one day :)

It has been a monstrous weekend.

1. Screen is up. What a bear. I just need to put the shroud on that covers up the motorized masking system. Part of me wonders if I should leave it off on one corner so people can see how it works.

2. Seats are in. Again, a total bear - especially the two seater with the D-BOX system. 9 seats weighed 1,560 lbs.

3. I played a little bit of the high def discs to see how things looked. I haven't calibrated the system, but it is looking pretty sweet. I cannot run the projector from the projection box until the cooling system is configured, which should be done tomorrow.

4. Crestron programmer arrives tomorrow.

Tuesday evening should be the first official movie viewing and I will try to have a few just to make sure all is working as it should before the party. I would rather not try and play technician and host on the same day. ;)

I am wondering now if I should post photos or just make people wait until the party.

Please post more pictures... don't make the rest of us wait.

Cheers,
Joey

[QUOTE=Mr.Poindexter]It has been a monstrous weekend.

Screen is up. What a bear. I just need to put the shroud on that covers up the motorized masking system. Part of me wonders if I should leave it off on one corner so people can see how it works.
QUOTE]

Mr. P.

If I recall correctly, you selected the Screen Research CP-2 AT screen.

Why specifically did you go with that as opposed to the Stewart Ultramatte 130 Microperf which some others might have chosen?

Thanks in advance.

Post pics for those of us following the thread that can't make it to Clovis.

It has been a monstrous weekend.

1. Screen is up. What a bear. I just need to put the shroud on that covers up the motorized masking system. Part of me wonders if I should leave it off on one corner so people can see how it works.


I share your pain! We installed my 15' Screen Research 4-way mask last Friday - it was a VERY long day and the final lift was a back breaker as we had to hold the screen in place while another guy bolted the frame to the retractable screen framework I had built. The screen is still incomplete as we ran out of time. I hope to get it completed this week. It looks fantastic but I never want to go through that again.

Mark

Mr. P.

If I recall correctly, you selected the Screen Research CP-2 AT screen.

Why specifically did you go with that as opposed to the Stewart Ultramatte 130 Microperf which some others might have chosen?

Thanks in advance.

There were several reasons I went with the Screen Research. First off, it has better sonic performance than any other screen. Secondly, I wouldn't have to worry about moire. Third, the masking system I wanted to use would have to be able to do custom ratios on the fly. At the time, the Stewart couldn't do that but the Screen Research could. I have heard there are some undocumented commands in the Stewart Director's Choice controls that will now allow that, so that reason is moot at this point.

The biggest benefit I would have had with the Stewart would be to have gain in my screen, but with the massive amount of light I have available I don't think it is an issue. The Screen Research CP2 has only one acchilles heel and that is the low gain that it has. With over 3600 lumens to work with I didn't feel that would really be much of an issue for me.

The biggest benefit I would have had with the Stewart would be to have gain in my screen, but with the massive amount of light I have available I don't think it is an issue. The Screen Research CP2 has only one acchilles heel and that is the low gain that it has. With over 3600 lumens to work with I didn't feel that would really be much of an issue for me.

So, if you were working with a 1-chip 1080P projector such as an Optoma HD81, might you have chosen the Stewart Ultramatte 130 (1.3 gain minus the Microperf) with Microperf (or another AT screen), given it's far lesser lumen output of Brightness (Lumens) : 1400 ANSI, Contrast (Full On/Off) : 6000:1 ?

First off, I don't need all 3680 lumens for my system, although I haven't played with it and might keep it in torch mode depending on preferences and what I am watching. 1400 lumens would still give me 20 FtL on my screen with the Clearpix 2, but the Optoma HD81 wouldn't work anyway since it has a vertical offset. I would have to have a 12' ceiling to get it to work in my system and I only have a 9' ceiling.

I would be hesitant to use the CP2 with a dim projector (700 lumens) but then again I wouldn't buy a projector with that little light output and expect to get a big screen out of it unless I went with a very high gain screen like the DaLite HiPower, which I used with my NEC LT-150 for a while.

great setup guys...but one question where do you all get the money to do this are you liek millionaires or something?i mean im still amazed at how you can spend so much money on a home theater in this rough time..hopefully one day when i get my own house i'll build one..once again great setups

CommanderCool, I am not a millionaire. I do spend a disproportionately large amount of my money on A/V equipment, however.

I don't know what rough time you are talking about, however. The economy is chugging along, unemployment is low and interest rates are pretty good. The only rough thing out there is the price of fuel.

It has been a monstrous weekend.

1. Screen is up. What a bear. I just need to put the shroud on that covers up the motorized masking system. Part of me wonders if I should leave it off on one corner so people can see how it works.

2. Seats are in. Again, a total bear - especially the two seater with the D-BOX system. 9 seats weighed 1,560 lbs.

3. I played a little bit of the high def discs to see how things looked. I haven't calibrated the system, but it is looking pretty sweet. I cannot run the projector from the projection box until the cooling system is configured, which should be done tomorrow.

4. Crestron programmer arrives tomorrow.

Tuesday evening should be the first official movie viewing and I will try to have a few just to make sure all is working as it should before the party. I would rather not try and play technician and host on the same day. ;)

I am wondering now if I should post photos or just make people wait until the party.

Make em wait ,they knew what they were getting into when they decided not to come... I say fuuck em, fuuck em all ! :D

See you Saturday ! :D

Art

Mike are you thinking about demos ?

Art

they knew what they were getting into when they decided not to come
Art, are you volunteering to pay for my plane ticket, rental car, and hotel room? If so, count me in.

Art, are you volunteering to pay for my plane ticket, rental car, and hotel room? If so, count me in.

Sorry, I'll post pictures... :D

Art

Art, are you volunteering to pay for my plane ticket, rental car, and hotel room? If so, count me in.Hotel and Rental Car? Mike told me he had all the beds made up, wine, transportation and all the food you can eat for 3 days, all you need to know is.............You have to install a CinemaWizards Theater by Christmas!

All kidding aside, this is one I would have liked to attend but I plan on stopping down for round 2 if he has one and my schedules not packed! Mike its going to start raining in about a month, hint : hint:

Thanks for the great deal on the D-Box! You da Man.