I was a getting a bunch of questions about how the soffit detail was attached along with the crown and rope light. I threw together this quick diagram which I hope will help.

I ve been thinking about Axiom as well. Can I get an audition? I'm in Brambleton. We need more pics. esp of the qs8s

Andy

Welcome Andy! An audition is not a problem. I will PM you my contact info and we can set something up.

Quick status update (since I havn't posted in a while).

- Directv HD upgrade is in
- Found Carpet (they are comming to measure on Wednesday)
- Rack is here and built, but my DIY pull out rotating base is still waiting on some hardware
- Custom rack shelf for the Denon 3808CI is here


On the down side side of things I had a seal go on my compressor so I am using this as an excuse to get a smaller, probably pancake compressor. If anyone has a suggestion on make/model I would love some advice. I dont need a combo kit since I already have all the air guns.

Got the carpet done on monday night!

Black on the Stage, a darker gray that is textured everywhere else. Came out awsome!

I will post closer up pics of the carpet later. I also got the rope light put in under the riser lip, but thats not in these pics. Also about 75% done with the DIY pull out rotating slim5 rack.

Hey Mike,

You've done a great job so far. Keep up the great work.

jbhung

Very nice ......... great job.

Cheers,
Mark

holy crap. wow.

Looking good Mike! Whats left?

Bud

Looking good Mike! Whats left?

Bud

Not a whole lot fortunately. Lets see...

- Install rope light under stage step lips
- Build the DIY rotating top for the DIY pull out rack base I already built
- Finish remaining panels on right wall
- Install couple pieces of remaining trim on columns (has to be done after panels)
- Rebuild the bottom panels on the screen wall (left room, but they are WAY too tight a fit after the carpet went in)
- touch up some paint
- Install pole cover
- Install IR repeater system
- clean up rack
- calibrate everything
- ENJOY!


By the way I took your advice on the black stage carpet and I am really glad I did. I debated doing it all the same color, but the black looks so good to set it off from the rest of the room and completly dissapears when the lights go down.

You're almost there then. The black wall/stage combo really sets it off from the rest of the room. Pictures help, but when you see it for the first time live, you understand. Glad it worked out for you.

Bud

Hopefully this post will be very usefull to those about to build a rack. I really wanted a pull out rotating rack, but didnt really want to shell out close to 1K for the MA one that required the rack, the service tracks and the track stand. Instead I searched around for a cheaper DIY alternative and found some heavy duty pull out drawer slides rated up to 500lbs. The ones I used were the Accuride series 9301 Slides (2 sets of 22" sliders). I also ordered 1 set of Accuride 9301 Mounting Brackets to make the install easier, but you could get away without them very easily if you wanted to save a few more bucks.

The cheapest place I found for the Accuride hardware was A&H Turf & Specialties at http://www.ahturf.com/ the slides with the brackets and shipping cost me $228. This was way cheaper than Rockler.

Parts list:
-------------------------------------------------------
MA SLIM5 29U rack ($200)
2 sets of 22" Accuride 9301 sliders
1 set of 22" Accuride 9301 Mounting Brackets ($228 for all the Accuride stuff)
1 12" round lazy susan bracket ($14 from Rockler)
4 hex screws and lockwashers to bolt slides together (~$2)
12 lag screw to bolt brackets to floor and platform (~$5)
Wood for base (~$10)
-------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL $459 (half the cost of the commercial rack)

My in wall rack space was just over 22" deep so I daisy chained 2 sets of the sliders together so can basically pull the unit out a total of 44" (full extention with 22" of overlap between the sliders). All the hardware is rated at over 500lbs or higher (1000 for the lazy susan bracket) so I figured even if it only supported half of that I should be good to go for my needs. The lazy susan will be put on top of the wood platform that you can see in the bottom of the RackInWall.jpg picture and a plywood base put on top of that. The rack will then be bolted down to that base. I will also add a trim board to the front that will hide all the hardware when pushed into the wall.

Here are the close up pics of the gray textured carpet. If anyone is interested in the make/pattern just let me know and I can pull it. I didnt bother posting closeup pics of the stage carpet since its just solid black.

Rope light is under the edge of the riser.

Some pics with the seats back in after carpet.

Looking very good Mike. Very handy work on crafting the "budget" equipment rack. Once I'm closer to that stage I may bug you to see it in person.

Wicked job on the rack! Thats exactly what I was looking to do. So, if i have this straight, what you've done is mounted the rack to a sheet of ply, which is used in the slider system? How does it rotate though?
Edit: By slider system i mean the accuride sliders

Great job on the rack. Do you have any issues with the excess cables when the rack is in the "closed" position?

Wicked job on the rack! Thats exactly what I was looking to do. So, if i have this straight, what you've done is mounted the rack to a sheet of ply, which is used in the slider system? How does it rotate though?
Edit: By slider system i mean the accuride sliders

Hopefully this pic will help. I have not added the lazy susan bracket or the top plywood base that the rack will bolt down to yet. If you have any other questions just let me know.

Great job on the rack. Do you have any issues with the excess cables when the rack is in the "closed" position?

I havn't yet, but I have been using 6' cables and routing them high on the rack so they dont get in the way. I was thinking of trying to rig up some type of hinged cable chase that would attach to the back of the cabinet and the back of the sliding base to get rid of any possibility of something getting in the way, but so far it really hasnt been a big deal. Unless it becomes an issue I wont bother, but attached was my idea for the design.

DELL has similar (but horizontal) systems to what you've sketched out for their rackmount servers, they're optional accessories that attatch to the back of the rack rails that fit their servers. The spans have a sort of U shaped channel for the wires, not sold so much as a bunch of U shaped posts (or rather, L shaped as the other side is the solid portion of the span). This is all from memory though...

Wow, looking great. You are inspiring me to get back to work on mine. I haven't done anything since the flood in March.

Wow, looking great. You are inspiring me to get back to work on mine. I haven't done anything since the flood in March.

ouch! That sux. I had a hose bib freeze last winter (my fault for not draining it before the first freeze). Fortunatly there was no damage, but I had to cut into the ceiling behind the screen wall to replace the hose bib.

DELL has similar (but horizontal) systems to what you've sketched out for their rackmount servers, they're optional accessories that attatch to the back of the rack rails that fit their servers. The spans have a sort of U shaped channel for the wires, not sold so much as a bunch of U shaped posts (or rather, L shaped as the other side is the solid portion of the span). This is all from memory though...

thanks I will have to check that out for some ideas.

Mike,

Man your room looks great. I have not been over to your thread in a while and was just blown away! The DIY rack is awesome. I was considering something like that for my room. It's good to know that those full extension glides can handle the weight. Oh, that 2:35.1 screen looks stellar in the room.

ouch! That sux. I had a hose bib freeze last winter (my fault for not draining it before the first freeze). Fortunatly there was no damage, but I had to cut into the ceiling behind the screen wall to replace the hose bib.

That reminds me, I am going to go do that right now.

Mike,

Man your room looks great. I have not been over to your thread in a while and was just blown away! The DIY rack is awesome. I was considering something like that for my room. It's good to know that those full extension glides can handle the weight. Oh, that 2:35.1 screen looks stellar in the room.

Thanks swithey. Now if I could have only moved forward with the speed you completed your in. Although are these rooms ever really complete ;)

Just found out about this forum and about this subject in particular
awesome dudes, i like it!

Thanks and welcome! If you have any questions feel free to ask. The folks here are very knowledgeable and very helpfull.

This is the maestro IR dimmer that I put in the ceiling to control the back lights for the IMAX effect. (Thanks to Rubin for the great idea). Since this was an after thought I used the IR dimmer since it was to late to wire it into the grafik eye.

What is the IMAX effect? Is this shining a light from behind the screen to illuminate your speakers?

CJ

It's when you can see the speakers highlighted behind the screen. Typically it's done in conjunction with a Dolby effect where the light will shine in the right speaker then center then left as some sound effect pans across the room.

AHA. Got it. That's what I thought. I've already prewired for that...

But this Dolby effect sounds interesting....maybe I can do it with Insteon.



:D

It's when you can see the speakers highlighted behind the screen. Typically it's done in conjunction with a Dolby effect where the light will shine in the right speaker then center then left as some sound effect pans across the room.

Thanks a lot Cathan... Now I have one more thing added to my future upgrade/tweak list of things to do.

LOL!

I actually thought about adding another lighting circuit so that I could do this, but at the end bailed on the idea. There are just too many other things to get right.

You could alway rectro fit using Insteon InLineLincs.......looking forward to seeing Mikes set up at a future NoVA meet (hint).

Thanks a lot Cathan... Now I have one more thing added to my future upgrade/tweak list of things to do.

LOL. Sorry to have done this to you.

How's the build coming?

CJ

where did you get the beer tower from? did it come with the kegerator?

looking forward to seeing Mikes set up at a future NoVA meet (hint).

I am up for it! The last one we had was a blast (Thanks again Bill!). I think someone else had committed for the next one. I would be glad to host on May or June!

How's the build coming?

I am basically just waiting for it to get a little warmer so i can use the garage for a shop. Now that the basement and theater are for the most part done I cant cut wood and stuff inside. I just need to finish a couple frames in the front left corner and put some on the inside of the doors. The rotating portion of the pull out rack still needs to be attached as well.

where did you get the beer tower from? did it come with the kegerator?

No I ordered a custom one from http://www.acumetalfab.com/. They were awsome. They are a little mom and pop shop up in new york i believe and will make just about anything you want. I got the custom tower with the 3 holes and the base with drip tray in stainless steal for less than $150 i think. That didnt include the faucets just the tower and base.

I just removed the stock tower from the kegerator, stuck it under the counter and built the custom one into the granite tile countertop when i built it. It came out great. I set the stainless steal base just about flush with the coutertop.

I am basically just waiting for it to get a little warmer so i can use the garage for a shop. Now that the basement and theater are for the most part done I cant cut wood and stuff inside.

I purchased one of these before the heating season from Lowe's.

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff52/carboranadum/Other%20Photos/Kerosene_Heater.jpg

It keeps the garage nice and toasty when I need to use the table saw and stuff. I'm a big believer in heating the garage. I held a series of Cub Scout Pinewood Derby Car Building Sessions in the garage in January and it kept up nice and toasty.

I can't wait to see your theater!

CJ

Bump. So what's happening Mike?

CJ

Not a whole lot of late unfortunatly, but stay tuned for a mad rush to the finish line.... Since I have the Nova Meet at my place this month I really want to knock out the last few wall panels and complete the rotating top on the pull out rack assembly. Who knows if I really get motivated I may try to assemble that DIY anamorphic lens this weekend.

Buy the way does anyone have a suggestion for a really cheap rack mount network switch for the theater rack? Its probably overkill since I really only need about 5 or 6 ports total and can get buy with a cheap desktop switch, but I figure I have the rack I should be using it right.

Buy the way does anyone have a suggestion for a really cheap rack mount network switch for the theater rack? Its probably overkill since I really only need about 5 or 6 ports total and can get buy with a cheap desktop switch, but I figure I have the rack I should be using it right.

I'm using a pair of TrendMicro 24 port switches. Got them for around $90 each 3 years ago. They are 22 ports with 100MB and 2 ports that are 1 GB. I've been really happy with them.

I'm sure they have full gigabit switches that are available now for a bit more...

CJ

I'm new to your thread, and it will be a really helpful resource for my construction. Thanks for your efforts to document your work.

tony

Welcome Tony! Best of luck with your project as well.

Nice thread, just curious, is the theater actually done and you are posting the steps to completion over a certain period of time?

The reason I ask is that pretty much every HT build thread I visit started several years ago & then I read through to the end and there is no finished product.

Thanks for any insight.

mmmkam,

Awesome theater! Your thread has given me some great ideas that I will most certainly "borrow" when I finally start my own theater and thread someday. Everything looks great and good luck on finishing out! How do you like the M60's and the entire Axiom setup? I am considering these as well or whatever their new line will be when I finally get going on my project.

Thanks.

Nice thread, just curious, is the theater actually done and you are posting the steps to completion over a certain period of time?

The reason I ask is that pretty much every HT build thread I visit started several years ago & then I read through to the end and there is no finished product.

Thanks for any insight.

lol... I dont think anyone ever really finishes there theater... you just keep upgrading stuff until to rip it out to start all over or move to a new house and start all over. :)

Mine is basically done with the exception of a couple wall panels in the front left corner of the room and I also want to add them over the door as well.
Everything else on my list is touch-up for the most part.

mmmkam,

Awesome theater! Your thread has given me some great ideas that I will most certainly "borrow" when I finally start my own theater and thread someday. Everything looks great and good luck on finishing out! How do you like the M60's and the entire Axiom setup? I am considering these as well or whatever their new line will be when I finally get going on my project.

Thanks.

Thanks ripcord. I really like the Axioms. Especially the QS8 surrounds. Great sound and customer service.

Nice theater! I especially like your 2" columns with built-in sound treatments. What kind of wood was used for the column construction? Would you please provide some measurements and a little more detail on them?

I just used MDF to construct the columns. I actually used unfinished MDF shelving for the most part to build the columns. It was basically just precut MDF 12" wide and 3/4" thick x 8' long. I used the shelving because it just saved the me hassle of cutting down big sheets, it was the same material, and the cost was about the same. Details are below. The rear wall of the room uses 3" deep columns since the fiberglass in those columns is 2" thick. All the other columns had 1" thick acoustic cotton.

Process was as follows

- Cut them to the correct height for where they would be placed in the room.

- Since my plan was to leave the center of the column with a 1.25" recess the bottom approx 4" of the culumn and the top 18" or so were built up flush with a couple layers of MDF to support the mounting of molding on the bottom and the speaker or sconce on the top.

- Strips 2" wide x 3/4" thick were cut and attached to the sides making the column 2" deep and 13.5" in width (3/4"+12"+3/4").

- Mark and cut out and holes needed at the top for electrical pass through

- Mount to wall

- Attach treatments

- Cover with GOM

- Add top and bottom moulding

- Attach speaker or sconce

Someone asked me last night where I got the drawer slides for my DIY pull out rack so I thought I would post it here in case I didnt already.

I used Accuride Heavy Duty Full-Extention slides "Series 9301"
They come in multiple sizes (i used 22" since that was the depth of my framed rack area).

I purchased them from A&H Turf of all places. The link is below to their page for the 9301 series. They were way cheaper than rockler, but the shipping cost will eat up some of the cost savings. These sliders are HEAVY since they are made to support up to 500 lbs.

http://www.ahturf.com/catalog/catalogue.phtml?f_action=search&f_category=904

Well I finally decided to get back at it and finish a bunch of stuff that has been hanging out on the to do list forever.

I finally got the last of my wall panels done (with the exception of the doors). Here are pics of the fished wall where the pull out rack is and a close up of the pull out rack base. It finally doesnt look like the rack is just sitting on a block of wood.

Todays task is installing the column wrap on the exposed support pole in the rear of the theater. I am using the same 2 piece split column that I used in the rest of the basement to cover it. I am going to attempt to cover it in the same red fabric as the wall panels.

Hey,

Haven't heard from you for a while. Good to know you're alive and kicking:)

Your theater is coming out to be beautiful. Keep up good work.

take care

I love the red wall.

Looking good Mike!

Well, well, well.....look who's back.

Nice. Walls look great.

Mike:

That looks awesome! I think you're setting a record here...over 17 months since your last update! Guess the theater is never really fininshed, is it?

:D

CJ

Mike:

That looks awesome! I think you're setting a record here...over 17 months since your last update! Guess the theater is never really fininshed, is it?

:D

CJ

No kidding. I got a partial final back in 7/06 for every thing but the theater room which was about 95% back then. I just went to schedule the final since I just finished up the support pole and apparently they closed out my permit in Oct 06 with a passing final inspection and a note about inactivity. I just called the building office see if I needed to do anything and they said since its marked in the system as a passed final I was good to go... nothing else needed to be done!

So I just went and pulled the permit out of the front window... Issue date... Jan/04!

Came out great! Give it up for 3M #77 Spray adheasive and the pnumatic stapler! The zip ties will come off in the morning once the glue is dry. The two halves are held together by biscuits.

Time to upgrade the projector and the speakers now, right? Then the screen, maybe add a new sub or two....

:)

Looks great!

CJ

Time to upgrade the projector and the speakers now, right? Then the screen, maybe add a new sub or two....

:)

Looks great!

CJ

That new panny 4000 did catch my eye with the poor mans anamorphic presets and aspect ratio autodetect tied to it :)