Hi there. I started my Ht in my basement 4 weeks ago. Its about 95% done. I still have to get seats, build a riser for the rear seating, and build/install sound absorption panels. Other than that, I think I'm done.

Equipment:
Projector: Panasonic PT-AE900U
Receiver: Denon 3806
DVD: Denon DVD-2910
Front Speakers- Polk RT12
Center - Polk CS350
Rears and sides: JBL SP6 inwalls
Sub: SVS PB10
Screen: 106inch, Goo Systems on BOC.
Cables: speakers 12gauge for fronts and center, 14gauge for sides and rear
HDMI between DVD and Receiver, HDMi between Receiver and Projector. Redundant component cables are run to projector for backup connections.

Room size is about 20 x 14.5 x 7.5

Lots of pics below. I'll add more comments on the room later.
Thanks for looking.

Basement construction last summer (2005) showing the 'then-future' HT. note the nook in the center where the fireplace is on the floor above.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/66c8ece1.jpg

Finished room. Spetember 2005.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/d8e03c75.jpg

Starting the HT 4 weeks ago. Building the cabinets to house the front speaker and storage on top. even though I hade prewired the room when hte basement was built, I did not run the HDMi cable at that time. I did cut through the ceiling to run the wire a couple of week ago.- shown below hanging from the ceiling.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/ea4107e2.jpg

Painting complete, and covering cabinets with black cloth, and doors with speaker cloth
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/f0b617c5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/338ce957.jpg

the frame for the screen
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/7ce4ac30.jpg

Continuing..Jumping right to the finished product!


The screen fits in the front side, where the fireplace cavity is in the wall. the lower part of that cavity houses the components and center channel. I built shelving for it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/83f40c01.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/c0cc8143.jpg

Sub woofer all the way in the back of the room
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/dd79d542.jpg

Front Right view
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/IMG_0805.jpg

Front Left view
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/IMG_0804.jpg

Front
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/IMG_0820.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/2344febf.jpg

Screen Shot - Vertical limit...(screen Goo was only 3 days old at the time pic was taken)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/a9dcee9e.jpg

Thanks!
Asem.

Asem - That was fast work - just 4 weeks! Great job - now you get to enjoy!

Excellent work. Really liked the way you hid the components and speakers.

Hi there. I started my Ht in my basement 4 weeks ago. Its about 95% done.
Please tell me you took a 4 week vacation and had all the products pre-ordered and in stock. Otherwise my wife and neighbors are going to wonder why I started my project 12 months ago and am only 80% done.

--SimpleTheater

PS: The room looks great.

Please tell me you took a 4 week vacation and had all the products pre-ordered and in stock. Otherwise my wife and neighbors are going to wonder why I started my project 12 months ago and am only 80% done.

--SimpleTheater

PS: The room looks great.

Actually, it was a sort of a vacation...I do work full time, but my wife and kid are out of the country (gone back home to visit family), and they come back tomorrow, so evenings and vacations were all mine to do as I please. So thats when I did all this. Needed to get done before they arrive tomorrow as I know I will not be able to get anythign done once they are here. :)

It took alot of visits to Lowes and THD to get the wood etc, ordered fabric and some cables online, the inwall speakers online, so stuff kept pouring in while I was working on the room.

Thanks.

Asem - That was fast work - just 4 weeks! Great job - now you get to enjoy!

Btw, I see you are in Ashburn. I'm in South Riding. I guess I should put that in my profile.
I'm sure you know where South Riding is..south of Dulles airport. Good luck with your HT construction project.

damn..I LIKES IT

Looks great! I like the rope light effect on the side of the screen. It doesn't bleed over onto the picture?

And nice to see yet another Nortthern VA HT fan. There does seem to be a rather representation of us.

You should get some black wall sockets and wall plate covers.

Otherwise, very nice setup -- I'm sure your family will be impressed when they return.

Btw, I see you are in Ashburn. I'm in South Riding. I guess I should put that in my profile.
I'm sure you know where South Riding is..south of Dulles airport. Good luck with your HT construction project.

Yeah know where South Riding is........wish my HT was going as fast as yours. I'm thinking be some time in July before its finished.

You should get some black wall sockets and wall plate covers.
Agreed. I got mine at Lowes, but probably a better idea would be to take the ones you have now and scuff them up with some sandpaper (200 grit). Then spray paint them with Rustoleum's Camoflauge Non-Reflective Black spray paint. I've gone through 3 cans painting the radiators, light fixtures and light switches. I'm thinking of taking off my glossy black electric wall socket covers and painting them with the Camoflauge black paint as well.

--SimpleTheater

You should get some black wall sockets and wall plate covers. .

Yeah, I need to paint all the switch covers etc to blend in with the wall colors. Thats one of the things I need to do to call my HT complete (Is there ever a time when it will truely be complete?).
I some paint touch ups left to do near the door , in my hurry, I did a sloppy job on the edges, plus I'm going to paint the white trim on the doors to match the brown on the other trim, as I think the white stands out quite a bit.
Thanks for the suggestions.

Looks great! I like the rope light effect on the side of the screen. It doesn't bleed over onto the picture?

And nice to see yet another Nortthern VA HT fan. There does seem to be a rather representation of us.

Actually, the light does not bleed over into the picture at all. For a couple of reasons. The light soucre is about an inch deeper than the actual screen, as the screen has its frame, which is then attached to another Velvet covered frame, and this entire frame when hung onthe wall, is about an inch or so away from the wall.
Secondly, any additional light from the sides gets absorbed by the velvet. It does a great job in adbsorbing light, especially on the inside, from the picture on the screen.
I'm probably going to attach dimmers to the rope lights so that the light can actually be dimmed a little.

Asem the theater looks great !!!
How did you apply the Goo system to the boc ? Spray or roll?
I've been using a boc screen for a year now and have been looking to give it the Goo treatment. I rather just use the Goo treatment on the Black out cloth then building another screen to use it on.
Again nice job on the theater.
Now its time to enjoy :)

Mrpergo...I sprayed the Goo on to the screen. Once the BOC was strecthed and stapled onto the frame, I hung it on the wall in my garage.
I had bought a HVLP spray gun from Ebay and borrowed a 30 gallon compressor from a friend.

If you are going to be spraying, which I believe is recommended on cloth, here's a tip...make sure the basecoat is diluted enough. I had a tough time initially with the basecoat. I diluted it 5-10% as I thats what I was told to do, but not enough left the gun when I sprayed.. I fininshed one coat and realized it wasn't sprayed on thick enough. I then diluted it again by the same amount, and it was a bit better. After 2 coats, I am still left with about 40% in the container, on a 106 inch screen. I sure hope I got enough on there. (1000 ml containter)
The topcoat on the other hand, (does not need to be diluted), sprayed on a like a champ. you could tell the difference immediately. after two coats, I'm left with about 10% in the (1000 ml) container.

what i noticed with the basecoat after I was done spraying was that since not enough was being output by the gun (due to the consistency of the paint presumably), it coated the screen roughly (or sparsely, but it left a coarse texture). Since this was the first time I was doing it, I did not know if that was how it should be. After I diluted it further, for the second coat, it covered it more smoothly, but did not fix the the roughness from the previous coats since it had already dried out.
The topcoat goes on pretty smooth. It did soften the roughness a bit overall when all is said and done, but in general, part of my screen has a pretty rough texture (almost like coarse sand paper). This has not, by any means, affected picture quality, from what i can tell. All parts of the screen show the same brightness, color and image quality.

Like the rich color scheme. Good work. 4 Weeks? I've been working off/on my basement for 4 years.

Like the rich color scheme. Good work. 4 Weeks? I've been working off/on my basement for 4 years.

Thats because you spend so much time on this forum :)

1) You must have been talking to my wife

2) If I didn't how would you guys get anything done?

3) I made a living telling other people what to do. It's been difficult going cold turkey so I've been using the Work/Surf schedule. Instead of a cigarette break I check to see what you guys are up to.

back to work

ok, so after taking a break from the HT for a week and a half, I trhink I am ready to adress some of the leftover tasks on the HT.

One thing I need to do is to soften up the side of the room that has the two doors. (you can see them in the pics above). There are a total of 3 doors, 2 on the one side and one on the rear wall. The lenght of the wall with the 2 doors is about 18 ft, of which 12 feet is doors!
The doors are each 6foot wide, steel core french doors (as they are exterior doors, although installed on the interior of the house, i.e, opening them does not lead to the outside, but to another open area in the basement).
I do have some thick fabric that I was going to use to make the wall panels with and was thinking of using that same fabirc to make curtains to cover the glass panes on the french doors, as this would also provide some sound absorption..but is that enough?
Any ideas on what I could do?

Here's a pic of the doors. Ignore the old couch..its leaving soon.

Asem - looking really good.

How are you liking the polks? I'm trying to listen to as many speakers as I can, plus you have many of the components I'm considering - so would appreciate a demo - PM me if your willing to demo

BritInVa...I've had the POLKS for looooooooooooong time (about 10 years). I used to like them alot, and still think they are decent. I will be looking to change them soon (i.e. sometime in the next 12 months) I do like the center channel alot though. In general, they sound better with movies, than with music, IMO.
You are welcome to check them out. Not a problem. PM me when you would like to, and we can exhange details.

EDIT..sorry..missed the line where you asked me to PM you...So I will :)

thanks.

ok, so after taking a break from the HT for a week and a half, I trhink I am ready to adress some of the leftover tasks on the HT.

One thing I need to do is to soften up the side of the room that has the two doors. (you can see them in the pics above). There are a total of 3 doors, 2 on the one side and one on the rear wall. The lenght of the wall with the 2 doors is about 18 ft, of which 12 feet is doors!
The doors are each 6foot wide, steel core french doors (as they are exterior doors, although installed on the interior of the house, i.e, opening them does not lead to the outside, but to another open area in the basement).
I do have some thick fabric that I was going to use to make the wall panels with and was thinking of using that same fabirc to make curtains to cover the glass panes on the french doors, as this would also provide some sound absorption..but is that enough?
Any ideas on what I could do?

Here's a pic of the doors. Ignore the old couch..its leaving soon.

I've got nearly the same situation as you with the french doors except I have one on the right side and one at the rear of my HT. I am getting ready to purchase some black accoustic panels from ATS Acoustics ( http://www.atsacoustics.com/ ) to cover the windows by screwing them in the doors.

They sell 2' wide panels 4' high and 2' high for a very low price considering they have a wood backing. The 2' width won't hit the door knobs and if I stack a 2' and a 4' panel, most of each door panel will be covered.

I was going to just use black velvet curtains to cover the windows in the doors since I've got black velvet curtains around my screen, but decided I might as well get some sound conditioning at the same.

I will end up with a total of 4- 2' x 6' sound absorbing panels covering the doors which ought to have a positive effect on the sound.

Allen

Asem....great work!! Your attention to detail is awesome!!! Found your site in your signature when you stopped my my thread. You're right, our color schemes are very similar, although mine is a little lighter. French doors look very classy. Enjoy....

Ok..So fast forward to today.

After taking off from working on the HT for a couple of months, I decided to build the riser, especially since my Berklines came in 2 weeks early!!

So here are some pics of the riser, and the seats.


Riser..using 2x8's, stuffed with R13 insulation, and covered with 3/4 inch plywood, padding and carpet.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/DSC06286.jpg

Rope lighting. there is a 3 inch overhang on the riser.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/DSC06384.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/DSC06367.jpg

Finally...the seats:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/DSC06362.jpg

More pics of the seats.

Berklines 088, in 7569/78 burgundy color.(thanks Roman!) The middle seat in the fron row, and the 2 seats for the loveaset config are power reclines, and the others are manual recline.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/DSC06392.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/DSC06380.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/DSC06371.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/DSC06387.jpg


I still have a bunch of things left to do...like finish painting the white along the door borders, add (and build) panels, bass traps etc. Been really busy at home with the baby, so havent had much time to work on the HT. But we still love it!

Nice work Asem, but I'd be afraid I would fall asleep in those chairs. They look way comfy'. It's funny how all the stuff you need to get done in you HT sort of goes by the wayside once it's 95% done :D I have tons of stuff I have put off doing like super chunks for bass traps in the front corners and some finish detail, but every time I go in there I just want to watch a movie. No one but me knows it's not done when they go in there so they never have to know. Anyhow....very nice work as usual. I would not want to turn down the lights too much to watch anything because the room looks so nice.

Nice theater. Great work!

Terrific job man!

Very nice ! I love the screenwall and all of the hidden components. Nice job. Johnathan

Good lookin HT! I really like the faux looking wall colors. Now you can enjoy it!

Thanks for all your positive comments. :) Been a while since I posted any updates here.
Actually all I can think of recently that has changed is that I got the Harmony 880 remote to control the components a little while back. It works fine 80% of the time. When I power off everything, the DVD player and the receiver power down fine, but the projector is a bit finicky. Dpeending on how long I have the remote pointed in the general direction, the proj picks up the power signal again, and cyles to the power On mode. Then I have to wait atleast a minute or so to manually switch it off. What a pain.

Next month, I have the following listed to take care of (gonna have some free time, wife and son going on vacation back home...for 5 weeks):
- add sound treatments to walls and corners.
- upgrade subwoofer - looking at the Hsu's.
- take care of some minor paint on trims
- figure out what lighting controls (RC enabled dimmers etc).

thanks again.

So here's the fabric that I had bought a while back to cover the sound absorption panels. I got it from G Street Fabrics. It was normally $35 a yard, and I got 7 yards for $7.50 a yard!! Thats all they had leftover of this fabric, so it was on clearance.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/DSC09472.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/katzfrenz/Asem/DSC09473.jpg

Thats actually more along the lines of what I was going for when I went in to buy fabric. Problem was, like you mentioned all the nice ones along those lines were $30+ a yard. $7.50 is a hell of a deal. You need to get started on those panels. They'll make a huge difference asthetically, oh ya, accousitically too since you're making them the right way.

considering double door setup myself...Looks awesome :)