Calvin's Games & HT construction thread [Text View]

calv1n

08-02-06, 07:47 PM

I've finally moved from planning to building and I'm going to start my thread here in hopes that some of the members here can help me fix any mistakes before I get to them and help me make a better games & HT room overall.

Little background house was started in May 2006. It will be a 2 level with a finished basement - total square footage around 3200. I will be putting in a HT on each level of the home.

The primary been in the basement as my preliminary plans below.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementplansJune-06.jpg

The plans have changed a bit since that diagram above. I've bought some SMX fabric from Sandman here on the AVS forums and I'm hoping to do a 150" to 165" 16:9 format screen.

In the diagram above each square = sq ft. in reality. - Speaker placements are just proposed I'm not 100% sure on locations yet.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementPlans-sideviewJune-06.jpg

The basement on May 27th - future home of my games & HT room.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/House%20May%2030-06/Msay27thbasement2.jpg

Looking forward to everyones input.

calv1n

08-02-06, 07:51 PM

Here are the blue prints of each level of the home (I've cut off information on bottom so as to not upset my builder).

The basement Plans:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Blue%20Prints/th_BasementBP.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Blue%20Prints/BasementBP.jpg)

The main floor plans:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Blue%20Prints/th_MainFloorBP.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Blue%20Prints/MainFloorBP.jpg)

The upper floor Plans:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Blue%20Prints/th_UpperFloorBP.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Blue%20Prints/UpperFloorBP.jpg)

calv1n

08-02-06, 08:03 PM

In the upstairs bonus room I'll be using the HT equipment I have currently in my house at this time.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Home%20theater%20Bonus%20room/UpstairsHT-61inchToshiba-7.jpg

Equipment is
61" Toshiba TV
Yamaha rx1000 receiver
LCR speakers are Nuance grands
side surrounds are Misson
Rear Surrounds are misson
Sub is 8"Energy
Toshiba DVD recorder
PS2
Xbox
Cool Sat 5000

I'll supply model and product numbers later in an edit once I check them at home.

calv1n

08-02-06, 08:10 PM

This is the future home of my main floor living room HT.
The 1.5" conduit will run into the basement A/V room with a I/R repeater mounted around the fireplace to control the components below.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/MainFloorHTJuly15-06-1.jpg

This will be a 5.1 system with a planned 40" to 60" LCD or Plasma mounted on an articulating arm above the fireplace.

Speakers will be as follows -

8" Proficient In - ceiling speakers
CA850 Series x 4
Design: 2-Way coaxial in-ceiling
Tweeter: Pivoting 1” aluminum dome
Contour Switches: +3dB Bass and +3dB Treble
Woofer: 8” Kevlar Cone
Sensitivity: 92dB
Frequency Response: 28Hz-22kHz
cozpedance: 8Ω
Power Handling: 5-175 Watts
Speaker Dimensions: Diameter 11-1/4” X Dxipth 4-1/4”

1 x 5.25" In wall center channel

IW55Ix 1
Design: 5 1/4" 2-Way in-wall LCRLUCREeaker
Tweeter: Pivoting 1” aluminum dome
Woofer: Two 5 1/4" Kevlar cone with rubber surrounds
Sensitivity: 90dB
Frequency Response: 40Hz-20kcoz
Impedance: 4Ω
Power Handling: 5-150 Watts
Speaker Dimensions: H8WY xi W15-15/16” xi D3-7/16”

1 x 10" In wall sub
IWS10 x 1
System Configuration: In-wall Subwoofer
Woofer: 10" Long Excursion treated paper cone
woofer with butyl surround
Frequency Response: 32Hz-200Hz
Power: 300 Watts RMS

All speakers will have back boxes for this room.

calv1n

08-02-06, 08:17 PM

This is the furniture I've purchased for the main floor HT. It is full leather and has 5 recliners total in the 3 pc set.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/livingroomnewcouches1.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/basementnewchair1.jpg

Currently I have the couch and loveseat in my living room and the recliner in the basement waiting to go into the new house.

Dimensions of the main floor / living room HT are 19' long x 14' wide with 9' ceilings.
Fireplace is cantilevered to free up space as well.

calv1n

08-03-06, 09:48 AM

Additional Equipment to be used in the main floor HT.
Sherwood Newcastle R-771
X-box 360
Xpress Vu HD Sat.

The SN R-771 and Satellite receiver will be downstairs in the A/V room feed to the display via the conduit and controlled by the I/R transmitter.

The X-box 360 I don't think will work like this sadly so I'll have to have it somewhere in the room and still have to work out a nice way to hide the wires and the unit out of site
(suggestions are welcome please ?!)

We are going for a clean look over sound quality and that is why we are using In-wall and In-ceiling speakers on the main and basement level.

There will be additional supports put in above the fireplace as well for the articulating monitor support.

This is the mount I've purchased for my future LCD or Plasma.

http://www.pdrmounts.com/articulating-mounts.htm

Here is another shot of the main floor where the display will be. Any ideas on how best to mount / hide an xbox 360 in this room with this set up?

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_IMG_0054.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/IMG_0054.jpg)

calv1n

08-03-06, 09:58 AM

Upstairs Bonus Room HT Shots:

The speaker wires have been ran already and they will all have wall plates for my cabinet style speakers to plug into minimizing the speaker wire seen.

Left side run

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_BonusRoomSpeakerruns.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/BonusRoomSpeakerruns.jpg)

Center channel and tie in wall plate where components and TV will be.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_UpstairsHTspeakerrunsJuly15-06.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/UpstairsHTspeakerrunsJuly15-06.jpg)

Center and right wall runs

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_0042.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_0042.jpg)

Bonus Room HT dimensions are
16' wide x 14' 8" high x 17' long

calv1n

08-03-06, 10:21 AM

Here is a shot of the house and the bonus room - it is located right over the garage and is called a bonus room as some people choose not to build or use the additional room in there homes.

This shot is from July 15th -06 - I've blended some areas of the photo to hide builder information and address.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/houseJuly16-modifiedpic.jpg

calv1n

08-03-06, 10:28 AM

Here is a recent shot of the basement and future home to my Main HT & Games room.

This photo is from July 15-06 and shows the furnace hung and been used to dry out the basement as well as my radiant flooring been hydro tested for the main and upper floors.
The basement will be likely getting poured in the 1st two weeks of August once they get the radiant tubing installed in the basement after it's dried and the civil work is done.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/DownstairsJuly15-061.jpg

Here is a photo of the 200 amp breaker box and electrical panel located in the future mechanical room.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/July6thElectricalinbasement.jpg

calv1n

08-03-06, 12:11 PM

These are the PC stations that will be going into the back of the HT and games room as outlined in the 1st post.

PC Station #1

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/PC%20Stations/Office2.jpg

PC Station # 2

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/PC%20Stations/Office1.jpg

I will likely buy the same desk for PC station #1 as I'm using for #2 as my room will be large enough to use both - in my current set up I don't have the room for the 2 identical desks.

The Multi- function you see in the 2nd photo will be centered between the 2 PC stations and networked in for the whole house.

I will also have a 3rd HTPC in my A/V room for use with the PJ and large screen in the basement HT.

I will be using a GE Carma distribution panel which I'll have located in the Mechanical room to control the outputs through out the home. With the distribution panel I will be able to quickly change a plug in any room of the house to what ever type of outlet I want in that location be it phone, TV, internet or whatever else I have coming into the home.

This is not the exact model but similar and will give you an idea of the panel I've discussed.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/DistributionPanelforA-Vroom.jpg

GreySkies

08-03-06, 12:23 PM

calv1n

08-03-06, 12:26 PM

The PJ I've just recently purchased through AVS and I'm quite pleased with it. Jason at AVS as well as the thread in the $3500 and up forum has all the information you would likely need on this unit.
Here is a quote from Alans original post on this unit
Kodak 333 3 chip DLP.

This projector is the Screenplay 333. These are not stock 777s. They are brighter with special features added for use in e cinema pre shows. Kodak has measured the average ANSI lumens at 3100 and contrast at 3200:1 from their inventory. The spec sheet is attached and the projector ships with Kodaks color science added for film look.

Here are a few photos of the unit by my old Panasonic 900 which I will be selling as it is no longer required. I traded up to the 333 so that I would be able to go to a larger screen in the basement HT - I'm hoping to do a 140" to 165" 16:9 and this PJ will have no issues doing those sizes.

-Click on thumbs for larger photos-

Here are the 900 and 333 set up quickly in my basement to do a quick comparison and to ensure everything was working ok.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_900and333setupforcomparison.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/900and333setupforcomparison.jpg)

In the picture above the 900 is about 3 feet closer then the 333. The 333 is a huge PJ here is a shot of myself pulling it out of the box - I'm 5'10" 180 lbs for comparisons sake:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_CalvinInspectshisnewtoy.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/CalvinInspectshisnewtoy.jpg)

Here is a shot of it out of the box on the couch with a standard DVD/ Games case on it.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_UpagainstFightNight3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/UpagainstFightNight3.jpg)

Here are a couple of comparison shots of the 900 and the 333 using component cables on the xbox 360

the 900

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_900InfoScreen.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/900InfoScreen.jpg)

the 333

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_InfocusinfoScreen.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/InfocusinfoScreen.jpg)

Here a couple of shots of the 333 showing black levels and a few screens from a DVD at 480P. Any blurring in the images is myself or the camera not the PJ fault.

These shots are on a 110" diagonal image on the da-lite 1.5 gain pull down screen I'm using at the moment to test equipment.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Blacklevels.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Blacklevels.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Incredibles1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Incredibles1.jpg)

calv1n

08-03-06, 12:28 PM

I've got a similar-sized panel in my house. I'll take a picture of it tonight and post it on the site in my sig. Let me say that they fill up pretty quickly. I'd go with a bigger one-- at least twice the size.

Thanks GreySkies the Carma I'm actually going with luckily is about 2x larger it was the biggest one my A/V installer sells and I wanted it large enough to grow with my A/V future needs so hopefully it can handle it.

I unfortunately can't seem to locate anything on the GE Carma panel they are selling me online anyone know where I can link or find a picture of the GE line?

Cheers

PS. GreySkies I like the look of your bar - always partial to wood in that hue looks great!

calv1n

08-03-06, 12:33 PM

Here are two more shots of the Infocus 333 showing King Kong at 480P in different aspects

16:9 format

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_16.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/16.jpg)

Letterbox format

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Panamorphformat.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Panamorphformat.jpg)

My camera doesn't really do the PJ justice and I'll be taking my newer camera home from work this week to hopefully do a better job of capturing what I'm actually seeing.

calv1n

08-03-06, 01:10 PM

My primary budget and time is been spent on the bottom HT & games room so the majority of my thread will centered on it vs the upstairs HT and main level HT which I've glossed over above.

Most of the audio equipment I've purchased from a great fellow I've met here on AVS. His name is Kevin and he goes by Soundood here on the forum. Great guy, very knowledgable and been good to me as far as pricing and going out of way to provide me excellent service - He drove an hour or two out of his way to drop items off at my friends house which is above and beyond IMO.

Anyways I'm sure he won't mind so I'll post the layout of my Audio set up he did up for me which outlines the components he sold to me as well.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Blue%20Prints/SubwooferDiagram.jpg

here is the gear stored in the basement

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/AudioGearpickedupJuly5-06.jpg

Here are a couple of photos of the inwall thors (taken from Kevin's site)

Back of Sub
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Thorback.jpg

Front of Sub
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Thorfront.jpg

My sub placement is not finalized but you can see where I'm thinking of putting them in the 1st post diagram.

Any ideas on placement are more then welcome.

GreySkies

08-03-06, 01:13 PM

calv1n

08-03-06, 01:39 PM

Thanks. It's still a work in progress. Cabinets, under counter and lighting go in this weekend. I had picked out that color for the stairs, but my wife (artist) talked me into it for the bar as well.

That enclosure looks to be something from the GE Security Line (http://www.gesecurity.com/portal/site/GESecurity/menuitem.f76d98ccce4cabed5efa421766030730?selectedID=267&seriesyn=false&t=prod). The mounting holes look to be the standard Leviton, ChannelPlus, OpenHouse, WiredHome mounting size. I can't see GE using a proprietary size-- they're not Sony. :D

Thanks for the link it lead me to this
http://www.wensmann.com/scc/main.html?mod02/m02_010_000.html&AICC_SID=http://w&AICC_URL=ww.wensmann.com/scc/
which is does a great job of explaining the panel in detail.
The 37" panel is the one I've selected I'll have to take a photo of it next time I'm in the A/V installers show room as I won't likely see it in the home for a few months yet.

calv1n

08-03-06, 01:47 PM

A few photos of the components out of the boxes

Sherwood Newcastle R-965 my main receiver for downstairs HT. - Front

Click to enlarge -
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/A-V%20Room/th_SherwoodNewcastleR-965front.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/A-V%20Room/SherwoodNewcastleR-965front.jpg)

Back side:
Click to enlarge -
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/A-V%20Room/th_SherwoodNewcastleR-965-backside.gif (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/A-V%20Room/SherwoodNewcastleR-965-backside.gif)

Sherwood Newcastle HSB-600 to handle my HDMI needs.
Front:
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/A-V%20Room/SCHSB-600HDMISwitcher.gif

BFD Behringer:
Front
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/A-V%20Room/BFD-Behringerfeedbackdestroyer.jpg

Flying Mole Cascade Amp - (mine is sadly in Black not the silver as shown).

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/A-V%20Room/cascadeflyingmoleamp.jpg

calv1n

08-03-06, 06:34 PM

I'll be setting up a 7.4 system in the basement HT.

I'll be using 7 identical Proficient in-wall Speakers

W850 Series x 7
Design: 2-Way in-wall
Tweeter: Pivoting 1” aluminum dome
Contour Switches: +3dB Bass and +3dB Treble
Woofer: 8” Kevlar cone with rubber surround
Sensitivity: 92dB
Frequency Response: 28Hz-22kHz
Impedance: 8Ω
Power Handling: 5-175 Watts
Speaker Dimensions: H 14-7/8” X W 10-1/8” X D 3-3/4”

The .4 are the in-wall subs pictured above.

Earthquake THOR-10” In-Wall Subwoofers x 4

Main Features: - Patented SWS Shallow Woofer System - Neodymium subwoofer magnet - Patented SLAPS Passive Radiator - Sub harmonics below 20Hz - 3 ¾” mounting depth - Custom grille options - Zero resonance
Recommended Amplifier Power: 100-300 Watts
Frequency Response: 18-160Hz
Sensitivity: 89dB
Impedance: 4-ohm
Active Driver: 10” long throw SWS subwoofer
Cabinet Design: Passive
Dimension: (H x W x D) 27" x 17 1/2" x 3 3/4" / (685.8mm x 444.5mm x 95.25mm)
Weight: 40
Finish: White / paintable
Grille: Options include standard metal mesh and custom cloth. Earthquake includes two custom cloth grille rings so installers and consumers can agree on any color or textured cloth.

I'm hoping this will be enough to fill the room as required for thumping explosions in movies and games.

Basement HT and games room Dimensions are 9' ceilings x 27' long x 16' wide back wall & 12' wide (front of screen wall)

AV room off the side of the screen wall is around 5' wide x 5' long - I've had them do drywall shelves spaced 18" apart from the ground to the 9' ceiling.
I may at a later date remove the drywall and install a rack system but for now I'm going to see how the drywall shelving works out.

calv1n

08-04-06, 09:59 AM

I've dug up a photo of the Sherwood Newcastle R-771 which is onroute with the HSB-600 to my home now.
Fed Ex should hopefully have these units and a few other "toys" at my home by the 10th.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/sherwood-newcastle-r-771-receiver.jpg

This unit should be all I'll need for the smaller 5.1 system I'll have installed in the living room.

Depending on what display I end up with though I may have to get another component to deal with HDMI whether I get another another HSB-600 or something else I haven't thought about yet.

calv1n

08-06-06, 04:11 PM

I've been tinkering around on the Internet as I'm not overly busy at work and its Sunday and I was reading more about light and screens as they pertain to HT.

I've been a pretty avid A/V fan and into HT for awhile but I never really took a hard look at Lumen's until today.
I've had a few PJ and I know what they are and the difference more or less but I don't know for example how many Lumen's my 900 is putting out a 1.5 gain screen when it has 600 hours on the bulb.

So now I'm curious and I'm going to find out - This is what I've found out so far:

the method for getting lumen's. . . . Take a reading at the screen towards the bulb in Lux and divide by 10.79 * screen gain.
This gets you FtL. Then multiply FtL by the Square Feet of the screen size and you have lumens.
Anything much below 300 lumen's will probably be too dim for most screens. SMPTE recommends 12 FtL as a target brightness

lux * screen area in meters = lumen's

So armed with this information I just need something to find out what brightness or lux is.

Did some more digging and I found out the favored instrument for this type of thing for HT enthusiast is this little beast
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/ca813.gif

It is a AEMC CA813 light meter and I've ordered one today so I can do some measurements at home and once I get into the new house with the new set up.
The main properties or functions of this meter are:
Removable sensor for remote reading
Measures in foot-candles (fc) or lux
CIE photo optic response (human eye

I'm particularly interested in how my 333 will measure up once its calibrated (since I've seen reported calibrated numbers on the AVS website ) hopefully I'm not disappointed.

When it arrives in a few weeks I'll post some of my tests for those that may be interested.

Cheers

calv1n

08-07-06, 10:09 AM

I see my thread is generating a few visits - which is a good thing :)

Anyone care to comment on my proposed In-wall sub placements??

I've had the basement floor poured a few days ago and that means they will be framing soon and I'll have my A/V installers in soon to run the wiring.

This next couple of weeks will be my last chance to move speakers & subs with out spending alot of $$ and time after the fact so if anyone sees something I'm missing by all means let me know.

I realize it's not the best situation with in-walls as you can't move them and it's difficult to "tweak" a room audio wise just by a layout but that is sadly where I'm at.

Thanks for any input.
Cheers

GreySkies

08-07-06, 11:28 AM

I've been watching this hoping for some comments on the in-wall subs as well. I had been thinking of doing in walls, as my other speakers are in-walls, but ultimately decided against it mostly because of placement/tweaking. I built stiff frames that are connected to the wall framing for my in walls, and I was concerned about how stiff I'd have to make frames for in wall subs, and about structure loosening just enough to cause rattles, which would drive me nuts.

calv1n

08-07-06, 12:15 PM

Greyskies,

I guess ultimately I can put them where they are located on my drawing and just use sound treatments and the Behringer feed back destroyers to deal with "tweaking" (which is what I bought them for to begin with). I've asked a few people and so far no one has looked at what I've suggested and said move them so I'll assume they'll work.
I really hope they perform as I hope or I'll be getting another wall drywalled and painted again in the near future :(
Thanks for the input.

PS I checked your site the other day and I saw some updated photos but not the distribution panel you were going to post? Are those photos still going to get posted up?

Cheers

GreySkies

08-07-06, 01:00 PM

Yep, I still have to post that. I had planned on getting my cabinets and everything under the bar done this weekend, but we ended up furniture shopping for the room seating all weekend and all I was able to get done was the under bar lighting. I'm leaving the office early today (a car is picking me up at 3am tomorrow morning to take me to the airport, so I don't feel guilty about leaving early), so it'll be posted in a couple of hours (I hope).

calv1n

08-07-06, 06:23 PM

Greyskies,

Thanks for posting the photo. Holy Crap ! you have alot of cables in that panel - the 8 port switch really fills the cabinet. I will likely be going with a 8 port switch as well if I don't end up going with a few wireless routers (was thinking one on each floor of the home to cover the entire house). I haven't made up my mind yet and I'm leaning towards the hard wire as I've always had problems with wireless in the past.

I'll be doing my next walk through on the 12th and should have some new photos up shortly there after.

Cheers

GreySkies

08-07-06, 06:46 PM

Yep-- like I said, that smaller box fills fast! When we built the house (2001), I thought it'd be tons of space.

Hard wire is definitely the way to go-- completely plug-and-play-- and the microwave can't interfere. I also have a wireless access point in the basement that covers the entire house (ap. 3200 sq. ft.) and the patio, so I can take a laptop places where I don't have a port (like the patio). It's funny-- from my house, I can see seven different wireless networks-- and several of them are wide open.

calv1n

08-08-06, 11:43 AM

I hear you on the wireless stuff. I'm not to keen to use it myself as I do a lot of online gaming and it drops and lags at lot more with wireless then hardwired in my experience.
I may go with a wireless access point for just surfing etc at some point if I buy another laptop in the future ( I recently sold my Dell XPS when the new company wouldn't allow me to use my own laptop).
I too have several neighbors that are broadcasting free internet for anyone that cares to access them - still amazes me how many people don't do any protection for their wireless set ups.

I'm only a a few days away from my next walk through and I thought I'd post up my "old" problem I haven't really dealt with and see what people have to say in regards as to how to fix it.

Here is a photo of my screen as it arrived back in May - Fed Ex smashed the hell out of it sadly. It is just fabric as I'm making my own frame and I'm trying to salvage it with out sending it back to Sandman to see if he can get it replaced.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Acoustic%20Screen/screenMay15delivery.jpg

After it arrived and I finished cursing (about an hour) I took it out of the bag and wrapped it up as tightly as I could on a PVC pipe, put it back in the bag and left it in one of the warmest rooms in my house.

I've since checked on it a couple of times and sadly it hasn't improved much. I've rolled it back up and left it in the room until I can come up with a better way to correct all the wrinkles and creases caused by the evil Fed Ex.

My current plan is to build a frame and stretch out the fabric on the frame while using a steamer to try and get the wrinkles out. I'm not sure when I'm going to do this but likely after I'm in the new home as I don't have enough room in my basement with out removing 1/2 stuff in it.

On another forum they've suggested the steaming and tensioning of the screen on a frame will work - I sure hope so.

Thoughts?

calv1n

08-08-06, 12:11 PM

Off Topic Post *

Bought my AVS gold club membership today - figured I'd give a something back to this great forum - I've been coming here and learning for years long before finally signing up in June of 2005. I've recently bought a PJ from Jason at AVS and figured I would show my continuing support to this awesome resource.

Back to the construction thread *

Cheers

calv1n

08-11-06, 04:37 PM

Have some new numbers and some photos of my "experiment" comparing the 900 to the 333 with my new light meter.

I set up both PJ at 15' back from a 1.5 Gain 106" image and just swapped out the cables changing nothing else.

Here is the raw data.

Room with nothing on but light meter *soft glow on screen give the only light I believe which is what is recorded - this is very dark *

Darkened Room = 0.01 Lux

Room with light on which consisits of 2 x 100 watt bulbs in standard light housing - about 10' away from light meter

Lights on in room = 67 Lux

Panasonic with Xbox live main screen - light meter on the select button - see photos to be posted later -

Select button Pansonic 900 (587 hrs on bulb) = 77 lux
Select button Infocus 333 (9 hours on bulb) = 211 lux
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Lux%20reading%20900%20vs%20333/Selectbuttonreadingcloseup.jpg
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Lux%20reading%20900%20vs%20333/SelectbuttonReading.jpg

Full white xbox screen
900 = 97 Lux

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Lux%20reading%20900%20vs%20333/MSwhitescreen900.jpg

333 = 455 lux

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Lux%20reading%20900%20vs%20333/MSwhitescreen333.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Lux%20reading%20900%20vs%20333/closeupMSwhitescreenlightmeteron333.jpg

Blanks screens on 333 (don't know how to do this on the 900 to compare as they don't have it in the menu and I don't have a DVD or PC hooked up to it to duplicate same screens as in the 333 menu)

Black screen = 0 lux
Blue screen = 24 lux
White Screen = 666 lux

These machines are not calibrated or ISF certified but these are the numbers untweaked out of the box so to speak. The Panasonic also has almost 600 hours on the bulb so it's lumens have dropped off (lamp measurements above all have been done in high mode)

The meter is an AEMC CA813 meter measurments are in lux.

I measured the light output at the screen, facing toward the projector lens.

My Math -
My screen is a 92" X 52" which translates to 4784 square inches

4784 square inch = 33.222 square foot.

33.222 square foot = 3.086 square meter

Since 1 lux = 1 lumen / sq. meter, we can apply these numbers to the figures above.

Full white xbox screen
Panasnic 900 = 97 Lux X 3.086 = 299.342 Lumens
Infocus 333 = 455 lux X 3.086 = 1404.13 Lumens

Now one step further for the 900
Figuring that ftL = lumens * screen gain / sq. ft. of screen, then 299.342* 1.5 / 33.222 = 13.516ftL.

Now one step further for the 333
Figuring that ftL = lumens * screen gain / sq. ft. of screen, then 1404.13* 1.5 / 33.222 =63.397 ftL.

You can do the other calculations with just by pluging in the numbers from the different settings above but I was looking for a near maximums on a bright white screen.

I'll post some photos up later - time to take the wife shopping as she put up with me playing downstairs all day with the light meter.

more to come.

calv1n

08-12-06, 09:18 PM

Finally received my mount for the 333 and put it up - I've taken down the 900 now as the new owner will be bye to pick it up later this weekend and I'm done with my comparisons of the 2 PJ's now that I've done the lumens comparisons above.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/333mountedAug12-06.jpg

I've also cleaned out a ton of the A/V gear I had stored in the temporary HT and put them on the other side of the basement. This cleans up the area some. I primed, sanded and then repainted the wall which will be my new temp screen until I get into the new house to build the much larger one. I added some black cloth drops to minimize the reflections and the photo below is the new look for my temp HT.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/TheaterAug12-06.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/DeadRisingNewtheatershot.jpg

More to come soon.

calv1n

08-14-06, 02:27 PM

*OTP * current HT shots*

Added a top & bottom frame to spruce up the current HT a bit.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/Toys/HTwithnewframing.jpg

Here is a photo with the new frames
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/Toys/PhotowithNewFraming.jpg

Looks alot better. I should be able to live with this till I get into the new home now.

* Back to the construction *

Future basement HT

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/House%20August%20-06/Electricalplug18fromscreenwall2.jpg

You may notice the hole in the floor - That will be my electrical plug for the powered seating it is 18' back from the screen wall.
I will have a ceiling mounted surge protected plug right above that one as well for the PJ which will be mounted around 18' back from the screen wall.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/House%20August%20-06/FutureWashroomAugust12-06.jpg

The shot above is the bathroom in the theater room.
As in the plans in post #1 it is just off to the left of the seating position.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/House%20August%20-06/Radiantfloorheaderforbasementfloor.jpg

Above is a shot of the radiant flooring jutting out of the concrete floor.
These will tie into more headers and the boiler once the framing is done.
At that point my installer will come back in and finish up the radiant portion of the home. With the radiant on all 3 levels of the home it should be pretty warm and comfy to watch a movie in any of the 3 planned locations.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/House%20August%20-06/BasementShotsAugust12-066.jpg

With the basement poured the insulators and drywallers will be coming soon.
The whole place should have a dramatic change when I do my next walk through and pictures in 10 days time. :)

calv1n

08-15-06, 01:05 PM

Here are some updated photos of the bonus room HT area. Light is going to be an issue if my wife doesn't pick blinds that do a good job of blacking out the room during the day.
My plans are to use the 61" Toshiba in by the largest window where you see the 2 wall plates side by side (orange plastic rectangles in the photos).

Left side:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Home%20theater%20Bonus%20room/UpstairsHTAugust12-064.jpg

The cut out section in the photo above (just to the left of the smaller window) is just to feed the drywall through and will be "walled" over once the drywallers move their product in upstairs.

Right side:
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Home%20theater%20Bonus%20room/UpstairsHTAugust12-063.jpg

Center:
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Home%20theater%20Bonus%20room/UpstairsHTAugust12-06.jpg

calv1n

08-15-06, 02:58 PM

I broke down and ordered a Toshiba HD-DVD AX-1 today. I was going to wait for the 360 add-on or the 2nd generation players but the wait was just to long. I was told over the weekend that no 2nd gen players would likely be out till near 07 so I went ahead and ordered one.
I purchased a few movies as well to start off my new HD collection.
Picked up
The Last samurai
The Perfect Storm
Training Day
Pitch Black
The Chronicles of Ruddock
Apollo 13
Serenity
Aeon Flux
The Bourne Supremacy
& Van Helsing.

Will post up a few photos once I have it in my hot little hands and all hooked up :)
Should be August 25th - 26th when I return home from work again.

*Edit * added the Bourne Supremacy and fixed some typing errors (damn spell checker - changed HD-DVD to YD-DAVID :eek: !)

The big question now is what to watch 1st ? ;)

calv1n

08-17-06, 06:35 PM

Not much going on inside the house lately I'm waiting for the framing to start in the basement and for the insulation and drywall to begin.

The only thing new is the the outside of the house is getting done so I figured I would post up a shot of the exterior.

I let the wife pick all the colors both interior and exterior and I just worried about the mechanical end of things. I'm not too excited about the blue and tan she's picked but I'll get used to it I guess (or it will grow on me likely, once it's done and the stone work is finished I'm sure it will look better. The blue is just lighter then I remember when she was looking at the little samples during selection)

calv1n

08-18-06, 05:15 PM

Posted this in the Infocus 333 thread as well but figured I'll ask it here as well might get lucky in one of the 2 forums (I hope).

Have another question here I'm trying to get all of my cabling straightened out and this damn M1-DA cable confuses me I've never seen this beast before and I've got some questions I hope someone can answer.

Is the M1-DA = DVI-D ? are they same or can you interchange them or is the M1 larger, more pins - different?

If I'm hooking up my Toshiba HD-AX1 player to the PJ directly I can go with a HDMI to M1-D cable

But..

If I purchase a Lumagen HDQ then I have to go HDMI to DVI-D to the Lumagen then DVD-D to M1-D to the 333. The cable run I need from the Lumagen to the player will be 35' to 50' depending on where the equipment settles out in the racking. I'm hearing that anything over 35' feet is dangerous territory - I do have a 50' HDMI cable I used with my Toshiba HD-850 and Panasonic 900 for a few months without issue perhaps I can just buy an adapter for that cable?

Some thoughts and help here please.. Is this going to work what do you think is the best way to set this up?
To confuse the matter I also have a Sherwood Newcastle HSB-600 HDMI switcher in the mix which I may or not may not have to use :confused:

Thanks for any insight fellas.

sdebates

08-19-06, 01:34 AM

calv1n

08-19-06, 10:49 AM

I just came over from the 333 thread to take a look at your construction project. You have a number of similarities to my addition but are well ahead of me in the construction. I will be following your progress with interest and may even pick your brain a few times on things if that would be okay?

I am putting in the radiant floor heat also and am curious if there are any pitfalls you know of that I should ask my construction guys about before they get started?

I am going to try and tackle all the A/V installation myself. Any tips that might keep me from getting into too much trouble would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott

Scott,

Thanks for the visit. I'll try to answer any questions you may have. Regarding radiant flooring I was very lucky and picked one if not the best installer in my area. He is a 20+ year veteran and has pretty much done it all. I chatted with him at length in the beginning of the project as I was worried about doing in-ceiling speakers with the glycol tubes so close to the speakers and the wiring. He assured me there would be no problems and has done many of these types of jobs in the past. His only concern was the A/V installers poking a hole in the PEX tubing when they were doing the A/V installation. They've run wires so far and no issues yet but the insulator and drywallers are still to come and then the speaker installations will begin. How my radiant installer is insuring there is no leaks (and you can see it I guess from the pictures if you really look and are a plumbing type of fellow) is he has pressured up the lines (Hydro test) and then shut off the water supply with a pressure gauge attached to the line. Basically he's filled the lines to 100% capacity and is keeping them under pressure to see if there are any leaks in his work 1st this will also make it easier to find any holes that the other trades may inflict as well as the pressure will drop as soon as there is a breach. Once the pressure drops he knows there is a problem and then he can fix it. It is much harder after the insulators and drywalling of course but still saves me worrying about having to replace a roof or floor 6 months after moving in.

What are you doing as far as A/V installations for your set up? I would like to do more but sadly with my work schedule I have to pay the professionals to do it for me. Good and bad I guess I would really like to take my time and do the basement like some of the other members on the forum but I'm so busy it would take 10 years for me to finish it. As I have more $ then time in this case I've just paid to have the basement finished and everything installed and tested so when they turn over the house I'll pretty much have 3 working HT one on each level. I'll most likely have to plug everything in and turn it on but that is about it. Once I'm in the house I'll have everything tweaked audio wise and the basement treated for sound as required (with in reason and keeping it looking clean aesthetically as looks are just as important as sound to me I don't wool hanging off the walls and roof I'm not that much of an audiophile). I also plan on getting the basement PJ (333) ISF certified once it's all set up.

Cheers

calv1n

08-20-06, 11:22 AM

Update:

I'm becoming more and more convinced that I have an ex-girlfriend working at Fed Ex that hates me.
I've been expecting 11 packages from Florida for over a month and they have been bouncing between Portland, OR and Toledo, OH like a bad tennis match for a few weeks.
I've called them several times and it's been a bit of a horse and pony show but a fellow assured me and the shipper the a few days ago that I would be getting these priority shipped to my home by the 15th.

Fast forward to yesterday. Well I received 5 of the 11 boxes my wife went to pick them up for me as I'm in camp sadly.
She asked about the other 6 boxes and got some blank looks so I'll be back on the phone Monday again :mad:
She had called me and said the boxes didn't look so good so I've asked her to take a few photos for me.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/Toys/Speakerwirebox.jpg

Here is sample of one of the boxes. Not so good but at least my receiver and HDMI switcher seem to be ok my wife is telling me.
The articulating arm I guess had the box ripped open and is missing parts and there are some damages (hard to see in the photo but my wife not a photographer ;) )
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/Toys/wallmountpartdamagedatedges.jpg
The small piece on top of the support in the picture is apparently damaged my wife tells me.
I don't have the stuff in front me so I can't really tell how bad it all is but I guess I'll find out Thursday night when I get home.
I'm already making arrangements to ship some of the stuff back to the vendor like the articulating arm for replacement.
I guess I should count my blessing considering how many things I've had shipped over the last year but this was one bungled delivery !
The worst hands down for me to date. I'm thankful my HD-DVD player will be double boxed in case they decide to play hacky sack with it.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/Toys/bracketboxopened.jpg

The last photos is an ongoing quest I have that has been such a gong show I can't help but laugh.
On the box is 5.1 wall plate. What is so funny about that you ask?
Well I've been asking for a 7.1 wall plate for over a year. I've sent the vendor product numbers and even photos (of the one he sells no less).
The 1st time around he sent me the wrong wall plate I thought no biggie I'll use it in the bonus room.
The 2nd time I was like damn ! well ok I guess I can use it in the living room.
Now this is the 3rd time and I don't have anything left to order and I don't need a 3rd - 5.1 system wall plate (unless I start putting in a 4th HT in another room ...Nah, not going to happen).

Anyways my quest for a 7.1 wall plate continues and I'm thinking I'm off to another e-tailer this time - 3 strikes your out for the last guy.

calv1n

08-20-06, 06:56 PM

Some new shots inside the home (the wife did a quick run through with the camera again)

The A/V installers were by and moved the sub hook up in the living room HT which is good. They had it set up for a powered sub in the far corner now they've made it for a passive sub which is correct. The only issue I see is placement - it is not ideal in that location and also the sub back box for the Proficient in wall is huge !!
I don't have a picture of it but I'll have to take a photo of the monster when I'm home. It's is 16" wide and about 60" high so I'm not sure it will work with the set up in the photos due to the wiring along the joists that is presently installed.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/House%20August%20-06/Aug19leftcornerbyfireplaceandkitche.jpg

They also finished installing my 2nd A/V plug that will feed from the distribution panel into the master bedroom. I added a second one along the back of the laundry wall in case the wife move the furniture around I'll still have at least one open port to get my A/V needs addressed in the MB.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/House%20August%20-06/Aug19thorangeboxonbedroomwallbylaun.jpg

calv1n

08-21-06, 06:45 PM

deleted

calv1n

08-22-06, 04:12 PM

Looking for some help selecting my HT seats

I'm getting closer to ordering my HT seating for the basement as it takes 6 to 8 weeks for them to arrive after I order and my tentative move in date is November 30th (Although I'm hopeful I am expecting that to slide).
Like to know your thoughts on which of the 4 seats below you like best. I'll be going over color and fabric once I select the model but for now just the model of the chair needs to be decided.
I'm just looking at these 4 as my vendor of choice only carries these 4 models. There are lots of other chairs out there that are probably better but these are in my budget for seating and I want motorized. I also can't get Berklines sent up to Alberta, Canada unless I'm willing to pay almost $2000 cdn a chair and I am not.
I'm looking at 8 seats or 2 rows in this configuration:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Chair-Layout.jpg

1st model:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Eastwood.jpg

2nd model:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/garrick.jpg

3rd model:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Metropolitan.jpg

4th model:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Brando.jpg

Let me know what you think. Once I decide on the model I can get back to figuring out whether I want micro fiber or leather and then which of the 30 to 40 colors they offer to go with.

These are Pallisar Chairs out of Winnipeg, Manitoba. If anyone has or had previously owned any of the models above please let me know what your experiences are / were please. That information will certainly help me make the selection.

Thanks

longhorns

08-23-06, 07:44 PM

I myself would def go with the 1st model. HOW CAN YOU HAVE THE MONEY FOR ALL OF THIS?!?!?!? Have you been saving up since you were 10?!? ahah, it looks amazing btw.

sdebates

08-23-06, 10:41 PM

I kind of like the second choice but the foot rest is more like a traditional recliner and the others look like they have the chaise lounger look to them. I also like number 4 but would change to a leather if possible. Then again, number 3 looks nice too... not really helping much am I :o

This decision is very difficult and very individualized to your taste... and what you can actually sit in to help you decide.

My reasoning for my own room is as follows. I think I am going with the Berkline 187 series because I am 6'6" tall and will need the extra height to the back for comfort. I have been able to sit in some at one of our B&M stores locally. I don't particularly like the manual recline as it goes back too easily too far and then you have to raise your head to see the screen... but I am not sure about springing for 8 chairs all with electric and buttkickers! Maybe just mine :p

I have not had an opportunity to test out any others myself so I will go with what I know (warts and all) and not roll the dice on something unseen.

I look forward to seeing your new seats in your new HT. Thanks for keeping us posted.

calv1n

08-24-06, 12:35 AM

I myself would def go with the 1st model. HOW CAN YOU HAVE THE MONEY FOR ALL OF THIS?!?!?!? Have you been saving up since you were 10?!? ahah, it looks amazing btw.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm a pretty young guy still (only 33 )and I didn't actually own anything until I was 25 (other then a car) so in the last 8 years I've done alot with a little. Best thing I did was get a trade and stay away from the bars worked hard and now it's paying off big.

Alberta, Canada is booming right now as well so you can't help but make a lot of money up here (for eg: Burger king pays $18/hour in Fort McMurray). Things are going well and wages are way up across the board so like most people I'm stimulating the economy to the best of my ability ;)

calv1n

08-24-06, 02:56 AM

calv1n

08-24-06, 08:53 PM

Update:

More stuff arriving every day. I still have the nightmare order from Fed ex that I'm trying to sort out and the wall mount showed up today for the articulating arm. Sadly I still have 6 wall speakers, my sherwood newcastle R-771 and some other stuff missing in action somewhere out in the great wide world :(

My wife did however pick up a box so I'd have it when I got home. I was very excited when I realized it was my HD-DVD player. I was less then excited when I realized it wasn't the HD-AX1 that I had ordered and paid for :eek:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1261.jpg

I talked to the owner of the company I bought it from the next day and he has sent out the XA1 today so hopefully I'll have it soon. We were trying to figure out what to do with the A1 I have now and he offered me a pretty decent price (his cost) so I decided to just keep it as well and I'll use it for one of the other HT in the new home (perhaps the bonus room HT).

1st movie we watched was Apollo 13. Wow sound is just amazing the image is great to but I'm sure I'll be even more impressed on the larger screen on the 120" I'm just not blown away from a SD upconverted DVD (just my opinion it is however better so I'm keeping it).

I did more digging in the packages that did come as well and I discovered not just 1 but 2 - 7.2 wall plates so my vendor did come through after all (came through very well considering those are free throw ins for me :DA - I guess I have spent several thousand with him this year so he can give me the odd bonus).
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1260.jpg

Some updated pics of the testing HT below.
Click on images to enlarge:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1248.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1248.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1263.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1263.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1254.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1254.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1271.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1271.jpg)

I am having some issues with the MA-DA1 connection from the 333 to the HDMI on the HD-DVD player and I've posted in the 333 thread hoping to get some help with that issue. I've also ordered some new cabling and will be updating to the new 2.0 firmware when it comes out to hopefully help.

I'll be doing another walk through in the home tomorrow so there will be new photos to follow (if anything was done that is :confused: I'm not sure the insulators or drywallers have started).

Cheers

fabeasy

08-25-06, 07:16 PM

Wow! That's really coming along nicely. I enjoy seeing the progression of your HT! Keep it up! And good luck with the rest of the project.

calv1n

08-29-06, 11:27 AM

Wow! That's really coming along nicely. I enjoy seeing the progression of your HT! Keep it up! And good luck with the rest of the project.

Thanks for the kind words Fabeasy. I'm hoping it will go smoothly and I'm pretty excited to get into the new home and actually see everything I've been buying actually in use.

I've purchased some items like the Harmony 890 RF remote below almost a year ago and I still haven't even opened the box.

(Click to enlarge)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_13421.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_13421.jpg)

calv1n

08-29-06, 11:35 AM

Update:

Some interior shots of the basement. They have started to install the ducting and place the furnace (I'm just using the furnace and ducting for air movement as the radiant heating throughout the home will be the "primary heating" for comfort.)

The furnace is still been hung at this point and will be moved in the corner of the room for it's final placement.

(Click to Enlarge Photos)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Interior%20Pictures/th_IMG_1273.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Interior%20Pictures/IMG_1273.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Interior%20Pictures/th_BasementAug26-06.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Interior%20Pictures/BasementAug26-06.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Interior%20Pictures/th_Aug26Basement-Ducting.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Interior%20Pictures/Aug26Basement-Ducting.jpg)

I'm still waiting for the framers to do the basement then the insulators and dry wall crews will come to finish up the entire home all at once.

calv1n

08-29-06, 11:47 AM

Here is a shot from the kitchen looking at the living room and the HT on the main floor.

This floor has only the walls in the 1/2 bath by the kitchen other then that there are no retaining walls on the main floor making it a very "open" concept home :)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/KitchenlookingintolivingroomAug26-0.jpg

In the photo you can see the "sunken" living room has a step down making the ceiling in that room 10' compared to the 9' throughout the rest of the main floor.

The 5.1 System to be used in this room will have 4 ceiling speakers, 1 center channel under the flat panel above the fireplace and 1 in wall sub.
I've some pictures below of the In-wall subs Back box. It is a 10" Proficient In-wall sub and back box compared to the 4 in wall Thors I will be using in the basement (the thor's do not have back boxes but are one complete unit in the housing as pictured above in the thread).

Click to enlarge photos:

Back side of BB.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_BBBackside.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/BBBackside.jpg)

Front side of BB with a regular sized DVD / Game case on it to give you a perspective of size.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_BBperspective.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/BBperspective.jpg)

Bottom of BB with inputs.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_BBBottom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/BBBottom.jpg)

Top of BB with inputs.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_BBTop.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/BBTop.jpg)

The back box should help the sound of the inwall sub considerably but will require some extra work by my A/V installers as it's set up for 16" studs and my living room is 24" centers.

calv1n

08-29-06, 05:18 PM

I'm still looking at chairs and I may have a deal worked out on a new model from Berkline (actually found a seller that will ship them to Canada for a reasonable price).
They are called "The Adagio" and I kind of like them. The light in the cup-holders stands out to me (I like it - shiny ! :) )
Anyways here a shot of them in black leather with a blue light.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/45004_large.jpg

Just working out the details on the $$ but it's likely these are the ones
I'm going to go with. The berkline 075 series or the "Enterprise" seats
were a close second but I think I'll go to the light instead :)

Let me know what you think.

calv1n

08-29-06, 05:24 PM

Here is a mock up of the Back box for the sub placed in the Living room HT.
I'm still working out placement and I think this will be the best
location due to the wiring located on the other side of the room closer to the kitchen.
I also think I should get a better sounding bass with "full" wall side vs the other side
where I just have a small section jutting out from the wall.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/SubplacementinlivingroomAug26-06.jpg

Thoughts?

calv1n

08-30-06, 07:52 PM

Gah !!
I was so close to ordering the chairs with the shiny lights in the cup holders today and then I stumbled on the picture below.
These chairs were my second choice but now that I've seen them in the red leather - Grey micro fiber in the same configuration that I was thinking of ordering (x 2 ) I'm not sure about the other chairs now.
I think these chairs look amazing as well.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/enterpriseseats.jpg

Have to talk to the wife tonight but it is going to be one of these two for sure just need to get off the fence and pick one :confused:

The black ones are pretty plain other then the lights in the cup holders and I think the red and grey would look pretty darn good in the room I'm building

I'm hoping the wife will help me choose but she will likely say she thinks they are both nice and to choose what I want :(

I think this would be a lot easier if I could actually go and sit in these darn things - anyone have a Berkline dealer close by that can go and do a sit test for me??

Anyone that has sat in or owns either the 075 or "The Adagio" chairs want to share your thoughts or experiences with me?

jwakaruk

08-30-06, 10:50 PM

Im A TV Newbie

08-31-06, 01:21 AM

this thread is crazy...very interesting stuff.

calv1n

08-31-06, 10:22 AM

Hey Calvin,

Great thread, excellent documentation of the project.

Where in Edmonton are you building? I live in MacEwan West and just moved in a few months ago. Are you looking for someone to give a good deal to on the extra Toshiba unit you have? :) You should bring it over and watch a movie at my place. I’ll provide the beverages and snacks. I’ve got a pretty descent audio set-up going (I like to think, anyways) and just need some tweaks on the video side. Too bad you sold the AE900, I wouldn’t mind testing the FP waters with a good used projector like that one.

My system comprises the following:

B&W Nautilus 804’s – fronts
B&W Nautilus HTM2 – Center
B&W Nautilus 604’s – rears
Outlaw 990 processor
Rotel 1075 – 5 channel amp
A bunch of bass transducers in the couch – Aura Pro
4 X 15” Avalanche drivers in a Line Array Infinite Baffle custom build
Crown XLS 602 amp for the sub
Sony 52” HDTV

Let me know if you're in the area and want to stop by for some Home Audio geek stuf.

p.s. The cannon ball blasts in Master and Commander are incredible on my subwoofer system, as I posted once before; the siding on my house physically “bulges” when you look at the house from the outside during the opening scene. (luckily my nieghbours haven’t moved in yet , lol :D )

Hello jwakaruk,

Thanks for stopping by. I'm building in the SW side of the city in the river valley (Terwillegar area). I know where MacEwan West is located. That is a nice area :) I chose Terwillegar as I wanted to be closer to the airport as my business has me in the skies 6 to 8 times a month.
I wouldn't mind coming over to check out your system sure sounds pretty sweet. My system likely won't compare to yours audio wise as I'm using inferior In-walls that are a fraction of the cost of your B&W's but I sure would like to hear them. I likely won't be hearing my in-walls till Dec or Jan at the rate things are going.
I was originally going to just keep the A1 but I could bring it over. If your impressed with it I'm sure we can make a deal on the extra unit.
Your description of the Cannon ball scene alone obligates me to at least come over for a bass demo :eek:
Your whole system sounds great so send me a PM and I'll definitely try and set up a visit with A1 - pick a movie out of my limited collection listed above and I'll head over with it when I'm back in town (Sept 8th, 9th & 10th).
I can let you know my thoughts on a PJ with what you currently have. If you have light control in your HT then with out even looking at your room I'd suggest a FP and the Panasonic 900 for entry level under $3k cdn is pretty hard to beat price/performance wise. I'm partial to a big screen though ;)
Send me a PM and hopefully I can swing by for a movie next weekend.

calv1n

08-31-06, 10:33 AM

this thread is crazy...very interesting stuff.

Thanks for stopping by Im A TV Newbie,

Not sure about the crazy part but I like to think I've got a few people interested.

Still hoping for a mini review on the Berkline's I'm looking at before I decide and order later this week.

The wife likes the Adagio chairs in Black leather but I'm not sold on them yet

calv1n

08-31-06, 08:54 PM

Well today was the day. I ordered the Berkline 45004 "the Adagio" Chairs.

I talked to the wife and she liked them just as they were in the picture black leather with the blue lighted cup holders.
We discussed lots of different scenarios and colors and I ended up agreeing that black was probably the best as it works with just about anything
(I was very close to ordering navy blue or a deep maroon / purple color).

Ended up getting them with the AVS powerbuy here on the forum from Carolina Interiors - Kyle was very professional to deal with and I'm happy with the price (not thrilled but happy ;) as they are still pricy to get these darn things up in Canada with the cost conversion and shipping )

Ended up getting:
4 recliners with arms on both sides
2 recliners with left arm only
2 recliners with right arm only.

All chairs are Full Leather with power recliner and with the built in Light in the cup-holders.

This way I can do two rows of
Chair+Love seat+Chair or
Love seat+Love seat or
Chair+Chair+Chair+Chair or
any combination of the 3 for the two rows. Gives me some flexibility.

I should see them in 8 to 12 weeks (not that it matters as they will be going into storage until I get into the house anyways.)
I ended up ordering as they have a powerbuy on and I saved a pretty good chunk plus I can finally get Berklines up here to myself in Canada which up until now has been a extremely costly endeavor.

Anyways that ends my HT chair shopping so I can go back to working on getting sound treatments, picking a flat panel for the living room and a few hundred other items on my list of things to do ;)

Cheers

Makomachine

09-01-06, 06:12 PM

calv1n

09-01-06, 07:15 PM

Be sure and let us know what you think of the chairs after you get them. I'm strongly considering these as well - like the narrow footprint but tall back. I'm sure they'll be great, but I'd be curious what you thought of them compared to the 090's for instance.

You bet I'll take some photos and give my thoughts once they show up. I'm not sure I'll be able to wait till I get into the new HT before taking out at least 1 of the chairs to "test" ;)
I liked the fact that I could do a row of 4 and still have the width at 125" vs the 075 which would have been 142". My room isn't huge and with the fireplace in the corner by the 1st row I need to make sure I have some space there.

That and the fact my wifes approval rating was much higher with them then the 075 series sealed the deal.

calv1n

09-02-06, 05:42 PM

Now that I've ordered my seating I'm taking a real hard look at how I have to set up the basement HT.
I'm starting to wonder if my original plan will still work. I certainly can get close but I'm not sure if I still want to put the 2 PC's in the back of the room or put them with the network Printer/scanner/fax/ copier into the spare room and just make that a small office similar to what I have in my current home.

Here is Layout #1

(click to enlarge)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_HTPlan2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/HTPlan2.jpg)

The Pros to this Layout are:
PC's are in the Games and HT room allowing for more interaction in a LAN environment in online gaming situations.
Allows me to write of a portion of the larger room in taxes as office space

Cons:
1st row is pretty close to the screen
1st row chair is very close to fireplace (I don't need it or plan on using it for heating but none the less it's very close)
Room will look very busy and crowded with the PC stations so close to the riser and 2nd row.
I have to build steps in the riser to access the spare room.
only 1 floor plug so I'll have to run a powerbar into the riser to pick up the 2nd row (not a huge issue but still a con compared to plan #2)

Here is Layout # 2

(Click to Enlarge)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_HTPlan1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/HTPlan1.jpg)

Pros to this set up are:
Room looks more like a dedicated theater space.
Riser doesn't need steps and I don't have to worry about the doorways and the riser.
Both sets of chairs are further back allowing me to go larger with the screen and not having to worry about the 1st row been to close.
I have 3 plug ins I can use for the HT seats - 1 in the floor and 2 in the wall.
1st row chair is a much safer distance from the corner fireplace.

Cons:
PC's are stuffed into the much smaller adjoining room
Office space is much smaller from a company write off perspective.

Option # 3 is to just use one row in the basement and use the remaining seating in the upstairs bonus room HT. decisions, decisions....

The drawing are very close to scale I think I don' t have my exact dimensions for the interior walls or the desks though so they are educated guesses.

Let me know what you think I'm not sure which Plan to go with now.
Along with the 2 row issue I'm still fighting with best locations for the inwall speakers, subs and sconces as well. This room is far from ideal with the doors it has.

My next house will have one way in and out of the HT ;) just one door. That is it!

Let me know if you have anything suggestions or anymore pros & cons, speaker and sconce placement ideas etc....

Thanks

calv1n

09-03-06, 10:05 AM

Update:

Still hoping for some responses on post # 62

So far everyone I've discussed it with seems to like Option # 2 more so that is the way I'm leaning. I may just move one of the PC stations out of the spare room in option# 2 and place it up at the landing by the bonus room upstairs on the 2nd floor.

I had a few more deliveries (still not any of the 4 missing boxes from Fed Ex I'm thinking those may be lost forever :mad: )

I had the wife taking photos and that is not her strong point but as I'm not home for 5 more days this will have to do.

- Click on the photos to enlarge them-

Here is the new box and movie that showed up yesterday !

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BorneSupremacyHDDVD.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BorneSupremacyHDDVD.jpg)

The box is the HD-DVD XA1 I've been waiting for !

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_HDDVDplayerboxsidewithmodelnumber.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/HDDVDplayerboxsidewithmodelnumber.jpg)

Opening the box it looks exactly like the A1 did.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_HDDVDplayercablesandremote.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/HDDVDplayercablesandremote.jpg)

The main differences are the RS-232 port, the powered bezel and better "feet" that the larger heavier unit sits on.
Here is the back panel (sorry for the blurry shot - wife didn't use the flash or timer)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_HDDVDPlayerModelNumber.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/HDDVDPlayerModelNumber.jpg)

The front bezel is also power and is a nice thicker silver panel compared to the A1

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_HDDVDPlayerFront.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/HDDVDPlayerFront.jpg)

And here is a close up shot of the anti -vibration "feet" or pads on the XA1 which are also a step up from the ones used on the A1.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_HDDVDPlayercloseup.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/HDDVDPlayercloseup.jpg)

Here is the 2nd package which my wife hasn't quite captured in the photo the way I had hoped.
What your looking at is my new 50' M1-DA to HDMI cable for my 333 infocus to the HD-DVD player.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Cableph-24-50.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Cableph-24-50.jpg)

More to follow soon.

calv1n

09-03-06, 11:52 PM

Here is a shot of Option # 3.

Right now this is looking like my best alternative but I still have a month or two to come up with a final plan. I'm thinking I will need to tweak option # 2 or # 3 before I finally come up with the final layout.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Design3.jpg

Anyone who has any thoughts or ideas let me know :)

calv1n

09-04-06, 05:15 PM

Updated.

I found a screen capture program which does a much better job of showing the plans so I'm resubmitting the options in a better fuller view. These are very close as far as to scale in what will be the final builds and potential set ups.

Please pay particular attention to my speaker, subs and sconce locations as those are the areas where I seem to be trying to find a happy middle ground of "space where it can actually be installed" vs "best acoustic placement I can think of it that it will fit". The sconces I just placed where I thought they wouldn't conflict with the screen. I may use the entire screen wall so I didn't want to put them in the 1st 12 feet from the screen so they don't take away or distract from the image.

ok once again Option #1

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Screen-Option01.jpg

Option # 2

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Screen-Option02.jpg

Option # 3

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Screen-Option03.jpg

Option # 4 and this is really something I can do with any of the options above. I'm just continuing the wall over the spare room door and moving the door and access to the room through the washroom (just throwing it out there probably better for sound but a pain in the arse for getting in and out of that room especially if anyone is in the bathroom.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Screen-Option04.jpg

Anyways any input you may have is appreciated I'm thinking I'm at the point right now I've been looking so hard for a solution I may have forgotten the problem I was trying to solve in the 1st place :confused:

Just a reminder as well I've been getting a few PM's on the new "Adagio" chairs I'm purchasing I will certainly take at least one out and set it up to test it for everyone on the forum as soon as it arrives to give my impressions. I can compare it to my custom italian leather set which I'm using in the main HT. I have the recliner downstairs and I'm using that right now. It is a pricey high end chair (even though its a manual recline) so I should be able to do a pretty good comparison of the two having them side by side. The retail on the leather chair I'm using right now (and pictured in the thread post # 5) is around $2000.00 cdn.

Thanks for visiting my thread and a special thanks to those of you that leave comments and opinions - This is my 1st HT from the ground up :) and to do 3 at once ;) is a little over bearing even if I'm just the guy doing the planning.

Cheers

calv1n

09-08-06, 12:04 PM

I have a chance to do a side by side on the A1 and XA1 so I figured I'd post a few pics for anyone interested. Click to Enlarge all of the photos

Here are the units stacked together the XA1 is on the bottom

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Comparison.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Comparison.jpg)

Here is a shot of the back inputs with the RS-232 port been the only difference between the players.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BackinputsComparison.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BackinputsComparison.jpg)

Here they are powered up. I prefer the XA1 blue lights and larger silver door but others will probably prefer the muted A1's exterior.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Bothon.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Bothon.jpg)

Here is a shot of both units with the trays open. On the XA1 there is a powered door that swivels down and reveals the tray and operation buttons.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Open.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Open.jpg)

A shot of the remotes side by side. They have the same amount of buttons but the all of the buttons do things for the XA1 such as back-lighting which is not labeled and does nothing on the #237 model remote used for the A1

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_RemotesComparison.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/RemotesComparison.jpg)

A shot of the AX1 back lit remote in the dark (the remotes are still side by side so you can see the back lighting doesn't give you enough light to see anything other the buttons themselves.)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Backlightingon200remote.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Backlightingon200remote.jpg)

Here is a shot of the SD movie Poseidon I rented. This is at 1080i on the XA1 using the new 50' M1-DA to HDMI cable I picked up.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_LightsoffwithregularVideoPosideonsh.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/LightsoffwithregularVideoPosideonsh.jpg)

If you have any questions regarding either unit let me know :)

ginmtb

09-11-06, 01:31 AM

calv1n

09-12-06, 04:18 PM

Personally I prefer the versions without that first row being so close to the screen. People might get a bit dizzy...

I bought the A1 - these are beefy units. And a bit loud. But the picture quality is pretty remarkable, even using SD upconverted onto the beige textured wall.

ginmtb,

Thanks for stopping by. I agree with you on the seating I've decided to go with option # 3 as it seems to work best with what I'm trying to accomplish. My wife didn't want to lose the spare room bed so I decided to move the 2nd PC station upstairs to the landing by the bonus room which will still give us the 4th bedroom available downstairs next to the basement HT

I'm quite impressed with both the A1 and the XA1 I think I'll keep both and utilize them in the upstairs and basement HT rooms.
Photo bucket is down for maintenance but I do have some new photos coming soon from the work done this weekend.
Cheers

calv1n

09-13-06, 11:58 AM

Update- Photo bucket is back up so I have some photos -

Had a busy weekend at the house. I ended up there up on Saturday and Sunday insulating (sound proofing) my interior walls as the contractor doing my exterior walls was to busy.
He wasn't interested in the extra work or the extra money sadly so I was off to the store with my brother who stopped by to help me do the job,

I used a special kind of acoustic batt which is supposed to be superior for sound proofing over regular insulation.
I also tried a higher grade sound proofing insulation (green stuff) on the mechanical wall but it was a real pain to work with and I ended up just using the one bag and then stuck with the pink stuff after that.

(Click to Enlarge All Photos)

Kitchen and mechanical wall.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_Kitchen.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/Kitchen.jpg)

Main Entrance.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_MainEntrance.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/MainEntrance.jpg)

Bathroom Upstairs:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_BathroomUpstairs.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/BathroomUpstairs.jpg)

Walk In closet master bedroom

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_WalkinClosetMasterBedroom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/WalkinClosetMasterBedroom.jpg)

Spare Room

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_SpareRoom1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/SpareRoom1.jpg)

Master Bedroom South Wall

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_MasterBedroom4.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/MasterBedroom4.jpg)

Master Bedroom North Wall

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_Masterbedroom1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/Masterbedroom1.jpg)

Master Bedroom Shower - We haven't insulated this wall completely yet as the shower is incomplete and 4 more jets have to be installed yet.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_Masterbedroom-Shower.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/Masterbedroom-Shower.jpg)

Looking out of Master bedroom towards Bonus Room:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_Lookingoutofthemasterbedroom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/Lookingoutofthemasterbedroom.jpg)

Laundry Room:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_LaundryRoom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/LaundryRoom.jpg)

Wasn't a lot of fun and I have to go back and do it all over again downstairs once they finish framing the basement. Although it was a pain in the butt it will be well worth it With the 3 home theaters this may be the only way my future children will get any sleep.

Cheers

Neuner

09-14-06, 12:22 PM

Your project is coming along nicely. I'm anxious to see it all put together!

calv1n

09-14-06, 01:32 PM

Your project is coming along nicely. I'm anxious to see it all put together!

Neuner,

Thanks for stopping by and the encouraging words. I'm looking forward to getting it all put together as well but I have some ducting concerns that have recently popped up that I'll be posting soon. Once I either live with the hand that been dealt to me or get another delay and a work around I may finally get some drywall in the home.

Cheers

Neuner

09-14-06, 03:03 PM

If your ducts are in the way, you can just move them like I did.... It worked out great. My ceiling heights are really low, so having ductwork in the way wasn't going to fly. I moved it so they would snake along the wall.

calv1n

09-14-06, 03:37 PM

Neuner,

Checked out your media room and it's wonderful what you've done with your space I'm looking forward to seeing your end result. My issues with the ducting are somewhat complex unfortunately. I'm building new in an insane market right now and my builder is hell bent on getting my house finished ASAP. I requested the ducting run a certain way to minimize impact but sadly my request wasn't followed for some reason. I'll be arguing with my builder over this point on my next days off but it will likely cost me more to have it moved the way I originally requested and it will also likely delay the building schedule so this won't be an easy fight. I'm at the point where I would like to tell them to just refund the $40,000 I paid to finish the basement and just redo it myself but then it will be a year or two before I get it finished as I only have 8 days a month off (and in the same city as my home). :( :mad: Pretty frustrating on my end that is for sure.

Here are some photos to describe my situation. (click to enlarge photos)

This is what I asked for them to do:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/th_Ductingrequested.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/Ductingrequested.jpg)

This is what they've done:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/th_Ductinginstalled.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/Ductinginstalled.jpg)

Here are some photos of the installation in the home:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/th_IMG_1445.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/IMG_1445.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/th_IMG_1443.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/IMG_1443.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/th_IMG_1442.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/IMG_1442.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/th_IMG_1441.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/IMG_1441.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/th_IMG_1439.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/IMG_1439.jpg)

To be continued next post as I have to many Pictures in this post :confused:

calv1n

09-14-06, 03:38 PM

Above post continued:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/th_IMG_1437.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/IMG_1437.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/th_IMG_1430.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Furnace%20-%20Duct%20work/IMG_1430.jpg)

From the photos above you can see my ceiling height which I was hoping to keep at a uniform 9' height will be dropped 8" to 12" by the long runs parallel to the beam support running the length of the room. This is why I wanted it taken over to the other side of the beam and ran through the spare room and bathroom. It appears they did it this way to put in the vents in the middle of the HT room but I think there must be a work around that will still work with my original plan.
Sadly to get a tin smith to come in and fix this would take several months as there is an extreme shortage of tradesmen in Alberta. The only reason I've gotten this done is because I've been on the waiting list by my builder which employees several companies as they do 300+ homes a year. For them and other builders they can get these tradesmen as they have them working year round solely for them but for an individual like myself it's a different story.

Due to those market factors I'll likely have to live with what I'm getting and the decision I will have to make likely will be to level the whole ceiling off at 8' or just the portion of the ceiling by the support beam where it drops :(

Any thoughts anyone? Or even better yet any tin smiths around Edmonton that want to come over and fix this mess for me ( I have $$ but not a lot of time :) )

Cheers

jwakaruk

09-15-06, 12:42 AM

calv1n

09-15-06, 09:33 AM

Hey calvin,

That sucks about the vents being in the wrong place. Will your builder let you move them if you want to, are they correctly place on your copy of the blueprints? Will it add 2-3 months to the entire build or just delay finishing the basement? I had some similar types of problems in my house (stuff done wrong and then a crew quiting in the middle of their contract) and they ended up finishing the basement on a different schedule then the rest of the house. Only added a couple of weeks to my build as there were other scheduling conflicts in the upper house anyways. Sounds like you're building a place to live in and enjoy for many years to come, a few more months to get it exactly how you want it might be worth the wait.

Hi Jwakaruk,

Thanks for stopping by. My intent was originally to live in this house for many years to come but that desire is starting to diminish daily as the builder and I can't seem to come to terms and agree on reasonable resolutions to problems. I've had several concerns lately the ducting just been one of them and they've just stonewalled me as far as getting it fixed to my satisfaction .
The ductwork, plumbing & electrical runs etc... are rarely every shown in blueprints in residential in my experience so I just went into the basement with the builders foreman and pointed out exactly what I wanted. He said it would be difficult and he would see what he could do - sadly this is what "he could do" I guess. I will be discussing this with them on Tuesday. The day that the sales guy is back at work as he is on vacation.
Currently anything that I do or change adds to the building schedule as they are rotating their limited tradesmen between the new builds. I'm sure any changes at this point will result in at least a 4 week delay. Sadly they won't do anything further with the home till the basement is framed as the insulators and drywaller's only want to come to the home once.
I also only have my % rate locked in till November 30 although it's unlikely they will finish by then it is possible if there are no more delays (I can't extend the rate either as it was already extended 2x sadly - my new rate is an increase of 0.25 % which works out to thousands of dollars more a year so It would be good to have this done in November if possible)
I'm tempted to just build a 20' x 30' stand alone in the backyard and just do a dedicated HT there in a separate building. Has a few problems logistically for heat and power but nothing money can't fix and then I won't have to deal with the builder BS.
I've been trying to get ahold of a tin smith in Edmonton but sadly it hasn't been a fruitful search the few I have been able to even get slightly interested in the job won't be able to even come and look at it for weeks and in some cases months.
I'll keep the thread updated with any news..
Cheers

calv1n

09-17-06, 10:59 AM

Update Sept 17-06

My wife went into the home yesterday to get some updated photos for me here up at work.
It looks like the insulators were there and started some of the exterior work finally.

(click to enlarge all photos)

Here is the bonus room ceiling and walls (still some work to be done around the windows)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_InsulationRoofinbonusroom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/InsulationRoofinbonusroom.jpg)

Here is a shot of the living room on the main floor.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_InsulationGreatRoom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/InsulationGreatRoom.jpg)

Sadly they've done a pretty horrendous job of destroying my interior wall work it appears.

BEFORE:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_UpstairsFullBath.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/UpstairsFullBath.jpg)

AFTER:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/th_Insulationinbathroomupstairs.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Insulation/Insulationinbathroomupstairs.jpg)

This my upstairs bath filled with insulation (sound proofing) that was knocked out or removed from the work I did last weekend. I wrote the construction company today to address the issue and they better be putting it all back in place before they drywall over those interior walls :mad:

There were a lot more photos taken as well (not posted here) they have finished about 80% of the exterior insulation. They have some materials downstairs for the framing as well, my wife just commented on it but didn't take any photos.

More to come in a few days...

This issue combined with my ducting work I want redone isn't going to land me on their x-mas card list I think.

calv1n

09-26-06, 01:31 PM

Update:

Been a crazy few days and I haven't done any updates in awhile. I'm still fighting with the builder over the basement and sadly it appears I'll likely have to live with the ducting run in the wrong location and move it after the fact or just work around it :(

Here are some updated shoots of the Main floor HT ready for Drywall and then speaker install. I'm still waiting for the reinforcement / bracing to go in above the fireplace that should be done in the next couple of weeks as well.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_FireplaceSept23-06.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/FireplaceSept23-06.jpg)

Ceiling speaker placement fronts

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_FrontSpeakersLivingRoom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/FrontSpeakersLivingRoom.jpg)

Ceiling speaker placement rears

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_RearSpeakersLivingRoom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/RearSpeakersLivingRoom.jpg)

I have more photos of the basement that I'll try to post in the near future showing recent changes there.

Cheers

calv1n

09-27-06, 11:18 AM

Here are a few pictures from my last walk through on the weekend.
I met with the operations manager over the ducting and he is going to check with the furnace installers to see if they can accommodate me in moving the ducting as I requested (I'm not holding my breath though - I'm expecting them to leave it as is)

(click to enlarge all photos)

The SS hot water tank and water softener have been moved into position and my radiant installer is beginning the copper hook ups.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_FurnaceRoomSept23-06.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/FurnaceRoomSept23-06.jpg)

Close up

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_WaterSoftnerandHotwatertank.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/WaterSoftnerandHotwatertank.jpg)

Walls going up in Spare room - You can see the run along the roof is getting boxed sadly not a good sign for something I want moved :(

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementSept23-06.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementSept23-06.jpg)

Same area - different angle-

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementSept23-062.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementSept23-062.jpg)

The front screen wall - this is sadly where it is very evident that the ducting run is not going to work with my original plan. The ducting run is a 4' x 1' rectangle that will be right in the way of my top right corner of my proposed screen :eek:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementSept23-064.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementSept23-064.jpg)

My options are to:
1- Have the ducting removed and placed on the other side of the support as I originally wanted - failing that I have choice #2

2 - Is lower and level off the roof under the ducting at 8' which I really don't want to do.

Not sure if there is an option #3 at this point ? I've thought about just removing the furnace and having a separate HVAC system put in but I will still need ducting and I'm not sure it will solve all of my issues. This would also have to be done after the fact sadly as the builder is not entertaining this idea at all.

On top of that disaster I had my 1st Xbox 360 die over the weekend - so I had to go pick up another unit on Saturday - hopefully this one last awhile longer and the 2nd one I have in camp doesn't blow up :confused: The only good thing was the replacement was $6 cheaper and I got a some free items with the replacement.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_New360Sept-06.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/New360Sept-06.jpg)

The wife will be going for another walk through on Sunday and will be sending me some photos to post - I'm interested to see what changes if any are in place.

am_pcguy

09-27-06, 11:34 AM

calv1n

09-27-06, 12:38 PM

I know duct work is frustrating. I'm 6'6" and was well aware of the problems those runs can cause. We walked away from a lot of houses last summer just for that reason. l would stop fighting the duct issue and work with the builder as much as possible.

I would bet there are other considerations that had them place the ductwork where they did. Maybe you could just say, "OK, so I'm not happy with this, is there a reason you ran the duct work this way." You might be learn that they figured out the area of each room and the amount of airflow needed to keep the heating and cooling even through out the house. Perhaps one of those runs needs to go through an inside wall on the main floor to get to the 2nd story.

Don't sweat it. There are people here that have overcome much bigger hurdles than some duct work. The ceiling will still be 7'6" or better where the ductwork is even after they are framed up with the soffits, and drywalled.

Again, I don't think this is a deal breaker for you, just a challenge. My duct work doesn't cause much of a problem for me but I have a large air return in my media room. When the A\C kicks on that thing can hit 75db. That is a problem I'm still dealing with...

You will still have an awesome HT i'm sure from the pics and the effort you are putting into it. Enjoy the time it takes to put the pieces together.

And did you see this...
Xbox 360 Repair (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/734/734126p1.html)

Thanks for the thoughtful post am_pcguy :)

It's difficult for me sometimes as I'm a construction professional myself and when things like this ducting issue come up I get a little ticked.

When I first started with this builder I specifically asked for the ducting and electrical schematics and layouts - they had none and they said they would never have them as they just run them as they need to and would work with me when the time came. I ended spending an hour downstairs with the construction super going over what I wanted done and where the ducting needed to go.

He had told me he would do his best but to me it appears very little was done certainly not his best. I've looked at the layout and I've done the runs in my own mock ups what I'm asking for is entirely possible the reason it wasn't followed was to save on materials and just plain laziness or uncaring sadly. I'm not sure that they won't fix it but it does appear unlikely as they are just rushing to finish at this point. The furnace is only left in for the sole purpose of air movement as well as I suggested to them that I only need it for summer fan and they could use smaller ducting - I'm not an HVAC specialist but that does seem to be a plausible alternative but they didn't entertain the idea.

I'm thinking if they leave it as is the roof will likely be around 8' high which I guess is not the end of the world if they level it off at that height - my whole HT was planned around a 9' ceiling though so this will be problematic in other areas as well from PJ placement, screen size, seating and more :mad:

I'm hoping I can still salvage the HT at this point but things are definitely sliding off the rails - could be worse and I'm sure others have done fine with less but after 2 years of planning and building it frustrating to see this happen.

Thanks for the Xbox link - I had read up on that as well with my unit I was lucky though I bought it at Costco. After it blew up I just threw it in a bag and took it in they credited me the full amount of the original purchase and I just picked up a brand new one 10 minutes later for $6 less then the first one I bought. Gotta love Costco and their return policy - the reason I buy a lot of electronics there as things break and they take care of their customers.

Cheers

calv1n

09-28-06, 10:13 AM

Update:

Talked to the operations manager today and they are not going to change the ducting sadly. I'm just moving forward with the rest of the construction at this point I may end up ripping it all out and redoing it myself once I take possession of the home but it going to stay until that happens. They did however commit to replacing my interior soundproofing which is nice as I wasn't even sure they were going to do that.
On a some what positive note the 4 boxes that I've been trying to have Fed Ex deliver for almost 8 weeks have finally shown up. I had to get the same order sent out 3 times as the first two went missing - the 3rd order here was sent out priority overnight and finally made it past Portland and Oakland where the other 2 didn't make it out of.
I asked the wife to take a few pictures so I could confirm that everything was there but they are not very good pictures I'll have to retake some of them and post them later -
Not great but here are a couple of the pics:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Speaker.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Speaker.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_SpeakerBoxes.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/SpeakerBoxes.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Wirespool.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Wirespool.jpg)

The wife will be doing another walk through on Saturday then again on Wednesday as they are really rushing the trades to finish up at this point and we don't want to miss anything or more importantly don't want them to miss anything ;)

More to follow soon.

Neuner

09-28-06, 03:44 PM

Thanks for the thoughtful post am_pcguy :)

It's difficult for me sometimes as I'm a construction professional myself and when things like this ducting issue come up I get a little ticked.

Even after talking to the Operations Manager they wouldn't do anything about it? I would be yelling and screaming. You must definitely be a much nicer guy than I because I would make sure all progress stopped until they resolved it the way that I wanted and then let them know that they are behind schedule and if it's not completed on time, I'm not signing the final contract.

I too am a construction professional and know how some contractors will say one thing and do another. Sadly it's sometimes the only way to get their attention and respect for you, otherwise they'll do what they want. Setting an example is a huge milestone. It gets irritating having to watch them like kids to make sure they don't take all of their short cuts. I'm even in commercial building which isn't as bad as the residential market.

calv1n

09-28-06, 06:48 PM

Even after talking to the Operations Manager they wouldn't do anything about it? I would be yelling and screaming. You must definitely be a much nicer guy than I because I would make sure all progress stopped until they resolved it the way that I wanted and then let them know that they are behind schedule and if it's not completed on time, I'm not signing the final contract.

I too am a construction professional and know how some contractors will say one thing and do another. Sadly it's sometimes the only way to get their attention and respect for you, otherwise they'll do what they want. Setting an example is a huge milestone. It gets irritating having to watch them like kids to make sure they don't take all of their short cuts. I'm even in commercial building which isn't as bad as the residential market.

Neuner thanks for the post. Sadly its a bit complicated we are in the middle of a tremendous boom right now and I mean tremendous. On the news last week we had people lining up overnight on lawn chairs for Condos to go on sale on the south side (these condos were $700,000 by the way :eek: ) the market is so insane that builders don't give a crap and they would love for me to walk away from the deal and let them sell the home as its appreciated almost $250,000 in value since I started building. The other option is kick them off and get another contractor to finish which is also nearly impossible as trades are so busy even people that own the companies doing the work are on a wait list.
Doing the work myself is an option but it would take forever with my work schedule.
I talked to several people including legal council regarding this issue (but your right I'm not a yelling and screaming type of guy just not my nature I find people fix it a little faster with understanding rather then contempt). I was basically told with the contract I've signed I have nothing in writing showing that they have to change or alter anything not already agreed upon in writing (in short I'm screwed for not getting them to agree to a ducting plan in writing prior to construction).
My best bet is to just make the most of it - fix it after the fact if it really bothers me (I will be looking into redoing that one ducting run once I'm in the home to see the costs and it's still likely I may alter it), sell the house and build another or just build a stand alone dedicated theater in the backyard - all of which are options I'm considering but I think I'll just see how it turns out for now as am_pcguy suggested.

Its a set back no doubt but I'll live :)

jwakaruk

09-28-06, 10:02 PM

calv1n

09-29-06, 09:44 AM

Calvin,

It's too bad about your building problems. The market has become so crazy in this city. My buddy went to sign a deal with a reputable builder and they were offered a contract that didn't contain a final price. Basically the builders are covering every aspect with the contract wording so that they don't build houses at a loss with how fast the prices are rising here. I moved into my house 6 months ago with a 5% downpayment and a 20 year mortgage and now currently own 60% outright :D

On another note, I did purchase the Sanyo Z4 and a Da-Lite screen so the home theater demo at my place will be that much more fun in a couple of weeks once I get it all in place. PM me again if still interested in stopping by on one of your off weekends.

Talk to you latter,

Thanks Jeremy,

The housing market is completely nuts up here my home is gaining in value so much that I could sell it and build two of the same houses with the profit somewhere out of Alberta easily. One of my friends building in the SW with another builder was told he had to pay $30K more or they weren't going to pour his basement and give his lot to another buyer. He didn't pay and they refunded his down payment - sold the lot to another person :eek: Suprized the government hasn't come in to regulate some of the price gouging going on in Edmonton and Calgary as its way past sensible now - houses are almost doubling in value in year and 1/2. Builders won't commit to a final price or a final end date and haven't for quite some time. I'm one of the lucky ones in that my home was started and signed off before this madness began. My price is locked in for the general and I only had a small increase to my Radiant install which was for materials and I'm not complaining considering I still got a great deal on almost 4000 sq ft (House and garage) of radiant floor heating even with increase.

You bet I'm still interested in coming over for a demo. It should even be better with your new system (I may have a hard time getting out of your house with the A1 now ;) ). Congrats on the new PJ and screen you will be pretty happy with that combo and got a great deal on it (I remember what you paid :D ).
Looking forward to heading over sometime in October if not this set of days off I'll try for the next set mid October :)

Neuner

09-29-06, 09:52 AM

The housing market is completely nuts up here my home is gaining in value so much that I could sell it and build two of the same houses with the profit somewhere out of Alberta easily.

All of this sounds like a great opportunity for a start up! I know you would have to bring in subs from quite a distance, but the per diem would easily be covered if they are worth that much! Buddy of mine is bringing in his own builders & material from other locations, selling a house a day & bringing in $800k a month!

Neuner

09-29-06, 10:10 AM

(but your right I'm not a yelling and screaming type of guy just not my nature I find people fix it a little faster with understanding rather then contempt)

I always approach a problem with an understanding of the other party, when they screw with me the first time, shame on them, when they screw with me a second time, shame on me - if you don't stand up to them at that point then your another push over. In that type of market I wouldn't want to be a buyer, I'd start up my own company and build.

calv1n

09-29-06, 11:05 AM

I always approach a problem with an understanding of the other party, when they screw with me the first time, shame on them, when they screw with me a second time, shame on me - if you don't stand up to them at that point then your another push over. In that type of market I wouldn't want to be a buyer, I'd start up my own company and build.

Neuner,

Right you are :( it is most assuredly is a sellers market and buyers are getting a beating here no doubt. I'm just thankful I got in and locked in a price before things really got out of hand. I have no wish to start my own housing company I specialize in building gas & oil facilities and I'm paid very well and quite happy to continue in this line of work. I'm not sure the stress of dealing with building homes and putting up with irate home owners and subs would be good for my mental health ;)
I do have a couple of coworkers that did take time off of work to build their own house and / or deal with the subs themselves on a daily basis (be their own general) and they've all said it was a huge mistake and headache to do it and give up their wages during the construction.
I think the lesson I've learned from this one is to plan every detail of the house and get everything in writing before starting the construction. Trust me if I had it in writing and it was done wrong this would be a different outcome but as it stands I'm stuck with the builders decision until I take possession.
I'm just moving on following the old proverb of "what can't be changed must be endured" ;) If this is my biggest headache in life I'm still sitting in a pretty good place compared to most (have to put it in perspective :D ).
Thanks for the post as always.
Did you sell your home yet? I'll have to head over and check out your latest updates been a couple days since my last visit.
Cheers

eq_shadimar

09-29-06, 12:25 PM

xnaron

09-29-06, 12:30 PM

calv1n

09-29-06, 06:06 PM

Calvin -

Great work here! Sorry about your ducting problem. With the housing bubble bursting here in the US you would have had a lot more leverage with the builder to fix the issues.

I like option #3 too but how do you get into the office? It looks like the entrance is blocked by the chairs?

Laters,
Jeff

Jeff,

Yes the ducting has been a real pain but I'll have to address it later at this point. I'm just hoping the rest of the build goes smoothly.
In option #3 I will have to walk through the space between the 2 rows of chairs to access the office. Not Ideal but it should still work for my needs I'll also have a office PC upstairs by the Bonus room HT that will most likely get the lions share of use. Still a work in progress but I may end up moving the network printer upstairs as well.
Thanks for the post.
Cheers

calv1n

09-29-06, 06:30 PM

Hey Calvin,

I am located in Edmonton too! Is that a Pacesetter house? We built with Pacesetter (madison house) in 2003 in Rutherford. We paid $250K for the house and we could probably get $500K for it now. The market is crazy. We had our fair share of problems and frustrations. I think you need to buy that house and just deal with the problems yourself because as you said the builder would love to have you walk away and to sell it to someone else for much more than you are paying. It's really a said state we are in here with the trades. A lot of work is being done by non-professionals and the quality shows. Luckily our house had a good framer. The finisher was average to poor. Electrical mediocre. This was in 2002/03 when it wasn't as bad as it is now...

I prewired my house heavily with rg6 and cat 5. In our bonus room I have a theater setup with a 51" sony widescreen. I am just building my multi-purpose theater in the basement now. I have a panasonic ae 700 (wished I waited to get the 900) and a 120" motorized screen. My components won't be as high end as yours though. I find that I am actually quite happy with a $2000 audio system. I bought a cheapo motorized screen from ebay and it cost me $200CAN total. Picture seems ok and I am mounting it in the celing in the basement with the ability to swap out for a new one. Where did you get the 333 and how much?

I've got a central A/V computer room in the basement where all the wires run. I finished my basement office off in April and have 5.1 with a 42" 1080P LCD monitor in it. I am hoping to have the theatre/living room finished before Christmas.

Anyhow good luck to you and look forward to seeing the pictures as you progress. I'll be posting mine too in another thread.

Brendin

Brendin,

Thanks for stopping by. The home is a Pacesetter home and they are sadly not living up to expectations but this is again the market we are in. The framers were excellent for my house- I personally checked all of the walls and they were within a 1/16" which is excellent :D
The plumbing and electrical has been pretty good - only complaint is the ducting which is by far the worst I've seen in any home built since 1980 I'm not even sure if they were apprentices putting this in :(
I'm looking at just building a stand alone HT in a separate building outside or just selling and rebuilding in a year or two at this point. I originally wanted to build with Avi and now I'm kicking myself in the ass for not going with them even with the premium it would have cost I would have been far further ahead.

I bought the 333 from AVS here on the forum they are asking $7500 (us) which is an excellent price for a 3 chip DLP. I wouldn't recommend the $500 (us) overnight priority express delivery though as I paid for that and it wasn't worth it to get the PJ a day or two early. They still have a powerbuy topic up in the above $3500 PJ forum to get the numbers for Jason and co. here at AVS. The bulbs I believe with the powerbuy are just under $700 (us) and last around 1500 hours.

Thanks for the post and looking forward to seeing your pics :)

missedagain

09-30-06, 01:48 AM

calv1n

09-30-06, 10:47 AM

Wow! Folks from edmonton, alberta!

I'm from there too! We just built a new house as well so I might as well get in on this discussion while it's hot.

I have to agree that the market is going nuts right now. We sold our last house for half a million, 100k more than what we built it for. Our new house cost us around a million and the lot alone has gained 150k in value in the time it took to build it. It's getting out of control, and I don't see prices dropping any time soon. I think we're looking at a ten year cycle here.

Where are you folks located in edmonton? I'm over here in College Woods, in Riverside.

Missedagain,

Wow lots of people from Edmonton here :) My build is on the Terwillegar side of town. Pretty hard to believe the market that is for sure and million dollar home sure doesn't get you nearly as much in Edmonton or Calgary as it would have even 4-5 years ago.
Here is an interesting article on housing.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2006/06/21/ed-luxuryhomes-20060621.html
Our lot has also more then doubled in the last 18 months - across from me in the new sub division just been developed I've been told the lots will start at $500,000 and go to 1.3 million (just for the lots :eek: ) These are 60 pockets so some huge homes going in there no doubt, will be interesting to see what and who is building there. Will make my home look like a bargain to sell for twice what I've paid in a few years I'm sure.
I'm looking at a couple of acres just outside of town right now - may buy the land now and build new again in few years once I have this one paid off.

Back on topic - My wife is heading in to do a walk through and take some pictures tomorrow afternoon so I should have some new pictures to post on Monday. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the basement . They are using metal framing for the entire basement which I've heard will be a complete disaster sound wise for inwall speakers like I've planned so I'll be trying to get that changed if its not to late. I may just have them stop working down there as it's going to be easier to fix it from this point then when they are finished.(If they are not done already - who knows the basement could be ready for paint by the Sunday walkthrough)

Cheers

missedagain

09-30-06, 07:44 PM

calv1n

09-30-06, 08:00 PM

Ahh terwillegar, you are very close to where we are at!

That said, this project is looking fantastic and I can't wait to see the finished product!

Out of curiosity, how much is this all running you? We just bought a TV (60inch 1080p) for 4000, so this project must be costing you at least another 50k on top of the house isn't it?

missedagain,

Yep we are both in a highly prized area you moreso then I - I just wasn't comfortable with a million dollar mortgage so I moved south a bit ;) where it's a bit cheaper (but still expensive :eek: )

Thanks for the kind words the project is sadly going to take a bit more work after moving then I was hoping for as I wanted to just run downstairs and turn everything on ideally. Now I will likely have to replace a couple of those darn steel framed walls in the basement and remove some of the ceiling to rerun the ducting etc.. figure going to cost me several thousands more and month or two to get everything where it should be (this is my learning cost for not planning well enough - lesson learned :o :( )

As far as costs I haven't added everything up yet and I've been paying cash for everything up to this point but I would say I passed $50K in equipment or will by the time its done + the basement been finished was $35K and installation for the A/V company is another $6k or $7k (not sure haven't seen the final bill as I'm still making last minute changes to the A/V side).

I'm looking at getting a 40" + LCD or Plasma for the living room HT which I've budgeted $2 to $4K for and then I'll likely replace my older 61" 4:3 toshiba as well for the bonus room HT and I'm looking at anywhere from $3k to $7k for a 60" to 72" DLP / LCOS set.

Not cheap that is for sure but I don't collect cars, Harley's, boats or other goodies like many of my co-workers do - electronics and movies are my vice :D

calv1n

10-01-06, 12:14 AM

calv1n

10-01-06, 02:12 PM

Did a quick tally after missedagains question. Figured I should know where I'm at for spending ;)
As we are not allowed to show anything but MSRP I've tried to do that in all cases to obey forum rules.
Some cases I could not as I couldn't locate anything on Google to give me a Canadian or US MSRP - like the Infocus 333 which was bought off of the AVS site so I'm sure they won't mind me giving the price I paid.
I've converted everything into CDN and applied MSRP CDN store prices where possible. Obviously the list will have some discrepancies and of course I haven't paid the prices listed except where noted below.

ok here is the cost for new construction HT equipment only (not counting the old stuff I had before buying the home).

Downstairs-------------------------------------------------MSRP
Sherwood Newcastle R-965 ----------------------------$ 2600
HSB-600 -------------------------------------------------$ 400
Infocus 333* --------------------------------------------$ 9500
Behringer BFD 1124P x 2 ------------------------------ $ 450
Crown CE 1000A ----------------------------------------$ 550
Behringer EP 2500 AMP ---------------------------------$ 525
Flying mole cascade amp& modules-------------------- $ 5200
Super X pro Crossovers x 2 ----------------------------- $ 300
Earthquake Thor x 4 ****--------------------------------- $ 10,000
W850 Series x 8 (only using 7) -------------------------$ 4600
GE distribution Panel ** -------------------------------- $ 1000
The Adagio Berkline Chairs x 8 --------------------------$12000
c/w power and lighted cupholders ***
Toshiba XA1 -------------------------------------------------$ 1200
Xbox 360-----------------------------------------------------$ 600
SMX Screen (what I sent)-----------------------------------$ 500

Main Level
CA850 Series x 4------------------------------------------ $ 2300
IW55Ix 1----------------------------------------------------$ 375
IWS10 x 1--------------------------------------------------- $ 700
Leather furniture ------------------------------------------- $ 8000
PDR Mount--------------------------------------------------- $ 1000
Xbox 360-----------------------------------------------------$ 600
Toshiba A1 ---------------------------------------------------$ 700
Sherwood Newcastle R-771---------------------------------$ 1000

Wires, inter-connects & remotes etc-----------------------$ 3000
Back boxes and brackets for speakers----------------------$ 1500
S&H, customs and brokerage
not included in prices above------------------------------$ 3000

Equipment + associated costs total ============= $70,200 MSRP

Installation estimated----------------------------------- $ 6000
Partially finished Basement costs------------------------$35000
(not including unfinished areas)

Total HT Components MSRP and basement costs. ----------$112,200 (+ our lovely 6% Goods & sales tax of course :rolleyes: )
Not included in the costs are any items I had prior to construction like
the HT components going into the bonus room and PC's

* = Converted from US to CDN including S&H and customs charges not MSRP but actual price in this case
** = Actual price I paid can't find a MSRP on the exact panel I've purchased
*** = Estimated MSRP as I can't find an actual MSRP on these chairs but when you factor in exchange, S&H + C&B charges this will be pretty close to what I'm paying anyways
**** Edit - Changed this value after finding these are listed as $1999.99 MSRP (us).

:eek: Better hide this number from the wife - makes her budgeting $75K for the backyard seem down right feasible compared to my spending already and I'll likely be spending another $30K more before this is all done!

calv1n

10-01-06, 09:32 PM

Updated photos:

The wife was by for a walkthrough today. Here are some new photos and some quick notes.

(click to enlarge all photos)

No drywalling has started yet but they are ready to go tomorrow from the looks of things as alot has been moved into the upstairs already. :)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Drywallinbonusroom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Drywallinbonusroom.jpg)

Storage Room walls in place - just a barrier wall between the mechanical room and the HT where I can store materials.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Basementstoragewallframe.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Basementstoragewallframe.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Storagewallframe.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Storagewallframe.jpg)

Framing (spare room area)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Spareroomwallframe.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Spareroomwallframe.jpg)

Bathroom and A/V equipment rack room.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_BathroomandSoundroomwall.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/BathroomandSoundroomwall.jpg)

More to come in the next post

calv1n

10-01-06, 09:46 PM

continued from above:

Corner fireplace in Basement HT.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Fireplacebasementframe.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Fireplacebasementframe.jpg)

Sound room and screen wall updated photo:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Soundroomdistanceshot.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Soundroomdistanceshot.jpg)

Closer up look at A/V room

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Soundroomcloseup.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Soundroomcloseup.jpg)

Next Saturday I'll be back in town and will be taking the pictures :) on our next walk through.
Should be looking a whole lot different by then I imagine if they are done drywall.

Cheers

calv1n

10-02-06, 07:04 PM

I was talking with my A/V installer today on the phone and he and I were discussing what to do about the inwall subs going into the side walls. We both agreed with the steel framed walls the vibration would likely sound like hell regardless of how we framed the subwoofer with out replacing the wall themselves.

What he suggested is moving them out of the walls and putting them into the riser under the seats (similar to the drawing - of course placement can be moved to where ever in the riser it would work best). similar to the picture below. Note the subs are pretty close to scale in the diagram they are almost the size of the seat cushion on the chairs.

(click to enlarge)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Screen_2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Screen_2.jpg)

The subs would be inset with a mesh covering to protect them and he thinks it will still produce a far better result then putting them in the wall.

What are your thoughts everyone ? Any ideas, comments thoughts are appreciated as this is all brand new for me wasn't even considering anything like it.

Thanks for any replies and comments :)

Brad Horstkotte

10-03-06, 03:07 AM

:eek: Better hide this number from the wife - makes her budgeting $75K for the backyard seem down right feasible compared to my spending already and I'll likely be spending another $30K more before this is all done!

Not a problem, calv1n, just tell her this: "But honey, that's just the suggested retail prices - look at all the money I saved us!" - she should be familiar with that line ;-)

Sorry to hear so many "sadly"s reading through your thread, hopefully you'll get past the challenges soon, and into your new house.

Re: the use of insulation for sound-proofing - from what I've been reading here in the acoustics / Green Glue threads, insulation does very little in terms of soundproofing - the main things you'll need to keep sound from leaking out (and in) to your HT are decoupling (double stud walls, staggered stud walls, furring out drywall, etc.), mass (concrete block walls, double drywall, thicker drywall), and dampening (Green Glue). So if sound proofing is an important concern, you might want to read up / ask questions on the topic.

Re: the chairs - I like the choice you ended up with - I was looking at 088s vs. the 090s for width reasons, but it looks like the ones you got have a nicer look than the 088s, and are only a little wider (and not as wide as 090s). For me, I would have been concerned that the "cool" color scheme of the other recliners you were considering would wear off after a while - the classic color schemes seem to hold up over time better (someone in the 1950s must have thought the color scheme in our kitchen was cool once - hard to fathom - but our remodel will be taking care of that soon enough).

Re: real estate market - I live in Southern California, I can definitely relate - in our neighborhood, which is nice but hardly posh, houses like ours go for about $700K - and our house is only 1200 square feet :eek: (before remodel, and not counting the 400 or so square feet in our big garage that will be used for my HT).

Re: the plan - I too like the plans with the seats further back - that was my initial concern with your first plan, it looked like the first row would be awfully close to the screen considering the nice big screen size. Hopefully you can trial run the PJ on a sheet in that room, and get a better feel for seating distance / screen size. Hope your ducting doesn't interfere appreciably with the screen size (in the initial drawing, it looked like the screen was pretty close to the ceiling). And I would go for the PCs in a separate space - unless your job requires use of an xbox 360 :-)

Oh, and thanks for dropping in on my thread too - I hope to have some tangible progress soon, but the wait to resolve my water / joist issues may be a blessing, since I'm spending more time scouring other people's build outs, and refining my own plans.

calv1n

10-03-06, 11:13 AM

Brad,

Thanks for stopping by :) - your build is coming along nicely one of the construction threads I've been watching and saying to myself - Why didn't I think of that ?. I should have done even more reading and planning before starting my HT in the basement but more importantly I should have gotten all of my plans on paper and signed off by the builder that is why I've been ending alot of posts with sadly lately :(

Not a problem, calv1n, just tell her this: "But honey, that's just the suggested retail prices - look at all the money I saved us!" - she should be familiar with that line ;-)

That is a good idea but my wife is actually pretty darn good with money and up to this point hasn't really been very 'spendy' (which is a great thing). With the giant back yard though I seem to have brought out a whole separate person as she's got some pretty big plans for that yard and they are going to cost a pretty penny methinks (concrete pads, gazebo, hot tub, foreign trees etc....)

Re: the use of insulation for sound-proofing - from what I've been reading here in the acoustics / Green Glue threads, insulation does very little in terms of soundproofing - the main things you'll need to keep sound from leaking out (and in) to your HT are decoupling (double stud walls, staggered stud walls, furring out drywall, etc.), mass (concrete block walls, double drywall, thicker drywall), and dampening (Green Glue). So if sound proofing is an important concern, you might want to read up / ask questions on the topic.

I did read up on alot of the sound proofing and thought with the insulation between the floors (24" of insulation between the basement and main floor) I would be ok as long as I got the ducting out of the room. I'm not concerned about the sound "filling" the basement at all just keeping it from the main and top floors as much as possible. Didn't work out for me but I'll see what I can do to fix it once I'm in the home.

Re: the chairs - I like the choice you ended up with - I was looking at 088s vs. the 090s for width reasons, but it looks like the ones you got have a nicer look than the 088s, and are only a little wider (and not as wide as 090s). For me, I would have been concerned that the "cool" color scheme of the other recliners you were considering would wear off after a while - the classic color schemes seem to hold up over time better (someone in the 1950s must have thought the color scheme in our kitchen was cool once - hard to fathom - but our remodel will be taking care of that soon enough).

Same line of thinking my wife used to sway me to stick with black. The rational mind usually wins me over once I think about these things so I agreed and went with the black hopefully I won't be disappointed.

Re: real estate market - I live in Southern California, I can definitely relate - in our neighborhood, which is nice but hardly posh, houses like ours go for about $700K - and our house is only 1200 square feet :eek: (before remodel, and not counting the 400 or so square feet in our big garage that will be used for my HT).

Expensive real estate in southern California with the beautiful weather, ocean etc... all makes sense to me but in Edmonton, Alberta a 2000 sq. ft Condo selling for $700,000 is pure insanity :eek:

Re: the plan - I too like the plans with the seats further back - that was my initial concern with your first plan, it looked like the first row would be awfully close to the screen considering the nice big screen size. Hopefully you can trial run the PJ on a sheet in that room, and get a better feel for seating distance / screen size. Hope your ducting doesn't interfere appreciably with the screen size (in the initial drawing, it looked like the screen was pretty close to the ceiling). And I would go for the PCs in a separate space - unless your job requires use of an xbox 360 :-)

I original thought the basement would be larger then it is in my mind but once I started throwing things down on paper close to scale I saw that I was pretty much left with option #3 as the only option unless I dramatically shrunk my screen. I'm not sure how the ducting will effect everything yet. Right now my plan is to mount the PJ at 18' back and just use the zoom function to find the sweet spot that works for the room.

Did you have any thoughts regarding the new sub placement in the riser? I've heard from another fellow that I should make sure they are at least 6" from the floor and I should also inset them so they don't get damaged by the chairs.
I think I'll have to fill the whole riser with sand as well or the vibration will be horrid.
Still trying to figure out the best placement as well. I'm thinking centering them more on that row - moving them in so they basically cover 1/2 the outside arms of the loveseat and the adjoining chair.

Any thoughts on that anyone?

jwakaruk

10-08-06, 06:50 PM

Did you have any thoughts regarding the new sub placement in the riser? I've heard from another fellow that I should make sure they are at least 6" from the floor and I should also inset them so they don't get damaged by the chairs.
I think I'll have to fill the whole riser with sand as well or the vibration will be horrid.
Still trying to figure out the best placement as well. I'm thinking centering them more on that row - moving them in so they basically cover 1/2 the outside arms of the loveseat and the adjoining chair.

Any thoughts on that anyone?

Hey Calvin,

Are the in-wall subs designed to work with a specific volume within the wall enclosure? You could construct your own box for them and put them through the wall with the volume of the box taking up some space in one of the adjacent rooms. Or just use them in an infinite baffle design if feasable. :) Just throwing some ideas out there.

calv1n

10-09-06, 02:15 PM

Hey Calvin,

Are the in-wall subs designed to work with a specific volume within the wall enclosure? You could construct your own box for them and put them through the wall with the volume of the box taking up some space in one of the adjacent rooms. Or just use them in an infinite baffle design if feasible. :) Just throwing some ideas out there.

Jeremy,

Thanks for the input. I'll have to check into those ideas I'm not a speaker builder but hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in on your suggestions. I'll look into it myself in case no speaker gurus are watching my thread ;)

Here are some more pictures and some of the literature that came with the in walls for downstairs

(Click to enlarge)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_W-850Speakerandmeshscreen.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/W-850Speakerandmeshscreen.jpg)

Back side

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_W-850Flippedover.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/W-850Flippedover.jpg)

In-wall bracket instructions

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_Pre-ConstructionBracket1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/Pre-ConstructionBracket1.jpg)

Page 1 speaker information:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_Page1Wallspeakersurfaceprep.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/Page1Wallspeakersurfaceprep.jpg)

Page 2 Speaker information.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_SpeakerphampletPage2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/SpeakerphampletPage2.jpg)

The long lost fed ex order :D Finally in my living room.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_LonglostFedExdelivery.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/LonglostFedExdelivery.jpg)

More to Come soon:

calv1n

10-09-06, 02:24 PM

The rest of the order that finally showed up from Fed ex and my spare bulb for the 333 has also finally shown up.

Bulb for the 333

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_NewBulbforInfocus333.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/NewBulbforInfocus333.jpg)

Sherwood Newcastle R-771
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_SherwoodR-771.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/SherwoodR-771.jpg)

Back of the R-771

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_BackofSherwoodNewcastleR-771.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/BackofSherwoodNewcastleR-771.jpg)

Articulating Arm for Display in living room:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_ArmforDisplay.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/ArmforDisplay.jpg)

I've also talked to Kyle at Carolina furniture friday and he thinks my chairs will be showing up very soon as the shipping company was recently in contact with him asking for shipping directions
more to come;

jmorris644

10-11-06, 06:34 PM

Calvin,

Things are looking awesome. Congrats!!!!

Should we have a race to see who finishes first? ;)

Joe

calv1n

10-12-06, 07:34 PM

Calvin,

Things are looking awesome. Congrats!!!!

Should we have a race to see who finishes first? ;)

Joe

Joe,

Thanks for the kind words. I don't think I'm going to catch you though I'm at the mercy of my general contractor and as you can see from my last few posts things are going very slow. I was hoping they would be finished drywall and painting by mid October. Flooring by the end of October and then finally on to finishing work which will still be 6 to 8 weeks as my home has a ton of detail work and it takes time. All of the rooms have both crown and base molding, all of my doors are arched etc... its these types of "touches" that will take a lot of time.
I'm moving my expected move in Date from November 30th, 2006 to Feb. 30th 2007 now which means x-mas at the old house again. My builder won't confirm a possession date until 30 days before handing me the keys but I'm pretty darn sure baring a miracle it won't be in 2006.

Only news this week is I have my wife running the back boxes and brackets over to the A/V installer before they begin drywalling. We have our next walk through on Sunday the 22nd so hopefully I'll have some news and some photos showing some completed work at that point.

I'll keep the updates coming as new things happen of course but this thread is going to be going awhile I think.

Cheers
Calvin

calv1n

10-13-06, 05:52 PM

I sent this e-mail to Proficient (Speakercraft) the other day to get my answer from the source ;)

Here is a copy of the E-mail and their response.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 4:49 PM

Subject: questions about the W-850 Inwall speakers

Proficient,

I've recently purchased some of your W-850, 8" inwall speaker for a 7.4 application that my A/V installer is installing in a new home construction. I have some specific questions I'm sure your better suited to answer.

Are the in-wall designed to work with a specific volume within the wall enclosure?

I have them going into a 2" x 4" metal frame wall + 1/2 dry wall with the brackets that are designed for these speakers. I've asked the construction company to insulate the walls completely around each speaker so I assume this my best approach?

Should I leave a certain space around each speaker, leave the wall areas between the stud hollow or insulate and compact the insulation as much as possible around each speaker and bracket?

Thanks for your time.

Regards

Calvin

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From Sergio Rodriguez <rodriguez@speakercraft.com>
Sent Friday, October 13, 2006 9:27 am
Subject RE: questions about the W-850 Inwall speakers

Calvin,

No there is no specific volume that you have to use for the in wall speakers in the wall enclosure. I would make sure that there is plenty of insulation in the walls since you have the metal frames but make sure you do not cover the speakers completely go around them as much as you can compacting the walls very well so they do not rattle.

Thanks,

Sergio

mgkdragn

10-13-06, 10:38 PM

missedagain

10-14-06, 03:39 AM

missed again,

What TV did you end up buying (model and brand?) and where if you don't mind me asking (no need to mention price as you've already done that. Reason I ask is I'm looking for a 1080P for the HT in the Bonus room and maybe that set will fit the bill ;)

Thanks.

JVC 61FH97, although there is a 71 incher if you're looking for a bit bigger.
Got it from visions, amazing quality TV. I don't remember how much it cost us, but it was over 4000 i think. But less than the competing SXRD by a couple hundred i believe.

Picture attached
Nintendo DS Lite/bottle of water for size referance.

Also: The amount you are spending on your multimedia is insane and very impressive. We went conservative on this house so we could pay if off in 2 or 3 years, and so we don't exactly have a whole bunch of neat stuff to show off :(

calv1n

10-14-06, 10:25 AM

Calvin, I appreciate your visit to my thread and I read thru your's tonight...this looks like an incredible job...we built 2 homes in our younger years, so I know how it goes...I acted as main contractor on one as well. Would not want to do it again..

I will say that I wish I lived in Canada...man, the home value appreciation sounds unreal. I don't know how people afford it...when somebody says half a million or a million dollar house, that to me means a real paymemt...I guess it's all relative......thanks though for the great info...I hungered for a Sherwood Newcastle but, in the end, it just was not in the cards... Uncle Willie

Willie,

Thanks for stopping by. I've read your thread and was visiting it the other day again - Nice pics of "Master and Commander" and I'd suggest the Mits 3000 (out of the ones you mentioned) when your ready to upgrade bang for the buck its a great PJ.
In alot of ways I wish I was building this house or at least had left the basement for myself to finish off. To late now but perhaps my next home as this sadly won't be the house I'll be living in for the next 20 years as I had originally hoped :(
Living up here in Edmonton is very expensive the average 2 story home is around $350,000 now I've heard and that is starting so your not getting a whole lot. Payments on a $300k to $700k mortgage at 6% are not pretty that is for sure and I honestly don't know how many people are doing it as not everyone can be making $100K + a year. I think many people are doing 35yr mortgages and taking on far to much debt.
I wanted the Sherwood Newcastle after doing a lot of research bang for the buck they are an incredible piece of equipment. If you shop around you can get them for far less then I would have imagined as well. In hind sight I would have like to have gone to separates but I was offered a terrific deal on the R-965 and the HSB-600 together so I went that direction instead. The R-965 is a beast of a receiver and compared to the R-771 I picked up later its a giant. The R-771 was an after thought I figured I'd pick up to use in the bonus room and move my Yamaha 1000 down in the A/V room to run the living room HT.
I'll be sure to share my thoughts on everything once its up and running but I'm expecting to be impressed with everything once it's all properly calibrated and set up even with the basement not quite coming together as planned.
Cheers
Calvin

calv1n

10-14-06, 10:38 AM

JVC 61FH97, although there is a 71 incher if you're looking for a bit bigger.
Got it from visions, amazing quality TV. I don't remember how much it cost us, but it was over 4000 i think. But less than the competing SXRD by a couple hundred i believe.

Also: The amount you are spending on your multimedia is insane and very impressive. We went conservative on this house so we could pay if off in 2 or 3 years, and so we don't exactly have a whole bunch of neat stuff to show off :(

My friend just bought that exact same TV from Futureshop last week ;) I'm heading over to his house on the 20th to check it out and see if its going to fit the bill for what I'm looking for. He paid under $3500 but it was on sale I guess and I'm not sure I won't want a 70" unit for the bonus room if it will fit ok in the window space I've planned for. I'll definitely be getting the largest display I can fit in the space with the components I can.

I'm spending a pretty big chunk of change no doubt but I originally planned to live in this house for the next 20 to 30 years so at the time it was an investment into my happiness. I'll definitely have to be selling it to another HT nut to get anything back out of my investment as the average home buyer doesn't want a $50k increase to the value of the home due to built in HT gear.
I wish I could say I'll have mine paid off in 2 to 3 years but that is just not possible for me with out eating mac and cheese and locking myself into my office at work for 400 hours a month (I'm already here for 280 and that enough :rolleyes: ) I'm looking at 10 to 15 years to pay this one off if I keep it.

It sounds like once you've paid off your house in 2-3 years you will have no problems getting "a bunch of neat stuff" with your means :D You will definitely have to start a thread and get some pictures up once you start getting the A/V bug ;) I would love to see what a fellow with your resources puts together considering your knowledge from the AVS forums I'm sure it would be pretty spectacular!
Cheers

calv1n

10-14-06, 02:55 PM

Slow work day today - going through some corporate changes up here so I figured I'd take this down time to work on my riser plans.

This is what I've come up with so far for level 1 made with 2 x 4 treated lumber which will sit directly on the carpeted floor in the basement.

(as usual click to enlarge all photos ;) )

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Riserlevel1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Riserlevel1.jpg)

For the second level I've gone with 2 x 6 untreated lumber with a box to hold the subs. I've decided to glue and screw one level of 3/4" OSB between the 2 levels and to insulate or sand between all the braces (haven't made up my mind yet on insulation, sand or a mixture of both? :confused: any input here would be appreciated.

2nd level

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Riserlevel2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Riserlevel2.jpg)

I'll have the subs inset in the 2nd level and a protective grating to ensure they can be protected from a mishap like a chair leg getting slid over top of them. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to do this but I think a steel grill of some kind I can have a welder friend make up should fit the bill

After the subs are inset I'll have the subs plugged in to the pre run speaker cable and have the power bar or power bars placed so that the 4 chairs will have the necessary power, once done I can carpet the rest and leave the subs open other then the grating.

I have no plans for any lighting in the riser. I'm willing to live with out that final "nice" touch. I may change my mind later and if so I'll just have to strip that one small section with the stair portion.

let me know what you think , any ideas thoughts, comments or suggestions are always welcome.

Thanks
Calvin

jmorris644

10-15-06, 09:13 AM

calv1n

10-15-06, 10:36 AM

Calvin,

Sorry this response is so late but I was reading back to try and understand why you were putting the subs in the riser. I am not a big fan of this. I believe the exerience you get and want from subs is air pressure. With the subs in the riser I don't believe you will ever get the feeing you would be looking for before the tactile aspect of the subs gets too great.

Then I saw that you have aluminum studs and framework. If I were you I would have them, and I know this is harsh, torn out and replaced. I have had quite a few booboos in my construction and have had to bite the bullit and redo. I think these are 2 compromises that you should not be making. I believe you will be disappointed in the final theater and I know you don't want that. IMHO, of course.

Joe

Joe,

Thanks for the comment. I was thinking like you 100% as to the way to do it but when I met with my builder and they told me they weren't changing a thing (they are behind schedule and over budget :rolleyes: ). I'm basically left with what they build if it isn't specifically in writing :mad:
This just gets chalked up in my lessons learned column for next time but sadly if I want to rework the room I will have to do it myself and after I take possession of the home. I haven't completely given up on the idea redoing the room once I move in but I'm just as likely to sell the home and start over from scratch with a new builder in a new location as well. I think it will cost me $20,000 to fix (or more) all the mistakes I currently have in the room, as it will be when its finished. My plan for now is to let them finish it their way (they are anyways) and then try to do what I can (which is live with the ducting, move the subs into the riser etc..).
My A/V installer suggested the subs in the riser rather then not use them at all (which is what I was planning on doing - just returning or selling the two I wouldn't be using). He seems to think it will be good and says he's done it in the past with success - I have never seen it first hand so I'm willing to waste some time and money to see if its better then no subs in the rear part of the room for now.
Sadly what can not be changed must be endured so that is why I'm going the less the perfect route in this case.
Cheers
Calvin

jmorris644

10-15-06, 10:49 AM

I hear you. Sorry.

Is there a way fo the builder to not finish the room? And you finish it later? If he is behind he might go for that and give you some sort of rebate?

Joe

calv1n

10-15-06, 12:31 PM

Thanks Joe always appreciate the comments. Good, bad or otherwise. I'm learning as I go and in hindsight everything is clearer. :o I always wanted to build my own room but I knew with my schedule and work load and the time I spend physically away from the home I would have no chance to get my HT up and running with out a year or two going by. I figured my best bet was to pay others to do it but I was short sighted in that I didn't supply specific written instructions regarding every aspect of the build - the seller as usual told me one thing and the builder told me another. :mad: Sadly in this case the builder and not the seller has the stroke so I'm left with what they will do with the contract in place.

I was at one point (after I saw the ducting) going to stop all the building in the basement completely other then the mechanical room but my wife talked me out of it. The cost and the time needed for me to do it myself again at this late date would have been considerable so she's convinced me to just try it out and see if I can live with it. If I can't I can always tear it all out, build another HT room onto the existing home or just build a whole new house somewhere else so eventually I'll end up with something I like just might take a bit longer and a lot more $$. As always nothing time and money can't fix.

The wife is doing a walkthrough today at 1:00 pm so I hope to have some new photos up either later today or tomorrow if anything has been done at the home since my last one. She is also dropping off all the brackets and back boxes for the speakers so hopefully my A/V installer gets those in place before another contractor walks off with them.

jmorris644

10-15-06, 01:04 PM

Wow, it sounds like the builder from He_ _. Sorry I made you revisit what I am sure were difficult decisions again.

I will keep commenting but in a more positive vein. :)

Joe

calv1n

10-15-06, 02:00 PM

Joe,

No worries. I'm just making the best out of a "less then ideal" situation. As bad as my experience has been many people up here are getting it far worse. The market up here in a "gold rush" type of boom brings out the worst in alot of companies sadly and it's become a common practice for many builders to just raise the price of homes $30 to $50k during construction and if people don't like it they rip up the contract and sell their homes to others (which are sadly standing in line to pay the inflated prices as the vacancy rate is around 1%).
That may sound insane but trust me it's happening I know of 3 couples that are in lawsuits over just this type of behaviour (2 of them in class action). :eek:

Once this madness passes in a few years I just hope the people that got shafted remember the companies that worked this way and handled their business in that manner. Word of mouth can sink a company in lean times far faster then anything I know of and I know my builder won't be getting a glowing recommendation to anyone I talk to.

That been said though for the next 3-4 months I'm committed to keeping them doing the best job possible with in the contract I have signed and just getting into the new house to see if I want to keep it.

Positive or Negative all comments are welcome. Sun can't shine every day and sometime the best lessons are the hardest learned so I appreciate any input.

Cheers
Calvin

calv1n

10-15-06, 06:57 PM

Update:

The wife sent me some pics from the walkthrough and dropped off all of the brackets and back boxes for the A/V company to install (hopefully early next week).

Here are a few shots

The 3 distribution panel Cat 5e wall connections -
Sadly they insulated before the A/V installer got in to move these so I may as well just pony up the extra $ to just install the other 3 in the new locations and leave these here (maybe I'll find a use for them one day?)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Southwallinbasement.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Southwallinbasement.jpg)

The 2nd Fireplace is installed now in the basement HT. I should have elevated this 6" or more off the ground in hindsight (another one for lessons learned ;) )

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Fireplaceinbasement.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Fireplaceinbasement.jpg)

Insulation on all the exterior walls in the basement is now complete.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Cornerwherefurnaceis.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Cornerwherefurnaceis.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_SpareBedroombasement.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/SpareBedroombasement.jpg)

Here is another error in the basement HT :confused: :( I have 2 central vac outlets almost straight across from one another in the room now and according to the originally layout this was supposed to be on the exterior wall of the A/V room towards the stairs. The vac reaches 35' so I would be able to get to all locations but the storage and mechanical room which don't need a vac anyways as they are been left with concrete flooring.
I've asked the builder to move these or at least explain why they've put them there - can't see a building code requiring vac outlets in these locations. I think the installer just thought this would be the most practical area to access the whole basement. I'm not thrilled about them but I may end up just leaving them as well if its going to be a huge hassle to have them moved.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_OtherCentralvachole2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/OtherCentralvachole2.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_CentralVachole.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/CentralVachole.jpg)

More to follow:

calv1n

10-15-06, 07:07 PM

Update main floor HT area:

Here is a picture that was exciting for my wife so I thought I'd post it. The large window on the right side was finally swapped out after 3 months of waiting. The metal inserts (not sure what those bars are called) were white and they should have been a gun metal. Anyways at long last that one 'wrong' window has been replaced and the wife is ecstatic (I'm strangely immune to this joy she is experiencing must be a wife thing)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_WindowinGreatRoomreplaced.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/WindowinGreatRoomreplaced.jpg)

Below is a picture of the mount that the LCD or Plasma Display will be supported by once the whole assembly is put together. This tilting mount attaches to the articulating arm and when they are together the total mount assembly will pull from the wall 26" at full extension and swivel 10 degrees down and 5 degrees up :)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_Wallbracket.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/Wallbracket.jpg)

I've been working on getting the details down on exactly how I need the fireplace worked for bracing -
Photo #1 is the mock up I provided for the framers so they build it to accommodate the in wall center channel speaker and the articulating arm mount assembly.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_Displaybracingdetail.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/Displaybracingdetail.jpg)

Photo # 2 is 'professionally' altered photo shopped picture of what I hope the final result looks like (more or less)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_Displaybracingdetail2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/Displaybracingdetail2.jpg)

I'll see what they come up with but hopefully they can follow the plan :)

Neuner

10-16-06, 09:00 AM

Then I saw that you have aluminum studs and framework. If I were you I would have them, and I know this is harsh, torn out and replaced. I have had quite a few booboos in my construction and have had to bite the bullit and redo.
Joe

Why would you want to rip out steel (not aluminum) studs? My media room is built with steel studs and I love it. The walls are perfectly flat & straight. This is critical since one of my walls is about 35' long and you look right down it as you enter the basement. Don't worry about rattles, I don't have any & I've cranked the bass pretty hard to test it out. Only my wall sconces made some noise which was easily fixed.

calv1n

10-16-06, 09:53 AM

Neuner,

I believe they are aluminum studs. They are that flimsy you can easily just twist them right in half even when they are secured at the top and bottom not to much strength there.

The reason I didn't want them (and still don't want them) is that in the downstairs HT I have 7 in-wall speakers and 4 in-wall subs. I'm shocked that your don't rattle my A/V installer has told me point blank if I install my inwall subs with them it will vibrate and sound like hell. He convinced me to either remove the sub woofers entirely on the two side walls and go with a 7.2 or put them in the riser to go with a 7.4 (which I decided on).

Are you using in-walls ? I have 2 earthquake thors which are a pretty beefy sub for an in-wall and those are the ones I'm concerned with. I'm leaving the 2 side and 2 rear speakers as is I'm not worried to much about vibration on the 8" inwalls. The front sound stage will be made of wood so no worries there either.

Your the 1st person to come forward and say they won't rattle which is terrific :) However I think its to late as I don't think I'll be in time to stop the changes I've already put forward. The AV installers are most likely at my house installing the speaker wire to the riser location this morning.

Have to give them a call this morning maybe I'll have them run wire to both locations so I can try the walls and if it doesn't work then try the riser ;)

Thanks for the post.

Neuner

10-16-06, 10:23 AM

Neuner,

I believe they are aluminum studs.

Thanks for the post.

That's terrible. Ya, I wouldn't want them put in place either. Never heard of them until I did a search on google. Glad I haven't seen them around. My studs are 25ga galvanized steel. I would hope the alum stud gauge is heavy enough to be equal to the steel.

I forgot that you had inwall speakers. My front speakers are mounted to the front wall on shelves and my sub sits in the front left corner. I don't have any vibration. If constructed correctly it's a firm construction system. The studs seem flimsy until the drywall is attached then they are very rigid. I can't think of where they would vibrate except maybe where they join the top & bottom track, but again, if done correctly, this is very rigid.

Since you will be going ahead with the alum studs, I'm anxious to hear how it turns out once you have everything in place.

calv1n

10-16-06, 01:22 PM

Neuner,

After spending some time on your website and thread I wish I would have had you doing my basement ;)
I had never heard of aluminum studs either till I saw them in place then I looked back to my contract and I guess they said "metal" studs not "steel" so technically I can't bitch and have them swapped out.

I have no reason to believe my A/V installers would be steering me wrong here and they are a large reliable company with many years in the business. When the fellow told me he's done them in the past and it was a bad idea I went with his suggestion on a work around (in the riser).

I'm keeping my fingers crossed I can live with the ducting and framing otherwise I'm just moving into a construction zone I will be making and there will be no HT joy in my basement for a long time to come (of course I'll still have the other 2 but the basement is the jewel in the crown so to speak).

Cheers

Neuner

10-16-06, 02:15 PM

Thanks for the compliment, I appreciate it.

I'm more along your mindset now that I'm almost done with mine. When I started, I had just gotten married and had a lot of time. Now I have two girls and want to spend all of my time with them. I really wish it was over. I may be moving shortly and vow to hire out the work in our future home.

What is causing the boom in your area? Is there that many people moving into town?

calv1n

10-16-06, 03:10 PM

What is causing the boom in your area? Is there that many people moving into town?

http://zfacts.com/p/218.html explains the boom more or less.

I can't even describe the explosion in growth in Alberta it really is unprecedented in my experience. Reminds me of watching old TV shows about the gold rush and the insanity that followed. We are certainly living in that type of an environment up here at the moment. When you have real estated going up 2% to 5% a month on houses you know something is going on.

Here is an older story from July 28th.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2006/07/28/ed-rentals.html
I've heard from several people that the current vacancy rates are under 1% in Edmonton and very similar situations are in the other "booming" cities in Alberta (Calgary, Red Deer, Grande Prairie & Fort McMurray).

Another interesting link - note the last paragraph on labor shortages!
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2006/10/16/alberta-consumer.html

In retrospect I think I should have planned the basement construction better and still had others build it ;)

Cheers

calv1n

10-20-06, 05:55 PM

Went to the A/V installers showroom to sign some paperwork and I remembered to bring the camera this time.
I've taken a few shots of the distribution panel I've purchased and also of their showroom (the showroom photos I'll post later just to show their work).

Here is the GE Panel

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1816.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1816.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1818.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1818.jpg)

Here it is beside another smaller panel - It is about 36" to 40" high and 18" wide.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1814.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1814.jpg)

Here is the panel info (sorry it's a bit blurry should have used my camera instead the wifes I have that motion stabilizer in mine :o
Guess I'm a bit shakier then I thought.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1825.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1825.jpg)

calv1n

10-21-06, 12:51 PM

Here is a few shots of my AV installers showroom.
Its nothing extreme but I like it and have sat through 1/2 of a couple of movies in that room already and it sounds and looks great in there. I'm hoping my room is 1/2 as good acoustically but it's not nearly set up as well as theirs.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1819.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1819.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1822.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1822.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1820.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1820.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1823.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1823.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1821.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1821.jpg)

(Click to Enlarge all photos).

Hoping to get in to do a walkthrough in the next day or two so should have some new photos of my HT's coming again soon.

Cheers
Calvin

calv1n

10-21-06, 09:27 PM

They've done the bracing differently then I had hoped above the fireplace.
I'm checking with the builder now just to ensure they've put 2 x 4's with the 16" centers I need for the bracing for the articulating mount but I'm not sure they are behind the OSB 3/4" board. I have the sales team checking with the building team to ensure it will hold up as needed.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_1832.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_1832.jpg)

The backbox for the 10" proficient inwall sub is in place as well. Not the location I had originally intended but I'm sure it will be fine in that location as well :)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_1834.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_1834.jpg)

They secured the hell out of it that is for sure I couldn't even budge it a millimeter putting all my weight into it so I'm sure the vibrations will be at a minimum.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_1833.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_1833.jpg)

Here a couple of photos out of the showroom which show what I'm hoping the finished product will be similar to (with no bookshelves, a big sub and a center channel under the display in my case)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_1869.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_1869.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_1870.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_1870.jpg)

More photos to come soon from the walkthrough (be a couple of days before I get the rest posted)

xnaron

10-22-06, 07:21 PM

Calvin,

What are you racking all your equipment on in the basement?

thanks,
Brendin

calv1n

10-24-06, 10:15 AM

Calvin,

What are you racking all your equipment on in the basement?

thanks,
Brendin

Brendin,

I'm currently just letting the builder finish up my AV room as I originally had it outlined (as they won't make any changes at this point anyways).
I will end up with drywall shelving spaced 18" opening from the floor all the way up to the 9' ceiling. I'll try it out when I get in the house and see if I can live with it.
If I don't like the way its going to work out I'll likely order a middle atlantic rack and install it where the shelves are. Going with a racking system I would likely get the standard rack 8' high. I don't need anything that spins or pulls out as I have access to the back of the components in the A/V room.

I haven't decided which one I would go with yet but in the fixed format there isn't a lot of choices. I'll be talking with my A/V install company as well and see what they can offer if I end up replacing the drywall shelving (which is likely).
http://www.middleatlantic.com/enclosure/main.htm

Cheers
Calvin

calv1n

10-24-06, 04:01 PM

Updated shots:

Here are a couple of shots of the wiring ready to go into the distribution panel. They are waiting for the drywall crews to finish up and then they will be along to start setting up the panel.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_1863.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_1863.jpg)

Almost everything here is CAT 5E from various locations in the house. Seems like a lot connections when I see them all bunched together like this :D

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_1864.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_1864.jpg)

Front sound stage shot. THey have set up brackets for the left and right but forgot to set up the bracket for the center speaker. I sent them an e-mail with this picture to remind them to get back into the house and fix this before the drywallers come in. This set up is from the old drawings I gave them where I had a center channel I had changed that out some time ago but the installer must have had the old or wrong installation notes instructions.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_1847.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_1847.jpg)

Here is a shot of the 4 strand sub wires run from the back wall. I have about 5 feet to play with here to install these into the riser as I've planned and detailed in a post last week.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_1854.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_1854.jpg)

All of the exterior and interior walls are insulated now :eek: :D which makes me fairly happy as the builder orginally told me they weren't going to insulate the interior walls (someone went ahead and did it anyways now I'll just wait to see if I get a bill for it)

I'll have some updated shots of the conduit ran to the projector location and more of the A/V room in the next few days once I get around to uploading and dumping those shots onto Photobucket.

Cheers
Calvin

calv1n

10-25-06, 01:34 PM

Many of the photos didn't turn out so well for the conduit shots so I'm only posting two sadly. During my wifes next walk through on Sunday I'll ask her to take a few more photos if they haven't covered everything up with insulation or drywall.

Here are the two shots I could salvage showing the conduits been fed into the A/V room

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_1849.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_1849.jpg)

Same shot from further back. The conduit on the right side is the new one run for the basement PJ for video feeds. The wiring on the left are the speakers systems from both the basement and the living room HT directly above.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_1837.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_1837.jpg)

jmorris644

10-25-06, 08:42 PM

Is that all cat5? What is it all for?

Joe

calv1n

10-26-06, 01:28 PM

Hi Joe,

In post # 135 it is almost all CAT 5E where the distribution panel will be going next to the breaker panel.
In post #136 its a variety of 2 strand, 4 strand speaker wire, component cables and CAT 5E for the A/V room that will be running both the living room and basement HT's.
Sure looks like a lot of work is still needed. They will be installing a few face plates that is for sure.
I'm still looking into how to best distribute the cabling and the power from the walls to the shelving or rack.
Any ideas on how best to go about this anyone?
I'm thinking a flat power bar from the outlet running parallel to the shelving and then into the components and then using some rack type rods for component cabling to organize them neatly into the components. Might have to wait till more things are in place before I spend much time on it but I'm starting to think about how best to handle it now.
Cheers

calv1n

10-27-06, 01:30 PM

After Brendin's question I started taking a harder look at my set up and I compared the drywall shelving that I've got the builder putting in now to a couple of other scenarios.

Option #1 is the shelving as I've requested with the components I have currently.
Looks like it will be tight squeeze maybe.

Option # 2 is with a single rack in the center with a few 'cut out' drywall shelves for other components like gaming consoles. (click to enlarge as usual ;) )

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_RackOption12.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/RackOption12.jpg)

Option #1 is the same drywall shelving
Option #3 is going to 2 x 24" racks side by side which is the more costly but likely the best way to go.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_RackingOptions13.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/RackingOptions13.jpg)

Let me know what you think (and where I can get the best deal on racks would be good as well :) )
Thanks

Edit: The numbers on the pictures are the dimension in feet both the width (48" opening although it maybe slightly larger as the real dimension is 55" total counting the support walls) x 9 feet which is the height floor to ceiling. I think I can get Racks in 8' or 8'5 heights but I'll have to do some digging.

calv1n

10-28-06, 03:57 PM

I've spent some more time thinking and designing the rack. Now I know I want to go with a racking system and I think I should have no issue getting everything including future components into one big rack.

Here is my 1st layout I'm working on. I was originally thinking of putting the amps on top since they won't be touched after the initial calibration but then I thought maybe due to weight I should put them on the bottom. I also don' t think I'll be tweaking most things unless they are in the 2.5' to 6' range so that is where I wanted to put things I think I will be actually using a lot like the HD-DVD player and Game consoles etc...
In the altered photo I used real photos and put them as close to relative size as possible. The rack mounted items are 19" wide, all items are relative width / height to each other.

The numbers beside the components are the height in feet from the ground. So for example the Sherwood Newcastle R-965 is located at a 4 foot elevation from the ground.
Any feed back is appreciated.

(Click to enlarge photo - These are pretty accurate regarding dimensions relative to each other - I'll break down the components by size and weight with an edit soon)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_RackLayoutOption1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/RackLayoutOption1.jpg)

In the picture from TOP to BOTTOM order -

HSB-600 HDMI Switcher - (WxHxD) 17.3/8" x 2.1/4" x 9.3/8" @ 5lbs

Receiver R-771 - (WxHxD) 17.3/8" x 5" x 15" @ 38lbs

Receiver R-965 - (WxHxD) 17.3/8" x 7.3/4" x 17.3/4" @ 52lbs

HD-DVD AX1 - (WxHxD) 18" x 4.1/2" x 13.1/2" @ 12lbs

*Europower 2500 AMP - (WxHxD) 19" x 3.1/2" x 15.1/8" @ 45lbs

*Crown AMP CE2000 - (WxHxD) 19" x 5.1/4" x 12.1/4" @ 45lbs

*Flying Mole Cascade - (WxHxD) 19" x 5.3/4" x 18.7/16" @ 30lbs

*BFD 1 - (WxHxD) 19" x 1.3/4" x 7.1/2" @ 5lbs

*Crossover 1 - (WxHxD) 19" x 1.3/4" x 8.1/2" @ 7lbs

*BFD 2 - (WxHxD) 19" x 1.3/4" x 7.1/2" @ 5lbs

*Crossover 2 - (WxHxD) 19" x 1.3/4" x 8.1/2" @ 7lbs

*= Rack mounted equipment ("ears" attached)
NOTE components above = 251 lbs total

Not Shown but planned for Rack

XBOX 360 - (WxHxD) 12" x 3.1/4" x 10.1/4" @ 8lbs
Toshiba DVD Recorder (still looking for exact info - need to get my exact model number)
Bell Xpress Vu or Shaw Cable HD TV box (have to decide on which I'm going with then get dimensions)

*Playstation 3 - (WxHxD) 13" x 4" x 11" @ 11lbs *to be bought later

Edit ** Here is another kick at the can - Option #2 with all of the planned components I can think of at the moment.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/th_Screen_5.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Screen_5.jpg)

Option #2 - zoomed in some (larger format - Click to enlarge all pictures)
In this layout I'm starting with components 1 foot off the ground and going up to 6 feet high with the last piece.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/th_Option2Larger.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Option2Larger.jpg)

Cheers
Calvin

calv1n

10-29-06, 06:19 PM

Still nothing on the rack. Maybe I'll get some more traffic and perhaps an opinion or two once the work week starts again tomorrow.

The wife went for the walk through again today and sent me some pics.
I wanted her to take photos of the conduit to the PJ in the basement but unfortunately most of it was covered up in the ceiling with insulation already. Adding to the confusion is that I told her to look for white plastic pipes and take photos of that.
What I didn't think about was that every vacuum tube in the house is also a white plastic pipe and she ended up taking a lot of photos at angles that don't show me enough so I'm not sure if many of them are A/V or vacuum use :o

Here are few pics and comments ( Click to Enlarge as always ;) )

Below is the PJ location in the Basement Ceiling and the surge protected power outlet. I can't see the conduit run for cabling sadly as it's all covered up at this point. The power outlet is 18 feet back from the screen wall.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Projectorlocation-basementCeiling.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Projectorlocation-basementCeiling.jpg)

Below is another picture of my dreaded ducting. They've added insulation to the walls which should help alot for sound containment and also for vibration etc.. with the inwall speakers. Sadly I can see they vacuum tubes have been run through the same area which if I decide to remove and rerun the ducting just makes things even more complicated and messy :confused: :mad:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Ductingincornerbyfurnace.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Ductingincornerbyfurnace.jpg)

This may be the conduit run from the PJ to the A/V room but I'm not sure.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_tubingabovebathroominbasement.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/tubingabovebathroominbasement.jpg)

Looking up in the A/V room. You can see the speaker cables on the right and other the conduit A/V runs coming on the left side into the A/V room from the ceiling. The white PVC tubing in the ceiling is a Vacuum tube that runs in the hall by the 1/2 bath in the main floor.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_vacuumtubeinceilingofAVcontrolroom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/vacuumtubeinceilingofAVcontrolroom.jpg)

More to follow next week. I'm hoping one day soon they will be starting drywall I can't imagine anything still holding them up at this point but I've been saying that for a couple of weeks now.

Cheers
Calvin

calv1n

11-01-06, 05:03 PM

Still no opinions on the rack ?
Would I be better off putting all of the amps on the bottom and having the cross overs and BFD's between them and the components.
Just looking for some thoughts and ideas out there :)
I'm trying to avoid taking components out and going through a trial and error stage if I can ;) .
Thanks to any that respond.
Cheers
Calvin

jmorris644

11-01-06, 05:43 PM

COACH2369

11-01-06, 05:47 PM

calv1n

11-01-06, 06:48 PM

I think placement kind of depends on airflow and accessability. If you lack airflow I think you would want the amps higher cause the heat will rise.

With my automation plans I don't foresee accessing the rack very often so I might have more free of placement. If you need to get in there a lot then you definitely want accessability.

Joe

Thanks for the post Joe.

I was curious about putting the Crown and Behringer amp on the very top for that reason. I'm not concerned about the Flying Mole as it will be cool running where ever it is I'm told. I was a bit concerned about the weight all been at the top end of the rack. This may not be an issue in a fixed rack however ... perhaps I'm just been paranoid about it falling over despite the odds that happening in a fixed install likely been zero.

The room that the components are going in isn't huge but hopefully it's large enough that even venting back into the room won't cause issues. Its to late to go back in and do a separate HVAC system with out spending a whole lot more time and money at this point so I'm going to see how it runs once I figure out how I want to 'stack the rack'.

I'm still waiting for some quotes and ideas from the 2 vendors I have looking at my set up to see how they have proposed venting either to the front or the back into the room to the rear. Right now I have Middle Atlantic and AVrak a local company my installer uses both coming up with plans but I'm trying to get my mind made up regarding which layout I should ask them to work with (amp on top or amps on bottom).

I will have no where near the level of automation your going for (I wish I did) I'm basically using a Logitech Harmony 890 RF remote to run the whole theater more or less (at least that is my plan). I am hoping after I get everything calibrated for sound and audio though I don't have to "mess" with anything in the rack other then changing games and movies.

As always thanks for the input Joe.
Cheers

calv1n

11-01-06, 06:54 PM

Calvin,

I stumbled upon your thread late last night around 10:30 and reading it was like reading a good novel! Once I started I couldn't stop and I finished up around 12:00!

I am hoping to do the same thing in about 2 years once my wife is done with school and her income jumps up about 75%. I converted an 18 x 11 portion of our basement into a mini theater. It is nothing real special, but I am enjoying HD-DVD every weekend in it. I have been saving so when we do find a bigger house I can jump into a dedicated room with two feet and not have to wait for awhile.

I am very anxious to see the final pictures....

Good luck!

COACH2369,

Thanks for stopping by and the kind words. I was thinking a novel akin to something Dean R Koontz or Stephen King would write ;)
Sounds like your going to be doing fine if you hang out in this forum 2 years before you start and learn from many of the great posters here.
I too am very anxious to see this one come together as I've been involved with this construction now since June 2005 (when I put my down payment down).

If you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to post them.
Cheers
Calvin

calv1n

11-02-06, 02:22 PM

Here is the rack cooling design I'll be following. (click to Enlarge)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/th_Rackcooling.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Rackcooling.jpg)

The only change to the diagram would be that my amps will be stacked with out spacing between them(whether they are on top or bottom).

indagroove

11-07-06, 01:45 PM

Thanks Calvin. Your tread has given me a lot of ideas as I an starting to layout a design for my HT.

Looks like you're going to have a killer setup.

calv1n

11-07-06, 02:59 PM

Thanks Calvin. Your tread has given me a lot of ideas as I an starting to layout a design for my HT.

Looks like you're going to have a killer setup.

indagroove,

Thanks for stopping bye :) Glad I could help out in anyway. I'm hoping this thread will not only help others but also help myself as I work my way through this formidable task of 3 HT's in one home :D
I was in discussions with my electrical engineer at the A/V installers home office on monday and it sure sounds like I should have a pretty decent set up on all 3 floors once they are done with sound treatments and calibrations. I just signed off another $10k for a budgeted "allowance" to make sure that they have enough $$ to do everything I want them to regarding sound treatments, audio & video calibrations and anything else I'll need to make the most of my rooms.

I'm hoping to have the details sorted out on my rack soon. I'm still waiting for two more quotes and I've received a few already so I'm close to ordering that in the next week or two as well.

News regarding my chairs :cool: .
Carolina interiors called me last week and I've hooked them up with broker to ensure the chairs make it across the border with out a hassle. My customs broker is working with them now to have the chairs delivered on my next days home (November 17 to 20th) so hopefully I'll have those in storage soon and I'll have a post with pictures and my thoughts on the new line as several people have PM'd me regarding them.

I'll be posting some new pictures of the latest walk through later today if I have time (if not today then tomorrow)

Cheers

calv1n

11-08-06, 11:04 AM

Update.

Some photos from the walk through on the 4th.

Here is the location at the top of the stairs (rear of the bonus room) where I'll be putting a PC station for the top level.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Cornerupstairsforcomputerdesk.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Cornerupstairsforcomputerdesk.jpg)

Bonus Room with Drywall.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Bonusroom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Bonusroom.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Bonusroom5.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Bonusroom5.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Bonusroom3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Bonusroom3.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Bonusroom2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Bonusroom2.jpg)

The whole upper floor is complete now just waiting for them to finish up the main and basement levels then finish up the taping and mudding.
I'm hoping to have some new photos from my wife's walkthrough this saturday to post early next week.

Cheers

calv1n

11-10-06, 01:06 PM

I received a PM back from my new AVS friend Felgar after I PM'd him about my chairs as he is currently looking. Here is a snippet of the message

There were so many things that were brought up in your thread I can't even keep them all straight. One thing that stuck though is your contemplation of a flat-panel for upstairs. I'm typing this on a 50" Panasonic Industrial plasma and IMO there's no better TV. Well yes there is, there are the 65" units and then the 65" 1080p units also. I like the Industrials because with just a thin black bezel all the way around they are sleek and have a nice inconspicuous form factor - and who needs speakers when we have full functioning receivers and surround-sound... Also they are better than the consumer models for tweaking too (and us A/V nuts love to tweak ) So for a cheaper alternative I'd recommend the 50PH9UK at around 3K or so. The expensive alternative would be to target the 65" 65PF9UK which would probably be about 10K cdn but which is full 1920x1080 res and of course much larger than the 50".

If there are any other issues you're still muddling about, maybe post back on your thread a recap and I'd be happy to share my thoughts. I just couldn't sort through everything to see what you were still looking for feedback on.

So in response to that I'll do a quick recap on things I'm still looking at some opinions on

1. The Rack layout ? I've decided to go with a middle atlantic rack model # WRK-44SA-27. I'm currently trying to figure out a few things on how to best do the rack in my set up.

1A- Should I vent to the top, front or back ?
1B - Should I go with a front panel, if so should I get the plexiglass (solid) or the metal vented ?
1C- Should I get a rear door on it and if so where should the vents be on the door if at all.

My thoughts are leaning towards getting a vented front door and a few fan panels in the rack to vent straight out the back into the A/V room with no back door but I'm not sure this the best way and I don't have any experience with racks and enclosures.

2. Component layout in the rack?

2A- Should I put the amps on the bottom or top ? I know I want to keep everything I'll actually need to use like receivers, consoles and players in "able to reach" zones between 2 and 6 feet and the rack will be around 78" high in total. I'm also looking at raising the rack 2" to 4" off the floor so the bottom component won't be accidently kicked / bumped as often.

3. Upstairs Display panel?

3A- Felgar has given me some ideas on a 50" or 65" plasma but what does everyone else think ? I'm still looking at a 46" to 60" Flat panel but I'm undecided on brand, size etc...
This one won't likely be answered until I get into the house and then start looking as the purchase will be post possession unless an excellent deal comes up between now and then that I would be crazy to pass up.

4. Details on how best to put the subs in the riser?

4A- I've done some preliminary mock ups but I still don't know the best way to have these inset and then protected as they will have chairs put on them? Anyone else do this or seen it done?

5. Screen issues.

5A- this one I've been avoiding for awhile. I don't have my screen planned out exactly yet as the ducting has changed everything. I'm also convinced my original floor blueprint is not realistic as the space I was hoping for around 144" is probably more like 112" on my screen wall. I'm getting my wife to take measurements so I know exactly on Saturday. The smaller wall combined with the ducting is going to make me rework the whole set up sadly.

5B- The screen as shown arrived badly bent up. I've made attempts to fix that but I'll likely have some work ahead of me to ensure that the screen is not wrinkled or creased and also to build the frame for it. I've been keeping an eye on the SMX forums for this and I've been getting some good ideas frame wise anyways. Once I get the dimensions down I'll be in a better position to go forward. Anyone have experience with getting wrinkles and creases out of a AT screen? So far I've rolled it up tightly on a 3" PVC pipe and then stuck it back in the shipping bag and put it into a hot room. This hasn't appeared to do anything yet.

Any input on those issues is appreciated :)

Cheers

Felgar

11-11-06, 04:51 AM

3A- Felgar has given me some ideas on a 50" or 65" plasma but what does everyone else think ? I'm still looking at a 46" to 60" Flat panel but I'm undecided on brand, size etc...
This one won't likely be answered until I get into the house and then start looking as the purchase will be post possession unless an excellent deal comes up between now and then that I would be crazy to pass up.
One thing's for sure, that a flat panel will be cheaper in the future than now, so waiting's a good idea. Consider that the 50" is only 1750 in the US, so sooner or later we can expect our pricing to come inline... Maybe late January I think we'll see them for around 2500 or so.

4A- I've done some preliminary mock ups but I still don't know the best way to have these inset and then protected as they will have chairs put on them? Anyone else do this or seen it done?
Well I think you could do it just by building a frame/box for them to go into. Put them on their sides or backs and either mount them directly to the riser itself or else slide them and their frames underneath the riser. One problem I could see is that if they are attached to the riser then essentially the whole riser will vibrate and produce sound, possibly messing up the whole low end. Maybe if you built the riser out of a porous material (like metal grating) then the sound could pass through it and out into the room. Putting the subs into a large solid structure would just completely mess it up IMO. Essentially the whole riser would become a giant speaker (of likely very poor accoustic design).

Not sure if you noticed the thread I made about making the riser into a bass trap. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=740142 Basically I'd want a riser to let sound in, and you want it to let sound out - either way we'd both build a non-solid structure. See post 8 in that thread for one option... Put the subs on a frame on their backs underneath the riser would be my suggestion.

Either that, or at least try one in-wall to see if the metal studs vibrate. Since they're attached to the drywall they may not rattle and might be almost identical to how wooden studs would behave.

Sorry, no help with the screen (I just use a TV).. :)

calv1n

11-11-06, 11:03 AM

Flegar,

Thanks for the ideas and the post. I think I'll be waiting till I move into the house and then start looking for a flat panel for above the fireplace. I don't think that will be till Feb or March so it's likely I'll save some money by waiting. I'm also likely going to replace my older 61" 4:3 Toshiba with a newer 16:9 set for the upstairs HT in the bonus room so I'll be looking for a 1080P DLP or LCOS TV at that time as well.

Regarding the riser that thread gave me some ideas. I was thinking of building it as I've outlined in my previous diagram (more or less). I would be filling the spaces with dry sand everywhere but where the subs will be located and in those spaces use insulation. I can set the subs down an 1" or 2" and then cover them with grating for protection. I think with the combination of wood bracing and sand I will be ok as far as vibration goes (it's how most people build their cabinet speaker sound stages here on AVS ;) )
Wouldn't I be far better (sound wise) to have them facing up towards the roof for maximum sound rather then facing down into the riser ?

I'm still throwing ideas around for the best way to do this riser so feel free to let me know your ideas and ask any questions you may have that I haven't thought of as well.

Thanks
Calvin

ps - should hopefully have some new photos up later today or tomorrow from the walk through the wife is doing today. I should have some measurements as well of the screen wall which will help me finalize my screen dimension plans.

calv1n

11-11-06, 07:23 PM

Update:

Some new pictures from Today's walk through. My wife took a bunch of photos but many are so close up that it tough to see much other then drywall :confused: (did I mention she isn't a photographer ;) )

Some photos
View from Pantry
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_ViewfromPantry.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/ViewfromPantry.jpg)

Living room - fireplace area
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Livingroomfireplacewall.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Livingroomfireplacewall.jpg)

Living Room:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Livingroom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Livingroom.jpg)

Basement Ceiling
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_BasementRoof.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/BasementRoof.jpg)

I'll try to post some other shots soon. I've finally got my dimensions for the screen wall so I'll be working on the screen set up now that I know what I have to work with - had to change my plans due to the damn ducting and lower then expected ceiling height. :(

Cheers

xnaron

11-11-06, 10:52 PM

xnaron

11-11-06, 10:59 PM

forgot to ask...now that you have the measurements what size of screen can fit?

Felgar

11-12-06, 03:05 AM

I would be filling the spaces with dry sand everywhere but where the subs will be located and in those spaces use insulation. I can set the subs down an 1" or 2" and then cover them with grating for protection. I think with the combination of wood bracing and sand I will be ok as far as vibration goes (it's how most people build their cabinet speaker sound stages here on AVS ;) )
Wouldn't I be far better (sound wise) to have them facing up towards the roof for maximum sound rather then facing down into the riser ?
Ya, Id say that should work. Don't necessarily like the idea of having the sub immediately blocked by furniture above it though... I'm not sure about the benefit of having the woofer facing in a certain direction. Below a certain frequency the sound radiates in all direction as I understand it; the reason why there are down-firing subs and cylinder subs. Maybe it depends on the design of the sub though? I don't know.

calv1n

11-12-06, 10:49 AM

Hey Calvin,

Looks like the drywallers missed the screws in the middle stud (if there is one) in the top picture on the left of the door? Could be the wall looks wider in the picture than it really is. You must be getting excited...hopefully won't be too long before your in!

Brendin

Brendin,

I think your right. That is the pantry wall and I think that is a 4 foot wide piece of sheet rock there that is only screwed in on the edges they've missed the center stud as the main level is on 24" centers. I'll send the pic to my builder with a note. I know they are not done as well though so maybe they stopped at that point ? I'll be keeping an eye out for things like that now thanks :)

Regarding the screen size I have 129" wide x 92" high to work with. The bottom of the darned ducting shaves 16" off ceiling height sadly.
I'm going to do some mock ups today (slow day at work again - darn 10 day straight shifts at the end of these jobs are trying).
I'll post what I come up with soon.

Cheers

calv1n

11-12-06, 11:16 AM

Ya, Id say that should work. Don't necessarily like the idea of having the sub immediately blocked by furniture above it though... I'm not sure about the benefit of having the woofer facing in a certain direction. Below a certain frequency the sound radiates in all direction as I understand it; the reason why there are down-firing subs and cylinder subs. Maybe it depends on the design of the sub though? I don't know.

Felgar,

Good post. I've been doing some reading trying to find out the particulars of the subs I'm using in regards to your statements above. I'm not an expert on subs (yet ;) ) but I don't think this sub "radiates" the low frequencies as its was designed to be an inwall and work in small spaces, it was also designed to minimize vibration and sound leakage from anywhere but the "sound cone" so I think it will be a projecting 90% or more directly from the exposed face side.

I will post this on the subs forum and see if one of the "bass" gurus will enlighten me on the best way to go about doing this with this model and type of inwall sub. I need some help on this one I'm not sure :o

Cheers

calv1n

11-12-06, 03:06 PM

Been tossing around a few ideas on screen size today.
The edited photo I've attached is not accurate as far as height dimensions ( I had to squish the room height some to fit all 3 into the frame to capture the screen).

This more or less gives you an idea of the 3 I'm looking at. I would like to go as large as possible but I'm afraid I'm going to be cutting some of the bottom of the screen off for the back row no matter what I do (really needed that extra 12" the Ducting has shaved off).

Here is the photo showing from top to bottom 129", 140" & 147"
(click to enlarge)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Screensizes.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Screensizes.jpg)

Still not sure how it will work out completely until I get the projector in place and then see how everything looks from the back row. I'm thinking the screen will be one of the last things I put together.

Let me know what you think.

xnaron

11-12-06, 04:42 PM

What is the distance between the bottom of the screen and the floor in all 3 pics? What color are you going to paint the soffits at the top right hand of screen?

winnebagobagorox

11-12-06, 05:43 PM

Great thread! Nice to see some more systems from up here in oilers country.

BTW which installer in Edmonton are you using?

calv1n

11-12-06, 06:03 PM

What is the distance between the bottom of the screen and the floor in all 3 pics? What color are you going to paint the soffits at the top right hand of screen?

Hi Xnaron,

The distance will fluctuate with the screen.
129" dia is 29" off the floor
140" dia is 23" off the floor
147" dia is 20" off the floor

That sadly is not a soffit but my ducting and metal framing to hold drywall around the ducting in place.
The whole room is been painted a dark onyx with a slightly lighter color for the trim. I haven't decided what color I'm going to use for the sound absorption panels but likely a blue to incorporate the lights from the chairs and add some color to the room.

Cheers

calv1n

11-12-06, 06:04 PM

Great thread! Nice to see some more systems from up here in oilers country.

Welcome to my thread. There seems to be quite a few people from Alberta and Edmonton in particular on AVS :D
Cheers

calv1n

11-15-06, 12:46 PM

BTW which installer in Edmonton are you using?

Sorry I missed this question at first :o

I'm using Connect innovation from the NW side they are under contract to my builder. I originally had a contract with Magna but switched over to connect as they were better able to deal with my needs.

calv1n

11-18-06, 01:51 PM

Update:

Picked up the New HD-DVD drive for the 360 and figured I'd post my thoughts since I'm in the unique position of owning the Toshiba A1 and XA1 I can do a direct comparison.

I've already done a direct comparison of the A1 and XA1 and for PQ and AQ they are exactly the same so I've just compared the XA1 and the 360 drive here.

Click to Enlarge photos:

The New toy

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_Xbox360HD-DVD.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/Xbox360HD-DVD.jpg)

Opening the box

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_Openingthebox.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/Openingthebox.jpg)

Whats inside:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_Seeingwhatsinside.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/Seeingwhatsinside.jpg)

A look at cables and the remote:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_Alookateverythinginside.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/Alookateverythinginside.jpg)

Set up next to the 360 and on the XA1

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_Alookatthe360andtheXA1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/Alookatthe360andtheXA1.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_Alookatthe360andtheXA12.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/Alookatthe360andtheXA12.jpg)

After the install disk - Your actions are now split between the HD-DVD and regular Xbox 360 DVD's and games:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_360startupnoticethePLAYHD-DVD.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/360startupnoticethePLAYHD-DVD.jpg)

In the next post I'll compare PQ and comment on the audio and my thoughts.

calv1n

11-18-06, 02:09 PM

Loading screen on the XA1 (you see this for about 30 seconds when you put in a new disk)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_XA1loadscreen.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/XA1loadscreen.jpg)

Loading screen on the 360 - It flashes black and in less then 3 seconds your watching something

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_HD-DVDKingKongstartupscreen.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/HD-DVDKingKongstartupscreen.jpg)

The menu screen in under 8 seconds I didn't time it but I would say around 5

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_KingKongonthe360.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/KingKongonthe360.jpg)

The 360 add on controls like a regular DVD unlike the XA1 there are no delays when you forward, rewind skip chapters etc.. very fast very smooth.

Pause screens on the 360

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_KingKong360CHP38.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/KingKong360CHP38.jpg)

Up very close this is from less then 2' away (angled). You can see the transfer is flawless I had read another post talking about issues with this film and I looked for the dithering and macro blocking while pausing in the scenes they discussed there are none that I could find. This is IMO a reference transfer HD-DVD.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_KingKongfrom2away.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/KingKongfrom2away.jpg)

On the 360

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_KingKong.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/KingKong.jpg)

Up next the direct comparison (sorry couldn't post them here says I have to many images in the post so I'll have to continue below) ;)

calv1n

11-18-06, 02:13 PM

Direct comparison 1st shoot HD-DVD 360 Add on.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_360chapter391.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/360chapter391.jpg)

Same shot on the XA1

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_XA1chp391.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/XA1chp391.jpg)

2nd Shot on the 360 Add on chapter 39.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_360CHP392.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/360CHP392.jpg)

2nd Shot on the XA1 Chapter 39

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/th_XA1CHP392.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/360%20HD-DVD/XA1CHP392.jpg)

So what did I see in the photos and with my eyes when doing the direct comparison just switching back and forth. Likely the same thing your going to see if you enlarge both photos and compare them.
The Toshiba XA1 has slightly clearer PQ and better colors if you do a side by side.
That been said if you just had the 360 add on and watched a movie you would likely never know or even care. If $ is no object and you don't mind waiting a bit for a movie to load then stick with the Toshiba A1 or XA1 it is slightly better but if your just looking to get into HD-DVD and enjoy the new format and already own a 360 you can't go wrong with the add on :)

I used the optical out for audio on both the XA1 and the 360 and there was no difference I could discern in Audio between the two and the photos above speak for themselves.

I think the 360 HD-DVD add on for $199.99 CDN including a free remote and Kong is a tremendous value for those that have a 360 and want to take their movie watching to the next gen format.

For price and performance, easy of use and install I'd say Micro soft has a winner here the 360 add on is a winner :D

xnaron

11-18-06, 02:38 PM

Where did you pick up the HDDVD from? I though it wasn't going to be available until Nov 21? I want one too...

thanks,
Brendin

calv1n

11-18-06, 02:59 PM

They have loads of them at the Best Buy in South common. They are selling fast they told me ;) but there were lots available when I picked mine up Thursday night :)

xnaron

11-18-06, 03:44 PM

Thanks...do you think the difference in picture quality is due to the component output on the 360?

maverick0716

11-18-06, 04:20 PM

I picked up the 360 add on yesterday from Futureshop and I love it! It was exactly what I was hoping it would be......flawless picture quality. Nice comparison piece by the way.

dreamhost

11-18-06, 06:41 PM

I picked up the hd dvd addon yesterday from circuitcity and have to say I was somewhat impressed. I had the Samsung but returned it after having to deal with the bootup time and the freezing. Therefore I cannot do a picture quality comparison.
I will say that I watched a good part of King Kong last night and was seriously disappointed with the audio. Somehow when Kong would 'roar' especially during the trex battle, something was missing. I have a moderately high end setup and have heard much better sound before through the system. I'll check today and see if maybe there is some kind of setting I am missing, doubt it, but possible.

Angry Bear

11-18-06, 09:30 PM

Thank you very much for the HD-DVD drive pictures :) , it's been hard to come by decent ones.

pierce x

11-19-06, 01:38 AM

Nocturnalis

11-20-06, 12:45 PM

Now that is what I call a Home Theater. Godness!

calv1n

11-20-06, 01:32 PM

Thanks for the comments guys. Sorry I haven't been on the forum for a couple of days had the wife's X-mas party, house walk through and x-mas shopping this weekend its been crazy.
Just to answer some questions quickly from above.

Both the Toshiba XA1 and the 360 add on were using component out to my component switcher then to the infocus 333 I kept it the same for the "review" so we could compare apples to apples so to speak.

Both the Toshiba and the the 360 add on were tested with optical digital audio cables and only for the sound formats that the 360 supports (DTS and DD). I haven't tested True HD or the other HD audio formats that only the XA1 and A1 support as I don't have my full system set up and can't yet ;)

I hope to have some new photos up soon. The entire house is done drywall now and I have some final measurements as well for the HT rooms.

Cheers
Calvin

xnaron

11-20-06, 03:10 PM

calv1n

11-20-06, 04:46 PM

calv1n

11-20-06, 05:26 PM

A few new photos from the walk through.
I'm flying back to work here in an hour or so :( I'll get a few more photos up in the next couple of days in addition to these.
Things are starting to come together hopefully just another 2 or 3 months and I'll be in at last.

Back wall of Basement HT:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_BasementHTbathroomandspareroomside.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/BasementHTbathroomandspareroomside.jpg)

Basement HT looking towards the screen wall.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_BasementHT.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/BasementHT.jpg)

Basement A/V room and arched entry door.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_BasementHTarch.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/BasementHTarch.jpg)

A/V room interior.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_AVroomconnectionsNov19.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/AVroomconnectionsNov19.jpg)

More to follow soon.
Cheers

xnaron

11-20-06, 10:31 PM

Brendin,

The colors overall aren't quite as good IMO and its not quite as clear but to be honest if you didn't have them side by side able to switch them with a flick of a button like I could during my test you wouldn't likely notice or care. The HD-DVD add on for $199 cdn is a great deal if you don't already have a HD-DVD player and you own a 360 I recommend it 100%.
I didn't tweak the settings at all on any of my equipment. The colors for the Infocus 333 are nearly perfect out of the box I will get it calibrated once I have it moved into the new house but for now I've left it as is (which I'm happy with as well I'm not sure what a calibration will really do other then perhaps some minor adjustments for my new room).
Cheers

I picked up the hd-dvd and the 360 on Saturday...really cool...The HD-DVD is pretty decent with my panny ax-100u projector. Just need to drywall my HT. I have to re-run some RG6 for component with the belden 1694A I picked up. I am thinking of running a male/female vga cable to the projector as well to support the xbox 360 VGA output. I tried it yesterday but couldn't get my projector to auto setup to 1280x720. The image was about 50 pixels to the left. I needed to adjust the dot clock on the projector manually. I don't think there is anyway to change the settings on the 360. The only bad thing I can say about the 360 is that it is noisy. Also the first one I bought from BB had a bad hard drive so I needed to exchange the unit for another one. XBOX live is pretty cool...the game demo downloads are great. I spent too much this weekend. Also bought a new sub. BB had the klipsch synergy with 300 watt bash amp on sale for $524 (reg $699). I wasn't happy with the sub that came with my polk 5.1 speaker package. The klipsch is night and day better. I really want an SVS sub but don't know if I can justify the $900 price (includes delivery and GST). The klipsch does really well on the tough parts of Serenity and Star Wars III (VI). The polk sub would take a dump and distort...

Looking forward to more of your pictures. Not sure what kind of lighting you are going to have in your HT but I put 6 pot lights in mine. The kilpsch sub brought out some pretty bad rattles in them. Lucky I don't have the drywall up yet so I can try and quiet them. I have everything hooked up in the ht now. I thought it would be a good idea to make sure I didn't forget anything. I am not going to come close the the quality of components you are having but I am pretty happy with everything so far.

Brendin

calv1n

11-21-06, 11:00 AM

Brendin,

Sounds like you were doing some shopping :) Hope you get your minor PJ issues worked out and start enjoying your new toys.

I have 4 sconces in the basement HT for lighting. They will be 100 watt lights on a dimmer and should hopefully be all I need down there. I don't have any photos of them so I'll have to wait till they are installed before I can show them.

Cheers

calv1n

11-21-06, 07:19 PM

More pics.

Basement HT Back wall

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_HTbackwallbasement.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/HTbackwallbasement.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_BackwallBasementHTNov19.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/BackwallBasementHTNov19.jpg)

Fireplace downstairs

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_FireplacewalldownstairsHT.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/FireplacewalldownstairsHT.jpg)

Storage area where I think I'll be putting in some racks to house my movie and games collection. This is at the foot of the stairs when you descend from the main floor, its around 6' x 6'.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Wallascomedownstairsinbasement.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Wallascomedownstairsinbasement.jpg)

Door for the AV room beside the screen.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_AVRoomNov19-06.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/AVRoomNov19-06.jpg)

xnaron

11-21-06, 10:38 PM

In that first pic what is the distance from the floor to the bottom of the right soffit?

Brendin

calv1n

11-22-06, 09:31 AM

Brendin,

In that first photo showing the back wall the "soffit" is actually a section of the ducting. It is very low around 74" I will have space for a small cabinet and popcorn machine there but little else.

Here is a shot of that section with out the drywall.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Ductingincornerbyfurnace.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Ductingincornerbyfurnace.jpg)

The ducting run on the opposite side of the room is around 92" off the floor and total ceiling height is 104" where no ducting is present.

calv1n

11-22-06, 11:20 AM

A couple more photos the wife just sent me. Gives a better view of the basement HT area screen wall and AV room.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Screenwall2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Screenwall2.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_screenwall3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/screenwall3.jpg)

Final dimensions are 20' long - power plug in floor at 16' back from screen wall.
Back wall is 185" wide and 150" wide where ducting boxes out as discussed above.
Not as big as I had hoped I ended up losing alot of space with insulation, drywall and various other things done in the basement. These are the final numbers I have to work with though so I'll have to make it work.

calv1n

11-23-06, 03:55 PM

Update:

Finally received confirmation from my Broker that my chairs will be in Edmonton November 30th. I hope to move a couple into my "testing" room Dec 1st or 2nd and I'll have a few photos and my thoughts on them once I get a chance to test them out.
The 8 chairs are 1620 lbs :eek: according to the shipping manifest.
Think I'll be taking the backs off them so I can move them around in 2 pieces so I don't wreck my back going up and down the stairs.

I can only move a love seat into my testing room and the rest have to go into storage at a friends house in his basement until I move into the new home so I'll be lugging these things up and down a few stairs a couple of times.

I'm pretty excited to be finally getting them (on my B-day no less if they come on the 1st so it will be my B-day present to myself :) )

nyprimus4

11-23-06, 05:21 PM

I can't wait to see the final product.

calv1n

11-24-06, 10:02 AM

I can't wait to see the final product.

Thanks for stopping by nyprimus4 :) I'm getting anxious to see the final product as well but its still going to be a few months I'm thinking.

My wife will be doing a walk through tomorrow and I'll be doing one on Dec 2nd so hopefully I'll have some new photos showing everything coming together soon.

Cheers

javry

11-25-06, 09:17 PM

so when do you think you'll have it all done?

calv1n

11-26-06, 12:26 PM

so when do you think you'll have it all done?

Hello javry thanks for stopping by. I think I'll have possession of the home either the end of January or the end of March. Once I'm in the house I have to build and finish off the riser, build the screen, work with my A/V installer to finish off the acoustic treatments in the basement and also select and install new displays in the main floor and bonus room HT's.

I hope to have it all done by end of March or April if everything goes according to plan.(depends heavily on when the builder is actually done and the house belongs to me;) )

Sadly my wife didn't take any photos yesterday she said the mudding and taping crews were in the house working and she didn't want them to stop so she didn't do the walk through. (For insurance reasons when the owners enter the home the trades stop working and leave and usually for the day even if the owners just come in for a 30 minute walk through).

I'll keep the updates coming until its completed.

Cheers

javry

11-26-06, 08:36 PM

well...it looks really great so far. Keep up the good work.

calv1n

11-27-06, 04:36 PM

Thanks Javry. Hoping it all starts coming together soon :)

Wakefield103

11-28-06, 08:45 PM

Hi Calvin, very interesting read. I too look forward to hearing how it all works out.

Couple question: I noticed in your last set of photos of the basement HT that you only have drywall cutouts for the left and right fronts. I assume that there are going to be new cutouts for the center and the two inwall subs. Why wouldn't these have been made at the same time?

It looks like the the distance between your studs is 24 in instead of the 16 in standard used in the US. How do you plan to mount the Thor's? To just one stud?

calv1n

11-28-06, 09:46 PM

Hi Wakefield103,

Good eye spotting those issues. I mentioned that cut out to my installer. The issue they had was they gave the wrong drawing to the installation tech and he went with my initial drawing from long ago that was showing a center channel (which I had originally planned) instead of the the 3 identical speakers I've planned for now. They were trying to get in and put in the last bracket before the drywall crews but were to late. The 3 identical speakers will be installed after the fact now (even the 2 cut outs that are there are wrong the install tech didn't bother to read the bracket installation instructions in the boxes and he "butted" them up against the studs and they were supposed to leave a 2" space between the edge and the stud for proper install.

Regarding the subs they didn't ask for them or the cut outs so I guess they will be fitting them and doing any touch ups after the fact. They are not like the proficient shown in the main floor by the fireplace (that is the back box with out speaker). The Thors will attach directly to the stud and then have the entire speaker exposed with no drywall cover in the front surface area.
The studs are 16" centers (I'm pretty sure) for the front screen wall. I do have 24" on the exterior walls though through out the home. The screen wall is a second wall I had built specifically to house the speakers and it was to be built on 16" centers (Which now that you've mentioned it I'll have to confirm on saturday as I'm not 100% sure :( )

There is still some work to be done that is for sure.

Worse case scenario is I have to take off the drywall and redo the screen wall which I may have to do anyways as they have messed up the bracket installation.

On a side note my chairs have landed in Edmonton the carrier phoned me today and confirmed they will be dropping them off Dec 1st in the afternoon :D I'm excited to finally be getting them.

Cheers
Calvin

Wakefield103

11-28-06, 11:40 PM

Calvin,

That would stink if you have to rip out the wall. Having gone through the trails and tribulations of building a home, I know how frustrating things can get. I hope it doesn't come to that.

Couple more questions: What made you choose the Earthquake Thor inwall subs or over any other inwall subs? Did you look at the Definitive Technology IWSub 10/10? It looks very similar to the Thor. I ask because I am at the stage of adding a sub (or subs) to my multimedia room and I would like to also go with a inwall solution. Unfortunately, these types of speakers are not ones you can audition at my local electronic store.

Have you taken the Thor's out of the box yet? Is the grill flush with the speaker or does it stick out some? Are you planning to use the metal grill or custom cloth grills? How transparent is the metal grill? All the pictures online makes it seem like the metal grill is very transparent and you can easily see the speakers.

calv1n

11-29-06, 10:30 AM

Wakfield,

I hope it doesn't come to that as well but as it is with most things there are very few things that can't be fixed by time and money. I would rather spend some more time and money in this case then live with things done poorly but I'm sure I can work something out with the AV company that will work for me.

I choose the Earthquake thors after doing some research on them and deciding that they were a better bang for my buck then going with the Proficient and the back boxes like I've done in the main level HT. I'm interested to see how they will compare honestly one on one (I'll have my AV installer at the house with thousands of dollars of calibration audio equipment and I'm also blessed enough to get their top Acoustical Engineer to be doing my house personally so these are answers I hope to actually get :) )

Regarding the definitive IWsub 10/10 didn't even look at them but I wouldn't be surprized if they are very similar to the Thors (it seems to be the way of the industry where when something works they often quickly get similar products into the market place from competitors.)

I did take one out of the box when I first received them but that was a while ago and I don't remember enough to answer your questions for certain right now. If you need an answer right away I'm sure Kevin "the sound broker" the fella I bought them off of can answer that for you (he gave me an exceptional price on my components that is why I bought 4 I was only going to get 2). You can PM him here at AVS under "Soundood".

If you can wait I'll be home in a few days and I'll take them out of the box and take a couple photos for you and let you know what I think.

Cheers

Vincent Kennedy

11-29-06, 11:03 AM

Wakefield - I have the Definitive IWSUB Reference. If you have any questions about it Just PM me.

Soundood

11-29-06, 11:09 PM

Hey Calvin,
I didn't even realize you had a constuction thread on the forum...nice! Looking good.
I can't wait to see the finished product when it all comes together. Let me know next time you are in B.C. so we can get together...or you can come down to Bellingham to check out my beast.

calv1n

11-30-06, 10:08 AM

Hey Kevin, Thanks for swinging by. I've sent a few people your way via PM since I've started this thread. I certainly will give you a shout next time I'm in Richmond I think I'm heading up the 1st week in January again so perhaps I'll make a day trip down to see your "beast" in WA :)
Its starting to come together now and of course if your ever in Edmonton give me a shout I can show you the HT's in person.

I'm not sure if you read through the whole thread but I was wondering if you had any thoughts about my plan to put the 2 Thors in the riser ? I asked the question here and then again in the subwoofer forum and have received zero response :(
Have you ever done this or seen it done just wondering if there is something I should know.

Thanks
Calvin

Vincent Kennedy

11-30-06, 10:42 AM

Calvin,
How tall are your risers? The thor is 28" by 19". Even if you install them sideways that's a pretty hefty riser.

Felgar

11-30-06, 10:44 AM

On a side note my chairs have landed in Edmonton the carrier phoned me today and confirmed they will be dropping them off Dec 1st in the afternoon :D I'm excited to finally be getting them.
Awesome! I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

calv1n

11-30-06, 12:57 PM

Calvin,
How tall are your risers? The thor is 28" by 19". Even if you install them sideways that's a pretty hefty riser.

Vincent,

They will be placed facing up under the chairs so I really will only be worried about the depth of the subs which is under 4" and my overall riser height will either be 11" or a high as 16" depending on how I need to work with the 2 rows of chairs. Once I get the chairs in the basement my plan is to set up the screen and then try several different elevations to see both what works best for screen size for the back row and also what riser height works best and allows for the back row to see the bottom of the screen and over people seated in the front row.
I have outlined my basic planned layout back in post #115 of how I'm hoping to have the subs installed.
This is no doubt one of the areas where I'm really not sure of how it is going to "shake out" until I get into the basement and start playing around to see what works and what doesn't.
I'm hopeful the subs in the riser work out ok, but I've never seen or heard of it been done so its all a learning experience for me :cool:
Cheers

getmyrunon

12-02-06, 01:44 AM

Happy Birthday Calvin! I've been following this thread eagerly. Hope the chairs are nice!

calv1n

12-03-06, 03:40 PM

Happy Birthday Calvin! I've been following this thread eagerly. Hope the chairs are nice!

Thanks for the b-day wishes getmyrunon :)

I'm having some issues with the local carrier (Byers Transport) they did not deliver my chairs on Friday the 1st as instructed and have been closed over the weekend :mad:
I hope to get them delivered and sorted out tomorrow but pretty unimpressed after setting up friends to come over and help move them etc...
I had talked to the shipping manager several times and they assured me they would load and be delivered on the 1st sadly it just didn't happen.

I hope to have some new photos up of the mudding and taping (still ongoing) and the chairs if they arrive tomorrow.

Cheers
Calvin

calv1n

12-04-06, 10:21 PM

Update:

Mudding and Taping is ongoing, here are few shots mid way.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_BasementHTDec3rd-1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/BasementHTDec3rd-1.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_BasementHTDec3-1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/BasementHTDec3-1.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_ScreenWallDec3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/ScreenWallDec3.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Dec3rd-UpstairslookingtowardsMaster.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Dec3rd-UpstairslookingtowardsMaster.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Dec3livingroomceiling.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Dec3livingroomceiling.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Dec3LivingRoom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Dec3LivingRoom.jpg)

At long last my chairs have arrived !!

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_HTchairsstored.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/HTchairsstored.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_HTchairsDec4.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/HTchairsDec4.jpg)

More on the chairs in my next post :D - Have to break up the posts due to size limits on forum.

calv1n

12-04-06, 10:49 PM

I just took out 2 chairs to bring down to the testing room and put the rest into storage. Due to the cramped quarters downstairs I just used a left and right to make up one love-seat to try out over the next few weeks while I wait for the house to finish up.
Here is the love-seat set up next to my other Italian leather seat.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Loveseatsetup5.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Loveseatsetup5.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Loveseatsetup2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Loveseatsetup2.jpg)

They come in 2 pieces which is nice for moving them around but the bottom is still very heavy with the motor and other steel components. Once I had them together I plugged them in and tested out the power recline (each chair has a separate plug). The recline is very smooth and quiet overall I'm quite impressed.

Moving on to the lighted cup-holders.
Under the chairs they have another 12 volt line that runs in a series from chair to chair (I'll have more pictures on this later).

Once I had run the chairs together in a series and plugged them I went through the process of trying to figure out how the light works. The instructions for the chair don't really tell you anything about anything really so I had to figure it out by trial and error.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Cupholders2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Cupholders2.jpg)

First off I thought they were by pressure and the drink in the holder would turn it on. I played around with it an the light kept coming on and then off and then I thought maybe there was a small IR sensor that when blocked by something (like my hand in the photo) would make it come on. That didn't quite work all the time either and I finally figured it out when I turned the lights off :)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Lightsoff1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Lightsoff1.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Lightsoff2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Lightsoff2.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Cupholders4.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Cupholders4.jpg)

There is a small sensor that I was covering with my hand and that is why the cup holders came on I realized later. Once the lights go out they are on all the time (if they are plugged in).

I am having issues with one of the chairs so I'll have to call Kyle later this week and see if I'm doing something wrong as far as set up as the instructions don't really say anything about how to set them up.

I'll have to do a lot of game playing and movie watching in the next couple of weeks before I can make an informed opinion on them but so far I like them :)

I'm back to work just for a few days but if anyone has any questions or comments let me know ;)
I'll be back soon and I will take more photos and go into more details on these chairs for folks that may have questions (I know I recieved a lot of PM's on these but for the sake of not repeating a lot of PM's please post your questions here on the thread :) )

Cheers

Felgar

12-05-06, 11:06 AM

Yay! The infamous chairs. I've been holding off to wait for your comments. A couple Q's:

- Will the cupholder hold a large paper cup? (Thinking McDonald's larges and others of that size)
- How is the comfort overall (too firm, too soft?) Is there anything you auditioned in the Edmonton area that feels similar, like maybe those Pallisers which are everywhere?
- How is the head rest for comfort and relaxation when in the mid-reclined position? This is the point just before the chair really starts to quickly slide forward to accomodate being more horizontal.
- How high is the head rest when in that same mid-reclined position in terms of blocking the rear speakers from your ears? (How much higher than your head would a rear speaker need to be if it was back about 10 ft?)

Thanks Calvin! Appeciate your thoughts!

calv1n

12-05-06, 05:26 PM

Felgar,

I can answer a couple of these now and I'll get to the rest once I get back home and can look at the other questions very specifically ;)

- Will the cupholder hold a large paper cup? (Thinking McDonald's larges and others of that size)

I'm quite certain it will hold a larger bottle with no problem (EG: a 1 liter pop bottle would easily fit ) I will get a few different drink containers when I'm home to see what is the largest container it will hold. I'm certain it will hold a large McDonalds cup with no issue :)

- How is the comfort overall (too firm, too soft?) Is there anything you auditioned in the Edmonton area that feels similar, like maybe those Pallisers which are everywhere?

The comfort is pretty good from the few hours I have spent in them so far. They are a firmer seat then I expected but still soft (but not soft enough that you sink into them) and I expect them to soften up a bit with some usage as well. Compared to the Pallisars I've sat in at sears and the brick I'd say these are softer overall then the ones I tried locally. (they are not up to the build standard of the tan chair in the photo though but that is a pretty good higher end Italian leather chair). I'm still quite pleased with them initially they seem like a very good deal for what I paid :)

- How is the head rest for comfort and relaxation when in the mid-reclined position? This is the point just before the chair really starts to quickly slide forward to accomodate being more horizontal.

- How high is the head rest when in that same mid-reclined position in terms of blocking the rear speakers from your ears? (How much higher than your head would a rear speaker need to be if it was back about 10 ft?)

I'll have to check into these specifically when I'm back at home in a few days :)
I'll get back to you on these two items

The power recline is very smooth and much quieter then I expected on these chairs as well which was a nice surprize :D

Cheers
Calvin

Felgar

12-05-06, 07:14 PM

calv1n

12-05-06, 07:38 PM

Lovely. Thanks so much Calvin. Excellent comparison to the Pallisers.

Oh, 1 more Q. How do you find them for being crowded with a person in each seat? In my configuration I'd at least have an arm between each seat unlike the loveseat you have, and I'll probably have them in wedge form too which should also help. How do you think it'd be for roominess with an arm between? Will two people be fighting for arm rest space and cramped in if they don't get the arm?

Felgar,

I find them pretty comfortable but I'm not a big guy (5'10" 180 lbs) I went with the loveseat centers as my wife wanted the loveseats for cuddling up to me when we are watching movies. I have 4 chairs that do have the arms on both sides but have left them boxed up until I get into the new house. I just didn't have the room downstairs in my testing room for more then two and I thought I better do the loveseat for the wife ;)
That been said I sat on them with my brother who is 5' 9" 230 lbs and we weren't rubbing elbows either and both were comfortable even with out an arm /arms between us. We played some video games on the 360 for a few hours and it was pretty good. We both played around with the power recline and I was pleased in noting that when we moved around it didn't both the other person at all - you can't feel your chair move when the adjoining chair is moving as they are quite solid which is nice.
I'll get a couple photos of the chairs in use so you can better visualize how they will "work" when people are in them ;)

I'll be back in a couple of days and get some more photos and info up.

Cheers

jeanbaptiste9

12-06-06, 03:01 PM

I have actually been very interested in possibly relocating to canada. I am in the interior architecture business dealing with mostly high end clientele. How would I find job leads, pay scales there in comparison to Fort Lauderdale Florida (where I currently live)? I also want to commend you on your exceptional project. I think that you have been through alot to see you dream come true and you are almost there. In my opinion I think that you can easily have the duct moved once you get your certifiate of occupancy. I think it is worth moving the HVAC duct rather than moving your whole family!!! Great work though Keep it up.

calv1n

12-06-06, 04:50 PM

jeanbaptiste9.

Thanks for stopping by and the post. I'm not sure about how Florida stacks up against Alberta but I would think Alberta would pay considerable more considering our economy. I do know it is very hard to get a working visa to come up to Canada from the USA (and vice versa). I can't help you out to much regarding job related questions as I'm in a completely different section of construction but hopefully someone reading the post will PM you with some info (you could also do some research on job sites like Monster.ca to get some ideas I think).

I sure hope I can have the ducting moved if I find it really bothers me once I get into the home. I don't know how easy or cost effective it will be though I think it will be both costly and time consuming at this point to fix so I'm hoping I can live with the end result, but time will tell ;)

Cheers
Calvin

calv1n

12-08-06, 04:39 PM

Some more photos of the chairs and some notes.

I'm working with Kyle at Carolina furniture where I bought the chairs trying to figure out why I can't get the left side to light up (great guy btw I'm sure I'll get it worked out with no issues these guys go out of their way to take care of customers so I have a good feeling even though the one chair is not quite performing 100% right now- they will make it right if it's a fault of the chair but it may also just be how I hooked them. They are looking at photos of how I "daisy chained" the chairs together to be certain I didn't make a wiring mistake. Sadly the instructions don't say anything about how to do this.)

Here are a couple photos of the wiring and underside of the chairs: (as always click to enlarge ;) )

A look at all the wiring under one chair.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/th_UnderLFchair.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/UnderLFchair.jpg)

A close up of the 12 V "Daisy Chain" wiring for the lighted cupholders.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/th_12Vseriesplugforcupholders.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/12Vseriesplugforcupholders.jpg)

A close up of the end of the Daisy Chain - this last connection goes to the wall outlet.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/th_12VseriesplugconnectedonRFchair.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/12VseriesplugconnectedonRFchair.jpg)

Here are a couple photos of the cupholders and the light sensor on the RF chair (there is no sensor on the LF chair which may or may not be a problem they are going to get back to me on that )

Right side: You can see the little "tear drop" light sensor towards the back of the chair in the photos

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/th_LookatthelightsensorRF.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/LookatthelightsensorRF.jpg)

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/th_LookatthelightsensorRF2.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/LookatthelightsensorRF2.jpg)

Left side: No sensor on this side.

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/th_NosensorLF.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/NosensorLF.jpg)

Edit: had the photos in the wrong order - fixed them

To be continued next post as I've once again posted to many photos in one post :(

calv1n

12-08-06, 04:42 PM

Continuation of the post above...

Here a couple shots of the chairs with people in them (my wife and I are modeling them for Felgar :) ) I asked my wife to sit in them after she got home from work yesterday .. I may have omitted telling her they were going to be posted on AVS :o we'll just keep this our little secret I'm sure she would have changed and then wanted to do hair and make up if she had known :rolleyes: I just didn't want to spend that kind of time :D

Mid Recline:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/th_midrecline.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/midrecline.jpg)

Full Recline:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/th_Fullrecline.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/Fullrecline.jpg)

2 people in chair - lots of room left (I'm 5'10" 180 lbs and she is 5' 8" and considerably less lbs wise ;) ( I can't say for my personal safety of course I'm sure you understand)

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/th_ThewifeandI.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/ThewifeandI.jpg)

I'll have more photos on the total range of motion and what is the maximum drink size the cup holders can comfortably hold later this week.

As always if you have questions fire away I'll try to get you some answers :)

Cheers
Calvin

Felgar

12-09-06, 05:42 AM

Looks great on all counts. Thanks again!

mccabekyle

12-11-06, 01:38 PM

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/th_ThewifeandI.jpg (http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/Calv1n1/ThewifeandI.jpg)

Calvin,

What a lucky guy you are! :D I'm still trying to dig up some info on your cup holder. Hopefully, I'll have some good news for you by the end of the day.

Best Regards,

Kyle McCabe

calv1n

12-11-06, 07:44 PM

Kyle,

Thanks for the post and the kind words. I had meant to call you today but got sidetracked with some xmas shopping. I have both sides working now as far as lighting up in the cup holders but it seems that they are just slightly a different color of LED now :confused: I'll post up a couple of photos that will hopefully show what I'm seeing but it appears one of the cupholders is different then the other.
The best way I can describe it is to scroll down on the bottom of this link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobalt_blue
and one cup holder is "Azure" and the other is "Blue".
The photos don't quite capture the color difference but everyone I've showed the chairs to has noticed it so its not just my eyes ;)

Here are a some photos.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_bothcupholders.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/bothcupholders.jpg)

Right side and same shot following with Left side. You will notice the left side has less LED's lighting up which is also troubling.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_RFLEDsTopviewofring.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/RFLEDsTopviewofring.jpg)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_LFLEDsnoterightsideofring.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/LFLEDsnoterightsideofring.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_RFchairfullLEDs.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/RFchairfullLEDs.jpg)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_LeftSide.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/LeftSide.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_LeftCupholder.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/LeftCupholder.jpg)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_RightCupholder.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/RightCupholder.jpg)

Might be something as easy as removing a couple of screws and just putting in a new LED piece but let me know what you think.

Thanks
Calvin

JBUNGIE

12-15-06, 03:12 PM

Where did you get all this money from?!

calv1n

12-15-06, 05:16 PM

Where did you get all this money from?!

I work in the oilfield (2800 to 3200 hours a year) its where I make all my pesos.
I'm like most people on the forums as well in that I never pay retail for anything ;) Everything I've bought for my house has been discounted to some degree.

calv1n

12-17-06, 02:58 AM

Update:

It has been a couple weeks since we went in to have a look.
Today we went in and they have textured the main and upper floors ceilings. The doors and kitchen cabinets are moved in and we had a few guys working on the kitchen. The baseboard is in the living room getting ready for install and most of the rooms have been glazed and primed ready for painting which will be happening soon.

The pics:
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_TexturedCeilingPrimerDec16-06.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/TexturedCeilingPrimerDec16-06.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Roundedfrostdoorsforpantry.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Roundedfrostdoorsforpantry.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Thedoorshavearrived.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Thedoorshavearrived.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Roundeddoors.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Roundeddoors.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_KitchenDec16-06.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/KitchenDec16-06.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_0998.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_0998.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_IMG_0969.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/IMG_0969.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_HTprimeron.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/HTprimeron.jpg)

Continued next post....

calv1n

12-17-06, 02:58 AM

Continued from above (due to forum picture restrictions)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_HTbackwallPrimeron.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/HTbackwallPrimeron.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Cabinetsmovedin3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Cabinetsmovedin3.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Cabinetsmovedin2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Cabinetsmovedin2.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Cabinetsmovedin1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Cabinetsmovedin1.jpg)

Going to head in for one last look before the new year on the 20th or 21st.

jmorris644

12-17-06, 02:12 PM

Calvin,

I really like the doors that you have chosen.

When is it you are supposed to be moving in again?

Joe

calv1n

12-17-06, 04:13 PM

Calvin,

I really like the doors that you have chosen.

When is it you are supposed to be moving in again?

Joe

Thanks Joe. The rounded doors are in any "common area" and the 3 regular square doors are for my walk in closet, door to garage and bathroom in master sweet. I'm hoping to be moving in the end of Jan 07 but they haven't given me a final move in date yet. My sales rep has told me I won't know for sure until 3 weeks before possession.
Cheers
Calvin

johnathan

12-18-06, 06:53 PM

calv1n

12-18-06, 07:29 PM

Calvin
I am very interested in your chairs. I think the are the Berkline 45004's ? I am 6'1" but my inseam is only 32" . How it the head and neck support . I think they are the same height of the 090's but more narrow with smaller base/arms . With a smaller foot print .

I know that the 88's are too short in the back for me but I need the smaller base as I am putting a row of 4 chairs in a 13'4" wide room. I am trying to order in time for February but still have no final plans. My room is 16'6" long and 13'4" wide. I am hoping with my 119 diag dalite HP screen and the new JVC RS1 I can fit in two rows !

Thanks Johnathan

Johnathan,

They are indeed the 45004's and I'm quite pleased with the neck and head support (when I actually use them as I have a tendancy to lean forward most of the time when watching movies or playing games). You are also correct on the measurements and that is the main reason why I went with them over the 88's or 90's is that they are better for smaller rooms like mine.
I think they chairs may work fine for you in your space as it is pretty similiar to what I'm doing with them in my plans.
If you have any specific questions or need some photos etc.. let me know I'll get them up for you.
Cheers
Calvin

johnathan

12-18-06, 07:39 PM

Thanks for the quick reply Calvin. Congrats on your new home also ! In the photo of you and your wife in the love seat/chair. You were setting forward and I couldn't tell how your neck actualy hit the chair back. It will work for me even if the top is mid neck. Thanks Johnathan

johnathan

12-19-06, 11:35 AM

calv1n

12-19-06, 05:47 PM

Calvin
I spoke to Serge via email. I will be ordering the 45005's with the mini BK's,electric recline,black alumi cup holders, #3 leather/vinyl match . One row of four to start. He said for a guy my height these will be perfect. Looking forward to finishing out my den into a dedicated theater. Thanks again Johnathan

Congratz on the new chairs I'm sure you'll be very happy with them :D I don't think you'll have any issues with the support. Good luck with the Den to HT project
Cheers

calv1n

12-22-06, 12:32 AM

Updated photos.

These are from the walk through today and will likely be the last photos and visit until 2007.

Things are starting to come together nicely and they had the construction lights on for this visit (temporary lighting).

The Kitchen is unrelated but as it is where the majority of the work has been done I thought I'd include a few photos ;)

Kitchen area:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_KitchenDec21-0612.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/KitchenDec21-0612.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_KitchenDec21-069.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/KitchenDec21-069.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_KitchenDec21-068.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/KitchenDec21-068.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_KitchenDec21-067.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/KitchenDec21-067.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_KitchenDec21-065.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/KitchenDec21-065.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_KitchenDec21-063.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/KitchenDec21-063.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_KitchenDec21-062.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/KitchenDec21-062.jpg)

Main entrance:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_FrontEntranceDec21-06.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/FrontEntranceDec21-06.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Lookingtowardsmainentrance.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Lookingtowardsmainentrance.jpg)

To be continued next post...

calv1n

12-22-06, 12:35 AM

Continued from above.

HT in Basement:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_HTroom5.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/HTroom5.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_HTroom4.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/HTroom4.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_HTroom3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/HTroom3.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_HTbathroom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/HTbathroom.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_CeilingmountforPJ.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/CeilingmountforPJ.jpg)

Upstairs:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Hallwayupstairs2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Hallwayupstairs2.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_HallwaylookingoutfromMasterbedroom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/HallwaylookingoutfromMasterbedroom.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_BonusRoom3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/BonusRoom3.jpg)

Well that is it for this year.
Merry X-mas and happy new year to all

hibbz

12-27-06, 03:42 AM

WOW nice place Clavin.. I would love to do the same thing one day

dmcleod

12-29-06, 12:39 AM

Hi Calvin:

I am also from Edmonton and recently discovered your thread.

Amazing ... I can't figure out how you have enough time to work on the theatre and post so often :)

Kudos on what you have done ... I am in the process of planning a constant height setup and the number of details involved is minute compared to what you are taking on.

I would love to hear about how you like the chairs you ordered once you have had a chance to 'test' them some more. I am very tempted to replace my leather couch after seeing what you have found.

Thanks for sharing your insights with everyone.

Take care,

Derrick

calv1n

12-29-06, 01:03 AM

Thanks for the kind words Hibbz and dmcleod :)

The 2 chairs I've tested so far are excellent I hope to have the other 6 out of storage soon and set up in the basement in the following months.

I'll be sure to keep the posts coming. I work in a management positon so I often have time to check into the forums and answer & respond to posts one of the perks of the jobs. I'm on holidays till the middle or end of January as well so plenty of time for me to browse the forums (and enjoy my testing room :D)

Cheers
Calvin

SDMF

01-05-07, 02:41 AM

Hey Calvin,

I just wanted to ask you how you came to fixing the lighted cup holder problem. I too am building a new home and we decided (my wife let me) to purchase a Berkline 075 Enterprise chair with lighted cupholders. We wanted to see how we liked them before placing a large order. Anyway, the chair was delivered on 12/13/06 and the cupholder lights don't work. I bought from Leather-direct.com out of Utah and they're suppose to be sending new ones. However, like you mentioned in your thread, the chair didn't come with instructions and I think it may be a simple fix that I'm overlooking. One cupholder does not light up at all and the other only 50%, or half. Your insight would be greatly be appreciated.

calv1n

01-05-07, 07:32 AM

SDMF,

To be honest all I did was just take the wires apart and reconnect them a couple of times in the "daisy chain" to ensure that it was "seated" properly and that fixed it :) I did follow the wire to both termination ends and ensure there were no breaks, cracks or other issues then I just tried pulling them apart and putting that back together a couple of times. In my case it worked so I didn't take it further but my next step would have been the multimeter to ensure that the power cord was passing the current and there were no issues in that regard. If the volt test came back good I would have been back to the vendor for a replacement (where you are now).
Hopefully yours is something similiar.
Cheers
Calvin

SDMF

01-05-07, 08:25 PM

calv1n

01-07-07, 05:56 PM

Some updated photos Jan 8-07

HT in basement is coming along trim and doors are done.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_jan8BasementTrim.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/jan8BasementTrim.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Jan8-07HTdoorsandtrim.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Jan8-07HTdoorsandtrim.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_HTDoorsbasementJan8-07.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/HTDoorsbasementJan8-07.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_FireplaceHTroomJan8.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/FireplaceHTroomJan8.jpg)

Railing is in place (our hardwood matches the railings). These are going into the downstairs HT and upstairs into the bonus room HT.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_UpstairsTrim3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/UpstairsTrim3.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Railingupstairsbonusroom2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Railingupstairsbonusroom2.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Railinglookingdownfrombonusroom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Railinglookingdownfrombonusroom.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Jan8-07Railing5.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Jan8-07Railing5.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Jan8-07Railing3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Jan8-07Railing3.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_Jan8-07Railing2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/Jan8-07Railing2.jpg)

More to follow soon.
Cheers

nebrunner

01-11-07, 11:49 AM

Looking good. What did you decide on for flooring and countertops in the kitchen?

calv1n

01-11-07, 02:59 PM

Thanks nebrunner for the kind words. The kitchen tile is a grey with splashes of color and I honestly don't remember what the wife picked for the kitchen counter tops. My plan has always been to have the counter tops replaced with Granite once we move in. I think I may have some pictures of both on my next walk through on Saturday as I'm expecting to see the flooring at least started if not finished by then.
I found a great deal on Granite after I passed the "no more changes" in my contract on the house and that is why they will be going in after I move into the home. Sadly I can't have the work done till I have possession.
Cheers

calv1n

01-13-07, 09:55 PM

Updated shots from Jan 12-07:

Lighting for bonus room HT

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Home%20theater%20Bonus%20room/th_BonusroomHTLighting3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Home%20theater%20Bonus%20room/BonusroomHTLighting3.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Home%20theater%20Bonus%20room/th_BonusroomHTLighting2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Home%20theater%20Bonus%20room/BonusroomHTLighting2.jpg)

Basement HT updated shots from Jan 12-07

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BathroominBasementHT.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BathroominBasementHT.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementHTceiling.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementHTceiling.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementHTBathroom.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementHTBathroom.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_AVroomshelvingjan12.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/AVroomshelvingjan12.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_AVRoomShelving.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/AVRoomShelving.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_AVroomJan12-07.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/AVroomJan12-07.jpg)

more next post.

calv1n

01-13-07, 09:57 PM

Basement HT Sconces:

(Left side of theatre both on)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementHTSconces1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementHTSconces1.jpg)

(Left side of theatre one on and one off)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementHTSconces6oneonandoneoff.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementHTSconces6oneonandoneoff.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementHTSconces5.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementHTSconces5.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementHTSconces4.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementHTSconces4.jpg)

The door still needs to be put on the spare room in this photo as its just leaning against the back wall.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementHTSconces3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementHTSconces3.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementHTSconces2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementHTSconces2.jpg)

Not ideal locations but the room is not ideally set up so I have to live with the sound and lights been just a little off (I'm sure it will be fine in the end product).

So far so good going into the home stretch but there is still a lot to be done in the next month before I get the keys ;)
Cheers

calv1n

01-16-07, 05:21 PM

Looking good. What did you decide on for flooring and countertops in the kitchen?

Nebrunner,

Here are some pics of the counter tops and tiles for different areas of the house.
The flash is on for most of the shots so the "true" colors are really a bit darker then shown ;)

Main floor tiles
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_KitchenTiles2-1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/KitchenTiles2-1.jpg)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_KitchenTiles-1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/KitchenTiles-1.jpg)

Upstairs Tile
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_UpstairsTiles.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/UpstairsTiles.jpg)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_TilesforupstairsBathrooms.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/TilesforupstairsBathrooms.jpg)

Fireplace Tile

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_FireplaceTilesBasement.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/FireplaceTilesBasement.jpg)

Upstairs Bathroom tiled.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_UpstairsBathroomJan12-073.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/UpstairsBathroomJan12-073.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_UpstairsBathroomJan12-072.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/UpstairsBathroomJan12-072.jpg)

Counter tops
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_KitchenJan12-073.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/KitchenJan12-073.jpg)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/th_HissinkMB.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/House%20Pictures/HissinkMB.jpg)

Cheers

NeoOiler

01-16-07, 05:51 PM

Hey Calvin, Neo from Edmonton here again. Remember me?

Man the house is looking awesome. Sorry about all the troubles, Edmonton is just nuts now isnt it. I feel sorry for people who have to buy a house now. I mean my house went from 135000 to over 300000 now, thats just nuts in 6 years.

I finally may start my own theatre, im getting the itch. Im gonna measure up the house tonight, post it on here and see what people have for advice. I dont really have a budget for new equipment, Im happy with what i have now, just want to make it a nicer viewing experience?

Do you get a lot of stuff here in Edmonton or online?

Neo

calv1n

01-17-07, 01:28 AM

Hi Neo thanks for stopping by again :)
Great news your starting your own HT project ! Good luck and keep us posted I'll be sure to pop bye your thread once you have it up.
I bought everything online and from the US actually nothing in Canada let alone Edmonton our prices are just to high. It doesn't help that Alberta is booming as well as that inflates the prices in the region. Housing isn't the only thing that has gone wild here.
My house has gone up over $200K + in the 2 years since I've built it according to my seller it really is unprecedented.
If you want to know who I used to buy what for any items send me a PM and I'll give you that info.
Cheers
Calvin

NeoOiler

01-17-07, 11:17 AM

I posted this in the other area, any comments??

Hey everyone, I just want to say I am amazed at all of your home theatre projects on here. Absolutely amazing. I wish I had the space and the money that a lot of you seem to have.

I'll set up where im at, I am happy with my setup as far as sound goes, I have a pioneer elite 1016 receiver, JM labs Speakers all around and a decent sub. I have a 360, wii and PS3 that will have to be incorporated as well as a 62" Toshiba DLP TV. The TV will be used for now until I can afford a projector but I plan to wire everything to be ready.

The attached is my existing Autocad plan of my basement (previously developed) that I want to convert part of into a dedicated theatre room. I have also included some pics as well as what I plan to do.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated keeping in mind I really dont have a budget for this(hahah). Sorry the second picture is rotated.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/NeoOiler/basement-exist.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/NeoOiler/basement-planned.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v608/NeoOiler/basement-planned-iso.jpg

Thanks

Ryan