My proscenium wall is framed with 2x4s. My plan is to cover with acoustically transparent black fabric and locate the center channel speaker and perhaps the subwoofer behind this false wall. A 115" diag 'Scope fixed screen ( not AT ) is planned to go up on this wall. This is my first time doing something like this, so I need advice on best ways to attach the black fabric, ( speaker grill cloth, probably ). It seems to me it would be difficult to staple directly to the framing studs and have the staples hidden. My other thought would be to make frames of 1x1, stretch fabric over and around and staple on back side of frame, similar to technique used for DYI acoustic panels. Then I would attach the fabric frame panels to the proscenium frame with what ? Heavy duty velcro in each corner of the frame ?
Before the frabric goes up, it looks like a good idea to paint any framing black, as well as the walls behind the proscenium.
Thanks,
Bill

For mine I took the frame approach and used velcro to attach. I also painted all the framing on the screen wall black. I have seen other, depending on the construction of the screen wall, just take the fabric and staple it directly to it and hide any staples on the back side of opening and with moulding on edges if needed. Some of the side edges staples may also be hidden by wall panels that but up to them depending on what you are doing for the rest of your room. Above I mention "depending on the construction of the screen wall" only because you need to keep the width of the fabric bolt in mind when using this approach in order to hide any seams.

There are a couple great construction threads documenting exactly what you are asking. I would check out Bud's Blazing Ridge thread. He used a little of both techniques if I recall correctly. Larry Chanin's Larryland theater is a great example of the panel coverage technique for a screen wall.

Hope that helps.

I recently finished my wall, I used 1.5 inch X 8 foot pieces of wood (frames do not have to be painted at all) and stapled the material to the frame (very easy since speaker cloth stretches) with the stables on the back side to be hidden. Then I used industrial strength velcro from HD to attach those to the procenium frame. (remember, if you take this approach to staple the velcro strips to both the speaker frames and the procenium frame to keep it from detaching when you remove the frames).


THis has worked out very, very well and looks very professional

Thanks guys. I've tried to read up on this sort of thing. Whenever I log on here I spend a lot of time :D .
So where did you find grill cloth fabric ? Available at most fabric stores ?
I think I also need to buy an electric staple gun. I imagine I will go through a lot of staples, and don't want to wear out my hand squeezing the trigger of my Arrow heavy duty staple gun.

Bill

Thanks guys. I've tried to read up on this sort of thing. Whenever I log on here I spend a lot of time :D .
So where did you find grill cloth fabric ? Available at most fabric stores ?
I think I also need to buy an electric staple gun. I imagine I will go through a lot of staples, and don't want to wear out my hand squeezing the trigger of my Arrow heavy duty staple gun.

Bill

Bill,

I got mine from Parts Express (http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=260-335). You are absolutely right, you will want a stapler. I haven't picked it up yet, but here is a Stanley that is about $30 that looks pretty good.

1) You should paint the frames black. Otherwise the difference will be apparent in flash pictures. Not a big issue but when your parents want to brag to their neighbors about their son's beautiful HT.......

2) Think about Black GOM fabric. It's a favorite around here for front walls. (fabricmate.com)

3) If you have a compressor think about a pneumatic stapler. Works 20 times better than the electric sitting in my workshop.

http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-US58-C-Crown-Upholstery-Stapler/dp/B00004SBC3

I'llsecond the vote for the pheumatic stapler. A bit more money than the electric, but I have the Porter Cable and it works like a champ.

Thought I'd chime in here. I've been attaching fabric directly to my screenwall. It's tricky, so I can definitely see that the detachable frames would convenient.

Bigmouith -
Thanks for the advice. I'll check out GOM and see how it prices out. As far as pneumatic staplers goes, sounds good, but I don't have a compressor. I can't think of too many other uses for one, so it would seem like a lot to spend to just do this wall. The wife is thinking I'm already spending too much for this basement project as it is. :eek:

Thanks,
Bill

Bigmouith -
Thanks for the advice. I'll check out GOM and see how it prices out. As far as pneumatic staplers goes, sounds good, but I don't have a compressor. I can't think of too many other uses for one, so it would seem like a lot to spend to just do this wall. The wife is thinking I'm already spending too much for this basement project as it is. :eek:

Thanks,
Bill

I completely understand your budgetary concerns, and when you're thinking of getting the best equipment for the money, who needs to be spending money on compressors?

I bought Dazian Expo Cloth (now called Exposure Cloth) for my screen wall and columns. It looks great, is acoustically transparent, and pretty inexpensive. I just used an electric stapler from Sears to attach the fabric. Sure the staples don't always go in all the way, but a hammer can quickly fix that and can be an advantage if you mess up. Don't sweat the small stuff, since what you save on those items can go towards the important stuff. ;)

Mike

Edit -- Here's a pic of my unfinished screenwall using the Dazian Expo Cloth with the lights up 100%.
http://the-ancient-one.smugmug.com/photos/139411384-M.jpg

Here is how I did it...Fabric Attachment Link (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9481097&&#post9481097)

I used Dazian cloth and industrial strength Velcro to attach the frames.

Here is how I did it...Fabric Attachment Link (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9481097&&#post9481097)

I used Dazian cloth and industrial strength Velcro to attach the frames.
Love those colors! Great job. :cool:

Mike,
Nice look. How big is your screen ? Looks can be deceiving, but it appears to be similar in size to the Dalite I ordered from Tryg last weekend. I'm going with a 115" diag 2.35 Cinema Contour with Pearlescent screen material to mate with a Sony Pearl.

Jason - love that theater of yours. Its always been on my bookmarked list of HTs.
Mine's coming together. The drywall crew had their first day today, so things are starting to take shape. But what a mess drywall makes :eek:

Question for both of you - how many coats did it take to do your black ceilings ?

Bill

Jason,
One more thing. While looking at your fabric attachment link, I noticed in one picture an IR receiver eye next to the sub. Those things receive reasonably well through the fabric ?
Where did you get yours, and how long of wire was included with the kit ? I figure I would need about 20' to get back to my equip rack.

Thanks,
Bill

Bill - thanks dude. The thing you see next to the sub is an IR to X-10 converter for my insteon dimmers. Works great through fabric.

The IR repeater for my equipment is actually located between the front 2 can lights in front of the screen. It works well there but if I had it to do over again, I would have put it behind the fabric too right above the screen.

I got all of my IR repeater stuff from Automated Outlet (http://automatedoutlet.com/home.php?cat=296) .

You will just need to run Cat 5 cable from your equipment area through the ceiling/wall and drop it out behind your screen wall or ceiling in front of your screen wall (as I did).

Let me know if you have any more specific questions about the repeater set-up.

Bill - thanks dude. The thing you see next to the sub is an IR to X-10 converter for my insteon dimmers. Works great through fabric.


Hi Jason. Can you elaborate a little on your setup, please? I'm on the verge of completing my lighting installation but I haven't picked IR, dimmers or repeaters yet. My plan is to have IR repeating to my component room to drive my system. I also have three lighting circuits in the room - screen lights, sconces and ceiling cans. I want to drive them independently via X10 or similar.

With that said, what models of the following are you using, if you don't mind?

IR receiver
Repeater to components
IR->X-10 converter
Insteon dimmers


Thanks!

-Adrian

Mike,
Nice look. How big is your screen ? Looks can be deceiving, but it appears to be similar in size to the Dalite I ordered from Tryg last weekend. I'm going with a 115" diag 2.35 Cinema Contour with Pearlescent screen material to mate with a Sony Pearl.

Bill, Thanks. It's 104" wide (2.35 aspect ratio) using the SMX screen material. I'm using the Panasonic PT-AX100U and zooming the picture to fill the screen. I had thought about getting an anamorphic lens, but the image looks so freaking good, I'm gonna save my money for now.

Yes, screen material doesn't block IR signals. I have my equipment in the right column next to the screen. No problems.

Well then, same size. I'll be trying "poor man's" CIH too. Just didn't want to futz with lens and scaler at the moment. Most of the stuff I'll be watching will be 2.35 aspect ratio anyhow. And I wanted to go wide without having a tall screen too.

bill

With that said, what models of the following are you using, if you don't mind?

Buffalo Electronincs for all IR Stuff
IR repeater - IR-350 - Round Micro IR Sensor
IR receiver/block - IR-100 - 4 Emitter Connecting Block with DV9-500 - 9-VOLT DC 500MA POWER SUPPLY
Repeater to components - four IR-E1 - System IR Flashers

INSTEON
IR->X-10 converter - IR X10 Command Console
Insteon dimmers - I bought a starter kit that had 2pk INSTEON SignaLinc RF Signal Enhancer #702, 2pk INSTEON Switchlinc V2 Dimmer, and a INSTEON KeypadLinc V2 Dimmer.

Thanks Jason! Much appreciated.

-drin

Guys,
I need some help and advice on how to work out the fabric panels and the fixed screen on my screen wall. The screen wall has morphed as work progressed in the basement.
The first morphing came during HVAC installation. They took one look around the HT room and said they needed to find a spot to locate a cold air return. No where else worked except right on the screen wall, so part of it became a cold air return. No problem - the screen can hang right over it. Then came the drywall crew. We asked to have only single layer 1/2" drywall be put over the cold air return since its only part of the screen wall. Instead, I got the same as the theater walls - 5/8" + 1/2". Now, instead of having a smooth, consistent screenwall surface on which to mount fabric frames and the screen, I have the 2x4 studs, and then I have a drywall surface on either end that sticks out an odd dimension of 1 1/4" out from the rest of the screenwall. :( I guess I'll have to do some blocking so that I can create a flush continuous mounting face from studs all the way to the drywalled cold air return.
Question - should I make the fabric frames flush with the screen's frame ( Cinema Contour ) or should I hang the frame on top of/over the fabric frames ? One thing I didn't mention - I will keep most of the area behind the screen "open" so that I can access the center channel, a 2 channel amp, IR repeater, and perhaps a subwoofer. That means the fabric will mostly be going around the screen - about 12" on top, 30" on the bottom, and about 4" on either side.

Bill

Bill - post a picture if you can. I am trying to visualize what you are talking about but having a hard time...

Jason,
How do I put a jpg file in a reply ? I tried last night but it didn't seem to work unless that was just me. :o I see an icon which says "insert image". Is there a size limit ? My pics are stored on my Mac at 6 M pixel resolution, but I can trim it down if needed.

Bill

Fabricmate FS150 track it Rulez...

Attempting to imbed picture in post ...
Bill

Bill,

I put together a tutorial for newbies just now and you can use it to learn how to post images. Here is the link.

How do I post images? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10368758#post10368758)

Looking at your image it appears the cold air return is right at the floor level...is that going to pass code? seems like it should be up at least enough so you could get a baseboard around the bottom of the room in the event that you were going to finish it like a normal room.

As for your predicament...I see what you are saying. Have you considered building out a proscenium on the front wall? That could easily solve your problem as long as the front recessed area is the same on both sides. You could bring out a new false wall (proscenium) made from 2x4's and give yourself room to hide speakers behind the false wall fabric panels.

I just used 2x4's and used speaker fabric from a fabric store. I had some help holding the fabric as I used a regular stapler to staple the fabrick on the BACKSIDE on the wall. It was really easy and took about 30 minutes to do it. You can't see it in the pics, but on the 2x4's closest to the wall, I left a 1/2 gap so I could put the fabric all the way around the wall.

Before fabric and I just spray painted the 2x4's to reduce light reflections:
http://thumb3.webshots.net/t/53/753/0/42/56/2185042560027742703inyMvw_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2185042560027742703inyMvw)

It is black and hard to see but you get the idea of how it came out.
http://thumb3.webshots.net/t/57/657/4/45/49/2363445490027742703KsARSl_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2363445490027742703KsARSl)

Here you can barely see how the fabric is stapled to the wood.
http://thumb3.webshots.net/t/57/557/6/54/83/2410654830027742703dWuREr_th.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2410654830027742703dWuREr)

Here's a tutorial that explains how I attached my fabric using Velcro

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9514909&&#post9514909

Thanks, guys.
Jason - the cold air return is fine. The HVAC guys were in charge of placing them and it has passed inspection. Actually, all of our cold air returns ( lower ) are placed at floor level. The trim carpenters then butt the baseboard trim up against the side of the C A grill. Must be a regional thing. Screen wall - I'm gradually working out how I'm going to do this. The thickness of the drywall panels on either side is 1 1/4", but as you know, that does not match up with the thickness of any dimensional lumber. A standard 2x4 or 2x6 is just a bit ( ~ 1/4" ) thicker, so I'll have to be creative. Going thru some scraps I found some OSB that must be 1/4 or 3/8 thick, and when pared with some 1x4 and placed over the studs, I could make a smooth transition. However, I'm a little uneasy about attaching the screen's hanger brackets to 1" pine board. And I wonder how well it would work to staple the fabric into sheet rock. I'd rather have it hang from 2x4 wood, to be honest. Although not terribly heavy, we're still talking about a 115" diag 2.35 screen.

Gremmy - Thanks for the link. I actually found the thread this weekend and read carefully Good work. I think I may opt for stapling the 4th edge and then covering with base shoe moulding painted black. I'm wondering where you came up with your username. Was that a character's name in a comic strip ? Or something related to Spielberg's Gremlins movie ?

Thanks all.

Bill

John ( Gremmy )
How many seams did you end up with using your technique ?

Bill

Here's a tutorial that explains how I attached my fabric using Velcro

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9514909&&#post9514909


The link works, but unfortunately the pictures seem to be missing?