Ok, so after more than two years of permit frustration, I've finally started work on my HT. The room I'm working with was originally 15" x 20'. It was converted from a garage:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF0487.jpg


I decided to add a 16 foot extension to make it a 28 x 20 room, with three feet behind the far wall for an IB sub. Here's the original exterior:

IMG]http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF0498.jpg[/IMG]

Framing the addition:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1667.jpg

Here's a view of the framed and insulated addition:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1678.jpg

Here's a view looking towards the entrance and equipment closet:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1677.jpg

I took my insipration for the basic layout from Art Sonneborn's room. I really like the way he oriented his equipment closet to the entrance. After the contractor is done, a friend of mine who works in construction will help me with double drywalling the walls with GG, building the risers, etc. My plan is for three rows of three chairs.

Since I had to wait so long for the building permit, I had lots of time to lay out everything in Autocad. Here's a rendering I did:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/3DROOMleftVIEWwithcurtainsnoambient.jpg

I've spent years marveling at the amazing theaters many of you have built. The quality and quantity of information AVS Forum has on this sort of thing is truly remarkable, and I look forward to the day when I can enjoy what many of you have worked so hard to make come true.

links fixed.

Wow! Looks like a lot of work ahead of you, but at least you got started. Nice rendering... I've always found AutoCAD to be a little cumbersome for quick and general 3D work. Have you ever tried SketchUp by Google? There's a freeware version that is a pretty powerful 3D modeling tool.

I've never tried Sketchup. Autocad can be intimidating, but I was motivated to learn it. :)

Here's a view from the front:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/3DROOMVIEWfromfrontdetail.jpg

Cool renderings. May want to scale them to the forum a bit more (600k or so wide) - photobucket will resize them if you ask it to.

You CA guys have to go through hell with the permits. Price of nice weather, I guess.

Room looks real wide, think you will increase the seating?

I may increase the seating if more people want to come. It should be able to accommodate 13 easily.

Here's a pic of the equipment closet:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1682.jpg

And one of the projector vent fan being put in:
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1685.jpg

And one of my 300+ lb. contractor hanging from the Unistrut to show my wife that the NEC XG135LC projector won't fall down!
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1689.jpg

It's been a while since I updated this thread. Here's a shot of the fabric frames I built based on the design in Greg Power's thread, and a shot of the hung projector:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/Fabricframes1.jpg
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/projector1.jpg

The latest install is an Infinite Baffle subwoofer. It consists of eight Soundsplinter RL-P15 15 inch woofers in a double line array. The "enclosure" is the entire front wall of the room, with three feet of space behind it. This, of course, is far larger than any commercial sub (size truly does matter with a subwoofer). I haven't have a chance to calibrate it or integrate it with the front speakers yet, but I have played a few CDs with it, and my initial impression is that it's easily the best subwoofer I've ever heard. The cones barely move on material that would cause quite a bit of excursion with a regular sub. It gives a great impression of ease:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/imgcache/31137.imgcache

After much much work, the theater is done. My inspiration for it comes from Art Sonneborn and Greg Powers. Special thanks to Doug Baisey for his incredible expertise with the NEC XG135LC projector. I'm very happy with the results. Biggest thanks of all to my wife for her unflagging support and hard work in making it all come true. I'm very lucky to have her.


View from the rear with the drapes closed:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1912.jpg


View from the front:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1911.jpg?t=1232324826


View of the screen:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1850.jpg


View of the entrance, with my DVDs, HDDVDs, and Blu-Rays:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1852.jpg


Views of the Lobby:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1908-3.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1915.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1916.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1858.jpg


Views of my rack:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1872.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1887.jpg

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1896.jpg

Curious why you went with a CRT projector? I used to have an NEC 9PG (and loved it, and had Doug Baisey do a lot of work on it -- thanks Doug!) but in this day and age with the price/performance ratio of digital projectors, I would never go back. My Sony VW40 kicks the **** out of my 9PG in most regards, including ease of installation and setup.

Again, just wondering why you went CRT since budget doesn't seem to be a concern.

Beautiful theater, btw!

Curious why you went with a CRT projector? I used to have an NEC 9PG (and loved it, and had Doug Baisey do a lot of work on it -- thanks Doug!) but in this day and age with the price/performance ratio of digital projectors, I would never go back. My Sony VW40 kicks the **** out of my 9PG in most regards, including ease of installation and setup.

Again, just wondering why you went CRT since budget doesn't seem to be a concern.

Beautiful theater, btw!Thanks David. :) I still prefer the look of a good CRT projector, particularly the blacks and the film-like "smoothness". See Alan Gouger's post for more elaboration:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1099006

Like Alan, I only speak for myself when expressing a preference.

Nice job with the theatre Robert! Why did you go with a CRT? Please don't say better black detail because the latest digital 1080P 3chips are pretty darn good. HT meet is at your house.;)

Update, I've just read the attached post from Alan explaining about more than black reproduction nevermind!

Please don't say better black detail because the latest digital 1080P 3chips are pretty darn good.And darn expensive. :D Anyone want to give me one like Art has?

Really, I'm very happy with my CRT. :)

What a real nice job Robert. You kept going and never gave up!! Its nice to see what was, but even nicer to see, what is.

Congratulations.

Thanks very much, Greg. I can't tell you how much inspiration I've taken from all the other build threads. It's a joy to sit in the room and soak in the ambience and the great sound and picture.

Gorgeous.

Beautiful theater Robert ! May I ask if you "listened" to the room prior to putting up all the acoustic panels ?? How much difference did you notice?? I am trying to decide if i should add them to my build, but dont have much audio experience.

Beautiful theater Robert ! May I ask if you "listened" to the room prior to putting up all the acoustic panels ?? How much difference did you notice?? I am trying to decide if i should add them to my build, but dont have much audio experience.
Thanks! I highly recommend doing the acoustic treatment. I followed the general guidelines in the room treatment thread, with linacoustic and batting. Dialogue is very clear, and everything sounds very focused. It's a bit of trouble, but well worth it. Oh, by the way, the IB sub easily reaches 10 Hz (or lower).

absolutely gorgeous. i love the fabric frames and i love that it has 3 rows of seats. seeing theaters like this always makes me wish my theater was bigger.

Thanks! I highly recommend doing the acoustic treatment. I followed the general guidelines in the room treatment thread, with linacoustic and batting. Dialogue is very clear, and everything sounds very focused. It's a bit of trouble, but well worth it. Oh, by the way, the IB sub easily reaches 10 Hz (or lower).

Robert,

Congratulations, I was teasing you regarding the projector, I've priced the 3chips. Maybe Art will get bored and want to change? I really do like your room. I'd really like to hear your IB sub. I've read a great deal about building one if the space is available.

Robert,

Congratulations, I was teasing you regarding the projector, I've priced the 3chips. Maybe Art will get bored and want to change? I really do like your room. I'd really like to hear your IB sub. I've read a great deal about building one if the space is available.Be glad to play it for you, Vern. Feel free to bring any bass demo discs you want. :)

Very nice theater Robert! I am in the early stages of my room within a room basement theater and am going with 3 layers of drywall with GG. I too will have a massive IB sub. Does the IB rattle anything/everything outside the room? Does the double drywall contain most of the sound in the room? IOW, are you happy with your sound isolation?

Very nice theater Robert! I am in the early stages of my room within a room basement theater and am going with 3 layers of drywall with GG. I too will have a massive IB sub. Does the IB rattle anything/everything outside the room? Does the double drywall contain most of the sound in the room? IOW, are you happy with your sound isolation?Hi Tom,

I've played music quite loud at night, and it didn't wake up my wife in the bedroom, which is next to the theater room. I've also cranked the audio LOUD with titles such as Saving Private Ryan (by the way, the cones BARELY move on loud bass, showing the benefit of multiple drivers), and not a peep out of my neighbors, even late at night. I LOVE being able to do that! The room is pretty tight, so nothing rattles, although I did see a bit of loose drywall fall from the ceiling the first time I fired up the sub! I used two layers of drywall with GG, so I'm sure you'll be even happier with your three. :)

...although I did see a bit of loose drywall fall from the ceiling the first time I fired up the sub! I used two layers of drywall with GG, so I'm sure you'll be even happier with your three. :)

LOL, that means the subs are working correctly. :D I've had loose drywall from the HVAC return I put near the pj in my old house hit me in the head also. It scares you at first because you think the house might come down but then you get that little evil grin going...

Last Saturday I had my friends Vern Sharp, David Tolsky, and Tom Young over to check out the room. Here are a couple of pictures:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/3friends.jpg


http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/RobertsRack.jpg


Vern brought over some demo material that showed off the full potential of the IB subwoofer. First up was the Bass Mekanik CD, which has frequency sweeps down to 1 Hz. It was fascinating to see the 8 15 inch woofers cause the room to shake at frequencies too low to hear. Next up was the Cloverfield Blu Ray. An AVS thread lists this as a tier 0 audio reference disc, and I can see why. Simply overwhelming bass power. When buildings and such are knocked down, they really sound knocked down! Next up was the Master and Commander Blu Ray. Again, the IB sub had a chance to show what it could do with the Attack scene, giving a sense of effortless room-shaking power in reproducing the cannon shots. I bought the Blu Ray the next day. :) Thanks Vern, you are serious about bass! We demoed several other discs that day, and I very much enjoyed everyone's company. Tom sent me a very well written essay on how great my room is, and I thank him very much. Dave, you're one of the people who inspired me to build the room.

It's good to see a CRT'er here in the build threads. Hard to beat the smoothness and blackness that CRT provides. Unfortunatly too many people now days just assume that since these projectors are "old tech" they should be pitched for the new flavor of the month 1080p bulb machine. Years after that bulb projector is no longer in service your CRT will still be kickin' (and still screaming too :) ).

Your room looks amazing! Good job!

It's good to see a CRT'er here in the build threads. Hard to beat the smoothness and blackness that CRT provides. Unfortunatly too many people now days just assume that since these projectors are "old tech" they should be pitched for the new flavor of the month 1080p bulb machine. Years after that bulb projector is no longer in service your CRT will still be kickin' (and still screaming too :) ).

Your room looks amazing! Good job!
Thanks! Here's some of what Tom had to say about the theater:

The bass was like nothing I had ever felt before and I swear the house was a foot closer to my car when I arrived. I wouldn't be surprised if Cal tech starts reporting unexplainable small tremors near the Tyler Mall.

Video was as I expected as I had seen the project before. The colors were crisp and the blacks were blacker than black. Dark scenes in leave you lost in a deep, deep chasm of nothing. If you have ever experienced a fear of darkness than this theater is NOT for you.

Robert,

Is this GOM? What style and number? Is it the same fabric in the main theater?

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/RobertsRack.jpg

Robert:

Thanks for inviting us over to see your theater today. It was a great afternoon of discussing Home theater stuff. The size of your room was unexpected. It is huge, it is almost twice the size of mine. And the sub-woofers, all eight of them blew me away. Thanks again fro inviting us over and lunch was great.

Very glad to have you over, Greg. You have a lot of energy and enthusiasm for movies and home theater, and I'm glad you appreciate the effort we put into it. Looking at theaters like yours is what inspired me. I'd enjoy coming over some time! :)

Robert,

Is this GOM? What style and number? Is it the same fabric in the main theater?

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/RobertsRack.jpgHi Tom, It's the same GOM as in the room, I'd have to look up the style.

Hi Tom, It's the same GOM as in the room, I'd have to look up the style.

Can you look it up and let us know what it is? It looks really great! The GOM in the room looks black or charcoal...the GOM by the rack looks blue. Any help would be appreciated. It looks GREAT!

CJ

Can you look it up and let us know what it is? It looks really great! The GOM in the room looks black or charcoal...the GOM by the rack looks blue. Any help would be appreciated. It looks GREAT!

CJThanks! I looked it up and the blue color is style number 3583, Zirconia. The color is 010, Sapphire. Unfortunately, that color no longer seems to be on the GOM web site. The closest listed color is 011, Obsidian. The screen wall is GOM 701 Black.

Edit: I found the fabric at Silent Source:

http://www.silentsource.com/gom_zirconia.html

Excellent! Thank you!

CJ

Is you equipment rack a DIY and do you have any pictures of? I am looking for ideas on building one of my own and I like the look of yours.

Thanks

Excellent! Thank you!


+1 Robert...thanks!

Theater looks great! What seats are those?

Is you equipment rack a DIY and do you have any pictures of? I am looking for ideas on building one of my own and I like the look of yours.

ThanksI don't have pictures of the back of the rack, but the design is pretty simple. The vertical rails are 4 pieces of 3/4 inch Unistrut going from floor to ceiling, lag screwed to the sides of the equipment closet. I added extra pieces of wood between the studs to screw in to:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/DSCF1679.jpg

The pieces of Unistrut are flush with the drywall.

Most of the shelves are two pieces of 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" angled steel such as this:

http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=276&step=2&top_cat=849

I drilled 3/8" holes into them and bolted them to the Unistrut using standard channel nuts. This gives me infinite vertical height adjustment. The equipment "hangs" on the angled steel. This allows for good air circulation around each component. For components that are too small to bridge the gap between the pieces of steel, I put them on plywood shelves supported by 4 Unistrut corner angles bolted to channel nuts. Some of the equipment is rack mounted. All I had to do was drill holes into small pieces of angled steel, bolt them to the rack ears, and then bolt them to the Unistrut using only two channel nuts.

The front faces are made from pieces of 1/16" steel plate. Onlinemetals.com will custom cut them for you. I assembled the pieces into custom size faces using JB Weld. Everything is painted with Rustoleum textured black.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out. It gives me the Middle Atlantic look without the Middle Atlantic cost. The Unistrut was far, FAR cheaper than an MA rack (4 pieces of 10 foot Unistrut cost less than 40 bucks). Each front face cost less than 10 bucks. This is a small fraction of the cost of an MA setup.

Theater looks great! What seats are those?Thanks! They're "Showtime" chairs bought off Ebay. About $2400 for 9 of them, including shipping. They feel and look great.

Here's the latest addition to the theater, a nice custom-made marquee:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/IMG_1012.jpg

Gives it a little more of the "real" theater feel. :)

Robert, your theatre looks great! I was wondering if you had any more pics of your rack build? Specifically how the shelves are vertically adjustable. I would appreciate it, thanks much,

Jim

Thanks Jim. Here's a closeup of a shelf support:

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z268/Robert487/IMG_1023.jpg

The Unistrut is lag screwed to the wall (I added extra pieces of wood between the studs for this purpose) and flush with the drywall. I drilled 3/8" holes into the angled steel. All that's needed then is to put a bolt through the steel and into a channel nut. Loosen to adjust, tighten to get a VERY strong support. Pretty simple.

Love the marquee.

Robert, where did you place the marquee?

Robert, where did you place the marquee?
Hi Greg,

The Marquee is over the door that's at a right angle to the Forbidden Planet poster. You can see the film reel over the poster in the marquee picture.

congratulations, great work :)