Hello all, just wanted to start posting here and list off what I've got going so far for a Home Theatre. I also just want to say, that I'm 24, dealing with my first mortgage and I run my own business, so please excuse the lack of total sweetness with my setup :) It'll get there. I just need to stop sleeping and work another job!

Anywho, here are some specs, I have a Ceiling Mounted Mitsubishi HD1000U projector. I have it located in my Living Room / Dining Room. I own a townhouse in a college town, so sound proofing is like impossible :S I don't really use the Dining Room portion, and I'll add some more pics of the layout when I fix my camera. I just finished building a 103" Blackout cloth screen, and I added a rope light to back light it, it seems to make viewing a little easier, and I definitely learned a few things during the process of construction. Well, here is what I have so far.

Anyway, feel free to leave any questions or comments!

Okay, well I just realized that I can't post links, so.... I'll make some posts then add the URL's later!

Welcome to the forum!

Well this is a thread necro, but it's my topic and I've finally remembered to update it!

Just a quick note, my usual camera died on me forever last night when I tried to take pictures of the setup. So these photos are from my 1.3 mp Cellphone Camera.

This is pretty image heavy, so enjoy the show.

http://www.spectredesigngroup.com/images/body/personal/hometheatre5.jpg

http://www.spectredesigngroup.com/images/body/personal/hometheatre6.jpg

http://www.spectredesigngroup.com/images/body/personal/hometheatre7.jpg

http://www.spectredesigngroup.com/images/body/personal/hometheatre8.jpg

http://www.spectredesigngroup.com/images/body/personal/hometheatre1.jpg

http://www.spectredesigngroup.com/images/body/personal/hometheatre2.jpg

http://www.spectredesigngroup.com/images/body/personal/hometheatre3.jpg

http://www.spectredesigngroup.com/images/body/personal/hometheatre4.jpg

I still have plenty of work to do on it and things to improve. Foremost on my list is getting rid of my large bookshelf speaker system and FINALLY moving to 5.1 surround.

I'm also in the process of sucking up to my GF to get her to sew curtains so I can replace those crummy blinds and get some better light blockage during the day.

There are a few other small surprises and projects in the works, I'll take more pics when I get some of them done.

Let me know what you think!

You made the most important correct move when you bought a projector for a wall screen. Theater in the Home - IMO - simply defined as the creation within one's home as near as possible the visual experience of a commercial Theater/Cinema - TVs simply can't do that - at least, not at this time.

Sound probably next most important issue but Visual is MOST important and you hit that note perfectly.

Surround sound is nice to have - 5:1 more than perfect in our relatively small room. Not being Theater cultured I can get, to me, just as much or even more sound using simple stereo with front and rear speakers. Our old stereo includes two giant Cerwin-Vega floor speakers with 15in. Woofs and we use those as front speakers - in the rear we have two rock band type PA columns and, take my word, properly cranked up the 15in Woofs put out more solid bass than most subs BUT the 5:1 surround is nice also and what I use with the projector.

Sometimes I just crack up at the lengths that some folk go to and the huge expense invested in decorations for their viewing room - posters and screen stages and electric things that raise and lower and popcorn machines and even lobby areas with refreshment counters - LOL!!!

All of that is nice, to be sure, I guess, if that is what floats their particular boat. Some of them would go LOL at our viewing room's adjoining game area with approx. $16k worth of pin and arcade games not counting the big oak bar and beer neons and etc. though how ANYONE could question "investing" in arcade and pinball is beyond me.

However, to me Theater in the Home is first, visual and second, audio/sound cause once the lights go dim and the BIG screen lights up all those decorations have not a darn thing to do with the visual experience - so long as everyone goes "WOW - THIS IS JUST LIKE BEING AT THE MOVIES!!!!" then your Theater in the Home is a done deal!!

Again, you've already cracked to basic code of Home Theater - Screen that is MUCH bigger than a television with an image from a decent projector in a room that is dark enough to create the illusion of being "at the movies".

Now I think that if you get a pinball machine instead of investing in a bunch of usless theater decorations you will be way ahead of your competition - LOL and enjoy your Theater in your Home!!

Thanks for the feedback imjay. My Mom told me that her and my Pops got me a 5.1 surround system for christmas. Knowing her it's not the best of the best. But she said it was Samsung, so It'll be better then what I'm using now, or some cheapy Wally world 5.1 setup. During this Christmas break I'll be adding Red curtains with black backing on a wrought iron curtain rod. Recentering the back banner, and placing all of my old consoles on shelves and the old cartridges in black shadowboxes. If I have time / funds I'm going to try and build 2 new end tables and a small riser for the couch. Just a couple of inches. Thanks for the feedback though, I agree 100%. A lot of my friends were harrasing me to go with a LCD or plasma, and I would not sway. Sitting there watching movies is just fantastic. I just finished Gears of War 2 on it, and it was amazing. I'll post some more shots of it in action soon enough. I wanna get the walls painted first. Going with a khaki color for the walls to offset the ebony.

I think you need more legacy gaming systems =)

All I want to know is, what do NES games look like on your system?

Will a shot of it playing the Wii virtual console count? Or do I need to hunt down my NES power cord?

Also I have a line on a Sega Master System, Atari 2600, and a Commodore 64.

I'm also in the process of sucking up to my GF to get her to sew curtains so I can replace those crummy blinds and get some better light blockage during the day.



Save the hassle and periodically look at the JCPenney.com clearance section and search "light blocking" or "blackout" You'll often find a set of blacklout curtains for $50-60 (EXAMPLE (http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?ItemID=147fe15&ItemTyp=G&GrpTyp=STY&ShowMenu=T&ShopBy=0&SearchString=blackout&RefPage=SearchDepartment.aspx&s4PageSize=15&CmCatId=searchresults&Search1Prod=True&S4Filter=N%7c21%7cNtt%7cblackout%7cNtk%7csearch_all%7cNao%7c 0%7cNty%7c1%7csid%7c11DA62BDEEEE%7cNtx%7cmode%2bmatchallpart ial%7cNtpr%7c1%7cNtpc%7c1%7cFN21%7c%2420.00+-+%2429.99)). Sign up for their email specials and you'll eventually get a free shipping email. Most of all, enjoy your setup!

Curtains are easy enough for her to sew though. We've made all the other window treatments in the house. Also it counts as a Christmas gift.