Uncle Willie's Journey Into Home Theater

[mgkdragn]

My name is Willie Johnson, and I'd like to take an opportunity to share with you my journey into real Home Theater. I am self employed, on a strict budget and I am not a young man. My journey began many years ago, as I have been an audio/video nut since way before the term Home Theater was invented. I purchased my first real Audio components last century in the Year Of Our Lord 1972. I was in the Army at the time, and my Marantz receiver, Thorens turntable and Acoustic Research speakers, in addition to helping host many a party, kicked off a hobby that has lasted to this day.

Let me say first that my wife and I have raised 2 kids and we are now proud grand parents a couple times over. The kids moved out, my wife took over the two extra bedrooms, and it might have stayed that way, until I began reading the posts on these forums. The journey itself took a few years of thought and planning...things changed here and there, but it did come together eventually.

You need to know a few things about me before we start. First of all, I have never subscribed to the research it to death philosophy. I believe you have to make a decision and go with it. If you keep waiting, researching and holding off, the World passes you by. Computers are a good example. I bought my first PC is 1982. An 8086 it was. Todays calculators have more power. But, if I had waited for a better one, Id still be waiting. You get the picture. The other thing about me is I'm not one to believe to much in the so called "State of the Art" or at least the hype that swirls around much of the equipment and has swirled since the Big Audio Bang of the 1960's. Maybe I don't have golden ears or eyes, but to me, the fact is, the miniscule difference between an off the shelf component and the high end gear, for the most part, is simply not worth the cost, with the following exceptions....1) you enjoy the bragging rights....2) You're Bill Gates. I make this statement assuming folks buy quality gear in the first place. Quality meaning mid level stuff from a well known maker that's been around, has a name and a warrantee that actually is a warrantee. So, you say, what right does this guy have to make these statements..? I'm happy to answer. I have toured the USA in a rock band in my early years, I have been involved with audio gear personally for 34 years, I owned and ran a professional Disk Jockey service for many years, I also owned and operated an electronics repair business. I believe my real life experience allows me to make these judgements.

There is a lot of smugness and nose sniffing that goes on in the audio/video arena, whether at your local dealer, big box store or on line. It need not be so for the average audio/video buff. So, if my story helps dispell any of the elitism, perhaps ruffles a few feathers and mainly provides a few constructive ideas, well, that's the whole point.

Next, I would like to add that the Web has been an invaluable resource in my journey. The forums provide a lively interaction and quite a bit of info, although many times contradctary, it's all good. The on line merchants provide a wonderful ability for the consumer to shop and find, what may not always be the best price, but certainly the ability to get a good deal and not get ripped off. The reviewers on line are perhaps the best resource of all, and my thanks to them. I just wish I had their jobs..!!

Let the journey begin.

In late 2005, a well known office supply company offered the Sharp Sharp XR-10X during a special on line sale at $799.00 with a $100.00 rebate and a free laser printer. Although this unit is a business projector, every review I saw about it spoke very highly. After the rebate and selling the printer, I'm into it for about $600.00 and tax. The Home Theater was still just a dream when I bought the unit, so I put it in my office with a cheap InFocus pull down screen. Friday and Saturday afternoons around 5 PM, I enjoyed a limited degree of Office Theater with an old stereo and a $28.00 APEX DVD player running through a S-Video cable. After a few weeks of that, I knew the Home Theater was going to happen. I am using the Sharp still, more on that unit later

Our basement was OK in the 1980's. Then, it started leaking water. It got worse each year. Not a flood, mind you. But a total annoyance and just impossible to use. I finally asked my wife in 2004..."Should we fix the basement or remodel the kitchen..?" She chose the kitchen. Then, in 2005, the question was..."Should we fix the basement or get ourselves a deluxe deck and landscape the backyard..?" She chose the basement. Prior to this, I had seriously considered adding a room for a home theater. But, if I got the basement dryproofed, it would be good, dry living space and it would be equal to the square footage of our home, thus essentially doubling the size of our house and giving me PLENTY of room to work with. Sure, the ceilings under 8 feet...but that's OK...just makes it a bit more cozy. $7200 later, dry basement, March 2006. I had to spend this money, so it's not going to be included in the final Home Theater total Tab..

To give all of you as brief as possible an idea of the initial basement dry proof job, which by the way was done by Woods Basement Systems who did a good job and supported their work incredibly well after the job as well, I'll give a summary. My wife and I had to first put all items in the basement in the center or remove the stuff entirely in order to give the work crew space around the perimeter. Covered all the stuff in plastic sheeting as well. Then, in standing water that was quite cold in February, about 8 inches of the old 2x2's from the old remodeling job had to be cut out, as well as the insulation from that area. I did this in an effort to save some money and not have to totally gut the place. The bottom of these 2x2's as well as the sill plate were pretty well rotten anyway. A Black and Decker portable circular saw came in quite handy...no power cord to worry about. We also ripped out most of the old paneling as well. I ended up having a guy haul off the debris, $60.00 well spent. We did try to dispose of the debris initially using trash cans, but it was just too much.

The following shot is what the bottom of the 2x2's looked like as well as the initial drain channel that the basement company jackhammered out. I was at work, but I did come home a few times that day...my wife had the living room stereo cranked up to try and mask the noise of the jackhammer. These guys took 8 inches of concrete out and hauled it upstairs in 5 gallon buckets. in a basement that's 60x26 feet, along the entire basement...this was no mean feat. They then hauled down the drainage gravel and newly mixed concrete in the 5 gallon buckets. Downstairs and upstairs. That's what you pay for. They got the sump pump in and it immediately started pumping. Within a very short time, the basement floor was actually dry. The next day, they came back and poured the new concrete. I have to say that when you pay that much for a job and they get done in a couple days, I say to myself...wow, that was fast...a lot of money just spent. Was it worth it..? You decide at the end of my story.



So, now, it's hurry up and wait. The concrete must dry and cure, a 30 day process. In addition, I was cautioned to not drive any nails into the new concrete, ever. Why..? Because the drain channel is under the concrete and may get damaged. So, time to regroup and figure out how to re-do the framing. I ended up gluing treated 2x2's on top of the new concrete, using Liquid Nails and holding the 2x2's down to dry with books and whatever else I could put on top of them. While waiting for that to fully dry, I took out all the old ceiling panels and left the grid in place. Began the wiring work and relocating the ceiling heating panels. My wife wanted the heat panels to stay, I wanted them to go, but she won. I also wanted to tear out the old ceiling grid, she wanted it to stay. She won. I'm glad she did. It may not have saved much time, but it did save some money, and that's what we're all about. Found a stack of slightly damaged new ceiling panels at the local Home Improvement center and cut a deal on those at $99.00 tax and all. It was more that enough to do the 25x12" Home Theater ceiling.

In some areas of the wall, we had plastic sheeting between the wall and the 2x2's, some areas not. We slipped some into the spots that needed it. Not just as a vapor barrier, but the way the basement dryproof system is designed, an upper exposed channel will catch any water that may at some point run down the wall. The plastic sheeting makes sure it gets to the channel. Now, I had to re-attach the loose 2x2's at the bottom to the newly glued on 2x2 treated sill plate. I started buying 2x2's as needed, trimmed them down and screwed them to the front of the old 2x2's and then srewed the bottom of the new 2x2's to the new sill plate. See the next pic...



Probably $100.00 in material for this part of the job. So, I now had the loose 2x2's secured...one other thing, as illustrated by the next pic, each of the new 2x2's had to be notched at the top in order to lay flush since I did not tear out the old ceiling tile grid. Improvisation at it's best.



The next pic is simply to give an overall idea of what the space looked like at this point. Hard to believe, but this is looking directly at what would become by screen wall.




I had pretty carefully planned out on graph paper what I wanted to do with the wiring and lighting. So that came next. Speaker wire was simply some good 16 gauge I picked up at Overstock.com for $30.00 for a 500 foot roll. If the snobs are cringing now, remember what I said at the start. The incremental improvement over my wire and 10 times the money wire is just not noticible. For speaker outlet plates, I use 15 cent plain plates that are used to just cover an outlet and I drill a couple holes in them, run the wire through the holes and direct to the speaker. This eliminates an extra connection for those fancy made for speaker plates as well as saving some real money. And, as a bonus, it's one less connection in the chain. Replaced all the old outlet boxes, relocated the ceiling heating panels so they lined up better, removed one, wired for 7 channel surround as well as 4 sconce lights and some small flush mount can fixtures at the front and back of the room. Braced or replaced any other old wood that seemed questionable...treated anything that even looked remotely like mold. Began spraying the old ceiling grid flat black since the ceiling was going to be black. Bought the black paint at the local 'Mart, and went through quite a bit of it since those acoustic tiles will drink up the paint. They take a bit of time to dry as well.

Then, the rain came. The true test of my expensive basement dryproof job. My wife brought to my attention what she thought was some water seepage. Sure enough, where the new concrete met the old, it looked like a line of moisture in some spots. On the phone immediately. They could not get an inspector out for 10 days. I continued to remain positive and went on with the remodel. First inspector shows up. Says nothing to worry about. It's normal. Evaporative something something...don't ask me. Says put a paper towel on the area next time it happens, it will come away dry. OK.



No luck, next rainstorm, the floor fails the paper towel test. Call back and really press it this time. New inspector. Chisels up some concrete. Runs a hose through the system. He agrees, it's definite water. He looks at me and says, well, the good news is, your warrantee covers it. Bad news..?? They have to do the entire job over again. They will replace the work I've done as well. No way. There must be an alternative. He mentions that only one sump pump had been installed and felt like there should have been 2. I convince him we need to go with another sump pump. He calls the boss. The boss agrees. My warrantee is still the same. If I need the whole job redone in the future, they will do it. Breath a sigh of relief. Another sump pump installed, on the house. Now, we have one on each end of the basement. Just to be on the safe side, I lay a layer of waterproof crack sealer along the seam in the Home Theater room and will do that as well around the rest of the place. I pretty well felt like we would never have standing water down there again, but just to make sure no moisture wicked up into the carpet and pad once it was installed, it can't hurt.

So, we're back on track. That is, until July 2006 when the worst storm in 100 years hits and my wife and I ride it out in the basement, hearing our full grown trees snap in the wind. 3 days then with no power. It's 100 in the shade. Sump pumps don't work without electricity. Manually bailing out the sump water. But, that's a whole other story. We kept it dry, but the days coming in the near future when I will install a battery backup system on those pumps.

Now it's time for things to really begin to take shape. I get the ceiling panels fully painted, get the can lights mounted in them, get them hung, trim out the window and generally finish most of the odds and ends. I have to build one wall and frame for a 36" door, install some new floor support posts since the old ones have seen better days, test the electrical work and prepare for DRYWALL. Hanging drywall is one of the things I refuse to do. It's heavy, it's cumbersome, my back is not what it used to be, etc. But, finding a drywall contractor proved to be more difficult than I had imagined. The jobs to small, I'm booked till Fall, won't return my call...etc. I had even contacted a guy that helped with the kitchen remodel the year before...who suffice to say, we did not always see eye to eye with...and he was no help. Our carpet guy, Eric, who we had called and asked if he knew anyone, actually offered to do the job with a friend of his. Apparently, he had been a drywall guy years ago and could use the extra cash. So, $400.00 in sheetrock, screws, tape and drywall mud, $400.00 for the two guys and suddenly, we're good to go. My luck was improving. The lumber yard even agreed to haul the drywall downstairs for no additional charge. It just get's no better than that.




Ordered the wallpaper I planned on using for the faux wall panels that each sconce would be situated in. Got the wallpaper and also found a set of burgundy velvet curtains on the same site $60.00 delivered for the wallpaper and the curtains. Picked up a some curtain rods on clearance for $7.00 each, $14.00 total from the local Lowes. By the way, we haunt Lowes almost weekly, trawling for those clearance deals. Even if you don't need it right away, if the deal is good, buy it for use later is my motto. The tough part now was wall texture. Called some painters. $250.00 minimum. I just could not see it...all they wanted to do was texture the wall. My wife then comes to the rescue. She decides she can produce a stucco like finish with left over drywall mud and she goes to town on it. It's so good, our carpet guy wants to hire her to do a room in his home..! Who would have thought it.

She also hangs the paper. Problem is, the wallpaper I wanted now dictates the paint color. I gather paint samples from 3 or 4 places and tape them on the wall next to the paper. By process of elimination, we both agree on a color. Buy the paint, 2 gallons of good stuff at Lowes, $50.00. It's smooth and creamy. I temporarily set up the Sharp and throw Castaway on the screen wall, carefully masking off the 16:9 screen to a 103" diagonal. That's the beauty of painting a screen. It can be the best size for the room. In this case, 103".




It's carpet time. Our carpet guy, who now just happens to be out drywall guy as well, has some space on his schedule. He also agrees to pick up the carpet if we end up finding something we like out of town. We hit the road. Can't find anything locally. On to the metro St Louis area. Home Depot has some slightly damaged heavy duty pad. After a little negotiation, we get the pad for $100.00. We stop at several carpet stores. We go back to one a second time and agree on a remnant that is just the right size, with little to spare. It's $200.00. We buy and they put a sold sign on it. We let them know the carpet guy will pick it up. The World is a better place.

In between all this, I am searching for gear. I pick up a refurbished Harmon Kardon AVR 330 direct from HK for $265.00 delivered. This unit may seem weak by the ratings, but HK has always been conservative. Trust me, a 50 watt a channel HK is more than enough for most rooms. It's clean, has all the gizmos and do dads you would need and just plain looks great as well. I pick up a set of Flaunce 5 channel speakers for $180.00 delivered direct from Flaunce. These speakers have no right to sound as good as they do for the money. You can find rave reviews on these on line. I would stack the Fluance units up against any mainstream JBL, Polk etc...Remember my comments at the beginning of the journey. I get a pair of Audio Source 6.5" two way ceiling speakers from Amazon for $25.00 shipped free. These will be ceiling mounted and serve as the 2 far rear's. I pick up a Sony SAWM500 Powered Sub for $150.00 delivered...you can read my review of this unit on Amazon. This sub throws out some chest thumping bass when needed. It's a sub folks...they don't have to cost $600.00. Oppo runs a deal on the 971 at $160.00 and I buy one. My Sharp projector can't use it since it won't output progressive on component, but I'm already thinking about the future and that real Home Theater projector. I knew all along that at least initially, I would have to place the projector on a very low shelf..the throw angle is so great and ceiling mounting without having a lens shift feature would be about impossible. Total Electronic investment so far...includes the projector and wiring... $1410.00. All of these components are quality items. In addition, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a refurb. Face it, a refurb has been through a complete check, repair as well as still carrying the full makers warrantee just like a new unit.

I build my short riser along the screen wall. You must have a riser. It just looks so much more theater like. Carpet comes, $200.00 installation for that...it's starting to look pretty good.



Now, we're down to the home stretch. Trim first. We luck out and find a 6 panel framed door at Lowes for $35.00. Slight damage, but otherwise it will work great. I tried to order a door from a couple of lumber yards during the week. What I got was...your ceiling is too low for a standard door, you'll need to order a custom door for $200.00. If you cut down an off the shelf door, it will be hollow on the bottom because you will be removing the bottom piece of wood. What..?? The door I get from Lowes goes on the sawhorses, I cut an inch and a half off the bottom and it's hollow inside. So, I cut a piece of wood, glue it into the bottom of the door to replace the one that I just cut out and voila...$165.00 savings.
We've during this entire process, gathered up some decorative items to go with the theme of the room as well. The theme I wanted was Moroccan with some Oriental flavor as well. Some furniture also...I can't or won't spring for the dedicated Home Theater seating. I like it, sure. But tell me why a recliner with a cup holder in it costs twice as much as a regular recliner. I just don't get it.
Let's talk a little bit about the screen itself. Man, did I struggle over that one. So many schools of thought. So many opinions. What did I do..? Well, I did not mix up some formula that seemed as complicated as calculus to me. I did not spring for the Goo, sorry. I did not buy a screen, because the budget just is not there. The goal is to buy an actual screen at some point, yes. I do believe that a good screen is also a good investment. It should be one of the few items you won't need to upgrade constantly. So what did I do..?

I went to the local 'Mart's paint department and had them fill up to the brim a can of light base flat wall paint, the cheapest they had store brand, with the whitest pigment in the mixer. They looked at me kind of funny and wanted me to pick a paint color. I said no, just dump as much super white pigment as you can into that base color. Screen shots below, you decide. Everyone that's seen the screen marvels about how great it looks.

How about the back wall..? Well, I knew all along that I wanted some display area for movie memorabilia I had collected over the years. So, I picked up 4 of those 72" high white vinyl covered shelving units that you see in a lot of discount store, office supply places, etc. I painted the backwall flat black, assembled the shelving units and screwed them all together like cabinetry. Added a piece of crown molding across the top, installed a couple of inexpensive low voltage halogen down lights inside, added a rope light over the tops for a glow and had some glass cut that I installed on the fronts of two of the units. Maybe $200.00 total cost...check out the results below.

Well, the journey for now is about at an end, but it's far from over. You decide how it came out. Thanks for bearing with this long winded story. Willie

[mgkdragn]

[riceaterslc]

nice post and awesome room!

[BoblK]

Wille,

You have a real nice theater that anyone would be proud of. Great job. I really like the shelf idea you had and they look great.

Bob

[foolsandkings]

Willie,
Thanks for a most awesome post.

[HeyNow^]

Wow....we must have been seperated at birth.... very nice work. I remember my first audio purchase in '73 after leaving VN.....and R&R in the P.I. I read every work of your post. Thanks for sharing.

[mgkdragn]

Randy, I really appreciate the kind words. I generally don't talk about my time in the Army, but in addition to the memories and life experience that no amount of money could buy, it's where my audio jones started. And the goods were cheap back then...

My buddies and me were just in it for the music and these days it seems to me a lot of folks are in it for the glam...next big thing, etc.

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

[HeyNow^]

Uncle Willy,

I have my four original Kenwood 777A speakers that I brought back with me in 73' sitting in my garage and I can't part with them. The wife seems to understand.

[mflanagan]

Nice Post Uncle Willie. I love the room and all the 'Props' on your bookshelves. Now sit back, enjoy and watch out for that dreaded disease................."The upgrade Bug"!

Flan

[almostgoth]

Nice work! classy room.

[eq_shadimar]

Wow what a great story with a great result. Good job!

Laters,
Jeff

[Jester 2]

Uncle Willie,
I applaud you work and dollar conscious thoughts. I am from the same school of thought. I can build a theater for what some ppl pay for a HDTV. I also read every word and than you for sharing you journey with us. It helps the rest of us who have followed your path to feel there are others and maybe get those on the fence, off.

Jester 2

[mgkdragn]

Originally Posted by Jester 2

Uncle Willie,
I applaud you work and dollar conscious thoughts. I am from the same school of thought. I can build a theater for what some ppl pay for a HDTV. I also read every word and than you for sharing you journey with us. It helps the rest of us who have followed your path to feel there are others and maybe get those on the fence, off.

Jester 2

Thank you, Jester, for the kind words. The underlying reason for the post was first to show that it can be done without spending mega money, second to make a point that equipment snobbery need not be part of the equation and lastly, to show it off.

My wife, who at the beginning of the process really questioned the logic of having a Home Theater room, is now the first to head downstairs on Tuesday new realease day. That speaks volumes to me on the quality of the experience.

As a side note...if you notice the flat panel "TV"....that unit was under $100.00 after a rebate..it began it's life as a 17" computer monitor. I then picked up a TV tuner on Amazon that would output to VGA as well as S-VHS, etc, for $54.00 with free shipping and no tax. Thus, instant 17" flat panel that cost about $150.00 total. I have CATV running thru it as well as a VCR and the picture is great.

Thanks for reading.. Uncle Willie

[calv1n]

Willie,

Terrific post and job. Was a pleasure reading through it and seeing the end product so quickly - the room looks amazing and very comfortable, Well done !

[mgkdragn]

[victor-eyd]

That is a gorgeous room. Man, I'm envious!

But where is the projector? I looked all over the back wall and couldn't see it.

Victor

[mgkdragn]

Originally Posted by victor-eyd

That is a gorgeous room. Man, I'm envious!

But where is the projector? I looked all over the back wall and couldn't see it.

Victor

Victor, it's actually located on a very low shelf under the small coffee table...the throw angle on this Sharp unit is so extreme, that even just a few inches from the floor, I've still had to angle it down a bit further. Ceiling mounting is out of the question.

That's why, if I can get some cash together and prices start to fall, I would love to get a unit like that new Panasonic with a lens shift on it. On the other had, there are some deals out there now on some of last years crop...the Mitsu 3000 looks very tasty.

It would be great to get some advice from some of you on a new PJ...I believe my Sharp does and excellent job, at the same time, it's 4:3 and you can see the top and bottom frame that goes beyond my 16:9 DIY screen...Uncle Willie

[Zinema]

Willie,

I like the way you are telling us your story - very well written and interesting to read!

You did a great job in your basement HT room and I can feel with you about your water problems. Our house basement is actually build exactly at the ground water line but they used materials and techniques to make the basement 100% water proof. The only problems we faced once already is that at very heavy rain the water line was raised at the level of our small basement windows which are located at the ceiling of the basement and that the windows are NOT water proof.
To avoid that problem we have a drain system around the outside of the basement and a heavy duty pump to keep the water level below the basement. But as you said already - pumps need electricity to work - sow we have a Diesel powered generator as fall back solution, which we never needed though since we bought it.

To answer your question concerning a new PJ - I can really recommend the Sony VPL-HS60 - outstanding 16:9 image @1280x720 for relatively small money!

Again, great room on a budget, very well done!

[NeoOiler]

I am going with ceiling tiles as well. Did you have to paint those or were they available in black??
THanks

Ryan

[mgkdragn]

Originally Posted by NeoOiler

I am going with ceiling tiles as well. Did you have to paint those or were they available in black??
THanks

Ryan

Black paint, flat latex...Walmat at about 9 bucks a gallon. Be prepared to use some paint as the tiles suck it up. But, the end result is worth it and at $9.00 a gallon, it's not to bad money wise...you can get the tiles in black, but they cost a lot more than white and paint Uncle Willie

[NeoOiler]

Awesome. Thanks a lot

Ryan

[cnickersonjr]

Great setup!