Burnt House theater construction begins

[crackyflipside]

The house was burnt down in 1985 and we bought the property from the county for about $20,000. We have been basically building a new house there since 2003 and are almost done. 3600sqft 2 story house in southwest Miami-Dade.

The room is about 22'x15', all concrete construction. I plan on doing a riser for a second row of seating.

We are basically done with the soffit frame which is 4'x1.5'.


Looking from front to back:


Back to front:


A side shot so you can see most of the space there.


That window WILL be drywalled over!




In an effort to keep things organized here are the most up-to-date plans for the theater. Hell, we started this project thinking we would just use our original 70" SDTV and a HTIB... probably Bose *shriek*. Needless to say I have been enlightened by the guys here at AVS and HTGuide... The whole South Florida DIY crew, HTGuide DIY peeps, the DIY old-timers, and the IB Cult!

PJ: Some sort of 1080p digital PJ, they are just getting more affordable and easy to use and replace.

Screen: ~125-130" SmX 720 AT screen

Speakers L/C/R: Identical vertical towers DIY Khanspires WMTMW



Speakers Surrounds: Bookshelf speakers, DIY Dayton Reference RS225/RS28A



Subwoofage: Four MJ18" subs in an Infinite Baffle alignment. Inside of soffit serves as box.



Pre/pro: Onkyo 805



Amplification: 6500 watts of separate amplifiers.



Acoustic plan:



Yellow-Absorbtion Blue-Diffusion


(There are plenty of design changes along the way and the plans continue to get refined as we get farther along in the project, the above lists the most recent changes in design and/or permanent changes)

[Snakeyez]

Good luck with the theater, keep the pics coming.

[crackyflipside]

Originally Posted by Snakeyez

Good luck with the theater, keep the pics coming.

I will, we still have to install those high-hat channels which go perpendicular to the top beams on the higher part of the ceiling.

I plan on stuffing alot of those fiberglass batts in the cavities, and then doubling up the 5/8" drywall sandwiched with GG.

[crackyflipside]

I did some very simple drawings with all the right dimensions using AutoCAD and Photoshop.

Clickable thumbnails:





Here is the very basic layout and front view.

The mains are about 3-4' from the front wall angled inwards and the center channel is mounted on the front face of the soffit angled downwards. I am going to go with the Acoustech system and dual H100 subwoofers in the table behind the back row.

The screen is going to be about 140" and the front row is just over one screen length away. We are going to go with a Sony G70 (or equivalent) CRT projector.

The back table is going to be a combination
DVD cabinet / Component cabinet / HTPC desk / Space to put the two subs on either sides / Control area for the PJ

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, DISREGARD THIS POST ENTIRELY!

[RedMed427]

buddy what did i tell you about those side surrounds. 2/3 between front row and back row.

[crackyflipside]

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, DISREGARD THIS POST ENTIRELY!

Originally Posted by RedMed427

buddy what did i tell you about those side surrounds. 2/3 between front row and back row.

Yes, I have changed it, just have been too lazy to edit the picture.

UPDATE:

Here is some of the equipment being very seriously considered (or already bought), and any room design updates.

Audio:
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V2600 or Yamaha RX-V2500
Speakers: BIC Acoustech (2 large mains, 1 center, 4 surround)
Subwoofer: DIY RythmikAudio servo subwoofer (already bought). Considering buying a second kit sometime in the near future.

Video:
PJ: Sony G70 CRT projector
Screen: DIY Blackout cloth

Room Design Updates:
Floor: Nice thick carpet
Walls: Dont know if I need wall treatments yet, but prepared to do DIY absorbers.
Ceiling and In-Ceiling: Ceiling drywall will be double 5/8" with GG. Soffits will be stuffed with fiberglass batt insulation. PJ might have its own enclosure under the soffit which will vent DIRECTLY to the central AC return duct which is located inside the soffit.

[Gertjan]

Originally Posted by crackyflipside

Screen: DIY Blackout cloth

I can highly recommend painting it with the Behr Ultra White paint. I made my screen from BOC, used that for a long time. Then did a comparison by bringing back from the store one of the sample swatches, propped it up against my screen and projected a gray scale image. The Behr Ulra White was noticably brighter, so i painted the whole screen, and that resulted in a brighter picture. Well worth it IMO. (I had a picture somewhere of a comparison of the two, but i can't find it, otherwise i could show you.)

[crackyflipside]

Some more updates on design changes.

Looking to do DIY acoustically transparent screen (like sandmanx has) and put DIY absorbers on the side walls.

There was also going to be a false fireplace to hide the room underneath the stairs. We decided to turn the room under the stairs into the equipent room.

edit: updated design, no more eqpt room under stairs, will be put under projector

[crackyflipside]

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, DISREGARD most of the post!

Ok guys, HUGE design update. We got the inspiration to change our layout by a recent AVS g2g so I will present the design and explain all the crap on it.

Front screen is acoustically transparent and juts out ~9-10" to accommodate the mains and center. The four boxes are the four rclining loveseats we will get. We decided to completely cover the back window permanently after seeing the effect any ambient light has on PJ image. We want to go Sony G70 or Ampro 4600.

Basically on the back are two big media shelves, both 6' x 6'. The big ugly box in the rear middle is going to be an AV closet. Its dimensions are 6'H x 3'W x 4'D. It will be completely flush with the soffit in terms of depth. There will be a door on each side to access everything in the AV closet. Everything will be completely sealed off from the outside environment so there will be no noise coming from the closet.

VENTILATION

There are two 8" AC ducts blowing into the room as well as two ceiling fans (shown in the next photo). We designed the AV closet to be flush with the soffit so that we could ventilate it without any fans.

We have the AC return duct in the soffit on the right side (not in picture), so we will have a duct at the top of the AV closet connected to the AC return so it will naturally suck in all the air in the AV closet. That led us to the new dilemna of how to introduce cool air into the AV closet without using a louvered door. So we decided to put a vent in front of the platform, and run a duct underneath the platform and then enter the AV closet at the bottom.

So all the equipment is cooled and easy to get to without the use of any fans or louvred doors. And all the AC that blows up in the room HAS TO enter through that vent and through the AV closet to go to the ruturn vent.

SPEAKERS

So the basic 7.1 layout is here. I am going to use two Rythmik servo subwoofers in sealed enclosure and corner loaded. The mains and center is behind the screen.
The side and rear surrounds are on the walls underneath the soffits. All wiring is hidden. Both rear corners will be bass traps. There will be absorbers on all walls.

CEILING

Here you can see where the lights and fans are located on the ceiling. The rear light is located there so that it lights up the AV closet

Everything all in one

[crackyflipside]

I am having my theater rendered by a friend so expect renders and walkthrough videos in a week or two.

[crackyflipside]

Some more rough renders

[chasw98]

Hey man, this looks great! Have you run any numbers for RT60 or room modes to see if it looks like it will sound good? You are very lucky to be able to build from scratch like this. Looking forward to seeing the final stages and then you can have all the SF nuts over!

Chuck

[crackyflipside]

Originally Posted by chasw98

Hey man, this looks great! Have you run any numbers for RT60 or room modes to see if it looks like it will sound good? You are very lucky to be able to build from scratch like this. Looking forward to seeing the final stages and then you can have all the SF nuts over!

Chuck

Well I plan on getting an AT screen and putting identical DIY L/C/R speakers behind it as well as treating the front wall behind the screen. Since the subs will both be in the rear corners, I have made those parts of the corners a giant floor to ceiling bass trap. I also plan on making the area underneath the platform a bass trap also (I'll make openings on the front part of the platform.) The side walls will also be treated with DIY absorber panels and maybe some diffusor panels.

Though we have been working alot more on the exterior of the house and prepping it for hurricane season, expect alot more work done soon. We haven't even finished painting it, gotten a front door, driveway, columns, but at least the roofers finished installing the tiles!

[chasw98]

I think we need to have a SF AVS House Party to go over your designs when you've taken care of the other silly stuff, like doors and such. I'll bring the calibrated mic and SPL meter!

Chuck

[crackyflipside]

Well we finished framing the entrance to the theater. Basically the front part will have the old style marquee. The 'tunnel' that goes to the theater will look like something from a castle or a mine. The ceiling of the tunnel will be tongue and groove wood panels and will be stained cherry red (to match the kitchen cabinets). The walls will be a light colored stone. The two columns will be dressed in the same colored stone at the base and at the top, the rest of the middle will be covered by a cherry veneer.










And this is looking out from the inside of the theater.




We are also going to make the door in the same shape that the roof is (an angled arch). It is going to be stained cherry and will look like a rustic castle door complete with clavos and straps. The work is going slow but it is going.

[crackyflipside]

We decided that cherry stain was too light so we went with a red mahogany stain. Here we tested on the columns outside the HT. Most likely the columns are going to be covered up anyways so it is not our final.



Here is the completed frame for the door, the frame will be stained the same red mahogany that the columns are. We started on the inside panels for the rustic looking door but I didn't take any pictures of it yet; I want to surprise all of you when it is complete.



We framed the front wall with 2x2's as furring strips since overkill is normal for us. (We poured our staircase and our interior walls are reinforced concrete!) I also took the time to map out where the screen will be. I can fit a 9'x5' screen there. The room is a mess so I can't get any decent pictures there.

[crackyflipside]

Here is the door and frame completely unfinished.



Here's a picture with the door stained Red Mahogany and varnished (3 coats of Satin Clear). I still need to varnish the other side and then give it a few passes of steel wool to dull the shine a bit.

[david_rostowsky]

What a neat entrance! I like the door shape. Very unique. I like reddish stains on wood. A winner! What kind of wood is the door made of? Looks like a knotty pine.

[crackyflipside]

Originally Posted by david_rostowsky

What a neat entrance! I like the door shape. Very unique. I like reddish stains on wood. A winner! What kind of wood is the door made of? Looks like a knotty pine.

Believe it or not, but the wood that was used for the construction of the door is just standard white pine for the panels and yellow pine for the planks. For about $50 we made the door. We still need to get the clavos and straps to complete the dungeon look. The door is not going to stay shut by a regular knob closer, it will use magnets to hold it closed. I also have a surprise for the handle we are going to get for it, but it will definitely make it different.

Here is an example of a door with similar accessories:

[Exocer]

Chris, lookin good!
Thought about IB?

[crackyflipside]

Originally Posted by Exocer

Chris, lookin good!
Thought about IB?

Nope, Im going with dual rythmiks in the front right under the screen.

I dont have enough space to sacrifice for IB. I figure the dual rythmiks should really fill up my <3000cuft room.

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, DISREGARD THIS POST ENTIRELY!

[Exocer]

but IB takes up no room space

[crackyflipside]

Originally Posted by Exocer

but IB takes up no room space

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, DISREGARD THIS POST ENTIRELY! Move to later pages!

Well, sort of.

It takes up other room's space. If I was to put an IB setup I would have just used the ceiling, but in my case, the theater is directly below grandma's room. I know she cant hear to well but I think she might freak out when her room starts shaking.

One of the major reasons I put in a soffit was to A: cover the AC duct and B: make some more space between the theater and the other rooms. Although every single square inch of wall, floor, and ceiling (floor of the 2nd story) is all reinforced concrete, I still dont want any leaking to occur to the rooms.

We even made the stairway completely solid concrete so we wouldn't have to hear the footsteps in the theater. The wall that seperates the theater from the grand room is 8" of COMPLETELY solid reinforced concrete, on that same wall is where the straight staircase is, which is about 4 feet wide of solid reinforced concrete, and then we have a wall covering half the stairway which is also 8" of COMPLETELY solid reinforced concrete.

Besides, I already have a rythmik kit.

[Exocer]

I hear ya, can't do an IB with Granny so close...lol

The DS12 TC would make a great IB driver IMO. You want a low Qts driver for IB, like the Ds12 TC (.472) or lower. A few Rythmik kits (or at least 4 drivers w/ maybe one or two 350 watt amps) would make an awesome IB IMO. Im just itching for someone to try it out :-) don't mind me...

[crackyflipside]

A few updates to this thread:

First off, I have decided to get a SINGLE vented 15" subwoofer (Which Rythmik Audio is currently developing). Then to take care of the really low frequencies down to 5hz I am going with dual buttkickers. The platform will also be modified so that there will be two levels of platform.

The first platform will be the first row of seating and the area where the sofas are located are going to be seperate from the rest of the platform ( to accommodate the Buttkicker so it will have less mass to vibrate.

The second platform will be for the back row of seating and there will also be a section of the platform which will vibrate, which is where the seating will be. Here is an image to help visualize what I am saying.







Also, I have decided to just fill up the entire ceiling cavity and soffit space with blown fiberglass insulation as well as double drywall with green glue on the ceiling to reduce sound going through.

LOTS OF DESIGN CHANGES, DISREGARD THIS POST ENTIRELY! I know, it does have a pretty drawing... DISREGARD IT!

[crackyflipside]

After visiting Chasw98 and getting some FR graphs of the Rythmik 12" (which is no slouch for being a sealed 12" subwoofer), we talked about an IB installation and using the garage as the empty space.

If only there was someone in South Florida that had an IB installation I could listen too!

[chasw98]

Chris:
Go to the Cult of the Infinitely Baffled website. They have a map of IB owners that are willing to show their IB's off. I know of at least one on Florida's East Coast.

PS - The mic is not calibrated, it just has very flat response.

Chuck

[crackyflipside]

Originally Posted by chasw98

Chris:
Go to the Cult of the Infinitely Baffled website. They have a map of IB owners that are willing to show their IB's off. I know of at least one on Florida's East Coast.

PS - The mic is not calibrated, it just has very flat response.

Chuck

I've had a thread running since I got to my house

http://ibsubwoofers.proboards51.com/...4298002&page=1

[crackyflipside]

Im now considering quad 18" IB and the buttkickers as it will still keep me in budget. Placement of the drivers would be downfiring as a line-array from the bottom of the soffit in front of the screen.

[Exocer]

poor grandma...