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My Pirate-Themed Movie Room

4K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  Sharken Beard 
#1 · (Edited)
It used to be pretty bland, but eventually just evolved into a pirate-themed area. Being a huge fan of the Disney parks and of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and movies I wanted to have a little bit of that at home. The entire room is fairly small at a little over 11-feet wide and about 12-feed deep, with a small alcove in the front right corner.


Carved EPS foam will adorn the corner alcove. Our dog does not approve.


Dungeon wall. This will eventually get jail bars made of PVC pipes.


Completed wall section with gun mount hooks carved out of wood, but painted to look like corroded brass.


Completed room. The wood planks across the ceiling are also carved of EPS foam. The iron brackets are foam core board with the paper skin removed with added plastic cabochons for rivets.


The Jurassic Park logo stone plaque is another one of my creations… also out of foam. Acoustic treatment is 1" thick wedge-cut foam from Foambymail. Cheap stuff, but far more effective than I expected and made a dramatic improvement in taming sound reflections.


The biggest difference I suspect between this bottom-dollar brand compared with the expensive stuff is mostly cosmetic (some minor air bubble pitting and cuts aren't 100% uniform). I would assume the more expensive denser foams would perform a little better at absorbing wider ranges of frequencies, but for the laughably low price (just shy of 80¢ for each 12" square), absolutely no complaints here. I'll save more detailed info for another thread though.






Corner alcove with completed dungeon wall, small pinball machine, and display cabinet with a few movie prop replicas, my favorite being Davy Jone's chest.


110-inch screen by Elite Screens (white "Sable" series model ER110WH1). This was under $300 shipped and is still an incredible value as far as projection screens are concerned. Very sturdy and high quality and earn my highest recommendation.


Ceiling tiles are DIY, made of foam core board wrapped in black landscaping fabric. Works like a charm at keeping the light from the screen bouncing back from the ceiling and washing out the contrast. Details in this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/15-ge...-diy-ceiling-tiles-projector-screen-area.html


7.1 system consists entirely of Definitive Technology StudioMonitor 350 bookshelf speakers, and an Energy s10.3 subwoofer. The Def Techs were a recent upgrade from my previous entry-level Sonys, which I've been enjoying for nearly 10 years, but felt it was time to upgrade. I've always wanted to own Def Techs and I wanted to jump at it while these models were still available for purchase as they've been long discontinued. So far, I'm absolutely thrilled with them. Very laid back and sweet character that sound just beautiful with acoustic jazz, and of course movies.


The stands are actually sturdy metal floral stands. Extremely cost effective alternative to expensive speaker stands. The mermaid figures under the stands are also self-made of… you guessed it, EPS foam, painted to look like old wood.


Due to the speakers being a little low I opted to angle them towards ear-height using stacks of self adhesive foam pads, wrapped in black tape to make them less conspicuous. To prevent the speakers from sliding off, each top of the foam pad stacks have a taped-on piece of non-slip grip material meant for china shelves. They are very sturdy and the speakers are in no danger whatsoever from sliding off or toppling over. Also, the felt pads effectively work as isolation pads.


Back wall. A few nicknacks here and there.


Projector is an Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8350. I still believe that this is still one of the greatest value in home projection. At just over $1,000 it's a steal for the quality; gorgeous color, contrast and better than average blacks, especially for an LCD projector. Rated at 2,000 it's got plenty of juice to light up a 110" screen from about 14 feet away.


Left wall. The curtain is there to block the white closet doors to keep the reflection off of the screen. I removed the left door where the electronics are housed.


The heart of the system. Receiver is a Sony STR-DH800 (100 watts RMS x 7, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, etc.) Not a bad receiver at all. Solidly built with decent power. The only thing I'd say where the receiver needs improvement is the analog inputs are noisier than I'm used to. Interestingly the signal-to-noise ratio ratings are nowhere to be found in any of the documentation so my guess it's pretty low. Digital inputs however are perfect. Sony Playstation 3 serves as a Blu-ray and Netflix player. DVD player is an older up-converting Panasonic (DVD-S53). Yes, I know. The PS3 is perfectly capable of playing DVDs but I've found my standalone player does a much better job at up-converting than the PS3 (the latter making the picture far less detailed with more artifacts when compared with the Panasonic). That player has, to my eyes, the best up-converting I've seen in any player at that price range. Easily equaling Oppo, and Farouja-equiped Denon players I've tested, so I kept it and still use it extensively since 2007. Video sources however (30fps 60-Hz material), the PS3 does a far better job (no jaggies). Hidden from view is a tiny Raspberry Pi mini computer which serves as an XBMC-equipped media player. Those of you who are not familiar with Raspberry Pi's, it's a barebones tiny hobby computer capable of running simple Linux based software. The system also features an IR repeater with the receiving sensor placed just under the center channel.

-AL
 
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#2 ·
Just recently picked up some new speaker wire. Opted for Monoprice's excellent 12 AWG copper wire and open-type banana plugs. The plugs were probably unnecessary as the Def Tech StudioMonitors already have pretty nice gold-plated terminals, though it does make disconnecting and reconnecting much easier.



Here's a shot of the subwoofer which wasn't visible in the previously posted photos.



It's an Energy S10.3 that replaced an older Sony 12" sub. The Energy is a 200 watt RMS (800 peak) model with a 10" woofer, but despite the size it reaches below 30 Hz with ease (at least in my room). Definitely destroys my older and larger Sony.
 
#6 ·
Well, I do on occasion visit the PA Renaissance Faire in full Jack Sparrow garb. Does that count?

Corndoggy, I know what you mean, which is why I opted to fabricate most of it myself. My room is still evolving though and I'm planing on extending the pirate ambiance a little further as time progresses.
 
#5 ·
I had the same idea but mine is much darker, both literally and figuratively. Solid flat black. Decor is hard to come by without looking cheesy though. I want it to look more evil. The coolest decor I've found so far is just the pirates movie poster, framed in an antiqued wood frame, plus Lowes has some lighting that is oil rubbed antique bronze. I am building my own desks and bookshelves, have black Palliser seating, and am getting a couple of these:

http://www.potterybarn.com/products...ODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules

Also plan on a sword collection with things like this:
http://www.darkknightarmoury.com/p-3272-pirate-captains-hanger.aspx

Going to try to not fill it up much beyond that. Trinkets will just rattle, as I have a QSC 2450 amp pushing two and eventually four Ultimax 18's.

 
#8 ·
Thanks! I used several hot tools that melt through the foam and a few other techniques to get the texture. I didn't use any hard coating since XPS foam is fairly rigid and strong enough to just be treated as wall "dressing". If it needed structural integrity, like a chair or table or something meant to be walked on that would be a different matter and it would require a rigid coating.

-AL
 
#10 ·
So since reading your response about foam carving, I've been researching and practicing methods to create my own pirate themed theater. All thanks to this unique design! I had no clue how in depth I could go with foam carving and faux painting! I'd love to hear some of your techniques for carving! So far I think I'm set on using different rotary tool bits for the grout line carving. And I've been working on a technique with acetone for the rock effect with amazing results! The biggest obstacle right now is carving and painting rocks. I'm trying to decide if I need to purchase a set of hot tools or not? What would you recommend? I have a ton of ideas for my room that is to begin construction late next month. So I'm really just planning and trying out different methods. Thanks for the inspiration!
 
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