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82K views 777 replies 72 participants last post by  jedimastergrant 
#1 · (Edited)
Finished December 2013

Version 2.0 finished February 2017 added UHD and Immersive Audio plus added another Orbit Shifter





Equipment List:

Display:
JVC DLA-NZ8

Speakers:
Mains
(3) JTR Noesis 212 HT (original 3 way model like the current HTR model)

Surrounds
Base Layer- (4) JTR S8 Slanted LP
Height Layer for Immersive Audio- (4) JTR S8 Slanted LP

Subwoofers
JTR Orbit Shifter LFU (2)

Processor:
Arcam AV40

Amplifiers:
Buckeye Amplifiers HYPEX NC502MP 4 Channel
Yamaha MX-A5000

EQ:
Dirac Live with Bass Control

Sources:
Oppo UDP 203
Samsung UBD K8500
Apple TV 4K, Roku Premier Plus, NVIDIA Shield

Remote- Harmony Elite
Rack- MA ERK series

Screen:
9 ft wide (110")
2.35:1
Enlightor Neo with Seymour AV frame.
Purchased the masking panels for 1.78:1 content.









December: Slide out media rack done, Projector shelf done, AV gear installation
November: Electrical finished, final painting done, seats and screen, lots of shelving
October: Carpet installation, Rest of basement completed, Lots of work on doors
September: Fabric Frames and lots of painting
August: HVAC Return and Doors
July: Communicating door vestibule, electrical, pull out media storage
June: Subfloor, Stage, Riser, Projection room
May: Clips, Channel, osb, dw, gg,
April: Joist muffler completed
March: Subfloor treated with double drywall and green glue
4 20 amp circuits added to basement
February: Hired new contractors to help on weekends
Ordered lots of building materials
2012
November: Lots of demo
Completed decoupling of walls
October: Soundproofing materials delivered
September: Flood!!!!!!
Wall taken down again
August: Decision made to contact thesoundproofingcompany and do it right the first time
July: JTR Orbit Shifter delivered
Wall put up to enclose room
June: AVS Pro Theater Layout Service from the Erskine Group via Shawn Byrne delivered

First dedicated room with a front projector! I am utilizing the room layout service from the Erskine Group and started the process on 3-20-12.

Soundproofing:
Walls
clips and channel on ceiling
clips and channel on rear wall that is connected to stairwell wall.
existing walls were naturally decoupled from the foundation
walls that were built used staggered stud approach
all walls attached to ceiling joists using IB3's
Floor
3/8'' serenity mat
3/4'' plywood
HVAC
joist mufflers for supplies
return muffler to be made (done)
Doors
Zero International Auto door bottoms (best seals)
Zero International door seals
Solid core 1 3/4'' then added layer of 3/4" mdf with green glue between
Double door system as well with another solid core door and DIY seals

Lighting
12 cans in soffits inside of shell
rope light around soffit perimeter
4 step lights
4 Sconces

Automation
Insteon dimmers for a total of 5 zones
Insteon Hub

Dimensions:
Width 15'
Length 19' to rear wall. There will be a small "projector booth" between the HT room and the storage area behind which will house my AV gear.
Ceilings 7'9"

Here is a basic version of the plans from the layout service. My plans are now changed slightly from this layout. I will be making the length of the room 19' which means the small 3.5'x9' space in the back of the room where the projector is will be closed off making a "projector booth and equipment closet". Several reasons: the column in the back part of that space looked funny just hanging out in the middle of nowhere, I wanted to put the projector outside of the room for heat and noise and did not want to couple it to the ceiling bc the kitchen and 3 little boys are directly overhead. This also allows me to do my AV rack outside the room and not worry about the noise, heat, or light pollution.

Click in pictures to enlarge.









Video
Here is a video that will probably help to give a better idea of the space I have to work with.



Picture of the front wall where screen will be.


Here is a similar angle after the flood and some demo.





Picture from the front of the room looking at the stairwell and the space where the wall will go.



Rear of the room post demo.




Picture of the back of the room showing entrance to the unfinished storage area where the equipment rack will be.




Back of the room post demo.



I am ceiling ht limited in this room anyway and there is a support beam and a bit of HVAC duct in the front that drops down about 9'' from the ceiling.

Seating-
Front row is 3 Berkline Director leather theater recliners (Electric recline!) at around 9.5 ft from the screen.
Second row is a large 3 seat Natuzzi leather couch with recliners on each end along with a matching Natuzzi leather reclining chair so it seats 4 adults comfortably.

Sound Treatments-
As prescribed in the avs layout.
Quest Perfsorb at first reflection points.
The rest is OC 705 DIY panels. Several 2 inch absorption panels and several diffusion panels. Treatment on all of front wall is OC Select Sound Black.
Riser made into bass trap.
Ceiling (3) GIK 242 panels

Stage-
I am copying the Sunset Cinema stage. 1 ft tall and approx 5 ft deep. Filled with sand. Do what I can to stop the Orbit Shifter from shaking the screen (accomplished).

Projector Shelf
Would like to avoid a ceiling mount because of little feet in the kitchen above shaking the projector. I mounted a shelf to the walls with IB3 clips for decoupling and placed serenity matt on top of the shelf as well and no shaking so far.
 

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#327 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ScAndal  /t/1398229/sunflower-state-cinema/300#post_23618521


Awesomeness build

Thanks Scandal,


I saw the carpet you are about to install in your theater. The design is quite distinctive. Very classy. Can't wait to see the room after installation. I bet you can't either. Nice work.
 
#328 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by doublewing11  /t/1398229/sunflower-state-cinema/300#post_23618631


Isn't that the pits.......ie. lumber that is not straight!



I purchased KD No. 1's in all dimensions yet 70% of my 2 X 12's were crap.......ie. twisted, cupped, sucker knots, thick grained etc.! Being a small timberland owner, 30 years ago we would harvest 75 year old stands.........today we turn those stands over every 35-40 years and profit from thinning too. Timber isn't what it used to be................the days of fine grained timber are over!

Yes, the lumber we returned was all "premium" 2x4, 2x6 etc. There were not many that were straight enough to use for the fabric frames. We did cut some up to use as blocking on the walls for the actual frames to sit on and around. But, now we are thinking about ripping 3/4'' plywood for the frames that way we know it will be straight.
 
#329 ·
Edmunds Optics?




It was suggested to me that I order an AR coated window from Edmunds Optics to use for the projector to shine through. It arrived and I was not suspecting for it to be BLUE!!!!! I have not contacted Edmund Optics to ask them about this yet. Does anyone know if this is truly what I am supposed to use? I am assuming that the light passing through would be distorted. Maybe I am supposed to calibrate that out of the final image?????


This is what I ordered. Window 8" x 10" Size 3mm Thickness, AR CoatingStock No. #43-974 http://www.edmundoptics.com/products/sort_by_spec.cfm?productid=1919&sort=stock_number&order=ASC&accsort=description&accOrder=ASC


I will probably end up calling Edmunds Optics to get to the bottom of this but I thought I would ask here as well.
 
#330 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jedimastergrant  /t/1398229/sunflower-state-cinema/300#post_23619380


........We already laminated on the second layer to the jamb with gg so it is probably too late for me (darn). .....

Sorry I didn't get to it sooner



Once you get the hang of sketchup, it really is a handy little program. I've even used it for some 2D renders.


As far as the glass goes, I have no idea. Let us know what you find out from Edmunds.
 
#331 ·
Triad Surrounds arrived


Triad In Wall Bronze Surrounds.




I went with the custom finish option to match my fabric. Here it is with the grill surround in place.




Here is the entire grill in place.




Here is a picture showing the fabric next to it. I think they did a good job matching the paint color.

 
#333 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jedimastergrant  /t/1398229/sunflower-state-cinema/300#post_23619465


Edmunds Optics?


It was suggested to me that I order an AR coated window from Edmunds Optics to use for the projector to shine through. It arrived and I was not suspecting for it to be BLUE!!!!! I have not contacted Edmund Optics to ask them about this yet. Does anyone know if this is truly what I am supposed to use? I am assuming that the light passing through would be distorted. Maybe I am supposed to calibrate that out of the final image?????


I will probably end up calling Edmunds Optics to get to the bottom of this but I thought I would ask here as well.

It is protective film.
. Peel off right before you place it where it is going.
 
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#334 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by KBlaw2010  /t/1398229/sunflower-state-cinema/330#post_23627661


It is protective film.
. Peel off right before you place it where it is going.

Awkward!



Now that you mention it, that does look like the film that comes on new pieces of glass. I knew that, of course. I just wanted to see if anyone else was paying attention
 
#335 ·
Sorry Grant. I had made the suggestion but didn't tell you about the protective coating at the time and I am just catching up on a few threads now. They use the blue to make it obvious because if they had used clear protective film there would be a lot of folks who didn't even know it was there Very common practice in the optics world.


Don't forget to mount your glass at a 15 degree forward angle so the light doesn't reflect back on the projector lens. If you are not using an anamorphic lens, I would estimate that the distance you need between the projector's lens and the back side of the glass at around 6" minimum. However, if you have your projector on-site you can test the distance you need with a quickie guerilla setup before building the hush box.


Everything's really coming along nicely, by the way.
 
#336 ·
Thanks everyone. I really didn't notice that there was a film on it! Should have checked. Now I know.


My PJ will be in the room behind the theater so no hush box. Instead I just have a porthole in the back of the room. It is at a 10 degree angle. I should shine a light through it to see where the reflection ends up as you said just to make sure.
 
#337 ·
"That's not a knife"


In your best Crocodile Dundee voice: "That's not a hinge".




"Thats a hinge."




I received my heavy duty extra long throw hinges from hardwaresource.com. They are 8x8 heavy duty ball bearing hinges rated at 800 lbs for door widths up to 3 ft. I only need 3 of them for door heights up to 7.5 ft. I hope they do the trick.




Or maybe this one. "My hinge ate your hinge for breakfast".

 
#339 ·
Opinion needed on Insteon keypad dimmer switch placement.


I need to decide where to put my Insteon 8 button keypad dimmer switch. This will control all my zones on and off and provide dimming for the can lights. All of that will be controlled via my remote control (hopefully) but I will be using it to turn everything on and off on a regular basis when I enter and exit the room.


I am open to suggestions. I did plan to put the dimmer within the 4.25'' panel on the wall. This picture shows a pencil outline (hard to see) of where that 4.25'' panel will be next to the entrance door. The panel itself is 27x50''. There are 6 of the 4.25'' panels and the rest of the theater will be made of 2.25'' panels. You can see the romex and temporary switch hanging there.



Option 1 is to put the switch facing out into the room. The only concern (besides maybe reflections) is that I will have a sconce right next to the dimmer. I was not sure about how this would look being within just a few inches. The sconce will be just to the right of the switch.



Option 2 is to put the switch on the side of the panel. It would be basically flush with the latch side of the door. Maybe inset just a bit. There would be no reflections and it would not get in the way of the looks of the sconce. But, maybe it is a little too funny or doesn't make sense for some other reason.



Option 3.............maybe put it in a 2.25'' panel below the 4.25'' panel. But then the switch is pretty low and 2.25'' is really tight if it even works at all. Need some help here making a decision.
 
#340 ·
Even with 12 gauge in/out you should be able to fit the wires and scene selector switch into a low-profile electrical box if you want the option of placing the switch within one of the panels.


To be honest, I couldn't see the pencil lines beside the door, even when I jacked up the brightness on my monitor. However, from your two choices, option 1 is clearly the way to go, even with the sconce close-by. Option 2 is just . . . .well . . . odd.
 
#342 ·
No column near the door. Original plan was to have columns but I have decided to try something different and use the thicker panels instead of columns. I could still change my mind I suppose but it is the 11th hour so I don't really want to.


Ok so it sounds like a normal mounting is the wAy to go.
 
#343 ·
I'm going to suggest something that I normally would not recommend. Have you thought about putting the control on the opposite side of the wall on the outside of the room? AFAIK, there are no code requirements against doing that, although I may be wrong about that. It's obviously going to be odd for someone that's not familiar with the room, but it's something to consider. And if you put the switch immediately next to the door frame on the handle side it's going to be hard to miss.


You could also find somewhere else in the room that's more convenient for a second switch if you really want one in the room as well. Again, I would not normally recommend this, but this is not a normal room. Flame suit on
 
#344 ·
That is actually exactly what I did with the rest of the Insteon dimmer switches. They are all on the other side of the wall which is in between the double door system. I was indecisive about where to put them but I made up my mind that I would like to have just the one all on/off switch/dimmer in the room itself.
 
#345 ·
Getting ready to install the zero international automatic door bottoms and I am wondering if we should go with full mortise, semi mortise or no mortise. My understanding is that it should be on the push side of the door which will be on the non theater side since my door opens into the room. What are the soundproofing implications of each approach? How about aesthetic concerns?
 
#346 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jedimastergrant  /t/1398229/sunflower-state-cinema/330#post_23664502


Getting ready to install the zero international automatic door bottoms and I am wondering if we should go with full mortise, semi mortise or no mortise. My understanding is that it should be on the push side of the door which will be on the non theater side since my door opens into the room. What are the soundproofing implications of each approach? How about aesthetic concerns?

I went with no mortised..............and yes........on the push side ie. outside theater.


Be very, very careful mitering corners top/side seals. Another point..............I allowed my GC to cut my bottom seal...........he left the prescribed 1/16 gap but cut the neoprene seal too much- he had the proper saw and I didn't. Anyhow, so when the door is shut, I have 1/16 to 1/8 gap on each side.


Have new neoprene seal on order and will replace soon. I believe the rubber neoprene seal needs to be much longer than your aluminum auto door stop cut due to horizontal compression. You can always cut the aluminum as prescribed, but leave the seal longer.....and cut to taste!


Just giving you a heads up before you start.

 
#348 ·
Best method to paint fabric frames? I was planning to use dark gray (graphite is almost black). My fabric is gray and very dark gray or close to it. I was under the impression that the goal of painting them is to prevent a color contrast between the frame and the fabric.


Is there any type of paint that is better. It does not have to look nice. Just prevent one from seeing through the fabric. Would like to only do one coat of course.


The frames are made of plywood.
 
#349 ·
I painted all of mine with a 4" mini roller. Touched up the inside corners with a brush and done. Worked well and EASY!!! I did try to paint one with a rattle can of flat black and it took 10x as long and stunk up the basement!
 
#350 ·
HVAC Return Muffler Part 1


I had been putting this off for awhile but it was time to get it done. I really just threw this thing together and I have no idea if it will work for moving the amount of air required and doing so quietly . Fingers crossed!


Basically, I am starting the return at the back of the room and taking it through my stairwell in order to get it into the storage area where it can be tied into my return system. My plan is to see how noisy it is for the rest of the house and if needed I will install a fan and make it into a dead vent. I am doing my best to muffle the return before it gets into the return system aluminum trunk. It goes 4' underneath the stairwell. Then it goes 7' from the floor to the ceiling. It winds a little bit in this last part so it adds at least a foot or two.


So really I am just making two boxes and some transitions. But, it takes longer than you think when the goal is sound isolation.


I used 10'' flex duct throughout along with a few elbows. It is essentially made of two separate muffler boxes. Everything is double 5/8'' dw with gg between. I took care to decouple the return from the stairwell as best I could.


I put a hole in my precious shell. I may eventually make a little box in the back of the room as a transition if I have problems with noise. It can be added later.



And here is the hole under the stairwell. The oversized hole was later patched tight again.



Closeup of cutout.



Installed a collar. Applied duct tape.



This is the decoupling part and a total PITA. It touches the interior decoupled wall but not the other side of it. I used additional pieces of drywall, acoustical caulk, and putty pads.



Put down a base layer of serenity mat and started to build my box from there.



Put up the side walls maintaining a 1/2'' gap to decouple. Also threw in pink fluffy in the space behind the muffler box.



I used acoustical caulk on all of the seams. I had to install a series of cut down 2x4's as the walls went up. It takes awhile to think it through when you cannot put a screw in from the outside!



Here is the flex duct going through the stairwell box. I made the hole on the other side next to the floor to provide a bend in the flex and hopefully make it more difficult for sound to follow to the other side.



Then the cavity was filled with pink fluffy.



All closed up. More insulation will go on top of the box. I am installing shelves in the first 18'' by the door. This box is around 36x36x32.
 
#351 ·
That's one heck of a box! Looks good.


How much offset is there between the hole on the left and the hole on the right? If you stand in the room, can you look into the duct and see out the other side of the box? From what I can tell, the only weak link might be how straight the duct is between the two openings. Otherwise this is looking awesome.


I'm not sure what size your supply is, but I think you'll be glad you went with a 10" flex on that return! It will make a big difference in how much air you can move without velocity noise. Good call on that one.
 
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