AVS Forum banner

Clone Theater 2.0

19K views 180 replies 32 participants last post by  Maklar 
#1 · (Edited)
I am redoing my theater after we had a flood in the summer.

I am looking to clone parts of some of the best theaters I've seen here in the past couple years. I really like Mario's Cinemar theater, but I don't have the height he has to pay with. My door is on the side instead of the back, but I'm planning on the side of the screen through the sides being fairly similar. I won't have a sky painted mural yet, but I will be set up to do it if I choose in the future.

My room dimensions are similar to Mario's and with my door not being in the back, I'm going to have room for the bar counter in the back. I'm planning on Oak stained a very dark colour instead of painting it back. I will freely admit that it will not be as nice as Mario's and will not have a D Box thought I am strongly considering buying his Cinemar products for my theater.


SEATING:
* FRONT ROW - 4 Fusion Lagoon motorized recliners in IOVOOVOI configuration
* SECOND ROW - I am going to have a couch but I'm planning on buying a another row of Fusion products at some point.
* BACK ROW - For my back row I'm thinking of 4-6 Bar stools with a 20-24" deep granite or marble counter top.


SPEAKERS:
* L/R MAINS - DIY Fusion Tempest 12" waveguide speakers - Placement @ 34 degrees 42" high
* CENTER - DIY Fusion Tempest 12" waveguide speaker - Placement @ 0 degrees 42" high
* SURROUNDS - Fusion Alchemy's X 4 from DIYSoundgroup - Side Placement @ 110 degrees and rear @ 155 degrees with both at 50" high for sides
* WIDES -Fusion Alchemy - 53 degrees (which is over the 45 degree) 42" high
* HIGHS - Acoustic Energy Aegis One's temporarily until I pick which waveguide I want. (waiting on an 11.2 receiver)
* SUB WOOFERS - 4 DIY Dayton 15" Ultimax kits. Two with Bash 500s amps from Parts Express and two will have an iNuke DSP 6000 Placement - 2 in back corners on riser and two will be on the stage at the 1/4 marks or in the corner. Testing will determine.


ROOM DIMENSIONS
From studs: 17' 6" wide & 26' 9" deep
Ceiling is already in place. 5/8" + 5/8" drywall on clips. ( I didn't need to tear down the ceiling after the water damage) The ceiling does not touch the joists above. When we framed the room, we framed the walls up and built a ceiling in this room that was 2" under the duct work that covered 1/2 the width of the room and went straight across instead of going up. So I'm 14" under the joists that are 6'11" up. I built a huge hush box around the duct work (two layers of 3/4" plywood that does not touch the duct. There is insulation in the joists above (1 foot deep and then insulation on top of the theater ceiling., so no physical contact. In my previous theater I had zero noise transmission through the duct work. All my noise leakage came from the door gap to ground and leakage around the edges.

Ceiling height from floor to drywall 7'9"

Walls are 5/8" OSB + 1/2" drywall, plus the bottom half of the walls has 1/2" OSB as well, plus 3/4" veneered oak plywood. I put tar paper between the bottom layers.

WALL TREATMENTS:
Ordered Kinetics TAD diffusion template panels from Kinetics for diffusion. Using OC703 and Linacoustic

SEATING POSITIONS
FRONT ROW - 12'6"
MIDDLE ROW -
BAR - Granite top. Chairs TBD


EQUIPMENT
* RECEIVER - Denon 4520CI
* SCREEN - I currently have an SMX screen that is 11' 6" wide and 61" high. It has a mark on it from the company the insurance co used, so I am likely going with the same Seymour AV screen as Mario. I'm building it so I can handle my 138" wide screen or go with the 136" he has.used.
* Projector - Sony VPL-HW40ES
* IMAGE PROCESSING - Darbee Darblet
* POWER CONDITIONER / ups - Need to look at it again
* Looking at getting MiniDSP for the subs

CARPETTING
TBD - Likely nothing too elaborate

FABRIC
* Speaker - FR701 GOM Black
* Top of Front Cabinet Below Screen & Sides of Vertical Front Cabinets Facing Screen - Black Triple Plush Velvet
* Bordering Edges that the Seymour AV Screen sit's on - Protostar Self-Adhesive Flocked Light Trap Material
* Walls - Knoll Acoustic Fabric - Basket Draft Color


Room layout:

I will have two columns on each side and two in the back.

I will have side columns like Mario’s, but since I am planning on speakers behind those, my angle will not be 45 degrees, but likely 30 degrees. Since my Paradigm’s will be behind those, I’ll likely have the lower doors being high and my top doors being short. (My High speakers will be behind those)

WAINSCOTTING:
*I plan on it being 33” high on the lower level with it being 31” high on the riser. (96” sheet cut to 33, 31, 31 pieces 48” wide to save cost) I’ll be using ¾” Oak Veneer Plywood for the wainscoting and for the columns.
*I plan on the wainscoting being out 1 ¼” from the wall, so that above it, I can put 1” treatments behind the cloth.
 
See less See more
#5 ·
I really liked Mario's idea of putting OSB up and then drywall. I was not happy with trying to fill in the 2' gap cut by the insurance companies renovation source, and I wanted the trim/wainscotting / columns to go in without searching for studs.


When I built the room oriinally, it was to be 5/8" drywall + 1/2" drywall all around, but it turns out that my drywallercheated me and only did that on 2 of the 4 walls. So I thougth I'd tear out the existing drywall and redo it all. The back wall which backs to another room has two studded walls seperated by 1/4" to 1/2" gap. Two walls are 1/2" to 1" capped from poured cement and the last wall is a double wall as well.


Ripping off all of the drywall allowed me to run new wires as well. It let me put in power (on a switch) for my sub in teh back, as well as running RCA to that spot. I ran new speaker wire (12 gauge ) to all locations and ran two spare speaker wires to each location looping, so I could cut it at any speaker location and use ond of those two paris for that location incase anything happens in the future.


My wife also wanted more light in there, so I ran wire for 5 sconces.


Here are some pictures of the drywall ripped off.










 
#6 ·
After all of the wiring, I've ensured that all of my outlets were covered with putty pads (even the back wall outlets in that room) I added a fair bit of Roxul Insulation asI felt my last drywaller left way too may gaps and voids where sound would easily transmit.


I then put up 5/8" OSB and used acoustical caulking. (ceiling joins, filled holes I drilled for wires, etc)


Here are pictures of the OSB going up.










 
#7 ·
I ran the OSB left to right and ran the drywall up and down. It will be covered by the wainscotting and the cloth, so I was not overly concerned by the orientation, except that I wanted them perpindicular. I fit better for the OSB on the studs and I did it myself so it was easier. (less cutting)


On the back wall I used Green Glue between the OSB and the drywall. I didn't do it on the side walls. I may do it between the wainscotting and the walls. I just didn't see the benefit of walls that are not adjacent to anything.


Here are pictures of the drywall up or going up.









 
#8 ·
I have a carpenter making the columns and he has them put together. He has to put the trim on them yet, but they look like Mario's, but are 22" wide. (I'm trying to reuse some of my previous trim, so made them an inch wider so that base, rail, etc could be resused for the walls.


I should also give my budget. From the point of taking over the room as it was after the recovery team ripped everything out, I am hoping to do it for $19k. That is everything physically connected in the room. (wire, wood, trim, labour, tools, drywall, sound treatments, cloth, staining etc) It does not include my buying a second row of chairs or the stools for the back row. It does include, saw, saw tables, drills, etc.


At the point of the pictures here plus the columns and all of the material for the wainscotting (minus some moulding for hte wainscotting) I'm $5300 in.


I'm forecasting things in detail but I expect another $12,500 at this point, so I'll be under budget still.


Here are pictures of the riser. (It will be 3 layers of 5/8" OSB. I wanted 2 layers of 3/4" but I could not work with it well.


The riser in the pictures is 9'6" deep by 17'3" wide (1/2" gap around), but I plan on coming forward another 1-2' along the frong of the riser at different points, so I made this part the broad spectrum absorber. I used 12" boards on the outside, and 10" boards on the inside with left over wood as mid span supports like Jeff in DC suggests in his builds. I am putting in a 36" x 4" vent in the back and two 30" x 4" vents in the sides of the riser. The vent supplier that most of you use is only 10 minutes from my home. Sadly, it was cheaper to send it to my US post office box and import it back to Canada than it was to ship it ot my house 10 miles away.


Here are some inprogress riser shots. I'm on vacation in Florida until the new year, so progress has stopped since the end of November. Next step will be to finish up the riser and start up on the stage.







 
#9 ·
I'm planning on the front stage to be a cross between the following:






If I put the wood under the screen like Mario, it will not be functional doors like he has. All of my wood will be dark stained oak rather than the black painted. I like the black painted, but my wife would rather the stained wood. I'm fine with either.
 
#10 ·
#11 ·
Wall Treatment question:


I was going to go in the same direction as Mario from Cinemar did but a bit deeper for his walls. I know he used 1/2" denim, but planning on 1" Linacoustic, 1" Linacoustic with a plastic covering it and 1" diffuser panels like an RPG all with the larger cloth panels done like Mario. Since I"m using 3/4" Oak Veneer Plywood for the wainscotting below the treatments, I think I'll need to put up 1/2" OSB behind it to push them out 1 1/4" from the wall. Is that what people would suggest so that the cloth is not touching the acoustic treaments? (for astetics)


Also, would people suggest cutting into the wainscotting at points where the trim is in order to put sound treatments in spots along the lower part of the wall?


Example of Mario's wall section. I was thinking of cutting some spots in the wall like he did at the lower part of his columns.





I circled in Blue I was not planning on cutting out the bottom of the columns like Mario did.
 
#12 ·
I'm hoping to get the riser completed in the next couple weeks and also to finish up the riser and base of the stage.


I've run noise at 85 dB in the room and taken measurements with a dB meter outside of the room with no increase in sound level on or off. I can pick up noise ouside of the door and I am convinced that i need the door sealing system from the Sound Proofing Company.


I ran measurements inside the room with noise outside of the room and I'm happy. I blocked the bottom of the door off with blankets on both sides and my measurements were good.


The ceiling is double layer on clips. The walls are all 5/8" OSB with 1/2" of drywall on them. Two walls are perimeter walls spaced 1' from 12" of poured cement. One wall is adjacent to a family room in the basement and it has GG and is a double wall with a gap. THe other wall has te door and is adjacent to a closet that is drywalled on the inside and outside, so it seems to work well as a damptr. The other part fo the wall is a double wall to the bathroom.


I really need to think about the door. It is a Masonnite Solid core safe and sound door 1 3/4" thick. Should I be thinking of replacing it? Put absorbtion panel on it? Both?
 
#13 ·
The six columns are built and two of them are fully trimmed. Need to cut the bottom hole out of 4 of them and finish the trim.


I'm looking to get prices for staining them really dark and then prices for staining the items in theater. The columns will get sprayed in the guys shop.


Oak Veneer Plywood with Oak trim. (3/4" plywood)

 
#15 ·
I was looking at using Monoprice in wall speakers in my columns for surrounds and wides. I am now debating between building boxes in the columns for those or selling them off and building something. From the DIYSpeakerGroup. Thoughts? My columns are 10 inches deep so I am limited to 8 - 9" deep speakers, which is why I went inwall right off.
 
#16 ·
I'm still looking for input in the surround speakers and the wide speakers. What do people think of the Fusion - 8's?


I've seen others used the Monoprice 7604 In-Walls 6 1/2" Dual Woofer with micro flange in their HT. What are people's thoughts on these for surrounds?


If I use the Fusions, the front of the speaker will be 1/4 to 1/2" away from the FR701.


Also, if I use the wave guide speakers will they be a bit too tight of a dispersion patter for the side surrounds to cover two rows? Would they make better sense for the Wide speakers that need to be "aimed" more at the seating location. I was planning on Acoustic Energy Aegis-1's for the Wide's or highs.


I'm also looking for feedback on the use of Paradigm Studio 80's for the fronts. I love their sound, but for HT use, do people feel they disperse too quickly? Should I be looking to pull them and replace with something like the Fusion -12 or Fusion - 15? I like what I've read on the JTR's. Is there a really large jump for HT pulling the Paradigm Studio 80's and CC and going with three Noesis 228HT?


Has anyone heard both the Paradigm Studio's and the JTR's?
 
#17 ·
Anyone is RPG BAD or Flutter Free panels ? I am getting prices for these and was looking for members experience with these products
 
#18 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff in Canada  /t/1507174/clone-theater-2-0#post_24114312


Door


I will be ordering the automatic door bottom and likely jams from the SoundProofing Company early in the new year.

http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/soundproofing-products/door-bottom-jamb-stop/


The door bottom seems very reasonably priced, but I'm still hesitating on the jams.


Who has used the jambs from there and did you think it was worth the investment?

I also hesitated on the jambs but WOW they make a HUGE difference. Very very glad I spent the money on them. I would go for it.
 
#19 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff in Canada  /t/1507174/clone-theater-2-0#post_24245052


Anyone is RPG BAD or Flutter Free panels ? I am getting prices for these and was looking for members experience with these products

They should work well for the frequency range they are rated for.


I had a local carpenter / door maker use his cnc/routing machine to make me tons panels. This was ultimately a reasonable pricing scheme.


I have doors behind my sitting position and I had the guy custom make me doors with overlapping edges to soundproof the room. The doors also have acoustic diffusion paneling built into the design of the door also.
 
#20 ·
looking good i like the columns have you decided on the stain color yet ?
 
#21 ·
I'll post a picture on Saturday. The painter is coming over Saturday to show me two different color samples. One is a dark expresso and one is a black / dark grey.


Riser is mostly done. Just need to trim with oak and put on carpet ultimately. Stage base is going down now. Should also be done by Saturday. Then I need to put the columns in, wainscoting up and build the front cabinets on the stage.
 
#22 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by blazar  /t/1507174/clone-theater-2-0#post_24245798


They should work well for the frequency range they are rated for.


I had a local carpenter / door maker use his cnc/routing machine to make me tons panels. This was ultimately a reasonable pricing scheme.


I have doors behind my sitting position and I had the guy custom make me doors with overlapping edges to soundproof the room. The doors also have acoustic diffusion paneling built into the design of the door also.

I'm curious to see what their price turns out to be. Too bad you are not selling some of the panels you made.
 
#23 ·
I've owned Paradigm Studio 60s in the past and I'll tell you that the JTR 888 HTs from 2008 trumped them by a lot. The 228s will be even better. Just be sure to get enough subwoofage to keep up with the JTRs.


Where are you located?
 
#24 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dbuudo07  /t/1507174/clone-theater-2-0#post_24251736


I've owned Paradigm Studio 60s in the past and I'll tell you that the JTR 888 HTs from 2008 trumped them by a lot. The 228s will be even better. Just be sure to get enough subwoofage to keep up with the JTRs.


Where are you located?

I'm located across the river from Detroit. I've talked to a few people on AVS who have JTR's and have either had SEOS-12 speakers (Fusion Tempest or Sentinels) or listened to them in comparison get togethers. They seem to feel that for a pure HT setup that they would go with Waveguide speakers from DIYSoundGroup. I've talked to Erich and I'm leaning that way. I was going to pull the trigger on the Fusion Sentinels (15') but he told me they were not available They are working on a 15" using the new SEOS-15 Waveguilde. I don't need the speakers for 3-4 months so I'm thinking that I'll wait for a solid design to come out using the SEOS-15 and use those as my mains. I'm now leaning heavily on going with the Fusion-8's as my surrounds.


I think that I would really love the JTR 228's but I can get all 3 mains for less than one JTR 228. If the new speaker design is a 5-10% improvement it will be very close.


I have not decided for certain, but when I weigh the following:


Set of 228 JTR's vs Set of SEOS-15 (Fusion-15 new) + New higher end projector + 4 Surrounds + what i spent on my Sherbourn 7-350 amp......I'm leaning toward the right side.
 
#26 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dbuudo07  /t/1507174/clone-theater-2-0#post_24251978


Great decision! I live near Toronto, which isn't close, but if you need any help, I'll do whatever I can to assist.

Thanks! I appreciate that. I work in Michigan, and I have a UPS box there. I can get everything shipped there, and then when I go on a trip to one of our plants in Indiana for 2 days, I can bring back $800 tax free.


Did you get JTR 212's?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top