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12K views 81 replies 13 participants last post by  W00lly 
#1 · (Edited)


"Once more unto the breach"
About a year ago, we decided to sell our house and build a smaller home with a more efficient use of space. That meant saying goodbye to the Lewis Family Cinema, our first dedicated home theater. I started planning v2.0 while we were still contemplating whether or not to move, so I was more or less prepared when the time to build arrived. Unlike v1.0 where my family and I did everything except mud, tape and carpet, we had our builder do most of the work until we moved in to finish up. Of course, not everything went as planned, but the process was relatively smooth with experiences gained from v1.0 and the contributions of many across AVS. I’ve decided to start this thread to share our journey, again…

Here is the floorplan of the space in our basement with the screenwall intended for the bottom exterior wall of the plan:



Here is my rough attempt at a 3D render of our plan:



From the screenwall the HT room is about 17’L x 18'W x 8"H. I wanted to put the in-wall equipment rack in the rear right corner of the room, but, the furnace and water heater are on the other side of the wall there. So, I moved the rack to the front right corner.

My initial plans for an enclosed, fully isolated room like v1.0 were significantly revised by the CEO of household affairs, albeit with reasoning I ultimately agree with, so sound isolation is not a primary concern. Acoustics will remain a focal point balanced by the compromise of aesthetics. I’m planning two rows of seating. The first row will be HT seating about 12’ from the screen and the second row will be a bar and stools at 15.5’. Based on seating and room dimensions, I’d planned for a 120”D scope screen. With a push from the family, additional room depth to move back if necessary and based on 4K's higher resolution I ultimately decided to go larger. We are not using any lighting control systems at this point, but I did plan for it in the future, just in case.

INDEX – updated if necessary

Room Details and Specs
Dimensions – 17' 4" L x 18' 2" W x 8' H

11.x Audio
Front Mains – Paradigm Studio 20 Rosenut
Center – Paradigm Studio CC-590 Rosenut
Front Wides – Paradigm Studio 20 Rosenut
Front Heights – Infinity Entra One Black
Side Surrounds – Sonance VP63 In-walls
Rear Surrounds – Sonance VP65R In-ceilings
Subwoofers – DIY Sound Group Flat Pack Dayton HO 18" (4)
Subwoofers – Dual driver front firing cabinets with Dayton Ultimax 15" (2)

Video
Projector – Sony vpl-vw600ES
Screen – 133"D 2.35 Screen Innovations BD Zero Edge with LED backlighting

Electronics Rack (top to bottom)
HDTV – DirecTV Genie
Media Player – Sony 4K Ultra HD FMP-X1
Media Player – Oppo BDP-103D
Power Center – MonsterPower HTS2600
Pre/Pro – Marantz 8801
7-Channel Amp – Marantz 8077

Power Amp Rack (top to bottom)
Subwoofer Power Amp #1 – Crown XLS2500 powering 2 Dayton HO 18"
Subwoofer Power Amp #2 – Crown XLS2500 powering 2 Dayton HO 18"
Subwoofer Power Amp #3 – Crown XLS2000 powering 2 Dayton Ultimax 15"
Subwoofer Power Amp #4 – Crown XLS2000 powering 2 Dayton Ultimax 15"
7-Channel Amp – Emotiva UPA-7
ButtKicker Amp – ButtKicker BKA 1000N

Accessories
Seating – 4 Berkline 13175s in Brown Leather w/ ButtKickers and Quick Connect Kit
Seating – Bar and Stools for 3-4
Remote Controls – iRule on Sony Xperia tablet
Acoustic Treatment – Undecided
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Finished Pictures:











 
#3 ·
The finalized screenwall sketches that started it all...





And a couple of crude attempts at a fully enclosed room before throwing in the towel and focusing on plan #1

Fully enclosed plan #2



Fully enclosed plan #3
 
#4 ·
Here are my LV and lighting wiring plans:



Low Voltage Audio Plan - 11.x where x=6 subwoofer locations




Low Voltage Video Plan




Lighting Plan - I scaled back the seating lights to 2 rows of 4 instead of 2 rows of 5; the screenwall has 2 lights instead of 3 and each shelf has LED strips. Each row has its own switch in a 4 gang box.


 
#5 ·
Here are some images of the unfinished space during the electrical wiring rough in:


Front of HT with 2 runs of 2" conduit, just in case...



Left side



Rear



Right side
 
#6 ·
Wiring for the Mains, Center, Front Heights, Subwoofers (x4) and shelf LEDs (black drops - upper corners)



Added a sixth sub location in the rear left. It is out in the open though and my wife scrunched her nose in disapproval



This sub location is safely shielded by a 2.5ft wall. Note, the individual switch runs for each row of lights; we can change this to something more integrated down the road.


All of the audio wiring routing to the in wall rack location. The Cat6 box you see here contained the
 
#7 ·
Conduit and mount blocking at the projector location about 16' from the screen wall



HVAC and lighting rough in with the itchy pink fluffy



Pink fluffy blown in all of the walls in preparation for drywall

 
#9 ·
Hey Warren. I agree that I may be a bit light on subs.
I blame those KC boys and Gorilla at Dave's meet.
 
#10 ·
Here is the first layer of DD going on the hat channel before GG and layer two...oops, that was last time, nevermind. I did not miss hanging the drywall at all, not one little bit.









Mud and tape








 
#11 ·
The backside of the right wall where the in wall equipment rack will go



The other end of my screenwall conduit and the drop for the shelf LED power supply
 
#12 ·
A little texture before painting


 
#13 ·
Painting and Lighting - color is Sherwin Williams - Portabella










 
#14 ·
The carpenter was fantastic. I gave him these:





After a few conversations and some minor adjustments



He got started
















 
#15 ·
Lights and Carpet








 
#16 ·
Move in day!



This was April '13 and I was now in a holding pattern on 2.0; waiting for our other house to sell before I could finish the room. No big deal...how long could it take?
 
#18 ·
You start a build thread and 4 hrs later you have a painted room, lights, and carpet...I call Hogwash!!! We did not get to see any pain and suffering this time..
 
#19 ·
C'mon...I fought through a wicked toe cramp while making all of those posts.



Other than a paper cut or two and perhaps a splinter here or there while working on sketches and plans, there was not a lot of pain while the builder worked.
He communicated well, and we were extremely lucky the new house was close enough to consistently visit the worksite multiple times a day - my wife during the day and me in the evening. My pain began during my unwanted temporary career as a local real estate mogul. We, okay, I, was chomping at the bit to finish our room, but the house that was supposed to sell quickly hadn't.


I actually longed to get a bit of dirt on my hands during the build and found myself somewhat oddly envious as the builder progressed...I mean, it was being built for me, to my specs, on my dime, after all. I placated my DIY desires by telling myself I'd be off and running on my own with the rest of the build by the time we closed. Taking yourself out of the game and having a seat on the bench at the start of the season is no fun.



However, I did receive an unexpected AVS linked lifeline to survive the dark times...
 
#20 ·
While cooling my heels waiting for my house to sell, I decided to attend this event:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1460712/central-iowa-spring-audio-gtg-jtr-bamberg-seaton-salk-gr-research/0_90#post_23020545


Part of my original plan for 2.0 included the well regarded Seaton Submersive. Add JTR to the mix and I couldn't pass up the chance to experience the subs first hand. Another local fellow AVS member and I traveled to the meet and arrived just before the start. After a series of introductions and conversations, I gravitated here:




Before ending up here



and here



It was a great event, all of the details are in the link.


The real surprise came when I met a few guests discussing DIY subs, power amps, single digit bass. A quick search on AVS on my phone (I can't be the only one that prefers the desktop version over the mobile one, even on a phone) and I realized that these guys weren't kidding around. On the 2 hour drive home, we discussed DIY subs for nearly the entire trip. I wouldn't finish my HT build yet, but with the proceeds from selling some of the gear from 1.0, I could build a few subs.


Getting home around midnight I surfed the AVS Subwoofer forum for a while, then, I "accidentally" woke my wife and told her all about DIY subs. Her response, "Alright, go build something..."


Yesss
 
#21 ·
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#23 ·
Here is the typical painters tape outline of my planned 120" screen along the tape corners of a 133" screen. One look and the whole family agreed to the 133". We decided to paint the screen wall using the darkest shade, Kaffee, in color pallet for our main color, Portabella. The tape strip in the middle of the wall is where I added an outlet for the screen's LEDs



I expected the paint to darker on the wall but it looks good as is
 
#24 ·
In late September we sold our other house and I immediately began directing additional savings to my HT equipment fund. I decided to get in on the AVS JVC RS6710 preorder since the pj weren't due to arrive until mid December. I also ordered the Oppo 103D. I needed/wanted lots of gear and fortunately an Iowa HT Meet hosted by a local AV shop was scheduled for early December. I picked nearly everything on my list during the meet.


Here, I'm positioning my front wide right speaker using gear boxes as stands.
 
#25 ·
Around this time my screen showed up. Despite making and testing a full size mock up using speaker frame bits, when the pick up backed into my driveway, there were serious doubts about whether the screen would make it down to the basement. I made the mock up larger than the screen's dimensions so it did fit, but it was close.



My son and I got the screen hung with ease. With the LEDs it was neat to look at but he split as soon as I sat down to watch a screen with no picture.




 
#26 ·
I was still in need of a pj and sub amps at this point. I'd spent a considerable amount of time evaluating the JVC RS6710 vs. the Sony 600ES. I decided to get the 600ES but that meant I'd be out of HT funds and subwoofer power amps would have to wait awhile. My hidden screen wall subs are being powered by my buttkicker amps while my in room subs sit in storage 30 ft away.


The 600ES arrived on Friday; a bit sooner than we expected.



I don't have a mount yet so I pulled a few boxes out of storage. So, this is where things are currently




 
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