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263K views 972 replies 135 participants last post by  Nick Woolley 
#1 ·

BEFORE:

 





 

AFTER (that was about 90%, I need to take the real "completed" photos" - have been too busy watching movies to bother):

 









 

DURING:

 

intro
framing
low voltage wiring
insulation
drywall
entry doors / drywall mud
exterior stucco / more drywall mud / recessed lights / GrafikEye
start of soffit framing
soffit bulkhead / false wall
THT LP #1 started
THT LP #1 finished
more soffit framing and soffit insulation
CHT 6x PRO-10, 1x SHO-10 arrive / QSC power amp fan mod
soffit recessed and rope lighting, more soffit insulation
ceiling painted / MA rack purchased
doors painted / superchunk bass traps / column framing / screen wall absorption
column face panels / carpet samples / berkline boxes
column framing finished / wall furring going up
wall panels framing mostly done
panel construction details
soffit fabric covering
soffit fabric done
column vinyl covering
column vinyl covering done / screen wall absorption fabric covering
column face fabric covering
false wall C section / door jamb fabric covering
wall panel fabric samples
carpet
berklines in / THT LP #1 in place
first attempt at sub EQ
projector purchased / testing on temporary screen
wall panel fabric going up
wall panel fabric almost done / some screen shots (still on a temp screen)
screen assembled
screen mounted (piano hinges) / screen shots
left / right / bottom screen surround panels
THT LP #2 under construction
both THT LPs installed / hinged screen supports
EQ for the two subs
XBMC talk
Unacceptable's step by step panel framing tutorial
new SEOS LCR

 
 
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#127 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by psgcdn /forum/post/19515770


Amazing room! Nice work on the THT LP, but I guess it pales in comparison with the rest of what you are doing!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chainsaw12117 /forum/post/19515940


looking very nice

Thanks guys!


Here's some updates...


New speakers - CHT - 6x Pro-10, 1x SHO-10 (center) - they were returns (scratches here and there), and Chris gave me a smoking hot deal on them - thanks Chris!














Did the fan mod on my QSC power amp that drives the THT LP - huge difference, the old fan was a turbo prop:




















Painted the trims for the 3" recessed lights that are going in the soffits:




Cut the holes for the lights:






Pile of debris, and cans ready to go (tomorrow):



 
#128 ·
Deja vu



Are you using 12awg wire to wire those cans? If so, you will find you need to be very neat and find a technique to fold all the wires/nuts into the very small housing. It drove me nuts.


That QSC amp looks so similar inside to the Berhingers I have. In addition to changing the fan I also reversed the flow on mine so it blows out the back and not the front. I've been keeping an eye on temperature and it seems fine.
 
#129 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moggie /forum/post/19519008


Deja vu

See an echo of your design in there? Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery. :)


Quote:
Originally Posted by Moggie /forum/post/0


Are you using 12awg wire to wire those cans? If so, you will find you need to be very neat and find a technique to fold all the wires/nuts into the very small housing. It drove me nuts.

Yup 12/2 - I'll prepare to air out some of the choice expletives that get me through the tough building jobs.
 
#130 ·
Soffit lights in, and filled the soffit cavities with insulation:








Testing out the rope light - trying to decide between one and two layers (one looks better I think), and placement (seems like against the inner face of the soffit, raised up about an inch gives a better diffuse effect):







 
#132 ·
The soffits look great, Brad. Are they framed with regular 2x4's. Some of the pics look like smaller lumber. Also, how deep are they?
 
#133 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by superleo /forum/post/19525997

It is awesome!!!



Very nice!!!

Thanks so much Leo.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Spaceman /forum/post/19531917


The soffits look great, Brad. Are they framed with regular 2x4's. Some of the pics look like smaller lumber. Also, how deep are they?

Thanks Spaceman! I framed them with 2x3s - easier to find straight ones than 2x2s and cheaper / lighter than 2x4s. They are 8.5" tall, and 24" deep without the light tray, which extends about another 4.5". I wasn't originally going to go that wide, but (a) it allowed me to hit a parallel stud on the long walls, which simplified hanging them; and (b) it gave room for the soffit lights output to span out enough to be useful (vs. too tight to the wall). The curved soffit above the screen wall is much deeper - 24" built first, and then added the curve addition that starts about 6" on the sides, and extends out not sure how far, maybe 18" - matches the curve of the stage.
 
#134 ·
Well...I started painting the ceiling a dark brown color from Lowes (Valspar) - unfortunately, after a coat of tinted primer, and two coats of the paint, it still isn't covered - and way more problematic, their "flat" paint isn't flat, has a bit of gloss to it, which when I add the rope light, really looks like garbage - blotchy light all over the place. Awful. I am pissed, I got my money back for the paint, and put up a couple samples of a similar color and also "Mouse Ears" from Home Depot (Behr), just to see if either of them will actually dry flat enough. Not very hopeful so far, although its not completely dry.


No way the "diffuse light" look will work the way I had planned - I'll have to shove the rope light toward the front edge of the tray and take the sharper edge on lighting on the ceiling. The position I had worked out that gave a nice diffuse effect when it was just white primer, looks terrible after the paint (blotchy light).
 
#136 ·
Mouse Ears is very flat for me. so much so that any touching, it now show.
 
#137 ·
I've been in a couple of local HTs where the guys used the Ralph Lauren Suede paint. Looked great. It does take a unique hand-brushing technique but nothing that these two first timers couldn't handle.


Flaming Oak and Harvest Ridge threads if you want to look.
 
#138 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ctote /forum/post/19556054


Just spent 30 minutes reading through this thread - can't wait for updates! I'd love to do something like this but I (a) have never done any sort of construction work and (b) am completely new to home theaters altogether!


Keep it up!

Thanks ctote! Let me know if you need any pointers to other build threads that are good for stealing ideas from, there are a bunch of very talented guys here that we can all learn from.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chiahead /forum/post/19562283


Mouse Ears is very flat for me. so much so that any touching, it now show.

Oh yeah, I hear that - after painting, I installed the rope light, and of course there's still a bit of drywall dust lurking in the light tray, so easy to get dust on the wall/ceiling. Hopefully now that its done, I won't have to touch it anymore.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC /forum/post/19562480


I've been in a couple of local HTs where the guys used the Ralph Lauren Suede paint. Looked great. It does take a unique hand-brushing technique but nothing that these two first timers couldn't handle.


Flaming Oak and Harvest Ridge threads if you want to look.

Thanks Big, I've seen those, and do like the look, but I decided to stay with something more subdued - went with Behr "Espresso Bean" - similar color to the Valspar "Journey", basically the darkest shade of brown they had - and ended up drying more flat / less sheen, so I think I'm happy. Best of all, my wife, who rarely shows any interest in the project (other than it being over, just so the spending stops / slows down), actually poked her head in and said "ooh, I like the color".
A welcome change from her usual reaction to dark colors / leather / etc, which is "it looks so manly" - that's not a compliment apparently.


Made some progress over the weekend - got the ceiling paint finished (I think - it was dark when I finished, will double check with natural light to see if I overlooked anything); installed the rope light (for good hopefully); used some of the extra ceiling paint to paint the wood parts of the soffit and the false wall, in preparation for fabric covering - to keep any wood/screw heads from showing through the fabric. Next step: locate and purchase linacoustic for front wall; rigid insulation panels for soffit and superchunk absorbers.
 
#139 ·
Your room is looking good. I really like the curved riser and the entry at riser height.


Sorry to hear the paint did not work for you. I logged on hoping to see pics of your painted ceiling. Do you have any pics of what it looked like before the repaint?


I'm glad you found a color that you are happy with.
 
#140 ·
Thanks kjlewie - I started out looking for the "Labrador" color you recommended, but ended up picking a slightly darker shade of brown at Lowes called "Journey" - it looked nice enough going on, but dried with a bit more sheen than I wanted, and as I mentioned, really gave me trouble with getting the rope lights to diffuse light properly. Maybe it was due to rather cold (for So Cal) weather when I applied it? or maybe I got a bad batch / mix? The Valspar paint seemed to work very well for you, based on the pictures, so it must have been some aberration in what I received or how I applied it, dunno. Anyway, I ended up getting a refund for it, and after a light sanding, applied a coat of an almost identical color "Espresso Bean" from Home Depot (Behr), and it seemed to dry a bit flatter, and by changing the location of the rope light within the soffit, I got a pretty good effect.


I was also concerned (perhaps anal is more like it) that the sheen would defeat having a dark ceiling to some degree (reflection from light bouncing off the screen), so I figured I'd do what I can now, with the hope of not having to repaint later.


I didn't take any pics of the initial paint, but will post some pics of the final result tonight.
 
#141 ·
Here's a picture of the painted ceiling - also used the same paint to cover the soffit wood and the screen wall framing, so no wood will show through the fabric once covered. The color is Behr "Espresso Beans" - the darkest shade of brown that I could find, looks near black in the picture (and with the lights off, yay).




Rope light with the lights off.








I had been planning on just building a cheap rack to save some money - but I read someone else's thread mentioning they got a good deal on craigslist, so I checked, and whaddya know, there was one waiting for me - $180 for a 37U Slim 5 with casters, 3 2U shelves, 8 1U vent panels, and 9 horizontal lacing bars. It was part of a huge pile of gear pulled from a mansion in Chatsworth that was being sold by an NFL player who was moving - an estimated $500K I was told, 6 racks total, saw a stack of Anthem amps and a Titan projector among the pile.


The rack is total overkill as far as what I really needed - but hey, sure has plenty of room for expansion. =) My plan is to house both my A/V gear and music gear in the single rack.




Still debating whether to just roll it into the closet, or cut a hole to poke the face into the room. The latter would make for easier access both front and back - back, since the closet is only 27" wide, rack is 19" - 8" isn't even enough to be able to rotate the rack to access the wiring. If I poked the hole, I'll have to figure out how to reroute electrical - the rack would stick through the framing shown here - note the romex running horizontally that I would have to relocate - move it above the rack and add a junction box I guess? Would the junction box need to be accessible?

 
#144 ·
how about facing the rack towards the room, then making a false front/panel to cover up the front of the rack. that way you get best of both worlds and will not have to see the lights from all your pretty electronis...and still be able to access the back of the rack with no problems. i love the idea of hidden electronics even thought they look really cool if done correctly, but also can be annoying during movies.
 
#145 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon_B
That ceiling paint with your rope lights on looks awesome. Good choice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikieson
Im in to see the finish...looking good.
Thanks guys, I need all the attaboys I can get.


Quote:
Originally Posted by tbraden32
how about facing the rack towards the room, then making a false front/panel to cover up the front of the rack. that way you get best of both worlds and will not have to see the lights from all your pretty electronis...and still be able to access the back of the rack with no problems. i love the idea of hidden electronics even thought they look really cool if done correctly, but also can be annoying during movies.
Thanks tb. If I go the "poke it through the wall" approach, I will do just that - either hide it within a column, or behind a panel matching the rest of the wall coverings. Would be too close to the screen to go the smoked glass door way.
 
#146 ·
Brad, the ceiling/light effect looks really good. Nice job.



JMHO, but if you can slide your rack forward enough to access rear vs. putting a hole in your room, I'd vote for that. Just less you will have to worry about and build around. Would a hole in your wall there for the rack interfere with first reflection treatments?


Edit: How about roughing in a small access door on the right of the far wall (where the back of your rck would be) near the rear to access if you can't pull it out far enough?
 
#147 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC
I've been in a couple of local HTs where the guys used the Ralph Lauren Suede paint. Looked great. It does take a unique hand-brushing technique but nothing that these two first timers couldn't handle.


Flaming Oak and Harvest Ridge threads if you want to look.
HEY!!! "First Timers"? I don't know if that's a dig or a compliment.


Isn't the majority of this board comprised of "first timers"?
 
#148 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by fotto /forum/post/19594396


Brad, the ceiling/light effect looks really good. Nice job.



JMHO, but if you can slide your rack forward enough to access rear vs. putting a hole in your room, I'd vote for that. Just less you will have to worry about and build around. Would a hole in your wall there for the rack interfere with first reflection treatments?


Edit: How about roughing in a small access door on the right of the far wall (where the back of your rck would be) near the rear to access if you can't pull it out far enough?

Here's my plan of the day: since I have a nice tall rack that I'm going to be using for two purposes (top: A/V gear; bottom: music gear), I'll leave a gap between those two piles of gear - maybe with a cover over the face - so I can reach through from the front to connect the rack to speaker jacks, HDMI jack, and ethernet jack. So if I need to fiddle with the wiring on the rear of the rack, I unplug all those, and then I can roll it out to work on it, and then roll it back and plug it back in. A bit of a hassle, but shouldn't be too bad.


Does anyone have good resources describing (a) best placement of components within a rack - primarily for heat dissipation (I've read the MA whitepaper, and it just makes my head hurt); and (b) "rack wiring for dummies" - what order to wire power, speakers, interconnects, how to make best use of lacing bars, etc. - to get a nice / clean looking result?


Also thinking maybe down the road I could build a removable panel to place around the rack in the closet so it looks built in (remove to roll the rack out).
 
#149 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC /forum/post/19562480


I've been in a couple of local HTs where the guys used the Ralph Lauren Suede paint. Looked great. It does take a unique hand-brushing technique but nothing that these two first timers couldn't handle.


Flaming Oak and Harvest Ridge threads if you want to look.

The Ralph Lauren Suede paint is great for light diffusion...........


I've used "Arrow Wood" which is a nice soft chocolate brown.........I don't think the color is active, but can be matched. The only problem with the paint is scratching or getting marks on it is very easy.


The technique is use 12" roller first and follow up with a 4 inch brush using X pattern.........can't mess up, very forgiving.


Once again, excellent paint for light diffusion. I currently use the Suede paint on a wall that lights up my Bev Doolittle and Steve Lyman prints...........light focuses on the prints, not the wall........the light seems to melt away on the wall, not on my prints. Highly recommended paint......just remember, $30+ per gallon.........but well worth it.
 
#150 ·
I wish I could capture the difference in sheen in a photo. You honestly can only understand the difference when you see it in person.


All of the trim in my room is painted flat black. The ceiling is painted with RL Suede paint in black with an extra 14oz of black tint per gallon. It is super black. When the lights are on, it looks black or really dark gray. When the lights go out and we start a movie, it disappears. There is a sheen from the flat black crown under the soffit. The sheen is like the difference in sheen between a semigloss and a flat paint. It is amazing to see the difference in person.


The folks as HD can mix a bunch of colors for you in the RL suede paint. It is highly recommended for our applications.


Now, it's true that it shows marks very easily. BUT, I have to inject a little sanity here. I've lived in my new house for 5.5 years now and don't think I've ever touched the ceiling in most rooms. It's just not something that I do, so the marking problem is really a non-issue. If you are someone who touches the ceiling a lot, then this paint may not be for you.
 
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