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189K views 545 replies 116 participants last post by  xray001 
#1 ·
Update as it goes....

The article about this HT on Electronic House

Before:





After:

















Room size:

20' x 15' x 9' give or take a few inches.

Riser height is 12", depth is 7' from the back wall.

Color:

GOM FR701 Black on the screen wall

GOM Anchorage Birch on the stagger panels

GOM Anchorage Fossil on the surrounding panels

Acoustic Treatment:

Front wall -- Linacoustic on top & bottom of the screen.

Side walls -- floor to ceiling Linacoustic on both side approx. the area between the front speakers to the side of front row.

Back wall -- Auralex Q'Fusor diffusor panels on the top 2 rows of the panels . 2" OC703 in the bottom row of the panels with 2" air-gap.


Audio:

Currently running 9.2 setup

Definitive Technology:

2x BP7001SC mains,

CLR3000 center,

4x BPX surrounds,

2x Di6.5S height channels.

2x SVS PB12-Plus DSP

Denon 4520 (only powering the height channels)

Emotiva XPA-2 (for the mains)

Emotiva XPA-5 (for the center & surrounds)

Video:

JVC RS4810

Darbee Vision

Seymour Screen Excellent 2.35:1 138" diagonal screen

Equipment Lists:

OPPO 93 player

DirecTV box

Sonos Connect

Wii

Xbox360

Popcorn Hour A300 streamer

10TB WHS v1 (soon will be replaced with a DS1812+ NAS box)

Middle Atlantic Slim5 5-37U rack with custom RSH faceplates
Ikea bookcase (for disc storage)

Insteon (lighting control)

Harmony 900 remote

Seats:
8 Palliser HiFi in Phoenix fabric, Chocalate color.

Configuration as

lOlOOlOl 1st row (12.5' from the screen)

lOlOlOlO| 2nd row (15" from the back wall)

Outside the HT entry:
2 LED movie poster frame with motion sensor control via Insteon





~~ Originally post ~~


Ok, I've been away from the forum a bit the past couple of years.... Mainly because I'm enjoying my little HT ! Yeah, it's hard to believe it's been almost 3 1/2 years since my build! And needless to say, we've been enjoying it every single movie, and it even earn me a spot in the Electronic House's DIY showcase too.





Now, fast forward to present, my back then GF is now my official boss aka wife! And our family is growing too (expecting our first baby this Dec.)! So, we are buying a bigger house to accommodate our growing family. And that means, YES, I get to build a new HT soon!!





It's a new build, current projected finish date is in next Feb/Mar time frame (sooooo, this thread won't be update as often in the near future). The builder give me 8 weeks time to fully finalize everything/options. I still have about 5 weeks left to tell them what I want to do for my HT.




From what I've learn from my first HT, here's the improvement that I want:


- seat at least 8 people


- an equipment rack


- acoustic treatment (for both audio & noise)




Now, here's the floor plan of the basement:










and here's what I have come up with for my new HT:








What do you think?




The room size will be 20'x15'x9'. I'm think to have a 7-8' deep riser for the 2nd row, so the 1st row will sit about 12'-13' away. I want more space in between the screen & the 1st row so the family have more room when playing games for like Wii/Kinect/etc. And I'm thinking to have a 110-120" screen in the near future too. And probably a 3D projector IF/WHEN they make a good one and more good Avatar-like 3D movie instead of some "in-your-face" so called 3D movies! And with the 3D & lumen output in mind, I'm thinking to put the projector probably 12-14' from the screen to have as much lumen as possible from the projector and enough distance for a 120" projected image.




I'll be re-using the majority of my current equipments, at least that's what I told my wife. But will sure upgrading them down the road when money isn't as tight as buying a house & having a baby soon....




And I'm waiting for the quote from the builder about putting up double layer of drywall and if it's ok for me to supply them GG to apply in between the layers. I don't have a sensitive family, and almost 100% of the time when I'm watching a movie in the HT, my wife will be with me too. So, I don't need/care a 100% sound proofed HT. But do want an improvement especially since I'm giving the chances to do it on a new build.




I'll also meeting their wiring contractor to discuss about the speaker wires in the HT (7.1), living room(5.1), and probably in our bedroom. Cat6 to every single room/kitchen/garage for networking (mainly streaming movies/videos to HTPCs) & future home automation (still hoping a Harmony could do what I want to do, if not, then I probably will dip into Control4).




I've already told them to add a dedicated 20amp circuit to both the HT and the garage.




I think I'll only have 3' of depth in the equipment room. I think the MA Slim5 is about 20" depth right? So, do you think 36" depth will be ok?




Anything else that I should tell the builder, or I should look out? 'Cos this is our first new build house, I really have no idea what/where should we pay attention to. And the above plan is as future proof as I could think of.....
 
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#27 ·
Ok, I just came back from the new house. Had a meet with the electrician, and the HVAC guy to confirm the location of the outlets, switches, lights, and air vents.


I finally have some progress photos to show you!


Here's my equipment room where the rack gonna be. It will have a slot vent door on the outside, and the back is open to the adjacent mechanical room. So I don't think I'll have any heating issue. And it also has it's own 20AMP dedicated circuit.




Here's the riser. 7' deep, 12" high. Steps is 2' wide, 6" high on both side. It will have a electric outlet at the center facing the screen for the front row power recliner. The 2nd row will just plug to the back wall wall outlet.






Next week, gonna meet with the cable/speaker wiring guy to confirm the whole house cable & mark the speakers location. I just can't wait.....
 
#28 ·
Hey Gary, this must be pretty exciting seeing your theater grow from the ground up without having to do all of it yourself. Plus you have the benefit of knowledge from your previous theater, which was great too!
Best of luck getting everything you want in it.


Dale
 
#30 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by dvmiller /forum/post/21244222


Hey Gary, this must be pretty exciting seeing your theater grow from the ground up without having to do all of it yourself. Plus you have the benefit of knowledge from your previous theater, which was great too!
Best of luck getting everything you want in it.


Dale
Quote:
Originally Posted by zammykhan /forum/post/21255762


Congratulations for your wife, the house and most importantly the baby.


I cannot tell you how much I am inspired by your cozy home theater. It was great..... I am looking forward for the new build... I am sure I am gonna copy a lot of your ideas from it



Zammy

Thank you guys. Yeah, it's gonna be very busy for the next few months! Baby will be due is a bit over 2 weeks. Meeting the wiring guy next Friday to mark all the cable location and final the cable decision for the whole house. Then another week or two later is the pre-drywall meeting too. Busy busy busy....
 
#32 ·
Ok, a quick question for you guys!


They are doing insulation today, and I saw many put insulation inside the 2nd row platform. I'm wondering what's the benefit of putting insulation inside? Is it a necessity? Or it's more optional?


Oh btw, they are not going to put a long USB cable from the media closet to the screen wall for me! 'Cos they said there's no in-wall rated USB cable and by code everything has to be CL rated or it won't pass inspection. Therefore, they ran 2x Cat5e for me to the screen wall so may be I'll use a USB->Cat5e convertor for the Kinect then.
 
#33 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by landshark1 /forum/post/21323654


They are doing insulation today, and I saw many put insulation inside the 2nd row platform. I'm wondering what's the benefit of putting insulation inside? Is it a necessity? Or it's more optional?

If you leave the platform or riser hollow without any insulation, you run the risk of the whole thing resonating like a drum (similar to why you put insulation in the walls as well). Insulation will negate that scenario, so it's probably a good idea to add it while you have the chance.
 
#34 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by HDvids4all /forum/post/21323684


If you leave the platform or riser hollow without any insulation, you run the risk of the whole thing resonating like a drum (similar to why you put insulation in the walls as well). Insulation will negate that scenario, so it's probably a good idea to add it while you have the chance.

Thanks! I'll tell them to put some in it then.
 
#36 ·

Ok, update time.


The house is coming along. We got a tentative settlement date of March 1st! And after that, the 'actual' build will begin!



here's a pic of the current stage. The platform is 7' deep, 12" high. Each steps is 2' wide x 6" high. You can see the speaker pre-wired by the builder. The projector will be located right in front of the bulk head bump out. I had them wired a HDMI, 2x Cat5e, and a conduit for future proof too..



.
 
#37 ·
Ok, a quick question guys.


I was planning to do DD+GG inside the room (included the ceiling) for a better sound isolation. But I've talked to Ted and he advice against it as he said I probably won't be happy with the little effect this will do for the money I'll be spending.....


I understand what Ted meant is this probably will be too little bang for too much buck! The wall isn't decoupled, all the HVAC vents, french door, etc. But since the builder isn't willing to do any sound proofing work, not even DD for me. Plus if I don't have them to finish the room, they are only giving me $1000 credit back! Therefore, I had them to finish it the way I want first, then try to improve it myself.


My guts feeling is that I'm still adding more mass & dampening to the room (5/8" drywall + GG), it gotta be helping the sound travel to upstairs in a certain degree (or in a decent way), no? Or that "certain degree" is really minimal?


May be I really should save the money & work, and skip the DD+GG route?
 
#38 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by landshark1 /forum/post/21455399


Ok, a quick question guys.


I was planning to do DD+GG inside the room (included the ceiling) for a better sound isolation. But I've talked to Ted and he advice against it as he said I probably won't be happy with the little effect this will do for the money I'll be spending.....


I understand what Ted meant is this probably will be too little bang for too much buck! The wall isn't decoupled, all the HVAC vents, french door, etc. But since the builder isn't willing to do any sound proofing work, not even DD for me. Plus if I don't have them to finish the room, they are only giving me $1000 credit back! Therefore, I had them to finish it the way I want first, then try to improve it myself.


My guts feeling is that I'm still adding more mass & dampening to the room (5/8" drywall + GG), it gotta be helping the sound travel to upstairs in a certain degree (or in a decent way), no? Or that "certain degree" is really minimal?


May be I really should save the money & work, and skip the DD+GG route?

Ted's in the business of selling this stuff and is the expert. If he is telling you the cost is not worth the benefit, I am inclined to go with him. If your goal is to soundproof, you would be better off keeping the $1K credit and doing everything right (clips and channel, ducts, etc) from the start. Just my opinion.


Where are the bedrooms located?
 
#39 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ack_bk /forum/post/21465270


Ted's in the business of selling this stuff and is the expert. If he is telling you the cost is not worth the benefit, I am inclined to go with him. If your goal is to soundproof, you would be better off keeping the $1K credit and doing everything right (clips and channel, ducts, etc) from the start. Just my opinion.


Where are the bedrooms located?

The bedrooms is located at 2nd floor. HT is in basement, directly under the living room (my only concern).


When builder charged $15k+ to finish the basement for me, it's really hard to swallow a $1000 off for not finishing the room....


Oh well, I think I'll just skip the DD+GG route and head straight to the fabric wall build once I moved in then.
 
#40 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by landshark1 /forum/post/21465418


The bedrooms is located at 2nd floor. HT is in basement, directly under the living room (my only concern).


When builder charged $15k+ to finish the basement for me, it's really hard to swallow a $1000 off for not finishing the room....


Oh well, I think I'll just skip the DD+GG route and head straight to the fabric wall build once I moved in then.

Understand. I had the same debate as you. All our bedrooms are also on the 2nd floor and I have played some really loud music in the basement after putting in insulation and drywall and it was not noticeable in the kids rooms. Now, I am not sure how loud my 7.2 home theater setup will be once finally installed, but I don't see myself playing movies at reference levels when the kids are asleep. In my last house, we had the kids bedrooms on the 2nd floor, there were never issues, even when I played movies fairly loud.
 
#41 ·
My family is not particularly sensitive of noise. Even my newborn daughter! In fact, her play-yard/day-bed is located right next to the sub in the living room, and we still listen at the same level when watching TV.



And we have no problem in my current small HT in a townhouse. So, sound proofing is not my first priority.



On a side note. I just visited the new house yesterday. And I did some measurement again at the media closet. With the studs/framing inside, I still have 36" of empty wall space. Looks like I could fit a MA Slim5 rack + a
 
#42 ·
Here's a shot of the equipment closet that I designed. It's wired for 9.1 sound, 1 HDMI + 2 Cat5e to the projector location, and 4x Cat5e to the house's network. And it also has it's own 20amp dedicated circuit to power everything. The white "tube" you see at the top right of the pic is the conduit that goes all the way to the attic for future proofing. The floor is raised so it's at the same level as the riser inside the HT. And I also have them to use a "vented" door for air circulation too.


I'll be cutting a hole at the right side of the drywall for the rack after I moved.

 
#45 ·
Great looking space to work with. Like that you reduced your seating so that the seats are away from the side walls. If possible, I would locate the rec room equipment in the equipment room, but not in the same rack. That way everything is together, but you don't have to go into the theater and interrupt the movie to change anything when using the rec area. Set up the rec area for RF or IP control. You could actually do this off of the same AVR and not even have to install a second AVR. Just use zone two and or zone three for the rec area. If we can help you out, drop us an email.
 
#48 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by realestatecody /forum/post/21914705


Who was the builder of the home? From the plan lay out almost looks like a Pulte plan, I'm loving the looks though.

Winchester Home, model Oxford II.
 
#50 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by BIGmouthinDC /forum/post/22031750


Gary, What's happening with the new space?

Been busy lately.... settling in the house, furnishing the rest of the house, working very long hours, and lastly, saving up to hire you (pretty broke after all those furniture).



I did started to paint the ceiling (Mouse Ear flat black) tho. And I'm thinking I should order the rack & cut the hole on the wall to fit it first before we start working on the fabric wall. So you can hide any of my imperfection of cutting drywall
. Sounds logic? Currently I'm targeting may be late July/early August, sounds good to you Jeff? (I'm not in rush and could wait/work at your convenience
)
 
#51 ·
Ok, after visited Big's awesome HT last week, I'm back on track & can't wait to finish up mine. (bringing the wife along surely helps to speed up the process too!
)


I've finally ordered the rack (MA Slim5) and will be spending this weekend to assemble the rack/components, and cut a hole that separate the media closet & the HT for it.


P.S. is a regular hand saw be enough to cut out the studs? Or you would recommend some other light power tool for the job? (I already has a small drywall saw for the drywall cutting)


Also just ordered the height channel in-wall speakers and will be installing them too.


Here's my rack design so far:

 
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