Scopeguy's 'Scope Theater - Page 2

RTROSE:

Glad I could help. I stole the idea from the way my builder did the stairs upstairs.



ArtosDracon

That sumsung player looks really nice. It sounds like it's fast. One thing I can't stand is the slow load time on so many players. The only problem is the buttons are on the top of the unit and won't be accessible with it rack mounted. I think this is probably a deal breaker.

Greg

Happy Canada Day:

I had scheduled this week off months ago, hoping that my room would be ready to go and I would spend the week breaking it in, unfortunately the build has slowed down quite a bit. I don't know much about the recession here, but It doesn't seem to be affecting my tile guys! They keep on canceling which is affecting the finish plumbing, which seems to be holding up other things. Hopefully they will be here tomorrow and things can start rolling again, the plumbers are scheduled for Monday.

The good news is I choose a Blu-ray player, a Samsung BD-P1600, which seems pretty good and at least has front panel controls.

The granite counter tops are in and the doors have returned from paint. Pics to follow.

The acoustical treatments and wood work for the theater are being built as well. I can't wait to see them installed!

After reading CDLehner's thread and some time in the digital media servers and content streamers forum, I've decided to try serving all of my media from the computer. I've already been using squeezeboxes for my audio, so I might as well take the next step.


I picked up an HP media server and a 2 TB WD hard drive. I don't really know what I'm doing yet, but so far it seems pretty simple! I'll have to wait for my popcornhour to arrive, to make sure I'm doing things right before I rip too many disks.

Greg

I'm meeting my installer tomorrow, and will almost certainly order one (unless I cheap out and go with the RS10 ). The supposed completion date of my project should be around July 17th, so I would hope to have it by then.

Greg

Thanks CD

I still don't know exactly what format to rip to. Right now I've been using anyDVD to rip to the computer (video_TS, IFO's, VOB's and the like) I downloaded DVD shrink and Imgburn, but when I tried Imgburn, my computer locked. If what I have right now works with the popcornhour, I may avoid complicating my life further, if possible.

Greg

Thanks bluewaves

The Oppo blu-ray player looks really nice and has an incredible number of features, but I think I've now decided to try going diskless and use a cheap samsung to play disks when required. I can't complain about the price of the Oppo, with the rate I'm spending money on other thinks for the theater, the Oppo would really be a drop in the bucket.

Speaking of spending money... I met with my home theater installer to figure out what gear to get.

I will either get the JVC RS10 or RS20 or the same models but labeled as an Anthem product. He needs to confirm some prices to help me choose.

I will also get a Panamorph anamorphic lens and slide.

My pre-amp will be the Anthem AVM-50.

I have a Bryston 8B ST and a 9B ST to handle amplification.

Speakers will be Paradigm studio esprit's up front and Studio ADP-590's for the rear.

2 Crown XLS 402's will power the tactile transducers and a XLS 602 will power the subs.

2 Panamax M5100-PM's will provide surge suppression and power-up sequencing.

Things are moving along!

Greg

Thanks RT

I'm also excited to see how the media server works out. I know as soon as I got my squeezebox, I never used a CD again. I don't know whether it will be quite as revolutionary with movies/TV shows for me, but it should be nice, even if only to feed the 3 other TVs in the house.

I was a little tired of the lack of progress in the actual theater room, as most of the work has been elsewhere in the basement. So I mounted the subwoofer and front speakers!

Here are the Pics, as requested

The dual SDX-15 subwoofers!


Mounting brackets for the paradigm esprit's



The paradigm esprit speakers



I chose the esprit because I wanted to use the paradigm studio dipolar surround speakers and wanted a front speaker that could be easily hidden behind my screen without requiring the false wall be too far out into the room.

The bracket system to hold the speaker to the wall seems quite clever and sturdy. you can have -5,0,7,or 14 degrees of tow-in, and there is a hole designed to keep the speaker cable hidden behind. They only sell them as pairs, or as a center that has a horizontal tweeter. I wanted all of my speakers up front to be exactly the same so I rotated the tweeter/midrange holder 90 degrees, to allow me to vertically mount it like the others. Now to find a way to get some power to them!

Greg

I'll still have to do a false wall, though it will only be about 7 or 8 inches deep. Really, I could probably get by with just some thick panels. The other option would be to simply have the screen out 8 inches, hiding the speakers and having black cloth against the wall. I have 36 inches from the true wall where the ceiling, side walls, and back wall will be black fabric. This 'black hole' will be where the screen mounts, so instead of curving the black panels (which sounds hard), my screen will sort of float in this area.

Now you have me thinking CD, why don't I just do panels up front to cover the OC703 that will be going there, say 2 inches deep, or maybe make it with 2x4 to allow for the screen supports. Then just hang the screen 6 inches out from there. Well, I have at least 10 days to think about it. The rest of theater woodwork and acoustic panels go in on the 13th.

Greg

Here is the progress on the rest of the basement

The granite counter tops and beer ledges are in!




The electrician has wired up most of the basement now and there are temporary lights in, which helps give an idea of final appearance. The bar fridge is in but I'm still waiting on the dishwasher. The Keg Cooler also has to be moved down and another hole cut in the granite for the beer tap.

I've been promised the tile guy's will come tomorrow, hopefully they will finally make it.

(Off topic) outside the home theater I have been working on my patio. Next time I would hire this out, It's heavy work!


Greg

Well, the tile guy didn't come today either.

Oh well, If the carpet happens this week and the theater wood work next week, I should still be watching movies down there in 2-3 weeks!

RT

The granite does work well with the wood color, the most representative picture is the one with the bar fridge.

I do still have to choose a color scheme for the home theater. It will have the same walnut colored as baseboard, chair rails and vertical styles, forming panels with black fabric. But above that I have to choose a paint color for the top part of the walls, the soffit and the ceiling. My house is mainly shades of brown, but if I go with a dark brown, the woodwork kind of disappears. I'm thinking of a bluish-gray (more gray than blue right now), with an almost black ceiling. We'll see.

Greg

Woo Hoo!

The Tile Guy came and put the Schluter shower system in. Hopefully that means he'll be coming in for the next few days to do the tile and grout.

I think things are moving again after a few weeks of no activity.

Greg

RT

Quote: "Unfortunately my pocket book has taken a "hit" from the professionals hence why I DIY as much as I can in the first place."

That's part of the reason why I'm anxious to have this done. This project is about twice as expensive as I had planned (all my fault). The sooner they are done, the sooner the hemorrhaging can stop!! The longer it runs, the more 'oh I might as well do this too' happens.

Greg

The tile is complete and the plumbing is (almost) done. The dishwasher still needs to arrive. Warning: not directly home theater related.

The finished Bar sink and (almost) finished Keg-orator install!



The Bathroom is also complete, aside from final paint and electrical.




I`m really happy with the way that this has come together!

On Monday the carpet will go in and the woodwork and acoustical treatments will start. That should be an impressive change!

Greg

Yeah, the keg-o-rator works very well, and with being able to get 20 or 30 Liter kegs you don't have to have a ridiculous amount of beer around, though this one can hold the standard 60 L kegs as well.

Greg

Carpet is in!





I think it works well with the room. It really feels almost done now!

Greg

The woodwork in the theater is also in progress.

The custom made entrance door (from the pool table room side)


Detail of woodwork


The home theater





These guys do such great work!

The front of the room looks really narrow in the picture, I'm not sure why?

Greg

Yeah, the panels will fiction fit in, except at the front, where I have to build them. My home theater guy hasn't been using GOM, but is using another fabric (all the fabric will be black). He wasn't happy with the last stuff he got however, so he's looking for a new supplier. I'm hoping this won't affect the timeline. I plan to have the OC703 and fabric I need to do the front wall for this weekend.

Greg