Chris's First Home Theater

My home theater is finally done!! Im 23 and this is my first home theater. Its small but I had to work with what I have. Anyways I fell in love with home theaters about 7 years ago when I was 16. My uncle had just built a home theater and I thought it was the coolest thing. Ever since then I always said one day I was going to build me one. This past January I was looking to buy a Pioneer plasma and someone had told me if your going to spend $6k on a Pioneer plasma why don't you spend $6k on a projector setup with a 100" screen. I had never looked into projectors so didn't know how affordable they were now a days. Once I got the idea to try and go with a projector setup there was no turning back! So I went to a home theater store to check some out. Well they pretty much killed my dream and told me that any projector under $14,000 wasn't going to look good and wasn't a real home theater projector they were all high end business projectors. They also told me my room size was to small for a projector setup.They were really rude!! I left there kind of giving up on building a home theater. I decided I was going to research online and finally I found the AVS Forums! Thank God! The forums really educated me and made it possible for me to build my home theater. Many of you guys were really helpful and gave me great advice. I was really interested in the Pioneer FPJ1 and a few members helped me out on where to get it for the blowout price! I got it just in time from Sound Advice..I got the last one in stock! Once the projector arrived I feel in love with it! Every time I turn it on I just say to myself "money well spent". definitely beats a 60" plasma tv!


So here's my theater build. I built it in a extra room in my condo. Its not a full dedicated theater and I don't have the best equipment but I plan on upgrading through the years. Hopefully when I move down to LA I will have a bigger room and be able to build a full dedicated theater of my dreams.

Room Dimensions
14' long by 11' wide and 8' ceilings


A/V Equipment
Pioneer FPJ1 Projector (JVC RS2 Clone)
Denon AVR 488 Reciever
Boston Acoustic 5.1 MCS 100 Package (R.I.P.)
Comcast Cable Box
Monster HDP 2400 Power Conditioner
PS3
126" DIY Screen with Black Out Cloth (Will Upgrade To Carada's Criterion BW)
Basic Couch for seating for now..I Will be getting a couple of recliners at the end of summer.
The Speaker Company- LCR3 Front Speakers.
Boston Acoustic Subwoofer
Logitech 890 Remote
Logitech RF Extender
Logitech PS3 Adapter


Movie Server Equipment
PopCorn Hour A-110
Yet Another Movie Jukebox
HP MediaSmart Server EX470
Western Digital 1.5tb Drive
Seagate 1.5tb Drive
AnyDVD HD



Materials/Accessories
Monoprice Cables (HDMI,Speaker,Wall plates, Etc..)
Powerbridge- Powerbridge Solution
Track Lighting From Ikea
Cabinet From Ikea
Black Velvet From Joanns Fabrics
Blackout Home Theater Curtains From Walmart
2x2's To Build The Frame For The Screen
24 Green Glue Tubes
11 Silenseal Tubes
Whisper Clips
7 Hat Channels 25 Gauge
3 Pieces Of Plywood
R-13 Insulation
13 Sheets Of 5/8 Drywall
Paints From Kelly Moore
Chief RPAU Mount


I plan on upgrading and adding to my theater through the years.

Future Upgrades/Additions
Popcorn Hour A-110 (Purchased)
HP MediaSmart Server (Purchased)
Logitech Harmony 1100 or 890 Remote (Purchased)
Carada Criterion BW 1.78 126" Screen (Maybe Even A Masking System)
Pioneer Elite Reciever (Not Sure What Model Yet)
5.1 Speakers (Thinkin About TSC,SVS,Aperion,Usher) (Purchased TSC-LCR3 Speakers)


AVS Members:
Ted White
John Hile
Neil Schneider
Radchad3
Jason Turk
CDLehner
Joerod

Thanks for all your help guys! You guys really educated me on the home theater game!

Since I live in a condo and I don't my neighbor (Complex Manager) complaining while Im watching a movies I deciding to do a little soundproofing to the wall that we share and the ceiling. Ted White and John Hile were extremely helpful with this. I used R-13 insulation,Green Glue,Whisper Clips,Hat Channels,3 Pieces of 5/8 plywood, 6 pieces of 5/8 Drywall for the wall. John Hile recommended I use 5/8 plywood so it would be stronger then drywall to hang a large projection screen. Great idea! I used whisper clips and hat channels to decouple the wall and 3 layers of mess. 1 layer plywood 2 layers drywall with green glue. The ceiling is 1 layer of drywall with green glue. I haven't gotten a complaint yet so it must be working!

Thanks again Ted and John!



























Testing Out The Projector On Unfinished Drywall

Here's some pics of the completed theater. Built the screen with Blackout cloth and some 2x2's..Came out pretty good! Thinking of using it for awhile. I would like to find some material better then Blackout cloth and that has a gain of 1.0-1.3. My grandmother use to work for a drapery company so she made me some black velvet drapes to go around my screen. Got the velvet material from Joanns Fabrics. Ran all cables and wires in the walls and ceilings then into the A/V Cabinet.


The paint colors are actually way darker then they look in the pics. The flash made the walls look like white. The red is really a dark red and the walls are a tan color. All paint is Flat paint.















Testing everything out with the surround sound


126" Screen


Officially Done

Here's some screenshots I took.. My camera isn't the best. All movies are Blu-ray. Standard DVD's look great on this PJ also!!



"Seven Pounds"


"Transformers"









"Cars"






"10,000 B.C."

Its been fun learning and building this theater. I really enjoyed it! Can't wait to do it again!

Thats My First Home Theater! Hope You Guys Enjoyed It!

Hahaha Yea I should take some pics down there and show them what I built without them!

Oh we have had plenty of wild nights here! LOL

I just got back from seeing "Public Enemies" at a Centurys Theater! I only went because some friends talked me into it! Movie was good but the picture was horrible! Blacks weren't even close to looking black! Picture kept flickering. Anyone know what thats caused from? Also there were black spots that would flash throughout the movie. Not sure what thats from either..

Anyways going to a theater like that just makes me feel like all the money I spent on my home theater was worth it! Before we went to the movies I had a lilttle demo of my Home theater for my friends they were amazed..After watching public enemies they all said your home theater has way better picture quality and sharpness lets watch movies at your house from now on!

So been having my PJ room up and running for a lil bit now. Almost got 100hrs on the bulb. Picture looks good! Still using black out cloth. Hoping to get a screen with some gain soon. Would like a little brighter picture.

Does anyone have any tips for improving contrast in my setup? I know a black room would be best but I can't do that. So any other ideas anyone might have please share.

Because I soundproofed the wall.. One of the steps to soundproofing is to isolate the wall using hate channels. If you just screw the playwood/drywall to the studs it won't soundproof low frequencies.

Thanks for the comments guys.

I will be getting seating soon. Right now Im just using a basic couch.

I got a some new toys for my HT room. Here's a few pics..

Logitech Harmony 890 Remote & PS3 Adapter..

Order some new speakers from The Speaker Company. Here's a quick pic I took of one of the speakers. I will take more once my speaker stands get here.

LCR3

Yea those Boston Acoustic were from a HTIB that I had so I used those until I got some new ones. These TSC speakers sound pretty good and can't beat them for the price. But I am still going to upgrade to some $2000 speakers in the futue. Im hoping in the next 6 months but if these new TSC speakers keep me satisfied I might stay with them longer then 6 months and put the $2000 into something else. Possibly my Carada Masquerade Masking System..

Kef's IQ30 & IQ10 are definitely on my potential upgrade list in the future. Im hoping the TSC speakers keep me satisfied for a while so I can spend my money on some other upgrade that I really want. Masking System and hopefully upgrading to a JVC RS20/RS25 sometime next summer.

Purchased a PopCorn Hour A-110 for my HT Room.. Loving it so far.

Nomore Blackout Cloth screen! Just picked up a Carada Criterion screen. I won't be installing it for a few months but couldn't pass up the deal. I am currently redoing my HT room and adding some new toys.