Spaceman Theater build - Page 2

For those of you with risers, at what height did you place the tweeter of your front speakers? Should mine be at:

1. Ear height of the front row?
2. In between ear height of the front row and ear height of the back row?

Ear height for me seems to range from 43" when reclined to 48" when not reclined. My riser will be about 13" high.

EDIT: A response in the speaker forum recommended an average height, which I interpret to be in between the front row when reclined (43") and the back row when not reclined (61"...48" ear height + 13" riser height). Half way between these two would put the tweeter around 52". This just happens to match up with the bottom 1/3 line on my screen. Is this close to what others have done? Should I cheat it a little lower to make the front row a little more ideal?

Thank you UPS dude!!



Received my front L/C/Rs today. Will wait to see if I can find a similar deal on the 4 surrounds.

Took a leap of faith without listening to these before purchasing. I couldn't find a local demo but got a good deal direct from Atlantic from their B-Stock inventory. Thought I could always use the 30-day return policy or Craigslist if I didn't like them, but after listening, I think my search is over.

Theater seats.....check!
Speakers.....check!

I'm going to assume the first row will be my preferred row but can't say for sure until I get the projector. But you're right, it's down to a few inches. But it's usually situations like this when my OCD kicks in and brings the project to a screaching halt.

Rear Wall


Left Wall at existing door


Left Wall


Front Wall


Removed carpeting and drywall this weekend. The subfloor has a nice crown to it which should make riser construction interesting. I also removed the collar on the 12" duct and am ready to cut a new hole closer to the front wall. No major surprises so far.

To buy myself an additional 6-7" in the front of the room, I moved the existing 12" duct closer to the front wall. This is the return from the 1st floor passing through the theater on the way to the attic.

BEFORE


AFTER










In addition to relocating the 1st floor return, I added a dedicated 12" return in the theater.




The one supply in the ceiling was doing a poor job of heating and cooling the space, so I removed it from the flat part of the ceiling and added 4 new supply vents to the angled part of the ceiling, 2 along the right wall and 2 along the left wall. This cleans up the flat part for a star ceiling and has definitely improved the air flow to the room.








I still need to address venting the projector and equipment room.

Before I haul my carpet pad to the curb, I want to make sure there isn't a use for this somewhere in my theater build. It's 1/2" thick and lined on one side with a thin plastic film.

I'm assuming it's not dense enough for any type of acoustic treatment, but didn't know if anyone had one of those moments during their build when they said to themselves "Boy if I had only kept some of my carpet pad....".

Old M&K vs. new Hsu VTF-2 MK3





I really wanted to buy two VTF-2s but will have to see if any $$$ is left in the budget when I'm closer to the finish line.

This is about the only progress I've made in the last 2 months. Took delivery of 6 of the 7 seats today. Berkline 13175s. I hope to get them all unpacked and inspected this weekend. I figure I better test the power recline, since they will most likely be out of warranty by the time I actually finish the theater and get them in the room. If anyone is considering these seats and needs measurements, just let me know.

Theater stimulus funds have been reallocated to the SEP IRA, ROTH IRAs, 1st quarter tax payment and the 'Support your local dentist' fund. A few weeks back, my wife returned with a $6,000 estimate for new crowns. I quickly realized some value engineering was in order and took another look at the theater plans. Some obvious places to reduce costs:

GREEN GLUE


SCREEN


PROJECTOR


RISER


CARPET


STAR CEILING


LIGHTING


I'm open to other suggestions.

I think you are on to something. I could ship back the chairs and probably go with 4 rows of hay bales. Anyone hooked up a butt kicker to a hay bale before?

Actually I just set the chairs up in a spare room and there is no way they are going back. Love 'em. They will contrast nicely with the astroturf

Yes, it's truly a sad state of affairs. The relatives have stopped asking about progress. My 5 year old told me the other day we should have just bought a house that already had a theater (smart boy!!). We just refinanced our mortgage which should free up almost $300/month so I'm getting the itch again.

Well, it's time to dust off this thread and make some progress on the theater. Yes, I know, I started this thing 2 years ago and just recently finished demolition. If that doesn't get you Loganed, I'm not sure what will. Luckily for me, I'm "between jobs" and talked the wife into letting me "focus" on the theater for a few months before starting the job search.

As a refresher, here is what I started with:




Entry


Right Wall


Left Wall


Back Wall (I originally thought this would be the screen wall, but have since flipped my layout)


Screen Wall & Media Closet


.....and the latest floor plans and elevations

Floor Plan

Ceiling Plan

Right Wall

Left Wall

Screen Wall

Back Wall


I'd like to get some feedback on the revised floor plan before I get too far along. I think flipping the layout helped me get around a few trouble areas, mostly the existing HVAC duct in what is now the back right corner of the room. A lot of other things seemed to fall into place with this new layout as well.

Construction progress so far (pics coming):
-all drywall has been removed from the walls
-all insulation has been removed (mostly between ceiling and attic, but some exterior walls
-all electrical has been removed from the room and will be replaced. There was (1) 15A circuit for both the outlets and lights, which also serves the adjacent game room. I will probably use this existing circuit for the theater outlets and add (1) 15A for theater lights and (1) 20A for the equipment rack.
-(4) HVAC supplies and (1) return have been added to the theater. Locations will be adjusted slightly to work with final layout.
-existing double doors have been removed and opening has been framed in
-wet bar and closet have been removed, with openings framed in
-rough opening for new door has been framed
-framing for coffered ceiling and soffits has begun (30-40% complete). I am not doing double drywall/green glue, so all soffit/coffered ceiling framing is being done before the drywall goes back up. The only in-room framing will be the stage/screen wall, riser and columns.
-some equipment has been purchased (7 seats, sub, front speakers). Still need projector, side & rear surrounds, new receiver & 100" 16:9 AT Screen.

I was on the fence for some time regarding 16:9 vs. scope. My room is only 12'-7" wide before fabric panels and my front row is at 9'-6". I started out thinking I would have a 115" scope screen. That was reduced to a 105" scope, and I was getting a little concerned about the size of a 16:9 image. I know scope is supposed to feel bigger/grander than 16:9, but I just don't have the room. Right now, I'm planning a 100" 16:9 screen which should work well for both formats. It will give me almost the same real estate I originally wanted for scope, plus I get the added bonus of having romantic comedies go from floor to ceiling.

From a design and aesthetic standpoint, I'm pulling/borrowing/stealing from many of the other theaters on this forum. The coffered ceiling will be similar to Jautor's. The panels will be similar to most others (colors to be determined). The hinged column hiding my equipment rack will be similar to Biggie's. My rack will actually be a shelf system similar to the Tanner Ridge Cinema (YW84U's). About the only unique thing will be the 2 years it took me to finish the demo phase. Hopefully I can pick up the pace.

Thoughts/comments/criticisms are welcome.

I've been burning through my Home Depot gift cards this past week or two. So far, I've removed the existing double doors (below, left), framed in that opening, and cut a new opening for the new entry (below, right).


Old double doors


I started to frame the wall between the theater and new media closet

but had to stop and wait for my new sawzall to be delivered.

While I waited for the UPS guy, I moved on to the ceiling. Here is a shot of the existing framing (standard vaulted ceiling)


...and some early shots of the new coffered ceiling






It took about 10 hours to get the 6 recessed areas framed out and brought down to the 9' height. I still need to drop down the perimeter to 7'-10", hopefully later in the week.

Today was spent punching another hole in the wall between the theater and game room. In addition to the holes from the old door and new door, I now have a third hole for access to the new media closet.

I got the new header put in and the arch framed. I'm in the process of framing around the flex ducts. My back said it was a good time to take a break and post some new photos.

What are your plans for your ceiling?

Mine has been easier to modify than I thought. This has helped tremendously.
http://www.amazon.com/Skil-8201-CL-i.../dp/B004GHA5DA

I also hope I can keep the momentum going. We had a plumbing leak last month in another part of the house and I will need to have some drywall work done. The plan is to push on the theater and get it to the point where it is ready for drywall, and then get both areas done at the same time. That's the plan anyway.

I think you will like the chairs. We have had ours set up in another part of the house for awhile, but since that is now my construction staging area, they are safely stored away in an extra bedroom. I forgot what the warranty is on them, but you might want to get yours out and check for damage/non functioning parts (power recline?).

Glad to hear you are making progress too.

The original plan for behind my false wall was corner bass traps with 2" of OC703 from floor to ceiling, similar to this.



I was then going to cover everything with a cheap black fabric.



I'm now wondering if I could eliminate the need for at least some of the fabric by going with a double layer of 1" Linacoustic between the bass traps in lieu of the OC703, since it's already black. Also, I see that many folks aren't even covering their bass traps, so maybe I don't need to use any fabric behind the screen, since there will be fabric on my screen wall.

.

Assuming I'm going to have black fabric panels as part of the false wall, is a 2nd layer of fabric against the treatments even necessary?

Calling all structural engineers....

As I prepare to add the lower soffit to my ceiling, I find myself becoming more and more worried about the weight I'm adding to my ceiling joists. The 2x4 framing I've already put up for the coffered ceiling portion already looks rather imposing, and that's without the added weight of drywall. Can someone with some structural engineering experience weigh in on the kind of loads my joists can carry?

The distance between my load bearing walls is 13' (center to center). The new coffered ceiling and soffit framing are supported by a total of (7) 2x8 joist spans @ 24" o.c. +/-. The spans alternate between single joist and double joist (4 are single members, 3 are doubled up). All are heavily supported over the interior load bearing wall. Both single and double joists pass right over the 2nd load bearing wall and are nailed to the roof rafters. At these locations, the double joists each have a vertical support over the 2nd bearing wall.

I looked online for joist span calculators, but am not sure what some of the variables should be in my case (deflection limit, live load, dead load, etc.)

Photos of the existing framing and what I've added so far can be seen a few posts back.

EDIT: Assuming a 2x4 weighs 1.21 lbs/foot, I currently have 303 lbs of lumber up there for the coffered ceiling portion. I'm going to assume it will be double that by the time the soffits are done. Assuming 1/2" drywall weighs 1.7 lbs/sf, I will have 233 lbs of drywall covering the coffered ceiling portion. Let's assume that will double as well to complete the soffits. It looks like I will have over 1000lbs of lumber and drywall hanging from those joists. The connections to the joists occur over an 88 sf area, so does that put my load in the 11-12lbs/sf range? Is 1/2" drywall acceptable for ceilings or do I need 5/8"?

Recessed lighting question:

I have been looking at the Halo 4" IC housings and trim
http://www.lowes.com/pd_60607-337-H9...d|1&facetInfo=
http://www.lowes.com/pd_59153-337-99...d|1&facetInfo=
This combo would be around $34 +tax and I'd have to paint the trim black.

Does anyone have any experience with the ELCO brand. I found a housing that is similar to the Halo and the trim already comes black. It would also be about $175 less than the Halo for the entire room.
http://www.westsidewholesale.com/lig...g-el99ica.html
http://www.westsidewholesale.com/lig...g-el993bb.html
http://www.westsidewholesale.com/lig...ng-el985b.html

I don't mind paying a little more for quality/reliability. If there are other brands of 4" cans I should look at, let me know (JUNO?).

I got my seats from Stargate Cinema. Ken Lerch was very helpful with pricing and service. I didn't think they were making Berkline anymore, but I just checked Stargate's website and they still have them, including the 13175s. Maybe they are working through the last of their inventory. Looks like they have a pretty good deal going on.

Forum member RSH (Roman) from Ultimate Home Entertainment is also a popular source for seats.