The Cinemar Home Theater Construction Thread - Page 2

Acoustic question for everyone?

Can I use the unused panel areas of the columns to build acoustic panels? They would be flush with the columns and could be 2-4 inches thick - inset into the column and covered with GOM fabric. Most theater's I have seen, the acoustic panels are hanging into the room and off the wall. So not sure if it will serve the purpose.

Thanks for any suggestions.

3Z3VH,

My thoughts were to do the walls and columns using drywall. So I would just be putting trim on drywall to simulate the wainscoting.

Here's a little more detail on what I was thinking of making acoustic panels built into the columns that are not occupied with speakers...although the speakers are only gonig to require about a foot of vertical space, so I could even add acoustic panels below/above if necessary.



The yellow area represents a 4" OC rigid fiberglass inset into the column.

So my question is, will this be enough to help with the acoustics, or will I need more acoustic panels through out the room. And like Marklabelle870 inquired, do we need acoustic panels in the lower half inside the wainscoting.

Again, I don't need to build the absolute best sounding room, but certainly don't want it to sound like a cave.

I could probably also add acoustic panels in the lower half of the columns too.

The top half of the acoustic panels in the columns would be about 3'8" x 11" x 4".

Optionally, I could turn the area in-between the columns where I planned to put tan GOM frabric on the walls into 2" acoustic panels.

Any tips for best placement?

mike2060,

I originally wanted to go with 2.35 but am currently leaning towards a 16:9 for the following reasons:
* The speakers in the current 16:9 config are ideal according to dolby specs
* Going with a 2.35 may force me to go to an AT screen which would force going with a smaller screen in order to put speakers behind
* The front is very close as it is, so I though going with an even wider image than I have now might be too much for the front row viewers
* A D-Box motion system will be under the front row adding even more dramatic effect making it a little more difficult for the viewer to focus on the wider view. If I didn't have the D-Box investment, I'd probably care much less about the front row being so close since I could just watch it from the back.
* Want to be able to entertain during Football games and play Xbox360
* I thought the 16:9 would be better suited for the multiple rows of viewing
* The picture for 16:9 on a 2.35 screen gets significantly smaller appearance-wise than doing a 2.35 screen on a 16:9 screen.
* When reclining seats in the back row, the 2.35 image is positioned nicely above viewers heads.

In the end, if I want to go with a wider 2.35 screen, I'll have to push the L/R speakers out further (towards the side walls) than ideal conditions. Which may not be that big of a deal...but unfortunately I wouldn't really know until after the fact...or go with an AT screen.


I certinaly love the look of the 2.35 and would go for it if my front row could go back a few feet.

I want to use my M&K speakers for LCR - but they are fairly deep. So going to an AT screen is going to push that front row really close. I don't have the option of moving the front row back any further given the foundation.


The other option I guess is to go 2.35 and just go with a smaller screen. I guess the closer you move if to the viewers the smaller the screen you can theoretically go?!?

Thanks guys for the comments on the acoustics of the room. I'll do some more digging. SoTech - I'm anxious to see what you come up with.

fotto,
Thanks but I think planning out 1 theater every 6 years is about all the stress level I can handle.

It looks like the front row would be about 10' away from an AT screen if I moved the screen forward and put the speakers behind it. That's leaving 2" between the speakers and screen. Not sure how big a screen I'd want with only 10' back. I'd probably need to allow a little room for acoustics behind the screen as well. So it may move even closer to the front row.

I wasn't too happy with the front wall...so I modified the framing around the side walls where the Sub will go. It think it looks better than the angled version I originally designed.

NEWLY DESIGNED SUB CABINETS


I played around with the idea of a 2.35 screen. (142" diagnol) It certainly does make the room look grand in the renderings! But after testing with a projector in the actual space (on the wall), it just seems like it makes the 16x9 content look really small. But when viewing the 2.35 content on a 16x9 width, I didn't get the same feeling. So I'm still leaning towards a 16x9 screen. I also noticed when pausing blu-ray content, the sliding menu near the bottom is actually below the video itself, which would seem to be an issue since it would be offscreen. This was based on a software player, so I'm not sure how a standalone BluRay player handles that issue.

SAMPLE RENDERING OF A 142" Diagnol 2.35 SCREEN - SPEAKERS WOULD NEED TO BE ON THE SIDE OF THE SCREEN IN THIS VERSION


SAMPLE OF 16x9 CONTENT ON THE 2.35 SCREEN

Yeah - I'm getting more confused the more research I do.

Koach,

Loved your theater and borrowed heavily from it. Hope you don't mind.
I noticed you used drywall for your columns instead of other materials...was there a reason for that?

koach,

That makes sense. You probably saved a few bucks going the drywall route too. I'm leaning towards drywall as well. I'm guessing you didn't add any texture to the walls?
Once I figure out how to handle the room acoustics, I should be able to determine the wall materials.

mike2060,
If I do what you suggest, that would put the 2.35 screen at 12'6" wide. I'd then have to move it 1'2" closer to the front row in order to get the speakers behind it putting the front row at about only 10' from the screen. I just think that would be too close for comfort. I'll do a rough test in the space with the projector to confirm though.

Moggie,
Thanks for stopping by. I wish the theater would go up as fast as I can model it in 3D. Yeah - I'm pretty tied in with Cinemar. When I came up with the name, it was a cross between the word Cinema and my first name, Mario. My house is pretty decked out with everything Cinemar. Everything is controlled via touchscreens and basic IR remotes, including lights, security, irrigation, cameras, energy management, movies, music, fireplace, blinds, driveway sensors, whole house audio/video...you name it, it's controlled.

I would highly recommend UPB. it's what most of our dealers are installing. I personally jumped on the Insteon bandwagon when it first came out for my house. They had some issues early on, but they've come along way now. I just got some newer products from them that I'll need to test out. They have some nice looking multi-button keypads that I have in most rooms. In regards to this theater, I'm planning on using Insteon...although I stumbled on some other lights that I may entertain that would provide every color in the rainbow. Not sure if it matters in a mostly black theater, but I thought some type of LED wall washer or even can lights that can change color would be cool. Still need to dig more into this. I'll probably have a few zones to control. 1 near the AV cabinet and foyer, back bar, step lights, side soffit lights and front stage. All this can be tied into watching a movie...dimming lights when it starts and/or pausing the movie. I may even wire for some motion sensors to detect when somebody is moving to turn on step lights automatically.

Feel free to give me a buzz and I'd be more than happy to assist you.

We are actually close to finishing up development on DVDLobby Pro 3.90 which touts a 1920x1080 user interface designed for onscreen control. Typcially we've really been geared for touchscreen control.

Here's a few sample shots of the theater with our new 1920x1080 interface.

Thanks Ted.

Mike,
I'm not a spekaer expert, but I know the M&K's are pretty highly rated and sound fantastic based on personal experience. Would the triads be comparable in quality and sound? How deep are they? 4 inches? My M&K's are about 13" deep.

I'm also trying to not let things get carried away on the cost of the theater. So I'd hate to take a loss on what is still a great speaker. I'll need to purchase a new Receiver which wasn't budgeted...and I see a lot of other things I "want" that I don't even know how much they will cost yet.

The big problem is not really the room itself but the distance to the first row. Given that the drop off is part of the foundation/floor, I don't have any flexibility in moving it back. Most people are building stages to go up, mine is going down.

It still seems to me that many of the movies I'm seeing are still 16:9. I don't know the true numbers, but if I had to guess - I might be watching 75% content at 16:9 aspect.

I was pretty comfortable with both 16:9 and 2.35 movies on the 130" screen I have planned when sitting in the front row. It did seem a bit small when in the back though. I could go a little bigger on the screen and consider the back row the primary seat. Every movie doesn't have a DBOX motion code, so it's not like I have to sit in the front row for every movie or sporting events.

One question for those with 2.35 screens...it seems that most movie menus are 16:9...is this then displaying off your screen making it difficult to navigate the menu? I guess I never paid attention on 16:9 displays.

koack,
Your theater turned out great so it looks like the extra time paid off.

koach,
No official timeline has been set. Although I would love to have the majority done before summer hits. This was supposed to be a winter project.

Moggie,
You bet. Call, ping, email, transport anytime.

Thanks to all you 2.35ers out there, I thought I'd give it another shot. I had a chance to watch a 2.35 movie this evening in the front row at a width of 144" and must say it was quite immersive. Big but immersive in a good way. The back row seats were great as well. I didn't have the seat at the exact distance back, but it actually seemed like I could handle it OK even if it were another 2' closer. The nice thing is this width gets me just 3" shy of the ideal height I had planned for 16:9...so a fair compromise.

I did notice the subtitles would appear off the screen if they went two lines in the black bar area. I guess viewers with 2.35 screens don't ever use subtitles?

It was pretty awesome seeing a bigger portion of the back wall covered with video. And when actual constructed walls come into the picture it may feel even bigger.

Where are people putting speakers behind their screen? I've seen some in the middle vertically behind the screen. But if I want to put mine at ear level...there fairly close to the bottom of the screen. Which got me thinking, how terrible would it be to have all speakers just below the screen? Certainly not ideal, but would buy me an extra foot or so to push the screen back. I currently have the front speakers positioned in the middle of both rows ear level (splitting the height difference)

Interested in some feedback as another possible scenario. In an effort to keep the screen back, what if I move the front L/R speakers closer to the side walls...outside of Dolby's recommended position?

They'd need to move about 1 1/2 feet towards the walls from where they are now in order to sit on the side of the 144" wide screen. Which ends up being only about a 1' outside Dolby's recommendation to the center of the actual speaker. This would allow me to push the screen you see in front of the speakers closer to the back wall.

Given there are 7 seats in the house, some may have better listening experiences than others from different speakers. So I don't know if I'll ever have the perfect seat.

Any thoughts?

WITH AT SCREEN


WITHOUT AT SCREEN