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Pimp My Garage - Page 15

post #421 of 940
5/1/11 at 7:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Horstkotte View Post

Thanks fotto. The idea of getting something nicely priced that should be easy to get together definitely appeals to me, I'm getting tired of building everything, I want to watch a movie!

I hear you brother. I spent about $500 for t slot aluminum and Seymour material, and then another $100 this weekend building my wood frame/velvet. If I had it to over again, I would think very hard about just plopping down the cash for the whole assembly and be done with it.
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post #422 of 940
5/2/11 at 7:15am
Brad,

I am a bit late to the "Congrats party". But I gotta chime in - your space looks GREAT!
Keep those photos coming...
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post #423 of 940
5/2/11 at 1:02pm
Hey Brad,

What color are those chairs? bonded leather black?
-RG
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post #424 of 940
5/2/11 at 1:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cuzed2 View Post

Brad,

I am a bit late to the "Congrats party". But I gotta chime in - your space looks GREAT!
Keep those photos coming...

Thanks cuz, will do.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rgoolio32 View Post

Hey Brad,

What color are those chairs? bonded leather black?
-RG

Correct - out of the box they're not exactly "jet black", more of a very dark gray, perhaps they look blacker if treated with armor all or whatever.
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post #425 of 940
5/2/11 at 1:28pm
Brad, looking good. For your cord I am using one of these in gray.

http://cableorganizer.com/cord-protector/
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post #426 of 940
5/2/11 at 5:38pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Big - how did you adhere yours to the carpet?
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post #427 of 940
5/2/11 at 9:33pm
Gravity. I think you can use some double sided tape if you want a little adhesion.
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post #428 of 940
5/3/11 at 4:33pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Big - was going to order it straight away, but the shipping is almost twice as much as the product. Guess I should see what else I can toss in the order to make it worthwhile.
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post #429 of 940
5/3/11 at 4:46pm
Thread Starter 
Had a go at playing with REW last night. Two takeaways:

(1) I'm not quite sure what I'm doing, I need to read the manual some more and watch some videos - calibrated the sound card OK; tried calibrating the RS meter, not sure I was doing it right (can't figure what levels I'm supposed to adjust and which I should leave alone); connected to the AVR, not sure if that's the best way to do it for sub cal - sound only came out of the R speaker, not the sub, so probably need to fiddle with speaker setup or MCACC or ??

(2) the current rack setup is just plain annoying (on casters, rolled into the too narrow closet) - to plug the laptop into the receiver, I basically had to insert my torso into the opening in the middle of the rack and torque my head like an owl. Thinking seriously about making the hole in the wall for the rack (will be covered with an insulation filled panel / door - no smoked glass, too close to the screen for that). Would make a mess of the carpet, but if I'm going to do it, may as well do it before I put up the wall panel fabric. Not real excited about it though. If only I had made the closet a couple inches wider. I guess as an alternative, I could build a rack that's a couple inches shallower, so the diagonal measurement makes it possible to rotate the rack for wiring access.
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post #430 of 940
5/4/11 at 7:34am
Brad I believe that Staples, Office Max, Office Depot or the like stores carry this type of cable covers. The actual price might be a little higher but you can go and get it the same day.

EDIT: A quick search came out with... "Floor Cable Concealer" around $14.00
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post #431 of 940
5/4/11 at 12:33pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Leo, maybe I'll swing by the local Staples and see if they have something.

Black Ops map pack out, wonder if I'll be dong REW or BO tonight...
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post #432 of 940
5/4/11 at 1:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Horstkotte View Post


Black Ops map pack out, wonder if I'll be dong REW or BO tonight...

May I suggest MW2 and NOT black ops?!?! BO is a TERRIBLE game!! Join me on MW2
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post #433 of 940
5/4/11 at 2:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iusteve View Post

May I suggest MW2 and NOT black ops?!?! BO is a TERRIBLE game!! Join me on MW2

But I can never tell now if it's you or your son online ;-). Message me when you're on, we can blow some **** up.

Actually, I've pretty much only played MW2 the last month, but downloaded the BO map pack last night.
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post #434 of 940
5/4/11 at 5:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Horstkotte View Post

But I can never tell now if it's you or your son online ;-). Message me when you're on, we can blow some **** up.

Actually, I've pretty much only played MW2 the last month, but downloaded the BO map pack last night.

Lol my son has his own account (actually 2 of them) and only gets on mine every once in a while. Usually its always me. I am ALWAYS down to blow some **** up! In fact there is nothing better in that game to go into a game with noob tubes attached to your primary and RPG/Javelin as your secondary and wreak havoc on some kids with scavenger!!
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post #435 of 940
5/6/11 at 5:37am
Brad,

Where are the pictures of your finished theater? I saw them somewhere but I cannot find them now.


Thanks
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post #436 of 940
5/6/11 at 8:14am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hehateme View Post

Brad,

Where are the pictures of your finished theater? I saw them somewhere but I cannot find them now.


Thanks

I wish I knew!

Its not done yet, still a work in progress
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post #437 of 940
5/15/11 at 10:10pm
Did Jesto every get back to you about Projector?

Panny AE4000 and JVC HD250 were on my short list. Screen size is 117 2.35 AT Screen.
Dennis told me JVC HD250 will not have enough lumens. He told me to shoot for 15-20.
Projector Central shows 8 FL for Panny and JVC shows only 7 FL.
Ideal number is 12 FL
Only Benq W6000, LG CF18 have enough lumens to meet this requirement. They have manual zoom.

There are guys running 150 inch 2.35 screens with Panny. It is very hard to figure out the projector choice. Each home theater is unique so even if I can find a deal that has Panny for demo there is no way I can compare their room to mine and make an educated decision. It also sucks that both Panny and Benq are nearly 2 years old.


Thanks
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post #438 of 940
5/16/11 at 8:14am
Hiya Brad, and hehatame

I actually have not yet replied, partly because i was completely slammed with work and the build, partly because i'm not really an expert... but here's my .02

Room Specs:
14'1" Wide by 21'3" Long
10-11' Throw from projector location to screen location
130" Diagonal 2.35, 120" wide by about 51" tall AT Screen

Originally when looking at projectors I narrowed the list down to:
1. JVC RS40 - $4.5K Street + Anamorphic (has 3D)
2. Runco LS-5 - $7K Street + Anamorphic
3. Panasonic 4000 - $2K Street
4. Epson 9700 UB - $3K Street + Anamorphic

I was really dead-set on either the JVC or the Runco because of the great reviews and technology on the Runco. They both have amazing pictures (although i've only seen the older model JVCs), and seem like amazing projectors

The Epson got knocked out early because i wasn't sure how well it would work with the Anamorphic, and if i was going with a lens system i figured i'd be better off getting the JVC.

Then, after measuring the room and placement (only have about 10-11ft of throw because of a rear support beam), the Runco got knocked out because it couldn't handle the throw.

So this left me with either the Panny or the JVC. After doing a lot of research on the Panny, and loving the idea of not needing a lens, I figured that getting it for 1/3rd the price of the JVC setup was a no-brainer b/c:
1. You don't need the lens to get widescreen - not ideal, but good reviews here
2. You can customize / optimize the heck out of the Panny to get great performance on your own (haven't gone there yet)
3. I don't need 3D now - and actually prefer to wait a bit on it
4. $ $ $

I can tell you i've only watched maybe 2 hours of stuff on the screen, and most of that was in 10 minute increments during setup - but WOW - it really is an amazing picture.

Having seen both the older model JVCs and the Runco in person, I would say that while the Panny might not be 100% up to par, its at least 90-95%. It's plenty bright (even in a room without a door), and very detailed. Black Levels are good (not astounding), but the colors look good and accurate. I can't wait to calibrate and give it another go

No regrets yet, and when the time comes to upgrade I'm going have to think long and hard about whether the exponential costs will outweigh the incremental gains.

Like i said - just my .02c

hope it helps
-jesto
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post #439 of 940
5/16/11 at 9:44am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by hehateme View Post

Did Jesto every get back to you about Projector?

Panny AE4000 and JVC HD250 were on my short list. Screen size is 117 2.35 AT Screen.
Dennis told me JVC HD250 will not have enough lumens. He told me to shoot for 15-20.
Projector Central shows 8 FL for Panny and JVC shows only 7 FL.
Ideal number is 12 FL
Only Benq W6000, LG CF18 have enough lumens to meet this requirement. They have manual zoom.

There are guys running 150 inch 2.35 screens with Panny. It is very hard to figure out the projector choice. Each home theater is unique so even if I can find a deal that has Panny for demo there is no way I can compare their room to mine and make an educated decision. It also sucks that both Panny and Benq are nearly 2 years old.


Thanks

Dennis is an expert with experience in many many different theater setups, and aims for as close to perfection as possible (given one's budget). A lot of others are willing to make compromises here and there, and one of those compromises is using a projector / screen size that either (a) yields somewhat less than optimal light output (but which still may be very satisfying to the HT owner), or (b) needs to run non-cinema setting / not perfectly calibrated setting to put out enough light to fill the (big) screen.

I'm going to hang my projector first, and then decide on screen size, so I can decide for myself whether I prefer to compromise on screen size or something else (less lumens, high bulb setting (louder / less bulb life), less then perfectly calibrated).

Quote:
Originally Posted by jesto View Post

here's my .02

Thanks for the input jesto.

If I can seal the deal, I have my eye on a local used RS-20. I'll try the THX setting first, and see if that gives me enough light for the screen size I had in mind, and go from there. My room is very dark and getting darker, so hopefully that will help.
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post #440 of 940
5/16/11 at 10:51am
Thread Starter 
Been trying to do some REW measurements, primarily to locate and EQ the sub - here's what I have so far - pretty rough still, and I seem to have a hole around the crossover and a bump up above. Measurements are from the front center seat - lots of variability seat to seat, but that's to be expected with a single sub.

Sub only:



Full range (using RS SPL meter as the mic, so I guess that means beyond some FR range, its not to be trusted - don't remember what frequency that is though):



waterfall:

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post #441 of 940
5/18/11 at 12:35pm
Hard to believe you started this thread a year ago! You've made a HUGE amount of progress in that time. Congrats!
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post #442 of 940
5/18/11 at 1:14pm
Brad,

How much are you liking your carpet? We just went looking/shopping for carpet samples and your carpet is one of the ones I ordered a sample of (in black) as I really love the diamond design.
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post #443 of 940
5/18/11 at 1:27pm
Hey Brad that doesn't look bad at all. I was able to minimize to some degree a similar droop/hump in the crossover range by upping my mains to 120Hz. I've heard that adjusting your sub distance trim can also help, but haven't tried that yet.
Also heard that RS SPL isn't to be trusted past 3KHz.
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post #444 of 940
5/18/11 at 5:04pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by J_P_A View Post
Hard to believe you started this thread a year ago! You've made a HUGE amount of progress in that time. Congrats!
Thanks J_P_A! I have two dirty little secrets though: I contracted out framing, insulation, electrical, and drywall; and my old thread (archived) when I started planning was started back in 2006.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Iusteve View Post
Brad,

How much are you liking your carpet? We just went looking/shopping for carpet samples and your carpet is one of the ones I ordered a sample of (in black) as I really love the diamond design.
I like it, no regrets thus far. I had that sticker shock when I went carpet shopping too, it seemed like it was so much cheaper just five years ago when we remodeled - but then we used pretty plain carpet in the two rooms we carpeted. I paid I think $27/yd installed for the HT, overall the job was $1800(23x17 room plus adjacent closet) - not exactly cheap, but manageable.

When my son saw it, he mentioned "oh you still need to vacuum it huh", but I had just vacuumed it. When all the pile isn't aligned one way, he interpreted that look as being dirty. I doubt I'm going to be raking/brushing it to keep it all lined up though. Well, maybe once for that cover story from Electronic Garage.

Quote:
Originally Posted by fotto View Post
Hey Brad that doesn't look bad at all. I was able to minimize to some degree a similar droop/hump in the crossover range by upping my mains to 120Hz. I've heard that adjusting your sub distance trim can also help, but haven't tried that yet.
Also heard that RS SPL isn't to be trusted past 3KHz.
Thanks Floyd - unfortunately, I think I might be using too much EQ to get there, causing the "klunk" (bottoming out?) during one Dark Knight scene ("anything that doesn't kill me makes me... stranger"). So I may have to go back to the drawing board on positioning or otherwise figuring out why I have that huge drop around 30 Hz. Or just EQ it less aggressively, and live with a dip.

Sanjay (sdurani) also suggested the distance / phase idea, I may give that a shot as well. But maybe I EQed to the wrong curve to begin with - since I picked 80 Hz in REW to make the target for the sub EQ, but then ran MCACC which set the crossover to 100, and then I manually reset it to 80. Maybe I'd have to manually adjust the AVR EQ to compensate, or run MCACC in non-full auto so it applies EQ but doesn't reset the crossover freq?
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post #445 of 940
5/18/11 at 6:00pm
That is roughly the quote I got for it here in black. I think $24/yd plus install and my room is eerily similar in size to yours. Mine is 24' x 13' with an adjoining closet. Huh!! I have that sample in black as well as 3 or 4 more coming in the next few days so I can see what I like best in my room.
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post #446 of 940
5/18/11 at 7:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Horstkotte View Post

=
Thanks Floyd - unfortunately, I think I might be using too much EQ to get there, causing the "klunk" (bottoming out?) during one Dark Knight scene ("anything that doesn't kill me makes me... stranger"). So I may have to go back to the drawing board on positioning or otherwise figuring out why I have that huge drop around 30 Hz. Or just EQ it less aggressively, and live with a dip.

Sanjay (sdurani) also suggested the distance / phase idea, I may give that a shot as well. But maybe I EQed to the wrong curve to begin with - since I picked 80 Hz in REW to make the target for the sub EQ, but then ran MCACC which set the crossover to 100, and then I manually reset it to 80. Maybe I'd have to manually adjust the AVR EQ to compensate, or run MCACC in non-full auto so it applies EQ but doesn't reset the crossover freq?

Not entirely familiar with your flow there but if MCACC is similar to Audyssey, you aren't supposed to set your x-over lower than what is picked, although you can raise it higher. Something to do with the filters not being applied to the region after you lower it (so between 80-100Hz no filters/eq). Not sure if that's factoring in as well or not.
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post #447 of 940
5/19/11 at 7:56am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by fotto View Post
Not entirely familiar with your flow there but if MCACC is similar to Audyssey, you aren't supposed to set your x-over lower than what is picked, although you can raise it higher. Something to do with the filters not being applied to the region after you lower it (so between 80-100Hz no filters/eq). Not sure if that's factoring in as well or not.
Yeah, that could be.

Sorry, my previous post was kind of cryptic. I'm fighting two problems, and I kind of mixed them together:

(1) The sub alone before EQ has a trough at ~30 Hz, and a spike at ~49 Hz - so trying to figure out what's going on there. I tried to EQ away the 30 hole, but I may have applied so much EQ that it bottoms out on some scenes. Fiddling with a bunch of positions, but haven't found one that helps those problems much yet.
(2) When combining the sub with mains, MCACC configures a 100 Hz crossover - I'd prefer to cross over at 80 Hz, but I've seen others mention the same thing with the TCA / CHT speakers, so maybe they're not that effective in that range, dunno. I'll play around with different MCACC options later on, once I get the sub itself sorted out.

I have a trough around the crossover area
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post #448 of 940
5/25/11 at 11:12am
Hey will ya quit fixin' my typos and get some work done on your own build?!?! Geeesh you'd think you already had your carpet installed or something. Dont let me catch you........
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post #449 of 940
5/25/11 at 11:17am
Thread Starter 
Lol, I know, I have definitely been slacking haven't I. I'm going to check out a used projector tonight, hopefully getting a projector in will help me accelerate my progress, that's what usually happens right?
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post #450 of 940
5/25/11 at 11:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Horstkotte View Post

Lol, I know, I have definitely been slacking haven't I. I'm going to check out a used projector tonight, hopefully getting a projector in will help me accelerate my progress, that's what usually happens right?

Oh for sure that definitely happens......heck I got mine and it accelerated my build so much that I rebuilt the first attempt at a theater and made it a family room THEN built theater #2 which in turned caused me so much acceleration I sold the projector......HAHA!

Maybe a little less MW2??? Or maybe a bit more??? We need to play whenever your on as my skills are lacking so I need to surround myself with better players. Oh FYI the MW3 trailer is out as is the release date (November 8th I believe)......this is FANTASTIC news
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