The 'I can't believe you want the largest room in the house' HT build.1 - Page 6

Mother of God.... the amp is heavy. The box is not so big but it's like an anchor. Nicely double boxed with a very comprehensive manual and pretty substantial rack mounts. Promptly plugged it in to check that it was working, and no problems, which is nice. Obviously not tested with any load or connections - just power. Will put it back in the box until my rack ears arrive for the other equipment and then install it in my exotic equipment rack.

I can see why people like to have these amps outside their rooms. They are pretty noisy. Just a whirring sound like the projectors of old. I imagine that under load that fan spins up and gets pretty loud. Tony, maybe you can enlighten us all as to the variable speed fan in the EP-4000 and how it operates

Hey there Hanes, welcome back! Thanks for your comments. Can always count on you for something truly profound and insightful

Please enlighten me Tony, oh Guru of all things safari

Well, I thought that I would update my post with progress...of sorts. Unfortunately, I was left with little alternative than to replace the rear deck. Had some friends over a couple of Sundays ago for a BBQ and it really did not feel safe with a few adults on it. As the back of the house sits about 3-4 feet off the ground, not having something to walk out onto was not an option (with a 4YO). So, the plans for the HT were always going to slip until I got it done.

Have spent almost every waking hour (rostered around work, influenza and Daddy Day Care) building the deck and apart from installing the handrail and stainless steel wire, it is pretty well done. I doubled the size of the original deck, which was roughly 30 feet x 7.5 feet. It's now 15 feet deep which makes it a great entertaining space. I didn't tackle the frame without the help of a carpenter mate of mine and Dad and I finished the top decking, which consisted of drilling and installing almost 900 clips. What a PITA. Was not as painful as mixing 26 20kg bags of concrete however. This deck is going nowhere! Using the clips gives the deck a nice smooth finish with no exposed screws or nails used to secure the decking. Being a composite product (70% renewable bamboo and 30% resin) it will never require oiling, painting, staining or any maintenance apart from a power wash. My kinda structure!
Anyway, here are some progress picks. Within about 10 minutes of the power saws shutting down my 8yo Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Jasper) decided that he had a new sundeck.











Hopefully finish the balustrading and finishing touches in the next week or two and then onto the rear room to remove a combustion stove, drywall over an existing doorway and then set up my plasma in that room. That will leave me free to take my gear out of the HT room and begin work. Then the fun begins.....

Thanks for the compliment! I will endeavor to get a full shot of the deck. As to whether we are all billionaires, everyone knows that things are always bigger and better down under. We are the Texas of the Southern Hemisphere! I guess it helps that we use a real currency and not those Greenback Pesos!
By the way, have you noticed that every Aussie dedicated build has pictures of everything except dedicated home theatre builds.... We have dogs, dog houses, decks, foundations, fireplaces.. Pretty much everything but home theaters. I don't know how you guys will ever take us seriously?????

Beers are on me Tony. Just get yourself over here, prepare yourself for assembling two DTS10 kits.... Oh and a few days of drywall installation. Seem fair????

As long as it's not on Greek finances otherwise the rest of us will end up bailing you out of bankruptcy. And no construction photos wearing a fig leaf please mate.

G'day there David, the stainless steel wire is used for balustrades for safety. Most handrails are about 4 feet high and local codes stipulate about 8-10 runs of wire per span. There are some photos at this link to give you an idea:

http://allthingsstainless.com.au/gallery/76.html

[quote="hanesian"]

... and let's not even go to the Gilligan's Island eternal debate: Ginger or Mary Ann?

You mean I need to choose?????

Hey Tony, well as usual you are absolutely correct. Which is why I have made an executive decision. Due to the fact that I just love giving half of everything I own away and having to buy back half of the stuff I already own, I need to refinance this property in any case. Spoke with the broker and decided to add a few extra thousand on the mortgage so that I can make a good dent in the room. Combined with the small savings I have and my tax return, I should have enough to get the room framed up and lined with DD and then I can start all the fun stuff. Hopefully all the Arrangements will be sorted in a month or so. In the mean time, I reserve the right to waffle on about any irrelevant garbage. It's got me this far.....

It's his deck. If I bribe him with enough food he may just let me use it every now and then.

It has been weighing on my mind Elmo.... Do I indulge you and send the picture of the planks all down and is it worth risking the wrath of GI Joe 6 Pack??? In the end, I decided that being off topic is far more interesting than being on topic, so here you go. Just ordered the stainless wire balustrades. Kaaaa ching.. There goes another $600.00! Anyway, this is where I'm at.







And here's the only photo I can find of the old deck, complete with sexy treated pine lattice.



I hope this means that your faith in my photography has been restored. As I have a professional interest in photography, your last comments cut me deep!!

Hi there guys,

Well, finances are just about sorted and work should commence tidying up the rear room for the plasma. That will clear the way to empty out the proposed HT room and begin construction. I have started amasssing timber for the stage, framing, screen wall and rear riser. Just need to clear the schedule (not that easy) to get some time to start building.

Before I do, I have a question regarding the cooling and warming of the room. In the photo below, you will see that I have installed a 2.75HP reverse cycle split system air conditioner.



The head unit is mounted on the RH wall of the theatre and this wall adjoins the kitchen. I will be relining this internal wall with DD, GG and clips but know that I will be losing some sound proofing by having this unit mounted on the wall. Some sound will leak out into the kitchen so I guess that's not the end of the world.

My question, however, is how to introduce fresh air into the room (or evacuate stale air) from the room. The split system has it's compressor outside so it will draw fresh air from out there, but as the room will be sealed up pretty tight (DD, GG, acoustic caulk and an acoustic door seal) how do I vent air out of the room without transmitting sound through that point. I have seen some builds with 'dead vents' or the like. Not sure how I would go about designing something for that situation and where I would mount it. The screen wall would open out to the side of my home (and not far from neighbours), the rear wall will adjoin the hallway (not far from my son's bedroom so not ideal for sound transmission), the LH wall will be about 1.5 feet from the existing wall which has two large windows which have only thin panes of glass and leak sound badly. See picture below. I will be building a fake wall inside the current wall so there is no light coming into the room and for soundproofing. You can see the existing windows in this shot.





The RH wall (where the split system is mounted) adjoins the kitchen (probably the best option).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Don't want to seal the whole room up only to find that I have airconditioning problems down the track.
Thanks all.

Thanks mate. Will have a look.
Enjoy work!
Greg

Hey there Peter,
Um, you are right. I recall that our family had an old LG window air conditioner from about 10 years ago that had a switch for introducing fresh air. Have just read and reread my manual and you are correct.... my air conditioner does not introduce fresh air. Only recirculates and conditions air inside the room already. Looks like I will need to come up with some type of dead vent arrangement. Bummer. Was trying to avoid the extra work.
Put something else on the ever expanding list!