Zuluwalker Theater Build

After more than two years of planning, saving up, and a long seven months of demo and building, a Theater Room emerged in our home.

 

 

 

11.2

The room is now 12 feet wide by 18 feet and 5 inches long (this was a forced issue to work-around a pair of joists). The ceiling is 8 feet tall. The design of the room offers 100% light control, and is isolated from the day to day sounds of the home and neighborhood. Case in point, I was quite surprised one weekend to come upstairs for drink and find the cul-de-sac lit up from two emergency vehicals responding to a medical call for a neighbor. Sort of a scary xenophobe kinda quiet!

I have future proofed the room for at least the next few generations of cables, by allowing ease of access to replace them or upgrade, until such a time that everything goes wireless in the far future. I have wired for 11.3, but at this time I am using 11.2 and hope for the future! I did all the work myself with the exception of some of the electrical which a cousin of mine helped with to meet code, and the mud and taping of the drywall. You really learn who your friends are by the amount of offers they make to help; offer once (just polite), offer twice (they will help for sure), five or six offers are willing to come over and assist so the dream can be real. Sometimes we would talk about which movies that they most wanted to watch once it was done, Saving Private Ryan came up a lot.

My wife was not that interested actually. I have already renovated our kitchen, main bathroom, and built a new deck. So when I asked permission she just got a glazed look and said "okay..." After that my sweet woman never cared about any of it, till I mentioned colors and furniture...BAM!! Something went off in her! Suddenly there were ideas of all sorts, and books and magazines to flip through. We visited several stores to investigate theater chairs. In the end she picked the ones we went with and her logic was, we should get good ones that would last for 20 years. No arguements...they have cup holders!!!

This is the photo-documentary of our trip.

Enjoy

 

 

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HT Equipment:
Projector: Epson ProCinema 6010
Screen: Elunevision Reference Studio 4K, 108"
HT Processor: Marantz AV8801

Preamp: Classe ssp25 (used on Two Channel system in another room)
Amps: Sherbourn 5 200 (5 channel x 200watts RMS per channel)

Amps: Sherbourn 5 200 (5 channel x 200watts RMS per channel)

Amps: Sherbourn 5 200 (5 channel x 200watts RMS per channel)

Amps: Anthem MCA 2 mkII (2 channel x 200 watts RMS per channel)
Blu-ray: Marantz UD5007
Stream: 30TB NAS

Stream: Zotac
HD Cable: Motorola DCX3400 (HD Cable tuner/PVR)
Speakers: Polkaudio RTi-A9 (Towers) ***upgraded 2011 from RTi-A7***
Speakers: Polkaudio CSi-A6(Center)

Speakers: Paradigm Cinema 200 (Heights)

Speakers: Paradigm Cinema 400 (Wides)
Speakers: Polkaudio FXi-A6 (Surrounds, Dipole/Bipole)
Speakers: Polkaudio FXi-A4 (Rear Surrounds, Dipole/Bipole)
SUB: Velodyne DD-18
Cables: 20 Cardas Crosslink Interconnects Balanced (XLR)
Cables: 2 Virtual Dynamics "Testament" Power Cables
Cables: 1 Monster 300 HDMI 1.3
Cables: 1 Monster 450SW 25ft (Sub cable)
Cables: 1 Energy Extreme (Sub cable)
Cables: 5 Phoenix Gold VRX.600 RCA
Line Conditioner: Panamax 5300
Line Conditioner: CyberPower CP-1350-AVR-LCD Intelligent UPS

Recent changes:
Processor: Marantz AV8801 
Projector: Epson Pro Cinema 6010
Blu-ray Player: Marantz UD5007

Speakers: Paradigm Cinema 400 (wides)

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Previous media room

(2008)
This was the old media room/ family room till December 2008. Back then I set it up as a 6.1 system. In the photo is my old Denon 2308ci, which I upgraded in 2010, and an unknown brand Turntable.


The guest room that died and came back as a Theater Room.


A quick mock up, to explain myself, the lovely wife just nodded and said, "okay..."






That is a Polk FXi-A6 in the top left corner of the room. The placement of my old surrounds.






Through the looking glass.

Previous layout of 7.2

Edited by zuluwalker - 4/5/13 at 7:27am

I did this a fair bit, setting up seating positions, and checking and playing with the riser height. I built this mock up riser platform to test what was possible and what range was needed. It really helped. Although I used a riser calculator, I have adult family members who are between 5'2" and 6'2"...ahaha work that out! Basically I just over compensated (Yeah, I'm a real man...I'll admit I did it.) ahahaha!!


And the two rooms were one! At last! Muh wahahahaha!!


A picture, is worth a thousand words...
Drawing on your wall, makes you feel a thousand times better...






Media and equipment room. No blinking lights, no disc's spinning up, no fans turning on and cooling; zero interruptions to our cinema experience, instead both environments are seperate and as a result more enjoyable. I forget the PS3 spins loud till I go in there.






What a wall!?! This off set stud wall is on a 6" plate, with studs on 16" centers off set from each other.


As you can see above, the wall does not directly connect to the joists. Instead of a single joist taking the vibrations, two joists share the load. Making this wall very good at sharing vibrations from above and below.






The riser is not set into the walls of the house nor the rear wall of the room. Though I did seal the gap between them, I used a flexable seal. The benefit is the next home owner has the option of removing the riser, and additionally there is no vibration transfer to the walls (or from them).




The walls in this room that back onto the theater room are double layers of drywall (1/2").








Two layers deep of insulation, plus one drywall sheet on the inside, and two sheets outside the room translates to a STC of 52!!





My very good buddy donated plywood from his shop to the cause!



This insulation in the riser is Roxul Safe n Sound, for 16" steel walls. I used the steel walls version because it allowed me the maximum coverage (VS. 15 1/4" with wood) of the area under the riser's floor, with no cutting or half sheets. I applied two layers of Roxul, with a three inch gap and then the plywood. Roxul is resistant to mold and made an excellent choice for the floor area under the riser.

I used a bazillion bags of this stuff!






Testing the position and clearance of the rear FXi-A4. Everything was fine. So...Naturally I ran a test to see if it played okay, and loved it very much. I slept very well that night.


I ran into the issue of having more ideas at one time than memory cells, so I hung this clip board on the wall and would write down measurements, last minute crack head ideas, and shopping lists. Occasionally I wrote things like "When you can't keep your eyes open, go to bed...cause everyone else is sleeping too!"


A layer of Safe n Sound, 3 inch gap, layer of Safe n Sound. To keep the layers where I wanted them to stay, I would screw drywall screws in to the placement where the insulation was and then and then hook the insulation in the screws. Like catching a wool sweater on nail...snag!


Dreaming of better days to come...






Resiliant channel to keep the drywall from being screwed directly from the joists. Adding another layer of protection from Low Frequency.




In the photo above you can see the audio cables for the surrounds and rear surrounds running above the insulation (Owen's Corning, Safe n Sound). This is the marvelous level of control I now have over upgrading cable or adding to the system. All of it is up behind the suspended tiles that run around the room. Water (kitchen) is also accessible from this mannor too.


Inside of wall of the media and equipment room.






Soffits for sound control and access to wires and power line.


Exposed frame for soffits and suspended ceiling tiles. The tiles offer access to the water, power, and cables.






Flat black paint.




I painted a temporary screen on the wall, and used black tape to create a border.
The room is wired for Front Height channels, you can see the exposed cables bundled and hanging in the top corners.


I painted a temporary screen on the wall, and used black tape to create a border.
The room is wired for Front Height channels, you can see the exposed cable bundled and hanging in the top corner.





These tiles were later suspended in the soffits. I cut holes in some of them and placed sealed pot lights.

My final plan here is to cover the media and equipment wall in 1/4 inch oak sheets, with the cabinets cut out. I want the small mirror to be replaced by a full wall to wall, floor to ceiling mirror to give the room the illusion of depth.


The equipment rack holds all my present gear, and is future proofed to hold up to three Amps, and possibly a Media Server.
The HDMI cable seen in the wall is needing a wall plate to finish it, and leads back to the main room for visiting laptops or game systems. This allows quick hook up the front port HDMI on the Receiver. Although my current model does not support this, any three foot long HDMI cable I have will easily connect to rear just as easily too.


It is impossible to tell from this angle, but I have designed a second set of dual HDMI and power outlets in the very back of ceiling for the day when my next projector may require a longer throw. This will move the placement of the projector from it's current 12 feet to 16 feet from the screen.


The carpet I bought is an Industrial Accoustic application, with a compressed layer of underlay approx 2 1/2" down to 3/4" and several more layers of sound proofing material. I bought the carpet from a whole saler that did not have the information sheets to pass along. Although a quick inspection of it from side profile makes it obvious that it is heavy duty. We really lucked out on finding the material at all. It was left over from commercial theater build in our region. Apparently, though it could be BS, the salesman said to us the roll must be ordered in amounts of greater than 30 000sq ft. So if this is true, we hit jackpot! Either way, we are SUPER pleased with the result in our home.




Pot lights being wired in...TWICE. I did it once based on my guess of the Taiwanese instructions...then I had to redo them, based on an Internet troubleshoot I read on their site, which was only slightly less garbage.




I just love this!! I can access my wires from the laundry/ utility room without moving my equipment. This was a huge motivation for the whole room to be built at all! I may one day when money is nothing, buy a rack and install it in the place where the equipment sits now. One day...


Fixed frame 16:9 screen, 106 inches, Elunevision Elara II Silver Pre-lux. The screen has a three inch velvet border and is as sturdy as heck!
I would one day love a 2.35:1 screen, with a projector that goes Anamorphic...but for now I am still in heaven.


The chairs are beautiful to look at, and very comfortable for long movies or nights with just music playing. I'm not much in gaming, but the kid who did house sitting for us this summer said it was to die for in the front row. I can see why, I just suck at games, wish I had more talent!


...guess where my seat is?


This is a shelf to provide HDMI hook up, and power for a visitors lap top or game system.
The HDMI wall plate is wired straight to media/ equipment room.




This little stunt was pulled while I was home alone...and then everything was put back into storage...QUICKLY!




EPSON 8100


Final floor plan that I used.


Final colors.


I would do these type of sketches while at work in meetings.


I got really into doing these kind of little drawings. One day we went out for dinner, and the place we ate at gave little coloring sheets and crayons to kids to play with, before their meal came...I asked for some, and started doing one of these...that was when I was told "No More", and had my crayons taken away (if you know what I mean).


Ramblings of a mad man...


Ramblings of a mad man...


Ramblings of a mad man...


Ramblings of a mad man...


Ramblings of a mad man...


Ramblings of a mad man...


This idea held lot's of weight with me, I could never have known it would turn out as sweet as it did. The final outcome was more than I ever thought possible. The Samurai Sword is a real focal point when guests come in. The sword's wooden color is dark brown stain that matches the chairs very nicely.


Lighting layout option I finally settled on.


Line of sight, based on old room concept.


This is the room now backed onto the Theater Room, a sort of quiet space with a different focus. Wife approval factor as a result = 100%

Epson 8100, Elara II Silver Prelux 106" fixed frame, connected by HDMI @ 1080p signal



One of my first screen shots. Original image, unknown artist.

Thank you very much!

I am still hammering out some finishing details and the such, we are very happy with the results. Very happy!! Thanks again!

Epson 8100, Elara II Silver Prelux 106" fixed frame, connected by HDMI @ 1080p signal


Artist unknown


Kill Bill Vol.II

I removed the jumper bar between my dual posts on the center speaker (Polk CSi A6). I then connected them using 12 gauge, noticed a ever so slight, a crisper level of detail. It was most noticable with listening to symbols o a drum kit, or shell cartridges falling and hitting the floor.

I am planning to build some DIY sound absorber panels, and possibly add curtains to the front of the room. I think heavy material seems to be the consensus from most of the ideas I have read about. If anyone has any suggestions I would be thankful to hear them. I will try to make a go of it this November.

You know I just went and looked and it appears "gold" and is very shiny. I am almost suspect to believe it is not gold, and maybe just brass?

Good point though, as gold would be a much better conductor. Give it a try if you have the ability, I would be curious to hear your feedback. Maybe I am just imagining it? Seems real enough! Now that's the definition of insane!!hahahaaha

I decided to add columns to the room. I am now in the process of "making it so". Trekies should like that...

I am building the structure of the columns out of left over plywood, and insulating them. I will add sheets of 1/4 inch Oak to them, and possibly a crown molding...I will go slowly on that part, as I would like to see if I can integrate a LED rope light???




Construction phase...






The insulation being used is Roxul, I picked this because it is rigid and less likely to slump.

AAHHHAHAAHa! I thought the exact same thing the very first time I sat there!

I actually glued the stand in place with a super adhesive. The possibility of the sword falling outta there is extremely slim now, it would require an earthquake...which we never get. But I can quickly take the sword off the stand by lifting it straight up and away, this way I am sure to be able to defend my family against the Zombie apocalypse!!!

Thank you Leif for making the article on how to make accoustic panels, it will really help me.

http://www.stuffthatplugsin.com/home...oustic-panels/

I will do finishing work on the columns and use 1/4" Oak. I plan to stain them to match other wood throughout the house.

Construction phase...

Construction phase...

This has been a dream of mine for years, and years. To have my gear and media so close together. Now that there is a separate dedicated room just for that purpose I am ecstatic. Building and designing the room to have not just enough space to store everything, but also to be large enough for three adults to stand and pick a movie, was critical. Again this is the best part of the room if you ask me, I just love that all our movies are displayed and the equipment is neatly stacked up, it has the feel of being special. When people come over and we go the room to select a movie, I feel a sense of ticket counter thrill...minus the gross "how f*cking much!?!" feeling of a night at the local movies. ahaha!

Lights off, lights on!




Happy DONE phase!!

(..."done for now" won't last long phase)

(The "old mess")
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I spent some time cleaning up the cables and such, I think it feels better now...feng shui? ahaha I dunno, just looks tidy!

I drew up some plans for making the accoustic panels based on what others have done. I am hoping to find enough time to complete some or all by November?