Nick's Homebrew Bar and Entertainment Area - Page 22

Excellent question. More info to come soon. I am planning to start playing with iRule again on my Android tablet. If it works well, I may switch to an ipad. I really like the size. The ipod touch is just too small and the 10" tablet is too big to hold in one hand.

So Mike, I thought I would give an explanation of why I thought your question about iRule was well timed. I have a bit of a home theater "side project" going on and plan to rework iRule for the new setup.

My family room TV setup uses a 5.1 surround setup. While it certainly isn't an acoustically ideal setting, we have always enjoyed watching TV and movies in that room. Part of the current setup is a Pioneer Elite VSX-45tx receiver that I have had for probably 10 years. The family has been a bit frustrated with having to constantly switch inputs on all of the devices including sound and audio separately. Recently the receiver started turning the volume up or down on its own with no explanation. I couldn't figure it out, so I decided to go ahead and pick up a new receiver for the family room.

I quickly figured out you don't have to spend a ton of money to get a nice unit with lots of features. While I plan to continue to use 5.1 sound in the Family room, I thought that having 7.1 would be nice. This would allow me to temporarily use the new receiver in the theater when it is done until I have the money to buy a high end unit. Then I can return it to the family room. My goal was to spend between $250-$350 with 7.1, apps, IP control, HDMI with upscaling. While I found lots of positive and negative reviews on the major receivers, I finally decided to purchase an Onkyo TX-NR616. There have been some negative reviews on this unit, but it appears that the problems have been resolved with the latest firmware upgrade. I am really excited to get it.

Because this unit allows for IP control, I plan to rework iRule and set up some new screens to work with the new setup. I haven't made any changes to the remote lately, so I am thinking of trying some more complex stuff while I am at it. This will give me the opportunity to do some experimenting before the theater is completed.

I will have to report back once everything is setup.

Thanks for stopping and checking out the build cw5billwade. I am amazed at how many people comment on the taste (or lack of) of my water. I always think "its just water", but it is nice knowing that there is nothing else in it. I bought my filter from Costco. When I bought the house it had some supposedly high end filter that was bought from a water specialist. I liked it, but the filters were outrageously expensive and difficult to find after the place that installed the filter went out of business. The unit from Costco was on sale, filtered more stuff and they sell the replacement filters for cheap. They are also readily available online from other places as well. You can check out the one I bought at this link.

I don't know the brand of the softener or whole house filter. The softener was installed by the same place that installed the original RO filter. It does an excellent job. The whole house filter is pretty basic. The one thing it has that some don't is a lever that allows you to bypass the filter so that you can change the filter without shutting off the water. This is important in my mind. I previously had a filter that didn't have this feature. I am amazed at how much iron builds up on the filter in a very short period of time.

No markings at all. Both have a blue body with a black top. Wish I could help more.

I was able to work on the theater again this weekend. Yesterday my son and I installed the second layer on the riser that I had previously cut. I was using the GG that was left from when I did the drywalling. It is in a 5 gallon bucket. I forgot how much fun it is refilling and using the speed loader .

Today I cut the cut the pieces for the curve and installed them. I rounded over the edges to match my stage. All that remains is to cut and install the steps.





I need to mock up the soffit soon so that I can decide what it will look like. I hope to work on it with a friend a week from Friday since we will both have the day off. Prior to that, I hope to frame up the closet that will house the rack and sub panel. It will be nice to have electrical right in the room.

RTROSE,

It does feel good to get things done. I finally feel like I am getting closer to the end. On the other hand, every time I think about what I still have left to do, I feel like I may never finish.

The strangest thing is that Logan told me that if drink the special cool aid he has been drinking I will finish much quicker. I don't know if it is just me, but things seem to be moving much slower now .

Thanks aaustin. Now that it is almost done, I'm really glad I stuck with the curve. There were a few moments where I almost just went with a straight edge on the front. I think it will look really good with the curved chairs.

Tim,

I have 1/4 bucket of GG left. Just swing by and you can have it .

Hey Tim - I just saw your post. Not sure how I missed it. I am facing the riser with carpet. I plan to to cover all of the floor, steps, etc. with carpet.

The adjustable boxes are a huge plus. I really lucked out with the holes. I was able to get all of them to line up with only a 1/4" gap max. It worked out well.

Finally made it into the theater today. Didn't have a lot of time, but I was able to finish the steps on the riser. I am really happy that is finally done. They weren't quite as easy as I thought they would be with multiple curves and angles. In the end I am happy with how they turned out.





The curve is hard to see in these pictures, but the green line on the step in the second picture is 90 degrees to the wall. Messed up my first attempt (didn't cut the board large enough), but got it figured out on the second attempt.

I have some work to do this week. I am taking Friday off and a friend is stopping by to help me frame the soffits. I need to mock up exactly what I am going to do before he gets here. I also need to figure out what I am going to do regarding the projector hush box so I can integrate it into the soffit. I also want to frame the closet that will house the equipment rack before framing the soffit.

Any recommendations on the hush box size?

The room is starting to look like a theater. I'm not really sure if this is the half way point, but I may actually pick a target completion date soon.

I really don't have a plan for the hush box, so I don't really know which fan I will be using. I may just figure out the width and leave a gap in the soffit for now.

Thanks for the tip on Nick's thread. I don'know how I missed that part.

Thanks Dave. While I have made some time to play pinball, unfortunately the restorations have all been on hold while I work on the basement. I'm sure as soon as the basement is done I will be right back at it.

I spent some time prepping for the work I want to complete later this week. I am planning to install a Middle Atlantic AXS rotating slide out rack. I contacted MA today to make sure I have all of the correct specs for the rough in. I'm glad I called. They were able to give me lots of recommendations that weren't in the installation instructions. One thing I found out that I was not expecting is that the slide out racks do not allow you to mount a glass or plexi door on them. I will need to custom make one and mount it to the trim of the opening. I want to have a smoked glass door to block some of the light coming off of the equipment.

I also plan to build a mirrored closet/box on the opposite side of the riser to house a muffler for the cold air return. It won't need to be as deep, so I may integrate some shelving on the front of it to store DVDs. Haven't quite figured that part out yet.

The other good news is that Roman received another shipment of chairs, so my 8 chairs are ready to ship. I originally planned on having him hold on to them for a bit longer, but since I am this far along, it would be helpful to have them so I can make sure everything fits and make any adjustments if necessary.

So far I have been pretty good about not buying things until I actually need them. The chairs are coming a bit early, but I really wanted to make sure that everything fits as expected before installing the carpet.

I'm trying to decide if I may be close to breaking that rule. I am considering ordering my projector. I know I'm not going to need it any time soon, but with the pre-order specials that AVS has right now, I can save a significant amount. My budget was around $3500 (would be willing to spend more if it would truly be WAY better), but right now I can get the JVC RS46 for much less than that. Since the new projectors just came out, nothing new will be released before I finish the theater (assuming I stay on track).

I have been digging around in the projector forum, but I wanted to get other opinions before I pull the trigger. Any thoughts on this projector? Any others I should consider? Its primary use will be for 2D movies. Very little (if any) 3D. Maybe an occasional sporting event (less than 5%) and I don't really get into gaming. With the large screen size I am considering, I thought this would make a good choice.

Speaking of screens, not quite ready to pull the trigger yet, but had always assumed I was going to buy an SMS 140" curved screen. Now I'm not so sure. I have ready several comments that SMS is very difficult to reach these days. They haven't responded to my calls or emails. I'm concerned with service after the sale if there is an issue. Now I'm not really sure which direction to head.

I don't know Fetch, you are quickly catching up to me . I don't know when I will be done, but I have been much more motivated lately. As long as I don't completely drain the wallet, I should be able to keep moving.

Good point Scott. I hadn't thought about the warranty. I will definitely have to take that into consideration.

It is amazing how much you can get done with an extra set of hands. A friend stopped by today to help with the theater as planned. We got a lot done. Now I have plenty to do to finish the next phase of the project.

The first thing we did was frame up the "closet" that will house the Middle Atlantic Rack. I haven't decided the exact size yet, so we just framed it without completing the front. I plan do take some measurements and hopefully order the rack very soon. This closet will also house the sub panel on the side. I am excited to actually have electric in the theater so I can run some lights besides the halogen work lights.



I also framed a mirror closet on the right rear of the theater. I think it will look more balanced this way. Plus, this will allow me to use the back section of the closet to hide a muffler for the return air duct. I think I may build some sort of shelving to house videos on the front portion of the closet. Haven't decided for sure.



Of course, the big project for today was framing the soffits. I didn't know how far we would get, but we got everything framed.



We ripped a bunch of 1/2" MDF down to size for the sides of the soffits. We were able to install the front of the curved soffit above the stage. It looks really good. Before mounting any more MDF, I want to run my low voltage wiring as well as electrical. I am also working on a plan for the lighting. I need to determine the spacing for the lights.

I decided to add a couple of small details to the soffit. Besides curving the front soffit, I also put in an angled section at the corners above the stage.