Mutheater Build - Page 2

Work and family stalled all progress on the theater but I'm going to pull myself away from basketball and hang the linacoustic on the front stage wall today.

I did experiment with building fabric panels for the stage with some stretch velvet. I pulled the velvet too tight and bent the frame so I went to HD today and got larger corner braces.

I'm just cruising the forums for some inspiration...I need to get cracking because my new Seymour screen should be delivered next week.

Wish me luck!

Thanks, I picked up some speaker fabric from Joanna's Fabric the other day. It was in the "seconds" bin so I only paid $3...between that trip and buying the stretch velvet a few friends threatened to revoke my "man card".

I would like to build the "grills" for the columns on Sunday. I will post a few pictures Sunday night if I have the time to build the grills.

I had built and rebuilt two of the fabric frames once already for the stage using 1x2 boards which promptly started to warp. Ugh! I'm rather disappointed since the velvet was stretched perfectly on one frame, just the right amount of tension.

Rather than just plugging on, I decided to build the frames again using 2x3...overkill? Maybe. However, I put a significant amount of effort into this project and don't want to cut an corners or be faced with re-work down the line.

Stretching velvet across frames does take some practice....but looks great when you get it "right". BTW, there is a "grain" to the fabric and getting it to run in the right direction makes a big difference in appearance.

I painted the new frames black last night and hope to apply the velvet tonight. Wish me luck!

Update:

My new screen arrived but that simply translates to a 9 foot long box sitting in the family room. Ugh!

I built 3 of the 4 fabric frames for the stage wall from stretch velvet. The bottom frame has what appears to be a wrinkle in the fabric and is visible from around three feet. So I am hoping the wrinkle will stretch out over the next week.

I had to cut out some drywall on the stage and made a terrible mess of the room, there is drywall dust every place imaginable. This will allow for the addition of more velvet panels which will replace some drywall near the screen. I hope it pays dividends.

If I could shake this cold, I hope to have the screen up for a test run this weekend. However, this cold (plus the newborn's cold) and work are killing me!

It appears the last 5-10% of this project is going to consume 2 months or more...however, the weather is starting to improve and my list of chores outside is growing. :-(

I really want my theater up and running!!!!!

Making progress! If you go back to post #26 in this thread you can see my original plan for the stage. I built a large enclosure to hold my LCR and sub-woofer.

No more, I simplified the stage significantly as you can see below. The next step is to install 5 of the 6 fabric frames and replace the off white outlets on the stage with black outlets.

The screen goes up on Sunday! I got the frames up...the top fabric frame is dependent on the final location of the screen. Overall, I'm happy with the velvet except for the center panel. As I mentioned earlier, it appears the fabric has wrinkles and despite a few days on the frame they have not stretched out.

Oh well....at least I will have audio and video tomorrow. It will make it easier to work on the theater having sports on in the background.

I'm very happy with the Seymour CenterStage screen...installation was easy and the pattern is invisible from the first row!

I have 84 inches from the top of the stage to the ceiling (sofit).
The screen is ~55 inches tall (excluding the velvet border).
The top of the screen is 9 to 10 inches from the ceiling.
The bottom of the screen is ~20 inches from the top of the stage.
The stage is around 11 to 12 inches tall with carpet & pad.
I'm not sure how high the stair sits off the ground.

I would like to lower the screen another 6 to 8 inches from the ceiling but it sits 31 to 32 inches from the floor. I find that to be a very comfortable viewing height for the first row. With the riser 10 to 11 inches high for stadium seating and staggered rows, the second row has a good view as well.

I might give consideration to raising the second row an additional 2 inches at some point down the road. However, I'm very happy with the current configuration. It is that tinkering...trying for perfection...that drags out many of my projects or in this case, hobby. :-)

Thanks, I only went 110 inches. I might regret not going 120. However, I achieved the desired visual effect of the screen floating in the darkness with the lights off. To me that was important, it adds something to the experience.

I have seen some great builds that look good on camera but I wonder how much the design of the stage/front wall detract from the viewing experience with the lights off.

I understand wanting a "cool" looking theater but at some point you start to compromise the quality of the viewing experience for the aesthetics of the theater with the lights on.

I broke the golden rule and construction on the theater has come to a complete stop. The golden rule, don't hang the project before the theater is finished.

The screen went up this weekend and the entire family watched a movie on Tuesday....another on Wednesday and you guessed it, Thursday. I over heard some talk this morning as they were trying to decide on a movie for tonight and what friend could come over.

Needless to say, the theater is big hit but I would really like to get moving on my list of open items!

The panels are solid 2x3's that are friction fit into place...with the exception of the top/middle panel which is secured to the framing. The side panels fit into a notch or channel in the back of the columns and the middle panels are fastened (removable) to the side panels for two reasons. First, to get the panels in place. Second and more importantly, to keep all the panels flush since not everything is 100% square.

It is very simple and very solid when it is all said and done.

I have lost track how many movies we watched over the past two or three months. The family loves the theater which is great...the kids are fighting over time to play Wii or PS3 games as well.

However, the theater is not finished....this is something the wife doesn't seem to understand. In her eyes, everything works and we can watch movies so the theater is done.

I could not disagree more....last night I stood dumbfounded looking at tangled mess of wires thinking...wow!

So here is my "to do" list:

1. Build a rack for the AV equipment and cable organization (I'll post a pix of my current mess on Saturday)
2. Build grills for the columns hiding the surround speakers
3. Build acoustical treatments / test room acoustics with SPL meter
4. Repair/install final panel in false wall
5. Install new projector ceiling mount (existing one is junk - sell it on ebay)
6. Run WOW video calibration
7. Reprogram remote for lights and AV equipment
8. Purchase additional DirectTv receiver
9. Install crown molding and led rope light in ceiling

Building grills for the columns to hide the surround sound speakers has been a challenge. First, it needs a double layer of fabric because of light entering the column from 3 sides. Second, it is not easy to build a grill to fit on the column that will have a low profile and still be rigid.

This weekend I'm going to start on the rack and grills for the columns!!!!!

Looking back, I would have asked the builder to design the columns slightly different. However, he didn't build them to my liking and I was not charged for them at the end of the day. You could see the seams in the columns and trim was added later to hide the seam. The trim is easy to see below because it is white (not painted at the time).

If I could do it again, I would have cut out an opening or square in each of the three sides...not cutting the column so there is one large opening as shown in my post above. This way, I could make three grills and snap them into place. However, this would look bad now the way my builder covered the edges with the trim....so time for plan b...or c, d...maybe I am on plan "e" now.

My final solution is not going to be easily removable....but then again, I will have very little reason to access my surround speakers on a regular basis.

That will not slide into the opening..."back" supports on the top and bottom bump into the speaker as you slide it into the column. Plus, the opening needs to be 100% square or it will not slide in or it will and there will be gaps.

If you remove the two offending supports....the structure is not as rigid.