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The Brown Family Cinema for beginners thread

post #1 of 296
11/14/11 at 2:38pm
Thread Starter 

So after a lot of lurking and snooping around, I've decided to start a build thread for those people who are extreme beginners, like myself. I've decided to start a home theater project in one of my guest bedrooms (I'm a Floridian and basements are non existent down here). Right now, I am just preparing the room for the future home theater. There was a half closet inside of the room which I knocked down to maximize space.

Here is the layout of the guest room where the madness will take place. The wall on the bottom of the picture is where the closet was.



Here is the layout of the room and my miserable attempt to show how I want it set up. I want to build a wall slightly recessed from where the closet was so that I can install an in wall dvd bookcase and an equipment rack.


The room is 13'10" length x 10'9" width x 8'3" height. Since this is preexisting construction, I was thinking of adding a 5/8 sheet of dry wall to the 4 walls with green glue. This will reduce the overall space of the room however, I am willing to take the loss if it will improve acoustics. My question is, will I be able to attach drywall to the preexisting walls with green glue without sanding or prepping? It should be noted that my walls are covered with "knockdown finish". Therefore, the surface of the drywall is textured. Secondly, the preexisting dry wall is 1/2 thick. Would that hinder the performance or make my doubling efforts null and void? Thanks in advance for you guys' help. I can't say that this will be an easy process as I am a complete beginner (in audio/visual and general contracting for that matter)!!




Equipment list:
Projector: Panasonic PTAE400U
Subwoofer: HSU VTF MK3 (or 15 if GF allows hehehehe)
L/C/R: 3 SHO-10'S
Rear: Axiom Audio QS8 surrounds
Control: Harmony 1100 or IPAD + Roomie
Bluray: Playstation 3
Receiver: Onkyo TX NR809
Chairs: 4 Klaussner powered recliners
Amp: ?? not sure if I need one


Edited by azula - 1/9/13 at 11:52am
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post #2 of 296
11/15/11 at 5:03am
My eyes are immediately drawn to that riser. Are you planning for recliners or fixed seating there? What screen size are you planning? with the screen on the wall with the door, I think you are limited to about a 96" screen. That would be good for an 8' eyeball distance for the first row. Since the room is 13'10" that leaves about 5' for the riser. Not enough for a recliner and marginal even for fixed theater seating.
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post #3 of 296
11/15/11 at 5:28am
Take a look at my build thread (there is a link in my signature). My room is also small so you might be able to get some ideas. I decided to not go with a second row riser due to space but instead have a couch and recliner.
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post #4 of 296
11/15/11 at 8:31am
is there anyway you can flip the door around to open out instead of in?
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post #5 of 296
11/15/11 at 9:14am
+1 to the door. It's probably best to have it open out as you will gain more room in the theater. That's what I am doing.
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post #6 of 296
11/15/11 at 9:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jayn_j View Post

My eyes are immediately drawn to that riser. Are you planning for recliners or fixed seating there? What screen size are you planning? with the screen on the wall with the door, I think you are limited to about a 96" screen. That would be good for an 8' eyeball distance for the first row. Since the room is 13'10" that leaves about 5' for the riser. Not enough for a recliner and marginal even for fixed theater seating.

Hey Jayn,

Thanks for the quick response. I planned on having fixed seating due to the limited space I'm working with. I want this theater to look as realistic as possible and I would love the added benefit of using the riser as a bass trap. I haven't done any measurements for the length of the riser but I figured a 10 inch height should suffice? Please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks!
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post #7 of 296
11/15/11 at 9:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Riveninside View Post

is there anyway you can flip the door around to open out instead of in?

Beware, you may have building code problems with a door that doesn't swing into the room, especially with a bedroom. I have a door in the same position on my screen wall, so I decided to go with a pocket door to maximize the space. No good for soundproofing, but a great space saver!!

Do you really need a 10 ft wide shelving unit for DVDs/BDs? I would suggest cutting that down to half the size, and moving your door closer to the center of the room, maybe right past the 16" bump-out. This would clear the front of the room for stage and screen with the possibility of going AT with the speakers behind the screen.

I would also scrap the riser and go with a single row. I just feel like you'd be cramming way too much into a 13' deep room at that point, and a single row will simplify almost everything you want to achieve.

Plus, a single row in that room would be a much better candidate for a 7.1 over a 5.1 system, if that matters at all to you.
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post #8 of 296
11/15/11 at 9:40am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by aaustin View Post

+1 to the door. It's probably best to have it open out as you will gain more room in the theater. That's what I am doing.

I will definitely be following your build thread....seems like where are working with similar space (or lack thereof, lol). I definitely plan on reversing the hinges. I was also thinking about extending the bottom wall all the way to the screen wall. That would give me a screen wall width of 145" as opposed to 129". My ultimate objective was to fit the monoprice muliformat screen on that wall.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...#specification

I guess I could go for the 106" screen if that would be more suitable for my size room. Still brainstorming at this point.
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post #9 of 296
11/15/11 at 9:53am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDvids4all View Post

Beware, you may have building code problems with a door that doesn't swing into the room, especially with a bedroom. I have a door in the same position on my screen wall, so I decided to go with a pocket door to maximize the space. No good for soundproofing, but a great space saver!!

Do you really need a 10 ft wide shelving unit for DVDs/BDs? I would suggest cutting that down to half the size, and moving your door closer to the center of the room, maybe right past the 16" bump-out. This would clear the front of the room for stage and screen with the possibility of going AT with the speakers behind the screen.

I would also scrap the riser and go with a single row. I just feel like you'd be cramming way too much into a 13' deep room at that point, and a single row will simplify almost everything you want to achieve.

Plus, a single row in that room would be a much better candidate for a 7.1 over a 5.1 system, if that matters at all to you.

The ultimate objective was to fit 6 people in the room. I was pushing for the riser so that I could really have that realistic "movie theater" experience although it would definitely be kind of cramped. In regards to the bump out, I am going to have a contractor come and look to see if it would be possible to align the bottom wall all the way to the screen wall, effectively eliminating the bump out and making the width of the whole room the same. In regards to the door, that is a really good idea! I never thought about a pocket door. I just need space for the door to recess into....
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post #10 of 296
11/15/11 at 12:52pm
I originally planned to have a pocket door in my room but then quickly decided not too when I realized soundproofing was more important. If you plan to do double drywall with green glue then I would definitely not get a pocket door and go with a solid core door instead.

In regards to screen size, I would be careful about getting something too big. At my old house I had a 120" 16:9 screen with about an 8 foot viewing distance and it was too big. You had to physically move your head to see the whole thing which was very distracting and took away from the moving watching experience. Sometimes bigger isn't always better.
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post #11 of 296
11/15/11 at 3:57pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks aaustin. I will measure and draw on the wall a 120 as opposed to a 106 and see the differences.

I have a question regarding room acoustics. As stated before, my guest bedroom already has standard 1/2thick drywall installed complete with texturized "knockdown" finish. Would it be possible to green blue and use another sheet of 5/8 drywall? or are the acoustic benefits of using two 5/8 sheets of drywall worth demolishing and starting from scratch?


(It should be noted that 2 walls are exterior concrete walls, the other two are interior walls.)
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post #12 of 296
11/15/11 at 4:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by azula View Post

As stated before, my guest bedroom already has standard 1/2thick drywall installed complete with texturized "knockdown" finish. Would it be possible to green blue and use another sheet of 5/8 drywall? or are the acoustic benefits of using two 5/8 sheets of drywall worth demolishing and starting from scratch?

Its fine

http://www.greengluecompany.com/usingGreenGlue.php

(scroll down to the "Drywall choice recommendations by wall type" section)
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post #13 of 296
11/15/11 at 4:23pm
What Brad said. And make sure there are no obvious high spots on the knock-down. This is more of an issue with ceilings.

5/8" to 5/8" is ideal, but 1/2" to 5/8" ain't bad.
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post #14 of 296
11/15/11 at 4:29pm
Hey Ted, a few years back, wasn't 1/2 + 5/8 actually recommended, I guess the thinking being that they'd have different resonances?? But then testing showed that 5/8 + 5/8 was actually a bit better due to more mass?
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post #15 of 296
11/15/11 at 5:00pm
Different materials have different resonance points. Different thicknesses of the same material have different resonance points also, just as you say. The thought was to have each layer resonate at a different frequency, and lessen the severity at any given frequency. Given that you went with 1/2" + 5/8" to accomplish this, you knowingly sacrificed the mass you could have had with double 5/8".

In practice, this mixed thickness strategy was always debatable since the more thoroughly you bond the dis-similar layers, the more they will behave as a new single layer, with a completely different resonance point.

After competent damping compounds arrived and removed a great deal of panel resonance, we went for the mass advantage of double 5/8". No practical or theoretical advantage to mixed thickness panels at this point.
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post #16 of 296
11/15/11 at 5:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDvids4all View Post


Beware, you may have building code problems with a door that doesn't swing into the room, especially with a bedroom.

Where I live, no closet = no bedroom. Should be fine.
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post #17 of 296
11/15/11 at 6:15pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ted White View Post

What Brad said. And make sure there are no obvious high spots on the knock-down. This is more of an issue with ceilings.

5/8" to 5/8" is ideal, but 1/2" to 5/8" ain't bad.

That's GREAT news!! I am having a contractor come over so I can get some quotes on extending that room/adding a second layer of drywall. I will keep you guys updated!
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post #18 of 296
11/15/11 at 7:26pm
Thanks Ted, was just curious.
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post #19 of 296
11/27/11 at 12:43pm
Thread Starter 
so just a quick update. I found a contractor who will do most of the drywall work and soffits....Green Glue has arrived (i felt pictures of the green glue is pointless because we all know what it looks like....lol). I have a question about wiring/wallplates. I don't have enough space to build a screen wall/stage in front. Therefore, my floorstanding and rear surround speakers will be seen. What's the best wiring method to run cable to these speakers? I was thinking about two wall plates for the rear surrounds and two wall plates for the front L/R speakers?
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post #20 of 296
11/27/11 at 2:26pm
You can go to monoprice.com to find all the wall plates that you would ever need. They sell speaker terminal plates there. I will be using them all throughout my theater.
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post #21 of 296
11/27/11 at 7:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by azula View Post

so just a quick update. I found a contractor who will do most of the drywall work and soffits....Green Glue has arrived (i felt pictures of the green glue is pointless because we all know what it looks like....lol). I have a question about wiring/wallplates. I don't have enough space to build a screen wall/stage in front. Therefore, my floorstanding and rear surround speakers will be seen. What's the best wiring method to run cable to these speakers? I was thinking about two wall plates for the rear surrounds and two wall plates for the front L/R speakers?

Don't forget about the center channel as well in your wall plate count. I just received wall plates (banana plug type) link here from monoprice and they are very high quality and at a good price too.

Regards,

RTROSE
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post #22 of 296
11/27/11 at 8:30pm
Yup those are the same ones that I got. I also bought a wallplate with two speaker terminals for the front left and front right speakers so that I would have the option to bi-amp. I also got a wall plate for the sub RCA cable as well as some Ethernet and HDMI (I like cable neatness ).
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post #23 of 296
11/27/11 at 11:30pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks RTROSE, I was looking at those too. I suppose I would buy 5 individual wall plates and install them on the wall directly behind each speaker (going 5.1 for now) I hate wires showing like aaustin....lol
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post #24 of 296
11/28/11 at 4:36pm
Thread Starter 
Things are progressively changing. Quick question. How much OC703 would I need if I am building two bass in each corner of the wall behind the false wall 8ft. vertically?
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post #25 of 296
12/7/11 at 5:54pm
Thread Starter 
My brother and I wreaking havoc on the closet


Closet out, screen wall is the wall on the right


here is the recessed wall that needed to be squared with the rest of the room


the room squared off and carpet removed


Solid core door with exterior door frame and drywall installed (that door is frickin heavy, notice the three hinges!!)


Ran some speaker wire and the hdmi cable to where the projector will be, looking forward to tomorrow!

Next we need to drywall the cut out where the closet use to be. Upcoming will be a lot of GG and DD!!
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post #26 of 296
12/7/11 at 6:32pm
Excellent progress. Looking forward to seeing your progress. Yes solid core doors are very heavy, but that is a very good thing.

Regards,

RTROSE
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post #27 of 296
12/7/11 at 9:16pm
Looking really good!

Yeah I just picked up my solid core door today. I know what you mean about the weight but as RTROSE said, that is a very good thing.

By the way I like the Monoprice box! Did you get all of the wallplates?
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post #28 of 296
12/7/11 at 9:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by azula View Post

Things are progressively changing. Quick question. How much OC703 would I need if I am building two bass in each corner of the wall behind the false wall 8ft. vertically?

If you mean superchunks, and you are doing the size where you get 8 triangles out of a 2'x4' sheet (each triangle is 17" on two sides and 24" on the other side), and if the sheets are 2" thick:

8' = 96"
96" / 2" thick = 48 triangles required
48 / 8 triangles per sheet = 6 sheets per 8' superchunk

(my research showed that Roxul AFB would work just as well, and was cheaper locally, so I used that instead)
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post #29 of 296
12/8/11 at 5:04am
I'm not sure who you're working with on the soundproofing design, but have they not suggested removing all te drywall to decouple? With no decoupling you're likely not going to be happy with the bass isolation.
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post #30 of 296
12/8/11 at 5:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ted White View Post

I'm not sure who you're working with on the soundproofing design, but have they not suggested removing all te drywall to decouple? With no decoupling you're likely not going to be happy with the bass isolation.

Also what are the plans for outlets and ventilation in the room? I would think it would be difficult to soundproof those flanking paths if the drywall is already up.
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