The Grove Theater and Basement Build

After spending countless hours on here trying to soak up all the knowledge that I can it has come time to jump in with both feet and start my own build.

I will be finishing a full basement along with the theater room but the theater will take a little higher priority. So here are the details of the room:
Overall space between studs: 19'-9" x 12'-6 3/4" x 8'-6"



Room construction will be DC-04 clips to decouple walls and whisper clips and channel on ceiling. Two layers of 5/8" drywall with green glue all around. Hoping this will help keep the sound in and the noise out. All walls will be fabric frame with room for sound treatments (similar to Damelon's). Front wall will have an AT screen with a stage and back wall will have a riser for second row seating. Speaking of seating, there will be two rows. First row will consist of three recliner style theater seats while the second row will consist of 5 theater style rocker seats.

Equipment will consist of:
- IB sub build consisting of (4) IB3 18" subs in a manifold configuration
- LCR speakers will be DIY 4Pi
- Two pair of Emotiva ERD-1 speakers for surround duties
- Video provided by JVC RS45 projector (currently sitting in a box and mocking me)
- Xbox 360, PS3, and UnRaid server (with PCH A-300) for video sources
- hopefully a new receiver and amp in the future

Here is the current layout plan:



And here are a few pics of the space as it sits now:

Looking at future theater rear wall.


Looking at right side of future theater.


Supplies ready and waiting!


Here's to hoping this thing works out.

Edited by vanice - 6/25/12 at 11:58am

Construction has begun! Pics to follow later this evening.

Big - Thanks, I've spent numberous months tweaking the layout and will probably tweak some as I go as well. As far as giving up a lot of space for the IB, I don't feel like I am sacrifising too much and will hopefully get a lot in return. The enclosure is only about 30" deep and the space to the top of the layout is kind of wasted space. It is very ackward (only 4' deep) and using it for the IB just made sense. See pic below of the bumpout...



As far as the recliners, I like the theater rockers and think they would be a nice addition. Though having extra depth is never a bad thing and would definitely open up more options should my plans change as I get closer to that stage.

Ted W. - Has there been a move away from using double drywall and going to OSB/drywall? I know the benefits of being able to install anything anywhere you want without trying to find a stud but want to make sure that I am getting the same soundproofing benefits as drywall. The stairs are located on the far right side of the layout...



Tedd - The section under the bumpout would be approx. 5.5x Vas for (4) IB3 18" subs. I would be adding insulation inside the chamber so I might be able to get that up over 6 which I believe to be acceptable. I had not thought about stacking them and having them fire in from the side. It is an intriguing idea. Not sure how that would change the output and how much easier/difficult to tune. I believe you need about 2 feet clear for each box (so that you are not firing it into a solid surface) so it might be tough to stack them with only 8'-6" of height. The line array is another option and probably my best bet if I decide to go this route. Will definitely look into the idea.

Zamboniman - The IB has been a part of my design from the beginning and I also like the idea of having a different sub setup than most. Others have been able to tune them so I think I can work with it's limitations. Gotta want it.

Today's progress...

Not as much done as I would have liked but still progress. Nothing fancy, still working on the sheathing and plywood. A few pics...

Looking toward the rear of the future theater space.


Looking from the right of the future theater spacer.


Hoping tomorrow to have more of the plywood floor in. If all goes well I should complete this stage of the build by early next week. I tend to overestimate my ability so don't be surprised if I am still working on this next weekend.

About 2/3rd's of the way done with the foam today and a few more sheets of plywood down. I will be happy to never have to anchor anything ever again. EVER!

Thanks for all the comments.

I am definitely looking forward to joining the 4Pi/4 IB3 club! I have the DE250's already but don't plan to upgrade to the JBL's yet. I can't justify the extra cost right now. Maybe down the road that would be a nice upgrade when cash isn't flowing out for other things.

I am looking into possibly doing the line array as suggested above to save a little depth and add some into the theater room and some into the gym area next door. My only concern is making a wall that could withstand 4 18" subs.

I never gave it much thought in doing two doors into the theater room. Right now the plan is to have one. The small little hallway will house the equipment rack on the left (equipment room is to the bottom left of the theater room and a couple of shelves on the right for movies and gaming accessories. Will probably stay with one door but might reconsider as I get farther into my build.

Small update today. More of the same from the past two days. I will have foam board and plywood in my nightmares tonight.

I have been trying to download the AVS 709 file so that I can test out my projector before boxing it back up for who knows how long. Anybody have some tips or access to the MP4 file they could send me?

No work updates today. Needed to rest up a bit. Starting to realize just how out of shape I am.

Happy New Year everyone!

Just thinking out loud here hoping to get a little feedback on this idea. Based on my layout I have a workout room on the backside of the theater (to the right in the plan). What if I were to use that room as the back wave enclosure for the IB subs? It would be double drywall (or OSB/drywall) like the theater with clips and channel. Would have to treat the door like the theater door (heavier solid core door with some sort of seal at the bottom). I could then eliminate the other IB enclosure (gaining more space for the workout room) and also increase the length of the theater (possibly giving some of the added width to the workout room) allowing me to pull the second row farther off the back wall. Thoughts?? Other than having subs exposed in the workout room what drawbacks would I be looking at? Any potential damage to the workout equipment?

Wow! Never thought about using the extra volume for adding more subs. Not sure I could squeeze that one by the finance committee (wife). But I think she would approve of the added space in the workout room. Would probably have to frame that wall with 2x6 to gain some strength since I wouldn't be able to brace back against another wall.

Well, finally finished the plywood. Nice to have that part complete. Here are a couple of pics.





Foam is nearly done. Just need to complete a strip around the top of the foundation.



Have to get back to another project I started before the basement so it may be a week or two before I can get back to the basement. Also need to wait until lumber goes on sale so I can get the framing materials.

Thanks for checking out my build (well, at least the prework). Very true, it has been pretty mild so far. I'm sure we will pay for that soon. The plywood is still cool to walk on but not near as bad as the bare concrete. I think it will pay off once I get all the other insulation in there and get the ambient temp up a little. Right now it floats around 63-64 degrees with just one small vent feeding the whole space. That's only a few degrees off what we keep the rest of the house so hopefully it won't take much to keep the basement at a comfortable temp. One thing I noticed that I didn't expect was that the humidity has dropped a few percent since I started. Right now I am just under 50% humidity.

I originally wanted to pull all the insulation around the top of the foundation and spray all the cavities but I don't really have the additional funds budgeted for that (after seeing what kind of money is going to be needed for other parts of the project ). Also thought about cutting up the pink sheathing and filling each cavity with that but that would be more trouble than it's worth I think. I have a large pile of insulation that I pulled off the top 2 feet of the concrete walls that I can use. Plan to frame the walls around the perimeter and then stuff more of this insulation into those cavities to help bring up the R value. Will have 6-8 inches of insulation around the top of the foundation so I think that should be sufficient.

Hope to get back at it soon. Currently finishing up a project that I started before the basement that the significant other would like to see finished before I get lost in a new project. Also, still shopping for the best pricing on lumber for framing. Looking forward to that stage of the project.