The Theater Which Mercy Built

Four short weeks ago, I thought hat channel was a new DirectTV offering. "DD/GG" was a mystifying code used by people on this forum. Decoupling? Damping? Huh?

Now, after spending 75% of my waking hours reading through this forum (only partly an exaggeration), I'm an expert (100% exaggeration). So I'm gonna jump in headlong and start a build thread, despite having only a rudimentary idea of what it is I'm building. Below is a detail of my construction plans for my year-old custom built house, in which I had the architect plan out a space for a future theater room, followed by an overview of my entire basement for reference:





And here is the layout I have sketched out (I apologize for the poor quality):



Soundproofing
The HVAC system, as you can see in the rough sketch, is just next to the top wall of the proposed theater and is NOISY (a wall is to be built enclosing the mech area, as my autistic son needs to be kept away from that area). Additionally, there is a kegerator on the unfinished side of the wet bar (Boddington's on tap currently) which is not quiet. The floors above are completely hardwood, and the TV in the family room is clearly audible through the floor.

My thought is to build a room within a room concept. Double stud walls for the top and left hand sides, with single stud walls spaced 1" away from the exterior concrete walls. 5/8" double drywall with green glue for at least the interior walls not surrounded by concrete walls. Clips/channel and DD/GG for the ceiling. Here are my questions so far:

1) There is a dead space in my sketch represented by the shaded area at the top of the wall. This is about 1'6" deep? My research has indicated that an air cavity is good, but is this too much? Do I fill that up with insulation or just keep it empty?

2) Can I get away with single drywall on the interior theater walls that are surrounded by the exterior concrete walls?

3) Air return -- it should be easy to build a dead vent, but can I place the dead vent behind the screen wall (that is, to the left of the theater, behind the speakers). Alternatively, could the dead vent be placed within the dead space at the top of the theater?

4) HVAC supply -- the basement is supplied by the unit which supplies the main floor of the house, and it is on a damper system. The builder took two ducts off the main trunk just north of the top wall into the theater area (I can take pictures if this does not make sense). If I run flex duct above the soundproofed ceiling and then drop it down to a soffit at the "bottom" wall of the theater, is this adequate? Mind you, I am not concerned about sound leaking out of the theater, but rather ambient noise getting into the theater.

5) The door seems to be an exceptionally weak spot from a soundproofing standpoint. Any tricks beyond a solid-core door with an automatic door bottom?

Theater Layout
Not a lot of variables here, it would seem. I would like a 10' wide 2.35:1 AT screen. I think my viewing distances are decent. My main question is whether to do a 7.2 system with surrounds in the back and sides in columns -- do I move the back row forward a few feet? Or keep the back row all the way to the back (right) wall with rear speakers? Or just do a 5.2 system?

Equipment
I have none, except for my Xbox 360 which is primarily used to play Lego Star Wars and Lego Harry Potter. Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated.

1) Projector/lens - I do like the LCOS projectors such as the JVC RS45, but is it bright enough for a throw distance of about 17'? Will I have pincushioning at that distance? Recommendations on anamorphic lenses?

2) Screen - Stewart/Dalite/SMX??? This will be my first projector setup, so I am by no means an expert in the optics. I do want a masking system, and Stewart is obviously at the top of the price list...but is the quality of the other brands good enough?

3) Audio -- separates vs. AVR. Are separates overkill?

4) Speakers -- dipoles for the surrounds? That would be my preference, but is that an uniformed bias? Any suggestions for brands? I have looked at the B&W CT series but I think they only have monopoles for the surrounds. Also have looked into Klipsch THX Ultra II -- their surrounds appear to be dipoles. Any other speakers I should be looking into?

Well, that's all that I can think of for the moment though there will be more questions to come! Please chime in!

Thanks! The original plan called for double doors, but I've given up on that both for space and soundproofing considerations.

I'm not that concerned about the type of equipment. Even the layout isn't that crucial, as there don't seem to be many variables at play given the space constraints. My main equipment question is whether I should do a 7.2 or 5.2 system.

Soundproofing is my real issue, as I have no experience with it; but I think I have a decent handle on it thanks to this forum. I will be contracting the construction out - just don't have the time (or ability) to do it myself. So really that's where this whole deal starts since the isolation shell is the first thing to go up.

Anyone who comes over to help me with this project is welcome to the all the Boddington's he can handle - I can't put a dent in that keg!

Thanks for the feedback!



Interestingly, my personal preference is to sit a bit further back from the screen with narrower viewing angles. As drawn, the back row's viewing distance is about 16' (1.6W for 2.35 content, but a bit heftier 2.1W for 16:9 content -- and I do watch a lot of sports and other 16:9 content). So in my mind, I should try to move the rear row up a little to optimize audio and video for that row -- since the average number of viewers will be 3 at any one time and all could sit on the back row.



By pitch, do you mean the distance between the backs of the two rows? I have it drawn for 6'6" at present. I am a bit worried that it brings the front row a little too close, but then as noted above, I'm unlikely to sit on the front row very much.


I have strongly considered putting the subs on the sides -- but then is recommended to use inwalls or to hide the subs in a column (my column placement in the sketch was essentially arbitrary to start off with)? Also, in your diagram, are the L/Rs placed in the two side columns flanking the second row? Would the two angled rear speakers be optimizing audio for the back row or first row? I will look into the Atlantic Technology speakers too -- thanks for the tip.

I should also mention that I could decrease the width of the room if it were to add any acoustial advantage.

Oh yes, I've been going through the Dark Knight build -- only a quarter of the way through at present!

I have also devoured the information on Ted's web site, and I plan to get in touch with him soon. I'm actually meeting with a contractor tomorrow to walk him through the sound proofing process (blind leading the blind?) and get a preliminary bid so I can set a preliminary budget. This stuff really gets one wound up -- I'm even dreaming about HT at night!

Another question that I thought of regarding construction: how big should the soffit be around the perimeter of the room? I was thinking 18" x 18", with the PJ tucked into the soffit at the back.

I know that a soffit muffler would be the ideal way of running the HVAC supply into the room, but here is my dilemma. I would like to put recessed lights in the soffit with no lights on the ceiling (which I plan to treat acoustically). With a soffit muffler, I understand that ideally I would need put backer boxes on all the recessed cans, and truthfully I'm a bit intimidated by having to walk a contractor through that process. Also, I need to think about construction cost in general so things don't get out of hand.

So, how necessary is the soffit muffler if the supply is running above the decoupled ceiling and then dropping down on the bottom side of the theater, when my goal is primarily to keep sound out of the room.

Your build is extremely cool. Reading through it is going to be my weekend task. My ceiling is 9'8" right now, and with clips/channel and double drywall I'll lose another 3" at least, so that's a good idea to keep the soffit at 12". However, a width of 12" seems a little puny to me given the overall width of the room. Though I don't want it to feel like the soffit is going to drop down on the heads of the back row -- with a riser of 1', you're already talking about only 7-7.5' height at the back.

Actually, that's exactly where I want to put the rack. It'll have to be moved a little to the right because there is a cold air return right there, so it'll be directly opposite the theater entrance. That's currently where my router, ethernet switch, and all phone/directv cables are, and I can incorporate those into the rack as well.

Not sure I understand what you mean by combustible air with the HVAC. I actually won't be able to enclose it entirely because the ductwork and piping are flush against the joists. So it won't be a good soundproofing system. The main purpose is to have it surrounded by walls with a locking door so that my son can't get at the water heater and furnace. Same goes for the rack -- both front and back will need to have locking doors, and the front door will have to be solid so he won't go down just to stare at all the flashing lights.

The house is awesome, been in it for a over a year now and love it. It was one and a half years in the design phase, and a year in construction -- but worth it. I'll post some pictures later.

Yeah, the house was designed with explicit instruction to the architect that I wanted a 10' pour and that the theater area was to have no ductwork or piping that would force me to drop the ceiling any lower. I think I will do around a 2' wide soffit and 12" high.

I need to check out the rack thread more carefully. I got a quote from a local dealer for over $5000 for a rack plus power conditioners and cooling fans. Seemed a tad excessive.

Definitely will bounce the HVAC off the contractor.

Undersood. For me, the greatest enjoyment will come from immersing myself in movies. And that will be come at viewing distance of around 16' for 2.35 content. I can always move to the front row for 16:9 content or 1.85 movies if I find that viewing angles are too small at the greater distance.



I think I gotta keep the recliners in all seats, so would compromise the distances a little for that. Would it make any sense to move the back row all the way to the back wall?



I've seen builds on AVS with speakers inside wood columns...do you mean that the whole column should be covered in acoustic cloth or just the parts covering up the speakers.



Any benefit to moving the rear speakers to the back wall and making them both dipoles/bipoles?

Roger, thanks. So, dipoles/bipoles hidden in the columns for the L/R's and monopoles tucked in the corners for the rears in a 7.2 system. Alternatively, just dipoles in the columns if I decide to go 5.2?

I think I would seriously consider in-wall subs -- I'm not the kind of guy that likes bone rattling bass in the first place.

From a seating layout perspective: I know it is recommended to have 6'6" from back of the first row to back of the second row. Is this because you want to have space in the back row so that a person sitting a in a fully reclined seat doesn't have to "unrecline" for someone else to get past him? If that is the primary consideration, I would think about moving the first row back a foot and cutting into that 6'6" -- not that big a deal to me to have to "unrecline" and would get the first row into a slightly more ideal viewing distance for 2.35 material. Or am I being foolish?

Back to some soundproofing/construction questions:

1) For the interior theater walls that are next to exterior concrete foundation, can I get away with a single layer of drywall? How about a 2" x 2" stud instead of 2 x 4"? Primary consideration is not cost but rather saving some of the length of the room.

2) Bottom plate for framing should not contact the concrete floor and gap should be sealed with acoustic caulking, correct?

3) OSB for subfloor should not contact the perimeter perimeter, and should be installed after the perimeter drywall? Baseboard should also not contact the subfloor?

4) Riser can be screwed/glued into the perimeter drywall, but stage should not contact? Should gap between stage and drywall be sealed with SilenSeal?

Moggie, thanks a bunch for the tip on soffit lighting. I then saw a similar trick in the Cinemar thread where the recessed cans are installed in woodwork that is extending off the soffit. Very neat, I will hopefully be able to use that in my design.

dc-pilgrim, contractor is looking into code requirements for enclosing the HVAC unit and thinks he can construct a drop ceiling...any soundproofing thoughts? The water heater has a powered vent that turns on every time hot water is run in the kitchen or second floor bathroom and is unbelievably loud even when sitting upstairs. Very annoying. Thanks for the tip on the HVAC!

Some pictures of the basement.

1) Looking back toward HVAC unit from bottom-left corner of theater area



2) Looking toward stairwell where screen will be placed



3) Entryway area of theater



4) HVAC/water heater

Some other pictures for interest (and because I'm proud of the house!)

Front elevation



Finished billiard room



Another angle of billiard room



The HT is my signal to finish up the billiard/bar area too, since it's pretty bare. My plan is to do a Rock n' Roll theme with framed vinyl albums, black and white photographs, and posters of my favorite rock artists -- Stones, Zeppelin, Beatles, Hendrix. I also want to put two inexpensive flat screens for in the area -- thoughts on placement?

And for Moggie:

Gotcha. Any suggestions for smaller framed chairs?


I don't know that the concrete is level enough for that, but I'll check into that.



Yeah, reading through your thread I can tell how much you love insulation! Fortunately, I'm gonna leave all the dirty work up to the contractor and oversee it with a Boddington's in hand!

It's not just for breakfast anymore. Seriously, if you wanna build this theater for me, you can have all the Boddington's you desire.

Based on your advice and my previous inclination, I'm leaning to a 7.1 system. I've done some research on the Atlantic Technology speakers, they are now high on the list. I wish I could say but I had planned out the staggered seating, but the reality is I just chose the number seven pretty arbitrarily.

I will continue the search for smaller framed chairs -- can't seem to find any thus far in my price range.