New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Red Monkey Theater III Build

post #1 of 83
9/24/12 at 12:03pm
Thread Starter 
and so it begins...

Background:
This is my third theater, but my first dedicated theater. The last two home theaters in previous homes were more open, recreational rooms. This time around, I'll be building a dedicated room.

Usage:
85% movies
15% television/sports

Current State:
The room is currently finished, carpeted and unused.

Soundproofing:
Not a concern. This room is tucked away in the basement FAR from any living or bedrooms.

Budget:
I'd say budget is small compared to most of the builds on this site. I will be doing ALL the work on my own and trying to find deals on all audio/video hardware.

Ideas:
- I want the biggest screen humanly possible without making my eyes bleed from the front row. My previous builds have had 110" screens, but I have more width now and I'd like to go larger. I'm considering in-wall speakers and a shallow false wall in order to make up for the fact I want a larger screen and theater depth is not that great.

Equipment List:
- Sunfire XT Series in-wall L/C/R
L/R - CRMW-3 : http://www.sunfire.com/productdetail.asp?id=20
C - CRW3-C : http://www.sunfire.com/productdetail.asp?id=21
Surround - CRM-2BIP : http://www.sunfire.com/productdetail.asp?id=26

Subwoofers:
Two SI HT 15" sealed DIY w/3000 watt iNuke DSP

Seating:
Leaning Fusion Jive's in the following configuration:
Front Row: |0|00|0|
Back Row: |0|0|0|0|

Lots more to come as I do more research!


Edited by ScAndal - 2/22/13 at 1:41pm
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 83
9/24/12 at 12:16pm
If budget allows I always recommend a layout service, best thing I and most people say they have done.

http://shop.avscience.com/Design-Services_c_27.html

or

http://thehometheaterbook.com/home-theater-layout-service/
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 83
9/24/12 at 12:28pm
Welcome aboard. My room is very similar to yours in size (approx. 12-1/2' x 19'). Take a look at some of my pics to see what I did with in-wall speakers and a very shallow false wall.

I see couches on your floor plan. Is that the intent or are you thinking of reclining theater seats? If you are going with couches, will they recline? That will determine how far back you can place your front row.

FYI-My front row eyeballs will be about 9-1/2' from a 115" wide 2.35:1 screen. Based on some preliminary testing, I wouldn't want my front row any closer than that. Were the screens in your previous builds 110" wide or diagonal? Were they 16:9 or 2.35:1?

I'm assuming you want that back row on a riser? What is your ceiling height?

Will your equipment be located outside the room?
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 83
9/24/12 at 6:57pm
Thread Starter 
cdika17,
Design is part of the fun and I'd rather do the research/design myself. It's the part that is the most fun for me (other than the end product) smile.gif

Spaceman,
Thanks for responding. I'll be reading your entire build thread tonight. The seating will indeed be reclining theater seats. I'm thinking two banks of 4 seats. |0|00|0| in front and |0|0|0|0|
I'm thinking of Fusion Jive so far. http://www.rtheaters.com/FusionCollection/FC-Jive-1013.html I will be building some type of riser for the 2nd row of seating.

Ceiling is 9'

The screen will be a 2.35:1 I'll have to figure out some type of masking system later in the build.

The room behind the screen wall is fairly open with the exception of a furnace and water heater. I think I could build a bump-out to house all the speakers and this would make the existing wall the screen wall. This would give me a full 19' from back of theater to screen. This would give me a greater distance to first row and also allow flexibility in speaker selection. All of my audio/video components will be in the back room as well (room behind screen).


Edited by ScAndal - 9/24/12 at 10:26pm
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 83
9/25/12 at 5:07am
If you will be using reclining theater seats, you will need a minimum of 6-1/2' from back of front row to back of 2nd row. You'll see in my thread that my riser is 8' deep. This allowed me to place 4" of acoustic treatments on the back wall, pull the 2nd row a little bit off the back wall (not as much as I would have liked) and have enough room for the 2nd row to recline without hitting the 1st row. I think you'll end up with something similar, which will place your front row eyeballs at 9-1/2' to 10' from the screen, rather than the 11'-9" you currently show.

Is there a reason you chose 5.1 vs. 7.1? 19' is pretty tight but I think you can still get that 2nd row far enough off the back wall to benefit from 7.1. I would suggest wiring for it in case you decide to try it later.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 83
9/25/12 at 6:04am
Thread Starter 
Spaceman,
Thanks for the info. I've been going through your build thread and I'm most of the way through it. You have a sweet setup. I will probably use something almost identical to your stage. Yes I just put in 11'9" as a placeholder. I appreciate your measurement info and realize its probably closer. I like the size of your riser so I'm guessing I'll be using something very similar to that as well.

I am certainly going 7.1. The only problem is the rear surrounds will probably be in the ceiling due to the window in the rear left corner of the theater.

You wouldn't want to make an extra 80 fabric panels would ya wink.gif
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 83
9/25/12 at 8:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScAndal View Post

You wouldn't want to make an extra 80 fabric panels would ya wink.gif

For the right price.wink.gif
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 83
9/26/12 at 5:20pm
Thread Starter 
Here are pics of the room in current state. I'm curious to see whats under the soffit but sucks that I don't think there is much i'll be able to do about it.






I'm thinking the first steps will be to remove the lights/faceplates. Then maybe pull off the baseboards and roll up the carpet.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 83
9/27/12 at 5:56am
Let us know what is lurking in that soffit. Hopefully, something that can be pushed closer to the side wall. Then you can do a matching soffit on the other side. Headroom could get tricky on your riser. You are going to want to keep your screen as high as you can to minimize riser height. You should also consider using a mini riser just under the footprint of your back seats. Let's say you determine that you need a 12" riser. You could build an 9" high main riser that fills the width of your room and then use a 3" mini riser just under the seats to achieve the overall height while maximizing headroom.

What are the round things I'm seeing on the bottom of the soffit? HVAC supplies? You should plan on adding a return in the room.

Looks like we have the same intercom system.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 83
12/2/12 at 3:59pm
Thread Starter 
I finally had a chance to do some demo work















Edited by ScAndal - 12/2/12 at 5:28pm
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 83
12/2/12 at 4:01pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spaceman View Post

Let us know what is lurking in that soffit. Hopefully, something that can be pushed closer to the side wall. Then you can do a matching soffit on the other side. Headroom could get tricky on your riser. You are going to want to keep your screen as high as you can to minimize riser height. You should also consider using a mini riser just under the footprint of your back seats. Let's say you determine that you need a 12" riser. You could build an 9" high main riser that fills the width of your room and then use a 3" mini riser just under the seats to achieve the overall height while maximizing headroom.
What are the round things I'm seeing on the bottom of the soffit? HVAC supplies? You should plan on adding a return in the room.
Looks like we have the same intercom system.

The round things in the soffit are supply and return. The basement is floor heated so they will only act as return/cooling.

Any ideas on how to do rear surround with the riser and window?

I also don't see how i'm going to be able to put can lights above the screen with the soffit
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 83
12/5/12 at 7:24am
Hey neighbor, I am subscribed. Looks like fun smile.gif

I like the idea of bumping out the screen wall into your storage/mechanical space, you may want to consider insulation and double drywall on that wall to keep the noise from the mechanical room to a minimum, but bumping out the wall opens up more speaker options.

That said, in-wall speakers would work just fine too, and I have been very happy switching from towers and bookshelves to in-wall. You want to ensure you buy an in-wall speaker that is enclosed and not open baffle (IMHO). I have used both on several occasions and the enclosed in-wall speakers always sound much better to me.

For the back wall, I don't see much choice outside of rear in-ceiling speakers for the rears, or you may just want to wire it up for now and concentrate on 5.1. If you do go in-ceiling for the rears you will want a speaker that is designed like this:
http://www.definitivetech.com/products/uiw-rcs-iii


That is enclosed and has the angled baffle for the drivers and tweeters.

You could also do in-wall speakers as well for cheaper.

For lighting, what about sconces on the side walls and a combination of can lights in the ceiling? Put them on their own switches with dimmers and you will be able to control how much light you have in the room easily.

What are you thinking in terms of screen material and projector? Should be some good PJ sales between now and February. Is 3D something you are looking for?
Edited by ack_bk - 12/5/12 at 9:38am
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 83
12/5/12 at 7:35am
Do those supply and return ducts stop at the wall with the window or do they continue to serve other parts of the house?
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 83
12/5/12 at 9:48am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ack_bk View Post

Hey neighbor, I am subscribed. Looks like fun smile.gif
I like the idea of bumping out the screen wall into your storage/mechanical space, you may want to consider insulation and double drywall on that wall to keep the noise from the mechanical room to a minimum, but bumping out the wall opens up more speaker options.
That said, in-wall speakers would work just fine too, and I have been very happy switching from towers and bookshelves to in-wall. You want to ensure you buy an in-wall speaker that is enclosed and not open baffle (IMHO). I have used both on several occasions and the enclosed in-wall speakers always sound much better to me.
For the back wall, I don't see much choice outside of rear in-ceiling speakers for the rears, or you may just want to wire it up for now and concentrate on 5.1. If you do go in-ceiling for the rears you will want a speaker that is designed like this:
http://www.definitivetech.com/products/uiw-rcs-iii
You could also do in-wall speakers as well for cheaper.
That is enclosed and has the angled baffle for the drivers and tweeters.
For lighting, what about sconces on the side walls and a combination of can lights in the ceiling? Put them on their own switches with dimmers and you will be able to control how much light you have in the room easily.
What are you thinking in terms of screen material and projector? Should be some good PJ sales between now and February. Is 3D something you are looking for?

Welcome ack_bk! I will certainly be doing double drywall and insulation on the inside wall to keep furnace noise out. I have a Geo-thermal unit that can get quite noisy so that is a must.

My preference is to not have to use in-wall speakers (I'd love to actually build them) but the space I'm working with behind the wall is pretty narrow due to the backup furnace and water pressure tank.

I'm wondering if I'd have any problems with placing the speakers against the side walls of the bump out. Kind of like this:

I've heard that placing speakers next or against walls is not preferable, but maybe that wouldn't matter since the wall would end flush to the speaker fronts

I've also come up with an idea for the rear surrounds. Since I'm going to be building a removable window plug out to cover the window, I'm thinking I could mount a speaker on the upper right inside of the window and have the fronts flush with the wall which would be covered with fabric anyways. This would allow for pretty good placement.
Here is an example of what I'm talking about:


I'm unsure about the projector. I've got an old 720p Sanyo that I can play with for awhile to determine screen size preferences, etc.., but I plan on getting something next year. I really don't care much about 3D at the moment. I'm probably not going to be buying something until next summer so who knows what will be out there by that timeframe.

For the screen, I plan on building a DIY scope screen as big as I can. I'll most likely use Seymour material.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 83
12/5/12 at 9:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spaceman View Post

Do those supply and return ducts stop at the wall with the window or do they continue to serve other parts of the house?

Spaceman, The return (duct closest to the side wall) continues and goes into the wall. The supply duct ends right at the end of the theater where the circle vent drops down in front of the window.

You thinking try to move that one to the other side? It does have branches into the adjacent room so those runs would be much longer, but might be doable? I'll post some better pictures of the duct situation tonight.
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 83
12/5/12 at 11:04am
Quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScAndal View Post

Welcome ack_bk! I will certainly be doing double drywall and insulation on the inside wall to keep furnace noise out. I have a Geo-thermal unit that can get quite noisy so that is a must.
My preference is to not have to use in-wall speakers (I'd love to actually build them) but the space I'm working with behind the wall is pretty narrow due to the backup furnace and water pressure tank.
I'm wondering if I'd have any problems with placing the speakers against the side walls of the bump out. Kind of like this:

I've heard that placing speakers next or against walls is not preferable, but maybe that wouldn't matter since the wall would end flush to the speaker fronts

I would be concerned about placing speakers that close to boundary walls. I would ask around the forum but based on my experiences most speakers sound best when pulled a few feet from a boundary wall, but it depends on the type of speaker and design. I would definitely stay away from any rear ported designs, and go for something sealed. Since you are open to building your own speakers, you should be able to design something that would work well in the space, but yes in-wall would make you life easier but that would come at a cost ($$).

Quote:
I've also come up with an idea for the rear surrounds. Since I'm going to be building a removable window plug out to cover the window, I'm thinking I could mount a speaker on the upper right inside of the window and have the fronts flush with the wall which would be covered with fabric anyways. This would allow for pretty good placement.
Here is an example of what I'm talking about:

Very cool. That could work...
Quote:
I'm unsure about the projector. I've got an old 720p Sanyo that I can play with for awhile to determine screen size preferences, etc.., but I plan on getting something next year. I really don't care much about 3D at the moment. I'm probably not going to be buying something until next summer so who knows what will be out there by that timeframe.
For the screen, I plan on building a DIY scope screen as big as I can. I'll most likely use Seymour material.

I am using the Seymour Centerstage XD material and it works very well. I had them cut it with max tilt so moire is not visible at all from the seats. I have been very happy with the material and recommend it. For the money, I don't think you can beat it.

I will be starting my DIY sub project in the next week or so, and will be sharing details in my thread. Would be happy to help you any way I can as I am learning as I go. I am buying this most likely to measure in REW as measuring your room:
http://www.minidsp.com/products/acoustic-measurement/umik-1

So once I get this all figured out sometime early next year I would be happy to help you measure your room and adjust.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 83
2/6/13 at 3:16pm
So, why does your sub thread have more updated pics than your build thread? tongue.gif We need updates!!!!
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 83
2/6/13 at 6:33pm
Thread Starter 
Haha well played BllDo. I've got a ton of pics ready to go. I'll post em up this weekend. Working two jobs, rugrats and part-time theater building is enough to crush a guy.

I've got most of the boring stuff out of the way, and some more of the design stuff coming up so good time to get this thread back in motion.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 83
2/9/13 at 9:25am
Thread Starter 
Moved around some of the studs in front screen wall and started insulation



Played around with some speaker locations


Reply
Reply
post #20 of 83
2/9/13 at 9:27am
Thread Starter 
Finished with Insulation




Reply
Reply
post #21 of 83
2/9/13 at 9:28am
Thread Starter 
Running TONS of wire and smurf tube








Reply
Reply
post #22 of 83
2/9/13 at 9:29am
Thread Starter 
Sheetrocked front wall and put one coat of mud on to seal it.


Also started work on 10" stage






Started 12" riser
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 83
2/9/13 at 9:31am
Thread Starter 
Some color samples


Wife loves Claret as it was our wedding color
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 83
2/9/13 at 9:33am
Thread Starter 
Created window plug.

It's just a 2x4 frame, insulated with 5/8 rock. I wrapped it in carpet pad so it wouldn't scratch the window base/sill.

I picked up some metal brackets and screwed it in flush to the wall
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 83
2/9/13 at 9:35am
Thread Starter 
More riser and stage work


Bring in the sand. Home depot play sand was always dry at my location.


Here you can see the window plug installed.
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 83
2/9/13 at 9:39am
Thread Starter 
I ordered a sheetrock lift from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Pentagon-Series-Drywall-Professional-Quality/dp/B001U4PHXK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360431501&sr=8-1&keywords=sheetrock+lift

It worked awesome and I sold it the same week on craigslist. A lot cheaper than renting.










Finished sheetrocking the ceiling and soffit and installed 12 4" lights.


I'll be using CREE LED bulb/trim kits from Home Depot.
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 83
2/9/13 at 9:40am
Thread Starter 




Reply
Reply
post #28 of 83
2/20/13 at 11:38am
Thread Starter 
Ceiling Texture complete


Reply
Reply
post #29 of 83
2/20/13 at 11:40am
Thread Starter 
Added Bass Traps. 2" OC703





Reply
Reply
post #30 of 83
2/20/13 at 11:45am
Thread Starter 
Primed Ceiling and walls, painted 2 coats of Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black:









I installed twelve 4" LED CREE lights from Home Depot


I spray painted the lights and vent covers with Rust-Oleum Flat Black
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home

AVS Top Picks