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Old Woods Theater 2.0

45K views 312 replies 47 participants last post by  deewan 
#1 · (Edited)
Well, it's been 8+ years since I built my first theater. While I still enjoy my theater room, I have made several updates over the past years to keep up with technology advances and with equipment upgrades. Add in the design concepts that have changed over the years and the construction materials available now that were not readily available back then, I wanted to do a room remodel. So once again while the wife was out shopping (same way the first build started), drywall was torn down and dust began to fly.

The goal of this theater remodel is to do most of the work myself like I did on the first room. I will be keeping most of my equipment, keeping all of my DIY speakers, and I will be keeping the same room layout. But this time around I plan to focus a lot of time and energy on in-room acoustics and keeping sound inside the room. I also want a very high please look and feel to the room. My first theater didn’t look bad, but I always felt it was very plain jane. I want something that wows me every time I open the theater doors.

The past room had double drywall, but no green glue or clips since they were near impossible to find at a semi-reasonable cost all those years ago. Lighting was very general and until recently controlled by basic dimmers. Several years after I completed my first build, I created this build thread to document the build. To give you an idea of where I am starting from here are a few before demolition pictures of the first build.




Which after a few upgrades turned into...


Anyone looking for detailed plans of this room remodel will be sadly disappointed. I have notes written on my phone of things I want to include and ideas in my head of what I want the room to look like, but that is it. But here are the major ideas….

I will be adding clips, hat channel, and Roxul to the ceiling to prevent sound from transferring to the upstairs. The rear wall is already staggred stud and will have insulation to limit the sound transfer to the basement living room area. However, the weak point of that wall is the double door with glass inserts. I haven’t decided yet if I want to address that weakness. But door replacement can happen at any time. The other three walls of the theater are either exterior or lead to an unfinished area, so I am not worried much about sound transferring there. But all three of those walls will still be stuffed with insulation and possible DD and GG.

My first room sounded good, but I always felt it may have been over dampened. While most Home Theaters are treated with a good amount of absorption, I will be using diffusers and absorbers in this remodel. 2D diffusers at the first reflection points instead of absorbers. 3D diffusers on the ceiling behind the main seating row. Thick carpet on the floor between the main seating and the speakers as well as absorbers on the ceiling at the first reflection point. Behind the main seating area the floor will turn to a wood laminate to help increase diffusion. Two bass absorbers in the back corners and two more diffusers on the back walls on the outside of the double door.

Lighting. I plan on having at least three light zones to help create different moods when watching TV, watching a movie, or listening to music. Accent lighting will hopefully also be added to media store areas.

Lastly, my equipment rack. My previous rack was a DIY project. And while it worked well, with my move to separate and very heavy amps, I wanted something more stable and something I knew could handle the weight. So I have been slowly piecing together a metal equipment rack.

This build will not be rushed and will only be worked on during my free time between my other hobbies and sports. But I hope to have it completed by late spring of 2014. I will be adding photos and commentary as I complete the build. If you have any questions or suggestions, I would love to hear them.

Thanks!

EDIT: Pictures of the room in it's current state....



EQUIPMENT:
Processor: Emotiva XMC-1
Projector: JVC RS-4910
BluRay Player: Oppo 103D
Network Player: Mede8er 600X3D
Amps: Emotiva XPR-2 and Emotiva XPA-5
Speakers: Custom DIY Statements (front and center)
Paradigm Millenia LP (side and rear surrounds)
Pardigm UltraCube 12 (subwoofer)
Battery Backups: APC UPC J10 and APC UPC S15
Screen: Screen Innovations 100" Pure Gray 0.8 Gain with LED kit
Remote Control: iRule via iPad

Room Product Details:
Rock wall - NovikStone Stacked stone
Acoustic walls - Custom built panels with GOM Asteroid colored fabric
Seating: Fusion Escape 1019
 
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#2 · (Edited)
The first steps of the remodel of course is demolition. I removed all layers of drywall. And let me tell you, removing two layers of drywall is NOT fun. I can't imagine how difficult it would have been if I had used Green Glue.




I also had to make the hole for my equipment closet larger to allow for the new rack.


I then began building a closet to house the new equipment rack. I made sure to leave about a 3/4 inch of clearance on each side and 18 inches of clearance behind the rack for ease of running all the cables.
over the summer when I started planning this remodel, I found a solid oak door on craigslist for $15. I had to shave some height off the bottom, but other than that it worked perfectly.


With the walls torn apart and the upgrade to some high powered external amps, I decided to install 10awg wire for the front three channels and 12 wag wire for all the surround channels. I previously had 14 wag for all channels.

Next, I began installing the clips for the hat channel and some of the hat channel. You may also noticed I ran PVC or conduit for all the speaker wire and cables that will be in the walls or ceiling. This will be a big help should I ever need to add or swap out cables or wire.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Replacement recessed lights have been ordered. The new three zone Grafik-Eye (upgrade from two zone) will be delivered today. This weekend I plan on doing most if not all the electrical work. The previous room ran on one 15-amp breaker. I did have a dedicated 20-amp breaker installed a few months ago to power my Emotiva XPR-2. The new room will have a much more robust electrical system. In addition to the dedicated 20-amp breaker for the XPR-2, I will be running a dedicated 15-amp breaker to power all other equipment in the rack. Since the in room subwoofers will be powered from the wall outlets, I am running another 15-amp breaker for all the wall outlet in the room, essentially the only thing they will power will be the three subs and any small items I would ever plug in once in a while. I am also running a 15-amp breaker for all the lights in the room. The room will have three zones of lighting:
  1. Four 4-inch can lights over the seating area
  2. Three 4-inch can lights directly over the front three speakers
  3. Four or six wall scones, two on each side and possibly two on the rear wall on each side of the double door.
Also this weekend I plan on tidying up the speaker wire, coax for the sub, and all other cables for the projector, secondary TV, and power for the media storage I plan on installing later.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Continuing work. Saturday morning I built the first reflection point 2D diffusers. I decided to use poly diffusers instead of step diffusers for a few reasons. First, they are easier to make and the cost involved is less. I've also read some very positive reviews of them. Second, I wanted the diffusers completely hidden in the wall and I think I came up with a design that, while not ideal, works fairly well. And third, because of the design and the cost, if I decide they aren't doing much when I measure the room later, I can easily drywall over the diffusers without any demolition and hide them away.

The left wall (when facing the screen) is comprised of 2x6 and the right wall 2x4. So I had to adjust my math between the two diffusers. The diffusers were to fit between to wall studs. The left wall poly diffuser would have a arc radius of 24.41" and a length of arc of 32.62". For the right wall, the arc radius is 36.81" and a length of arc 31.17". Using more of that high school math I thought I would never use, it looks like each diffuser will scatter sound down to around 300Hz or slightly less. I'm good with that!

To build the bottom and top arcs to create the perfect arc, I built a t-square looking device using some very high dollar instruments: some twine, a pen, a screw, and a piece of scrap board.



I cut out the first piece and using the arc radius and used it as my template for the other pieces. Tracing the pattern onto a few more pieces of 1x6, cut them out, and then sanded them all to be the same.


I notched out where the wall stud would be, added some side supports, and began attaching the 1/8" hardboard.


I stuffed the diffusers with rock wool to prevent any internal reverb. To install into the wall, I built a supporting frame using 2x6's and nailed the differs into place.



Same process was done on the right side wall, only using the 2x4 construction numbers.


I won't be able to do any testing until I get the insulation installed in the ceiling and the drywall up. But so far I am happy with the outcome.
 
#5 ·
Electrical work is complete. I have three full zones now.


Zone 1 - Four 4" can lights to light the middle of the room

Zone 2 - Three 4" can lights to light the front wall, screen, and front stage speaker area

Zone 3 - Four wall sconces.


I have not decided on the wall sconces yet, but I have them narrowed down to these three models.





I've also finished up all audio/video cable runs. My next steps will be to insulated the ceiling between the floor joists and then start planning for drywall. Single layers of drywall everywhere except on the ceiling which will have two layers, green glue, and the hat-channel with clips. I'm using 1/2 instead of 5/8 simply because installing the electrical outlets and using 1/2" drywall was much less complicated than trying to use 5/8".
 
#6 ·
Some more small work has been completed that will not be noticeable once the room is complete. Roxul Safe and Sound has been added between all the floor joists to help kill sound from traveling from the basement. Drywall should be ordered and delivered sometime this week. Then the room will begin to look like a room again. I will be ordering samples of GOM to pick out the color and texture of the walls as well as samples of stone veneer for the front wall.

 
#7 ·
subd.


Nice work on the diffusers. I thought your room sounded good before. It will be interesting to hear the room with the new sound treatment plan.


What color schemes are you considering?


Any details on your bar? I didn't realize it wasn't attached to the floor until I saw that pic.


Good luck with 2.0!
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the well wishes kjlewie.


My goal for this room is to make it more of a "live" space. I agree the first theater sounded good. But I often craved a big room and more live sound. More of a concert hall than a dead room. I guess that comes from my college years of performer in big performance arts rooms. The 2D diffusers built into the wall at the first reflection point should be a good start. Next to them I will have absorbers and the rest of the room will be treated with 20% absorption and 25% diffusion. All other diffusers will be 3D.


The bar wasn't attached to the floor. It was heavy enough it wasn't moving anywhere.
The new bar will not be as wide. I plan on making it the same width as the three theater seats. This will allow people to get to their seats from either side of the room. The bar overall height will also not be as tall. The countertop will be the same height, but the structure around it won't be nearly as tall. With the shorter overall height and the more narrow stance of the bar, it should make the room feel bigger.


I have several samples of cloth from GOM. The final color scheme won’t be decided until I finalize my plans for the front (screen) wall. I plan on either some sort of patterned 3D design or a rock veneer. If I do the pattern, I can go with any colors I want. If I do stone, I need to decide the stone colors and then everything else will be based from that. Decisions, decisions, decisions…..
 
#9 · (Edited)
No progress on the room, but found some goodies to help move the construction along. The drywall was delivered on Friday morning. Sixteen 4x8 sheets and fourteen 4x10 sheets. Let the hanging, Green Glue, and hanging a second layer begin!


Also on Friday, I heard from the AV store that my new screen showed up. I decided on the Screen Innovations Pure Gray Zero Edge with LED kit.
 
#10 ·
First layer of drywall up (pun intended) on the ceiling. Hopefully by this weekend I will have the second layer with green glue installed. After that, the walls will be a piece of cake.



..and yes, I measured incorrectly for the light. That's the beauty of two layers. The first layer allows me to get all my errors our of the way.

 
#12 ·
Thanks for the heads up. I had considered doing that, and still might. But the availability of my help will also determine what gets done next.
 
#13 ·
Took the day off from work and did some drywalling. I have to admit, moving and hanging 4x10 sheets on the walls by myself wasn't the easiest thing I've done all week, but I got it done. Back corner of the room will be left open until the HVAC guy can move a cold air return.




Speaking of the cold air return. It is installed directly behind where some of my built in media storage will go. To help reduce the noise from the vent, I installed some Dynamat on the duct work.
 
#15 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by J_P_A  /t/1498547/old-woods-theater-2-0#post_24071695


Sorry if I missed it in your thread, but I've never seen hat channel with holes in the sides. I don't suppose you checked with Ted on that did you?

I didn't. I am curious what I would have needed to check with him about.
 
#16 ·
Does that particular channel conform to the specifications for 25 ga hat channel established by the SSMA? In particular does it meet the load bearing and deflection characteristics necessary for the amount of weight being suspended from it. As I said, I've never seen hat channel with holes in the sides used on the forum before. Normally I wouldn't mention it because it's already done, but it is holding up your ceiling so I would want to know if it was me.
 
#17 ·
I'm not sure if it is SSMA rated, but I am not worried about it. Taken from the product description page...
Quote:
Resilient channel dampens sound waves effectively, dissipating the energy and reducing sound transmission by suspending gypsum wallboard 1/2" from the stud or joist. Sound absorption can be maximized by utilizing sound attenuation blankets within the wall or floor cavity. Use of installation slips can further dampen sound transmission. Double leg resilient channel is typically used for ceiling applications with multiple layers of gypsum board. The Double leg is easier to install, but offers a lower STC rating.

It is 25 gauge, 18mil, and has the same dimensions of regular hat channel. Only is lighter with less mass. Also it's cost was about 30% less from the supplier I bought it from
 
#18 ·
Do they publish loading and deflection tables for the channel you have?


For standard hat channel, the idea is to compare your particular clip layout with the L/240 deflection table to make sure the channel can support the weight. Here's an example table for SSM rated channel in case you're curious. , and I think two layers of 5/8" is around 4.4 psf.


Anyway, looking good. You're making excellent progress!
 
#19 ·
All the drywall is complete. As I stand there looking at the plain and dirty room, I realize how much work goes into a good theater room that is hidden from sight. But, all the dirty stuff is almost done. I just need mud the ceiling and then the cosmtic stuff can begin.


A few pictures of the drywall. Green glue and double drywall was hung on the ceiling. Noise sealant was applied to all the seams and gaps.



I also decided to replace the rear door. This was not in the budget, but I have always known the double French door was the weak point of my room when it came to sound containment. A new solid core oak door was ordered last night with an English Chestnut finish, which will match the trim in the other finished room in the basement.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Drywall, taping and mudding is complete. I plan on throwing up some primer in the next couple days and then painting the ceiling. I won't be using the blackest black on the ceiling, but a very very dark charcoal color, similar to the color I had on my first theater.I have finalized my wall design. The walls will be dressed in fabric panels that will easily hide the wall treatments. The design is a random pattern. Each line shown in my drawing will be a 45 degree bevel seam. The top and bottom will be straight seams. In the pic below each number is the number of inches from the front wall.I am back and forth on if I will make the frames myself or if I will buy fabric track. The estimate if I buy the fabric track is about $680. My estimate for materials if I make the panels is around to $170.The front wall will be covered with faux stone. Nice and dark which should had some good contract to the screen with or without the LED kit on the SI Zero Edge turned on.
 
#21 · (Edited)
A few photo updates. All the drywall is complete with the exception of the rear left corner where I still need to move a cold air return. Because I am using fabric frames to cover the walls, it was nice not having to do much mudding or sanding on the side walls.




I received a call today that my new solid core double door is in. As soon as one of my friends with a large enough pickup truck is free, I will bring it home. Lastly, a big surprise for me... today while visiting the AV Store my wife was walking around killing time while I talked shop about the JVC-4910 and JVC-57. She came to the back of the store and said, "Hey, I found something I like and that you can buy". Knowing that she has NEVER spoken those words unless we are at a women's clothing store or jewelry store, I was curious what small gadget or speaker stand she liked. To my surprise, she pointed out a pair of Paradigm Millenia LP speakers. I was shocked, I didn't hesitate. I bought them on the spot. They will be great for side surround speakers as they are only 1.5 inches deep, VERY LOW PROFILE. They aren't as robust or power capable as I would like, but when the iron is hot, I gotta strike!


Next up, picking out ceiling paint color and fabric for the walls.
 
#22 ·
I like the faux stone. Very interested to see it all come together with the fabric wall design.
 
#24 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by warrenP  /t/1498547/old-woods-theater-2-0#post_24139681


Found your thread! Looking forward to coming back there and seeing this when it is all done! (might head over to see KJ's as well!)

Thanks for taking a peek into my remodel Warren. At the Dec 8th meet in Cedar Falls, we discussed having the next Iowa HT Crawl in Cedar Rapids and KJ's new room and my remodel should be stops along the route. You of course are always welcome!
 
#25 · (Edited)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

While watching some bowl games today I was able to drink and use power tools. Doesn't get much better than that. I have completed the stone veneer on the front wall. The four seemingly random square cutout areas where you can see the white drywall are where I will build 1-inch thick supports for the screen mount. They aren't evenly spaced because I had to make sure I hit studs to support the weight of the screen. I also painted the ceiling black. Now, I need to make some decisions on the fabric and walls.

 
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