Ronnie's Home Theater Construction Begins - Page 3

Ruben, I made the frames with curved ribs and just covered with fabric. Since all the peices were curved, it seemed to hold the fabric very nicely.

I think I got lucky.

Here is another picture of the framing. All horizontal peices are curved. The top and bottom peices are made from a 2x12. The middle 3 ribs are 1/2 plywood.



Ronnie

Maurice, I will use black fabric for the false ceiling. In the pic just above in my reply to Ruben, you can see an area just behind the new soffit and in front of the old sheetrock soffit that is hollow. That area will basically be covered by a false ceiling. The false ceiling will stop about 12-16" in front of the screen wall to leave room for curtains and swags. There will also be 5 can lights in this false ceiling shining onto the perimeter of the stage. If you take a look at my Sketchup drawings on the previous pages. That will give you an idea of the finished look. I hope to have that part accomplished by this weekend.

Ronnie

I picked up the speaker fabric at Jo-Anns off Preston. I picked up the commando cloth downtown at a place called Scenic Source. 214-887-8300. Tell Sandy you talked to me. Im not familar with the grey ebay cloth. The commando is highly recomended for sucking up light on a screen wall.

Ronnie

The only color I saw for speaker grille cloth was black. I used a coupon and it was around $4 per yard. Normal price is $7.

Ronnie

Im working on some ideas for my columns.

What do you guys think about these? The sconce will be lighted.

Good? Bad? To plain? Give up and start over?







Ronnie

Thanks guys. I really appreciate your input on this. I agree with 3 columns being to much. I tried the drawing with 2 and it just looked funny. The first row of seating will be at about 11'. If I put the column at 12', I couldnt get it to look spaced out right with only 2 columns. It seemed to leave a lot of space up front. Anyone else have those issues.

Do you think I will have reflection issues? Only the sides will be solid wood. The entire front will be open and covered with cloth. I plan on filling them with acoustic treatement.

For the record, the columns are 8 feet tall. The bottom is 9" deep with a 3" overhang for the footing. The top is 15" deep with a 3" overhang for the cap. Its 18" wide.

Should I go smaller even with 2 columns per side?

Ronnie

Of course. Would anyone let me get away without a tutorial?

Ronnie

Bud, I could probably go 2-3" smaller on the width. Maybe even a little on the depth at the top. I dont have the speakers yet, so I drew these to match about what most people are doing.

Ya, the pic is to scale. I think its the fact that there are 3 columns and the angle is a little strange that gives it that optical illusion of being big.

I plan on creating a single prototype once I decide on an overall look. I have another idea for them that I will run by you guys when I get a chance to draw it out.

Ronnie

Im undecided yet on the back wall. I wont have much room behind the back row and the wall (about 3 feet). I want to leave room to walk. I also have an odd door location.

If I do columns on the back wall, they will match the others.

Why do you ask?

Ronnie

Treatments? Whats that?

Just kidding. At first, I thought I would just do the standard linacoustic up to ear level, batting on top, Linacoustic under soffit, Linacoustic on the entire front wall, and some bass traps in the front corners. Nothing to technical. The expense wasnt really the concern, It just seemed that I could do what most have done and achieve 80-90% satisfaction. I am probably dillusional.

Now, it seems that I should probably get a little more scientific in my approach and enlist some experts. BPape is definately on my list.

Im not sure equipment will play into the calculations, but I have not decided on exactly what i will be purchasing and probably wont until the very end.

Ronnie

Hi Brian. I agree, it looks a little thin. Its currently at 3/4 inches. I have received a lot of suggestions from a few folks here and also friends and family. I need to put them into a sketchup and get some feedback again. I will put up the changes in the next few days for you guys.

Im also thinking about not making the sconce lighted. I dont think it will project any light with the black material behind it, so it probably wont work anyway. I am now thinking about tray lighting around the soffit with lights just above the columns to give them a little illumination.

Thanks for everyones comments thus far.

Ronnie

I made some slight modifications to the columns based on some feedback. Do these look any better? Is there more tweaking to be done?




Ronnie

Im still not satisfied with the way they seem spaced on the wall. The first column is 7 feet back from screen and the second one is 12 feet from the screen. That would put the second one (which will house surround) about 1 foot behind front row and between the two rows of seating.

Does this look odd to anyone else, or is it just me?

I keep wanting to move them back about 1-2 feet each, but that would probably put the side surround to far behind the front row.




Ronnie