Midnite's DIY Theater Journal. - Page 5

It wouldn't be the first time I've given Ted money, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Maybe he'll give me a break on shipping if I buy 4 buckets of green glue at the same time.

Trust me, you're not the only one. Now if I can just get all the junk the better half put in the HT out for the yard sale...

Right now I'm mostly concerned with getting the design right vs. actually building. Anything I catch in sketchup saves a lot of time/money down the road, and I am on a limited budget. The not-being-at-work-80-hours-a-week thing is helping out.

Didn't get much done today, 12 hr work day. But I did get the basics of the stage modeled:

Here's another update. I got the columns and soffit initial cut done. I also added a curved screen. Hopefully this is starting to look somewhat familiar.

This shot is an overview


And this one is to show the screen detail (can't really see the curvedness on the other one)


I also did some touch-up on the stage. I updated it to have a 1.5" lip and smoothed out some of the curves. I still need to fix it a bit as you can see a slight curve inwards in the middle of the top of the stage.

Ok, I've been working on riser design this morning and found a problem. My first major "thank goodness for design" moment. The rack that I am using is a Middle Atlantic AXS-40-GG. This system allows the rack to be pulled out of the wall for maintenance, but requires a 50" clearance. There was not enough room for this. My initial cut at a solution is to have a removable section of the riser (the stair and a small part of the deck) be removable. My prime concern with this approach is how to do the carpet, but I'm sure it won't be a big deal.

Here's a shot of the riser in the "normal" configuration:



And here it is with the rack pulled out and the TRACK 50 in place with the removable section moved:

I considered that Moggie, but if I do, I effectively lose rack space. I can reach up to about 75". The minimum elevation off of "ground" level for the track 50 is 3". My riser will be about 18" off the ground. So if I elevate the rack, I'll only be able to use the AXS-32-GG. That would mean giving up 8 single height rack positions, or effectively 3 components. I'd rather not make that sacrifice.

Thanks for the input though, keep it coming.

My re-design in the Sandman motif is not yet finished, but I figured I'd go ahead and re-post my model. Be warned that all they layers are turned on in this version, and there is a lot that is TBD.

Midnite's HT Model 2.0.0

If anyone has a suggestion on where I may be able to find some half-round sheets of plywood for the columns, I could use some suggestions. So far I have only found one source and it is an online shop. It would come to about $700-$800 total for the 6 columns plus delivery. I called a few local lumber stores and none of them carried such items.

Online shop: http://www.aitwood.com

Thanks BIG, but looking at their prices, they're quite a bit more. Probably would be $900+ for them. I probably should have mentioned them in my post, because that was one of the 2 online companies I found making this stuff and had already filtered them on price. But I swear, any OTHER suggestions will be news to me.

I'm starting the lighting plan and so far I am thinking about a GRX-3104 using, of course, 4 zones. One for the soffit recessed lighting on the side and back walls, one for the soffit lighting over the stage, one for the rope lighting over the soffit, and one for the accent lighting behind the screen.

I am not planning on any in-riser or in-stage lighting as I am trying to control budget. I am also considering dropping the behind screen lighting. This would allow a GRX-3103 unit and a few lights / wires to be trimmed, which would probably save about $200 - $300. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Not necessarily CJO, I just see no benefit rack space I can not reach when there is a solution where I can reach it all. I guess the heart of it is not that it creates rack space I can't reach but that it eliminates rack space that I can reach (the lower rack positions). I'll give it some more thought though.

Thanks limprizol. Find something that looks good and steal it, works for me!

Just grab a copy of sketchup and start playing. Go through the online tutorials (you can find them with google fairly easy). Sketchup is VERY easy to use, and for free, it is a great price. 95% of modeling a HT is done by drawing rectangles and using the push/pull tool. If you need help with something, feel free to PM me.

As always though, feel free to steal anything and everything that I post.

Well, I just acquired a GRX-3104. I realized that would probably be the first thing to have to go in since it will actually be mounted in the drywall. E-bay purchases are always iffy, but the price benefit was too much to pass up. Hopefully my first HT purchase will arrive in about a week. Wahoo.

I modeled the GRX-3104 this morning:



Here is the Sketch-Up model (Note that in the real model, the cover is placed on the unit, just separated to show what got modeled):
http://www.filedropper.com/lutrongrafikeyegrx-3104

Thanks Lamprey, I'll see if I can find out if there is one near me. For mail order, their rates are just a tad higher than the other, but if there is a local warehouse, that formula changes.

Well, I got my first piece of equipment in, so I guess I made that milestone. I'm now the owner of a GRX-3104.

I'm working on the AC and my father is recommending a mini-split system. I understand the basics of this technology and that it is better sonically but more pricey. My prime concern at this point is air exchange. A soundproof room should be relatively air tight, shouldn't it? These units just seem to move air around inside the room and cool it, they don't seem to exchange with outside air. Is this going to be a problem?

Thanks for that info mjg. What I was referring to is that most of the electrical and light work does not come through the drywall, so I am deferring the purchase (it is all soffit / column / stage / riser mounted). I've only got 3 drywall punctures in the A/V closet, the GRX-3104, and the HVAC. So far at least, the design is not yet complete.

Just thought an update was overdue. I got slammed at work, and when I'm putting in 80+ hours a week, the HT has to slide off the active queue. It ended last week, so hopefully I can finalize designs in the next few weeks and get started.

Funny how "ended" is a relative term. It was just a short - very short - relief. I soon went back on the crazy work schedule. But, it does look like I've got some time off. I threw together some rough sketches of a HVAC plan. I'm REALLY getting tired of design at this point and REALLY want to start cutting wood, but I'm trying to stay focused. I really have no clue what I'm doing with HVAC, but hopefully this is a start. When the house was built the HVAC contractors knew I'd be adding another unit and there's already something run that supposedly I'll use, looks kind of like an insulated copper tube and maybe a power line. That's the purple line in the drawings below. Red is return, blue is supply. I've got a return coming out of the equipment closet which will have an open front, hopefully that will be sufficient to keep the equipment relatively cool.