Budge Family Theatre

UPDATE:

Just wanted to do an equipment list at the start of the thread:

Projector: Panasonic AE2000U
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V663
Speakers: Klipsch Synergy Series
L&R Mains: F-1's
Center: C-1
Surrounds and Rears: S-1's
Subwoofer: Sub-10

Components:
PlayStation 3 (mainly for Blu-Ray)
Xbox 360 (gaming and now defunct HD-DVD)

Screen: Elite Screens EZframe CineWhite 92" fixed frame

Final room Dimensions: 11'W x 16'L x 6'10"H

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Hey everybody, I've been a lurker for a while now. There are some amazing theatre's posted here, so I decided I'd give it a shot and build one. Any input or suggestions/critisim is appreciated! First off, here is a diagram of my plan:

http://home.comcast.net/~jpbudge/BudgeTheatre.JPG

I'm planning on an 11 x 16 room with two rows of seating. I haven't made any firm decisions on equipment yet, so I am open to recommendations ( I am on a budget though, so the less costly the better ). The only major problem that I have is that the ceiling is only 6'10" high, and if you look at my diagram there is an area at the end of the room that is even lower, only 6' high. I'm planning on putting the screen at that end so that there is room for at least a 10" riser on the viewing side. I would love to make it higher, but I don't want to squish the back row viewers too bad.

My equipment / snack room is located in a separate room behind the screen, I'm planning on installing a retractable screen in the lowered ceiling about a foot and a half from the back wall, that way it can overlap the door to the equipment room and give me a larger screen than otherwise possible. I'm planning on a 16:9 screen with a 96 - 104" diagonal. Surround sound will be 7:1, I didn't put the subwoofer in the diagram, but it will be located at the screening end in the corner.

The downstairs area used to be a small den and storage room, but I'm in the process of tearing down the wall to open up the area and begin construction. I'll post some pictures soon of the demolition. Wow this is turning into a long post, please let me know if you have any suggestions as I'm a newbie at this. Thanks!

-- Jeff "Bizarro J"

thanks for the comments, the spectator chairs might be a good idea and would eliminate the need for a riser. I would like to put the screen on the other wall, but with the lowered ceiling it may be too low for even the spectator chairs to be under, I'll have to look into that. Pics of the demolition are coming soon, just need to find my transfer cable for my camera.

Ok, finally found the cable i needed for my camera. Here are the demolition pictures. The small window at the opposite end will be walled up during final construction to make the room completely dark. Also the door will be replaced with a thick exterior door and possibly moved.

I also still need to rip the dry wall off the last two original walls and ceiling; that will be tomorrows project, along with taking out the last two studs remaining from the old dividing wall (they are not support beams).

Ok, I've begun some of the preliminary construction. I decided to go with your advice and put the screening wall on the other side, and I think I will go with spectator chairs for the rear seating. Here is a layout of the redesign:
http://home.comcast.net/~jpbudge/redesign.JPG

I'm going to go with a 96" diagonal 16:9 screen. I'm debating on whether to do in-wall speaker for the side and rear surrounds or to do wall mounted satelite speakers. Any opinions or suggestions on what to do there?

Here are some pics of my progress




(bar stools are just for reference, the spectator chairs will be a bit higher)


-- Bizarro J

Thanks for the input, I'm planning on putting the projector along the back wall. I've done the calculations and it should be fine, as long as someone doesn't sit dead center in the back row. As a fall-back however I am going to run some conduit to the front of the soffit, so if need be I can relocate it without too much hassle. I'll be putting in a ventelation duct above the projector at the back, and in front of the soffit just in case.

As for the projector, I'm leaning toward the Epson Home Cinema 1080 Projector

And I'm looking at a prepackaged satelite system for the speaker, definative technology. The ProCinema 800 is looking like a great system, keep in mind I'm on a pretty tight budget. I'll pick up another pair of matching ProMonitor speakers to use as the rear surrounds. I know there are much better speakers out there, but I'll have to upgrade to those farther down the road when I have some more cash flow.

-- Bizarro J

I've finished the demolition, just a few small things to cleanup from the old drywall. I added 2 new breakers, one dedicated to the lights and the other dedicated to the outlets. I have 6 can lights in the theater room, with the 4 closest to the screen on a dimmer and the 2 in the back on a seperate switch.

Here is a pic of my equipment closet, I installed a ventelation duct at the top that also connects to a duct above where the projector will go. I installed a in-line duct fan that is can be switched on and off by the light for the equipment room.



I made a soffit to hide the gas pipe in the equipment room, I still have a few small things to finish on the framing before the drywall starts to go up.


This is looking from the screening wall facing the back of the room. You can see I have already run my speaker wire, I'll be terminating them with banana jacks.

Here is were my side speaker jacks will be located, I plan on mounting the speakers just below the support beam running along the ceiling.


Here is the screeing wall, and my new insulated doors I still need to install. The yellow area is about the size my screen will be, 92-94".


That's it for this update. Good news is that I just got a pretty big promotion and will have the money to finish sooner, just not as much time. Kinda a catch-22.

-- Bizarro J

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to make the comparison. I've also been looking at these SVS speakers, I've read some good things about them so I'm keeping them under consideration.

Ya, my ceilings are also pretty low, 6' 10" at the highest, so I feel your pain. My house was built in 1963, so I guess they just never thought of it being used for anything but storage back then.

-- Bizarro J

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I've been able to work on my theater. Well I have made some progress. I'm almost done with the insulation, all I need to do is finish covering the small window with some MDF painted black. Then I can finish the insulation in the ceiling and start with the drywall. I'm still trying to decide if I want to do it myself or pay someone else. Judging from how long it took me to do the insulation I better hire it out. Here are some picks:

The boxes on either side contain the speaker cables for the left, right, center, and subwoofer. The box at the very top middle contains 2 ethernet cables, one for an infrared repeater and the other just in case I need something else put in, such as a motion sensor bar for a Wii.


I will be putting up a 12" deep shelf just below the USB/Ethernet cable box that will go the length of the entire back wall. The door is just placed there, I'm waiting for the drywall before I set it. My side speakers will be going up on each side just below the main support beam.



This is looking into the equipment room/office from the doorway in the theater.



Originally I was planning on the Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB, but I've been looking into it and I think that the Panasonic AE2000 is the way I should go. I've decided on an 7.1 SVS speaker system. If anyone has any opinions on these choices let me know, I'm open for suggestions. I'll probably have to buy all the equipment over a few months time, I hate using a credit card. The projector will come first, and I can use my old Pioneer speakers and reciever until I can upgrade.

Thanks for the comments, I have looked into the Pro Cinema series from Definative Audio, they seem to be priced pretty close to the SVS setup I'm looking at. I think that Best Buy has them, maybe I'll go see if I can give them a listening to.

It's good to know that I'm not the only one that has been delayed for an extended period of time. I'm hoping to have the sheet rock up and finished by the end of the month. *knock on wood*

Made some progress this weekend. I started insulating the ceiling and covered up that pesky little window.

I started by painting some MDF black, 3 or 4 coats did the trick.


Then I cleaned the inside of the window really good, I won't be able to clean it again for, well ever, I guess.


Next step, fitted the MDF into the window, black side out. I caulked (sp?) around the edges with clear flexible caulk.


Then put in the insulation. No more window!


From the outside it just looks like a dark room. I still need to clean the outer window, I need to buy some more powerful cleaner for the mineral buildup.



I think I'll hire someone to do the dry wall before the end of the month. Then the real fun can begin!

Well the drywall is not yet up. But it will be up by the end of April, I've found someone who will do the job for materials plus labor, no bid involved. He is a friend of a contractor friend of mine, so I know he will give me a good deal and do a good job.

I've been doing some shopping for the room, my wife and I found a great deal on a leather sofa we both liked. Here is a picture from the web, I'll take some more once it arrives. We have seen it in person and it is very comfortable. It is a sectional, but we think it will help with providing more seating. Here is a stock photo I found online:



We are still looking around for some spectator chairs for the back row.

Yes, my lastname is Budge, so chances are pretty good that there is some relation there. I live in the Ogden area, but I know that a lot of Budge's are in the Logan area and most are decendants of William Budge from Scotland who came here in the 1800's.

It has definately been a challenge working with the low ceiling, but I think it will be quite cozy when I'm finished.

BigmouthinDC - I thought about that as well, but since the window is so small and is located at the back of my house I think I will buy some landscaping bricks and cover it up completely in the back. Then maybe plant a shrub or something in front of the window sill.

Well I thought it would never happen, but drywall is almost done! They came out today and hung it and tomorrow they will come out and do the finishing work. It's starting to actually look like a usable space now! I got a great deal on the drywall from my contractor friend. They are doing the whole space, 11' x 22' divided into two rooms, for $1100 bucks!

I'm not going with double drywall, the only room nearby is the living room directly above, so I'm not concerned with complete isolation. I just want it to be fairly muffled.

Here are some pics:
screen wall


looking towards the back


equipment closet


window in equipment/office room

Drywall is almost complete, they did the mudding and will be back on Monday to sand and do the texturing on the ceiling. I'm thinking of having them texture the two side walls as well, thoughts?

Previously I was dead set on an SVS 7.1 speaker setup, but now I'm thinking of going a different route to save some cash. I was thinking up going with Hsu Ventriloquist V-12 setup, using the center and 4 surrounds and pairing them with SVS SCS-1's for the front L and R, plus an SVS PB10-NSD for the sub. I'm not an audio expert, does anyone see any problems with this setup?

Wow, after 4 or 5 months of no progress things are moving pretty quick now. Forget my last post about the speakers, I just made a fairly compulsive purchase at Best Buy today. They had a deal going on a set of JBL speakers, that I wasn't too interested in, but they were sold out so I asked if I could get some special pricing on the Klipsch Synergy speakers that I had been eyeing for a few weeks now. I demoed them and really liked the sound. They gave me a great deal, won't post specifics here but I got F-1 floor standing speakers, C-1 Center, and 2 sets of S-1 Surrounds, the 10" sub, and the new Yamaha RX-V663 receiver for an awesome price, basically got the receiver for free.

Here are some picks of my new toys waiting for me to finish the room.




Now all I need is a little thing called a projector, some think that it's a fairly important piece to the home theater equation. I'm 85% sure that I'm going with the Panasonic AE2000, but the Epson HomeCinema 1080 UB keeps creeping into my thoughts. The only thing that worries me about the UB is I hear it has a lot of quality control issues. I know that the Panny has dust blob issues, but I think I can avoid that with a simple DIY filter attachment. Any suggestions?