The ALMAX theater begins

hi all,
as you can see by my join date and lack of post i've mostly been a lurker. I did n't think i had much to contribute, at least intelligently, to the conversations. i've been reading and reading for 2 years now. i think i have aquired enough knowledge to really screw this project up.
i have to thanks Sandman X, China dog, BocoPimp, Art Sonnenborn, VideoCam, Average Joe, for the hard work and attention to detail they placed in their theaters. Reaper at Reality Renders for his expertise and patence over the last 4 months of design changes. I thought i had planned the refit of my basement down to the last detail, but boy was i wrong. hirering Joe (reaper) as the best money spent. He saved my thousands of dollars. by rendering in 3d my ideas. i could see what worked and what didn't.

so, welcome along. i hope you enjoy my theater build. i think it will look cool when completed. i should have lots of pics to share. any input, advice will be welcomed.
alan

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this is the cad of my basement.
the room is 13' x 22'
ceiling on screen side 10'
celing on seating side 8'6" lower here do to mechanicals (ducts, pipes etc)

the room is a refit. it is already finished.

i'm not to worried about sound control, leaks etc, as the back entrance will closed only with a heavy curtain. so, i did minimal sound proofing. ie: no room within a room configuration.

i have had my humble former system in place for 2 years now with no complaints from up stairs. (wife, kids etc...)

my current very humble system[IMG][/IMG]

here is one of the renders done by Reaper. (Render Reality) i'll post more pics later as the build continues.[IMG][/IMG]

the equipment.

runco cl-610
screen 140 diag SMX AT
denon avr 4308 vs. integra dtr 8.8
klipsch thx ultra II's
htpc (i will most likly run Main Lobby when i get the htpc built.)
dishnet hd sat
currently pioneer elite cd ( i forget the modle number)
xbox 3d
ps3
wii

calvin,
i'll go 16:9. i m planning to do a dyi mask. i saw cool dyi mask in another thread, i'll need to look for it again and link. it is simalar to an idea i had. i would n't mind one of ruben 's masking system. maybe in the ALMAX.2 version.

whiskey a,
is that a good mmmmm or a bad mmmmm?

here are the renders of what my theater will look like. reaper (Render Reality) did an awsome job on these.


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the wood for the columns and trim came from my property. i had my woods select cut 3 years ago. i had remnent wood left over in a pile. i took it to a friend saw mill, had it milled into boards. the boards wwere 5/4 thick. they were then kiln dried. i have since taken them to my partners wood shop. ( she does this for a hobby) to be sawn, moulded and built. the wood on the columns will be red oak. it is old growth and has a beautiful grain. the trim , crown moulding will be spaulding maple. a lighter grain wood. they should complement each other well. i haven't picked a stain yet. i need milled and finished pieces first.

the columns will b 25" wide x 87 inches tall. i am going to use klipsch ks-7800-thx in wall speakers in the columns. given my narrow room, i feel these will be the best fit. they sound great also.

audi,
hadn't thought of hinging. would be easy to change out speaker though. good idea.

the dyi mask i was looking to do was done here http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=941076

scott0007 did this in his theater. looks like it will be easy to automate.

thanks joe. great job!!

here are the renders that reaper finished up.the carpet is a star pattern as opposed to a more geometric pattern. its a busy patrtern but adds some depth to the room.

what your thoughts on which one looks better?

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thanks steve.

got the old celing out. insulation ready to go in. pics coming.

her are some pics of the downd trees i am using for my columns and trim.

i needed my tractor to move these.

i moved these the end of this past october.
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while moving this stump. it is a piece of red oak, i estimate it weight 2500-3000 lbs. it was big enough and heavy enough to pop the bead on the front tire of my tractor.

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these are some other red oak and spaulding maple

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this is thee aftermath of popping a tire. i was at the far end of my property. about a 1/4 mile from the house. i have no spare tire. my solution, i put the bucket down enough to get the front tires off the ground. drove backwords to the house, i would put the tires on the groung long enough to turn the tractor. in the process of returning to the house. the valve stem on the popped tire was torn off and ended up inside the tire. it took a while to fish it out.
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i couldnt seee the vavle stem but i could here it rolling around. i had to actually stick the flashlite into the tire. i was able to blindly grasp the valve stem with a reomte grasping tool.
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valve stem out!!

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new air going in....back in business

these are some maple i had to skid out of the woods. these were laying on a narrow ridge. this made it difficult to get them out of the woods. i had to rig up a winch to get these up to the tractor. took alittle while but they came without much trouble.
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i don't know either. i've seen some pics of site clearing but no mention of them using the wood.
the trees have been milled and are at the wood shop. they have to dry a little longer to avoid the dreadded shrinkage. ( i hate it when your wood shirnks)...