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7K views 43 replies 7 participants last post by  jstrimel 
#1 ·
Hey Guys,


Just upgraded houses a few months ago and the new one had a 14' x 14' light controlled media room above the garage so the decision has been made (with a bit of gentle persuasion on the wife) to renovate this space and turn it into a dedicated HT with a final dimension of 18' 6" x 14' x 10' (In the center). I have that knee wall situation where I actually have 2 different angels on either side. This has proven challenging to create symmetry. I am a rookie and this is my first attempt at creating this type of space but with all the incredible builds documented on this forum as well as the great folks that don't mind offering their opinions I feel pretty good about ending up with something myself and my wife are going to love.


Budget $30K


Here is my attempt at a layout which seems to change like the wind the more I read the posts in this forum. Plan on doing 1 row of 4 at around 11-12' for seating then putting a couple bean bags on the floor in front of that.




Equipment List -


Seymour Center Stage XD 120"W 2.35 AT Screen (Edit 7/24) " I saw the light!"

Middle Atlantic SRSR-4-30 30U Rack

Panasonic AE8000 / JVC RS46 / JVC RS4810 - Need the lens memory option, will be a game time decision.

Klipsch RF 82 II (L, C, R)

Klipsch RS 52 II (LS, LR, RS, RR)

Leaning towards HSU ULS-15

Marantz SR7008 Receiver (Will drive the C and surrounds)

Marantz MM7025 Amp ( Will drive the L, R)

Panamax M5400-PM Conditioner

Oppo BDP-103

Dune Player


And the typical cable box, PS3 (4 soon) and some form of media server TBD.


The plan is to do this in stages over the next few months and for myself, buddies and the wife to do as much of the work as possible. I am two weeks in and so far I have removed the front wall and moved it back 4' 6", added an AC return in the ceiling and WOW it felt like the air flow in the room doubled, roughed in where the av rack is going, and built the stage yesterday. 2x8 and OSB is some HEAVY S&*!, especially when working on the 2nd floor, not to mention the 250 screws...


Before Pics....








Front Wall Moved...




AV Rack Rough in...




Rear room progress...




Stage Completion..





The next steps are...


1. Build Soffit - I'm just going to do an L soffit where I basically take the flat part of the ceiling and move 6" in from each side and come down 12" then bend 90 degrees and goto the wall. Due to the different angles I have, I will have a 6" difference in width but plan to combat that with some trim and paint trickery. The soffits along the L and R wall will have 2 6" Cans ea, then the front will have 2 5" cans with blue halogen's and either a wash trim or a gimbal trim to illuminate the screen. I will then trim out the bottom of the inside of the soffit with crown and put in blue rope lighting. Was planning on framing the soffits with 2x2 or similar, insulating then dry walling, though I noticed some on this forum use MDF for the soffits, WHY?


2. Have an electrician come out and get the wiring up to snuff - Going to install a Lutron Grafik eye 3106 on the back wall and utilize 5 of the 6 zones. Sconces, Soffit Cans L/R, Soffit Cans Front, Blue Rope in Soffit, and Warm white rope along stage front under lip. I plan on having a dedicated 15A circuit for the AV closet and a dedicated 15A for the lighting, then another for the wall outlets which I plan on removing most and only having the sub on the Front Wall on it then the occasional vacuum cleaner, etc. Which brings me to a QUESTION. What are your suggestions on remote control?? I will have the grafik eye on back wall and as you can see the AV closet will be forward right of the seating position. What is the best way to tie it all together? Some sort of RF controller, repeater? I am not very experienced with this type of stuff so any input would be greatly appreciated!
 
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#2 ·
I have a question for you soffit gurus out there.


I am in the middle of trying to plan the soffits for this room and since I am not working with 90 degree angles my head is spinning. I am thinking I am just going to do an L soffit but am wondering about the furring strip that screws into the angled wall at the bottom. Will I need to bevel or angle it so it meets the angle of the wall or can I just leave it square and run say a 3" screw through it into the stud on the other side of the wall? I know that may not be perfect but we are talking such a small distance. Once it's sheet rocked, taped and bedded then the soffit is insulated would it make a difference? Or am I missing something. Below is a pic from "The Crazy Home Theater", this is what I think I want to do. Any input?


 
#3 ·
I decided against doing the soffits in this room, just could not get the symmetry to work out. So I have decided to suspend a panel from the ceiling 4-6" in the shape of a diamond and wrap it in GOM. Going to put the rope lighting on top of it, should look cool. The diamond will be 8' long by 5' wide, any benefit to putting Roxul or OC703 in it anyone could see? Also ordered linacoustic and black GOM for the front wall from Fabricmate yesterday, Great folks!
 
#4 ·
Got rid of those 24" double doors today and installed a single solid 36". Totally dark inside now.


Electrician is coming tomorrow to:


Install dedicated 20A in AV rack cubby

Install GRX-3106 Grafik Eye and 4 zones

Hard wire red rope in ceiling

Install dimmable lutron outlet for stage rope

Rewire sconces

Install 2 - 4" cans in front of stage

Change white outlets to black

Move my projector plug down from 10' to about 8.5'


Received my Middle Atlantic rack today, linacoustic, and black GOM. Going to run speaker wire this weekend. Next week going to get room textured (slicked actually) then will move on to the FUN stuff. - Painting and screen wall.


Really torn on whether to run fabric track or just do panels. QUESTION - How dead should the back wall be? The front will get the usual corner traps, linacoustic, and GOM covered. Can I get away with a few 3-4" 48" panels on the back wall or should I deaden it more? Going to run 3 RF62 or 82 for FRC and RS52 or 62 for surrounds. Thoughts?


 
#5 ·
Making some good progress. Chose carpet yesterday, going with Couristan Celestial in ebony, I have seen a few theaters on the forum with this carpet and after seeing it in person I am sold. Installer is coming to measure on Monday.




Decided on paint as well, going with Behr ultra in flat, Chose 2 colors on right, Black Suede and Cherry Cobler





Electrical was completed last week, The grafik eye has to be one coolest toys, can't stop playing with it. Installed a 3106 but only running 4 zones right now - Sconces, ceiling cans, ceiling rope and stage rope. Will find a use in the future for the other 2 zones I am sure. Also got my Middle Atlantic rack put together and test fit it, once it is bolted down and trimmed out, it's going to look awesome. Went with a SRSR-4-30, The one that pulls out of the wall and rotates, very slick.




Shot of the ceiling rope and screen cans. Decided to suspend a ceiling panel wrapped in GOM then run the rope along the perimeter to illuminate the ceiling. Panel will be roughly 8' x 5'.




Have Roxul on order, should be in on Monday then will do front wall treatment next weekend. Going to do corner traps with the Roxul then have 1" linacoustic for in between and will follow with Black GOM. Have the painter coming on Monday to bid out the texture and trim, plan to have that done week after next then carpet. Once that is done will move on to the front goal post and panels. In all HT 1.0 is coming along nicely.
 
#6 ·
Good idea not doing the soffit. I don't think you had enough flat ceiling to make it look right. In my room I have similar asymmetric slopes but they are at the front and the back of my room. I did end up doing a soffit (er not done yet). And I did rip the furring strip at an angle. I was a pain but I think it was worth it.


I am also using a 3106 grafik eye. And I agree. It is fun toy
.

Keep the pictures coming!

Salem
 
#8 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jason4vu  /t/1477521/the-meta-theater-build#post_23502820


Can't wait to see the finished product! How wide is the flat part of your ceiling?

Flat part is 7' 1" wide. I have an interesting ceiling that is for sure. The good news is the center of the flat part is the center of the room at least, though on one side I have 150 degree angle and the other is 140 degree. The strange thing about this room is there was more than enough room in the attic to create a symmetrical room, I think the architect that designed this room had a wee too much to drink that night.
 
#9 ·
Front base traps done. Well built at least.


I was hoping to accomplish more today but I have to say, cutting Roxul isn't easy. I started out by trying to cut the 3" with a razor knife and no beuno. So I went to target to get an electric knife and of course they didn't have one so rather than spend my morning running all over town I just bought a cheap serrated bread knife, it worked great. I stared out by scoring the Roxul with a razor knife and straight edge then I finished with the serrated knife. Worked awesome but time consuming, it took me about 2 1/2 hours to get the 56 triangles I needed.


I ended up using 1 x 2 select pine at a little over $4 each for the traps, HD and Lowes had plenty of 2 x 2 but not ONE of them was straight it was terrible! I was a little concerned but it worked out great.


I also pained the washers I am going to use in conjunction with 2" drywall screws to hold the Linacoustic to the front wall, I really wanted to get that done today so I could just lay around and BBQ tomorrow. Oh well, a little voice inside my head is saying "So do you want this theater done before Christmas or.....". With that said, I will be finishing this front wall tomorrow! My plan is GOM to cover the traps then Linacoustic in between. I was going to just do the whole wall in GOM but really, why? I am using an AT screen and the Linacoustic is black, Any reason why I should do the whole wall anyone can think of?







 
#11 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by JRock3x8  /t/1477521/the-meta-theater-build#post_23525040


Hey I have a really dumb question that is slightly off topic.


Why do we use rope lighting as opposed to standard Christmas tree lights?
Well, I think rope is just easier to deal with in general. You can bend it to your will, lay it in track if you want, you don't have to deal with a strand that goes out because of one bulb and it's dimmable. I suppose Christmas lights are dimmable? The standard incandescent rope uses about 4 watts per foot as well and the LED is way less. Just some thoughts...
 
#12 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jstrimel  /t/1477521/the-meta-theater-build#post_23525052


Well, I think rope is just easier to deal with in general. You can bend it to your will, lay it in track if you want, you don't have to deal with a strand that goes out because of one bulb and it's dimmable. I suppose Christmas lights are dimmable? The standard incandescent rope uses about 4 watts per foot as well and the LED is way less. Just some thoughts...

ok. I didn't have any opinions one way or the other but my step father in law (say that 5 times fast) was saying how great he thought Christmas lights were for accent lighting applications (partially because they're so cheap) and I just kind of scratched my head and thought that more people on here would use them if that were true.
 
#13 ·
Front wall acoustic treatments complete.




Today I finished the front wall treatments. I used 1" Linacoustic to treat the wall and completed the corner traps by applying the black GOM.


I also finished running all cables, the last one to do was the subwoofer jack which arrived from Monoprice on Thursday. I have a handful of white wall plates which I will swap out for black during the finishing touches stage.


After talking to my painter last week we arrived at the decision to apply another layer of sheet rock then do an orange peel texture over that so hopefully he will be able to do that next week. Additionally he will do all the trim work.


Trim will include 3" base, new door trim for the entry door, and a sort of mini chair rail, actually called base cap. I will apply this at about 6 1/2' which is where the left knee wall meets the first angle. My hope is doing this on the left, back and right walls will create the illusion of symmetry. All paint above the trim line will be black and all below will be the cherry cobler red. After struggling with what to do with my mis matched angles, this was the solution that had the most support from all I talked to.
 
#15 ·
Made some good progress over the past week.


Trim, Texture, and another layer of drywall was completed this week. Today I put the 1st coat of black on the ceiling and AV cutout. I also painted my AC return and supply vents using Krylon flat black, I think they came out pretty nice. Will get another coat of black and the cherry cobbler on the walls this week and next weekend, the ceiling just sucked up the paint. Will be ordering the Couristan celestial carpet this week too, hopefully that will be installed within a couple weeks.





 
#16 ·
Finished painting today, Have a few touch ups and will do once carpet is in as I am sure my base boards will take a beating during the install. In all, I am pretty happy, though the black I chose seems to have a bit of silver in it, which is cool. I ended up going with a FLAT ENAMEL because with the premium plus that is as flat as it gets. I ordered my carpet through Pro Source and the service and pricing is outstanding so I would recommend them for sure. I ended up getting the couristan celestial in ebony for $4.90 per sq ft plus $180 for the thick pad. It was the best deal by far I found, I had local flooring stores quoting me as high as $9.60 per ft, Granted that was installed but pro source provided an installer that will do the job for $225. It arrived today so hopefully will be installed next week sometime.





 
#17 ·
Got the rack installed today. I decided to go with iRule / Global Cache IP control for my system. After a bit of research the Global Cache line is pretty sweet and very versatile. I moved my cable modem into the rack which will give me a wired connection for streaming and added an 8 port gigabit POE switch as well. The access point in the photo is going to be hung on my ceiling in my great room for the rest of the house so I need to run that cable sometime over the next few weeks. Those Engeious AP's are pretty awesome for the money, This one is the EN350 and even just sitting in my rack with the door closed the rest of my house is getting near 20mb down.


My control plan (Subject to change
) is to have:


iRule on an iPad and my iPhone

1 x Itach WiFi to Serial for the projector

1 x Global Cache GC-100-18R to control the rest of the system and the grafik eye.

 
#19 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by iamjason  /t/1477521/the-meta-theater-build#post_23642973


looking good - i like the colors - my old ht was the same - and i love the carpet - we opted just an upgraded carpet from the builder but in a cholcate color to go with the rest of the room color scheme -

Thanks It's coming along, When are you building HT 2.0?
 
#20 ·
Ceiling panel complete. Well I spent the better part of Sunday building this and last night hanging it. I am really pleased with the outcome. For those of you unable to build a soffit for rope lighting I give you my solution.


Start with a 1 x 2 frame.



Go buy some LIGHT and inexpensive wood to line the perimeter for the rope light to rest on. $10 from HD. I bought some 1" wood screws that are made especially for screwing fragile wood together, they have a really sharp point and the first mm or so is angled so no need for pilot holes. If you need to know exactly what they are let me know and i'll post them. They are must for this because the goal here is light but strong.



Slap in some corner braces




Add a center 1x2 and center slat.



Add a channel to top for the rope to sit in, this is important because the lip hides the rope from sight when you are looking up at the panel. Here is were the special screws earn their keep, if you are careful and screw slowly they won't split. I didn't split one piece on this build. I used pine 11/16 x 1 2/8 molding.



Paint the frame bottom black



Wrap it in fabric, I used FR701



Trim it out, then add D rings for hanging, as well as foil to reflect the rope, I simply bought some small zip ties and spaced them every 16" or so. I used my staple gun and stapled the zip tie in the middle of it's length under the staple. Then when you are hanging the panel the rope fastens nicely.



Finished Panel



Hung panel with 4 ceiling hooks at each corner, then used black chain found in the lighting section of home depot to suspend, I suggest chain, not only because it looks nice but because it will be easy to adjust the height once your up.



Voila - $102 in material, $9 6 pack, and a Sunday afternoon to build. Then 2 hours on Monday night, 2 trips to home depot, and 62 F bombs to hang.
 
#22 ·
Carpet is in! The Couristan Celestial is a really beautiful pattern, This is much nicer in person. Of course the flash in the pics captures the velvety nature of this carpet after a vacuum has been ran over it. Without the flash you really don't see the vacuum marks. I opted to have the heaviest pad put in so walking on this in your bare feet is pretty cool. I would highly recommend this to anyone who has yet to pick carpet for their HT build.


Going to get with Mike @ AVS to order my screen in the next few days so I can get the false wall built and screen hung in the next few weeks as well as acoustic panels built. After talking to him I think I am leaning towards the JVC RS4810 so that will follow shortly. Now on to the FUN stuff...





 
#24 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by JRock3x8  /t/1477521/the-meta-theater-build#post_23663327


i just love the sconces...nothing says movie theater to me like a nice sconce...

I know what you mean, I really like them as well.


Ordered the 120"W 2.35 XD from Mike @ AVS yesterday. Heading to HD to pick up material for acoustic panel build this weekend.
 
#26 ·
This weekend was all about building the acoustic panels. I used Roxul 3" Safe and Sound. Spent yesterday building and painting the frames and today finishing them off by wrapping them in GOM. Will get these hung this week.


24" x 48" (Overall Dimension) panel materials:


Roughly $37.96 ea in materials. (you can save a few bucks using the cheap 1 x 3 furring strips but IMO not worth the hassle, as well as just using burlap purchased from Jo-Anns).


2 pcs - 46 1/2" Select Pine 1" x 3" ( Purchased from Home Depot in 8' lengths for $7.33 ea and cut down)

2 pcs - 24" Select Pine 1" x 3"

1 package ( 4pcs) - 1 1/2" Corner Braces (Purchased from Lowes for $2.49 ea)

4 pcs - 2" Wood Screws

A little - Flat black spray paint

1 hopefully - Staple Gun

More than you think - Buy plenty - Staples (I used T50 5/8")

48" x 24" (Cut to size) - Backing Fabric (Bleached Muslin 36" Wide, $1.99 per yard at Jo-Anns)

55" x 32" (Cut to size) - GOM FR701 Black Fabric ($15.85 per yard at Fabricmate.com)

1 pc - Roxul Safe and Sound 24" Batts ($56 per 8 pack from Lowes)

2 pcs - Small D-Ring's for hanging wire ($2.58 pk of 4 at Lowes)

However much it takes - 25 lb hangar wire ($4.98 for 110 feet)

4 pcs - 3/4" Felt pads for the back to space and protect your walls ($6.58 for 20)






Butt joint the 1 x 3 to create a frame and fasten using 1 screw per corner. (Make sure the 46 1/2" pcs are always used on the inside or else you may be scratching your head when it comes time to insert the Roxul)




Put a corner brace in each corner - The frame will be plenty sturdy.




Paint the frames using flat black spray paint - No need to paint the back or insides, unless your OCD is really that bad.




Measure the backing fabric to length and staple to back of frame. If you don't have much experience in wrapping things in fabric, as I had none, just hit up youtube. You'll be an expert in 10 mins. It's really easy. You will see in a few of the pics my handy dandy crescent wrench, I used that for the staples that didn't cooperate. There will be some so have a small hammer or heavy crescent available to sink them.







USE GLOVES to put the Roxul inside the frame. It's not near as itchy as fiberglass but nonetheless will still irritate your skin.




Have your FR701 measured and cut on an open workspace and just center the face of the panel in the middle and wrap / staple your fabric. (Again - See youtube)




Now for the hanging wire. Also, youtube if you don't know how to tie a picture frame slip not, pretty slick. Again, you'll be an expert in 2 mins 34 secs.





 
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