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Hush Box Design help needed!

2536 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by JVoth, Jul 12, 2015

avtexan

Discussion Starter · Mar 15, 2015 (Edited)

I have been going back and forth for some time as to whether I needed / wanted a hush box in my theater. It was a decision point that I contemplated heavily when I was in the trim stage but ultimately I kicked the can down the road to keep things moving along.

Except for this final piece the theater has been done and used often since May. As far as noise floor in the room everything has worked out great: the return, supplies, rack and main door are all super quiet. So I think this makes the PJ fan noise really stand out. I think the matter is made worse that I sit directly under the PJ. Heat in the room is a secondary issue that a box could help with.

I am stuck on the design of the box. A plain square box is not going to work. There are several levels to match and the Sim2 having the lens offset makes for a big box if I want it centered.

Any ideas or experience would be greatly appreciated!

This is a pic from the front. Just to the left of the PJ there is (2) pipes inside the sheetrock that lead to the media closet for supply and return.

Here is a pic from the side. The bottom of the lens is about 5" below the bottom of the rear ceiling.

This is a mock-up we made during the trim stage. I don't think it would be as tall as shown here.

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Pain Infliction

· #2 · Mar 15, 2015

Very interested in this too. The main concern that I have and that you might want to consider is, how to get rid of the heat inside the hush box so that it doesn't exhaust back into the room? Surely you can't just let the heat stay in the hush box can you? That is really the main reason why I want a hush box. I use my projector on the lowest light level so my fans are not that loud, but if I were to go any higher, the fans are really loud and I sit below my projector as well.

Sorry that I missed you and Kim at the last meet. Maybe next time.

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doublewing11

· #3 · Mar 15, 2015

Good to see you back Avtexan!

I'm going to be very honest.................................

Do you really want to build a HUGE monstrosity in middle of a beautiful room? If you can build glass in soffit, that would be another story! That box is going to be so big, it will take away the beauty of room IMHO.

I too pondered what to do about hush box.........it would have been so much easier to frame box into my rear soffit. I could have built access from garage, but in the end, too many hurdles to overcome. Sure, would look so much better with glass on soffit, but didn't like my options getting access to projector. Ultimately, I gave up on idea though was told by experts to do so. My projector is very quiet.........21 db's by spec, so I'm happy with projector in room as it sits.

Sorry, not a lot of help..........................my opinion would be build the hush box and hide in soffit or leave as is.

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GetGray

· #4 · Mar 15, 2015

Maybe think outside of the box. Figuratively and literally. CNC some manifolds out of acrylic that come off the vent pipe locations and up to and interfacing with the sides and vent areas of the PJ. Main PJ case is not in the box. Only cover up it's intake and exhaust vents with "manifolds". In other words, clear (or opaque) lightweight duct work that interfaces the PJ neatly and precisely. You may not need much mass to attenuate the relatively HF noise of a fan. That's the only thing in there that's moving.

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avtexan

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 16, 2015 (Edited)

doublewing11 said:
Good to see you back Avtexan!

It is good to be back. Your recent HTOTM has inspired me to finish!

doublewing11 said:
Sorry, not a lot of help..........................my opinion would be build the hush box and hide in soffit or leave as is.

The soffit is not an option as it is the dead vent for my HVAC return. The soffit is where I originally planned for the PJ to go. When I was building the dead vent the roof line was to shallow and I had to bring it down into the room 10". That certainly had a domino effect on many things down the line.

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avtexan

Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 16, 2015

GetGray said:
Maybe think outside of the box. Figuratively and literally. CNC some manifolds out of acrylic that come off the vent pipe locations and up to and interfacing with the sides and vent areas of the PJ. Main PJ case is not in the box. Only cover up it's intake and exhaust vents with "manifolds". In other words, clear (or opaque) lightweight duct work that interfaces the PJ neatly and precisely. You may not need much mass to attenuate the relatively HF noise of a fan. That's the only thing in there that's moving.

Interesting idea. Basically a oxygen mask type deal that would seal on the case and a clear hose to my pipes.

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avtexan

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 16, 2015 (Edited)

What if I took Scott's idea a little further and built a box that enclosed half of the PJ and left the front of the PJ and Cineslide / lens exposed? The advantage here is that I really love the look of the Cineslide and lens and the box would be MUCH smaller.

The front of the PJ would have a top and a bottom piece that would be enclosed in foam around the PJ case. Think of a stockcade with foam around the holes. I could use the foam that the PJ was shipped in as a pattern.

I would add a bottom and 2 sides to make it air tight. One side and the bottom would be made to be removable for servicing.

There would be a false box to the left of the the airtight PJ box that would allow the piping to enter the box for intake on the left side and would allow a duct to go to the right side for the exhaust (Scott's idea above).

I could trim the sides and bottom to match the wainscot design in the room.

Thoughts?

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GetGray

· #8 · Mar 16, 2015 (Edited)

That's what I'd do, one way or another, with a focus on minimizing how much "box" there was. Maybe 2 boxes, one on each side that are only as tall as the PJ, don't necessarily have to go to the ceiling, but that woudl prevent it from being a dust shelf. They are literally like 2 HVAC ducts that come up to the sides of the PJ where they are sealed to the sides (foam etc).

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TMcG

· #9 · Apr 5, 2015

Hi Ron. Is there an option to reconfigure the existing 'box' and recess the mounts for the projector and Cineslide into the box? From there you could build a five-sided box lined with acoustic foam and with the front open to the room. Create a snorkel from your return air intake to your projector's exhaust. This will block almost all of the noise without closing everything up. If you want to box the whole thing then I would create another snorkel from the ambient theater air to the projector intake.

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avtexan

Discussion Starter · #10 · Apr 7, 2015

TMcG said:
Hi Ron. Is there an option to reconfigure the existing 'box' and recess the mounts for the projector and Cineslide into the box? From there you could build a five-sided box lined with acoustic foam and with the front open to the room. Create a snorkel from your return air intake to your projector's exhaust. This will block almost all of the noise without closing everything up. If you want to box the whole thing then I would create another snorkel from the ambient theater air to the projector intake.

What's up TMcG! The PJ can't go any higher because I am within inches of the max for the vertical lens shift. I think I know where you are going with the snorkel but please explain.

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TMcG

· #11 · Apr 7, 2015

avtexan said:
What's up TMcG! The PJ can't go any higher because I am within inches of the max for the vertical lens shift. I think I know where you are going with the snorkel but please explain.

Raising everything a few inches may be all you need. My suggestion was to use these extra inches to give you the necessary head clearance you were looking for and to have a smooth transition between your soffit and the new projection box. It doesn't seem like you have room to raise the screen either.

The snorkel is just an extension of a 3" or 4" piece of flex duct (i.e. the inner portion) to act as an extension of your powered return to your projectors exhaust and an extension of the air intake into the hush box to the projector's intake. The most important is the powered return to capture the heat coming from the projector for obvious reasons. That alone should draft enough air into the hush box through negative pressure.

Just spitballin' a few ideas here.

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JVoth

· #12 · Jul 12, 2015

Ron, how's the hush box design going? Or did you decide to keep showing off that beautiful Sim2?

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Hush Box Design help needed!

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