[taj]

I'm a long time member that has just had to watch and be envious of all you guys out there having fun building their theaters. I finally have the opportunity to get creative with one of my own since moving into our new home. Lots of tools are at my disposal and I'm not afraid to tackle much of anything.


The target area is framed in and is the last area of our basement to complete. I want to stay around $1500 audio, $2000 projector, and $1000 building materials.


A basic layout with measurements is shown below as well as a photo of the framed in area.


Some basic questions:


Should I try to put the screen all the way against the back wall or put it in front of the ceiling beam? The beam hangs down 10.75" and I am not sure if I can get a reasonable size screen (106" minimum) behind the beam but still be clear for the projector.


One thought is to move the screen forward in front of the beam and put the sub / center speaker behind. I'm not sure if the room is long enough for that and still have enough distance for projector.


Is one HDMI cable for the PJ adequate?


I thought about building some sort of hidden audio, but am concerned about the accessability of the DVD - most of the viewing will be DVD's. I liked the hinged wall panel that hid the AV equipment in another thread here.


Guess that is it for now. Any suggestions at all are welcome. I promise to post lots of photos through this journey.


Well, okay I'm going to have to reduct the size of these pictures to get them on here - they are all over 500kb. Will attach pictures soon.

 

[cnickersonjr]



Quote:
Originally Posted by taj /forum/post/0


Some basic questions:


Is one HDMI cable for the PJ adequate?

I asked myself this same question when I started my plans. Which I'm still planning. Saving $$ and planning. So, I said I would run at the least 1 of each HD capable cable. 1 hdmi, 1 component, 1 vga or dvi>hdmi (for my HTPC). Things are changing so much! HD is coming into it's own. I've seen people run pvc to their projectors so they could add stuff later.


Sounds too much for me, as I am changing my Loft area into a HT.I can run the cables I need through my attic easily. My Loft is 15'X13.5' with 8' ceilings. I'm going to close off the opening, and put my door on that wall.

Good luck with your HT. Have you tried HD-DVD? Great stuff!

 

[Craigo87]



Quote:
Originally Posted by taj /forum/post/0


...

The target area is framed in and is the last area of our basement to complete. I want to stay around $1500 audio, $2000 projector, and $1000 building materials...

In all seriousness, for $2000 you could get a pretty decent used CRT projector if you're willing to spend some time setting it up. I say this because with nice minty tubes, you wouldn't have to retube it for a very long time. On the other hand, with a dlp or lcd projector, you're looking at $200 to $400 per bulb after about 2000 hours of use. And if your new technology projector has problems, you'll be hard pressed to get it repaired. If the CRT sounds at all intriguing, check out the CRT projector forum and the following website: http://www.curtpalme.com/index.shtml


Audio for $1500 doesn't buy you much when you consider the cost of speakers these days, but it can be done. Look at some of those home theater systems in a box deals for something in that range. I have a friend who swears by Onkyo receivers, and I must say his current one sounds pretty damn good. He has it matched with some Polk speakers he picked up at Fry's.


You didn't mention how big your room is. Kind of important if you're looking for suggestions of things to do within a $1000 budget. Also, is sound isolation important to you?


That's a tight budget, if there's anyway you could increase it, let us know and let us know where you'd be willing to spend more or less for that matter. It's good to know what's important to you.


Craigo

 

[taj]

I just reduced the size of the pictures. Hopefully this works.


Thanks for the input so far. The conduit sounds like a good idea and I might try some sort of economical solution. The cable will have to be about 35 feet long so there is some investment involved if I run multiple cables.


I had a panasonic LCD projector before and I liked it. Almost no screen door on a 52X92 screen from 15 feet. LCD appears to be inexpensive so I am leaning that way.


The room is 20'8" wide by 18' 0" long


I am thinking about experimenting with the ceiling. My thought is the finish the ceiling with drywall then create a grid by using cut up foam strips and gluing to the ceiling. I would start with a border about 18" wide around the perimeter then use 6" wide strips to form large squares. Then I will put a skim coat of mudd over the foam, then paint. Something similar was done in my former dining room by a contractor. He created a tray shape in the ceiling using foam around the edges and it turned out great.


Am I getting into perilous territory doing this? Sounds simple and cheap.


Should I put up the walls first then leave a small gap between the ceiling and walls? If so, do I then apply mudd over the plaster anyway?


All input is appreciated.


How do you get these pictures on here? I have them uploaded now but I have not been able to get them directly into this posting.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attac...hmentid=&stc=1

 

[taj]

The actual photos have to be reduced to 800 X 640. I will get this right sooner or later.


I see the previous image came in as an attachment. How do you get the image directly into the posting?


Anyway, more pics to follow.

 

[taj]

Here is another try with the pictures.

 

[taj]

I'm back in construction mode now and am running into lots of trouble. Ran both HDMI and component up to projector.


Acoustical is my concern now - help!!!!


I have a 3 foot cavity behind my screen and want to put my sub and center channel back there.


Should I cover the inside of the cavity with carpet, unfaced insulation, or other?


The stage area is filled with sand so hopefully the floor under the sub will be okay. I plan to run carpet over the entire stage including back into the cavity behind the screen.

 

[mbgonzomd]



Quote:
Originally Posted by taj /forum/post/0


I'm back in construction mode now and am running into lots of trouble. Ran both HDMI and component up to projector.


Acoustical is my concern now - help!!!!


I have a 3 foot cavity behind my screen and want to put my sub and center channel back there.


Should I cover the inside of the cavity with carpet, unfaced insulation, or other?


The stage area is filled with sand so hopefully the floor under the sub will be okay. I plan to run carpet over the entire stage including back into the cavity behind the screen.

So it sounds like you are building the screen in front of the beam you mentioned previously, right? You want to drywall behind the screen just like you did for the other walls. Most people around here will then cover the drywall with some form of duct liner (OC 703, Linacoustic, or others). This will reduce sound from the speakers bouncing off the front wall and muddying up the sound. Then some cover the duct liner with acoustically transparent fabric, but this is just for aesthetics. If is is not going to be seen, because of the screen, you do not need to cover it. Hope that helps. Any updated pictures?


You may be beyond this stage of construction, but I think it makes much more economic sense to run one conduit for the projector than to run a bunch of cables, not knowing which you will use. At a 35 foot run you may be spending over $100 per cable. Just my 2 cents.

 

[taj]

Yes, the screen will be just in front of the beam. I did not plan on drywalling in the cavity area. I have a bunch of extra kraft faced insulation. One idea I had was to put the insulation up inside the cavity horizontally with the paper towards the studs then staple all the way through. I could start at the ceiling then work my way to the stage.


I have already purchased and installed the cables - thanks Blue Jeans...


Going to take some updated pictures now. I wish I knew how to post the pictures directly into the thread instead of using attachments.

 

[taj]

Here are a couple of pictures with the stage added.


We duplicated a smaller version of the stage on the ceiling.

 

[taj]

Here are a few stage construction pics. We had to get some of the wood wet so it would bend.

 

[taj]

A couple more construction pics.


I appreciate your input mbgonzomd, this acoustic stuff is new to me. Can you get the OC 703 or Linacoustic at Lowers or Home Depot?


I am thinking about building a frame to hold the screen then building some cover "panels" that are just wood frames covered with speaker mesh material. Maybe have one big section for the top then another for the bottom. Then stick the panels around the screen with velcro. This would give the enire wall around the screen a black cloth look. The concern here is if the subwoofer will sound boomy in the cavity behind the screen. I thought about reducing the height of the cavity by dropping the ceiling back there a bit.


I am open to anything creative. I have lots of tools, some time, and am will to experiment.


Any thoughts?

 

[taj]

Interesting, I see the "Royal" theater construction thread has a similar stage/cavity area but without the beam. It looks like he left the area over the screen open also and covered it with speaker mesh.


My stage is faily wide so I plan to put the left and right speakers on the corners of the stage.


We are planning for Karayoke on the off nights so the stage got a little big. If anyone has thoughts about the electronics to support this it would also be appreciated.

 

[mbgonzomd]

I am not sure how concerned you are with sound isolation, but if so, I would drywall the entire room (with at least one sheet). With craft insulation the kraft paper portion is always suppose to be facing the living space, otherwise you can end up with warm moist air within the room condensing on the cool kraft paper and getting soaked up by your insulation. Wet insulation takes forever to dry out and can lead to a mold issue.


Here would be the sort of "standard" that most use within this forum. Insulate the cavities between the studs with your kraft insulation. Kraft side facing the living space. Cover with drywall. Since this is going behind the screen you do not have to finish the drywall very nicely. You don't even have to use mud, you can just caulk the seams. This certainly will help with resale as the room will be "finished." Now apply the duct liner of choice. To answer your previous question, no HD and lowes do not carry it. You will have to talk to a HVAC supply company (and they may give you a hard time about it). If this doesn't work, you can get it online (OC 703 is sold by bpape, a regular within this forum).


As far as pictures go, you will need to upload them to a picture hosting site. I have used photobucket.com, which is free. There are other sites that do the same thing. You will need to put a

tag around the web address of your picture. This will draw the picture into your post. Sounds confusing, but start by setting up an account and download your pictures. Under your pictures in photobucket is a link that you can just cut and past into your post. It is pretty self explanatory once you get it set up.

 

[taj]

Thanks for the response mbgonzomd.


Do you think there might be a moisture problem even though the studs on the back wall are about 6" away from the concrete? The insulation would be sort of suspended. I was hoping not to hang drywall back there if possible. I see your point about the sound insulation though.


If I put drywall on the ceiling behind the screen then that may help shield sound from upstairs.


A division of our company makes duct board cutting equipment. They use fiberglass that is coated on one side with foil. It comes in various thickesses. Do you think this is similar to OC 703? Is there a standard size for OC 703?


If I go ahead and put drywall behind the screen, is there any reason to put the sound insulation behind it? - since there is just a concrete wall back there anyway. I have 4 extra rolls of sound insulation but I can take them back to Lowes if necessary.


I certainly do not want to take any chance of mold.


Great tip on posing pictures..... I wil experiment when I get back from Lowes. The Lowes monster is hungry and wants more $$$$$$ food - I have to feed him at least once a day.

 

[mbgonzomd]



Quote:
Originally Posted by taj /forum/post/0


Do you think there might be a moisture problem even though the studs on the back wall are about 6" away from the concrete?

A safe assumption in basements (it looks like this is in a basement, right?) is moisture can always be a problem.

Quote:
Originally Posted by taj /forum/post/0


If I put drywall on the ceiling behind the screen then that may help shield sound from upstairs.

Probably will help very little if you do not drywall the entire room. Think of the room as an aquarium and sound as water. If the room (aquarium) has any holes it will not hold sound (water) in or out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by taj /forum/post/0


A division of our company makes duct board cutting equipment. They use fiberglass that is coated on one side with foil. It comes in various thickesses. Do you think this is similar to OC 703? Is there a standard size for OC 703?

I would bet it is similar. If you can find out the exact product name, I am sure someone in this forum can tell you the absorption properties and whether it would work well.


Also, it is important to understand there are 2 consideration with regard to sound within a theater. There are treatment methods to prevent sound from entering or exiting the theater (often referred to as sound isolation). The other aspect is treating the room to make it sound better within the room. The duct insulation on the front wall (and often on the side walls) is to make the room sound better, but will do little for sound isolation. Isolation is based more on multiple layers of drywall, RSIC clips, green glue, caulking seams/holes, etc.

 

[taj]

Yes it is a basement.


We went with an open concept on this. The back of the theater has a 48"+ wide opening into a game area. We did this so that the theater could be more of a part of the rest of the basement. The idea came from a couple of the homearamas we went to last year. One of those even had half high walls seperating the theater area so you could see the screen from many other areas of the basement.


Will this destroy the sound?


I guess we could plan for a curtain in the back if it would help.

 

[taj]

Built the bulkhead behind the ceiling beam tonight - pic attached. This will allow for sound insulation with the kraft paper properly positioned - thanks mbgonzomd.


Insulation will go in tomorrow night, then cover with drywall. I like the idea of hanging and caulking since it wont be seen anyway.


Still will have to find a local source for the OC 703.


Taj