My Build thread

The Basics:


My room is 5 m*3.8m*2.7m (16.4 ft*12.5ft*8.85ft) That is about 1800 cuft. Listening position is about 2 ft from the backwall (Bryan might not agree with that) and watching is along the room axial dimension. Room has brickwalls and a carpeted wood floor.


My subs are around 650 L each (22 cu ft) and are located along the Front wall. Being about 1 m (3ft+) high it is not appropriate to place a screen on the wall behind them. and thus I chose the more elegante route of a false wall to have the height of the screen I want, speakers close to screen and above all a nice looking theater.


One thing important to note is that my subs are about 70 cm wide, and the false wall will be around 80-90 cm from the room front wall.


This reduces the viewing distance to be around 3.4 m (11.15 ft).


Here are some photos: (the TV and rack will be removed upon starting building the false wall)


Projector and screen


I will use the Epson EMP-TW2000 and a Carada Ctriterion 102" BW screen. This makes about 36.8 angle degrees in my room.


In the photos you can see the front stage, a sub and rear of my CRT (where the false wall will be built) as well as the couch and rear speakers between which the projector will be located. To do that I will have to install a DVD rack/bookshelf just below the speakers and just above the couch. The projector will be above the rack. Expected dimensions is roughly 2 ft tall and 4 ft wide.

False wall:


Right in front of the subs will be built the false wall to support the 102" screen. I will just do something simple like everybody. There will be a wood frame for the screen and for the fabric around. I will use a black tissue that it is quite porus as a fabric. This will indeed hide the subs and the (ugly) window a/c.


I will have to build a (screen) wide equipment rack to house the center and equipments. It be place right below and in front of the screen.


Regarding the fronts, wife believes seeing them is better than hiding them (she likes their look). I believe the contrary but hiding them behind the fabric requires additional wood work so that the frame will have a Z shape to house the fronts.


I have not decided if I should follow the wife or not, but it seems quite easier that way and it will also allow me to move the speakers (will I need to do it??...I think not).

I am not sure how wide and thick should the wood frame be I was thinking 4" * 1" polywood.

New DVD rack used as a projector stand:


The DVDs I used to store above the subs will have to find somewhere else and so I thought of building a wide rack (something very simple like a bookshelf) and so it will also bear the projector. Through distance should be around 12'.

Room Colours:


You can see the colours in the photos. The sidewall are yellow and ceiling is white. With a 102" screen I don't know if the PQ will be affected by the white ceiling ...I was thinking of changing the colour to brown...but I might wait to see if I really need to do that.

Acoustics:


With my CRT the fronts were quite far from the side wall (3 ft+), and while my room is not treated the sound was not overly bright or so. I moved the fronts back against to the subs and closer to the sidewall (1.2 ft) to similate the sound as if the screen was there and I noted some unclarity in the sound and propably some harshness in the 1-2kHz range. this specially shows up when I listen to loud music (and I do that often).


I guess that this is due mainly to early reflections from the sidewall and propable the subs as well.

I have also visited a showroom with calibrated acoustics (as I was told) and it seems much more dead and quite (I liked that).


I do not want my HT to be perfect but at least I need to have a decent sound.


I have read quite a lot about that and it seems that I need to treat at least the subwoofers side (that is just behind the screen) as well as the early reflection points (I guess will be 2 feet * 4 feet after the subs)


Here is a picture of a material that is available here and that I used in the insulation of the subs (see photo). While I don't know the name in English I describe it as a spongy material (it really feels like a sponge to the touch)... and I believe it is an absorbtion material.


I am planing to use 2" think for the sidewalls and 1" thick for the subs.


Here are some questions:


- While there was never an agreement between the big names of this industry on whether the front wall (behind the subs) should be insulated or not, I do not know if it should be insulated.


- Should I add some insulation on the rear wall (below the upcoming rack/bookshelf)?


- should I add add some insulation somewhere else along the sidewalls below the wall carpets? (see photos)


- There is another thing I would like to ask about: that's the HDMI cable.

When I bought my Samsung 870 (720p DVD player), it came with 3ft free HDMI cable. Supposing I place the DVD near the projector, will any cable work with the 1.3 version of the projector? Or does it need a special 1.3 cable?


Thank you!


Suggestions will be highly appreciated.