[Q8472]

Hey y'all,


Once upon a time... I had a dream to have my own space in my own house, free of spouse and ambient light, where it's just me and my game/movie with a bigass screen and mindblowing soundsystem.


I'm 31 years old and live in Belgium (the Dutch speaking part). Since 5 years, my girlfriend (we're not married) and myself own our own house. In 2012 we were blessed with a wonderful son. As things are settling, I've decided to build me my dream, My very own dedicated gaming/HT-room/mancave! Woot!


Great, so now I only have to convince the misses... She hates videogames, only likes chick flicks and her idea of top notch home cinema is the Bose soundsystem we have in our living room because "It's nice and small" (yes, that's also own fault *guilty as charged* I fell for the Bose trap)... Some months later, I actually managed to convince the wife, costing me only a very small piece of my soul. I could start dreaming again.


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As all rooms in our house are taken or not suited, the only thing for me to do is to expand our house. As this is Belgium, there are about a billion rules to follow, some of which are contradictory. I'ts very frustrating but there is, sadly enough, no way around it. As I have just embarked upon this daunting quest for bliss, I already noticed that the path is long and perilous. I'm looking forward to the moment that I can actually start physical labour.


The room itself will be an annex to my garage. Outside measurements will be 3,5m wide at 5m deep (approx. 11.5 ft wide at 16.4 ft deep). This will translate to inner measurements of roughly 3.2m x 4.7m or 10.5 ft wide by 15.4 ft deep.


I started reading up and dumbing down (no more Bose for me). I've only just scratched the surface as far as reading up goes here, but I've already found avs to be place of immense knowledge and inspiration. I would be honored to pick your collective minds for more as I'm sure to encounter all sorts of problems. Therefor, all hints tips and advice will be welcomed with gratitude.


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The actual room then.


The first MAJOR problem I encountered, and continue to encounter, is the WAF (Wife Approval Factor). This will perhaps sound familiar to you, regardless of where you live on this planet-or universe for that matter- but even though she doesn't want to have anything to do with the mancave, she sure as hell has an opnion on every freaking aspect about it... Most stuff is treated with the tried and trusted method of /ignore, HOWEVER... not this one. Oh no, she INSISTED on having A WINDOW (!) in the dedicated HT room...

*auch* That indeed was the sound of my dream getting shattered to pieces. Or not. So it basically came down to "no window, no HT". And as we all know, in the end we men have nothing to say. So I'll be welcoming a much hated window that will need to be able to function. I'll plug it from the inside with a removable panel of some sort.


I also started working on learning how to draw in 3D (using Sketchup-thanks Google), so I'll be able to show you the room and my general idea for it soon enough.


The room will be used for:

50% Gaming

45% Movies and Series

5% Music & Misc


The good thing is that I'll be building the room from scratch, so I can design most of it within the parameters of it's dimensions, apart from a door that has to be in 1 specific spot and a window that has to be on 1 particular wall.

 

[Q8472]

Phase 1 - Planning and permssion:

- Convince the wife (2013)

- Get the city to agree to change the destination of the space I want to build on from 'garden area' to 'building area' (started july 30 2013- granted january 2014)

- Find an architect (january 20104)

- Get actual plans architect (02/21/14)

- Announce the project to department of building (02/28/14)

- Announce EPB declaration (Energy certificat for the annex) done

Phase 2 - Structural shell work:

- Prep the building area (03/17/14)

- Digging foundation and floor (04/02/14)

- Making encasement for the foundation (04/04/14)

- Prepping foundation plastic-insulation-steel netting (04/08/14)

- Pouring the concrete (04/10/14)

Phase 3 - Building

- Making a door in the existing back wall of the garage

- Breaking out the existing kitchen window

- Build the walls

- build the roof


Phase 4 - Interior prepping

- Insulate the floor

- Insulate the roof

- Wiring and more wiring


Phase 5 - HT build

The screen

The speakers

The projector


Phase 5 - calibration & testing

 

[Q8472]

The Wish List

As all things start with budget, so here's mine. I count in €, not $.

Building the room, including planning, getting permissions, architect, masonry, up to the level of wind and water proof: 15k

Interior room design including electrical wiring, lights, ceiling, chairs, cabinets, shakers, etc: 5k

main HT components: speakers, receiver, projector and screen: 5k

I know budget is thight, but it is what it is. I intend to stay (well) within the 25k total. I plan on achieving this by skipping most of the largest cost of all, external labour.


For the sound I was hoping to get me some Klipsch speakers such as:

2 Klipsch RF-52 mk2

1 Klipsch RC-52 mk2

2 Klipsch RS-42 mk2

1 Klipsch SW-450 (~ 1750€)

As it's hard to find a shop in Belgium that sells them and virtually impossible to find a listening room where I can actually hear them, I was hoping to get some input from you folks if this will be adequate for the room I have in mind. Suggestions are welcome

No idea as to what receiver I want.

Most important for me would be:

- 7.1 (or 7.2) I'm starting with a 5.1 setup but want to be able to upgrade. Would 2 subs make any sense in a room this size?

- 4K upscaling (future proofing myself as I won't upgrade it in the first 10 years)

- a plus would be app controllable (future proofing again) since I expect my receiver to be behind my seats and as such not controllable through the classic remote

(~ 750€)


Projector

I'm really doubting how much I want to spend on this. It seems that there are several good options at the kilobuck point, such as the BenQ W1070. I was wondering if it's worth to spend more than double to get me the Panasonic PT-AE8000 (in Europe it's called AT6000). I thought it might be wiser to get me a much cheaper but quite decent 1k€ projector, use it for a year of 3 (or 1 lifespan of the lamp) and then upgrade me to a 4K projector at that time.

so ~1000€ or 2300€ (pana)


Edit: Cathing up on the whole 16:9 vs 2.40:1 thing, Exploring all options CIH seems to be the best solution for me, implementing a 2.40:1 screen. So now I encountered the extra cost of the A-lens, Auch! ... OR I go with the Pana for the zoom, lose 25% of the 2400 lumens and have an enjoyable image on both sorts of image


Screen:

This will be a DIY job, somewhere in the 92-100" range.

Will this be doable for ~ 300€ ?


Either way, I think I'll be able to stay on budget here. If I go for the 1k projector, there would be more to spend on the receiver (max 1k though) and speakers/sub(s)

 

[Q8472]

Here's a first rough sketch of the general idea.


*edit*

some slightly less rough sketches. This one is based on an AT screen and includes the cabinet I'll custom build for my equipment and a glass cabinet for figurines.

Still to be added, the window and the panels I plan on making.

Suggestions on AV/placement are welcome


Seating's placed at THX recommended

 

[Q8472]

*update* 02/12/14


Here's a sketchup that actually passed the WAF!

*update* 02/14/14


Removed the half panels at the back. It just came to me that I could use only whole panels and make a column for my surround speakers

Thinking of integrating ambient LED light in it and use some of the space inside the columns to store blurays. Storage is something I lack therefor I would like to make optimal usage of every square inch

Aslo I repositioned the spots so they would be in the center of the panels and added some at the screen





back left corner: place best located for me to place heating


the 'see through' wall would be in the same style panels. Color is just for show, not decided on that yet.

 

[Q8472]

Foundation:


So today, march 17th 2014, I decided it was a good day to start prepping the building zone. This included removing all plants that were left, removing other undesirables and, the heaviest job, digging out the bluestone tiles.

Tomorrow I'll try to dig out the existing foundation for what was my garden path.


Before:



After:



Update march 18th 2014, got rid of the existing foundation, which proved to be a challenge as it was twice as thick as I thought it would be (40cm!)...

So this is today:



Update march 19th 2014, dug out the necessary room for foundation. Just need to dig out the foundation where the walls will come out an extra foot. Making excellent progress. Too bad I overdid myself and I'm sick now.

Update april 2nd 2014, dug out the rest of the foundation. This should mark the end of the digging




Update april 3rd 2014, manufactured the encasement for the concrete




Update april 8th 2014, Prepped everything for concrete pouring



Update april 10th 2014, poured the foundation

 

[Q8472]

*Reserved*

 

[Q8472]

*Reserved*

 

[Tedd]

Dual subs do make sense as they help with smoother bass response.

 

[Q8472]

Anyone who cares to share his vision on the scetches I just added?

Thx for the input

 

[Tedd]

Pretty slick design but I'd stick the av rack and cabinet outside the room. I wouldn't want the

reflective glass in the space. Nor the extra heat load, noise and light pollution that the av introduces.


I'd also ditch the center channel and go with three RF-52 mk2 up front.


I'd also bring the side surround speakersforward to the end of the seating row.


I'd also go for darker side walls and rotate the sub ninety degrees so the driver isn't blowing on a

fabric panel.

 

[Q8472]

Not quite sure if it's possible to put the AV rack in my other room, since that's the garage. But definately something to think about.


The glass cabinet is for decorative purposes. It holds my figurines and the WAF puts the glass cabinet into the theather room (and thus out of the living room where it is for the moment).


As for light/heat/noise, those things would have been kept in account when designing/building the cabinet. But if I were to put them in my garage (if possible due to HVAC) those problems would indeed vanish.


I can follow the 3 equal LCR speakers. Again those are not final.

I thought ideal surround speaker position was at 110°

Side walls are made translucent for displaying the inner side They will be darker (not black though)

sub: check


thanks for the input! most of all the AV gear outside

 

[Tedd]

The ideal side surround location for a dipole speaker is at the ends of the primary viewing row, or equi-distance

between seating rows.


I figured the glass cabinet was for decoration. But it might rattle, it will be reflected hard surface concerning audio,

and it might just be a light reflective surface that could hurt the contrast ratio.


Is there an opportunity to recess (or semi recess) the av rack into the garage wall?

 

[Q8472]

*update 02/22/14*


This is the end wall of my garage. (It's a mess atm)

In the picture you can see that I don't have a lot of options to make a doorway since there's water and electricty all around. The right half is immovable (heater for the house, waterpump, ...) On the left half the washer will move about 8-9" to the left so it will be against the wall. The dryer will come on top of the washer.


Since all walls are brick and that in fact is an outside wall, (2 seperate layers of brick) it's not possible to (semi)recess the rack into the garage wall (sadly enough). The rack in the middle is too small for what I'll need and I doubt I'll be able to expand it enough in width.




So I've been busy this week to reorganise my garage and make some extra storage space and move my workbench, work in progress!


before:



02/22/14 'now':



02/23/14 finished work on my workbench itself, arranging it will be for next week or so. Found the lights at ikea in the sales corner. Rewired them both to be able to flick them on with the switch.



Finished

 

[Tedd]

So why not plant the av rack outside the room entirely? Could you use the vertical space over the

washing machine? Are you familiar with infrared repeater systems?


Or perhaps the washer and dryer are stackable?


I like the fabric walls but I'd be tempted to locate the half length panels up front, and do them in black

as light absorbing wing walls, since light scatters coming off a woven AT screen.

 

[Q8472]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tedd  /t/1514892/the-belgian-connection-small-dedicated-ht-project#post_24351618


So why not plant the av rack outside the room entirely? Could you use the vertical space over the

washing machine? Are you familiar with infrared repeater systems?


Or perhaps the washer and dryer are stackable?

Dryer will be stacked on the washing machine. The space above that will actually be used for my power tools (as it is for the moment)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tedd  /t/1514892/the-belgian-connection-small-dedicated-ht-project#post_24351618


I like the fabric walls but I'd be tempted to locate the half length panels up front, and do them in black

as light absorbing wing walls, since light scatters coming off a woven AT screen.

Black prolly won't make it through the WAF, so I was thinking dark red (Bordeaux) Colors are long but decided upon

Still, a very clever idea. I could try doing 1 panel like that and see how it works out...

 

[Tedd]

I was referring to the first series of side wall panels as black and then relax to your colour scheme. Not many wives will

go for black side walls, ceiling , or room. At least until they experience such a room...

 

[Q8472]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tedd  /t/1514892/the-belgian-connection-small-dedicated-ht-project#post_24353287


I was referring to the first series of side wall panels as black and then relax to your colour scheme. Not many wives will

go for black side walls, ceiling , or room. At least until they experience such a room...

We have a saying in Dutch: "unknown is unloved"

 

[Q8472]

Yesterday the architect came with the plans, yeah!

I'll be able to submit them this wednesday to the department of building, everybody keep your thumbs up for me!

 

[Q8472]

had a setback... the department of building didn't accept the plans and other documents because I needed 4 copies of all (7) documents. I hate the red tape here in Belgium, it's overly complicated

*sad*