# My Home Theater Project



## bigdady1955

Hey everybody. I'm so happy to have found and be accepted as a member of your forum. I love home theater. I can recall back in the early 70's splicing 2 extra speakers onto my stereo in order to have quad sound in my room, (well to me it was quad). Since the early 90's I have dreamt of building a home theater. My dream is finally being realized. We are converting our 22 x 22 foot garage into a theater. The final dimensions will be 22 x 17. A wall five feet in from the garage door will be built the length of the room allowing me to have some storage. Originally, the plan was to seal off the garage door and have access to the storage space through a door in the theater. Not ideal, but there was no other option. Well, actually there was. In order to keep my garage door functional, the tracks would have to remain in place. This would neccesitate building two soffits across the ceiling -one one each side- to hide the tracks. Like I said, "we had no option". Fortunately, my contractor came up with a great idea. He shortened the tracks to a point just inside the storage area and attached them to beams inside the room. I can only get the garage door up half-way but at least now I have access from the outside also. These are the pics of where we are as of today. I'll post more as things progress.


Outside the garage








Inside the garage








The problem with the tracks. The storage wall will be built from the left wall to the right 5 feet in from the garage door








Construction of the riser








The wall for the storage area is framed out. Notice the shortened tracks








The completed riser








HVAC installed








More HVAC. The hole in the ceiling is where the the HVAC unit was brought into the attic








The front of the theater wired and ready for insulation








The insulation is almost done








Sheetrock






















The room is mudded sanded and ready for painting















My current setup which will go in the theater (minus the t.v. of course)








Klipsch RF-83 fronts
Klipsch RC-64 center
Klipsch RB-81 rears
2 Velodyne DD-15 Subwoofers
Anthem MCA-50 power amp (currently in the shop. I broke off one of the speaker terminals) My AV store was nice enough to lend me an Arcam amp until mine comes back
Integra DHC-9.9 pre/pro
Pioneer BDP-95D blue-ray player (for my intro DVD)
Samsung BD-P2500 blue-ray player (not yet installed. I'm waiting for the theater to be complete)
Panamax M5400-PM surge protector
Directv HD DVR (I am replacing this with the FIOS bundle next week) 
JVC DLA-RS20 projector
110" Firehawk screen

Like I said earlier, I will post more pics as things progress. 
Thanx to all of you who so warmly welcomed me to the forum.


----------



## Prof.

Ah..the old quasi quad surround..I remember it well..I even had it in my car!!

Looks like you going to have a nice theatre room..
Any thoughts on the decor yet.?


----------



## bigdady1955

Thanx for the feedback. I forgot to attach the renderings of the theater. This is what it will look like.


----------



## Prof.

Looks very nice..:T
You mentioned putting in soffits, but they're not shown on the renderings..
Was that an after thought to doing the renderings.?


----------



## bigdady1955

No,no,no, what I said is if I wanted to keep the garage door functional, it
would require building two soffits to hide the tracks. That was an option. I went on to say "we had no option" meaning that was something Iwouldn't ever consider. I would never have two soffits running across my theater unless there was no other choice. That's the reason for the workaround (shortening the brackets so the soffits would not be necessary). Thanx for the feedback.

BDG


----------



## Sonnie

Hey BDG... we gotcha in the right forum now... :T

Your initial starting point is very similar to ours, although our garage is a tad bigger and instead of leaving storage at the garage, we chose to make about a 5' hallway on the house door entrance side.

Your finished project looks like it will be stellar for sure. :yes:


----------



## tonyvdb

All you need now is to get yourself a motorcycle and you can still park it in the garage :bigsmile:

Looks good!


----------



## bigdady1955

Sonnie said:


> Hey BDG... we gotcha in the right forum now... :T
> 
> Your initial starting point is very similar to ours, although our garage is a tad bigger and instead of leaving storage at the garage, we chose to make about a 5' hallway on the house door entrance side.
> 
> Your finished project looks like it will be stellar for sure. :yes:


Thanx for moving it Sonnie!

BDG


----------



## bigdady1955

The painting was completed today. Next is the carpet. It should be installed in 2 weeks.


Rear of theater








Front of theater


----------



## Jon F

Looks like it's going to be an amazing theater. The paint color looks fantastic. I can't imagine not having a garage, though. Where would I put all my accumulated junk?


----------



## bigdady1955

The carpet is finally in. I'm very happy with the way it came out. The colors are light brown with maroon lines. Next week the panels, moldings, and equipment will be delivered and installed. The theater should be finished by Friday.


----------



## kepople

Woo looks Fantastic! I like the carpet...

I will be watching your progress...

Kirby


----------



## kepople

BTW: What color did you paint the ceiling? 

Kirby


----------



## bigdady1955

Thanx for the feedback Kirby. The ceiling is flat black but if you look at the renderings, there will be two panels attached.

BDG


----------



## Prof.

bigdady1955 said:


> The theater should be finished by Friday.


WOW!!..finished by Friday!! It still looks like you've got a lot left to do..
How many people are working on it.?


----------



## bigdady1955

I know Prof. it seems like alot to me also, but they say it will be done. Mind you that the ISF calibration and Audyssey MultEQ Equalization will not be done until we come back from vacation on 6 April. To answer your question in regard to the number of workers, it includes:1 carpenter 1 carpenters assistant
2 installers and 2 delivery guys.

Thanx for the feedback

BDG


----------



## bigdady1955

Prof. You were right it *was* too much too soon. They start on Monday 23 and will be done Friday 27th. I had my weeks wrong.

BDG


----------



## Prof.

bigdady1955 said:


> They start on Monday 23 and will be done Friday 27th.


Which month is that!!..:bigsmile:
It seems to me that you've got a lot of timber paneling to put in.. if it's going to be the same as your sketch..and I know how long that can take to make up!!


----------



## bigdady1955

Prof. 

Lol... this month. The panels are already constructed and framed as are the pillars and console. It's just a matter of putting them in place. According to the contractor, Monday they will be bringing everything over from the AV store, Tuesday thru Thursday everything will be hung to include the panels, moldings, baseboards, console and chairs. On Friday they will install and set-up the equipment, do a basic calibration, and I should be ready to go Friday night. I agree it seems like alot to do in 1 week, but they say it will be done. Actually, they've come in ahead of schedule. The estimated completion date was supposed to be the week of April 6th but everything came in early, so I was moved up. If they do get it done, I'll post a quick picture Friday with more to follow later (hopefully Ill be too busy playing).:yay2:


----------



## Prof.

Wow!! It looks like you'll make it by Friday after all..
Look forward to seeing some pics..


----------



## bigdady1955

Thanx Prof.

BDG


----------



## Space

While it looks like a lot has gone into the details of this project, I wonder why it is that you allowed the three leaf wall assembly to be built?

Loss of low frequency isolation is where you get hit. You may never notice it, having nothing to compare to, until your neighbors complain of the low end disturbance. When they do, that is where it is coming from...theoretically.


----------



## bigdady1955

I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'll take your word for it. Can the center channel really do all that?? Obviously you know more about this stuff than I do. Thanx for the feedback.


BDG


----------



## bigdady1955

Yesterday everything arrived except the seats which will come Thursday. Today the pillars were installed as were the lighting controls and rope lights. The console was assembled and some of the mouldings were attached.

The console before assembly









My projector and power amp. My project manager got a nice discount on the JVC HD750 (which is the same as the RS20) so we went with that. I decided to upgrade the power amp from the MCA-50 to the Anthem Statement P5. I've read some fantastic reviews on the amp so I decided to go this route. 









The acoustic panels awaiting installation









A couple of the pillars









The assembled console
















The rope lighting


----------



## Prof.

Looking very nice BDG..The columns look very classy..:T
Some nice gear as well..
Looking forward to seeing the end result..


----------



## bigdady1955

Today, the acoustic panels were mounted and the mouldings were finished. Tomorrow, the chairs will be installed, some vent covers attached, the screen mounted, and the equipment set-up. Friday, will be the final painting, a basic calibration, and tying up any loose ends.

The rear wall of the theater








The rear side wall















The front of the theater








The ceiling panels


----------



## Prof.

It's all coming together very nicely..
How is the completion date looking?


----------



## bigdady1955

Prof, 
Today things were delayed so they weren't able to accomplish as much as hoped. The chairs were assembled and installed, the projector and screen put up, and the equipment which goes in the console was connected. Despite the delay, they expect to be 99% complete with mainly the touch-up painting left to do by the end of day tomorrow.


----------



## akakillroy

Looks great! Where have I seen that color combination before ;-)
I wish I had more room for posher seating as you have :-(
I think you may find you will want to build out your screen wall for some base traps and kill out your front wall soon. I see it coming :R
Great job!


----------



## Prof.

bigdady1955 said:


> Prof,
> Today things were delayed so they weren't able to accomplish as much as hoped. The chairs were assembled and installed, the projector and screen put up, and the equipment which goes in the console was connected. Despite the delay, they expect to be 99% complete with mainly the touch-up painting left to do by the end of day tomorrow.


It all looks very nice BDG..:T
I have to say though..that screen looks very small, particularly from the back seats..
I realize that you can't have it any bigger with a 16:9 screen, due to the height of the screen..but have you thought about having 2.35:1 screen.?..You certainly have the width for it..


----------



## bigdady1955

Today everything was finished minus a few vent covers. There was however, a minor catastrophe. The installer was having trouble with the lens cover on the PJ. While taking it down, he dropped it, and needless to say it no longer works! My AV store sent over a replacement which is all I could ask for. The PJ is a Sony VPL60 which, if mine looks as good as it does , will leave me more than satisfied. 

Prof. I agree the seating does seem a mile away, but I think that is a function of the pictures. According to my project manager the distance should be 1.5 times the screen width. With my screen width of 8 feet, the front row should be in the neighberhood of 12 feet away. We're actually 10.5 away, which frankly, I find too close when sitting there. My daughters, on the other hand, love the impact. The second row is 15 feet away which is as close as we can get and still be able to recline without hitting the chair in front. I would loved to have put in a 120" screen, but unfortunately 110'' is all that would fit. And yes, I would love to someday have a 235:1 screen, but that's another story for another day. I've attached a picture of the first thing we watched, which is that wonderful love story "Walle" lol. After taking care of the kids, it was my turn to play. I'll post more later.

Thanx for the feedback.
BDG

.


----------



## Prof.

bigdady1955 said:


> View attachment 13652


Looking at this photo, you would never guess that screen is 8' wide!!
Front row seating position sounds fine for a 1080p. projector..


----------



## bigdady1955

Prof. I think the screen appears that way due to the large wall it's on (17' wide). As a better point of reference, look at my subwoofer (Velodyne DD15) in the attached picture. The sub is 18" wide and if you eyeball it in the pic.(I measured it), you can fit exactly 3 of them side by side from the wall to the edge of the screen. That's a total of 54" (4.5 feet) on each side of the screen. Take both sides of the screen, (9 feet total) from the 17 feet and you have the 8 foot width --within an inch or so. Again, the pictures don't accurately reflect the proportions of what you see posted. I'll post more later.
BDG


----------



## Prof.

Yes..it's definitely the width of the room the room that makes you think it's a small screen..
4.5' either side of the screen is a lot of space..
My screen is almost wall to wall (in a much smaller room) and it gives the impression that it's a much larger screen than it really is..

BTW...Is your centre speaker in the cabinet below the screen.?


----------



## bigdady1955

Prof... Yes the center is behind door number 2 lol..

Nothing more has been done since Friday, so there are still a couple of touch-ups to be made. For all intents and purposes though, the project is complete. There were a couple of hiccupps with the programming on my remote, but those will be corrected tomorrow... hopefully. I've attached a few more pics which, like my others, are too blurry ( I have no idea how to work my camera in a darkened room). Well, that pretty much does it. Everything is done except for some grill covers and a few places that need touch-up paint. Thanx for the feedback ( especially you Prof.). It's been appreciated and made the process so much more enjoyable for me.


----------



## Prof.

It's time to sit back, put your feet up and enjoy your new theatre..Well done..:T


----------



## bigdady1955

Prof... That's exactly what I've been doing. Thanx for your kind words, encouragement and willingness to take the time out to comment!


----------



## cinema mad

Your theatre looks awsome I love the burgundy red colour its A nice big room, 

You can tell that your theatre has been well thought out.....

Is your screen A Stewarts Luxus screen wall & studiotek 130G3 ??...

Cheers....


----------



## bigdady1955

Hey Jason... Thanx for the feedback. To answer your question about the screen, no its a Stewart Firehawk G3. I want to be able to have some ambient light for when I watch my baseball games, and this is the screen that was recommended to me. If you read one of my earlier posts, you'll see that a _minor_ mishap happened to my projector, so I haven't had a chance to evaluate the performance of the screen. That will have to wait another 10 days.

Take care
BDG


----------



## dradius

looks like everything turned out really nice. congrats.


----------



## kepople

Wow! That was a quick build!
I went away from the thread for a bit and its done!

Looks great

How does it sound?

Kirby


----------



## bigdady1955

Thanx for the feedback Kirby. I can't begin to tell you how happy I am with the sound! It's amazing! For the first time, I have speakers that are a sonic match all around, and transitions from front to back and from side to side are seamless. The bass was the biggest surprise. In my old set-up (my living room), the base was great, but now its sound is much tighter with so much more punch without the boominess and rattles I would hear in the last location. I had never before experienced that feel-it-in-your-chest type of bass, but now I know what people mean by that. Aditionally, I'm now using a power amp with significantly more power than before, so everything is much cleaner. My installer has me scheduled for an Audyssey EQ Pro calibration, which he says will improve the sound even more. Frankly, I don't see what more can be done to improve the sound, but I trust him so we'll see. Again thanx for the feedback.

BDG


----------



## tonyvdb

Thats defiantly looking great!:clap:
Welcome to the home theater world, you wont ever regret it.


----------



## mdrake

WOW, wow and wow.  That is a really NICE room!! Well, done!!!!!
Where did you get your sconce? 

Matt


----------



## bigdady1955

Thanx for the kind words Matt! I selected the sconce from about 10 offered to me by my project manager. He had it in his showroom, and I loved how it looked, so we went with it. 


BDG


----------



## bigdady1955

I've included some equipment pics and an updated list

Equipment list

Klipsch RF-83 fronts
Klipsch RC-64 center
Klipsch RB-81 rears
2 Velodyne DD-15 Subwoofers
Anthem Statement P5 power amp
Integra DHC-9.9 pre/pro
Pioneer BDP-95D blue-ray player (for my intro DVD)
Samsung BD-P2500 blue-ray player 
Panamax M5300-PM surge protector
Verizon FIOS HD DVR 
Anthem LTX 500 LCOS projector (JVC DLA-RS20 repackaged and sold by Anthem)
110" Stewart Firehawk screen
Universal MX-980 remote
Active Thermal Management Cool-It ll cooling system
SVS AS-EQ1 subwoofer EQ (On order won't ship until August)
































































































Well that's about it. Thanx for viewing


----------



## Prof.

Very nice BDG..:T
You have some very nice gear there..and I bet it sounds awesome!!..


----------



## mechman

BDG,

Is that an older Firehawk? I have a sample of the new G3 and it's a pretty dark gray. It can be tough to tell from pictures but your screen 'seems' lighter gray than my sample. :huh:

How did you settle on a Firehawk? Did you have a calibration done? Thanks! :T


----------



## bigdady1955

Thanx for the feedback Prof. Yes I'm thrilled with the sound. Having everything in an enclosed room makes the world of a difference as I'm sure you know. 

Best
BDG


----------



## bigdady1955

mechman said:


> BDG,
> 
> Is that an older Firehawk? I have a sample of the new G3 and it's a pretty dark gray. It can be tough to tell from pictures but your screen 'seems' lighter gray than my sample. :huh:
> 
> How did you settle on a Firehawk? Did you have a calibration done? Thanks! :T


No Mech, the screen was purchased sometime in March by my project manager. He provided me with receipts for all of his work, so I can definitely say it was purchased new. As to why I chose the Firehawk... it was recommended to me by the P Mgr. to meet my particular viewing needs (I watch a lot of sports with some lights on so I needed a screen capable of dealing with ambient lighting). As I do with everything, I verified this with a Stewart rep. who concurred. Yes, I had a calibration done and was very pleased with the picture, but while searching the web, I came upon a thread in a forum about calibrating my particular PJ and the problems encountered getting it dialed in correctly. After becoming somewhat educated on how the calibration should be done and feeling comfortable enough to go into the settings menu (I had been afraid I'd mess something up), I discovered that my calibrator didn't know how to set up my PJ correctly. Following the settings given to me by a calibrator named Manni01 on that thread, I was able to get the picture to the point that I can only describe as spectacular. 

Thanx for you feedback
BDG


----------



## Bruce Fisher

nice work! Looks great


----------



## bigdady1955

Bruce Fisher said:


> nice work! Looks great


Thanx Bruce!

Bigdady


----------



## ToTo21

I love it! Great Job! Thanks for posting!


----------

