# Alberta Energy Theater



## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

As many people before me have said, it pays to give back. I have looked at so many designs and builds and have stolen so many ideas or rather copied.

So here goes my build:

But you may soon see I am not a man of many words so please ask questions, cause I will probably forget alot of details.

Room: The room will be in the basement it will be 25 feet by 13.8 feet wide. I will have a finished space of 21 feet by 13.6 feet. I have to build a false wall as you will see from the pictures that follow.

Sound: This is an almost all Energy 5.1 system.
Towers: Energy CF-70
Center: Energy CC-10
Surrounds: Energy CR-10
Subwoofer: Outlaw LFM-1 Plus
Receiver: Denon AVR-1712

Video: 
Projector: Benq W1060
Bluray: Samsung 5500
Satellite: Bell Motorola 9242 PVR with Picture in Picture and 2tb external hard drive

That's the hardware let's look at the build.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

The basement consists of an existing bathroom that we had the builder finish as part of our build.











The builder also left space for a bedroom. It won't be big at 13x7.6 feet but it will work for our guest bedroom, which is a good thing.

So here was what the basement looked like when we took possesion of the house 6 days ago.


















As you can see there is a bump out at the front of the room that is 4 feet deep by 9 feet wide....we are going to make this into a false wall....hopefully!!


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

Welcome to building thread land! Proud to say I'm the first to subscribe( or at least respond). Looking forward to watching another Lethbridge theater take shape!


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of just the framing...too busy slaving away to try and get this room ready for drywall.

The plan is too fully insulate and do That is now fixed and will be good to go for final inspection.

Day #1 of construction

Discussing how to build a false wall








I found a picture of the bedroom framing


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

End of day #6 Construction

I just sweated my butt off for the past 2 days insulating every corner of the basement. I never ever want to do insulation again. That really stunk, but what was worse was getting the acoustical sealant all over the place including myself. Hate that stuff!!

Ready for drywall:









A couple things to make note of. To the right of the screen wall near the ceiling you can see my equipment rack. It turned out way better then I could have ever imagined. I can't wait for the finished product, I think it's going to be great.

Second, you can now see the framed portion at the bottom of the wall. That is the entrance to the room behind the wall. It is also motivation for me to be skinny so I can wiggle my way through there. Could be interesting in the future.

Here is a shot that shows the entrance to the bedroom.









I have hired out the drywall and my guy will be starting tomorrow. He tells me it will take 7-10 days till it's ready for paint. 

So that's all I have for awhile.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

kadijk said:


> Welcome to building thread land! Proud to say I'm the first to subscribe( or at least respond). Looking forward to watching another Lethbridge theater take shape!


Thanks so much....Seeing your room helped inspire me to do a build of my own.


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## Albertan (Jun 16, 2012)

Looking good! Gonna be some sweet movie nights in Alberta this winter. :T


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## phreak (Aug 16, 2010)

Theaters popping up all over the province.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Albertan said:


> Looking good! Gonna be some sweet movie nights in Alberta this winter. :T


Dang rights!!

I just hope mine is done long before winter :huh:

So far I am on schedule for middle of july :gulp:


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

I hear you about installing insulation - bummer! Please keep posting pictures for us to enjoy.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

My goodness - there really are theaters popping up everywhere in Alberta! :bigsmile:

I thoroughly enjoy seeing a new theater build thread - so much fun to follow. Great start and keep the pictures coming!


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

Before drywall I assume you ran all your audio cables, ethernet, electrical, etc. 
Much easier before walls are installed.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

phillihp23 said:


> Before drywall I assume you ran all your audio cables, ethernet, electrical, etc.
> Much easier before walls are installed.


I didn't have any pictures of the electrical we did so I didn't really talk about it. 

But since you mentioned it:

I ran cat6 to behind the wall as I will be putting my wireless router behind there. I am planning to plug my Bluray and my pvr directly into the router so that I don't have to run them wireless, which should help with the streaming of netflix etc...on the bluray player.

I ran a 35ft hdmi cable and 2 15ft hdmi cables to behind the wall as well. The 2 15 footers are located on the side wall. We will use these to plug our laptop in for streaming as well as for our digital camera for watching videos or slideslows of the pictures.

I ended up with probably 5-10ft too much on the hdmi cable for the projector. Oh well better safe then sorry.

We also wired a light switch and a light for behind the wall so I can do any wiring and see what I am doing when I am behind there.

We did a 20amp dedicated plug for the subwoofer and a 15amp for all the other equipment. I have a Rocketfish power manager that we will run off the 15amp plug.

I also ran from the ceiling 12awg speaker cable for the 2 front speakers and the 2 rear surrounds, I went back and forth on running speaker wire for Front Heights as my denon 1712 can run 7.1 with front heights. I talked myself out of it because I don't have the speakers and then, from what I am reading some people don't like heights and the effect that it creates. I hope I didn't gamble and lose on that one 

The center channel will be behind the wall so I can run cable directly to the reciever behind the wall.

For lighting we wired for 3 sconces on the side walls. 2 around the door to the bedroom and 1 near the window on the other wall. All 3 sconces will be in an infrared dimmer from Lutron that I believe will work with my Harmony One remote. I am pretty excited about being able to control the lights with my remote. I hope it works!!

I think that covers all the electrical :gulp:


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

Sounds like you got it all layed out. :T


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

phillihp23 said:


> Sounds like you got it all layed out. :T


I sure hope so....Knock on wood...I didn't forget anything :dontknow:


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

One thing I wish I had done, and ended up adding after, is an extra speaker cable to all three front speaker locations for bi-amping. I know there's debate out there on bi-amping, but in my case it seems to make a difference.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Other wiring considerations - if you are planning on powered subs, you may want to allow for passive connections as well. It sure can't hurt to future-proof as much as possible. I made connection points for subs in every corner of the room just in case I ever wanted to go for 4 subs.

It also allowed me some flexibility when it came to doing the sub crawl later......


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

kadijk said:


> One thing I wish I had done, and ended up adding after, is an extra speaker cable to all three front speaker locations for bi-amping. I know there's debate out there on bi-amping, but in my case it seems to make a difference.


Hmmmmmm....now you really have me thinking....I was going back and forth on it...and like the argument goes bi-amping doesn't really have any benefit so I was believing that side of the argument. The Energy CF-70's have an efficiency of 96db's so I think that is why I talked myself out of doing bi-amping as my denon should have no problem running them on 2 channel's.

I may changed my mind on it though. Plus i could always just run the wire and leave it in the box and not hook it up. I had better decide right away :scratch:


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

ALMFamily said:


> Other wiring considerations - if you are planning on powered subs, you may want to allow for passive connections as well. It sure can't hurt to future-proof as much as possible. I made connection points for subs in every corner of the room just in case I ever wanted to go for 4 subs.
> 
> It also allowed me some flexibility when it came to doing the sub crawl later......



That is a great point...My previous room had 2 subs....sadly this new room is just so skinny and with the bedroom door on the other wall it has really limited where I can put stuff in the room. 

So the only place I have room for the sub is behind the false wall. Luckily there is room for 2 subs back there. The other benefit is that the sub crawl is going to be really easy :gulp:

Positions for the sub is one of the really big compromises I had to make with this theater. :hissyfit: I sure hope it sounds good in the spot I have room for it :gulp:

Dang all you guys with your really good suggestions....Just when I thought I had thought of everything :help:


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Well, you could consider doing cylinder subs later to go above the 2. Much smaller footprint......

However, I think going with 2 subs behind your AT screen will do a fine job - just having 2 subs will help deal with some of the room modes you will encouner.


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## Albertan (Jun 16, 2012)

I agree with covering as many eventual outcomes as possible at the stage you're at. You never know what you'll want/need down the road. And going back into the walls is not fun at all. I only used about 1/5 of the wires run in my front wall by the time I had everything terminated. But I wrote it all down on a piece of paper, and if I ever need something down the road I should be covered...I hope.


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

My speakers are fairly power hungry(the only "negative" people had to say about them) so 2x 110w is way better than 1x. I like joes reminder about sub locations. I ran 3 spots each with power and passive feeds. The more the merrier...


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

kadijk said:


> My speakers are fairly power hungry(the only "negative" people had to say about them) so 2x 110w is way better than 1x. I like joes reminder about sub locations. I ran 3 spots each with power and passive feeds. The more the merrier...


Ya I hadn't really thought about the more then one sub wiring....I was lucky enough to get WAF on this big Outlaw sub as it was....you never know in the future I might be able to catch her on a good day for a second one :yikes:


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

Sorry. That was a bit unclear. I have a power outlet at each location, plus speaker wire(for a remote amp application) plus coax for the sub feed in a self powered situation. 
One other thought...did you run your hdmi to the projector in conduit? Just in case hdmi goes obsolete(like that will never happen!!ha!)...


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

kadijk said:


> Sorry. That was a bit unclear. I have a power outlet at each location, plus speaker wire(for a remote amp application) plus coax for the sub feed in a self powered situation.
> One other thought...did you run your hdmi to the projector in conduit? Just in case hdmi goes obsolete(like that will never happen!!ha!)...



I looked at doing smurf tube but the never ending problem of budget came into play. Even if hdmi did become obsolete I would never get approval to buy a new projector, avr, pvr etc....to utilize the new technology.

I probably should have run a second hdmi cable just in case. But, in the end I am just too cheap.


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

kadijk said:


> Sorry. That was a bit unclear. I have a power outlet at each location, plus speaker wire(for a remote amp application) plus coax for the sub feed in a self powered situation.
> One other thought...did you run your hdmi to the projector in conduit? Just in case hdmi goes obsolete(like that will never happen!!ha!)...


If you have a sub coax running in your wall is there a easy way to find were it terminates (no wall plate etc to indicate were in the wall the other end lays). Diddo for a ethernet run i have....

For some reason they never terminated the ends when they built the room :hissyfit:


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

phillihp23 said:


> If you have a sub coax running in your wall is there a easy way to find were it terminates (no wall plate etc to indicate were in the wall the other end lays). Diddo for a ethernet run i have....
> 
> For some reason they never terminated the ends when they built the room :hissyfit:


Wow...that seems like a needle in a haystack....you certainly wouldn't want to pull on the one end....you would think it would be behind one of the existing boxes maybe....but then again who knows.

Wish I could offer some more assistance....


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

You could try a signal trace. Electricians use them to finish coax and Ethernet cables in a rough in where nothing gets labeled. You put a signal generator on the end you can see and use the trace tool to find the other end. I've used one, and it seems to pick up the signal from a few inches away. But I've never tried it through drywall. Try borrowing one...they're not cheap tools.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Drywall Day #1








Entrance to behind my screen wall








Homemade Equipment rack








View towards bathroom and furnace room









My drywallers need to finish the stairway and the closet in the bedroom tomorrow they say it will take a few more hours to finish up. Man they work pretty quick....They tell me that it will be ready for paint Thursday.

We bought baseboards and casing today which we will paint monday so they are ready to go. Carpet is two weeks away as it needs to be ordered and shipped here.
The door for the bedroom and the bedroom closet have arrived, so there is nothing left for me to order.

Now it is all up to my wife to paint the theater, stairs, and bedroom in a week and we should almost be there.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Great progress mate! :T

And, wow are you lucky! Your wife is going to do all the painting?! I have a hard time getting my wife to help me - she says I am too meticulous and it drives her up the wall...... :huh:


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

ALMFamily said:


> Great progress mate! :T
> 
> And, wow are you lucky! Your wife is going to do all the painting?! I have a hard time getting my wife to help me - she says I am too meticulous and it drives her up the wall...... :huh:


I certainly am lucky....she is so picky I don't even get to help painting :T


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Guys I need some help!!

I am having a hard time finding blackout blinds or something that might work as such. I can't plug the window so that isn't really an option.

Is there anything that provides some sort of sound control?? 

I am having a hard time finding anything that seems good.....have any of you guys used something you might recommend?


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

I don't know of anything that provides sound control, but I have used these in my kids' bedrooms when they were much younger and napping during the day - they really did the trick.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Bout time for an update:

We have had a problem with the drywall. Cause it has been so hot and humid the mud hasn't been drying and so it took a week longer then it should have. But I am glad to say that it is all done today.










So the roof has been textured and is good to go and we have put on one coat of primer so far.










Here you can see a color we are trying out and we have decided that we don't like it :hissyfit:










You can see one of the sconces there and what our carpet will look like as well as the baseboard color. 
We are starting to go into panic mode as the carpet will be installed on tuesday and wednesday.

So the list of things to do before Tuesday:
Pick paint color and put on 2 coats
Paint Screenwall mouse ears and n8 grey
put on baseboards
put on door casings
Caulk baseboards and casings
Repaint doors, baseboards, and casings
Wire all the electrical outlets

I hope that I am not forgetting anything...it helps to actually make a list here, just so I can keep everything straight. Well It's going to be a long weekend of painting and mass hysteria....see you guys soon


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Wow what a long day....I am exhausted....Projector is up....put some lights up and have most of the first coat of paint up....was a tough day for finding the right screen paint. I went to home depot and they told me my paint mix was no good anymore as they had all new colorants...I went into panic mode as I didn't really have a plan B.

I did a quick search here on the site and decided on Unique Grey...I should find out tomorrow how it is going to work. Then I went to a different paint store where I get 30% off and I was trying to get some Mouse Ears black for my screen border. They obviously couldn't match it off a computer as they didn't have one. So I was kinda of stuck on that paint choice. So they guy says if you want black I will give you black and we will call it good. So I agree and say give me some black enamel. I realize later that I have black latex, so another minor freak out as I really want to drive my truck off the local bridge. I really thought the paint choices were going to be the easy part of this build...boy I sure was wrong!!

I am going to try the latex, I am sure it will be just fine....but I was disappointed no the less.

When I first put up the projector it was coming out as 126 inches and my wife was telling me that was all it could do....I laughed pretty hard inside, I of course was going to tell her she was wrong....so I worked on the mount a bit more and managed to squeeze 132 diagonal out of the projector....I am pretty happy now!!

Hopefully should have some pictures for you tomorrow!


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

So the list of things to do before Tuesday:
Pick paint color and put on 2 coats: Check
















Paint Screenwall mouse ears and n8 grey: Half a check....screen is painted 2 coats








put on baseboards: check
put on door casings: check
Caulk baseboards and casings: Monday's project
Repaint doors, baseboards, and casings: Monday as well
Wire all the electrical outlets: check and I only electrocuted myself twice :coocoo:

And a bonus I have the projector up









One last picture is just a view from the top of the stairs to the basement









So at this point I am pretty tired of sweeping the floor. After every little thing you do it makes a mess. Obviously the drywall was the worst, but man cleaning up is no fun :foottap:

I managed to get the Lutron Mastro IR switch installed. I am most excited about this item for the theater. I am currently trying to get it programmed into my Harmony One and I think it's going to be great. My only concern is that it will pick up the IR bouncing off the screenwall cause it will be behind me at the bottom of the stairs. Worst case scenario I will have to point the remote over my shoulder.

I did manage to watch a little bit of Pearl Harbour on the screen once we had just put up the first coat of paint and it was looking pretty good. It's getting so close to being done, I can almost taste it :sn:

Hopefully we can keep things moving along and be done Thursday for the Stampeders Roughriders Game :T


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Looking good mate - keep up the great work! :T


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

ALMFamily said:


> Looking good mate - keep up the great work! :T



Thanks so much....The end is so close now.....I can hardly wait!!


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

Looking good! You've been working hard in all this heat. You must have air conditioning, or an unusually high tolerance for heat and humidity for a southern albertan.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

kadijk said:


> Looking good! You've been working hard in all this heat. You must have air conditioning, or an unusually high tolerance for heat and humidity for a southern albertan.


Yep the AC has been going full blast for the past few weeks....I have zero tolerance for heat :dontknow:

Even with the basement being nice and cold, I was still sweating like a pig :rant:

I don't know how I could have done it without the AC


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

Looking Great :wave: By the way how did you mount the Projector to the ceiling. I recently mounted mine to the ceiling dry wall with anchors....then the other day i went in the room and noticed a anchor came out and the projector was dangling... I quickly took it down...and havent had the heart to try and re-install it.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

phillihp23 said:


> Looking Great :wave: By the way how did you mount the Projector to the ceiling. I recently mounted mine to the ceiling dry wall with anchors....then the other day i went in the room and noticed a anchor came out and the projector was dangling... I quickly took it down...and havent had the heart to try and re-install it.


I was lucky enough to know where the joists were because we put the drywall up ourselves and I marked the joists before hand....Although I second guessed myself and used a stud finder to make sure when I went to install the projector mount.

My wife was pretty impressed that all 3 of the screws went right into the stud.

I would try and get a stud finder to remount your projector. I would think even if you got 1 screw into a joist you would be golden. The other thing you could do is get one of the anchors that you would use to hang your chandelier over your kitchen table. you know the one that has a hook for your chandelier chain.

Those anchors spread the weight over about 4 inches and should hold in the drywall much better.

Hope that helps?


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## phreak (Aug 16, 2010)

phillihp23 said:


> Looking Great :wave: By the way how did you mount the Projector to the ceiling. I recently mounted mine to the ceiling dry wall with anchors....then the other day i went in the room and noticed a anchor came out and the projector was dangling... I quickly took it down...and havent had the heart to try and re-install it.


When I installed my projector I routered the edges of a piece of plywood, screwed it to the ceiling and mounted the PJ to it. That way my PJ is securely mounted in the center of the room, despite no joist in the immediate vicinity. Paint the plywood same color as ceiling and it looks great.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

I just wanted to let everyone know that the room debuted last night for the Stamps Roughies game.

We had 7 people over to watch the game and thank goodness the Stamps won in overtime :clap:

The bad news my laptop fried itself on monday....so there was no way for me to update this thread.

Also we were pushing so hard to finish by Thursday that I didn't really take that many pictures anyways :nono:

But I have a new laptop on the way and it should arrive by next wednesday. So you will have to wait until then :neener: But the next pictures you do see will be of the completed room. 

28 days start to finish :yikes:


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Wow - great to hear that it was up and running! I really am looking forward to seeing some pics! :clap:


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

Pictures...Pictures :foottap:


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

phillihp23 said:


> Pictures...Pictures :foottap:


My new laptop is in Calgary today...so it should be out for delivery tommorow :T

Pictures will follow shortly.

Although I may try and take some on my ipad and see if I can get that to upload them :rolleyesno:


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

jgourlie said:


> My new laptop is in Calgary today...so it should be out for delivery tommorow :T
> 
> Pictures will follow shortly.
> 
> Although I may try and take some on my ipad and see if I can get that to upload them :rolleyesno:


Stupid FedEx and that's all I have to say about that :hissyfit:


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Finally I got my new laptop from Fedex.

So we can see some pictures

From whence the name came!!
I wish Energy was going to be around forever as I am a bit of a fanboy.
But it looks like their days are numbered as the maker of great speakers. Hopefully Klipsch doesn't make it a bargain basement brand. Let's keep our fingers crossed.









Here is the view from the top of the stairs. So we can go on a little tour of the basement :T









Heading down the stairs









Heading around the corner









Finally the view from the bottom of the stairs









And the view from the other side of the room


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Here are a couple things that turned out really good imo...

My own speaker cables. I used Nakamichi banana plugs and some cable pants and light grey techflex, with monoprice 12ga wire.

I think they look pretty sweet. But of course I would say that.



















Here is my Diy Equipment rack. I made a shelving unit out of mdf and then added a mdf faceplate to be flush with the 5/8ths drywall. I then covered it with 1 inch casing.

It came out way better then I thought it would


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

As you know I had the issue of the foundation wall in the basement to deal with during construction.

So I built the screen wall flush with the foundation wall, which left that 4x9 room behind the screenwall. I knew it would be usefull to have that space to put the subwoofer there and the center speaker behind the wall.

Of course I thought it was going to be great and there would be no issues with this idea. Unfortunately because I used Drywall to make my screen surface it obviously sealed up that room pretty good. Sadly the bass doesn't seem to travel out that 5ft hole that is left, as well as I thought it might. So if there is one thing I regret it was not doing the entire wall in cloth. But of course my wife love's it because the bass isn't overpowering into the theater room. It sounds amazing but you don't feel the bass :crying: Also esthetically it looks much better having it as drywall rather then cloth. As the left half of the wall is foundation and would have to have been drywall anyways.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

So this is what I ended up with for a picture.

It is 132 inch diagonal from the Benq w1060. I used Behr ultra pure white tinted to sherwin williams unique grey.

It is a bit darker grey then my previous home, but it does allow me to have the lights on and still have a decent picture that isn't washed out. I also chose the bit darker grey as my walls and ceiling are painted light colors. I just couldn't talk my wife into a black ceiling.

Overall I love it!!

Here is is with the lutron maestro dimmed 50% on the favorite setting









And here it is with all the lights off


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Really turned out great mate - congrats! :clap:

And, I really like the equipment mount area - excellently done IMO. :T


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

Well done. Very NICE!!! How far back is your first row of seats? I'm sure you posted it somewhere just forgot.:clap:


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

The image looks very good considering you have light coloured walls and ceiling!
Does the room light up more than it's showing in the photo?


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

phillihp23 said:


> Well done. Very NICE!!! How far back is your first row of seats? I'm sure you posted it somewhere just forgot.:clap:


I have a U shaped sectional. The very first seat on the sectional is about 10 feet away. It is pretty close I would have to say. But the other 7 seats in the sectional are really good. The back part of the sectional is 17 feet away.

Hope that answers your question?


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Prof. said:


> The image looks very good considering you have light coloured walls and ceiling!
> Does the room light up more than it's showing in the photo?


Yes I am super pumped about how good the image looks.

Here is a picture with the room with 100% lights on....as you can see the image get's washed out pretty bad


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

ALMFamily said:


> Really turned out great mate - congrats! :clap:
> 
> And, I really like the equipment mount area - excellently done IMO. :T


Thanks so much....I appreciate the kind words....makes the last month of nights up till 2am so worth it!!


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

So I just got this badboy in the mail.

I won it in an ebay auction. It appears that it is a retail demo disk for audio and video, like what they would use at bestbuy or something.

All I have to say is it sounds amazing!!

I have been showing this to friends and family and some of the clips are simply amazing. I especially love the clip from the movie "The Art of Flight"

it's simply stunning visually and audibly.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

There are a couple people who have purchased _The Art of Flight_ and all have said it is simply stunning. Going to have to check it out........


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

ALMFamily said:


> There are a couple people who have purchased The Art of Flight and all have said it is simply stunning. Going to have to check it out........


It's amazing Joe. Blind buy for sure.


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## JThompson (Feb 18, 2011)

Congratulations on a great looking build!


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

JThompson said:


> Congratulations on a great looking build!


Thanks so much. I just watched transformers 2 and it has never sounded so good to me. This was my first experience at 1080p and dts master audio. Makes all the blood and sweat worth it!


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

JBrax said:


> It's amazing Joe. Blind buy for sure.


I can't wait till Christmas or my anniversary to get the whole movie. I am so amazed at the 5 minute clip I have. I can't imagine what the entire movie is like.

I also requested a darblet. I have my fingers crossed on that item too. I have been watching closely everyone's feedback on it and I think it could be good for my system.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

If you guys are talking about _The Art of Flight_ Red Bull snowboarding video, it is absolutely stunning in HD. I only get out to ride about once a year these days, but after watching this film I started to miss it sorely. Definitely worth a watch in HD.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Owen Bartley said:


> If you guys are talking about The Art of Flight Red Bull snowboarding video, it is absolutely stunning in HD. I only get out to ride about once a year these days, but after watching this film I started to miss it sorely. Definitely worth a watch in HD.


That's the one. I still enjoy throwing it in from time to time. Also has some serious LFE for the bass heads.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

JBrax said:


> That's the one. I still enjoy throwing it in from time to time. Also has some serious LFE for the bass heads.


Yes the LFE is a nice addition!!


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Time for some updates I think.

I did mostly finish the theater months ago...but of course there are always those last few things that aren't quite 100%

The update for today is we finally got blinds for the rest of the house so the theater got a matching set....The blackout blind is still attached to the window in behind the blind so there is no light escape through the wood blinds.










The other project left to finish was what to do with the Electrical Panel that is in the back of the theater behind the couch looking all ugly.

This is the only picture I have of it looking all ugly









So when I built the theater I put a 2x4 frame around the panel and then had my drywaller attach drywall to the outside edges of the 2x4's. It has been this way for all this time as I couldn't really decide on how I wanted to finish it off. So I decided to take the plunge and just go for it.

There was some talk of doing 2 doors that swing outward, but we decided to cover the whole panel and then put a smaller door the size of the fuse panel only.










I had to move the connections from my satellite provider to just above the fuse panel so that if I ever needed access I could get to them, as you can see there isn't really any access to the wires coming into the fuse panel as I covered that. My thinking behind this was sometimes we plan for the 1% of the time, when 99% of the time life goes on. What I mean by that is I may never need any access to the wires coming into the fuse panel so why build the cover for something I may never need. Worst case scenario I can remove the screws holding the entire cover and gain access to all the wiring. That is the 1% scenario....99% of the rest of the time the only issue I might have is a tripped breaker. So we shall see if my theory is any good over the next few years.

Here is the rest of the pictures of the finished product

















All painted up


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Great to hear from you Dean!

Nice job finishing the closet - very clean look IMO.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Ok guys I really need some help here.

My room really echoes pretty bad. I have kind of set my heart on a GIK room kit.

I pitch it to my wife and it get's imediately shut down...."I don't want that ugly stuff down there, it doesn't even echo I don't know what you are talking about, That is way to much money"

Please help me with some tips for WAF approval to really finish off the theater.

Any help is appreciated,


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

Well, it looks like you have a few obstacles to overcome there... 

1) "I don't want that ugly stuff down there"

- Solution? Use panels that blend in to the wall, or are complimentary colours, or buy the Art Panels that you can print anything on (there is a DIY for movie poster absorbers around). Give your wife free reign on the fabric of the panels, and she might be more open to it.

2) "it doesn't even echo I don't know what you are talking about"

- I'm not sure what you can do here, you could rig up something temporary (make sure it looks much worse than putting up panels) like hanging heavy blankets over couch cushions and propping them against the walls around the room. See if that helps the sound and try to show her the difference.

3) "That is way to much money"

- DIY is your answer here... the GIK panels are fantastic, but they are pricey. There are a ton of tutorials to build your own acoustic treatments around the web. And it won't cost you much to do either, especially if you find some discounted fabric.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Owen Bartley said:


> Well, it looks like you have a few obstacles to overcome there...
> 
> 1) "I don't want that ugly stuff down there"
> 
> ...


Thanks Owen....I really like the idea of letting her pick out the fabric....she did say I should build them myself, so I might be there if I let her pick the colours etc...

I will try that tonight and see how it goes


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

I built my own. Your wife might not like mine. But it's possible to make them more decorative. You can check my thread on this, or...we should get together sometime. PM me if you want.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

The nice thing is that while the recipe calls for acoustically transparent fabric, unless you're critically designing the panels targeting a specific frequency, you can slide a bit on the covering. Very crude explanation ahead... I'm not a pro by any means, but I think I have some of the basics covered here...

Let's say you found fabric that was 100% transparent (or used unfaced panels). That would affect a certain range of frequencies, with the higher frequencies getting more absorbed. Measurement claims vary, but typical thickness panels (4" or so) won't do much below let's say 500 Hz.

Now, if you use a material that is less transparent, with a tighter weave, it may start to act as a partial membrane, and reflect some of the higher frequency sound back out, while still absorbing the lower freq (maybe more efficiently, because the fabric adds more resistance?). Either way, your panel will still work, and you may even avoid the issue of having too much damping at the high frequencies that are easily treated - curtains, carpet, furniture, lots of things can help tame the short wavelength high frequencies, its the long wavelength lows that are hard to deal with.

That's just my interpretation, and please... Bryan or anyone else, correct me if I'm telling blatant lies! But at least it will help you to adopt any fabric your wife chooses, and some treatment is better than no treatment, right?


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

So it looks like I have spoiled my Christmas :sad:

I was pushing on the acoustic panels and so my wife had to spill the beans on what she was getting me for christmas cause she thought I wouldn't like it.

So in the end I am not going to be doing acoustic panels, buuuuuutttttt I am getting some cool shadow boxes with jersey's from my favorite sports teams in them. So I guess I will have pictures of those shortly after Christmas.

There is one thing I have learned in this whole process is that it is all about compromise. Yes I would love to do some acoustic treatment in the room, but I also want to have the room look cool so you win some you lose some.

The deciding factor on not going with the panels and making my wife take back all my christmas presents actually was where the first reflection points ended up being in my room. On the left side of the room is the bedroom and the bedroom door frame actually ended up being the first reflection point...so it wasn't like I could put an acoustic panel on the side of a door anyways. Again it's always about compromise....we had to have a bedroom, the only place the door would fit ended up being right in the middle of the theater room, and it's the first reflection :nono:


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

Oops. I hate it when that happens, I've done it once or twice myself. Sorry to feed you the ideas that ruined Christmas! I hope your wife wasn't too upset, mine loves Christmas, and really likes the surprises from giving gifts too.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Owen Bartley said:


> Oops. I hate it when that happens, I've done it once or twice myself. Sorry to feed you the ideas that ruined Christmas! I hope your wife wasn't too upset, mine loves Christmas, and really likes the surprises from giving gifts too.


My wife was kind of bummed....but in the end I am glad that she asked first cause it made me realize that acoustic panels wouldn't have worked anyways.

The surprise will be what jersey's end up in the boxes and what picture she gives me for the other wall...so Christmas isn't totally ruined....I did also say she could get me a Darblet and that would be a surprise....I guess we will see if I get one.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Sounds like you have a direction in mind. For future reference, if you end up working more on acoustics, sound absorbers, and the like, here is a resource site with some good info about building sound absorbers on walls, about halfway through the page.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

AudiocRaver said:


> Sounds like you have a direction in mind. For future reference, if you end up working more on acoustics, sound absorbers, and the like, here is a resource site with some good info about building sound absorbers on walls, about halfway through the page.


Thanks for the info, that is a really good read....What I am thinking is once I have all my Christmas presents up on the walls...I will take some pictures of the room and maybe we can decide on some treatments together.

I am always open to advice from each of you and I appreciate all the help.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Another Question for you guys....

To Bi-amp my CF-70's or not???

When I built the room I decided to not wire the front towers for Bi-amp'ing and talked myself out of it....now of course I am second guessing myself...

So please talk me into doing it....or talk me out of it and confirm my original decision.

Discuss!!


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

I biamped my front mains. But they need it. The only criticism I could find online before I bought them was that they are power hungry. And I noticed a big improvement after bi amping. I'm not sure about your speakers. You could always try and experiment...


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

kadijk said:


> I biamped my front mains. But they need it. The only criticism I could find online before I bought them was that they are power hungry. And I noticed a big improvement after bi amping. I'm not sure about your speakers. You could always try and experiment...


I saw that yours are bi-amped so that is what got me thinking I was missing out on something....I might have to mess around with some extra wire and see what happens.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

jgourlie said:


> I saw that yours are bi-amped so that is what got me thinking I was missing out on something....I might have to mess around with some extra wire and see what happens.


I like the bi-amp approach mainly for all the options it allows, but I am an endless tweaker. Do it only if you want to for fun or have found that you must for performance, that's my opinion.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

AudiocRaver said:


> I like the bi-amp approach mainly for all the options it allows, but I am an endless tweaker. Do it only if you want to for fun or have found that you must for performance, that's my opinion.


I go through tweaking phases....could care less for a long time and then...everything needs to be changed or improved....I guess I am just feeling a bit restless and looking for improvements to my theater....I have some time off at Christmas I might mess around then and see if bi-amping does anything for my tower's.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Every once and awhile a blind squirrel finds a nut.










I borrowed an acoustic panel from work...I work at a radio station so we have this stuff kicking around from time to time.

So long story longer, I put it in the theater and did a sound test with the wife and she has given approval to do some panels on the back wall..

muahahahahahhahaha I love when a plan comes together.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Well my wife got me these sweet shadow boxes for Christmas....Oregon Ducks and The Calgary flames

I think they turned out awesome.











I am hoping to Play Torrey Pines in San Diego in the next couple weeks and I have plans to get a picture of myself on the tee box of #4 overlooking the ocean and then have it put onto an acoustic panel on the other wall to finish off the walls in the theatre.

As for the rear wall we are planning on an ikea storage cupboard that I am going to put acoustic panels on the doors of them, that should help out a bit with some of the slap echo issues I am having.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Very nice!!!

Golfing in January - you guys are so lucky. It is about 10 degrees F here today with over a foot of snow on the ground.

Edit - I just remembered - you are from Canada! So, you completly understand the "golf 6 months out of the year" mentality!


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

ALMFamily said:


> Very nice!!!
> 
> Golfing in January - you guys are so lucky. It is about 10 degrees F here today with over a foot of snow on the ground.
> 
> Edit - I just remembered - you are from Canada! So, you completly understand the "golf 6 months out of the year" mentality!


6 months!!!! 5 if I am lucky....yes I try to get away in the winter for a week just to play some golf...too bad it all wears off by the start of the season.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

The shadow boxes look great! Your wife did a great job on them. I might attampt something similar, but the Leafs aren't worth framing in anything. Lol. Sounds like a good idea for the panel, too. Have you checked out the guy who did the printed Bond poster panels? I think its in the top couple of links if you google DIY movie poster acoustic panels

OH! Just remembered that it was also posted here! 
http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...ster-acoustic-panels-cheap.html#axzz2GouTnqsA


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Owen Bartley said:


> The shadow boxes look great! Your wife did a great job on them. I might attampt something similar, but the Leafs aren't worth framing in anything. Lol. Sounds like a good idea for the panel, too. Have you checked out the guy who did the printed Bond poster panels? I think its in the top couple of links if you google DIY movie poster acoustic panels
> 
> OH! Just remembered that it was also posted here!
> http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...ster-acoustic-panels-cheap.html#axzz2GouTnqsA


Yes I totally saw that thread and that is the inspiration for the whole golf landscape picture Idea.

Hopefully my father in law can take a mean picture or this idea might crash and burn


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Well a few changes since Christmas time.

I never liked the plate for my banana plugs as they stuck out from the wall. When I ordered the originals from monoprice i liked the fact that they were horizontal...little did I know the plate wasn't flush mount.









So I ordered the flush mount kind which in my opinion look much better


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

I know I showed the shadow boxes previously around Christmas time, but here is how the room looks now with the new plates








My wife talked my brother in law into a trade for our old ipad for these storage cabinets from ikea. She assured me the were very necessary because our home has no storage. They fit pretty perfect in the space behind the sectional so I agreed. 
















So my next plan is to purchase some acoustic panels to put on the doors of the cabinets. My wife is quite positive that they will make the cabinets look ugly. I can somewhat agree, But I am thinking 4 panels on the doors and 2 more panels behind my front speakers on the front wall 








and then the one on the side wall I stole from work should really make a difference.

What do you guys think about my panel ideas?


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Beautiful room, nice work. Yes, in a way it does seem a shame to mess up those nice doors and walls with acoustical panels, but there is that all-important _audio experience_ to think about.:bigsmile:

You are at the point where about all you can do is experiment, see how it sounds, verify with some REW measurements, and use your decorator prowess to make it look good. Your suggested next step sounds very reasonable.:T


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

AudiocRaver said:


> Beautiful room, nice work. Yes, in a way it does seem a shame to mess up those nice doors and walls with acoustical panels, but there is that all-important _audio experience_ to think about.:bigsmile:
> 
> You are at the point where about all you can do is experiment, see how it sounds, verify with some REW measurements, and use your decorator prowess to make it look good. Your suggested next step sounds very reasonable.:T


Agreed - seems like those door surfaces would be very reflective.


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## bamabum (Dec 7, 2012)

why not build them yourself? you could use a larger image on printable at cloth and break it up into 6 panels that fit into the recessed doors. Seams you will need custom sizes anyways.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

bamabum said:


> why not build them yourself? you could use a larger image on printable at cloth and break it up into 6 panels that fit into the recessed doors. Seams you will need custom sizes anyways.


I like it. Any fabric artists in the family?:bigsmile: Could turn out very cool.


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## bamabum (Dec 7, 2012)

google

"DIY Custom-Printed Movie Poster Acoustic Panels - cheap!"


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

bamabum said:


> google
> 
> "DIY Custom-Printed Movie Poster Acoustic Panels - cheap!"


I got the idea for the panels in the first place from that thread. I originally had planned on my vacation to get some nice golf shots to put onto fabric for panels. Unfortunately the weather didn't pan out and so no golf shots.

So that left me with nothing that I like to put on the panels and really less motivated to build them myself, so that is why I am just considering buying them....but I did just get some prices and the shipping is the killer, so I may just end up building them myself.


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## jgourlie (Jun 16, 2012)

Well it seems like a whole year has past. A few changes in the Theater in the past few weeks.

I have since added a Denon x4100 with atoms and 2 onkyo skh-410's for a 5.1.2 Atmos system.

And my awesome wife got me a Darblet for Christmas. I have been busily watching all my movies over again in DSU and it has been awesome!!


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