# Mayhem's new dedicated HT build



## mayhem13 (Feb 2, 2008)

Well as many as you know, I just purchased a new home this October which includes a 12x16x8 space that i've been given the green light for a dedicated HT.......as long as the fireplace stays!:sad: It's a sealed off space with an adjacent utility room to handle the A/V gear and a possible Infinite Baffle system:bigsmile:for 40hz and lower content. Video will be handled by a Mitsu HC1500 PJ and a 50" Panasonic G15. Screen will have to be pull down and will descend in front of the flat screen and fireplace. Screen size isn't locked but i'm thinking 106" 16:9. All input is welcome and wanted as i tend to get narrow minded and the beginning of a project. Here's some pix of progress.

This is the room as we purchased the home from the Realtor's photo gallery. Can you say Disco!:gulp:










It was a NIGHTMARE:rant: getting that mirror off of the walls and a bit dangerous to boot. The adhesive used was so strong that it took away some concrete of the fireplace face with it as iit came down. I used a piece of thin cable as a saw behind the mirrors as a hacksaw to remove it. Don't try this at home kids. Here's a shot of the fireplace stripped as it stands today.










Luckily there's two seperate electrical curcuits already there from the heat recirculators. One will be for power to the plasma and another switched for 3 small focused halogen lights above the plasma. The plan is to frame out a surround and mantel and use the interior volume for easy wiring. The HVAC soffit on the left will be replicated on the right and will be used for getting the AV cabling to the Utility room which is at the rear of the space. The PJ will also be in the utility room firing through a projection housing. Throw distance to the screen will be about 15ft. 

So please, follow along with me as i can use all of the ideasonder: and support that i can get:help:


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Seems like this will be a fun project for you.

I assume you'll just have one row of seating with only 16' for depth to work with... or have some rather shallow depth seating. Our first dedicated room was not too terribly far off from this size at 11.5' x 19.5'.

Have you already got your audio picked out?


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Looks like an interesting project..

Do you have a sketch of the proposed layout?


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## bbieger (Sep 15, 2009)

awww.you took the mirrors down.  I was really digging the mauve furniture and mirrored wall look. 

All you needed was a brass and glass table and you would have had an intact 70's time capsule.


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## mayhem13 (Feb 2, 2008)

Thanx Sonnie, and yes, i hope it turns out to be a fun project as well. Single row of dedicated seating on the rear wall is the plan......maybe three Berkliners or the like.

As far as audio goes, AVR control is via a Sony 3400 ES and sub amplification via an NHT B-20 subwoofer amp and a few DIY subs with plae amps. No center channel will be used but a set of DIY waveguide speakers for L/R duty with a pair of In-Ceilings for surround duty. An IB system in the adjacent utility room will handle 40hz on down. Hoping for real response to 10hz or so in such a small space with room gain.


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## mayhem13 (Feb 2, 2008)

Haven't really sketched it up on the PC, but have done some drawings to scale on paper. It's really a simple floor plan and has to stay that way since access to the backyard is via this room. Just finished tiling the fireplace surround and should begin framing the rest of the fireplace tommorrow. My cable order just came from monoprice so interconnecting should keep me busy for a while. Want to really future proof the whole setup so included Cat5 and USB with a few extra pull-strings in the conduit just in case a new interconnect comes our way anytime soon.


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## mayhem13 (Feb 2, 2008)

Would you like to buy them?:neener:


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## bbieger (Sep 15, 2009)

I assume you mean the mirrors.. hmmm. Trying to think what someone could do with a bunch of mirrors instead of trowing them out. 

Seems like a craigs list ad is in your future. People are ravenous about CL here in Portland. People will pick up ANYTHING if it is free. Seriously.


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## jmmdm2 (Mar 3, 2009)

I'm glad to see someone else is going with the Sony ES receiver. I used the 5400 ES and have had no complaints so far. What subs are you using for your IB set-up? Is that a sliding glass door, how will you deal with that in terms of reflection?


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## mayhem13 (Feb 2, 2008)

Probobly AE speakers IB15's x 4. The sliders have been replaced with french doors with integral blinds between the panes.....light control yes........sound issues......maybe. The directivity of the Waveguide mains and a slight toe in might make it a non-issue.


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## mayhem13 (Feb 2, 2008)

BTW..Need a recommendation for a sub $200 Blue Ray player. SD DVD collection is huge so good upscaling would be nice. PJ is Mitsu 1500 720p.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

The Samsung BDP 3600 is a very good upscaling player..and is evidently faster to load now than the earlier models..
I'm not sure though if that model is within your price range..


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## mayhem13 (Feb 2, 2008)

Made some progress yesterday. Framed the right side and rear soffits. The rear will house the PJ and surround speakers( in ceiling) and the right side soffit will house all of the cabling to the stage as well as a re-route of my A/C lines from my compressor to the utility room.

Projector is the Mitsu HC1500, my tried and trusted friend. This is the first time it will not be in free-air space, but housed in the soffit. I've given it 2" clearance above and below and four inches to each side with the front completely open. I've been considering adding an 80mm PC fan to suck air through the enclosure and vented into the utility room. Am i over-doing things here?


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## mayhem13 (Feb 2, 2008)

A question on the location of the surrounds. As stated earlier, there's a soffit directly above the main seating area that houses the PJ in the center. I have the option of placing in-cielings downward firing at either end of the soffit OR a pair of in walls on the face of the soffit firing towards the screen wall for a 'diffuse' response. Any opinions or preferance to either placement. The in ceilings i've been considering have an angled driver pattern at 15 degrees.


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## spartanstew (May 7, 2009)

mayhem13 said:


> A question on the location of the surrounds. As stated earlier, there's a soffit directly above the main seating area that houses the PJ in the center. I have the option of placing in-cielings downward firing at either end of the soffit OR a pair of in walls on the face of the soffit firing towards the screen wall for a 'diffuse' response. Any opinions or preferance to either placement. The in ceilings i've been considering have an angled driver pattern at 15 degrees.


Why can't you just wall mount them in the correct location (on-wall or in-wall)?

If for some reason you can't do that, go with your first option (downward firing)


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## mayhem13 (Feb 2, 2008)

spartanstew said:


> Why can't you just wall mount them in the correct location (on-wall or in-wall)?
> 
> If for some reason you can't do that, go with your first option (downward firing)


One side wall is an outside wall and the other has an HVAC trunk inside so no go on the usual mounting. I think i'm gonna go with DIY In walls on the face of the soffit firing towards the screen wall.

Made a lot of progress this week. Almost fininshed with all of the cabling and framing. Gonna try and check all of the cables/connections tommorrow and then hopefully start some drywall on sat/sunday. I'll try and get some pix up this weekend.

Any thoughts on how to fix a curling screen? The black borders are starting to curl up but it hasn't affected the viewing surface.......yet.:yikes:


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## spartanstew (May 7, 2009)

mayhem13 said:


> I think i'm gonna go with DIY In walls on the face of the soffit firing towards the screen wall.


Why?


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## mayhem13 (Feb 2, 2008)

Tested the soundstage with a pair of bookshelves in this arrangement yesterday and i must say i really enjoyed the diffuse response. Sorta a Di-pole type of sound. If i did the in ceilings in the soffits the guests seated on the outer ends of the seating would get blasted during surround content.


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## mayhem13 (Feb 2, 2008)

Got a lot done this weekend thanx to my son. We bonded a bit while sawing and nailing and cursing. Picked up a Pioneer 320 BD player for $150 and watched some SD DVD's......upscaling is simply stunning and exceeded my expectations. 

My newest inquiry is for a device to 'split' mt AVR's single HDMI output to both the PJ AND the Plasma. I won't be watching both at the same time obviously. Do those units from Monoprice really work?


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## mayhem13 (Feb 2, 2008)

Here's a recap or timeline of the progress in picture

Here's the room as used by the previous owner. I took this pic when we were buying the house










Now this is after the disco mirrors were removed....still for sale BTW!










And now how it stands today



















The 106" 16:9 projection screen is behind the valence and the wallmount is for a 50" Panasonic plasma

Here's the structure wiring panels at the location for the gear. The box with the AC has a seperator panel for the low voltage.










So, obviously some more work to do. I'd like to get the sheetrock tapers in next weekend so painting can start. The plan is for a dark brown on the ceiling with a lighter grayish/brown for the walls and an off-white for the fireplace trim. The soffit with the PJ has yet to be fittted with surround speakers and i'm still torn between ceiling mounts on the underside of the soffit or on the face of the soffit...maybe a sideways in wal 6.5" MT?


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