# Peterman's HT



## Peter Loeser

*November 2016 - DONE!*
It's been functional for about a year and we have thoroughly enjoyed it. Finally knocked out the finishing touches this week, mostly cosmetic. 



















*April 2015 - Atmos ready, new subs and surrounds, better acoustics*

*Current Equipment List*
Receiver: Anthem MRX-710
Mains: Paradigm Reference Studio 100 v2
Center: Paradigm Reference Studio CC v2
Surrounds: Chase Home Theater M1 Monitor (x6)
Atmos/Height: Home Theater Direct MP-R80 (x6)
Subwoofer: Power Sound Audio XS30se (x2)
Display: LG PV250 60" Plasma TV
Blu-ray Player: OPPO BDP-103
Media/Web Streaming: Apple TV
Media/Web Streaming: Fire TV Stick
Local Media Server: Mac Mini (Yosemite)
HDMI Cables: Monoprice/Rosewill with Redmere
Speaker Cables: Monoprice 12ga CL2 in-wall
Sub/Interconnect: Monoprice CL2 RG6 Coax

*June 2014 - Looking a little more polished and ready for 11.1*
Details and photos

Additions
Onkyo TX-NR737 (review coming Fall 2014)

Upcoming projects
-riser for 2nd row seating
-re-build side wall acoustic panels (from 2" to 4" thick)
-re-locate side wall panels to cover first reflections
-add bass traps in rear corners
-add ceiling speakers for Dolby Atmos (maybe)
-new subs (maybe)
-additional LED accent lighting (maybe)

*March 2014 (Rev 01) - Wiring, layout, and aesthetics*
Photos of progress during this stage can be found here:
post 12 (wiring)
post 19 (more wiring)
Post 20 (revised layout)
post 31 (still more wiring)

Updated equipment list:
Receiver: Onkyo TX-NR626
Mains: Paradigm Studio 100 v.2
Center: Paradigm Studio CC v.2
Surrounds: Definitive Technology Studiomonitor 350
Subwoofer: Paradigm PW-2200 v.1
Display: LG PV250 60" Plasma TV
Blu-ray Player: OPPO BDP-103
Turntable: Rega Planar 3 with Elys MM Cartridge
Media Streaming: Apple TV
Media Server: Mac Mini Server
HDMI Cabling: Monoprice/Rosewill with Redmere
Speaker Cabling: Monoprice 12ga CL2 in-wall
Sub/Interconnect Cabling: Monoprice CL2 RG6 Coax

*December 2012 - It's done (but not really)*
After we moved into our house last October, I claimed a room upstairs and have since turned it into a comfy little home theater. It was just a plain white room, so the paint, lighting, wall treatments, and some wiring have all been added. We already had the furniture so I decided to go with mostly natural tones for the room itself. I had the speakers already as well (except the subs), and have been trying out some different combinations of electronics. I did the work to the room myself with a little help here and there from my wife. No extensive construction here since the house was already finished. My goal was to have a comfortable and attractive room, clean wiring and nice lighting, with minimal sheetrock disturbance (which means I spent more than an ideal amount of time swimming around in the insulation in the attic space above :mooooh. I have plenty of ideas for improvements to both the performance and aesthetics, but I'm pretty content with it for the moment, so I figured I'd share a few photos.



 

 
Full frontal nudity :gulp:

Original equipment list:
Processor: Emotiva UMC-1
Amplifier: Parasound HCA-1205A
Mains: Paradigm Studio 100 v.2
Center: Paradigm Studio CC v.2
Surrounds: Paradigm Cinema Phantom (although two of the Danas I had just finished reviewing are pictured)
Subwoofers: Paradigm PW-2200 v.1 (x2)
Display: LG PV250 60" Plasma TV
Blu-ray Player: OPPO BDP-103


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## hjones4841

Looks great and I know you will enjoy it very much. I wish my HT room was bigger; at 12x20 with all the equipment and speakers in it there is only room for one row of recliners.


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## yoda13

Agreed, looks fantastic!! Is it your dedicated HT room and you have a living room or is it serving as double duty HT/living room? 'cause it looks nice and clean and could easily be both

cheers


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## JQueen

It looks great..very clean


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## Wardsweb

Nicely done. I wish I had a dedicated enclosed room. I know you enjoy yours. Any plans moving forward?


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## ALMFamily

Great set up Peter! :T

I really like the natural feel the room gives - even from the pictures, it just feels like a great place to sit and hang out.


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## JBrax

I love the full frontal nudity pic. Those speakers are quite menacing.


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## Peter Loeser

Thanks for the comments. The room is about 15' wide by about 16' deep and is dedicated to music and movies. I am more of a music guy, but I have been using it for lots of movie viewing lately as well. We do have a living room downstairs with a TV which is actually where we spend most of our time (thanks to a super comfortable couch and close proximity to the kitchen).

For the HT room, I would eventually like to add some recliner type seating, maybe in two rows rather than the 'U' shape I have now. Possibly a projector down the road and some additional acoustic treatments. Those are just ideas for now, I'm not actively planning on any of them at the moment. I tend to obsess over finding better gear and and fine tuning what I have (crazy, I know!) so right now I'm just trying to sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor thus far. I've been spending a few bucks here and there expanding my music and movie libraries instead.


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## Peter Loeser

JBrax said:


> I love the full frontal nudity pic. Those speakers are quite menacing.


I can't say enough good things about the Studio 100s. I don't think I'll ever get rid of them.


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## AudiocRaver

Very nice. I'm comin' over!


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## Peter Loeser

AudiocRaver said:


> Very nice. I'm comin' over!


Woohoo movie night!


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## Peter Loeser

Hey gang, I've been in the process of making some incremental changes to my setup, moving things around, etc. so I thought I'd share some progress and a few photos along the way. While reviewing the Pioneer SC-71, I played with the idea of adding rear surrounds to my setup, which got me wanting to try either front height or front wide as well. I decided to go all out and make the move from 5.1 to 9.1. The thing is, my Emotiva couldn't do 9.1, and neither can the SC-71. I sold the Emotiva and I'm currently in the hunt for a 9.1 AVR. Looking at Denon AVR-X4000, Onkyo NR1010 if I can find a good deal, or NR3010 if I can find a really good deal. In the meantime I have decided to completely relocate my electronics to the closet (door to the right of the TV in my original photos).

Instead of trying to run all the wiring through the attic again, I got some inspiration from HTip's cable management project here. Although I could have concealed everything in the attic, there are a couple reasons I opted to go with this strategy. First, fishing wires through the attic is simply a pain in the rear end (especially during the summer in Houston). Second, I think this method will allow me much more flexibility in terms of my room setup. Also, as a reviewer, it should make it easier to shuffle review speakers and subs in and out but still keep things nice and clean during the evaluation period. I want to be able to easily add/remove/relocate wires from the closet to any part of the room but not have to see them. Anyway, here are a few shots of my initial progress.

Wall-mounted surrounds
 

Wire entrance to wall below speakers
 

Speaker and sub cables from left, rear, and right walls entering closet
 

Speaker, sub, HDMI, and cat5 cables from front wall entering closet
 

I ran two spare sub cables into the room that will allow rear corner or side wall positioning, and two sub cables to the front wall. The HDMI to feed the TV runs to the front wall, as well as a spare HDMI and cat5 just in case. I also have an IR extender receiver mounted below the TV. The cable from that runs into the closet too. One of my overall goals with this room is to turn it into a convincing theater, both acoustically and aesthetically, but without modifying it to the point that it could not be easily reversed and used for another purpose. If someone were to turn it into a bedroom, there would be little more than some hole patching and painting needed. Therefore I'm leaving the existing baseboard trim completely intact.

Next step is to plan how to mount my faux baseboard and start cutting some lumber. After that, I'll tidy up the wiring in the closet. Next (as in next year probably) phase will be new seating. I am currently trying a two row configuration with the furniture I already have. If I can get good uniform sound results, I'll build a riser for the back row and get myself some nice recliners 

I hope to show some more progress on the wiring in the next few weeks. Having 5-month old twins means I'm limited to only a few hours a week of hobby time.


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## Wardsweb

As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat. Great thinking outside the box and making it work. I guess your kids will be in grade school before we hang out at your place.


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## tripplej

I also agree with everybody who posted so far, very nice. Very clean job as well. Excellent work!.

Question.

For the person who sits on the single chair (close to the door) and the other side, on the sofa (close to the other door), how is the viewing from that angle? just curious.


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## Peter Loeser

Wardsweb said:


> As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat. Great thinking outside the box and making it work. I guess your kids will be in grade school before we hang out at your place.


Let's hope not, but I know that'll happen sooner than I'm ready. They grow fast!



tripplej said:


> I also agree with everybody who posted so far, very nice. Very clean job as well. Excellent work!.
> 
> Question.
> 
> For the person who sits on the single chair (close to the door) and the other side, on the sofa (close to the other door), how is the viewing from that angle? just curious.


Thanks for the feedback. To answer your question about the chair by the door, it was mostly there because we didn't have a spot for it anywhere else  and was never really intended to be a great spot to view the TV from. When we moved into the house we got new living room furniture, so my HT got the hand-me-downs. Right now I've got the seating arranged in two rows to see how I like it, before investing in some nice recliners. The three-seater is up front about 40% of the distance from the back wall. The two-seater is directly behind, about 1-2 feet from the back wall, and the two armchairs are on either side of the two-seater. I'll post some more photos once I get the room cleaned up.


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## B- one

The room is looking great! Did your speakers come with the hangers? When I put up my klipsch rs-62's I was worried they would fall someday, but they been up for years now.


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## Peter Loeser

B- one said:


> The room is looking great! Did your speakers come with the hangers? When I put up my klipsch rs-62's I was worried they would fall someday, but they been up for years now.


Thanks! And yes, the Def Techs came with the brackets and screws, and pre-drilled holes behind the cloth. I am using sheetrock anchors rated for ~60lbs and the speakers are ~25lbs. Looks and feels plenty sturdy to me. Although I've almost knocked them down a few times while working on the wiring (standing up while forgetting I was crouched below one :duh. Only my own clumsiness to worry about :dizzy:

I plan to eventually replace them with some bipole/dipole speakers, something hopefully lower profile, but these were cheap and I'll have uses for them elsewhere in the house when I'm ready to swap them out.


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## mitja

WOW!:T:T:T:clap::clap::clap:
Good yob. Nice setup!


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## Peter Loeser

Little more progress this weekend, trying to make sense of the wiring coming into the closet. I will [hopefully] have the AV rack installed and wired by the weekend. Since I've got cables coming in both sides of the closet I ran some wire duct around the floor to keep things neat. The scraps I had laying around weren't quite enough so I've got a gap to fill later. Also hoping to order a receiver in the next couple weeks.

few more pics...


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## Peter Loeser

Nothing major, but I thought I'd post a few pics of the latest progress. My gear has been relocated to the closet, and speakers are mounted and wired for 9.1. The seating has been rearranged too. Next on my to-do list is a riser for the 2nd row. I Think I'll end up needing to raise the height of the rear surrounds from their current position. Once that is all finalized I'll finish patching and touch up the paint.

Rack in the closet - I'll clean up the wiring once I've got a new AVR in there and hooked up
 

New room layout in progress


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## tripplej

Cool. You moved those single chairs to the back. Additional seating for the second row. Looks very good. Also, more spacious in terms of moving around. Excellent work!


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## Peter Loeser

tripplej said:


> Cool. You moved those single chairs to the back. Additional seating for the second row. Looks very good. Also, more spacious in terms of moving around. Excellent work!


Thanks Tripplej. The new seating arrangement is much better for group viewing, and will be more so once the 2nd row is elevated.


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## Mike0206

Man that's a lot of speakers!!!! The one thing I wish I had was a layout like yours that enabled me to install more speakers. I may go up to 7.1 with front heights as that would really be my only feasible option but I doubt that will happen anytime soon. Nice setup Peter! Looking forward to seeing more progress pics as you move forward with your plans.


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## Dale Rasco

Looks great Peterman and I bet it sounds awesome!


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## Peter Loeser

Thanks guys.



Mike0206 said:


> Man that's a lot of speakers!!!! The one thing I wish I had was a layout like yours that enabled me to install more speakers. I may go up to 7.1 with front heights as that would really be my only feasible option but I doubt that will happen anytime soon. Nice setup Peter! Looking forward to seeing more progress pics as you move forward with your plans.


Mike - adding front heights is worth trying. I have only tried front wides so far, but to be honest they made a much more noticeable difference than adding rear surrounds to a standard 5.1 configuration. I would expect the same to be true of front heights.


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## david yurik

how do you like the surrounds mounted to the side wall and the rear walls? if your not in a sweet spot is it still enveloping? i am guessing you send the same surround signal split to the sides and the surround back to the rear ( 7.1 ) ? thanks.

dave


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## daddieo

Looks great! With the size of the room and the vaulted ceilings I'll bet the sound is really rich and incredible


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## kevin360

Peter Loeser said:


> Although I've almost knocked them down a few times while working on the wiring (standing up while forgetting I was crouched below one :duh. Only my own clumsiness to worry about :dizzy:


It's refreshing to read that I'm not alone in this. It's funny how we concentrate on something to the exclusion of others, until...plunk...oh, yeah. :clap: All one can do is laugh and hope it was just embarrassing. 

It looks awesome so far. The drapery material appears to do a good job of blocking light...as long as they're fully closed.  You're right about the rear speakers after the riser is in place - they'll need to be higher. Man, I'm familiar with that circumstance too. The good news is that, after putting up 6 of them, you're an expert at the chore now.

It's fun to watch these threads in which a 'finished' setup progresses. The initial setup looked great and comfy, too, if not ideally arranged for viewing pleasure. I do appreciate the clean look obtained from installing the gear in a closet and I like what it did for your speaker arrangement/environment. It just gets better and better! :T

9.1 eh, I bet that pans smoothly and convincingly (not a complaint, but...). Do you think we'll eventually have a couple dozen speakers arrayed about our rooms? I find 4.1 (no center) immersive. I imagine 9.1 is amazing.


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## Wardsweb

Looking good Peter. I need to make it back to Houston some time and check your system out.


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## Peter Loeser

david yurik said:


> how do you like the surrounds mounted to the side wall and the rear walls? if your not in a sweet spot is it still enveloping? i am guessing you send the same surround signal split to the sides and the surround back to the rear ( 7.1 ) ? thanks. dave


The two sets of speakers on the side walls are my side surrounds (basically aligned with the 3-seat couch) and the front wides (located closer to the front of the room). Altogether it is capable of 9.1. My eventual goal is to add front heights and also angle the front wides toward the listening area, but for now they work nicely even with less than ideal alignment.

There is a definite sweet spot at the primary listening position which is ok for most of the time since it's usually just me using it. One of my short term goals is to work on the room acoustics and seating arrangement to improve surround effects and bass response in the non primary listening seats. That is partially why I have not finalized plans for a seating riser or purchased recliners. I would also like to experiment with dipole/bipole and possibly omnipolar surrounds at some point. All budget dependent though. 



daddieo said:


> Looks great! With the size of the room and the vaulted ceilings I'll bet the sound is really rich and incredible


It's a pretty ideal space for the HT with lots of freedom in terms of speaker and seating arrangements. I plan to improve the acoustic treatments but for now the overall sound is quite good IMO.



kevin360 said:


> It's refreshing to read that I'm not alone in this. It's funny how we concentrate on something to the exclusion of others, until...plunk...oh, yeah. :clap: All one can do is laugh and hope it was just embarrassing. It looks awesome so far. The drapery material appears to do a good job of blocking light...as long as they're fully closed.  You're right about the rear speakers after the riser is in place - they'll need to be higher. Man, I'm familiar with that circumstance too. The good news is that, after putting up 6 of them, you're an expert at the chore now. It's fun to watch these threads in which a 'finished' setup progresses. The initial setup looked great and comfy, too, if not ideally arranged for viewing pleasure. I do appreciate the clean look obtained from installing the gear in a closet and I like what it did for your speaker arrangement/environment. It just gets better and better! :T 9.1 eh, I bet that pans smoothly and convincingly (not a complaint, but...). Do you think we'll eventually have a couple dozen speakers arrayed about our rooms? I find 4.1 (no center) immersive. I imagine 9.1 is amazing.


Yes, my style is to do things in smaller increments (although I do enjoy following the ground-up theater builds). I do one level of improvements/upgrades and soon get ideas for more. All part of the fun of the hobby. I agree that something like a 4.1 or 5.1 system can sound extremely good with careful setup. I plan to eventually go to 11.1 at which point I don't imagine there will be much merit in adding more speakers to the room. Many believe that to be the case with 5.1, although front wides have made a very noticeable difference IMO. Either way, I enjoy tinkering and experimenting with different options. 



Wardsweb said:


> Looking good Peter. I need to make it back to Houston some time and check your system out.


Absolutely! Another Houston get together would be fun. 


Thanks for all the comments guys. I'm still cleaning up some wiring, so I'll have a few more pics to post soon. I also have a receiver review in progress so that's taking priority over some of the changes to the room for now.


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## Peter Loeser

Hey folks, getting back into an HTS groove after a somewhat crazy Nov-Jan. I did manage to make some small progress on some changes to my home theater over the last few months. No functional changes, but some much needed cosmetic improvements.

First, the never ending wiring project. I changed my mind about how I wanted to route and conceal wiring when I decided to move my gear from below the TV into the closet. Unfortunately this meant disconnecting everything and having a mostly non-functional HT for a few months.

The effort worth it though, as my AV rack wiring no longer resembles a rat's nest, and there is no longer a big bundle of wires laying on the floor around the perimeter of the room. The room is now wired for up to 11.4 channel configuration. I opted against constructing my own hollow baseboard and chose instead to use some off-the-shelf wire ducts from Wiremold. The Cablemate series had just enough capacity to handle the big bundles going into either side of the AV closet, and were relatively easy to mount. They don't give quite the polished look I would have liked, but saved me the time and hassle of building something from scratch. One criteria of my overall build is to do things in a way that could be pretty easily reversed, in case it becomes essential for us to use this room for another purpose at some point. The Wiremold ducts are pretty easily removable, and would only leave behind some screw holes and a few spots for wires to enter the walls.

You can see a few "before" pictures in some of the posts above. Here are some shots of the finished product. As you can see, the joints look a little tacky but I doubt they'll be as noticeable to anyone else as they are to me. I could also paint them to match the wall color. Either way, it looks 100 times better than loose wires cluttering the floor. That along with finally painting the patches on the back wall has made a big difference for me. 

           

I also upgraded my remote to the URC R40. It is pretty simple to program (no PC software required) and easy to use. I have a Lutron IR controlled light dimmer switch as well which the URC is programmed to control. I use a Monoprice IR repeater with the sensor mounted just above my TV. It works great and allows me to conceal all of my gear in the closet.

The photos don't show much change, but the wiring (re-wiring, I should say) took the bulk of the time. I'm glad to be done with it for now. Next on the list are bass traps (I plan to purchase a set of GIK tri-traps in the next month or so), and risers for the rear seating row. I have some other minor cosmetic upgrades in the works and will post photos of those when finished. Beyond that, I plan to upgrade my acoustic treatments on the side wall - from 2" to 4" thick, and with a 2" air gap between the wall and panels. Don't know if it will happen this year but I'm itching for a sub upgrade as well. Not sure yet what I'll get but I'll most likely go dual or quad to help with even response throughout the room (you can see in the photos that the rear corners of the room are wired for subs). A work in progress, as always.


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## ALMFamily

That really makes a big difference Peter - cleans the room up beautifully. Well done!


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## Prof.

Doesn't it feel good when you have a nice clear floor space without messy wires everywhere!? :yes:


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## B- one

Looking good that remote looks sweet! I need to clean and reset my Harmony remote my daughter must have thought it was thirsty and gave it some coke.


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## Peter Loeser

B- one said:


> Looking good that remote looks sweet! I need to clean and reset my Harmony remote my daughter must have thought it was thirsty and gave it some coke.


Water is a much better option for keeping your remote properly hydrated :whistling:

Thanks guys, I definitely do NOT miss the tangled wires laying around.


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## hjones4841

I bought some black Wiremold about a year ago and it is still sitting in the garage, keeping absolutely nothing straightened out.


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## Peter Loeser

hjones4841 said:


> I bought some black Wiremold about a year ago and it is still sitting in the garage, keeping absolutely nothing straightened out.


My garage is full of stuff I'll probably never use. I think that's what they're for.


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## Wardsweb

Looking good Peter. Wire management is something my HT is missing. Don't ever look behind the rack...be afraid, be very afraid.


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## Peter Loeser

I decided to do another cosmetic update to the room. I started a few months ago, and it just took me a while to finish. The front wall is now covered with a heavy black curtain to hide the doors and give a more uniform look to the front stage. I also added some accent lighting under the valence of the curtain for fun, since I had an RGB LED strip laying around. I'm very pleased with the result, and glad I took the time to do it. Though I think it makes my TV look even smaller. In hindsight, it would have made more sense to flip the room so the doors were in the back and use a projector, but wiring would have been a little more difficult at the time. Live and learn. Here are a few pictures of the new look. I will try to add some with better lighting.

Again, a little dark but you can just make out the speakers up front. No more doors 


Well, sort of...
 

Accent lighting


Seating - no changes here really. MLP is in the center of the front row. Next project is to elevate the 2nd row.


Right side: front wide and surround speaker


Left side: front wide and surround speakers


A little more on my speaker arrangement... I currently have the room wired for 11.1 (up to 4 subs if I ever get there). The speakers mounted on the side walls closest to the front wall are the front wides. Although they are not currently pointed toward the MLP like you would expect, this was the easiest way to mount them, and the MLP is actually not too far off axis. The effect is still very good. I have brackets to mount them at an angle... just need to put them up. My front height speakers are mounted a little over 7 feet above the floor, about two feet outside of the main left and right speakers (on the shelves in the corners above the curtain/valence). The layout looks a lot like Audyssey DSX with a slight deviation from the Dolby PLIIz and DTS NEO:X recommendations for height channel placement. In my opinion they still function perfectly fine as PLIIz/Neo:X heights. Having said that... Dolby Atmos may change things up a bit, as it uses ceiling mounted height speakers as opposed to front wall mounted. I am tentatively planning to keep the front heights and front wides in their current positions, and eventually add a pair of ceiling speakers for Atmos, like this. It will allow me to test pretty much any speaker configuration for my receiver reviews, and give me lots of flexibility in general, even though the first generation of Atmos home cinema can only process 11 channels at once. "only"...


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## A/V

That looks fantastic mate! I am particularly enthralled by home theaters that look super comfy!


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## Peter Loeser

Thanks A/V! It is indeed a nice hangout spot for me, and I am gradually trying to improve the "cinema" experience.


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## A/V

I'm a big fan of true 'homey' theaters. Not so much a replication of a cinema experience. The reason being I can lounge about, pause the movie, go make some popcorn or go to the bathroom without running, come back, flop down into your comfy lounge chair position, and then return to probably better sound than most cinemas can give anyway!


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## orion

Pretty Sweet Room. I would love to move everything to a closet but instead I put my stuff behind a false movie poster. I think I like your better, Good work


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## Peter Loeser

Thanks again guys. The goal here is definitely to make the room look and feel more like a living space than a movie theater, but with some cinema-like touches that give it a premium feel. Of course, all that matters to me once the lights go down is how it sounds 

I have some other minor aesthetic tweaks in mind for the future, but ultimately I want to keep things simple enough that I could remove everything and take it with me if we relocate in the future (and turn the space back into a regular bedroom for resale). For that reason, it's not likely that I'll ever do a "ground-up" theater build unless we have the opportunity to do a whole custom home at some point.

Orion - I like the movie poster idea. Having a nice clean looking setup is worth the effort in my opinion. Plus, having the equipment hidden helps prevent me from spending too much money on gear just because it's pretty :T


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## Heath Cunningham

Really nice and relaxing room mate.


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## Peter Loeser

Little teaser of things to come


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## willis7469

Woot woot!!!!!!!!!!


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## NBPk402

Did you get the Triax sub?


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## Peter Loeser

ellisr63 said:


> Did you get the Triax sub?


Nope, but I did get two of something else.


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## NBPk402

Peter Loeser said:


> Nope, but I did get two of something else.


I know that they will be awesome!


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## Rod2486

Nice room!! I love the look of big burly front speakers. Always looks nice!


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## Peter Loeser

Lots of changes since my last update. Here's what's new or changed.

Speaker layout

Added in-ceiling speakers for Atmos (x6) (top front, top middle, and top rear)
Removed PLIIz height channels in favor of Atmos/DSU ceiling channels
Angled wide speakers (Neo:X, Audyssey DSX, etc.) toward listening position
Moved wides down closer to mains (tweeter is 6" above main tweeters)
Moved surrounds down slightly (tweeter is 6" above wides)
Moved rears up for to accommodate riser later (tweeter is 6" above surrounds)
Looks nice too, rising toward the back of the room like a cinema

Acoustic treatments

GIK 244 panels (x8)
GIK Tri-Traps (x4)
DIY cloud panels 2" thick (x3) - upgrading to 4" thick in progress

Surround speakers

Chase HT M1 monitors (x6) (trial period and review -> possible purchase)
Currently mounted in surround, back, and wide positions

Subs

PSA XS30se (x2) - one front, one rear (outstanding!!!)

Still planned

Rear seating riser (12"-14" height based on TV and front row clearance)
Cosmetic changes that will require minor construction/painting (won't effect speaker layout)
Recliners - at least front row (probably next year though)
Dolby Atmos receiver (probably late 2015/early 2016 - hoping for 9.1.4 support)

Some quick phone photos


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## NBPk402

Is it 100% done yet? LOL :T:T


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## Peter Loeser

ellisr63 said:


> Is it 100% done yet? LOL :T:T


100% functional but I fear not even close to being 100% done...


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## Peter Loeser

Peter Loeser said:


> 100% functional but I fear not even close to being 100% done...


Well, now it's neither... :rolleyesno:

I've decided to tear up the room and do things the way I should have from the beginning. I'm going from a TV to a projector, building a proper riser for the rear seating, building a baffle wall (to hopefully combat some persistent bass nulls from the mains), flipping the whole room 180º (so the doors are in the rear), adding carpet, installing cove lighting, and repainting.

No real changes to the audio configuration, just rearranging a bit for the new room layout. I'll re-run wiring through the cove/shelf that will run around the perimeter and remove the plastic wire duct currently running around the baseboards. The goal is a clean, comfortable, plush, proper looking cinema with top notch sound and a giant picture. Gonna cost me, but I don't have the feeling this will be an incremental change. Hopefully it will be the last update/remodel. Components may come in and out and I'd eventually like to upgrade to some nice recliners, but the layout and decor will be set.

The planned video setup is a Panasonic AE8000 and a 125" diagnoal 2.35:1 curved, acoustically transparent screen. This will accommodate about a 103" diagonal 16:9 picture. Screen size was limited by the maximum projector throw allowable in my room, but based on my mock-up I think it's going to be plenty big.

Heading home at lunch today to meet a friend who is a builder. He's going to quote me the framing, sheetrock, stage, baffle wall, etc. construction. Hoping to have a functional system by the end of 2015.

Pics to follow when the work gets started.


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## NBPk402

Sounds like you will have a great HT very soon (not that you don't already have a great one, but this should be even better). Why are you going with a curved screen...are you getting an anamorphic lens too?


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## Peter Loeser

Don't have my heart completely set on a curved screen but that's the plan since the front row will be pretty close ~ 7-8ft. I'm not planning to use an anamorphic lens, just a second zoom setting on the projector for 2.35:1 content. Image height will remain constant at ~50" for both formats, and I'll have ~10" wide black bars on the sides during 16:9 playback. I plan to do some testing with the projector before I finalize the screen purchase.


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## NBPk402

Peter Loeser said:


> Don't have my heart completely set on a curved screen but that's the plan since the front row will be pretty close ~ 7-8ft. I'm not planning to use an anamorphic lens, just a second zoom setting on the projector for 2.35:1 content. Image height will remain constant at ~50" for both formats, and I'll have ~10" wide black bars on the sides during 16:9 playback. I plan to do some testing with the projector before I finalize the screen purchase.


I have read somewhere that if you use a curved screen your convergence will be off, and that it is a good match with an Anamorphic lens. I will find out if using an Anamorphic lens with the 8000 will work as good or better with my flat screen this week.


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## NBPk402

I forgot to ask you how you are hooking up 6 Atmos speakers to the Yamaha... I thought it could only handle 4 max.


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## Peter Loeser

None of the mainstream AVRs can handle more than 4 overhead speakers yet, that I know of. I installed six so I could run either a 9.1.2 or 7.1.4 configs. With the new room arrangement I may stick with 7.1.4. for simplicity. I assume 9.1.4 or 9.1.6 AVRs are on the horizon, but we're entering the realm of diminishing returns.


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## bkeeler10

Well, this is exciting. I am hoping to be able to do something similar within a year from now myself (looking to move to a new house soon). Being prepared for 9.1.6 (at least wiring for it) is smart IMO. Personally I would wire for 11.1.8 (assuming new construction of course, which is not what you're doing). Who knows if I would ever go there (probably not), but wire is cheap.


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## Peter Loeser

bkeeler10 said:


> Well, this is exciting. I am hoping to be able to do something similar within a year from now myself (looking to move to a new house soon). Being prepared for 9.1.6 (at least wiring for it) is smart IMO. Personally I would wire for 11.1.8 (assuming new construction of course, which is not what you're doing). Who knows if I would ever go there (probably not), but wire is cheap.


Why not just wire for 32.1.10? :nerd:

In all seriousness though, I agree when it comes to new construction. It doesn't hurt to go overboard when it's convenient to make a bunch of extra runs. I'm wiring an existing room for a friend (7.1) and the only good option is via the attic. Half way through I discover there may be some existing speaker wiring and a sub cable. Only found one end of them so far though.....


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## bkeeler10

Heh, wire's not that cheap! Technically it would be 24.1.10 (that's where home Atmos maxes out). I cannot possibly see a significant advantage to going beyond, say, 13.1.8 in a home unless you're building a truly massive home theater with more than three rows of seats. Not to mention, affordable hardware to go beyond 9.1.6 may never be available. But I could see going to 11.1.6 or maybe 11.1.8 for a two-row theater.


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## Peter Loeser

bkeeler10 said:


> Heh, wire's not that cheap! Technically it would be 24.1.10 (that's where home Atmos maxes out). I cannot possibly see a significant advantage to going beyond, say, 13.1.8 in a home unless you're building a truly massive home theater with more than three rows of seats. Not to mention, affordable hardware to go beyond 9.1.6 may never be available. But I could see going to 11.1.6 or maybe 11.1.8 for a two-row theater.


You're right, I did the math wrong (I'm only an engineer). I agree though, unless your HT is much longer than about 20ft or you have more than 2 rows of seating, the currently available AVRs will be enough for most people. I haven't heard an Atmos soundtrack yet that made me think "I need more than 4 overhead speakers". But again, I've got two rows, relatively close together in a 16ft deep room.


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## Peter Loeser

A few pics I meant to post yesterday. We'll call these the "before" photos. In the first one you can see the mockup of the screen size and location. The baffle wall will probably go straight up to the ceiling. I'll have cove running around the perimeter of the room between the top of the sconces and the bottom of the angled section of the ceiling. Basically just waiting for for the construction now. I'd do it myself but I know it would take me months. I'd rather have it done quickly and professionally.


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## Peter Loeser

Mostly framed and almost ready to paint. The baffle wall will be covered with some acoustic material and black curtains will eventually surround the screen. Rope lighting will go above the tray along the perimeter of the room. Drapes will also be used to soften the side walls and back wall, and partially camouflage the acoustic panels. The ceiling and tray/cove will all be painted the (new) wall color. The floor and platform will all be carpeted next week. Surrounds, rear, and wide speakers will all be in roughly the same locations as before. The projector will most likely sit in the little space between the upper supports of the rear overhang. If that doesn't work there's just enough space to mount it below. The room will definitely be much more cozy, but that's the look and feel I'm going for. The vast majority of the time it's just me in there, so the arrangement is fitted to the main listening position. Back row will probably be slightly better for movie viewing and front row is ideal for 2-channel soundstage/imaging.


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## NBPk402

Looks great!


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## BD55

That room is looking awesome! What are the vertical shelves/framing for in the back on the sides of the riser?


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## Peter Loeser

BD55 said:


> That room is looking awesome! What are the vertical shelves/framing for in the back on the sides of the riser?


There is a little half wall on either side of the rear seat for drinks, remotes, gadgets, etc. and to provide a sort of short little corridor for the entrance, like a large scale cinema would have. The one next to the entrance is enclosed and the one next to the closet has shelving for DVDs/Blu-Rays/CDs on the outer side. The inner side of that one is enclosed now, so you can't see the shelves from that angle. Framing and mud is all finished now, and carpet is being installed today. I've got a little wiring to do but I'll post some updated photos tonight or tomorrow. It's coming together nicely. Hoping to find a black friday deal on a projector this week.


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## Todd Anderson

Looks awesome! Can't wait to see final pics!


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## Peter Loeser

Some poorly done panorama shots will have to do. Carpet went in yesterday. Couches are in place for now, until painting starts. Wiring is mostly done. I have to re-mount wides, surrounds, and backs, although they'll go in roughly the same places as before, just reversed.


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## Peter Loeser

I ordered some foam wedge panels for the baffle wall. I'll install those next week, probably after paint. The TV is just sitting there till I find another spot for it. The big opening to the left is a removable access panel so I can get behind the baffle wall.


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## Peter Loeser

I also ordered my projector today. B&H has the AE8000u on sale for $1499 this week so I went ahead and pulled the trigger. That's the best deal I've seen so far. I'm going to project onto the wall to figure out picture size and position before I order my screen. I'm thinking somewhere in the neighborhood of 105" (16:9) and 125"-130" (2.35:1). Making good progress this week and getting excited to have it all back together. I'm out of town till Saturday, but hopefully by the first weekend in Dec I will have everything pretty much hooked up. Last items will be drapes around the screen and along the side walls. Also a dimmable light strip above the ledge around the room.


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## Peter Loeser

Main speakers installed, screen assembled and ready to mount. Tomorrow's project is (hopefully) mounting the screen and projector.


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## bkeeler10

Peter Loeser said:


> Main speakers installed, screen assembled and ready to mount. Tomorrow's project is (hopefully) mounting the screen and projector.


Woohoo! Almost there eh?


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## Todd Anderson

Looking great, Peter! Is your center channel a matching tower or CC turned on its side?


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## Prof.

Nice job on the baffle wall.. :T


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## Peter Loeser

Thanks guys. The baffle wall is a bit of a gamble, but I'm hoping it improves bass performance in the room.

Todd - the CC is a smaller Paradigm tower, to be eventually replaced with a 3rd Studio 100 to match the others - probably next year sometime. 

Screen and projector are mounted. It's pretty much dialed in for 16:9 and 2.35:1 content. Not the greatest pic but you get the idea. Progress!









Projector wiring and rear speaker wiring need to be finalized. Paint starts on the 21st. Drapes, etc will start after the 1st of the year. I have a few patches, odds and ends, etc to wrap up in the meantime but it's more or less functional. Happy with the initial results so far but haven't really tested audio.


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## BD55

That wall looks pretty awesome; the room's really coming together :T


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## Todd Anderson

Good call on going with a tower.

Looks awesome!


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## NBPk402

Looks great! Hopefully you will have better luck getting your setup completed on time since you have your system in place now... If I would have waited until my room was 100% complete my room would have been completed a year ago. The saga continues in my HT.


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## willis7469

Looks nice Peter. Good work!


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## JBrax

What a great looking room. I'm very envious when I see members' dedicated rooms!


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## Peter Loeser

ellisr63 said:


> Looks great! Hopefully you will have better luck getting your setup completed on time since you have your system in place now... If I would have waited until my room was 100% complete my room would have been completed a year ago. The saga continues in my HT.


Keep in mind this has been 4 years in the making. I wish I knew then what I knew now. I don't want to tear it apart/change it again so if I think I'll ever want it I'm doing it now. I hope to have it complete (aside from drapes and a few cosmetic items) by the 1st of the year. Of course, component upgrades in the future aren't out of the question, but I don't intend to change the configuration after this. Most people have been kinda scratching their heads as they see the progress but my (admittedly fuzzy) vision is becoming a reality, so I'm pretty stoked. I'll try to post some better photos tonight.


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## PolkLover

Looks great!!


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## NBPk402

Peter Loeser said:


> Keep in mind this has been 4 years in the making. I wish I knew then what I knew now. I don't want to tear it apart/change it again so if I think I'll ever want it I'm doing it now. I hope to have it complete (aside from drapes and a few cosmetic items) by the 1st of the year. Of course, component upgrades in the future aren't out of the question, but I don't intend to change the configuration after this. Most people have been kinda scratching their heads as they see the progress but my (admittedly fuzzy) vision is becoming a reality, so I'm pretty stoked. I'll try to post some better photos tonight.


Can't wait to see the new pics! :T:T


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## Lumen

4 years? You have the patience of an Ent! Hmmm, come to think of it, that's only a few minutes in Ent-years. I applaud in your general direction! 


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## Peter Loeser

Lumen said:


> 4 years? You have the patience of an Ent! Hmmm, come to think of it, that's only a few minutes in Ent-years. I applaud in your general direction!


I feel like a very patient person until I'm around my 2-year olds. Love them to pieces but man. Thing is, when we moved into the house 4 years ago and set this room aside, I didn't realize I'd want it to turn into this. I've done and un-done many incremental changes along the way. So it hasn't been a direct path to this result. Wish I'd known then what I know now and just done this from the beginning. Of course, I've collected some nice gear over that time which I couldn't have afforded up front. All I know is I don't want to take it apart again.


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## kevin360

Flippin' awesome (had to phrase it like that because of the two gents in your photo of the image laden screen - got away with it, too  )! Two year olds can't help it; they are merely learning the limits of socially acceptable behavior (by testing them).


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## Peter Loeser

kevin360 said:


> Flippin' awesome (had to phrase it like that because of the two gents in your photo of the image laden screen - got away with it, too  )! Two year olds can't help it; they are merely learning the limits of socially acceptable behavior (by testing them).


Ha, we do try to keep it a bit cleaner than the BBC here. Kids generally make things more fun, especially at this age were they are discovering new things everyday. But no one ever said "man, that was a lot easier with a toddler here". 

The painter comes tomorrow. I'm just about done patching up the area in the back where I had to do some cutting to accommodate the projector. I'll get some photos up of that soon. Most of the gear is hooked up now but I've done zero calibration on the audio or picture yet. That will happen once the construction and paint are completely done. 

I've watched some 16:9 and 2.35:1 Blu-Ray content on the setup and I have to say I'm very pleased. With my very short viewing distance in the front row I was worried about picture quality and motion blur. It's definitely not as sharp as the plasma was at that distance, as expected but clarity is still surprisingly good. At least, it's good enough for me to justify the screen size I chose. If the time comes that I can justify the cost of a 4K projector it will be a very noticeable upgrade, but until then, I'm completely content. Needless to say, I can NOT wait for The Force Awakens on Blu-Ray


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## Peter Loeser

Well I brought home an Xbox One last night, so forgive me for not--hold on Forza's finished downloading...


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## NBPk402

Peter Loeser said:


> Well I brought home an Xbox One last night, so forgive me for not--hold on Forza's finished downloading...


I just got my Xbox one last week... LVL 60 now on Forza 6. You are going to be having some fun.:T


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## Peter Loeser

Attempt #2 from my phone. Here are [hopefully] some new photos. The room is mostly complete aside from a few cosmetic items and some sub tweaking. Initial XT32 results are pretty good.


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## JBrax

Peter Loeser said:


> Attempt #2 from my phone. Here are [hopefully] some new photos. The room is mostly complete aside from a few cosmetic items and some sub tweaking. Initial XT32 results are pretty good.


 Beautiful room! I love the earth tone colors you've used. Good job!


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## Peter Loeser

JBrax said:


> Beautiful room! I love the earth tone colors you've used. Good job!


 Thanks! That was the goal, natural tones that would work well with greys/blacks as well. It ties together really nicely in person. Drapes and LED accent lighting coming soon.


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## NBPk402

Looks great Peter! Did you shelf mount the projector in the cubby hole or is it ceiling mounted?


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## Peter Loeser

ellisr63 said:


> Looks great Peter! Did you shelf mount the projector in the cubby hole or is it ceiling mounted?


It's actually sitting in the attic over the adjacent room (which has a slightly lower ceiling thankfully). I'm going to enclose/insulate it to keep it isolated from the attic environment. I pretty severely miscalculated the throw distance I needed for my screen size. The original plan was for it to just sit on the ledge in that opening. On the positive side, the fan is completely inaudible from inside the room and it looks pretty cool.


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## drummerboy1962

Awesome room mate, very comfy looking and nice colours too. It has a nice touch of style about it.I really like you screen.


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## Peter Loeser

Well guys, it's officially done. After 5 years. And............ now I'm moving.



















The house is for sale if anyone wants it!

And now to start planning the next one :nerd:


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## Todd Anderson

Whoa... you rocked it Peter!!!

But.... you're moving??? Seriously??? Where are you headed?


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## willis7469

Peter Loeser said:


> Well guys, it's officially done. After 5 years. And............ now I'm moving.
> 
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> The house is for sale if anyone wants it!
> 
> And now to start planning the next one :nerd:




Nooooooo!!!!!!! Just when you crossed the finish line too. Whatever your reasons, good luck Peter. Love the room. 


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## Peter Loeser

Thanks guys. We're moving from Houston to southwest Michigan. I'm changing jobs (going back to the automotive industry) and bringing us much closer to family. I have enough spare gear laying around to sell the house with a functional theater and still take the gear I want to keep. Peterman's HT will live on! I've learned a lot in the process so hopefully the next version won't take so long to build. When it happens, you'll see it here. But first, the kids need winter coats!


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## bkeeler10

Well, isn't that just how it goes. I hope you like five-year-long projects haha. Do you know the house you're moving to, and if so what sort of space do you have available for theater? Here's hoping it doesn't take another five years!

We're finally making progress on building a house ourselves, and if it works out I'm going to have a great dedicated space to deck out. Looking forward to it.


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## Peter Loeser

We've looked a bit at the new location. Many of the homes up there have large unfinished basements, which would be perfect for building another theater. If we have enough space I'd like to experiment with room dimensions and acoustics, hopefully with some freedom to design an optimized space before even running any wires. The only other big change might be going to 4K projection.

Although it took several iterations to figure it out, I'm extremely happy with the end result of my 5 year build. I will probably try to mimic that general layout on the new one. I already have the big ticket items too, main speakers, subs, AVR, blu-ray, etc. so I can get right to it once we have the keys 

South Haven gets tons of snow, so I'll need some indoor activities to keep my busy till the sun shines again next year!


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## NBPk402

Peter Loeser said:


> We've looked a bit at the new location. Many of the homes up there have large unfinished basements, which would be perfect for building another theater. If we have enough space I'd like to experiment with room dimensions and acoustics, hopefully with some freedom to design an optimized space before even running any wires. The only other big change might be going to 4K projection.
> 
> Although it took several iterations to figure it out, I'm extremely happy with the end result of my 5 year build. I will probably try to mimic that general layout on the new one. I already have the big ticket items too, main speakers, subs, AVR, blu-ray, etc. so I can get right to it once we have the keys
> 
> South Haven gets tons of snow, so I'll need some indoor activities to keep my busy till the sun shines again next year!


That's not too far from where I was born, and lived until I went in the USAF. Time to start looking for a snow mobile!


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## Todd Anderson

Congrats on the new job! Change is always exciting... big moves are too. Very cool.

Look forward to seeing what you cook up next!


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