# The Rabbit Hole-build journal



## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

So my theater is probably 75% complete, and so I think it's time to document the construction and development of the project here. I have received so much advise and information from the people here at HTS, and hopefully this construction thread can offer something to those just getting started. I waited to do this because the theater was part of a larger beast, that being the development of our entire basement, including a couple bedrooms, a bathroom, craft room and large family room. I have done most of the work myself being that construction is my occupation, and so work and progress went slow and steady. Looking back now, I wish that I had been more intentional about taking pictures. Unfortunately I don't have many.

The theater is basically 20 x 20, as you'll see on the plan, and fully dedicated. The plan shows the Peerless subs on the side walls for now. The absence of doors seems to let a lot of bass frequency out of the room, and these placements work good temporarily. Once the doors are installed, I plan to move them to the front wall under the screen. This will facilitate the Horn loaded Trio12 placement as shown. 








Eqiupment list is as follows:
panasonic pt-ae 4000u
Onkyo tx-sr608 receiver
Yamaha ax330 - driving a trial sonosub( no name 15" driver)
Kenwood kr-v7030 - driving the peerless sls sealed units
Polk RTi 10 front left & right
Polk RTi 10 surround
Polk LSi C center
Two Peerless SLS 10" in sealed enclosures
PS3 and a dell HTPC

I insulated the frost walls ( concrete behind them) with normal batt insulation. Any wall touching the adjacent rooms was insulated with roxul batts. The ceiling was insulated with roxul batts, and the drywall on the ceiling is a single layer of 5/8ths firegaurd with green glue to the joists. This view is from the family room through the theater doors to the screen wall on the far side.









This is the screen wall roughed in.









I wired the room for 9.3 surround, and later when I acquired the speakers ( Polk RTi 10) I wired in bi amp feeds for the front left and right, and surround feeds near the floor( instead of up on the wall) because of the nature of those speakers. With the receiver I have, 5.3 is all I can do, so more will have to wait until an upgrade. The speaker wire is 14 gauge csa/ul listed for inspection purposes, and digital coax for all sub pre-out lines, as well as speaker wire to all sub locations for passive sub instal. I also used 2" pvc for a conduit from the component cabinet to the projector location to run the HDMI feed. Power for the projector comes on a seperate breaker, and is fed through a UPS enroute because we live in the country and power outages are common in the winter. Doesn't look like enough wires but by the time everything was run properly there has to be 30 feeds in that small space...









More another day.Thanks for looking and comments are always welcome. We are only as smart as we all are together.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Photo's!?


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

Yes yes. I'm inexperienced in the art of photo insertion. I've been pointed to the thread explaining such techniques and will correct the situation this evening. Thanks for looking though.


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

Pictures are up and working. Sorry for my slow learning.onder:


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Nice! Another build thread to follow along with - looking good so far! :T


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

On with the story...
I did the drywall boarding myself, and lifted the heavy sheets with the use of a rented drywall lifter, which turned out to be worth every penny even on the first ceiling sheet ( 5/8 firegaurd is not light! especially in 12' lengths). I did however hire my drywall guy to do the mud, tape, and texture. They also skim coated the screen wall to really smooth it out and hide all the joints because I had already decided to do the C&S Ultra screen. I also used green glue, but not like they say to...I just used it like one would use subfloor glue. Only problem is it didn't like to stick to the joists on the ceiling, so I had to mark the joists on the sheetrock, lay it on the hoist, and then put the glue on the sheet and then hoist it up to the joists. Just a matter of figuring out a system.









Since this is a dedicated room, I almost had free reign with things like color and layout. However, black to me is too harsh. My wife and I both love this color and so it was an easy choice. It is Benjamin Moore "Willow" in their Ultimat sheen, which is a washable flat, so very little reflection and easy to clean. And I borrowed a pro sprayer so the application, especially on the ceiling was pretty easy.
















The rest of the basement was getting done as well so progress depended on all steps happening together, including painting the rest of the basement as well. Painting isn't that hard, and is exciting because of the change it makes, but man it's tedious.(And our basement is around 2500sq.ft., so I had some work to do)









That might be all the build pictures I have, until the carpet was put in...too busy doing the stuff and no time to take pictures.
I'll post some more tomorrow


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## Cyberfloatie (Jun 1, 2011)

Looking good! I'm. Very interested in how your Trio12 horn will turn out.


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## mwmkravchenko (Jul 11, 2009)

Lookin Good Kadijk.

Alot of TLC in this room. It will be a great home theater. You will probably never enjoy going to a theater again!

Mark


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## mwmkravchenko (Jul 11, 2009)

I just read your post on the drywall lift.

They are worth their weight in gold. The last house I built was with my Dad and I rented a lift for the ceiling. The first comment was we don't need no stinking lift! After one sheet up the comment was.... PDG! 11'6" cathedral ceiling. Not something you can hold up with two people to easily.

I did a completely sound proof room for a guy here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/mwmkravchenko/SoundIsolatedRoom

Same old story. Forgot to take pics all the way through. But the fundamentals are there. The walls were all made using steel studs and double drywall on resilient channels. All ducts were coated with dampening and it really was a sound proof room.

Mark


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Progressing nicely...Keep up the good work..:T


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

I guess "tomorrow" turned into a week or so...funny how life does that. I failed to take any pictures of the progress from painted to carpet installed and room almost ready to use. So...








I built a cabinet for the components, painted it the same as the walls and installed it like a built in. You can see a slot in the rear of the side, where the cables are hanging out...I made the cabinet with a removable panel there so that I can access the rear of the components easily(ish). 








Basic room set up. Eventually, as budget may allow, we will get theater style couch/chairs like berklines or something like that. The screen is painted with Cream & Sugar Ultra. Thanks to the work of HTS enthusiasts for developing that, by the way. DIY sonosub in the corner in test mode, very unfinished but functional.








Front view of the cabinet, everything installed. The cables are quite visible in the picture, but in reality we don't look at everything under the light of a flash...the paint in the room traps light so well it's hard to see much detail other than where you want to-on the screen








DIY center channel stand, same paint. I wanted it to blend in, which it does. I also gave it a slight incline up, so that the drivers do face directly at the seated viewer. There's just enough room for a PS3 "eye" for the move game system(nothing like life size Frisbee golf)








Projector hangs securely from a mount I found on ebay. Cheap, adjustable, and close to the ceiling were my requirements, and this one met them all.

Thanks for looking. Coming soon...screen frame, completed sonosub, and room treatments.Oh yeah, and a Trio12 Horn!:hsd:


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## mwmkravchenko (Jul 11, 2009)

Look right proper Kadijk!

Mark


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

No doubt K - that is shaping up right proper - keep up the good work! :clap:


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

A few more pictures and then we are up to date and waiting for more progress. I need to hang doors, build some room treatments, build the Trio12 Horn, and then things should be where I want them for some time.








This is one of two Peerless SLS 10" sealed units( I can't take any credit for them, my brother made them for me)








Frame material cut and painted








Frame installed and painted on the wall








Finished DIY budget sono sub. See the build thread http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/ported-subwoofer-build-projects/46878-budget-sonosub-build.html

Probably won't get to any more work here until the new year...it's only 3 weeks till Christmas(already!!)


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Nice work there - if you had not said anything, I would have thought that screen was a fully purchased fixed frame screen. 

Have you given the sub a good workout yet?! :bigsmile:


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

Thanks. Lots of research here on HTS led me to the C&S Ultra screen paint formula. I think Harp's comments in one thread were to the effect of if one were to buy a screen the size mine is, with the color neutrality of the C&S ultra mix, it would be in the multi thousands of dollars. I'm all in for around $70. And everyone says what you did...looks like a real fixed frame screen. 

The sono sub works great considering it's a non eq'd $4 driver, but the peerless 10's are actually quite awesome. They really pound hard down pretty low. I love them. 
The rti 10's help in that department too. I have the fronts bi-amped and xo at 70hz so the subs can do the low work on their own.


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

Kadijk, that's a nice looking setup you've put together! It's amazing what a difference putting the frame around the screen made. Great colour choice, too. It seems like it would totally disappear in the dark, but still give you something nice to look at with the lights on. Very nice work on the $10 sub, too!


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

Thanks Owen. It's been a fun project. I didn't think the frame would make as much of an impact as it did. And the flat black paint grabs all light reflection at the screen edge so the picture is really defined now. I'm going to paint"gasp!!" the top of my center(Polk LSi c) flat black as well. I'm getting some reflection from its nice piano gloss finish onto the screen.


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

Quick up date on the Rabbit Hole...

A couple of improvements have happened in the last little while, including the addition of a Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB external sound card to my HTPC. The PC is a small form factor Dell that has no room for an internal card, so this was the solution. Now, instead of a 3.5mm headphone plug delivering sound from the computer, I have Optical...there is no comparison. A huge improvement for around $50 Can. My only complaint is the BRIGHT blue led on the front...nothing a little masking tape can't tame.

Second development is the construction and addition of broadband specular absorbers at the first reflection points on the side walls. See the build thread here http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-audio-acoustics/54572-my-diy-absorption-panels.html . They have transformed the sound stage in the room, and made it so that front, left, and right imaging is incredible, echo is greatly reduced, and I can actually hear the surround speakers doing their thing. For a long time I wondered if they even worked!! Obviously there was too much sound bouncing around the room to distinguish anything. Now its precise, specific, and crisp. Anyone wondering if room treatments are worth the effort or money should experience the before and after...you'll never go back. 

















Next to come are some corner bass trap panels...oh the fun


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Looking good Kadijk - nice job on those panels! :T


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

Like any project in my life, nothings ever really done. There is always something to be improved, reworked, or added. And so, today, I finally finished my rear corner bass trap panels. Not a huge project, but enough of one to drag on while life and work and other things happen around us. And so the Rabbit Hole gets a little closer to being done...one more thing ticked off the list. See the build thread here http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-audio-acoustics/54560-corner-bass-trap-panels.html


















Next project...? Taxes !!! And then, and only then(when they are filed and my book work caught up) I start the Trio 12 front loaded horn. I picked up the driver from Bob a few weeks ago on my way through Vancouver, and so it sits in my room, staring at me, screaming " Do your taxes already!!!!!"


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## mwmkravchenko (Jul 11, 2009)

I trained that driver to say build the horn, build the horn. Smart driver that. Knows about taxes. Do the taxes, do the taxes.


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

Thanks Mark. It's killing me, honestly, killing me.


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## mwmkravchenko (Jul 11, 2009)

With a business I get my taxes done by an accountant.

I give him a nice big bag of receipts and bills, and he gives me another bill!


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

Construction has begun on the front loaded horn project. FINALLY!! The thread is going in the CSS forum...see you there


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

I just realized the other day that I have not updated this build thread in way too long. Not that much has happened, if anything, in the last little while. I guess the biggest change was a few months ago when the Trio 12 Front Loaded Horn was finally completed and installed in the room. Installing was relatively easy, other than the heavy lifting, and playing with position only required a spin from one direction to the other. I do think that once I have doors on the room to seal it up, I will spin the horn mouth around to face the listeners rather than face the side, although I am not convinced much will change. It'll be worth trying though...not that there needs to be any improvement. I actually can't imagine what will happen when the room has doors. Right now the sub is filling around 2000sqft of basement. Doors should allow the room to actually pressurize, and I will be using a solid core "safe and sound" style door to allow as little sound transmission out of the room as possible. 

I am working on designing a label for the sub, and that will come soon. Matrix theme, and a nod to the designer of both the driver and the enclosure. I guess that's it for now. Happy thunder...and hope the drywall stays on the ceiling(sometimes I wonder :hsd: )








Installed, facing the listener







Installed, facing the side. Sealed Peerless 10" for comparison.


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## mwmkravchenko (Jul 11, 2009)

Keep watering that little box, they grow slowly!


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

That looks very impressive..:T It's a bit bigger than the horns I'm currently building!! :yikes:


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

Prof, I've been watching your build. They look great. I'm looking forward to hearing about how they sound.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

You're not the only one!!  I'm finishing them over the weekend and hope to get a chance to hear them then..


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

Great setup and I love the way it looks now that you are finished. Waiting to hear your impressions on how the sub sounds. I did some room treatments years ago... A friend of mine came over and didn't believe they had made a dif, so we demoed the setup and then removed them. He was shocked as to the dif in sound. Needless to say the sound treatments were reinstalled.


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## kadijk (Jan 23, 2011)

ellisr63 said:


> Great setup and I love the way it looks now that you are finished. Waiting to hear your impressions on how the sub sounds. I did some room treatments years ago... A friend of mine came over and didn't believe they had made a dif, so we demoed the setup and then removed them. He was shocked as to the dif in sound. Needless to say the sound treatments were reinstalled.


Thanks for the comments. The room treatments really did make a huge difference, and I'm going to make more once the doors are in and I get a good idea of what the room sounds like as a complete room. The sub is awesome! It's quiet when it's supposed to be, and very powerful when called upon. Literally, it makes the house shake. No soundproofing in the world can prevent that. So when deep bass hits in punches or explosions, things on the table upstairs jump. I mean, really jump! It's crazy. And, on top of that, it's accurate and fast. In my mind, the perfect sub- if one has the room for it. It's been a fun journey, and it's not done yet.


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## mwmkravchenko (Jul 11, 2009)

It warms my heart when I read of objects jumping a floor above.

Yaah Baby! :T


As for your doors I have had trouble with them vibrating in the frame when closed. The simple solution was some thin foam weather stripping tape.

Worked like magic. No more noise from rattling doors.

As for sound proofish doors. Home Despot has some solid core paint grade raised panel doors that are stuffed with highly compressed straw. They seem to work well.


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