Youthman's LaScala Trio Home Theater Build (Version 2.0) Begins!

[The Dude]

I don't know what to say other than what hasn't all ready been said.  The one thing that trips me up, is the minimal modification that was done to make this work.  I mean the fact that Wake built this from miles away and barely had to do any modification is phenomenal.

[Ceptorman]

That speaker pic is very nice. Shows how big the subs really are, two stacked is taller than a La Scala.

[K5SS]

That looks amazing Youth!!

[darylomer12]

Patience paid off! Your a good man Michael. Thanks for sharing.

[Youthman]

Day 3 of the build and I'm totally exhausted.  We began at 8am on Thursday and finished at 3am on Friday!  We only stopped for about 30 minutes for lunch and then were back at it.  It's 3:30am now and we will likely get up at 8am.

 

I must be totally sleep deprived because I literally almost poured a bowl of cereal on a plate instead of a bowl. 

 

Here is a video recap of what we did on Day 3.

 

[Scrappydue]

He youth if you can buddy make sure you get a good pic with your nice camera of the front soundstage before you put up the screen otherwise you'll lose a lot of your good natural lighting. Flash pics just aren't as good.

And like I told you on the phone last night the front end will most likely be featured on Klipsch site again. It's just screams Klipsch. Good job guys!

[willland]

 Michael,

 

I thought this was a photo of WakeJunkie "watching over" his creation.  

 

Bill

[NBPK402]

Looks AWESOME!!! It must be great to be able to finally see and enjoy all the hard work that went into the is project!

[rbrown0678]

Youthman,

Seems to me if you started @6oc,and stop making video you might get the job done.

I can always take it off your hands,I can easily make room for it. Whaddiu say.

Awesome looking room.

[dtel]

I don't know what to say other than what hasn't all ready been said.  The one thing that trips me up, is the minimal modification that was done to make this work.  I mean the fact that Wake built this from miles away and barely had to do any modification is phenomenal.

Very true, I was thinking the same thing.

[dtel]

 Michael,

 

I thought this was a photo of WakeJunkie "watching over" his creation.  

 

Bill

That picture should be saved/printed for that very reason, it's perfect.

 

Edit; almost forgot........everything looks amazing .......I have to ask, what does your better half think, she has to love it ?

Edited June 24, 2016 by dtel

[Youthman]

Thanks everyone....wow, what an incredible journey this has been.  My apologies for no video last night or tonight.  Yesterday we worked from 8am till 12:30am the next morning.  I had to leave for a few hours to pick up my family at the airport. Before I left to pick them up, my kidney stone was kicking in so I definitely was not wanting to do a video.  LOL.   Tonight, I couldn't make a video because we have the power shut off.  For now, I'll just share what we've done in the past two days and will make a video tomorrow showing you.

 

Today, we finished painting inside the closet where the projector will go, but the main thing we worked on was lighting and wiring.  We were in the attic for quite awhile running romex and installing junction boxes.  I was mainly there for moral support, crawling in tight corners to pull cables and to make sure Wake didn't die of heat exhaustion.  We started early but some wiring took place as late as 2pm so it was ridiculously hot here in Florida.   Wake separated my 6 can lights into two groups (2 back cans and middle pair and front pair of cans.  This will allow me to turn off the middle and front cans and have a faint light over the back to see.

 

Previously, I only had the Lutron Maestro which only has 1 Scene that controlled the 6 can lights on the ceiling. 

 

Now, I will be using the Lutron Spacer which has 4 Scenes and Full On in the following configuration. 

 

Lutron Spacer Master Controller

Lutron SPS-600 Dimmer - Rear Two Can Lights

Lutron SPS-600 Dimmer - Middle Two and Front Two Can Lights

Lutron SPS-600 Dimmer - 3 Lights in Arch

Lutron SPS-600 Dimmer - Blue LED Rope Lighting around screen

Lutron Maestro - Blue Outdoor Lighting behind AT Screen to "Reveal" the speakers (sure hope this works)

 

Shaun wired the cabinet with "Work Lights" (two lights above stage and two lights below stage) and added a switch to turn them on / off inside one of the cabinet doors.  This will be very handy when I'm swapping cables or upgrading equipment.

 

While he was wiring the lighting, I was following behind him with cable management, tidying up the power wires, speaker cables etc.

 

It was a very productive day but I saw today that this week has really taken a toll on Shaun.  We finished up at 7pm.  I told him to get some much needed rest and we would jump on it after church tomorrow. 

 

Tomorrow evening, I should be able to post another video update.

 

We are getting close to finishing....

 

To Do List:

 

Finish wiring lighting to Lutron Maestro and Spacer

Install Projector Mount in closet.

Install Screen

Install Rope Lighting around screen

Install Velvet Border around screen

Install several trim pieces and hand carved medallions

Touch up paint on walls & ceiling

 

Well I'm headed to bed.  It's been a super long week with driving to Alabama and back as well as working 80hrs in the past 5 days.  Time to get some much needed sleep.

[Youthman]

Today we got a lot accomplished!

 

We ran a dedicated 20A Circuit to the Theater Room.

 

We finished wiring all of the lighting including (4) Lutron Dimmers, Lutron Spacer Master Controller, (2) work lights above the stage, (2) work lights below the stage, 3 blue lights for the "reveal" to light up the speakers behind the screen,  , blue led rope lighting around screen, several electrical outlets behind the cabinet, switch for turning on work lights, and two switches to turn on / off each pair of RSW-15's.

 

We moved the projector into the closet that is just outside the room (I'll take pics inside tomorrow when there is light.

 

Lots and lots of cable management.

 

Here are a few photos

 

 

3 Can Lights on behind arch

 

 

 

Blue Rope LED Lighting behind screen and 3 Blue Lights highlighting the speakers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Youthman]

 

 

Blue LED Rope Lighting and 3 Blue Lights highlighting the speakers.

 

 

 

Closeup of the crown molding, diamond pattern, hand carved leaf and column.  This entire cabinet is custom...the crown molding was cut using a router, the leaf elements were hand carved, the diamond pattern with a router.  It's truly a remarkable piece!  Wakejunkie did an outstanding job on it!

 

 

 

Lutron SPS-600 Dimmers and Lutron Maestro Dimmer all controlled by a Lutron Spacer Master Controller

 

 

 

Projector has been moved into the hall closet & my son's closet.

 

 

[Youthman]

Here is a recap video of what we've accomplished over the last few days.

 

[Youthman]

Yesterday we installed the cabinet doors, hand carved medallions to the top portion of the cabinet, and began installing the screen. 

 

The custom frame has a groove so we used spline to install it.  The Seymour Center Stage XD fabric does not stretch very much.  Honestly, we had a rough time installing it possibly due to technique.  It was an extremely tight fit to get the spline inserted into the groove with the fabric.  Maybe we could have found thinner spline but I like that it's super tight and absolutely will not ever come out.  While we were working, Shaun sat down with his legs behind him and when he sat down on his ankle, he dislocated it.  I immediately asked if I needed to pop it back into place and he said yes so I counted to 3 and SNAP!  It was crazy.  LOL  He rested the rest of the evening while me, my son and his friend finished installing the screen.

 

One of the difficulties we had was figuring out how to get the waves out of the fabric.  We also noticed a very strange pattern on the fabric that wasn't good....fortunately all it took was to get the screen installed and the pattern totally disappeared.  We finished last night with one wave in the corner so we will need to undo the corner and try and work out the wave. 

 

Here is a quick video update. 

 

[Youthman]

Once we get the wrinkle out of the top right corner, we will trim the fabric, wrap the velvet around the wooden borders and screw the borders to the frame.  The wooden borders have tnuts installed so we will screw from the back of the frame into the back of the wooden masking borders.

Edited June 28, 2016 by Youthman

[NBPK402]

Looks great... I bet you can't wait to get the speakers all setup again and enjoy some music, and movies with it once again!

[Youthman]

Yes I am we are hoping that is happening tonight

[Youthman]

Looks great... I bet you can't wait to get the speakers all setup again and enjoy some music, and movies with it once again!

We just finished watching the very first two movies with the new setup.  I did not run Audyssey.  I only calibrated the levels and did not change the sub levels. 

 

We first watched John Wick. 

 

First impression of the screen....TOTALLY immersive with zero eye strain from 9'.  It felt VERY comfortable.  Colors seemed a bit off so I figure I'll need to calibrate the projector.

First impression of the sound...it sounded good but wasn't super impressive.

 

Finished John Wick and then moved onto The Equalizer. 

 

First impression of the screen...WOW!  What a difference. Colors looked very natural, vibrant and the screen just looked FANTASTIC.  Absolutely no Moire and I could not see the weave at all. 

First impression of the sound...IMPRESSIVE!  Bass was very balanced with a very tactile feel to it.  The quad RSW-15's performed excellent.  I wish they dug deeper than 20Hz but the bass they produced was very pleasing to my ears.

 

I asked the 5 guests what they thought and they all loved the sound and the massive 150" screen as well as the new cabinet.

 

We chose to watch the movies without the Backlit LED Screen.  One day I'll try it with it as I believe it is supposed to trick your brain into thinking there is more contrast. 

 

It's 1:30am and it's been a REALLY long week.  We spent a total of 113hrs in 7 days for the build.  But I can tell you, it was TOTALLY worth it.  The construction cost $3000 for the cabinet and I've been told that if I were to have contracted it out, it would cost somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000 to have that level of customization.  I truly count myself blessed to have been able to do this project with my best friend.  Truly grateful for Shaun and all the hard work he has put into this project over the past year and a half.

 

I'll clean up the room tomorrow and take some photos showing the installed screen and doors as well as the cabinet shelves and drawers. 

 

@wakejunkie you totally rock bro!  I can never thank you enough.  I'll continue to hook you up with free audio gear and speakers from time to time as I find more Youthman deals.