picky Posted September 25, 2003 Share Posted September 25, 2003 As my home theater construction continues, it seems as though at each step, one more thing reveals itself as an issue that I had not considered in the original design. I've been viewing movies in my HT now for months. But, the room is getting gradually more quiet as the walls become finished. Because my HT is built in the basement of our home, and it's a rather small home that was built in 1943, it does not have a very deep basement. At the tallest point, the joists in the ceiling barely measure 7 feet down to the floor. My front projector hangs from these joists, putting the bottom of the projector about 6 feet from the floor. Some of my seating is directly beneath the projector, which places a person's head less than 3 feet away from the projector's bottom. The projector's fan is rated at a noise level of approximately 35 db, which normally, should be a whisper 4 feet away. Most of the time, one does not hear the projector. The problem occurs during quiet pauses in the movie. Having a 35 db wide-band noise two feet from your head in a quiet room can become very annoying. Have any of you seen plans out there on the web (or have plans of your own to share) for building a silent, ventilated projector hush box? Thanks! -Picky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted September 25, 2003 Share Posted September 25, 2003 Sorry your not getting a response here. On general principles, I wonder if you really need the complexities of a totally closed box with acoustic padding in the ventilation ducts. Such a box would also block access to the controls, etc., and you'd need a hatch. I assume there are no ducts on the bottom, or the design is such that it is on feet to allow the forced ventilation. So I wonder if a three sided box, bottom and sides, perhaps lined with some acoustic material, would not give the 5 or 10 dB at high frequencies you need. This might require it to extend six inches or so on either side of the projector box. Not knowing the specifics, the design is up to you, particularly as far as not blocking vents and allowing control access. You might start with finding a slab of styrofoam or semistiff fiberglass (or even foam core or cardboard) about six inches or more bigger on each side than the foot print of the projector and somehow attach it to the bottom; again respecting any vent holes in the bottom of the projector. As you can see, my main thought is that you're not looking for too much hushing, just a little bit. So it might be wise to not make it a more complex solution than you need. Best, Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted September 25, 2003 Share Posted September 25, 2003 My first approach would be a box lined with ridged fiberglass or soundboard... I would make the make I would close all 5 sides, but keeping it large enough for room to breath. Put a hinge on it so you can have a door type access. Eh... sumpen like dat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted September 26, 2003 Author Share Posted September 26, 2003 Thank you for your suggestions, gentlemen. I believe that if I do follow through with building some type of enclosure that I will likely use an interpetation of each of your suggestions. Thanks, again for the good advice. I spoke with my projector dealer this morning: another good arguement for buying such a complex piece of gear from a showroom rather than from the internet (after-sales customer support). He had this suggestion: I am currently running my projector lamp on "Cinema" (bright) mode. He said to switch the lamp to "Normal" (standard) mode and consider the purchase of either the AVIA or DVE (Digital Video Essentials) theater calibration DVDs. Not only will the "Normal" mode lengthen the life on my projector's bulb by 40% or more (>$$CH-CHING!!!$$<) , but the fan noise decreases greatly on "Normal" mode as well. He said that after calibrating my projector with one of these DVDs, and then giving myself two weeks to adjust to the new settings, should allow me to be thrilled by more contrast, higher definition, and greater resolution while enjoying lower fan noise. He also said to be sure my room is dark. It is! I can vouch for the fan noise, as when it is set to "Normal" brighteness, it's nearly impossible to hear the fan. If this works, then problem solved! I ordered the DVE DVD a few minutes ago from Amazon for $17 and change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted September 26, 2003 Author Share Posted September 26, 2003 I chose it over the AVIA DVD because the AVIA was released in 1999 and the DVE disk was released earlier THIS MONTH (9/3/2003)!!! It's a newer, improved release of the original DVE from 1997. The new one includes improvments over the first release and includes HDTV screen setup. To find out more about both disks, please follow this link to a site that compares the two: http://209.145.176.7/~090/awh/aviaorve.html So, thanks again, guys! -Picky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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