redtop Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 I decided to finally break out the camera and finish getting some pics of my completed home theater. This thread is not intended to brag or show off I just want to share with you guys what's possible in a nearly 100% DIY HT build. I did all of the room design and construction work (well my 15 year old son did help some hehe []) The carpet was the only material installed by someone else. It took me about 6 months of research and about 6 months of build time. Most of the ideas for video and room design came from studying, researching, and following threads over at the AVS Forum. The AVS guys know rooms and video, but they dont know horns. J All of the great audio ideas came from guys on this forum. My thanks, for the magnificent sound I enjoy, goes out to many here on this forum that helped guide and educate me on the finer points of Klipsch-dom over the last 4 years. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> My design goals were Dedicated theater room, fully light controlled. (No external light sources) Totally sound controlled environment. Seating for 5 (our family size) with room for 3-4 more occasional guests. 120 or greater 16 x 9 screen A sound experience that would exceed the commercial theater experience (and maybe make your eyes tear up with joy. J) Make the project as much DIY as possible (this was also good for the budget J) I will try to anticipate a few questions by sharing some specs. The room dimensions are 16 x 28 x 9. The room was acoustically sealed by using two layers of ½ drywall on the walls and ceiling. Green glue was sandwiched between layers of drywall and on the studs (for sound dampening). No mid or high frequency sound gets in or out. The room has a very low sound floor (quiet). The room is dark green with maroon carpet. The ceiling is 3 shades lighter than the walls. The camera makes it appear much lighter than it is. The acoustic panels in the room are 2 x 4 x 2 covered with paper on the face and wrapped in gray GOM fabric. The columns are designed for sound absorption and diffusion. They are stuffed with acoustic cotton and the black cloth on the front of the column covers an opening. The two columns at the rear of the room contain the KLF-C7 side surrounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted February 12, 2007 Author Share Posted February 12, 2007 For those of you interested in whats behind the panels on the screen wall, this is what it looks like. The front stage is primarily for looks and is filled with sand. The screen wall is 28 forward of the back wall. This was done to allow for easier, more flexible speaker placement. It would also allow for greater flexibility in acoustic treatments. The speakers are KLF-30s across the front and an SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer. In the corners are floor to ceiling bass traps. The blue material is acoustic cotton. There are various other resonate and panel traps on the back wall. Acoustic cotton was also placed in the screen wall frame in the areas (covered by black cloth in the picture) above and below the screen mount opening. This really helps to control the sound reflections around the screen. I dont pretend to understand all of the science behind the room acoustics. I just know it sounds great. I had Bryan Pape from <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />St. Louis do the acoustic room treatment design. I bought the blue cotton from him and built the frames on-site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted February 12, 2007 Author Share Posted February 12, 2007 From this view you can see the seating, projector location, and equipment rack. The equipment rack is at the rear of the room and inside the acoustically sealed room. The projector is housed inside the rear soffit. No need for a special hush box, the projector is inaudible at this location. One of the air returns pulls air across the projector as it leaves the room. The soffit also serves as a giant bass trap. It is stuffed full of acoustic cotton. Thats why there are black cloth panels covering the openings on either side of the projector. A single KLF-C7 is located in the center of the equipment rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted February 12, 2007 Author Share Posted February 12, 2007 Just for fun I included a screen shot from Nemo with the lights all the way up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted February 12, 2007 Author Share Posted February 12, 2007 A closer look at the two colorful fish <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Words cannot express my gratitude to those of you on this forum that freely shared your experiences and insights into the design of a home theater. The performance of this HT room exceeded my highest expectations. While it may not have a lot of bells and whistles, it puts a smile on my face every time I sit down for a movie and was certainly worth all of the many hours it required. I can only hope that my experience is in some small way, helpful to others on this forum. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKillerTomato Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 Very impressive - thanks for the pics and the post. It gives me something to shoot for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picky Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 We certainly appreciate seeing the photos of your new space. Hats off to you my friend. I think you did a superb job! You have a created a very inviting environment. You should be very proud of your accomplishment. Thanks again for sharing with us all. I am quite impressed. -Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted February 12, 2007 Moderators Share Posted February 12, 2007 Wow that looks great, very nice. It is one of the best looking rooms I have seen, makes me wish I had room for something like that. When people come over to watch a movie they must be shocked when they see that, had any guest over to watch a movie yet ? What did they say ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunburnwilly Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 Looks great ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetJockey Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 Wow! What a fantastic looking HT, very nicely done indeed, bet its an awesome experience. Congrats. Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted February 12, 2007 Author Share Posted February 12, 2007 Thanks for the kind words guys. Dtel, We've only had a few folks over. We 're not big socializers, but the few that have joined us are suitably impressed. It's easy to WOW folks when they haven't had a chance to compare you to some of the great Klipsch theaters we have on this forum (Indy, Picky, & Sandman to name a few)(sorry if I left any other great theaters out). [] First they are WOWed by the large picture...then blown away by the sound quality...hehehe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacksonbart Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 Top Notch!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easylistener Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 Nice setup. I am looking at buying a new house so I can put a dedicated room in as well. I have one in my living room but it isn't ideal. I see you are using the zenith 318, great dvd player. I just sold mine on ebay. If you think the picture is great, you should try and htpc, the picture even get better. You have the best upscaling dvd player though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 Very nice implementation [Y] Is there any acoustical treatment on the ceiling too? Where are the side surrounds mounted? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eq_shadimar Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 Dude that is SWEET! I love it. Great job man. It is nice when it is all done and you can sit back and enjoy the show isn't it? Laters, Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arky Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 Very nice! Alas I have no construction talent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darylomer12 Posted February 12, 2007 Share Posted February 12, 2007 Wow!! That is a mighty fine looking HT. You did a fantastic job. Absolutely perfect!!! .. I bet is sounds as good as it looks too..[Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted February 12, 2007 Author Share Posted February 12, 2007 Nice setup. I am looking at buying a new house so I can put a dedicated room in as well. I have one in my living room but it isn't ideal. I see you are using the zenith 318, great dvd player. I just sold mine on ebay. If you think the picture is great, you should try and htpc, the picture even get better. You have the best upscaling dvd player though. Easylistener, Do tell about your HTPC...I feel an new itch...[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted February 12, 2007 Author Share Posted February 12, 2007 Is there any acoustical treatment on the ceiling too? Where are the side surrounds mounted? Dr. Who, The only treatment on the ceiling is 48" out in front of the screen. Just a first reflection kind of thing. I didn't want the look of acoustic panels on the ceiling, so I had Bryan (the acoustic designer) plan for that limitation. It was definately a compromise, but I think he compensated for it nicely. Using the RoomEQ wizard software it tests out very flat in the seating area. I only have one -8db dip at 50htz. Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easylistener Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Well I have the 900u projector and am feeding it upscale DVD's through my htpc. I use theatertek as a player and ffdshow for processing. It makes a big difference. I sold the Zenith like I said. My computer isn't overly powerful. It is a P4 3.0 ghz 1gag of pc3200 ram and a 256mb ati 9600xt video card. I learned a lot from the guys at the HTPC AVS forums, mostly just read all kind of posts and learned what worked and what didn't. This also lets me back up my kids DVD's and mine to the hard drive and stream them to other TVs in the house. This stopped the disc being scratched and the call for help from the kid when the menus came on. Now he just turns his TV on and moves the mouse around to find the movie and clicks on the folder. I am no computer wiz at all, I did have some troubles getting everything to talk to the right software but it has been running with no problems for some time now. A guy at work also has the 900u and I am helping him right now set up a HTPC as we speak. He is using a much more powerful computer then I am, mainly because he wants to multitask when watching a movie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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