Chromy's Home Theater -- Take 3

[Chromy]

The wife and I sold our house and bought a new one... so the quest for building a home theater started all over again

The new room is much bigger (12'x18') than my old room (9'x14'). Old Systems can be found here (Take 1) and here (Take 2)

I was tired of the maroon color of my last room, and decided that a darkish grey-blue would go well with the carpet color. The ceiling (and front wall) will be black.

A major problem that I had was a large window on the wall that I wanted to install the screen onto. After thinking about this for a while, I decided that I would construct a few false walls that are wrapped with fabric to be acoustically transparent. I'll keep all of my front speakers behind the wall and keep equipment in a custom built enclosure inserted into a gap in one of the walls.

After a few weekends (one of painting, the other of constructing) this is what I've got. I'll keep posting (and taking) pictures of the progress...

[Chromy]

http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...chmentid=10798
This picture shows the first panel wrapped with fabric, and getting ready to be anchored to the floor. You can also see the blackout cloth over the window in the front of the room. There is a nice looking drape hanging inside of the window so it's not too ugly from the outside too


http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...chmentid=10799
Gratuitous shot of the screen... waiting to be hung...


http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...chmentid=10800
This is a shot of the middle panel and the right hand side panel lag screwed to the subflooring and bolted together...


http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...chmentid=10801
Here are all of the center 3 panels anchored together, to the floor, and to the ceiling...


http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...chmentid=10802
Here is a shot of the back of the panels. If you look closely you can see the lag screws at the bottom, and the bolt holding the two panels together.


http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...chmentid=10803
Here are the left and right flanking panels (they'll be fastened about 12" out into the room from the center panels). The equipment will fit in a hole at the base of the leftmost panel. The subwoofers will sit behind the right panel.

The white marks are dabs of tape that will approximate where the screen will be mounted.

----------------------------

Attachments below are the same as the linked images above.

[Chromy]

http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...chmentid=10804
Here is the rack that I made to hold the equipment...


http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...chmentid=10805
Here are all 5 panels mounted, and some 2x4 mounting strips that I installed on the facing of the 3 main panels to make mounting the screen easier (and to prevent tearing the fabric while trying to mount the screen)

http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...chmentid=10806
Here are all 5 panels, with the screen slipped on the mounting strips

http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...chmentid=10807
Here is all the gear loaded into the rack.

http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...chmentid=10808
And the reverse angle (all of the interconnects are connected... power and speaker cables are not yet connected.

http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...chmentid=10809
Everything hooked up and connected

----------------------------

Attachments below are the same as the linked images above.

[Chromy]

And voila!

[Iguana Man]

This is looking good....can't wait to see MORE pics!

Is the right outside panel going to pivot open, like a door? I ask because I don't see how you plan on getting back there to check wiring, clean, etc... Also, can you supply the dimensions of your new room?

Oh, and you painted your ceiling black! Way to go All you need to do now is invite Frank_Z's wife over for a movie! Before you know it ol Frank will have the go-ahead to do the same in his HT!

[chlngr1970]

He has a small door for me to crawl through

j

[Chromy]

Indeed... there is a Jim sized crack for him to crawl through

Otherwise, for right now, it's pull the equipment rack out and go in that way. I've finished up getting the two side walls covered, and up. I've gotten the speaker shelves installed behind the center and side panels.

Now I'm working on getting the SV subs back behind and the cables run... Now if Jim will just get his ass back to Washington, I can have him run around in the attic to run the DVI cable for the projector

I'll probably post more pictures on Monday. The room is 18x12 (before the wall). I'll have to measure again, once it's finished.

Chromy

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by Chromy

Indeed... there is a Jim sized crack for him to crawl through

As the song goes......"Jimmy Crack corn....and I don't care, Jimmy crack corn, and I don't care!!!!.....(Ah, never mind. )

Originally Posted by Chromy

Otherwise, for right now, it's pull the equipment rack out and go in that way.

Chromy

I still don't get it man....why not use the right side? Unless of course the dual SVS's are in the way.

[Frank Z]

Love the Pink light, really has that "Theater" look!

Lookin' good!!

[Chromy]

Originally Posted by Iguana Man

I still don't get it man....why not use the right side? Unless of course the dual SVS's are in the way.

Right you are!

Ok, it's mostly up right now and functioning. The projector is running from the floor, until I can get Jim over here to run around up in the attic. I need to do some touchup on the sides (little curtains in between the screen wall, and the side walls) as well as finish the painting. Next step is lighting...

Chromy

[Iguana Man]

Ahhhh.....I didn't realize the two side panels were further into the room than the screen panel.

Looks fantastic man!

I think I asked about that DWIN before...I gotta search and recover the info on that thing. (I'm in the market again for a new PJ)

[Chromy]

I saw your thread yesterday, but the DWIN is a single chip DLP projector so if you're succeptable to rainbows probably not the projector for you.

However, that said... I was NOT a fan of DLP projectors and the short exposure that I had to them made me opposed. I then decided to make the shift to looking at DLP projectors a few years ago when I met Seamonkey, Tomdkat, 1138, and others down in CA where we sat down with a DLP projector and watched an entire movie. Sure, I can see rainbows quite easily, but to me, it's kindof like black bars on a letterboxed movie... if you focus on them, they irritate the hell out of you, but if you let yourself get sucked into the movie, on the off chance that you notice, they may not bother you...

Chromy

[lostwire]

Nice job Chromy.

So what's the purpose of having the pair of side-panels ahead of the center section by 12"? So you can get behind the screen, maybe? If so, why not move them back & have the right one on a hinge, or get rid of them entirely & put your rack behind the screen with a panel on the wall which will pass along all your remote commands?

[SeanL]

Looks really good Chromy.


Although, that equipment rack is kind of distracting. You're not gonna leave it there are ya? :p

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by Chromy

I've finished up getting the two side walls covered, and up. I've gotten the speaker shelves installed behind the center and side panels.

Chromy

Are you still using the Wharf's ? If so, where exactly are they being placed? I get the impression you are mounting the LF above and behind the equipment rack and the LR the same but on the right?

You realize these and more questions will continue until more pics are available?

[Taxi]

No, the Wharfdales are in his downstairs home theater, with the Mits RP HDTV.

I think he's still considering these speakers from M&K.

[Titleist]

simple, but very attractive. Great work Chromy!

I have to say as much as i love the setup i went with, i'm always envious of the dedicated home theatre setups like some of you have gone with, it's just very elegant and single minded. The room is a home theatre, as compared to mine which doubles as a bedroom and a home office. But again, great work!

[incubus0]

Looks good, Chromy, I'd love to see some more screen shots.

[Chromy]

Thank you all for the kind comments... if anyone is ever in the Seattle area...

Originally Posted by lostwire

So what's the purpose of having the pair of side-panels ahead of the center section by 12"?

The reasoning that went into that move was twofold... primarily to put the front speakers in an arc, so that they are equidistant to the primary seating location, and to give my subwoofers some room to wad themselves up into the right front corner.

RE: Comments on the equipment rack

I was thinking about putting this behind a cloth covered door, or a smoked glass door... but for right now, it gets warm enough back behind the 'wall' so until I get some ventilation back there, sticking out into the room it will remain! It is far enough to the side of the image that the lights are not too distracting.

RE: Speakers

Right now I'm using some smallish M&K speakers (the K7's that I was using downstairs in our last house) that seem to be able to hold their own in the new space. However, a bit more power handling would be preferable for the mains, so I hope to at some point in time to pick up another K7, and use the 4 of them for surround side, and surround back.

The center channel speaker is (vertical) above the screen, with the L&R speakers sitting at the same height but sitting in the left and right pop out columns.


RE: Screen shots/Pictures
I'm taking requests... what do you want to see?

Chromy

[Iguana Man]

In your last pic (post#4), were you using a flash? I ask because it appears there is a decent amount of light in the room yet you are still getting a great picture on the screen. I also noticed light on the ceiling, is that reflected light from the screen?

For pic requests, could you post one taken close to the screen? And perhaps another that you would consider problematic for people who see rainbows?

[Chromy]

No flash, Pic #4 is a composite. One was a picture with lighting in the room on, and the other was with the lighting off. The room is so dark I need to use a longer exposure to get the details of the room exposed, but by then the projector has completely over exposed the screen. Then I take a seperate shot where the room ends up black, but the image on screen is accurately exposed and looks pretty close to what I see with my eyes. The reflection on the ceiling is the reflection of the projector bouncing off of the screen, then off the ceiling... it is really not this pronounced IRL.

I've taken some screenshots of the projector in action here These were taken while the projector was installed at my last house, but new ones would look the same.

Also... The following is a sequence of zooms...

Here is the whole screenshot...
http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...achmentid=7268

Here is a pretty close zoom on the area at the jagged top of the circular structure with the three waterfalls coming out of it's base. This shows the pixel structure. From a seating distance of 9-10 ft away from the screen, I can't see this. You can start to see it on brighter scenes reliably from ~ 6ft (92" diagonal screen).
http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...achmentid=7271

Here is an ULTRA closeup (the type of look that you would get ~ 2 inches from the screen) It's a subset of the same area above.
http://forums.dvdfile.com/attachment...achmentid=7272

What I'll try and do tonight is to replicate these shots on my Mitsu CRT RPTV and see what that looks like zoomed in on...


Chromy

[esc]

what kind of video cable do you use or how do you avoid singal degridation in the video qulality with 18 + feet from your player to your projector ?
any time i have tried to run anything more than 6 feet of cable between my player and projector, I get wavy lines and all sorts of problems.

[Chromy]

The Dwin projector consists of 2 units. The projector engine itself, and an external switching/scaling/processing box. There is a connection maintained between the two via a DVI cable (that cable itself is actually 25 feet). As the box sits up with the rest of my source components, the analog cable runs are quite short.

A friend of mine runs 25 foot component cables to his projector. We made them from quad sheilded co-ax cable (used for satelite signal runs?) and terminated it with RCA connectors. That works very well, as the RG-6 cable does an excellent job of noise rejection.

Chromy

[Taxi]

*cough* updates *cough*

[sub780lime]

Talk about bumping a post, for a second I thought Chromy was actively posting. An update would be awesome, because the flash wall work was awesome....or has something changed...does Taxi know something we do not...THESE ARE THE THINGS I NEED TO KNOW!

[Taxi]

I *do* know something that you do not, because I helped install part of the upgrade.

But I'll let Chromy tell it. I don't want to spoil his fun. (But sometimes he just needs a little reminder.)

[Iguana Man]

Do I have to PM you to death or what? That's right son. I'm a talking to YOU!

(heheh..here we go [or me!])

[EM3]

Still waiting

I live through the actions of others.

[Iguana Man]

Haw! I think he's got no choice now but to spread some loving pics.



(wait a little longer, it took 278 pm's to get this far!)

[Taxi]

Yeah, I saw that you broke his will and made him finally log in earlier today.

By God, we'll get him to post at his own damn forum if it kills us!

[chlngr1970]

I guess you could make him an Emeritus

j

[Chromy]

"Yaaaaaawn"

Whaaaa? How long was I out?

Ok, geez... I'll post some updated pictures this weekend...

Basically... Got 3 new front speakers, all the same for timbre matching exactness... (http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/displa...fid=2321&sc=ht)

I'm using my old M&K speakers for side and back speakers (4x M&K k7), those are mounted up on the walls now.

I've added another 12" subwoofer to the room, and tweaked the location of the others to flatten out overall bass in the room.

I've raised the screen a bit (maybe about 6-9 inches) to make room for the center speaker under the screen rather than over it.

All of this moving of stuff around, has neccisitated hacking apart and dismantling a lot of the 'front of the room' structure that I had built up.

I've moved the equipment to the back of the room, due to suggestions here that the lights at the front of the room would be annoying to viewers.

I've gotten a rack to hold movies at the back of the room.

I've added can lights to the ceiling (shiny black interiors, and spot lights illuminate the floor, but prevent light from hitting the screen.

I've added acoustical treatment to the walls and ceiling.

I've created ginormous bass traps in the front of the room to take the boom out of the room.

I've added a PS3 and XBox HD-DVD player for HD content

I've added a Tivo S3

I've added a Windows Home server for Media hosting (accessible via either of my Tivo's, and the PS3 and XBox)



But that's about it... I don't see what the big deal is? Geez!

[Vonner]

Well if that's all your going to do, why bother?










jk, sounds pretty sweet to me.

[Chromy]

At least SOMEONE gets it

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by Chromy

Ok, geez... I'll post some updated pictures this weekend...

Hi there! Those updated pics look splendid!

And so you don't go dim from a lack of fresh power, I sent you this.

[Taxi]

[Chromy]

There seems to be a lot of whining going on around here...

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by Chromy

There seems to be a lot of whining going on around here...

Thanks for that...it really, no....really makes my heart skip a beat.

Since you as top dog here refuses to post pics that many of us would truly be interested in seeing, I am forced into the actions that follow. Be warned friend, this is something I and many have waited for with baited breath. And honestly, I don't wanna do this, but hey...it's for the better good.

I'd like to thank J' for the inside scoop picture taken weeks ago while you gloated on the curb with all your "friends". At least he (J') had the balls to send this to me and I can't thank him enough for his bravado.

You sir are a sham, fraud and whatever other adjectives my mind is capable of coming up with at this moment!

SHAME ON YOU!

(Taxi, I forgive you)

[Taxi]

Jeez.. I wish I were that thin...

[EM3]

Originally Posted by Iguana Man

Thanks for that...it really, no....really makes my heart skip a beat.

Since you as top dog here refuses to post pics that many of us would truly be interested in seeing, I am forced into the actions that follow. Be warned friend, this is something I and many have waited for with baited breath. And honestly, I don't wanna do this, but hey...it's for the better good.

I'd like to thank J' for the inside scoop picture taken weeks ago while you gloated on the curb with all your "friends". At least he (J') had the balls to send this to me and I can't thank him enough for his bravado.

You sir are a sham, fraud and whatever other adjectives my mind is capable of coming up with at this moment!

SHAME ON YOU!

(Taxi, I forgive you)