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Home Theater Room

Discussion in 'Homeowners Corner' started by exlondoner, Jul 13, 2012.

  1. exlondoner

    exlondoner New Member

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    We recently moved to the area at the end of May and now I finally have the chance to setup a dedicated Home Theater room.

    Anyone here have a setup and whom did you go with in terms of finishing the room and then getting into the electronics part of things.

    Looking forward to hearing from you.

    Mick
     
  2. Zeratul

    Zeratul Well-Known Member

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    Mick - welcome to the area! I can count myself as a Home Theater and Media Room enthusiast and can offer whatever advice you might need. There is also a member here called "HomeTheaterGuy" so look him up and I am sure he will even respond to this thread but he is a great professional local source for help in all your needs.

    Perhaps I can be so bold as to suggest we arrange a "meet and greet" over at the Broadlands Sports Bar for a pint? I have a ton of information on equipment and have been also very active in digital media playback via a home theater PC and network server operation. I would love the excuse to get together with others and talk projects.

    I am about 6-12 months away from finishing my basement and building an upgraded media room of my own so lets plan and help each other.... let me know what you think.

    Dave...
     
  3. Evolution Audio Video

    Evolution Audio Video New Member

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    Visit the Evolution Audio Video website at www.evolutionav.com and let us know if you have any questions. We are located in Tysons Corner and have four large showrooms featuring two front projection theater set-ups. You can view three different front projection systems and multiple surround sound configurations in many price categories.

    Good luck!
     
  4. exlondoner

    exlondoner New Member

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    Dave, great idea.
    I actually had Nathan just do a flat panel install in my living room and the work was flawless, very professional chap.

    Let's see if we can set up a time and share some ideas.

    Our room is approx 19x13.

    Cheers,
    mick

     
  5. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

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    I've in the past been a HTPC guy (mostly MCE and XBMC) but have been migrating to networked media players like the WDTV, etc. I'm waiting for the Apple TV 3 (~$90) to be jailbroken and probably will run XBMC (more customization, better metadata) on it for streaming of all my media from the NAS.

    On a side note I just tried out the HDMI over cat5e/cat6 extenders and it works great... much easier that trying to pull heavy gauge HDMI with connectors through conduit, etc.
     
  6. jblnd

    jblnd New Member

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

    I've in the past been a HTPC guy (mostly MCE and XBMC) but have been migrating to networked media players like the WDTV, etc. I'm waiting for the Apple TV 3 (~$90) to be jailbroken and probably will run XBMC (more customization, better metadata) on it for streaming of all my media from the NAS.

    On a side note I just tried out the HDMI over cat5e/cat6 extenders and it works great... much easier that trying to pull heavy gauge HDMI with connectors through conduit, etc.


    The only thing I understood in that whole comment was, "On a side note".
     
  7. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

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    jblnd... this explanation should clear things up: Explanation
     
  8. jblnd

    jblnd New Member

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    Thanks for clearing that up . . .
     
  9. esubscribe

    esubscribe Gadget Freak!

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    @Mick/@Dave... I'd definitely be interested in hearing your ideas and share what I've done so far, if you guys plan to meet, as I've also been thinking about setting up a Projector in my basement.

    At the moment, I'm running WHS 2011 on an upgraded EX490 which acts as the central media streamer for vids. I was never quite interested in ATV2, and missed purchasing an ATV2 but now am stuck w/ an ATV3, and eagerly awaiting the jailbreak to install XBMC, similar to Dave above. Also, the likes of CouchPotato/SickBeard/Qouch/SAB work great on the iDevices, for those who know what these mean (sorry not quite elaborating further)!!

    I also have a HDHomeRunPrime (CableCard via OpenBand) connected to a separate HTPC for Live TV and recording TV shows (streamed to 2 TVs via XBOX 360 Extender and Revo 1600) ... this has been working quite well for the past 15 months except for TNT recorded shows that have a Copy Once flag, hence unable to play on my other WMC PC.

    Look forward to hearing from others who have similar or much advanced setup! :)

    Cheers!
    Harish
     
  10. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

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    sickbeard is darn nice 8)
     
  11. pauleyc

    pauleyc Member

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    I have a dedicated room and implicate myself as a being 'off the deep end' of HT. Room is 14x20 and I'm currently running 9.2 but have the speakers for 11.2, which is in the works. For those that don't know that is regular 5.1 surround (L/C/R + 2 surrounds + 1 subwoofer) then add 2 back surrounds + 2 DSX wides (flank the L/R) + 2 subwoofers. Channels 10 & 11 are heights that are just outside and above the mains. I could go into a long winded answer as to *why* but lets just leave it as I could ;) All this is built around a 110" (1.78:1) screen.

    I mainly use the room for Bluray and UFC (and the occasional football) ... anything else, I just watch it upstairs. Haven't ventured into HTPC. I spend a good deal of time on avsforums.com and while I have never met them, there are two other 'dedicated' HT enthusiasts on the site from Broadlands that have pimp'n rooms.

    esubscribe - homerun prime looks like a nice unit, was afraid of the WAF of being tied to a PC?? The new Ceton DVR/Echo looks promising (big fan of Ceton products).

    I love to talk HT (and drink beer). :)
     
  12. exlondoner

    exlondoner New Member

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    Paul, this is exactly the kind of discussion I wanted to open up :bow:

    That sounds like a very nice setup, my room will be approx 13 x 19 within the basement and closed off so light will not be an issue.

    I'm also part of AVS forum which is fantastic community.

    May I ask, did you do all of the installations yourself?

    Mick

     
  13. pauleyc

    pauleyc Member

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    So your room is pretty close to mine. What model of home?

    I did all my own work with the exception of laying the carpet .. all inspected/permitted.

    There are unique elements to my construction that had the inspectors scratching their heads. First, all the walls are two layers of 5/8" drywall, so they are over an 1" thick. This makes the room very rigid/dead. I have a stage in the front that is filled with 2000lbs of sand to give it mass (think of a hollow stage as being drum-like). And finally the back portion of the room has an 8.5" riser to allow a second row of seats (4+4). I also have a separate room for the equipment.

    I'm currently in the process of redoing the acoustic treatments (absorbers/diffusers/bass traps). Initially I was exhausted by the whole construction process and just buttoned it up and quit. Now comes the tedious job of taking measurements and treating the negative aspects. Probably way of the top w/r/t detail ...

    #1 - The image produced by a projector (for movies) produces a far better movie experience than other technology. You don't have to spend a ton of money to do it either. I have the same projector used by Broadlands during flicks in the sticks and I got it for under $1k. I don't plan on spending real money on a projector until the rest of the room is done. The technology moves way to fast.

    #2 - ANY bluray player will produce a near perfect image. Its all digital (1's and 0's) and if you spend more, it should be for other reasons .. not a better picture or sound.

    #3 - For a true HT experience, you have to have a subwoofer (ideally 4 :) ). There is a valid reason, but its long winded and is different for each person/application.

    #4 - IMO, most of your money should always be spent on speakers and/or video devices (projector) b/c that's where money makes a difference; however refer to #1 about the video device. Speakers have the hardest job of converting electrical energy to mechanical energy. The more you spend the more you get .. almost linearly (to a point).

    #5 - A HT is only as good as the room you put it in. Put $3k worth of speakers in a bathroom and its going to sound horrible. A true HT has some thought towards acoustics and it doesn't have to be expensive.

    Those are my top 5.
     
  14. exlondoner

    exlondoner New Member

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    We just moved into the Windermere community and had Pulte build the largest of their models.

    Strange as it may sound, the completed basement excluded one room in the basement, the room that I am planning my dedicated HT in, a blessing in disguise perhaps.


    I would also like to include a riser, and possibly having the equipment outside of the room... may be.

    I had a small setup in the previous home with an SVS subwoofer (now sold), and mirage omni says which I still have, but won't be using in this setup.

    The stage idea with the sand sounds interesting, my primary concern is sound deadening as I'd like to keep sound inside the room.

    Would love to check out your setup one day and grab a drink.

    Cheers mate.
     
  15. Zeratul

    Zeratul Well-Known Member

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    ok awesome topics for discussion and I think now we need to get a date to agree. Can we aim for next Friday the 27th? I am so glad that someone finally started asking the right questions... and after we get together I am sure a few of us will be over at pauleyc's house next!!!

    Lets plan to meet at the Broadlands Sports Bar and Grill over by the Sunoco.
     
  16. Mike-and-Kim

    Mike-and-Kim Member

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    Good points, and multiple subs makes a difference. We have 2x 15" at the moment, but have had 4 set up in the past. One common selling point of inexpensive setups is that bass is non-directional, which is not true. There are other reasons though that you want multiple.

    The most impressive bass I ever heard was a house a guy had built with 9x 15", the roof of the house was the mouth of a horn (looking up). If you looked carefully you could notice it tapered back to where the bank of 15's was. Had Klipsch horns x3 (each also with 15's) for the mains and center.

    It played incredibly loud with no distortion, so it did not sound as loud as a typical setup. Where you noticed it when it was cranked was your pant legs moving, and when you talked it could warble your voice like talking into a fan.

    My preference is also using horns, more efficient but also the controlled directivity helps with the sound. At one point I ran some Altec speakers that were actually out of an old theater, about the size of refrigerators. Theaters, and most live setups still use horns for the benefits mentioned.
     
  17. pauleyc

    pauleyc Member

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    Good stuff. I would disagree on one point in that bass below 80hz is truly non-directional. Now there are benefits to sub placement which is somewhat contrary but that has to do with wavelengths. For example some like to place subs near field (flanking the couch for example) to get more "kick" from the mid bass but corner loading probably produces the best and loudess) response in most rooms.

    It's interesting that you can tell where your nulls (dips) and peaks will be just using the dimensions of the room because they are based on wavelength calculations and the speed of sound (using a room mode calculator). Multiple subs helps smooth this response (and gives you more headroom). Sounds like your friend had loaded enclosure ... those can be real SPL monsters.

    Horns are definitely efficient and dynamic. They are good for home theater. Most theaters use them for that reason (ie they play loud/clean), but in home theater you can achieve the same without horns because of the smaller environment. Its really gets down to preference. Speakers generally fall into two categories and I refer to them east coast / west coast. Many of the brands from the west are ported enclosure with brighter horn or metal dome tweeters. East coast speakers seem to be more acoustic suspension or sealed enclosure with flatter soft dome speakers. I'm a east coast guy but it's like owning a Ford vs Toyota, there isn't a right answer. Both "can" produce a flat response, but will still sound different. If they are both flat, you would expect them to sound the same but that's where the different technologies come in.

    I love to do woodworking and would love to experiment with building my own speakers but with three small kids, I barely have time to watch a movie these days.

    I like the idea of getting together. Next Friday might work (but in general week nights work better) and it sounds like we might have at least a table for four!
     
  18. pauleyc

    pauleyc Member

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  19. exlondoner

    exlondoner New Member

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    Certainly count me in for our get together, glad I started this thread up.
     
  20. Mike-and-Kim

    Mike-and-Kim Member

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    80Hz is a good rule of thumb for localization, but there are other subtleties. Subs commonly have 10% 20% (or more) harmonic distortion. Strong 3rd harmonic and all of a sudden you can have significant output at 240Hz. Plus the filters don't cut that well, depending.

    It's been years since I've followed HT happenings, in a previous life I worked on the design of a surround sound monitor electronics box for post production work. Topped out at 7.1, which was a good number since that was the number of balanced lines that would fit on a DB25 connector. Everyone connected with those, except the problem was nobody ever decided on metric or US screws for the jackposts...

    This guy used to do a lot of good articles on subs that someone may find useful:

    http://www.nousaine.com/nousaine_tech_articles.html

    I still run big horns in the main rig, and vintage Quad 57 electrostatics in the other rig.
     

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