my home theater "build" log

[purbeast0]

as some of you may know i'm in the process of setting up a home theater in my basement.

so far my current equipment is as follows:

Projector - Panasonic AE8000 - http://i.imgur.com/Z4CPJh.jpg

AVR - Denon 4311ci - http://i.imgur.com/M4HWth.jpg

I finally got around to projecting the image on the wall where i am going to be putting my screen. here are a few pics of that i took the other day.

http://imgur.com/a/NFEJ4

the size of that image (in 16:9) is probably close to 130". i'm most likely going to go 120" screen, possibly 126", kind of depends on which screen i buy. but i have to do a bit more research and test the size out again before i decide.

i also immediately noticed how much reflection happened with the light colored walls, specifically the wall i projected onto. i know a lot has to do with the actual wall being the 'screen' for my demo purposes, but i've decided to paint that wall a dark red color.

last night i got it all set up and it's ready to paint, here are some pics:

http://www.avsforum.com/content/type/61/id/86703/

http://www.avsforum.com/content/type/61/id/86704/

so that is where i stand now. i am going to be demo'ing out some speakers this weekend at a local store which will hopefully help me decide which 5.1 setup i want to get.

then after that i will decide on the other details and post in here as well what i come up with. i'll update as progress on it happens. im hoping to have it all done by xmas but in reality i'm not sure if that is going to happen.

 

[purbeast0]

well i began painting on wednesday night, and after my first coat it looked like shit lol. but i'm a noob to painting walls in general since this is the first time i've done it. i'm going to need either 3 or 4 coats of paint most likely.

here are pics after the first coat.

http://i.imgur.com/ZbTI8.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/1dAuih.jpg

so yea, that looks like total ass. my mom has painted a ton so she came over last night to help show me how to do it correctly and what not, and after she laughed a bit this is what i ended up with after the 2nd coat.

http://i.imgur.com/RHKLlh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Wf4gSh.jpg

so i think 1 or maybe 2 more coats is all i will need to get it looking even and dark how i want it to be.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

What a milf. Hubba hubba.

 

[sdifox]

well i began painting on wednesday night, and after my first coat it looked like shit lol. but i'm a noob to painting walls in general since this is the first time i've done it. i'm going to need either 3 or 4 coats of paint most likely.

here are pics after the first coat.

http://i.imgur.com/ZbTI8.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/1dAuih.jpg

so yea, that looks like total ass. my mom has painted a ton so she came over last night to help show me how to do it correctly and what not, and after she laughed a bit this is what i ended up with after the 2nd coat.

http://i.imgur.com/RHKLlh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Wf4gSh.jpg

so i think 1 or maybe 2 more coats is all i will need to get it looking even and dark how i want it to be.

err did you prime???

 

[purbeast0]

err did you prime???

it is the paint/prime combination. if i were to do this all over again i'd probably go with benjamin moore paint after reading up on it, but i am a noob to painting so i did not know about it prior to purchasing this.

put on 3rd coat last night, definitely looking better.

http://i.imgur.com/10iYoh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/YeXOzh.jpg

that is still wet. now that it's dry the unevenness is even harder to see in most areas. going to use the rest of the paint today with a 4th coat and hopefully that will do it.

 

[Ketchup]

You picked a great color. Can't wait to see more of your progress. Hope you are having fun with it. How many seats are you going to have?

 

[sdifox]

it is the paint/prime combination. if i were to do this all over again i'd probably go with benjamin moore paint after reading up on it, but i am a noob to painting so i did not know about it prior to purchasing this.

put on 3rd coat last night, definitely looking better.

http://i.imgur.com/10iYoh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/YeXOzh.jpg

that is still wet. now that it's dry the unevenness is even harder to see in most areas. going to use the rest of the paint today with a 4th coat and hopefully that will do it.

I never bought into the two in one. I had to cover dark forrest green. I did like three coats of primer.

 

[purbeast0]

I never bought into the two in one. I had to cover dark forrest green. I did like three coats of primer.

yea this is my first time painting a wall so i really had no clue wtf i was doing hah.

i just put my 4th coat on and it looks good so far still a little unevenness but i'm hoping as it dries it evens out.

 

[sdifox]

yea this is my first time painting a wall so i really had no clue wtf i was doing hah.

i just put my 4th coat on and it looks good so far still a little unevenness but i'm hoping as it dries it evens out.

Basement is the right place to learn:biggrin:

 

[s44]

Forget speakers... what sub are you going to use in that space?

 

[purbeast0]

alright 4th coat is on, here are the pics:

http://i.imgur.com/xLPcBh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5zEBuh.jpg

it may look like there is some uneven-ness in the pics, but that is just the lights reflecting. it actually is all blended together just fine, with maybe 2 areas that i can tell if i look hard enough. don't think it warrants another coat though.

so you mentioned speakers and subs ...

i was leaning towards klipsch rf7's and matching klipsch for the area, but today i went to listen to some more. i had previously listened to the b&w cm9's and matching center/surrounds, and those were the only 2 i had demo'd.

today i listened to some golden ears, monitors, rf7's, and cm9's again. i was at the store for a good 2 hours.

i am now converted back to b&w and am going to 99% be getting the cm9's, cmc2 for center, and cm1 for surrounds. i just like the overall sound of those better, and they are giving me a decent price.

as far as subs go, i demo'd a 10" JL sub today (don't remember the model # but pretty sure it is like $2500 for it) and it sounded nice. they didn't have the 12 or 13 inch one on display. they also did not have the velodyne's on demo that i wanted to check out.

i don't know much about subs and haven't done TOO much research, but i may lean towards one of those brands and get one in the $3k price range. i was initially going to go around the $2k price range, but i think i'm going to pony up another grand and get a better one.

 

[sdifox]

alright 4th coat is on, here are the pics:

http://i.imgur.com/xLPcBh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5zEBuh.jpg

it may look like there is some uneven-ness in the pics, but that is just the lights reflecting. it actually is all blended together just fine, with maybe 2 areas that i can tell if i look hard enough. don't think it warrants another coat though.

so you mentioned speakers and subs ...

i was leaning towards klipsch rf7's and matching klipsch for the area, but today i went to listen to some more. i had previously listened to the b&w cm9's and matching center/surrounds, and those were the only 2 i had demo'd.

today i listened to some golden ears, monitors, rf7's, and cm9's again. i was at the store for a good 2 hours.

i am now converted back to b&w and am going to 99% be getting the cm9's, cmc2 for center, and cm1 for surrounds. i just like the overall sound of those better, and they are giving me a decent price.

as far as subs go, i demo'd a 10" JL sub today (don't remember the model # but pretty sure it is like $2500 for it) and it sounded nice. they didn't have the 12 or 13 inch one on display. they also did not have the velodyne's on demo that i wanted to check out.

i don't know much about subs and haven't done TOO much research, but i may lean towards one of those brands and get one in the $3k price range. i was initially going to go around the $2k price range, but i think i'm going to pony up another grand and get a better one.

I say build one. You can build a monstrous sub at a fraction of the cost.

Something like http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/esantane/movies/ibsub.html

 

[purbeast0]

i have zero wood working skills and would just rather have a professionally made one. i may check out some of the DIY stuff on AVS though and see if anyone is selling one. when i demo'd the klipsch setup at this guys house he had his own that he built which was awesome, however total cost was over $3k.

 

[Anubis]

at 3k for a sub but buy a JTR Captivator S2 or a Seaton Submersive and be done with it

or DIY

 

[purbeast0]

at 3k for a sub but buy a JTR Captivator S2 or a Seaton Submersive and be done with it

or DIY

i was hoping you would chime in since you seemed to know a bit about subs from the other posts.

if you were going to spend around $2k for a sub, or possibly $2500, which would you go with?

i really have not researched subs in general yet. i need to start. they seem hard to demo as well.

if you were to spend $3k on a sub, would you get a really nice $3k sub or would you get 2 $1500 subs? i'm leaning towards 1 good one.

 

[Anubis]

at the 3k price point for me it would be the JTR Cap S2 or the Orbit Shifter (assuming it would fit) the orbit shifter has a stupid amount of output and power, its just really large and well really large, if you are gonna place it behind a screen a non issue

the Cap S2 has slightly less output (still amazing) but looks a bit better and is smaller

Jeff may even recommend a S1 or ported Cap to you based on your space/needs. Calling him costs nothing and he will not pressure you into something you don't want

in the 2k-2500 range you have all other JTR subs and the Seaton Submersive /F2 i would prob choose the Seaton, but you really cant go wrong with either. the SVS SB13 Ultra also falls here and is a very popular and great sub

I would choose 1 sub over 2 cheaper ones
if doing duals at 1500 each i would do 2 Rythmik FV15HPs or dual PSA XV30s
1 sub is simply easier to integrate and EQ,

 

[Anubis]

dual Epik empires at 1500 is actually another option, thats a pretty great deal actually. however there have been some questions about reliability and customer support with Epik lately.

I have one and have had no issues, and have heard duals and they sound great

 

[Howard]

i was hoping you would chime in since you seemed to know a bit about subs from the other posts.

if you were going to spend around $2k for a sub, or possibly $2500, which would you go with?

i really have not researched subs in general yet. i need to start. they seem hard to demo as well.

if you were to spend $3k on a sub, would you get a really nice $3k sub or would you get 2 $1500 subs? i'm leaning towards 1 good one.

Definitely two. Or even three. 3-4 is ideal as it evens out the in-room response, if you know how to position them and set them up.

 

[Ketchup]

Definitely two. Or even three. 3-4 is ideal as it evens out the in-room response, if you know how to position them and set them up.

This is what I would think as well, if it is a fairly large room.

 

[sdifox]

i have zero wood working skills and would just rather have a professionally made one. i may check out some of the DIY stuff on AVS though and see if anyone is selling one. when i demo'd the klipsch setup at this guys house he had his own that he built which was awesome, however total cost was over $3k.

Did you look at what I linked? A monkey can build that, all right angles :biggrin:

Most challenging part is cutting the circle.

 

[Paul98]

I would for sure get two subs instead of one so you can get better in room response. That along with running Audyssey in the receiver should give you great results. Look at unbiased reviews and make sure you get something that has a good low bass capability at least around 16hz. The suggestions here are good. Or check out SVSound.com or HSUresearch.com both have good subs.

Correct sub placement and setup is key for subwoofers, even the best sub in the world can sound like crap if not placed and setup correctly.

 

[boomhower]

For a room that size I also vote dual subs.

 

[blackangst1]

For a room that big I would go for dual 15's. My choice would be these Hsu Dual VTF 15H's. Youre over at AVS forum so you know Hsu's reputation.

 

[purbeast0]

and the paint job is all finished!

http://i.imgur.com/p76WQh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QvZTfh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/AHshNh.jpg

there are 2 areas along the baseboard i may touch up a bit where red got onto the white portion, but other than that i'm pleased with the results.

think i am going to start looking at screens and ceiling mounts this week for the projector.

 

[sdifox]

Missed a spot :whiste: