Home Theatre

[Silverwind]

sort of off topic..

When you build things such as control panels and cabinets.. it helps you appreciate good workmanship...  I am in process of doing some research on how I want my sound setup to be for my cabinet (will use as jukebox also)

I stumbled upon this guys website where he is making a home theatre..  all I can say is I'm flabergasted!!!

http://www.devotionsbyerik.com/HT-The%20Framing.htm

Wow some good work and lots of it... i almost broke a sweat going through it

[SONIC]

Really interesting project, and he succeded well I think Very cool, if I had the room, the cash and the time+skills to make anything like that, I would begin today Just think I might would have used a projector instead of a tv-set.

[SirPoonga]

That's actually mild.  He's not using top end stuff.  Plus he didn't put tinted glass in front of his componants.  I hate lights while watching movies.

See, if I build a home theater when I get a house, it's need to be high end 16 speaker system.  Drop down screen and a projector.  The components will be RF controlled and behind me behind tinted glass (as the projector owuld be behind me too).  Pressing one button would dim the lights and lower the screen, which many people do.  Also would need mame on it

[aj6500]

Looks pretty decent, but if you're going to that much trouble and expense why not get a bigger tv to mount in the wall.  Kinda puny.

[CthulhuLuke]

Ok, that is pretty freakin crazy!  He must have spent 50 bucks on rolls of film alone!!  Yah, SP is right, he didn't use the HIGHEST end speaker system, but when you get higher, it begins to tack on at least another 2 grand, that's an at least for sure.  Basically you can go to as high quailty as you want, and you'll just spend more money, so he probably just looked at what he wanted to spend on the speakers, and got those.
   I personally don't care much for the projection screens, but I'm totally down with a much bigger TV in there for all that work.  I'd probably go with a 50" flat screen wega or something that has amazing color.  I'd also for sure have my Playstation 2, SexBox, Dreamcast, Gamecube, and PC all hooked up to that system, there is no way I'd pass up playing video games in such a nice room.
   My only complaint is the Jesus Freak-ness of his website, just go to his normal website and look.... ewww... http://www.devotionsbyerik.com/  I'm guessing they're not gonna watch any R-rated movies in there, what's the point?
     -Luke

[Frostillicus]

Well, I don't really care about his religious preferences - it's all good to me.  But man did he put a lot of work into that theatre - I really like the seats, myself.  I would have used a projector, though he actually says that in one of his blips (i believe he said it was too expensive).  
Overall looks like a great place to catch a flic, and with all the soundproofing he did I'm sure he won't have to worry about noise pollution.

[BobA]

After spending as much time and money on the physical construction of his home theatre I cannot believe that a projection system would be too expensive.  Maybe just too expensive right now.  Hope he adds it later for a real theatre experience.  

Where is the popcorn machine?

BobA

[NickC]

You want to see some hardcore home movie theaters... then check out, www.hometheaterforum.com a very respectable, and recognized forum, even by the movie studios themselves...

[AceTKK]

FWIW he's planning to add a projector + screen later.  He had a little blurb about how the wiring in the ceiling was already in place.  I'm glad, that t.v. looks way too small.

-Ace-

[SirPoonga]

Yah, SP is right, he didn't use the HIGHEST end speaker system

Actually, I said components.  I have only $600 speakers but to me they sound awesome.  I have heard $5000 speakers, granted they can be louder, and do sound better, but not enough to justify it for me.

[aj6500]

It's the law of dimenishing returns, applies to everything.

[DeathMonk]

That's actually mild.  He's not using top end stuff.  Plus he didn't put tinted glass in front of his componants.  I hate lights while watching movies.

See, if I build a home theater when I get a house, it's need to be high end 16 speaker system.  Drop down screen and a projector.  The components will be RF controlled and behind me behind tinted glass (as the projector owuld be behind me too).  Pressing one button would dim the lights and lower the screen, which many people do.  Also would need mame on it

I guess not everyone's a zillionaire like you SP  

[NickC]

What kind of speakers do you have SP?

[planetjay]

Plus he didn't put tinted glass in front of his componants.  I hate lights while watching movies.

The components will be RF controlled and behind me behind tinted glass (as the projector owuld be behind me too).

He put a black door. No lights. No problem. And yes the rack should be in the back. With a DLP projector overhead.

[planetjay]

He must have spent 50 bucks on rolls of film alone!!
     -Luke

Ummm... Digital camera?

[Mike]

I think the guy did a pretty darn good job for a first pass. He is making his room into a home theatre and that is a lot of work beyond the components. It's probably just like everyone here's first control panel. You put it together so it works. Then after using it for a while you decide what you'd like better or want to change. Then you build another that is better that you spent more time on. You don't want to spend too much time or money on the first one until you get the thing running and know how stuff is going to work. Same for this guy.

[Jakobud]

After all that fine craftmenship at least he didn't stick in a dumb little 17" Tv in there like some people would....

[Silverwind]

You want to see some hardcore home movie theaters... then check out, www.hometheaterforum.com a very respectable, and recognized forum, even by the movie studios themselves...

hehe this is where I got this one from

[Silverwind]

After all that fine craftmenship at least he didn't stick in a dumb little 17" Tv in there like some people would....

The free "COLOR" TV you get when you order your craftmatic adjustable bed

[RandyT]

As opinionated as I am, I have to make a comment on this .

The guy did an awesome job on the room.  Obviously more talent there than the average "treehouser".

But the whole project seems a little "bass-ackward".

I'm probably wrong, but I thought the whole idea of having a "home-theater" was having the theater experience at home.  Not necessarily the room and the building, but a big screen and digital sound.

If it were me, I'd have used more cash to make it functional first, and pretty second .  As it stands, it's more like a fancy TV room than a theater.

I have a 12x20 that's begging for me to finish it off for something like this, but in the mean time, I watch 10' wide movies with digital surround in my living room on a pull-down screen.

When you watch a movie like that, you don't notice the rest of the room much

RandyT

[SirPoonga]

What kind of speakers do you have SP?

Paradigm Phantom mains, Polk Audio rears, Cerwin-Vega center, my sub based off the 10" titanic woofer from partsexpress.com

[Frostillicus]

As opinionated as I am, I have to make a comment on this .

The guy did an awesome job on the room.  Obviously more talent there than the average "treehouser".

But the whole project seems a little "bass-ackward".

I'm probably wrong, but I thought the whole idea of having a "home-theater" was having the theater experience at home.  Not necessarily the room and the building, but a big screen and digital sound.

If it were me, I'd have used more cash to make it functional first, and pretty second .  As it stands, it's more like a fancy TV room than a theater.

I have a 12x20 that's begging for me to finish it off for something like this, but in the mean time, I watch 10' wide movies with digital surround in my living room on a pull-down screen.

When you watch a movie like that, you don't notice the rest of the room much

RandyT

I would much rather have a 'decent' system in a dedicated mini-theatre room like this guy's (though I'd use a projector), than to have an over the top system spread out all over the living room.   There's more to the experience than just the functionality, and the little theatre, I'm sure, is pretty nice in providing that movie-going-experience.  Sitting in your living room watching a movie, even on a big screen, is still sitting in your living room.  

Sort of like building a desktop control panel(functionality) vs. building a nice upright cab (total experience).

[shmokes]

I have to agree with the dissenters.  This guy did a very professional job, but why would you want to completely recreate the informal, generic atmosphere of a public theater in your home.  That's like recreating the atmosphere of a dentist office lobby in your living room -- well, not really but you see what I mean.

You know, he could stick gum to the bottom of the chairs and grind popcorn into the carpet if he really wants authenticity.

That room is missing a warmth that, IMHO, should exist in every room in the house.  It is totally inconducive to any kind of social experience.  There's no bar (common, what if you're showing Jackass -- you can't do that and keep everyone sober).  There are no chairs that remotely face eachother (allowing people to look at eachother while they talk).  If you had people over and planned to watch a movie people would file in, watch the movie, and promptly file back out of the room.  If you want that experience, just save yourself a few thousand dollars and see the movie on a screen that's about 10 times the size at your local theater.

Oh...and movie theaters use those chairs because they are economical and are going to get thrashed by the public.  Why in God's name would anyone put those uncomforable hunks of cheap-ass trash in their home?  Once again, why not just grind some popcorn into the carpet with your shoe?

[RandyT]

I would much rather have a 'decent' system in a dedicated mini-theatre room like this guy's (though I'd use a projector), than to have an over the top system spread out all over the living room.   There's more to the experience than just the functionality, and the little theatre, I'm sure, is pretty nice in providing that movie-going-experience.  Sitting in your living room watching a movie, even on a big screen, is still sitting in your living room.  

Actually. I don't have gargantuan speakers.  They aren't really necessary because once you are able to shake the walls with quality sound, the rest is overkill.  Just a set of mid-sized Bose hanging in the corners of the room (not those little cubes, real speakers ), a 12-inch powered sub next to the sofa, and a 7-foot free-standing rack of electronics in the rear corner.  The 2000 lumen DLP projector shines through a hole in the wall and projects against a screen that pulls down on the other side of the room.  It's positioned so that the screen just clears the 52" HDTV (you still have to have something for normal TV watching) and arcade games, so no wasted space.

So with the exception of the roll-up screen and one line of dimmable clear rope light on the ceiling, there's not much in the living room that wouldn't be in a "normal" living room.  Unless you count the arcade games.  

To each his own I guess.  I know people that have "formal" living rooms, Dedicated TV and/or "sitting" rooms and the like.  So something like this theater project wouldn't be too far off the mark.

I guess I'm just one of those guys that likes "living" in his living room  If a visitor doesn't like it, they know where the door is (and if not, I'll show them)      But, after saying all of this, I will still have a room where the toys will go in the future.  But the chairs will be comfortable and it will be more of a "rec" room than a theater replica.

Sort of like building a desktop control panel(functionality) vs. building a nice upright cab (total experience).

But most people will start with a an authentic control panel.  I almost think that is the reason why the Lusid plans are so popular.  They let someone make the panel to begin with and then mount it into the cabinet later, when they want the "full" experience.

Just my 2-bits

RandyT

[Frostillicus]

I would much rather have a 'decent' system in a dedicated mini-theatre room like this guy's (though I'd use a projector), than to have an over the top system spread out all over the living room.   There's more to the experience than just the functionality, and the little theatre, I'm sure, is pretty nice in providing that movie-going-experience.  Sitting in your living room watching a movie, even on a big screen, is still sitting in your living room.  


Actually. I don't have gargantuan speakers.  

Never said you did  

So with the exception of the roll-up screen and one line of dimmable clear rope light on the ceiling, there's not much in the living room that wouldn't be in a "normal" living room.  Unless you count the arcade games.  

I guess I'm just one of those guys that likes "living" in his living room  

I think you missed my point.  It is: I like sitting in my living room, as you do, but I am still reminded of being in the living room as I watch a movie.  That is what a little theatre like the homebuilt one tries to avoid - it creates an atmosphere of being IN a theatre (apart from just the sound system).  

But most people will start with a an authentic control panel.  I almost think that is the reason why the Lusid plans are so popular.  They let someone make the panel to begin with and then mount it into the cabinet later, when they want the "full" experience.

RandyT

Right, and most people start with the normal home theater setup like yours - but some people want more and aren't satisfied with 'just' the components (like the dude who built this set-up).  Adding a dedicated room like the theatre is the icing on the cake,  exactly like the full lusid cabinet vs 'just' the authentic control panel.

I don't understand why people wouldn't want a little home theatre in their house, given the choice between nothing at all and the theatre (It's not my first choice, mind you, a bar is nice, rec-room, hot-tub, etc..).  Think how cool it would be to invite the gang over to watch caddyshack, starwars, etc....plus you wouldn't have to put up with any acne-riddled surly ticket kids.  

[RandyT]

Actually. I don't have gargantuan speakers.  

Never said you did  

Just trying to illustrate lack of "all over the living room"

I think you missed my point.  It is: I like sitting in my living room, as you do, but I am still reminded of being in the living room as I watch a movie.  That is what a little theatre like the homebuilt one tries to avoid - it creates an atmosphere of being IN a theatre (apart from just the sound system).  

But people go to the theater to see a movie.  They don't go to the movies to see a theater

My only real point is that I think this project placed emphasis on the wrong aspect of "home theater"

To put an arcade analogy on this, why don't people make a room that looks like an arcade and then plop a couple PC's and game pads into it and call it the "home arcade"?  The machines are what it's all about, not the "ambience"

...most people start with the normal home theater setup like yours - but some people want more and aren't satisfied with 'just' the components (like the dude who built this set-up).  Adding a dedicated room like the theatre is the icing on the cake,  exactly like the full lusid cabinet vs 'just' the authentic control panel.

Strangely, we are saying the same thing here.  But my point is, a display is a display, sound systems are sound systems, etc....  We know this to be true because of the wide variety of these types of components used in home arcade setups.  The one part that sets the machine apart is an authentic control panel.  This component is generally agreed to be one that makes the arcade experience come alive.  A home theater with a small screen (ie. measured in inches, not feet) is akin to an arcade cabinet with a gampad hanging from the front of it.
 

I don't understand why people wouldn't want a little home theatre in their house, given the choice between nothing at all and the theatre (It's not my first choice, mind you, a bar is nice, rec-room, hot-tub, etc..).  Think how cool it would be to invite the gang over to watch caddyshack, starwars, etc....plus you wouldn't have to put up with any acne-riddled surly ticket kids.  

I'm sure most people would.  I think the rift comes when there's an attempt to duplicate some of the worst parts of the movie-going experience for the sake of authenticity, while at the same time skimping on the parts that entice you to go to those god-forsaken places  

I guess I'm up to 4 bits now

RandyT

[u_rebelscum]

Hey, guys, I think it's okay the way it was done, and the order it was done.  Cut the guy some slack.

To put this in prespective, the home theater room was built as part of building the whole frickin' house.  The last part, true, but he had plans for the "HTR" before the wood started going up.  It was easier to build it with the rest of the house than do it as retro fitting a room.  

Building when he did meant he didn't have to leave the HTR unused until he had the projector and all other components some people are saying he should have had.  The equipment problably wouldn't work in any other room in the house so they'd be of little use until the HTR was finished.

The TV is a 46" HDTV.  Not huge, not "threater" size, but pretty big IMO.  The couch can be moved closer if the screen is "too small".  I still feal the 32" TV in my living room @ 10' is "better than needed".  If I did a room like his, I'd want ~60" HDTV quality widescreen TV, but still 46" isn't that bad.

Dude put a small stage so his kids could act out some plays on it; so the room's more than just a home movie threater room.  A not-quite arcade room (like the one discribed in an earlier post) can be called a "game room", but is there anything else besides "home threater room" that can discribe a room with a stage, with a better than average TV and sound system, with "audience" seats, and with sound proofing?  It's a "home threater room", more so than some others with 10' screens.

It's still WIP.  His next step is the theater curtains.  He still can add the projector people are saying should be there, but until then, that HTR can be used to watch, say, an action movie "with the guys", away from the high traffic living room, where the 'frig and cars driving by can be heard, and the wife wants to watch that TV show instead.  Or the kids could act out Wizard of Oz for the relatives.

IMO, his HTR is like an home arcade room decked out like an arcade, but only with one cocktail cab.  Better than what I have at home, better than the non-existing arcades near here, and way better than the pizza joint with one cab I don't really like, crowded with 5 sub-teens that kick ---my bottom--- on the game, and with bad power that keeps shorting while I'm playing.  

Sure, I do agree his HTR would be better with a bigger TV, just like the example "HAR" would be better with a standup cab, but even so, both are what they are being called even before the improvements.  And I'd be happy to have either one.

[wee beastie]

I find it hysterical that you guys are giving this guy some flack just because he built a home theater.  For god's sake, you want the "authentic" feel of an arcade cab, but he isn't allowed to get the "authentic" feel of a movie theater?  Yes, his TV isn't enormous, but you do things in steps.  It's pretty obvious that he's a carpenter or contractor.  He obviously had all the tools already.  So building the thing was presumbably cheaper than the equipment as it looks like he did all his own work.  Give him some time to get the components.  Was your arcade cab "finished" as soon as you got a computer in a cab?

[shmokes]

WRONG!!! Up against the wall with him, I say!  He must be destroyed.  Immediately.

[RandyT]

WRONG!!! Up against the wall with him, I say!  He must be destroyed.  Immediately.

LOL!  

RandyT

[ItzMR2u]

I'd like to know how many of you who are giving this guy a bad time are actually home owners?  I being one in So Cal can tell you that all that talk about the high end equipment you'd have in your theater might be a liitle harder to justify when you have to put out thousands of dollars a month for everything else in your life.  I remember living at home and having so much cash do everything I wanted first rate.  However, when you have a couple of new cars, a half-million dollar home, preschool/daycare costs, ect. ect. ect., purchasing that oh so high end home theater can become not so much the neccessity anymore.  I think the guy has done a great job that made him happy.   I have to agree with shmokes though that I wouldn't want to dedicate an entire room of my home to make it a movie theater, to stale for me.  I'll take my 56" HDTV and Kenwood THX reciever with the 6.1 setup in the full wall oak unit setup in the "familyroom", and enjoy.  But that's what makes me(and more importantly my wife), happy.  Speaking of which that guy is lucky since that's what he wanted and his wife went for it.  I can't think of to many of my friends whose wives would give up a room and OK that project!

[Frostillicus]

Heh now I don't know who is "not cutting this guy slack" and who is anymore.   Read my posts, I think it is a cool idea.   This post was about opinions and discussions on the home theatre project, not opinions on the opinions.   I guess this post here is about opinions on the opinions of the opini...oh nevermind  

Besides, it's all about personal priorities - no one forces anyone to get married and have kids, or to buy a house and get into thousands of dollars of debt.        

[RandyT]

...

Besides, it's all about personal priorities - no one forces anyone to get married and have kids, or to buy a house and get into thousands of dollars of debt.        

Yeah, no kidding.  If that's the reason he didn't put a decent projector in his "home theater", he should have bought a house that only cost $497,000 and swung the other 3 grand into a projector.  Or used his head and bought "good used" for the second vehicle instead of new .

People should be so fortunate to have those problems.  That kind of debt goes hand-in-hand with a very substantial household income.  I'd say this guy has had enough "slack" cut for him in life already  

RandyT
(Who owns his own home, albeit more modest than the one described, along with all the other expenses incurred in "real life")

[HeadRusch]

I've got a "rec room" that doubles as a theatre room...and MameCab room.  Paradigm Monitor 9's up front, Paradigm Atoms in the rear and a matched Paradigm CC350 center, also paradigm 12" Sub being driven by a Marantz receiver.  My 65" Mits does the job of "good sized widescreen".  I've toyed with the idea of upgrading to a Front Projector.....the quality and the price are right about there now....let the DLP's mature another year and I'll probably be onboard.  

And yet, I just watched an episode of This Old House where they put in a true dedicated Home Theatre, complete with quad subs, stadium seating, a massive CRT Projector...and you know how big the screen dimensions were?  I think 72 inches...maybe 80 inches.

I *want* to say the room was something like $100,000 alone....just for that one room in this home...but I can't remember now for sure...but 80 frickin inches?  You buy a projector that can comfortably put a 180" High Definition picture out there and limit it to 80 inches?  

But this is the point.....based on the seating distance, that was deemed "optimum screen size" since in this theatre, the seating was permanant...no "sliding the couch up" if you get my meaning.  A 46" Set isn't small if you're sitting six feet from it.

Also, theres one thing you wont be aware of unless you watch yoru movies in the pitch dark (as I do in my light-controllable basement):  When you shut off all the lights, if your room is dark enough, all you will see is the picture on the screen.  When you see this, wether you are using a rear projection tv as I am, or a tube TV, your mind "tricks" into thinking you're looking at a front projection unit.  (assuming you are using a flatscreen TV).

If you were in my recroom, in the dark and I started a DVD, you wouldn't be able to tell you were looking at a 65" rear Projection TV.  All you'd see is thisimage hanging in the blackness...it looks identical to a front projection image, at least in my basement where the ambient light is zero, and because you wont be able to judge distance without a light reference, you couldn't tell me if you were 6 feet away from a 46" TV, or if you were 18 feet away from a 120" Screen.

Thats why you can build a dedicated theatre and not have to have the biggest screen, adn still get the "bigscreen" effect.  As soon as you turn on a light, that situation changes...but ultimately a 46" screen is fine if you are 6 or 7 feet away from it.  Its the ratio of distance to screensize, not absolute screensize that matters.

Too close to my TV and you see scanlines....thats bad.