home theater build | geekytalkies

Lights, Camera, Action

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Atul

August 26, 2014
For the longest time I have dreamed of setting up a home theater in our house. At first it was lack of space (we lived in an apartment), later it was change in priorities (we had a baby), but after years of waiting the time is right; the time is now. I always thought I would just hire a bunch of HT professionals, have them to make all the decisions, and set everything up for me. But I’ve been doing some research for several months now, and thanks to the wealth of information online, I feel pretty confident that I should be design this this on my own (and it has nothing to do with the fact that I can not afford said HT professionals). I’ll then hire a contractor to help with the actual implementation.

I’m planning to do up half of my basement to use as a home theater and office space, and keep the other half unfurnished for storage. I am an action figure collector (which sounds so much better than “hoarder”), and comics nerd so my plan is to incorporate this theme into the basement. I can not wait to finally display my action figures, and geeky memorabilia that are resting in large brown boxes all over my basement.

I have sketched the floor plan of the basement (mostly to scale), and if building it is half as much fun as drawing it I am in for a fantastic couple of months. I plan to have the home theater area be 22ft (6.7m) long and 16ft (4.9m) wide. I’m sure some part of this will be lost to the framing and drywall, so lets say it’ll be 21ft x 15ft (6.4m x 4.6m). The height of the room is 8ft (2.4m).

The floors will be carpeted, and the sides of the basement will be dry-walled, and I plan on using drop ceiling. All the exterior walls will be R/13 insulated, and the ceiling will have R/30 insulation. I will also use R/30 insulation on the left sidewall that lines the stairs – that way the baby can sleep peacefully while dad watches the Avengers.

The problems designing the basement are as follows:
1. Egress window on the right of where the projection screen will be: I am seeking permissions from the township to cover this with dry wall. If that doesn’t go through, I will cover it with curtains.

2. Large sliding doors on the bottom right corner: a couple of dark curtains should fix this.

3. The Pole: I have metallic pillar in on the left as you come down the stairs. I plan on making it bigger by covering it with dry wall. That way it can house my left surround speaker.

4. Heating: while the basement is rather cool in the summer, it’s pretty frigid in the winter. Since there is no HVAC outlet in the basement, I will be installing two new 8” ducts with dampers in the finished area.

5. Sprinklers: for whatever reason, the builder had the sprinkler heads in the basement way up high. I will be reaching out to the fire department and a plumber to lower this below the ceiling.

6. The “hole”: by far my biggest problem. We have a water outlet on front-right corner of the room, which I originally thought, was a sump-pump but it’s really just a hole in the ground (much like the one in Sparta). The condensation from the HVAC just trickles into the earth. I had a plumber come over and have a look, and he said that since we were atop a hill there really wasn’t a need for a sump pump. I was originally thinking of creating a large box over the outlet going all the way to the ceiling with a door for access. I would then add a similar sized box on the opposite corner, which would house my media. The problem with this was it ate a lot into my projector screen space. Back to the drawing board.
So my new plan is to add a stage that goes across the length of the theater, around 3ft (0.9m) deep. I will have a door with a hinge on the right so we have easy access to the hole. I will also add a water indicator below the pump so we know if the water level rises above a certain level.I read a lot of debates on the acoustic properties of sand, and I would have really liked to fill the stage with sand. But I would around 60 bags to fill up such a huge area. So I’m thinking of filling it with insulation. I’ll fix the stage to the concrete floor, but will keep a gap from the wall and fill that with insulation.

Please feel free to share your feedback in the comments section.

Some Old Horses

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Atul

August 30, 2014
So let me talk a little more about my plans for the HT: I would like to have a four seat recliner around 13′ (4m) from the screen. The area behind the seats would be used to display my action figures, an office and a mini bar. Rather than covering the pole on the left of the seating with dry wall, I plan to extend the wall from the stairs all the way to the pole. This way the left and right walls of the home theater area are more or less the same.

I plan to design the theater in phases:
Phase one: I would like to get the basement done, get a desk and setup the office space, install a projector, a screen and 5.2 surround sound system. I will use my existing recliners for now, and look for deals on home theater recliners during thanksgiving.

Phase two: I would like to replace the recliners with leather home theater grade recliners. I would also like to install bass kickers on the new seating.

Phase three: I would either like to add two ceiling speakers to make a 5.2.2 atmos setup or add two rears and make a 7.2 setup.

So I need to keep the ideal end state in mind while designing the home theater. In this post I wanted to talk about the projector screen size.

Coming to the screen, I want to have the screen be electric and mounted on the ceiling. This way I can mount a TV on the wall, and have the screen drop down only while watching a movie or a game.

Given that the height of the room is 8ft (2.4m) and the length of the wall with the screen is 15ft (4.6m), I was thinking of using a 120in electric screen. The reason I am going in for an electric screen, is because I plan to mount a TV on the front wall and have the screen drop in front of it. The wife is totally against the idea, but I’ll keep trying to change her mind.

I am debating between the EliteScreens CineTension2, and the Visual Apex VAPEX9120TN. I’m leaning towards the Vapex screen as it’s slightly cheaper and it has a wireless trigger. This trigger will allow me to drop the screen automatically when my projector is switched on.

Coming to the screen size, I read that the THX recommendation is that the top of the screen should not be more that 15degrees above eye level. So I had to refresh my high school trigonometry. Back then, I knew of sin, cos and tan but never knew why they were used. Well, now I know.

Assuming that the height of the viewer’s eye from the ground when seated on the recliner is 3.5′, and the viewing angle to the top of the projector screen is 15degs. Let’s call the height of the projector above the viewer’s eye as x.

tan 15 = x/13′
x = 3.5′

In other words, if the viewer’s eye is 3.5′ off the ground the top of the projector has to be 3.5+3.5 = 7′ off the ground. Since I have a 8′ ceiling this shouldn’t be a problem – or is it? The Vapex screen is 74″ high (including the base) and the visible area is 59″ high. If I mount it on the ceiling such that the top of the visible area of the screen is 7′ off the ground, then the height of the bottom of the visible part of the screen off the ground would be:

7′- 59″ = 25″ off the ground

That would mean the bottom of the screen would be around 21″ off the ground as I expect there to be around 4″ of frame below the visible area. Since I have a 6″ stage, the height between the stage and the bottom of the projector would be 15″. The center channel should be around 8″ to 10″ so its going to be a right fit.

Coming to the width of the screen, the Vapex screen is 121″ which would give me a little over two feet on either side of the screen. A tower speaker should be around 12″ wide so I think I should be able to fit them in there. Not sure, if I will be able to squeeze in two subs though.

Widely sited research by the Japanese broadcasting company NHK found that 30 degrees is the minimum viewing angle needed to create an immersive “sensation of reality” in most viewers. i.e. If you are farther away it becomes less real. In my case, the viewing angle can be determined using trigonometry:

tan x = 52″/13′
x = 18.5 degrees.

So the viewing angle would be 2×18.5 = 37 degrees, which should be immersive without being headache inducing.

So when setup, it should look somewhat like this:

Exit Sand, man

Posted on August 30, 2014 by Atul

August 31, 2014
I read about how if a stage is on a concrete slab it is recommended to fill the stage with sand to add mass and absorb most of the sound energy driven into the stage. Otherwise, it may act like a large drum especially if the subwoofers are placed on it. I would have really liked to fill my stage with sand (except for the right as I need access to the hole). I did some calculations on how much sand would be required:

Each 50-lb bag of QUIKRETE All-Purpose Sand can fill around 0.4 to 0.5 cubic feet of sand.
So, to fill my 15’x3’x0.5′ stage, I would need around 55 bags weighing in at 2750 pounds.
For those of us on the metric system, that would mean carrying 1.24 tonnes of sand up four steps into the house, and down two flights of stairs to the basement.

To save our backs, I’m thinking of filling the stage with insulation instead. That way the stage won’t be hollow, and shouldn’t resonate as much. According to THX guidelines, if you have two subs, you put them in the middle of opposing walls. If that works well in my room, I wont need to place my subs on the stage after all.

The only way to find the best position for the subs is doing the sub crawl, but that would be done when the room is completed. So I needed to have a plan B if the crawl determines that the best position for the subs is on the stage.

While doing some research online, I read about how Jason “Lefty” Williams uses the Auralex GRAMMA (Gig and Recording, Amp and Monitor, Modulation Attenuator) isolation risers to decouple his band’s guitar and bass amplifiers from the stage. That got me thinking, if he can isolate the bass amps on a huge live stage using a 23″x15″ rig, why can’t I? I found my plan b: I’ll just get myself a couple of GRAMMAs if the subs have to be on the stage. Heck, I may just get them anyways.

Pic courtesy: Amazon

Speaker Placement – Cino Punto Dos

Posted on August 29, 2014 by Atul

September 2, 2014
THX recommends a 5.x system to be setup as follows:

Front Left & Right Speakers (L & R): Place the Front Left and Right speakers at ear height, producing a 45° angle as viewed from the main seating position. This delivers a wide sound stage and precise localization of individual sounds.
Center Channel Speaker (C): Place the Center channel speaker either above or below the TV. Then, aim the speaker either up or down to point directly at the listener. If you have a perforated projection screen, center this speaker both horizontally and vertically behind the screen.
Surround Left & Right Speakers (SL & SR): Place the SL & SR speakers between 90° to 110° to each side and 2 feet or higher above the listener.
Subwoofer (Sub): If you have two Subs, put them in the middle of opposing walls. If you have one, place it in the middle of the front wall.

So let’s see how I can apply these recommendations to my setup:
Front Left & Right Speakers (L & R): To have a 45 degree angle to my front left and right speaker, I need to rely on good ol’ tan theta.

tan (45/2) = x/13′
x = 5’4″

So the speakers need to be separated by 10’8″ for the L and R speakers to form a 45degree angle with the listener. This would mean my previous speaker placement would not work, as there wouldn’t be enough space between the speaker and the projector. So I’d essentially have to move the speakers closer to the screen and move the subs away towards the side walls. The problem now is I would rather not place the subs at the corner as that would give me much more bass than I need – especially with two subs. So I guess having the subs on the stage is more or less out.

The placement would be more like this:

Center Channel Speaker (C): With a 120″ screen, the center channel is going to be pretty low. But I hope to be able to point it’s tweeter towards the listener by tilting it upwards. I’ll use a laser pen to make sure its pointing correctly. I was contemplating using an acoustically transparent electric screen so I could have my center channel at it’s ideal position (ear level). But since I want to put a TV there, I wouldn’t be able to have the center channel placed perfectly in either case.

Surround Left & Right Speakers (SL & SR): I should be able to place the left and right surrounds at their ideal listening position. The only problem is the side walls end where the speakers will be placed, so I don’t know how much impact the quality of sound. I’m hoping an Audyssey calibration will fix this problem. To keep both the side walls similar, I’m changing my design: now instead of covering the metal pole with dry wall to make a pillar. I’ll just extend the wall along the stairs. This way both side walls will have same dimensions, and I hope that it helps with the surround sound.

Subwoofer (Sub): I’ll use the subwoofer crawl to determine the best position, but will be placing the subs along the side walls to start.

Here’s the updated layout:

Speaker Placement – Siete Punto Dos

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Atul

September 5, 2014
THX recommends a 7.x system to be setup as follows:

Front Left & Right Speakers (L & R): Place the Front Left and Right speakers at ear height, producing a 45° angle as viewed from the main seat. This delivers a wide sound stage and precise localization of individual sounds.
Center Channel Speaker (C): Place the Center channel speaker either above or below the display. Then, aim the speaker either up or down to point directly at the listener. If you have a perforated projection screen, center this speaker both horizontally and vertically behind the screen.
Surround Left & Right Speakers (SL & SR): Place the SL & SR speakers between 90° to 110° to each side and 2 feet or higher above the listener. The SL & SR speakers recreate the enveloping sound and intense special effects that you experience in the cinema.
Surround Back Left & Right Speakers (SBL & SBR)*: The SBL & SBR speakers should be the direct firing type and placed together on the back wall. This allows the THX Advanced Speaker Array, or ASA technology to deliver its maximum effect.
Subwoofer (Sub): There are a few variations for subwoofer placement, depending on how many subwoofers you have in your room. If you have four subs, place one in the middle of each wall. If you have two, put them in the middle of opposing walls. If you have one, place it in the middle of the front wall.

While the guidelines for the L,C,R, subwoofers and side surrounds is the same as the 5.x setup. I need to factor in the two surround rear speakers. The problem I have with my layout is the distance between the seating and the rear of the room. I may have to get some rather powerful bookshelves to use as rears. Or I may have to use a ceiling mount to hold two small bookshelves.

Having said that, 7.x is not really in scope at this time. I’ll definitely pre-wire for a 7.x.4 atmos setup, but will implement it sometime in the future.

Speaker Auditions – Part 1

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Atul

September 7, 2014
So I took the wife and kid with me to audition speakers this weekend. They weren’t too keen, but I needed a second opinion (and encouragement) before making a large purchase. We first went to our nearest Best Buy in Downingtown, but they didn’t have any home theater audition area. The sales guy there recommended I buy a Sonos sound bar instead of the front left, center and rights and two Sonos one speakers instead of the side surrounds. He highly recommended the Sonos subwoofer as well. This system would also need a bridge which would allow it to hook up with my wifi. Also, this setup wouldn’t need an audio receiver/amplifier. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not too convinced with the soundbar technology. I may go in for the Sonos as speakers in our living room and kitchen, but I don’t think I’ll be using it in the home theater.

We then drove to the next closest Best Buy, the one in King of Prussia. I auditioned the MartinLogan ESL speakers. I was very impressed with the sound stage and the performance of the speakers. However, they were a little above my budget. The KOP branch has two home theater areas setup, but only one was operational. The other room had speakers from Bowers and Wilkins, Klipsch, Definitive Technologies, and Totem but we couldn’t hear any of them. They asked me for my contact information, and I was told that they would get back to me when the room was operational again.

Since we were already in the KOP area, we decided to grab a quick bite at the Shake Shack and go to the Sony showroom in the mall. I remembered that they have a HT setup – and I really wanted to audition their projector. However, on going there we found that the showroom had closed. There was a Bose showroom nearby so we tried out the Lifestyle 535 Series II home entertainment system. In the acoustically perfect room the Bose speakers were amazing. Not sure how they would sound in a regular room. Also, they played pre-defined content which made the speakers shine. I would have preferred to listen to music and movie of my choosing, but what the heck?

On Sunday, we head over to the Best Buy in Wilmington, and they had a Magnolia home theater setup there. The guy at the counter was very knowledgeable and this was where I auditioned the the Bowers and Wilkins’ 600 series. Amazing speakers! I think I preferred it to the ESLs I had heard the day before. Again, a little above my price budget but a little cheaper than the ESLs. I think we have a winner. The magnolia guy said that they have a service where they come home and make a recommendation on what would work best for a given budget. This service had a fee, but would be deducted from the cost of the HT equipment you purchase. I asked for an appointment for this consultation, and the magnolia guy said that his manager “Hector” would call me to arrange an appointment.

I still need to audition the Klipsch Reference II series. I called up several Best Buys in the area but no luck. I then went to the Klipsch website and found a dealer that has the speakers setup for audition, but its 50miles away. Don’t think I have the energy to drive there this weekend, maybe next Friday.

Update: Hector never called. I got his number from Best Buy, and called him and left a voice message, but he never called back. Neither did the guys over at KOP. I guess they doesn’t want my business.

Pictures courtesy: MartinLogan and Bowers & Wilkins websites.

Speaker Auditions – Part 2

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Atul

September 14, 2014
So today the family and I drove almost 50 miles to a showroom that had the Klipsch Reference II series setup. By the time we got there the little one was asleep, so we decided to audition the speakers one at a time. I went first, and watched the bank heist scene from the Dark Knight and was very impressed. I also listened to some old time jazz, as well as a couple of Metallica S&M numbers. Here’s a tip: always listen to music when auditioning speakers. The music coming out of the speakers enveloped me. I got a small taste of how the lucky folks who got to see S&M live must have felt. The center channel was crisp and the dialog was clear, the front towers were freakin’ awesome, and the surrounds were not over the top.

As “The Call of Ktulu” transitioned into “Master of Puppets”, I had decided on speakers for my home theater setup. By the time I left the demo room, the wife was there with the daughter. She auditioned the speakers next and she was as impressed as I.

The Reference II setup was as follows:
(2) RF-82 II Floorstanding Speakers
(1) RC-62 II Center Speaker
(2) RS-52 II Surround Speakers
(1) R-112SW Subwoofer

The dealer was running an offer where the subwoofer is free if you buy the rest of the speakers. I may have to check for better deals online.

Picture courtesy: Klipsch website.

I have the Tower

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Atul

September 9, 2014
All this while I was planning to have my media rack in the unfinished part of the basement. The problems with this design are:
1) I have to go into a different room to change a Blu-Ray.
2) It was very close to the water heater.
3) I would have to buy longer wires/cables.
4) It may attract dust

So the wife and I spent some time this afternoon thinking of alternate locations for the rack. The best spot we found was under the stairs.

What I plan to do is have wooden shelves to hold my gear. The shelves will be adjustable, so I could have any sized gear. The media rack will have a 20amp dedicated power line behind it, and will house the power conditioner/UPS.

Construction should begin soon. Super excited.

Pre-Wiring Part One

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Atul

September 12, 2014
So I spent some time designing how I want to do my electric pre-wiring. My media center will not be in the home theater, rather be under the stairs. Originally, I was planning of using a power conditioner in the media center. However, on doing some research I read about how it makes more sense to use an Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) instead.

After the projector has been shut off, internal fans continue to run to ensure even cooling which will decrease the chance of early lamp failure. These internal fans require power to run – so if I use a power conditioner and if there is a spike in the power, or if power is lost in it’s entirety, power going to the projector would stop. This would mean that the fans wouldn’t run to cool off the lamp. However, replacing the power conditioner with a UPS would mean that in the case of a power outage, battery power would still reach the projector. I can then switch off the projector and the internal fans can use battery charge to cool off the lamp.

The UPS is more or less the same price as a conditioner (at least the ones I was looking at). I an leaning towards the CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD PFC Sinewave UPS 1000VA 600W PFC Compatible Mini-Tower. This UPS has a rating of 1000VA/600 watts, now the projector I will get up getting should use a maximum power of 350 watts. That would mean I need at least 700 watts of power. I don’t intend on running my projector when I don’t have power, I just need enough battery power to switch it off and for it to cool down.

The UPS has four battery backup and surge protected outlets, to which I plan to connect:
1. Projector (so the lamp can cool)
2. DVR (so it can continue to record in case of a short power outage)
3. Logitech Harmony Hub (so I can turn off the projector in case of an outage)

It also has four surge protected outlets, to which I plan to connect:
1. A/V Receiver
2. TV
3. Roku3
4. PS4

I’ll use a regular surge protector for:
1. DVD Player (I lived in the UK, and have a whole bunch of region 2 DVDs)
2. WiFi Router (I don’t need Wifi in the dark)

I’m working on my speaker wiring as well, will post my design tomorrow.

Picture courtesy: Amazon

The First Purchase

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Atul

September 19, 2014
So purchased most of my cables yesterday from monoprice.

The CAT6 cable is to have a network port at my desk which will be situated at the back of my basement (near the patio door). I picked up clear 12AWG cable for wiring my speakers to the wall mounts. I spent a lot of time debating on whether I should get a 14×4 or a 12×2 cable. In the end I bought 12×2. Since I’m running 30′ of HDMI cable, I went with monoprice’s redmere cable. I’m interested to see how it performs. I am expecting to get my permit to start construction this week. I’m also expecting my plumber to come in on Tue/Wed to start lowering my fire sprinkler heads.

I have decided to have the media rack under the stairs. I’ll make wooden shelves under the stairs to hold the equipment. I’m still a little undecided on the front of the rack though. Ideally I would have liked to display it, but since its so close to the screen I don’t want it to be distracting. Also, I’m thinking of options on how to conceal it: a wooden door, or non-reflecting glass.

Since I will have a drop ceiling, I am not running conduit all over the place. I will run conduit from the media rack to the top of the ceiling, and try as much as possible to run the low voltage cable along the sides of the drop ceiling. That way I should be able to access it in the future, if required.

I’ll be pre-wiring the speakers as follows: four outlets for the left and right channels – that way I can bi-amp in the future. Two outlets for the center, and two for the side surrounds. I’ll run speaker cable to the rear wall all the way to the ground, so I can place the rear speakers at any height. Lastly, I’ll have two runs of speaker cables to atmos ceiling speakers. I’ll most probably pick a receiver that 7 channels, I will prewire for a 7.4.2 setup even though that’s not on the cards for the considerable future (at least that’s what I am telling the wife).