Version 2.0

[Dieselboy]

Updated the previous pics- this is now officially known as Version 2.0, at least until Version 3.0 comes later this year!

Let me know what you think, good or bad-

[Nick4Blu_81]

Looks Great!

[talstarone]

I certainly like it.

It sets a good tone and atmosphere when you see those Movie Posters coming down the stairs.Gives a sense of awe and amazement of what you are going to see when you get into the room.

So,that part is sweet,I wish I had an area were I could get people excited to see the room like you have.

And you have got to let me know how those Mordaunt Short Speakers sound.I almost went with those as my new speakers.But a Great Offer on another Brand led me in another direction.

But I like the wall mounted rear surrounds.And the mounts are sweet as well.I like the touch they added of having hand tightening knobs instead of having to get a screwdriver or allen wrench.And the knobs seem to be large enough to really tighten then well by hand.

Love the eD Sub(Love all eD subs)They produce some incredible Bass with Great Quality for the Price.

And having a Pioneer Elite AVR as the Brains of your Home Theater is a Great call.Excellent performers with features galore.Not to mention that amazing black laquer finish with gold trim.

And the idea of the Dual Bookshelf fronts is the first I have seen of that.
Can you tell a big difference in the sound quality with the dual bookshelfs.

Then,looks like a Polk PSW10.I like how you added legs to it,to elevate it from the floor,and create some isolation.
If you wouldn't mind;where did the legs come from and how did you get them to stay?
Since I have Four of these subs,this could be extremely useful info.

And I think the TV looks just fine.But going with the Panny AE4000 is going to change your whole concept of Home Theater Forever.

I Really Love the Decorations and the way you give the room a look with the posters and clapboard.Very Nice Touches.And detail like that can make the difference between a system people think is OK and one people cant stop talking about.

Excellent Work and I think you have done an exceptional job.
Thanks for sharing this with us.

[SeanMF]

Looks good...happy easter!

[petew]

OK I'm going to shamelessly steal the "posters down the stairs" concept. Looks great.

Back in the old days, Stacked Advents were the rage. The Advents were great sounding two way speakers. It was amazing how much better two sounded for some reason. The top speaker was set upside down, so it was woofer on top, then two tweeters, and another woofer on the bottom. You should try flipping your top one to see if it makes a difference to get the tweets next to each other.

The room looks great. You'll love getting a front projection setup. Are you going to go Constant Height with the Panny?

[petew]

Another comment...

Have you considered going with an acoustically transparent screen with speakers behind? The soundstage will really open up when you get the RPTV out of there. You'd have some opportunity to do acoustic treatments on the screen wall too. Easy to hide 'em behind a screen.

[Dieselboy]

Hey Talstarone, thank you very much for the many kind words and insightful comments, you make me blush! Hah-

As for the Mordaunt Shorts, I have nothing but postive remarks to say about them- but in all fairness, I went from two-way direct radiating surrounds to the current bi-pole design so I'm sure that accounts for a large majority of the difference I percieve in sound from them. The PSW10 is simply sitting on DYI sub riser I built and painted with some lumber from Home Depot. Literally cost me like $10 to make it and it does seem to help give the little polk a little more punch (god knows it needs all the help it can get!)

Petew, that's an interesting idea to flip the upper speaker upside down so the tweeters would effectively be 'next' to each other, the only problem I for see is that I built those stands so the upper speaker's tweeter is exactly at ear height currently and if I flip it around it obviously will be more in line with my stomach so I don't know if that's going to adversely affect the sound, but I'll try it regardless just for the hell of it-

As for the difference in sound with having four left and rights vs. two it's literally night and day- among other things there's now 440 watts coming at you instead of 220 (110w per driven channel) more or less so the shock and awe factor is quite noticable, with average listening volumes and scenes it's not too discernable, but put in a good demo scene and turn it up to reference listening volume......then hold on tight!

One question for you though, I'm not familiar with what you're asking about doing the 'constant height' thing with the Panny! What is this concept?

[petew]

Originally Posted by Dieselboy

One question for you though, I'm not familiar with what you're asking about doing the 'constant height' thing with the Panny! What is this concept?

The Panasonic has the awesome ability to automatically zoom the image to fill the screen height. You've noticed some movies are letterboxed on your 16:9 TV. Those movies were filmed in an aspect ratio (width to height ratio) wider than TV screen.

Old style TV was 4:3 = 4/3 = 1.33 aspect ratio.
HDTV is 16:9 = 16/9 = 1.78
Standard modern movies are 1.85 aspect ratio.
"Scope" movies are either 2.40 or 2.35 aspect ratio.

So the concept is that you keep the screen height constant and change the width to fit the correct aspect ratio. That's what happens when you see a 4:3 image on your 16:9 TV - you have black "pillar box" bars on the sides. Standard HDTV and a lot of movies will still have bars, just not as wide. A "scope" movie will fill the whole screen - no pillar box bars.

The theory is:
standard TV bites - smallest picture you'll see on your system
HDTV is great - bigger picture
Scope movies ROCK - biggest picture.

Go to panamorph.com
They have a cool intro to constant image height on the home page. You won't need the Panamorph lens though. The Panny does CIH right out of the box.

[Dieselboy]

So if I watch a 16:9 movie on a scope screen then where will the bars be?

[Hammie]

Originally Posted by Dieselboy

So if I watch a 16:9 movie on a scope screen then where will the bars be?

On the sides. Just like a 4:3 movie/TV show looks on a 16:9 widescreen TV.

[Dieselboy]

So when I'm looking at the screen size calculator function on projectorcentral.com, it lists a minimum and a maximum screen size for a given throw distance (in my case the throw will be 13') is there any disadvantage to using the zoom on the projector to attain the maximum screen size? (in this case approximately 125" for 2.39 aspect ratio screen)

Also, does the projector need to be mounted dead center relative to the screen in regards to height or can the projector compensate for an higher than center throw height without having a negative effect on the image?

Thanks in advance!

[petew]

Not sure I understand the first part of your question. If you're asking if it's better to move the projector back further from the screen, or place it closer and zoom out - here's my opinion: Placing the projector farther from the screen improves contrast, at the expense of brightness. I'd recommend placing it as far back as you can.

Projector needs to be mounted within the height of the screen. In other words, you could mount the PJ aligned with the top edge of the screen and automatic zoom would still work.

Looking at your gallery pics, I'd suggest a shelf right above that Jaws poster for the projector. The projector can sit on that "right side up" and work perfectly (no ceiling mount needed). You'll have to keep the center of the lens and top of screen below the ceiling fan but should work great.

What's on the other side of that wall? If a closet, or laundry room or other "utility" space, you could mount the PJ in that room and shoot through a hole in the wall. Stealthy install. See attached pics of my conference room at work. The panasonic will work on a normal shelf so you won't have to invert the PJ like I did with my crummy epson presentation projector.

[Dieselboy]

Hey Petew, the other side of the back wall has a space in the 'sub-ceiling' about 7 or 8 inches below the ceiling height where the fan is mounted, so that is exactly where I plan on mounting it so it's recessed into the wall similar to the pics you provided. So if I understand this correctly, so long as the projector lens is at least below the top edge of the screen then the image will be good right?

In regards to the zoom question, 13 feet is exactly the throw distance it'll have- no option there. The debate is that at that throw distance the projector's list a minimum and maximum screen size for any given distance (in my case between 92 something inches and about 125 something inches, so with that said is there any disadvantage to going up to the maximum screen size possible for my throw distance? (in this case about 125") Hopefully that's more clear, sorry for any confusion.

[petew]

You're right on regarding lens alignment with the top of the screen. I used the trim for a recessed light fixture on my conference room projector. Looks like it was meant to be.

As long as it's not zoomed out so big that it's too dim you'll be fine. I'll play with the calculator at projectorcentral and refresh my foggy brain on the panny. I forgot all my research since I found the smokin' deal on my JVC, but as I remember the panny is plenty bright.

I'd suggest doing a temporary screen for awhile to get a feel for how big you should go. Then either build a permanent screen or buy one ready-made. Two pieces of 1/2" electrical conduit, a 10' x 54" piece of blackout fabric (like used for curtains), a couple of boxes of big binder clips, and you're good to go.