Building a Home Theater & Listening Room

[hydrovac]

Hi all,

My wife finally parted with a portion of her terrace garden and let me build a home theater.

First off all I find myself very fortunate to build a room that can be dedicated to music listening and watching movies. The room will be 3.96 meters wide, 7.38 meters long and a height of 2.7 meters. So with a little more than 29 m2 it's not a big room at all.

We live in a duplex penthouse (5th & 6th floors with terrace rights). So, traditional construction methods are a bit difficult. I plan to take the prefab route.

Proposed HT Room area.





Columns set and trusses on.









Thanks

[Billy13]

Looks like you're off to a great start!

Having a dedicated room is something to be proud of!

[callas01]

Wow a dedicated room, that'll be sweet!

[Badas]

Awesome.

Those trusses look strong. So should prefab.

Should probably budget some acoustic panels. There could be a lot of sound reflections in that type of construction.

[FreddieFerric]

Your wife deserves some props for letting the terrace go. Looks like you're off to a great start. Any ideas on equipment yet?

[DangeRuss]

I too echo (no pun intended) everyone's view that you're off to a great start

Will you be installing a floating floor to help with transmitting noise to your neighbors ?

[hydrovac]

Originally Posted by Billy13

Looks like you're off to a great start!

Having a dedicated room is something to be proud of!

Thanks Billy13,

I guess so....

[hydrovac]

Originally Posted by callas01

Wow a dedicated room, that'll be sweet!

Thanx Callas01.

[Billy13]

Originally Posted by hydrovac

Thanks Billy13,

I guess so....

You guess so....?

Trust me..... and I'm sure I speak for others as well......I would LOVE to have a dedicated HT.!

[hydrovac]

Originally Posted by Billy13

You guess so....?

Trust me..... and I'm sure I speak for others as well......I would LOVE to have a dedicated HT.!

Well, I mean yes.... I am definitely happy getting a chance to realize my long pending dream.... a dedicated HT

[hydrovac]

Originally Posted by Badas

Awesome.

Those trusses look strong. So should prefab.

Should probably budget some acoustic panels. There could be a lot of sound reflections in that type of construction.

Keen observation and rightly pointed out! The trusses were salvaged from an existing structure, which was in front of my 5th floor duplex penthouse supporting a shade.

I have built a new structure and converted it into a sky deck and usable space... You can see the old structure below the new one.
The old trusses are shifted to 6th floor to support the composite slab of my HT. So load bearing is not an issue.

The room was ringing like a bell even before the roofing was on....! I guess the walls have to be treated first by some absorbing material.... I am planning for a layer of 48 density 1000x600x50 mm thick rock wool slabs to be fixed in wooden framing.

[hydrovac]

Originally Posted by BluRayFred

Your wife deserves some props for letting the terrace go. Looks like you're off to a great start. Any ideas on equipment yet?

She sure deserves! all her concern was about not losing her plants....so, had to make an extra effort shifting them to the above floor....which looks like this from below!






I am piling up equipment for the HT. It will be a combo of old plus new....more details about it later.

[hydrovac]

Originally Posted by DangeRuss

I too echo (no pun intended) everyone's view that you're off to a great start

Will you be installing a floating floor to help with transmitting noise to your neighbors ?

Thanks DangeRuss,

I live in a duplex penthouse on fifth and sixth floors...The immediate neighbor is myself, not a soul in 100 feet radius.... no worry

[DangeRuss]

Originally Posted by hydrovac

Thanks DangeRuss,

I live in a duplex penthouse on fifth and sixth floors...The immediate neighbor is myself, not a soul in 100 feet radius.... no worry

Fantastic .......

And your progress is really coming along well

[hydrovac]

The 3 pics are of the composite decking sheet being fixed.... in fact today ...the plasterers were skimming the walls and pouring the concrete slab....

[hydrovac]

Started laying of electrical, speaker and signal cables. The cabling work is being carried out by a local guy and someone from my work giving him a hand.
To reduce hum and noise I want to install a dedicated line with only a single ground from the audio / home theater system to the electrical service panel. Don’t want to attach anything other than the A/ V system to this special dedicated line.
Expecting the result to be noise and hum free power with a 'deep black background'.
By this stage of the project, I have already identified the following :

Placement of all speakers
Placement of A/V components
Placement of video source
Lighting needs
Possible future enhancements
Thermal Insulation & Acoustic Treatment

BTW I have provided a frame also…for supporting the screen.
I will try and post pics if there's interest...as soon as i work out how to do it....!!
I have all the kit i need already for this…mix of new and from old lounge... not top end by any means...but works for me...

[DangeRuss]

Wow you're moving fast

[hometheatergeek]

Nice work. May I make a suggestion while this room is still under construction? You should run a 2 or 3" diameter PVC pipe along the trusses in the ceiling and then run the wires through it. This way once the ceiling is up you would still have a way of running wires in order to future proof your system.

[roar]

How about HVAC? By the looks of the plants and your construction you look to be in a rather warm climate... how do you plan to keep that room cool?

Looks like you will have a great dedicated space, congratulations!

[hydrovac]

Originally Posted by hometheatergeek

Nice work. May I make a suggestion while this room is still under construction? You should run a 2 or 3" diameter PVC pipe along the trusses in the ceiling and then run the wires through it. This way once the ceiling is up you would still have a way of running wires in order to future proof your system.

Thanks for the suggestion,

I have laid the electrical lines in 3/4” PVC conduit…will run the signal and speaker cables thru bigger ⌀ pipes.