Edgar_in_Indy's home theater Evolution (on a shoestring budget!)

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Just thought I'd take a minute to share my home theater journey here. Since my wife is not a home theater enthusiast, I have had to work with a very limited budget. Without Craigslist, eBay, and a lot of wheeling-and-dealing none of this would have been possible!

When I first got the projector bug, my wife and I were newlyweds living in a fairly small house. The only place I could find to fit a decent sized screen and still have any chance of controlling light coming in was in our bedroom. (Since I was working 3rd shift at the time, I had already made light-proof covers for the bedroom windows.) She wasn't crazy about the idea of a huge screen in the bedroom, but she tolerated it.



The screen was a 108" DIY black out cloth screen, mounted above the bed, kind of like a headboard. I had a shelf installed on the opposite wall, which held my Sony VPL-AW15 720p projector. There was also a small couch on the opposite wall, facing the screen. Sound was handled by a Logitech Z-5500 5.1 system sourced from my PC.

The setup was obviously crude, but I was completely blown away. It was by far the best picture and sound I had ever experienced outside a movie theater.

In 2009 we moved into a larger house with a full basement that had a large open room with an alcove that would be perfect for a projector screen. I still had the same 108" screen, but I had managed to pick up some bigger speakers, and I upgraded my projector to the Epson 7500UB (same as 6500UB).



Definitely a big step up from the bedroom theater, but there was still a lot of room for improvement. I started out by upgrading my hodge-podge of speakers to a Klipsch RF-7 / RC-7 front sound stage.



After upgrading my sound, I traded in my Epson 7500UB for a 5010. Although I was impressed by the brightness of the 5010, I was disappointed with the movie performance since black levels were not so great. It quickly became obvious that my white walls and ceilings were the problem.

In order to cut down on reflections, I painted the walls dark brown, hung black velvet curtains to either side of the screen, and treated the ceiling of the alcove with black velvet. While I was at it, I sold my old screen, and built a new 133" Cinemascope screen. Here's the final result:



The room treatments were a total success, and I no longer had any problem with the screen getting washed out during bright scenes. I'm enjoying the home theater more than ever, and I love showing it off to visitors.

I feel like I made a great choice with the 5010. It's looks amazing with all the lights off, but it's so bright that it still looks great even with some lights on. Here's a picture of my daughters watching "Frozen" with a few lights on:



If anybody wants to see more pictures, be sure to visit my home theater gallery:

https://www.blu-ray.com/community/ga...=Edgar_in_Indy

[Billy13]

Hi Edgar. Welcome to the Galleries.

Man, your progression pics are nice

I too am like you......

[Show spoiler]a big CL'r

Place looks good man.

[bootsy]

Nice gallery Edgar. I live in Indy well Fishers technically. where are you at in Indy.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Thanks for the compliments!

I live in the Greenwood area. But it seems like when I'm cruising Craigslist, most of the good stuff is in your neck of the woods!

[DangeRuss]

....... I do have one question though ....

[Johnny Vinyl]

Welcome to the HT Galleries Edgar!

Most excellent starting post from beginning to end. Fantastic progress and I love the look of the final result. Congratulations!

[Steedeel]

Very nice, stylish and clean.

[bootsy]

Originally Posted by Edgar_in_Indy

Thanks for the compliments!

I live in the Greenwood area. But it seems like when I'm cruising Craigslist, most of the good stuff is in your neck of the woods!

Awesome. Have relatives that live out your way.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Originally Posted by DangeRuss

....... I do have one question though ....

And what would that be?

[Billy13]

Originally Posted by Edgar_in_Indy

And what would that be?

[Diagito]

Welcome to the threads Edgar! I am a little jealous about your screen size… its huge! Those Klipsch look amazing as well, I hope your enjoying your HT as much as we are enjoying watching the pics of your progression. keep up the good work!

[onyxbfly]

welcome to the galleries!!!! The pics of your progress is inspirational!!!!

[kurtis21]

Welcome to the Galleries Edgar!!! Beautiful Home Theater..and that "Frozen" image looks great! Enjoy!!

[pcweber111]

Man what an awesome looking system. Looks very inviting. You take some nice photos too. Can't have enough Klipsch owners either.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Originally Posted by pcweber111

Man what an awesome looking system. Looks very inviting. You take some nice photos too. Can't have enough Klipsch owners either.

Thank you for the compliments on the room and the photos. Photography has become my other main hobby over the last few years, and I probably have more invested in cameras, lenses, and lighting equipment right now than I do in my home theater.

Getting good photographs in a home theater can be a big challenge. Confined spaces, limited shooting positions, dim lighting, etc. Because of the dim lighting, a tripod is a must if you want to get sharp pictures with lots of depth. But dealing with the confined space is a more difficult problem.

You can use a wide angle lens to get the whole room, but then you end up with a distorted image, with the objects near the edges getting stretched and appearing much large than objects in the center. I notice this a lot in the galleries, and the effect is that the furniture looks huge while the screen looks small and far away.

And if you throw a lighted screen into the equation, it gets much more difficult since a camera sensor is not nearly as nuanced and sensitive as the human eye, and exposing properly for both the room and the screen is almost impossible.

[hometheatergeek]

Originally Posted by Edgar_in_Indy

Thank you for the compliments on the room and the photos. Photography has become my other main hobby over the last few years, and I probably have more invested in cameras, lenses, and lighting equipment right now than I do in my home theater.

Getting good photographs in a home theater can be a big challenge. Confined spaces, limited shooting positions, dim lighting, etc. Because of the dim lighting, a tripod is a must if you want to get sharp pictures with lots of depth. But dealing with the confined space is a more difficult problem.

You can use a wide angle lens to get the whole room, but then you end up with a distorted image, with the objects near the edges getting stretched and appearing much large than objects in the center. I notice this a lot in the galleries, and the effect is that the furniture looks huge while the screen looks small and far away.

And if you throw a lighted screen into the equation, it gets much more difficult since a camera sensor is not nearly as nuanced and sensitive as the human eye, and exposing properly for both the room and the screen is almost impossible.

Hi Edgar in Indy, glad you could join us here in the HT Gallery Thread. Well you do take great photos. You room looks great and you have assembled one fine system. Now if I could just get you to hop down to the ATL and re-shoot my gallery.

[pcweber111]

Originally Posted by Edgar_in_Indy

Thank you for the compliments on the room and the photos. Photography has become my other main hobby over the last few years, and I probably have more invested in cameras, lenses, and lighting equipment right now than I do in my home theater.

Getting good photographs in a home theater can be a big challenge. Confined spaces, limited shooting positions, dim lighting, etc. Because of the dim lighting, a tripod is a must if you want to get sharp pictures with lots of depth. But dealing with the confined space is a more difficult problem.

You can use a wide angle lens to get the whole room, but then you end up with a distorted image, with the objects near the edges getting stretched and appearing much large than objects in the center. I notice this a lot in the galleries, and the effect is that the furniture looks huge while the screen looks small and far away.

And if you throw a lighted screen into the equation, it gets much more difficult since a camera sensor is not nearly as nuanced and sensitive as the human eye, and exposing properly for both the room and the screen is almost impossible.

That's my next project. Getting into photography. I have a Canon G12 with lens adapters to play around with and while it's nice I want more and a good DSLR is in the near future. I love taking photos and my camera does a good job but I can tell it could be better. I know lighting plays a big part in it too and I am learning how to adjust for lighting to get better shadows and depth. Framing a shot is big too but that seems to be something you either have an eye for or you don't from what I've noticed. For me it will be a learning process and I doubt I'll ever be a great photographer but if I can take some good shots of my system I'll be happy.

[DangeRuss]

Originally Posted by Edgar_in_Indy

And what would that be?

Originally Posted by Billy13

Not to worry ....... He's relatively new so I'll be gentle

I love your setup and was wondering if you were having any issues with the loveseat blocking your right front speaker ?

[Billy13]

Originally Posted by DangeRuss

Not to worry ....... He's relatively new so I'll be gentle

I love your setup and was wondering if you were having any issues with the loveseat blocking your right front speaker ?

you are quite sensitive when approaching a question

That's a good question though, I too was wondering about that.

[DangeRuss]

Originally Posted by Billy13

you are quite sensitive when approaching a question

That's a good question though, I too was wondering about that.

You know some people can become quite touchy when it comes to questioning their rig

And so you left me to ask the question huh