Home Theater Build

[Jamie P]

Hello-

Building out a home theater as part of a new home build. Room is 18'9x12, with two small windows. Have had an initial consult with a company locally here, and will buy equipment with them and have them install it, but hoping to solicit the folks here for some assistance. Here is a link to actual drawing, it does say unfinished attic space but it will be finished. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gofg3hzrg...7LSqJofza?dl=0 The windows face west and will be free and clear of any kind of helpful obstruction of sun light, and the sun shines bright in Texas! (sadly)

Here is where I would love some assistance for those that have done this before. In the past I have converted rooms to my media room. With a dedicated build I want to do it right!

1. Was guided to buy a "slate" screen by screen innovations and it would minimize the potential problems with the light from the small windows. Most of my viewing will be in the evening but weekends at times as well.
- What solutions are out there to cover a window that do not look tacky (I have a wife...). Was thinking an insert of some kind? Maybe I won't actually need one.

2. I want to do Dolby Atmos, some of my favorite flicks have Atmos tracks, and leadning Klipsch. for receiver I was advised to go Marantz SR7010. This set up is exclusively for watching movies, not to support multiple rooms and not to drive anything other than my speakers. That the right receiver? I am not married to a receiver brand and think that north of 1k dollars for a receiver seems excessive.

3. 12 feet the right distance for the projector?

4. Anything special I should do with electrician other than putting the wiring for the projector in the ceiling where I want it mounted?

5. What should I be thinking about for acoustic treatment/fixtures? Room is over a garage and the two internal walls are next to the hallway to the upstairs balcony and a large game room



Any other advice is appreciated. I know these are a bit generic questions, hoping with the details I have provided I can get some useful feedback. Equipment I am planning at the moment, though not definitive as I want to list to some others is

Klipsch RP280,RP450,RP25s(x2), JBL Audio Subs, 4k Projector


Really appreciate any insights

Best,
Jamie

[rpatt]

For #4 I always recommend extra outlets and maybe even 20-amp ones to be future proof. Keep us updated on your build.

[SkyAntoine]

4. My electrician set a box at 10' when we built the house. He ran central vac pipe as a channel to feed everything from the receiver to the projector.
When we did the actual install a few years later I needed to be at 13' so nothing we had worked. I had the electrician move the electric back a few weeks, but he didn't do anything with the pipe. It was a chore for the installers to cut a few holes in our finished ceiling and fish a 25' HDMI from the A/V equipment to the projector.

If I had it to do over again I would have put my A/V equipment in a separate, easy to access location.

[kingdoxie]

To some tradesman (electrician, plumber, HVAC), "Unfinished attic/basement" on a blue print means "I can run my wire/pipes/ducts any way I want as long as it's to code." It's convenient for them but not when you want to finish a space when duct work and pipes are not tucked into joists. Make sure you stay on top of the build, especially during the mechanical rough-in or you may have headaches later.

[Jamie P]

Thanks for the advice guys. I wasn't clear in my initial post on the unfinished attic portion. That unfinished space is on the initial spec sheet from builder, but there's an option to finish it out which is what I'm doing. The room will be floored and sheet rocked as part of the build, as opposed to later on.

[Jamie P]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

4. My electrician set a box at 10' when we built the house. He ran central vac pipe as a channel to feed everything from the receiver to the projector.
When we did the actual install a few years later I needed to be at 13' so nothing we had worked. I had the electrician move the electric back a few weeks, but he didn't do anything with the pipe. It was a chore for the installers to cut a few holes in our finished ceiling and fish a 25' HDMI from the A/V equipment to the projector.

If I had it to do over again I would have put my A/V equipment in a separate, easy to access location.

This is interesting suppose I'm a bit confused about what happened here? My plan had been projector at say 12 feet and all equipment at front of the room in a cabinet under the screen. You had to move the projector placement back a foot? What might cause that to happen.

One other question- with atmos, does it make sense to be seated in front of the projector or behind it, assuming the overhead speaker placement.

Thanks.

[lamont360]

Originally Posted by Jamie P

1. Was guided to buy a "slate" screen by screen innovations and it would minimize the potential problems with the light from the small windows. Most of my viewing will be in the evening but weekends at times as well.
- What solutions are out there to cover a window that do not look tacky (I have a wife...). Was thinking an insert of some kind? Maybe I won't actually need one.

As long as you can control the light output from your windows Black Our Curtains, Posters, etc... any screen will do. You can spend anywhere from $300-$3000 depending on brand and size of screen. If you are wanting to watch the projector with lights on and windows open during the day, you will want to look at screens that reject ambient light. The one you mentioned may do that... I honestly didn't look it up... hah

Originally Posted by Jamie P

2. I want to do Dolby Atmos, some of my favorite flicks have Atmos tracks, and leadning Klipsch. for receiver I was advised to go Marantz SR7010. This set up is exclusively for watching movies, not to support multiple rooms and not to drive anything other than my speakers. That the right receiver? I am not married to a receiver brand and think that north of 1k dollars for a receiver seems excessive.

Once again, the right receiver depends on the job you want it to accomplish. How many speakers do you want? It looks as though the SR7010 "only" does 9 channels. So that would give you your basic 5.1 set up and 4 atmos speakers, or possibly a 7.1 with 2 atmos speakers. In order to get both 7.1 and 4 atmos you will need to add external amplification... Don't let all this scare you if you are new to it. the 7010 is a great AV receiver and you can always add speakers and external amps to complete your killer room. so in short... yea that receiver will do a great job and let you upgrade in the future.

Originally Posted by Jamie P

3. 12 feet the right distance for the projector?

Depends... haha... uhhh...every projector has a different throw distance. do some digging on google and you will quickly find a projector throw distance calculator. You can put the actual brand of projector you have and adjust the screen size, and placement to see if it will deliver optimal light output.

Originally Posted by Jamie P

4. Anything special I should do with electrician other than putting the wiring for the projector in the ceiling where I want it mounted?

I would personally have them add PVC pipes in the walls that have all your wires and cables that terminate in wall/ceiling outlets hidden inside them. That way if you ever have to replace a damaged cable you won't have to fish the wires through drywall.

I would also see if you can have a dedicated breaker for the outlet running your equipment. And begin to think about what king of lighting you want (recessed, sconce, rope lighting, dimmer switches) Also, are you gonna have electrical reclining seats?.... will they sit on a riser?.... if so, would you like an outlet built into the riser?.... things to think about electrically speaking

Originally Posted by Jamie P

5. What should I be thinking about for acoustic treatment/fixtures? Room is over a garage and the two internal walls are next to the hallway to the upstairs balcony and a large game room

Before drywall you want to think about insulating every cavity. Walls, ceiling, and in your case, floor. Depending on how sound proof you want the room, you will also want to read up on resilient channels, double drywall, and green glue or Mass Loaded Vinyl. Again... depends on how sound isolated you wanted the room from the rest of the house. The things to consider before drywall are gonna be insulation and resilient channels. The other things will be part of the drywalling process.... again googling any of these terms will give you so much to read about... you will find differing opinions so just go with what you think is the best. I'm personally using insulation, Mass loaded vinyl, and double drywall... i think... haha... still in the process like you. I didn't want to use the channel because my room wouldn't benefit the most from it and it also eats up about 2 inches of room size.

Originally Posted by Jamie P

Any other advice is appreciated. I know these are a bit generic questions, hoping with the details I have provided I can get some useful feedback. Equipment I am planning at the moment, though not definitive as I want to list to some others is

Klipsch RP280,RP450,RP25s(x2), JBL Audio Subs, 4k Projector

Keep doing your research around here and other sites. Before you put drywall up double and triple check that you have all your speakers, subs, component cables in the walls where you want them. And run a few extra speaker wires, HDMI cables, and maybe a sub cable to places where you might use it in the future. Save you some trouble later on down the road.

[Jamie P]

Originally Posted by lamont360

As long as you can control the light output from your windows Black Our Curtains, Posters, etc... any screen will do. You can spend anywhere from $300-$3000 depending on brand and size of screen. If you are wanting to watch the projector with lights on and windows open during the day, you will want to look at screens that reject ambient light. The one you mentioned may do that... I honestly didn't look it up... hah




Once again, the right receiver depends on the job you want it to accomplish. How many speakers do you want? It looks as though the SR7010 "only" does 9 channels. So that would give you your basic 5.1 set up and 4 atmos speakers, or possibly a 7.1 with 2 atmos speakers. In order to get both 7.1 and 4 atmos you will need to add external amplification... Don't let all this scare you if you are new to it. the 7010 is a great AV receiver and you can always add speakers and external amps to complete your killer room. so in short... yea that receiver will do a great job and let you upgrade in the future.




Depends... haha... uhhh...every projector has a different throw distance. do some digging on google and you will quickly find a projector throw distance calculator. You can put the actual brand of projector you have and adjust the screen size, and placement to see if it will deliver optimal light output.



I would personally have them add PVC pipes in the walls that have all your wires and cables that terminate in wall/ceiling outlets hidden inside them. That way if you ever have to replace a damaged cable you won't have to fish the wires through drywall.

I would also see if you can have a dedicated breaker for the outlet running your equipment. And begin to think about what king of lighting you want (recessed, sconce, rope lighting, dimmer switches) Also, are you gonna have electrical reclining seats?.... will they sit on a riser?.... if so, would you like an outlet built into the riser?.... things to think about electrically speaking



Before drywall you want to think about insulating every cavity. Walls, ceiling, and in your case, floor. Depending on how sound proof you want the room, you will also want to read up on resilient channels, double drywall, and green glue or Mass Loaded Vinyl. Again... depends on how sound isolated you wanted the room from the rest of the house. The things to consider before drywall are gonna be insulation and resilient channels. The other things will be part of the drywalling process.... again googling any of these terms will give you so much to read about... you will find differing opinions so just go with what you think is the best. I'm personally using insulation, Mass loaded vinyl, and double drywall... i think... haha... still in the process like you. I didn't want to use the channel because my room wouldn't benefit the most from it and it also eats up about 2 inches of room size.




Keep doing your research around here and other sites. Before you put drywall up double and triple check that you have all your speakers, subs, component cables in the walls where you want them. And run a few extra speaker wires, HDMI cables, and maybe a sub cable to places where you might use it in the future. Save you some trouble later on down the road.

This was a kick ass post. Exactly what I was hoping for. Really appreciate the detailed response and insights!

Jamie

[roar]

lamont360 covered everything really well, I'll chip in a couple of thoughts.

Window Coverings - Lots of options to cover your windows, but to block light 100% without actually doing something ugly is difficult. I used horizontal blinds in my last build for my window but in behind the blinds I actually cut and fit black cardboard. Even with blackout fabric blinds if they aren't snug against the wall you will get light leaking around the edge of the blinds, nothing that will impact your picture but your window will have that halo look and if it is in your peripheral it could be a distraction. I could block my window out because it was in a window well that opened on the outside into my backyard and was obstructed by a deck. How the outside of your house looks is just as important to many wives as the inside so that is where blocking windows out together gets tricky.

4K Projector - To my knowledge there is still only the offerings from Sony that are "true" 4K and those cost a bundle and are rather gigantic, not sure what your ceiling height in the space is but even if you are looking at the JVC's, those suckers aren't small either. Like lamont360 said, throw distance is dependant on your projector, anything that is 4K capable likely has some pretty good placement flexibility but you will want to put some thought into where it lands in relation to your seating in that if your ceiling height isn't that high you wouldn't want it right over your seating and it can be distracting if it is in front of your seating too... so figure out what projector you are getting before you commit to seating placement.

Placement of gear - Unless you are considering putting the gear behind doors at the front or you are buying gear that you can turn the displays off then I would find another place to put it. Any light other than the screen at the front of your room is distracting... imo

[Jamie P]

Originally Posted by roar

lamont360 covered everything really well, I'll chip in a couple of thoughts.

Window Coverings - Lots of options to cover your windows, but to block light 100% without actually doing something ugly is difficult. I used horizontal blinds in my last build for my window but in behind the blinds I actually cut and fit black cardboard. Even with blackout fabric blinds if they aren't snug against the wall you will get light leaking around the edge of the blinds, nothing that will impact your picture but your window will have that halo look and if it is in your peripheral it could be a distraction. I could block my window out because it was in a window well that opened on the outside into my backyard and was obstructed by a deck. How the outside of your house looks is just as important to many wives as the inside so that is where blocking windows out together gets tricky.

4K Projector - To my knowledge there is still only the offerings from Sony that are "true" 4K and those cost a bundle and are rather gigantic, not sure what your ceiling height in the space is but even if you are looking at the JVC's, those suckers aren't small either. Like lamont360 said, throw distance is dependant on your projector, anything that is 4K capable likely has some pretty good placement flexibility but you will want to put some thought into where it lands in relation to your seating in that if your ceiling height isn't that high you wouldn't want it right over your seating and it can be distracting if it is in front of your seating too... so figure out what projector you are getting before you commit to seating placement.

Placement of gear - Unless you are considering putting the gear behind doors at the front or you are buying gear that you can turn the displays off then I would find another place to put it. Any light other than the screen at the front of your room is distracting... imo

This is all very helpful. I was thinking about getting the entry JVC projector, but also since this initial post have been toying with the Epson with the 4k shift (I am not sure of the exact terminology). With either of those, I was thinking I wanted the projector behind my main seating.

As far as a cabinet... well that was a really good call out that I had not given much though to. The light is definitely going to distract from the picture..... ugh. More to think on. Thanks very much! Super helpful.

[roar]

Originally Posted by Jamie P

This is all very helpful. I was thinking about getting the entry JVC projector, but also since this initial post have been toying with the Epson with the 4k shift (I am not sure of the exact terminology). With either of those, I was thinking I wanted the projector behind my main seating.

As far as a cabinet... well that was a really good call out that I had not given much though to. The light is definitely going to distract from the picture..... ugh. More to think on. Thanks very much! Super helpful.

One other thought... HVAC... make sure this room is properly serviced. I can only imagine how hot things can get there in Texas and attics are often an afterthought when it comes to HVAC, you will want to be confident it is well insulated and serviced by the A/C or else you may melt to death .

[Kevinicus]

For the windows, do you want to be able to use them some of the time, or do you want to cover them full time, but still have it look okay? I used a vinyl blocker (uses velcro to attach to the framing around the window) and then have blinds in front of them. From inside the room, all you see is the blinds. From the outside, the window is blacked out (mine are basement windows in the back yard). Pretty much 100% blocking of light with this method, and looks fine.

I think it's EZblackout or something like that.

[Jamie P]

Originally Posted by Kevinicus

For the windows, do you want to be able to use them some of the time, or do you want to cover them full time, but still have it look okay? I used a vinyl blocker (uses velcro to attach to the framing around the window) and then have blinds in front of them. From inside the room, all you see is the blinds. From the outside, the window is blacked out (mine are basement windows in the back yard). Pretty much 100% blocking of light with this method, and looks fine.

I think it's EZblackout or something like that.

Thanks this is also helpful. I'll have a look. My wife would actually be *okay* if it didn't look ideal inside, I need the blinds to show on the outside know it is a bit wonky.

[lamont360]

how about this: Blinds on the inside of the frame (looks good from outside), then a layer of Vinyl to block the light. and finally a second set of blinds or curtains after that (looks good on the inside too)??

[Jamie P]

Originally Posted by lamont360

how about this: Blinds on the inside of the frame (looks good from outside), then a layer of Vinyl to block the light. and finally a second set of blinds or curtains after that (looks good on the inside too)??

I'm going to play around with this idea but really like the blackout stuff referenced a few posts above. It's very affordable and easily pulled down. Thinking I go with that solution and put it up when needed during the day.

[sonic_debauchery]

Originally Posted by roar

lamont360 covered everything really well, I'll chip in a couple of thoughts.

Window Coverings - Lots of options to cover your windows, but to block light 100% without actually doing something ugly is difficult. I used horizontal blinds in my last build for my window but in behind the blinds I actually cut and fit black cardboard. Even with blackout fabric blinds if they aren't snug against the wall you will get light leaking around the edge of the blinds, nothing that will impact your picture but your window will have that halo look and if it is in your peripheral it could be a distraction. I could block my window out because it was in a window well that opened on the outside into my backyard and was obstructed by a deck. How the outside of your house looks is just as important to many wives as the inside so that is where blocking windows out together gets tricky.

4K Projector - To my knowledge there is still only the offerings from Sony that are "true" 4K and those cost a bundle and are rather gigantic, not sure what your ceiling height in the space is but even if you are looking at the JVC's, those suckers aren't small either. Like lamont360 said, throw distance is dependant on your projector, anything that is 4K capable likely has some pretty good placement flexibility but you will want to put some thought into where it lands in relation to your seating in that if your ceiling height isn't that high you wouldn't want it right over your seating and it can be distracting if it is in front of your seating too... so figure out what projector you are getting before you commit to seating placement.

Placement of gear - Unless you are considering putting the gear behind doors at the front or you are buying gear that you can turn the displays off then I would find another place to put it. Any light other than the screen at the front of your room is distracting... imo

http://www.avsforum.com/optoma-uhd60...r-at-ces-2017/

[Tedd]

How many bodies are you looking to seat?

If that's to be a dedicated home theater, the windows could get blinds to look good from the outside and you could hide the windows via fabric covered frames, which could be hinged, or cleat hung, for easy removal, when you want to air the room.

I don't know about the Mrs' wants and tastes, but would some thing like Art Install's The Loft, might be pretty hit a design mark. http://www.artinstall.ru/en/projects/loft

If this is to be three seats, then maybe you look into an inexpensive acoustically transparent screen, and use a bit of the room's length to hide the front speakers/sub. That's another thing that is high in WAF.

Might want to check bulbs prices for those projectors...

[Jamie P]

This thread is a few days old ended up backing out of the build due to quality of the construction. We bought a house someone else had been building and backed out of due to time constraints (they now live down the road from us) in a totally different neighborhood with a different builder. Below is a picture from Halloween anniversary Ed which we played last night. Ended up with
Denon 4300
Klipsch 280fa
450c
250s x2
Rm150 X2

Power sound audio XS30
Oppo 203
120 inch screen- Stewart I believe
4 seats currently, single row. Room ended up being 16 feet long by 20 feet wide. Big nice comfy chairs



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I want to know the best equipments for build a Home Theater for a 20 Feet X 20 Feet Hall Room. Cost is not a mater, i want better performance only.