My dream Home Theater - DIY

[santhosh]

Nice progress so far. Like cmsajith mentioned, you should consider treating the reflection points now itself. Doing them at a later stage may involve dismantling your equipment etc due to dust caused by drilling etc. You could use Anutone boards itself for building panels and even Bass Traps. Here is what I have planned for my room in the future.

Just cut triangular pieces and stack them one on top of the other from floor to ceiling. Cover the front facia with a fabric to suit your interiors (these do not need to be acoustically transparent since we are treating LF here). I plan to build a wooden triangular frame to make it look good, this is optional.

About remote for dimming, I too am using a product made by MK (the switches brand). It can be used to control 2 lights and also has a volume control that i use for dimming. This works well but not as graceful when compared to the automation that Vinay has done in his HT which is a class apart - similar to what Moviela is suggesting.

Consider making a DIY screen similar to what Manoj.p has suggested on another thread.

Appreciate your efforts to reduce carbon footprint on our planet by using LED. In the same lines, go for a 5-star rated A/C, it really makes a difference in your electricity bills.

All the best for your HT. Will stay glued to your thread.


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[pdhanwada]

Just cut triangular pieces and stack them one on top of the other from floor to ceiling. Cover the front facia with a fabric to suit your interiors (these do not need to be acoustically transparent since we are treating LF here). I plan to build a wooden triangular frame to make it look good, this is optional.


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Stacking Anutone boards is an option but I think It is lot more expensive than using rockwool or glass wool for absorbtion.

 

[santhosh]

@Moviela: any other suggestions other than keeping the A/c on 24/7? I use my dedicated entertainment room for around 15-20 hours a week. I agree that A/c definitely helps maintaining the room and equipment from moisture related issues. But I am against using so much electricity - both from cost and also from environment standpoint .


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[santhosh]

Stacking Anutone boards is an option but I think It is lot more expensive than using rockwool or glass wool for absorbtion.

Agree, this will be more expensive than rockwool/fiber glasswool. Thanks to my poor estimation and DIY skills, I have a few cut pieces large enough to be put to use. Rest I will have to buy .

 

[HT999]

Thanks for the input guys.
Pandu, Thank you so much for the initial input. I am planning on calling you once it is all set for acoustic treatment. Will call you next week once I have projector in place.

Santosh,
Thanks for your advise, Can u throw some light on what kind of triangular cuts u made? Few pictures will be great.

 

[pdhanwada]

HT999,

Bass treatment likes more mass. The bigger the treatment it is better at the lows thus reducing the boominess.

Dont worry about the unhealthy nature of glasswool or rockwool. I was in the same position as u are right now. After lot of research and reading I went for rockwool which is safer than cotton and glass wool

Please go thru my thread I had posted a link towards a scientific study which states that the with risk with cotton > risk with glasswool > risk with rockwool.

Moreover you are never letting it exposed. You dont move the panels, you dont shake the panels . I dont see how the rockwool flakes comming out. Do the work outside. Cover it with burlap, sponge and cloth. You should be good here. Just for the sake of comparison, the pollution what we go thru in the hyderabad traffic is atleast 1000 times more than in our theater.


Thanks
Pandu

 

[HT999]

15 crores for home theater!!! U r from Hollywood but I am not even close to Tollywood theater yet....but thanks for your input..

 

[Moviela]

15 crores for home theater!!! U r from Hollywood but I am not even close to Tollywood theater yet....but thanks for your input..

This is a private theater with both film and electronic projection. It seats 20 and is used for sound mixing. The equipment is quite expensive, but it earns income so the expense is justified.

@santhosh I am a conservationist, I believe living things should be encouraged to thrive, and we should take only those plants and animals we plan to consume. Large areas of greenspace should be demanded and encouraged by people and government. The oceans should be fished for food, but in a responsible manner, and we should stop dumping our non-biological discards there. Air Conditioning has been around over 100 years, and was not developed for human comfort. It was designed to allow fabric mills to operate better. Removing the moisture from the air made it easier to weave fabrics. It was later than it was used by theaters to provide a greater comfort for show watchers.

In a home theater you have many very expensive elements that beg a certain temperature and humidity for a long productive life. Sure electricty is expensive, but there is not any shortage, and you may use as much as you can afford without damage to the planet. "Going Green" is a slogan used by politicians to control your life, and to take money from your pocket. The problem in India with electricty is that for every kilowatt you purchase you must also buy one for the government.

As long as the sun shines plankton (the worlds largest plant) will continue to turn it into energy in the form of fossil fuel. Of course there is a finite limit, but it will not be reached through human activity.

People who have oil wells know that as you remove the oil from the cracks in the rock, the earth squeezes more oil into the cracks. The reserves on the North Slope of Alaska were calculated in 1975. After 40 years of pumping large quantities of oil the reserves were recalculated recently. There is slightly more now than 40 years ago. The same has been discovered for other major oil producing reigons like the Middle East and the North Sea. Africa is loaded with oil with very little actual extraction because of unstable political enviornments. I wish they could follow the example of the worlds largest democracy (India) and use their resources to improve life for their citizens. Same is true for next door in the 'stans. If politically stable a pipeline could be laid across Afganistan and Pakistan to carry the oil from former Soviet republics to market. Oil prices would be halved.

I believe people should not be patting themselves on the back for going green, because that involves denying yourself the right to make your own decisions and allowing some politician to make it for you based on junk science.

Turn on the Air Con, because if the equipment and the viewer are happy, we have a win-win situation.

Please put my soapbox back in the corner. Apolgies for my strong opinions.

 

[vinay]

Black Tiles - Remote Controlled Lights - Theatrical Look - Passion

Indeed in general anyone would be hesitant with black tiles but we have to remember our goal that we are making a private theater at home and we need to take hard decisions so manipulations can be done to achieve the black tiles etc, of which you too compensated the black look, congratulations.

My ceiling tiles are white colour while four of them are in red color. During the making of my "Mini Theatre" black tiles were unfortunately not available.

In my theater all 25 lights are controlled by remote control with most of them having dimmer options. Please be guided that the most useful rope or related lights should be on side walls and at least 7 feet away from the screen.

It gives me joy that you are trying to give your theatre as much as possible the theatrical look, this is what among passion is all about.

V.

Thanks Vinay, to begin with I was also little hesitant about the look with black tiles. But the false ceiling on the edges (1.5ft width) compensated for the look.

I went to couple of lighting stores and purchased 6 wall lights 3 on each side to give theatrical look, recess lights (LED to stay earth friendly) and floor lights. By now, false ceiling work is complete and the electrician finished his work and coordinated the lighting with 4 switches available on the remote panel as per my instructions.

 

[corElement]

In my opinion you should/could have been more creative if you were to go the DYI route.

Being creative does not mean more expenses, it means more research.

 

[aloklala]

I have put glasswool wrapped in Tissue. It is a little itchy for the workers who put it in so I provided them gloves to work with but in general it is not a big problem. I bought 48 density Twiga 50 mm thick 3 ft x 2 ft pre-cut panels.

You can look at my thread for details and even call me if. My HT room should be ready by end of next week.

 

[aloklala]

By the way how many lights are you planing to put? What is the cost of the automation coming to?

 

[aloklala]

I met with a Sales guy from Havells Crabtree yesterday (In fact Vinay was with me at that time) The 6 module automation unit with dimmer is worth 18,000/- minus 25% discount + 12.5% VAT.

I plan to put about 25 lights with 6 controls.

 

[btprabhu]

This room has two windows and ventilators. I planned to close all the ventilators but keep windows. I will think about sound proof issues at a later stage. Keeping the windows open makes me feel better about ventilation when theater is not in use and also avoid any moisture issues. I may have to apply silicon sealant incase if there is any rattling. Since this is on second floor, I dont expect any complaints from neighbors. As of now, I am using my existing HT setup with 55 Sony Bravia downstairs. Over the weekend we watch a lot of movies but never had any complaints.

As far as acoustic issues are concerned, I read a lot from this forum and decided to do a good portion of ceiling with acoustic sheets (Anutone). I have already ordered the sheets and they said it takes 2-3 weeks to deliver in Hyderabad. These are 2X4 in size and I went with black color tiles to avoid any light reflection issues. I have also considered Armstrong and it is way too expensive. I felt even Anutone is also expensive but better than the other. Hopefully, this should take care of acoustic treatment. If not, I will review this after all done and furniture is in.

Finally, Anutone tiles have arrived after a week delay. You can see in the picture#1 below on how I have designed black tiles inside while maintaining gypsum border on the sides. Also 4x4 drop is ready as shown in picture#2. At this point, I have worked with my electrician and purchased all required wiring and completed that part. I got the projector mount installed and pulled 1.4a HDMI cable (3D supported) from screen wall to projector mount. This cable of 30 ft costed me 10K. Also I ran 12AWG audio cable for my 7.1 channel setup. I am not sure if the price is fair; I did some research but ended up paying around 150rs/mt. This costed another 10K towards audio cable. I was told that 12 AWG is better keeping in mind that my rear speakers are almost 50 ft away from the receiver (running length).

Can you please let me know the following :

1. Where did you buy the HDMI cable and audio cable in Hyderabad ?
2. For your 7.1 setup can you let me know position of you speakers:
distance from screen and height from the floor. (surrounds and rear
speakers especially)
3. My room size is 21' 1"(L) x 11' (W) x 10 (H)

Thanks,
Prabhu