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.

[John Holmes]

That looks like it is going to be a fun project!

[hydrovac]

Yes John,
I am building this as a DIY project.

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

I will add more photos as the work progress.

[impala454]

Very cool. Where is this?

[hydrovac]

Thanks Chuck!

I am located at Hyderabad (India).

Started laying 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...

[Hdale85]

So how are you going to cover the walls? I know generally everything is concrete out there but that's not going to work well for an HT? Also are you leaving all those windows?

[hydrovac]

Good question Hdale85,
Will come to the windows part later on...

Framing work in progress for rock wool slabs…



Checking out my old screen…









16:9 screen pulled down…

[Hdale85]

Well I know you said you'll get to the windows later, but you could build some fabric covered plugs out of rockwool and whatever fabric you're going to cover the walls in that could just pop into the window holes. Unless all of your movie watching would be at night, although they would still mess with acoustics, but the light is the biggest issue for daytime viewing.

[Hdale85]

I do like what I'm seeing though! I have a friend that lives in India and I always wonder how you'd attack a home theater out there with the very limited amounts of wood and the very high costs for what is available.

[aud19]

Cool project hydrovac! Look forward to seeing more pictures of your progress :T

[hydrovac]

Well I know you said you'll get to the windows later, but you could build some fabric covered plugs out of rockwool and whatever fabric you're going to cover the walls in that could just pop into the window holes. Unless all of your movie watching would be at night, although they would still mess with acoustics, but the light is the biggest issue for daytime viewing.

I wanted to retain both the windows and door to make the HT a part of my home... not a separate and isolated room.
For acoustic purposes I will build separate trap door and windows from inside.... to blend with interiors.

I always wonder how you'd attack a home theater out there with the very limited amounts of wood and the very high costs for what is available.

I don't understand your opinion from this statement. We have plenty of wood here...available at reasonable cost.

[hydrovac]

Cool project hydrovac! Look forward to seeing more pictures of your progress :T

Thanks Jason,

Will post updates as the work progress.

[Hdale85]

Hmm my friend was amazed that we build houses out of wood over here and said it would be insanely expensive to do that over there? Made it sound like wood wasn't ad abundant or just more of a commodity.

[hydrovac]

Framing work completed and AV cabinet in place…cabling almost done but for one sub signal cable. Got 20 Rock wool bags delivered yesterday.

There was a leak from one point of the slab joint side…. getting the pressure grouting done today.

Entry door to the theater on the left:







Bags containing Rock wool slabs:



AV cabinet built into the window:



Ceiling panels getting ready:





Insulation panels being fixed:

[Hdale85]

Man you guys move fast haha. Looking good. Are you going to put boards on the sides or just put fabric over them?

[hydrovac]

I am paneling the rock wool framing with perforated boards. Will be covering the walls with acoustic fabric... mostly cosmetic.

[aud19]

Jebus that is fast!

Is that marble flooring? Sure looks nice but that's going to require some serious area rug to help tame reflections!

[Hdale85]

That marble is in the other part of the house, not the theater room.

[aud19]

Aaah, ok then

What are you planning on doing for flooring hydrovac?

[Lex]

Wow, this is a great project. Interesting roof construction, and wall insulation. Carry on!

[hydrovac]

Aaah, ok then

What are you planning on doing for flooring hydrovac?

Planning to cover the walls with acoustic fabric... seating and rest of the area with carpet.

[hydrovac]

Wow, this is a great project. Interesting roof construction, and wall insulation. Carry on!

Thanks Lex,

Paneling of rock wool frames almost done:







Steel trusses being enclosed in wooden beams:

[John Holmes]

Coming along nicely. :T

[bostonmurf]

awesome work! what kind of seating plan are you going for. are you adding a raised row at the back? looks like you have the height to do it.

[hydrovac]

Coming along nicely. :T

Thanks John!

[hydrovac]

awesome work! what kind of seating plan are you going for. are you adding a raised row at the back? looks like you have the height to do it.

Thanks bostonmurf,

Good question! the seating plan is something like this.

Back row riser in place:



Front row riser:

[bostonmurf]

very impressive! are you going to pre-wire for bass shakers? its something i never thought id go for until i decided to just give it a try and purchased the AuraSound Pro's. have to admit its put the movie experience on another level. everyone who visits and tries them loves them. For a low cost alternative they really do work well.

[hydrovac]

Thanks bostonmurf for the suggestion... will give it a try too.

Got few sample seats today... my folks liked the red one, the design part of it and not the fabric though. Actually it is wider by 2” and comfortable than the other two.

Decided to order seven seats with individual arm rests… and different cloth material which I have to select.

[bostonmurf]

totally agree the red chair style does look much better than the other two. what color and fabric are you considering?

[Lex]

Depends on wall and floor materials too. If I had the room, I'd go with comfy chairs over theater seating, however, that may not be an option for you... Of course, there is a certain novelty about having actual theater seating I guess. It's about the look you want, the comfort you want, and budget of course!

[hydrovac]

totally agree the red chair style does look much better than the other two. what color and fabric are you considering?

Let me just say that neutral flat colors in the grey, black and brown family, are our go-to shades for dedicated home theaters. Let me give a few examples, a flat neutral medium to dark grey with black and burgundy trim, is appealing enough, and often fits the bill for the benign surroundings we’re after.

When looking at color, I chose to go with something that my seating would best blend with the walls in order to avoid anything reflecting in the display. In addition to that, I have read that darker colors behind and to the sides help accentuate contrast and color.

Neutral wall colors afford the greatest amount of flexibility when decorating, or should you decide to change decor, or furnishings in the future.

I also like the carpet with some sort of design/pattern to it. Maybe even some patterned fabric for the acoustic panels. I ordered several samples that are a mixture of earth tone type colors.

[hydrovac]

Depends on wall and floor materials too. If I had the room, I'd go with comfy chairs over theater seating, however, that may not be an option for you... Of course, there is a certain novelty about having actual theater seating I guess. It's about the look you want, the comfort you want, and budget of course!

The best color scheme for optimum reproduction is a neutral color for any walls that will contribute to the reflected light on the screen or within the visual field when viewing the screen, at least according to SMPTE. While everyone will have their preferences, the effects of non-neutral walls on perceived color and on ambient light biasing the screen itself have to be considered if you want

The seats come with certain features like, push back springs, easy to fold, soft drink holder handles... the darn things are pretty comfy.
I am planning for a thick wall to wall carpet... I chose not to design a contemporary style theater. I wanted my home theater to remain true to my great memories of a traditional movie theater.

[hydrovac]

Slow progress, but progress nonetheless. Tough to get things done when you are on carpenter’s schedule, but I'm grinding along. Got most of the ceiling done, preparing bass traps and acoustic panels…

[bostonmurf]

its really coming together, nice work hydrovac. any idea on a completed date yet?

[hydrovac]

Thanks bostonmurf,
I am not in a hurry... No! there's no confirmed release date, as yet

[aud19]

Coming along nicely. Excited to see how you finish it up :T

[hydrovac]

Hey guys!

Here is an update on the build… I have spent countless hours on there reading and learning since I started trying to figure out what I wanted to do 6 months ago. It’s like a fun project for me... The entire room needs a good deal of sound work. Even still, I'm happy with how it sounds to my ears after watching a couple movies... I just need to contain it better for now.

It's the old saying of "measure twice, cut once"… live it, learn it, love it the downside to that is since I have never done anything like this before who knows what I missed or what I underestimated on.

[Hdale85]

Yeah you have a lot of exposed wood there so lots of reflection points. It's looking quite good though! Can't wait to see it finished.

[aud19]

Definitely coming along :T Excited to see the final product.

[hydrovac]

After a long gap... here is an update.
The past few months I've been gathering some more things to move forward. Here are a few goodies that were dropped off:

Video:
Panasonic DMP-BDT 360GA
DUNE HD MAX
Sony Playstation 3 (500GB)


Projector: Panasonic PT-AE8000U Full HD 3D Home Theater Projector
Screen: Screen Research 165” diagonal AT woven custom frame







Electronics:
Pre Processor: Sherbourn PT-7020A preamp processor
Power Amps: DIY TDA7293 based parallel design







I decided to try out tactile transducers for my home theater. Spent a lot of time researching and reading feedback from users and forums.
Ended up getting two of these,




Screen frame assembly:





Grommets eyelets and Bungee tension ties:





Here is a trial fitting and assembly of the screen frame...









This is how my existing screen looks:



Existing Speaker setup:



New Screen fixed:

[Chris D]

Hey, good for you! That's really awesome.

I upgraded to the Panasonic AE-8000 last year as well.

And I don't know where you are in India, but there's a chance I may be going to New Delhi (Gurgaon) to work in a few months.

Keep it up!

[hydrovac]

Thanks Chris,

I am in down south Hyderabad (Telangana State). You are welcome to drop by my place if you happen to visit...

[Clyde5]

Nice work, I am in the process of drawing out my room that will be 14' wide by 20' deep 7 ft. ceilings, dedicated theater room. lots of good ideas. Keep up the good work and up dates.