Well it took almost 6 months of evenings and weekends to complete this project. I would come home after work and put in about 2 hrs a night. I had to re-do all the electrical, heating and plumbing to open up this room for the home theater.
The furnace and hot water tanks had to be removed and relocated. I replaced them with new hi-efficiency units which are smaller and quieter. The heating ducts had to be relocated as well especially since I didn't want a low ceiling height. The best I could do was put the ducts on either side of the room and raise the center of the ceiling. All the walls are insulated with sound proof batting and acoustic tiles were used for the ceiling. It's amazing how it sounds like a club in the basement and you can barely hear it on the main floor.
Two large french doors on either side open up the room when not in use. All stereo components are housed in a separate closet and only the center channel speaker is visible. Everything including the lighting is operated via a single RF remote control. I built a channel between the screen and the speakers to allow for black velvet drapes which are hidden when open.
After a lot of research, I went with a Da-Lite Cinema Contour high contrast screen. It's exactly 8 ft wide (110") with a black velvet frame. My projector is a Sony VPL-VW50, the new 1080p model which retails at about $6000 and provides an unbelieveable picture with the new HD-A2 hi-def player. Even at 18ft away, it almost looks like a nice bright TV screen, not a washed out projector image. It's actually funny to see the expression on people's face when they see the image...it's jaw dropping great! Not to mention the amazing sound...true dolby 5.1 digital.
As you can see, this room came a long way...
HERE ARE SOME ACTUAL SCREEN SHOTS...
These pics were taken with a digital camera about 18ft away from the screen! The pics have not been edited in any way. The color, contrast and clarity is amazing.
The furnace and hot water tanks had to be removed and relocated. I replaced them with new hi-efficiency units which are smaller and quieter. The heating ducts had to be relocated as well especially since I didn't want a low ceiling height. The best I could do was put the ducts on either side of the room and raise the center of the ceiling. All the walls are insulated with sound proof batting and acoustic tiles were used for the ceiling. It's amazing how it sounds like a club in the basement and you can barely hear it on the main floor.
Two large french doors on either side open up the room when not in use. All stereo components are housed in a separate closet and only the center channel speaker is visible. Everything including the lighting is operated via a single RF remote control. I built a channel between the screen and the speakers to allow for black velvet drapes which are hidden when open.
After a lot of research, I went with a Da-Lite Cinema Contour high contrast screen. It's exactly 8 ft wide (110") with a black velvet frame. My projector is a Sony VPL-VW50, the new 1080p model which retails at about $6000 and provides an unbelieveable picture with the new HD-A2 hi-def player. Even at 18ft away, it almost looks like a nice bright TV screen, not a washed out projector image. It's actually funny to see the expression on people's face when they see the image...it's jaw dropping great! Not to mention the amazing sound...true dolby 5.1 digital.
As you can see, this room came a long way...
HERE ARE SOME ACTUAL SCREEN SHOTS...
These pics were taken with a digital camera about 18ft away from the screen! The pics have not been edited in any way. The color, contrast and clarity is amazing.
We now have a great basement and she's proud of the work I put into it. She's always showing off the basement when her friends are over...
My compact Canon S80 wouldn't produce near the results...
)....was a bit too busy. Fun for sure...but maybe too much stuff out. My next one is going to be a little bigger and less stuff in it.
I wish you could rent HD movies some place around here.
