Began Our New Home Theater This Week.....

SurfHB · 02-22-2004, 08:31 PM

Well.....we have cleaned out the 12 foot by 20 foot room that held all types of things. It had bikes, linens, towels, stereo's etc in it. This room was used as a work room for our rental business. We live above our business which use to be an old hotel back in the late 1940's. The walls are trimmed in very old wood, so we will not be painting them. Yesterday along the back wall, we built an 8 1/2 inch stage for the seating area to be on. As for the screen, I am still trying to decide if I should TRY to make my own, or just buy one. I am not very good at building things. I am shooting for around a 120 inch screen. Also, as for the projector, I am also trying to decide what I should get that is within my budget of around $2,500 to about $3500 at most, and what best suits my needs. I need a HD capable, ba able to play X-Box on it, watch televison and DVD's of course. This will be our living room so to speak. I hear that the new INFOCUS 4805 is suppose to be nice coming out soon. Anyway, I will have to read up on it. This project will take a while of course, and I will post pictures when I get near completed...hopefully within 2-3 months.

ChrisTheg · 02-22-2004, 08:58 PM

Well I wish you the best of luck with your home theater. There are a couple things you should know about Front Projection Systems. The first is that you should never try to do them yourself. It is a very complex system and should only be done by a profesional. Another thing is, your not going to get a projector that delivers any level of quality for under 6000. Projectors in the lower price range lack many of the important aspects that help deliver a quality image and video experience. Remember that home theaters are not cheap and if your taking the time to put this much effort into it you dont want to skimp out. Feel free to ask my any questions, I would love to help.

mark alan · 02-22-2004, 10:06 PM

Building a screen is the easiest thing in the world. go to avsforum.com and check out the screen forum. There are many different ways to build a screen, they all take about 4 hours of work.

Doing an entire home theater, thats a different thing entirely.

Kevin Stewart · 02-22-2004, 10:25 PM

As Mark suggested, visit avsforums (especially the under $3500 projector forum and the screen forum) and disregard everything that Chris said.

Stew

Parker Clack · 02-23-2004, 06:11 AM

There are lots of suggestions on projectors and DIY screens on this forum. Just take a look around in this forum area and I know you will lots of ideas and recommendations.

Parker

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James^Brian · 02-23-2004, 10:12 AM

I too am starting my home theater project. I've already bought my projector an Infocus X1 which is well below the price you quoted. I don't know this is "the proper way", but since I will be doing a DIY screen, I'm chosing to estimate the throw distance etc, and mount it before I build the screen. Then, I'll build a screen to fit. If you do it this way just be sure not make sure it's about what you need.

Before any suggestions of projectors etc, I think a couple questions come to mind. What is lighting like in your room? In my room, with no windows and entries without doors, I could go with a projector with less light output and stil get a great picture. How do you plan on arranging the seating/screen? If you shoot on the narrow wall (my suggestion) then I would suggest a ceiling mount. If you try and shoot on the long wall you'll run into other problems such as screen door effects as you'll be sitting too close (a more expensive projector can help with this). Also make sure the projector you choose can do a "short throw" with the screen size you want from less than 11'.

ZoranM · 02-23-2004, 01:19 PM

As someone who just completed there HT room on the cheap. I have to agree with Kevin and Parker. This forum and AVSforum saved me money, time, and most of all sanity. The resources and suggestions I found were invaluable.

I decided on a DIY ME screen directly on my wall with a nice molding around it for a frame.(total cost: $30 CA.) and I was more than happy. Also I went with a sub $2000 dollar projector because that's all I could afford at the time and I am more than happy with the results for DVD movies, the HDTV digital box, and my XBOX they all look beautiful (IMO) and I wouldn't have been able to afford those extra toys to increase my HT experience if I had gone with a higher more expensive PJ.

And before someone chimes in here "that if you only have tried a lower end model FPJ than you don't know what your missing" I have a Samsung HDTV that supports 1080i that I use in the family room for main TV watching. And I still would rather sneak down in my HT room than watch it on the Samsung.

Anyway just my two cents. I hope your HT exp. turns out as well as mine did.

Cheers,

Zed

SurfHB · 02-23-2004, 02:17 PM

Thanks for all the info guys. I am definately into saving money. Zoran, what did you use for your screen materials? I would like to make my own screen for now...then later buy one if I need to. Today, we finished the seating stage. I hope this all comes together well....then my wife will say she likes it too and then it will be easier to upgrade...lol I will follow the info in these forums and get all the help I can. I don't mind stopping and "asking for directions"..:-) Thanks again guys!

ZoranM · 02-23-2004, 02:38 PM

I decided to use "Misty Evening" by Glidden Paints. It is a regular paint that you can buy from Home Depot. In the U.S. I believe it's under the Behr Paint brand. I bought one gallon for $20 CA.. and still have almost half a gallon left (after four coats). Some people paint the blackout cloth with this paint and then hang it on a frame. I was lucky in that I had a nice smooth wall.

so I just mounted my projector where it would be and fired it up. Measured and masking taped the screen area on the wall. Primed the wall first and then applied 4 coats of the "misty evening" paint. I then bought some nice MDF molding at Home Depot that was on sale, painted it with some black paint I had left over from another project, framed the screen area with the molding and that's it.

I also have access to a nice portable screen from work and I have to say that my DYI screen has a nicer color contrast, especially with the blacks and whites.

If you want more information on how to apply the paint or for building a screen to apply the paint to (I know this will sound redundant but...) AVSforum and this forum have plenty of step by step posts. People have used all kinds of different surface materials for their DIY misty evening screens.

Oh and before I forget, I haven't seen it mentioned yet in this thread, but if you do buy a FPJ then I suggest building (or getting a handy friend) the mount for the projector. These can eat up anywhere from $100-$200 of your budget. I made mine for about $15 CA and it works perfectly, Epson wanted almost $200 for their mount with delivery.

cheers,

Zoran

SurfHB · 02-23-2004, 02:44 PM

Thanks Zoran....Unfortunately, my wall is not smooth. I have to actually make a screen. The wall is old sheets of lumber that is stained. This buildiing was built back in the 1940's. It was used as an old hotel here at the beach. I have been using the ideas of the AVS forums to get some ideas. Thanks again for your help.