Geeky Talkies Build Thread (1 Viewer)

[jksaabh]

Spackling and sanding have been completed, we are ready to paint! Apart from the two shades of gray on the wall, we will be painting one of the walls in the office area with chalkboard black paint.

I have also started looking into how best to display my action figures. While the Ikea Detolf cases are excellent, the shelves are very tall. I'm looking for clear acrylic three-tired risers (clear so that the light passes through to the shelves below). The ones I have found so far are way too expensive, so will have to look for a DIY alternative.

 

[jksaabh]

One step forward, and two steps back. This kinda summaries the last couple of days. The basement, and the stairway were given their first coat and all looked well. Until later in the evening, when we noticed that the lighter shade of gray looked almost the same as the darker shade. While I love a dark basement as much as the next guy, I'm not too keen on creating a winter retreat for bats.



We had no choice but to find a new "light" gray, and this time around we picked a much lighter variant. We also picked up a sample and painted different areas of the basement just to see what it looks like at different times during the day. Herein lies today's lesson: always buy a sample of paint, and leave it on overnight before you make a decision.

While it may be back to square one on the light colored walls, the dark walls are looking pretty cool.



The new colors:


The stage getting insulated:

 

[jksaabh]

I decided on the Epson 5030UB after reading favorable reviews of the firmware update. Also, I noticed that Visual Apex were having a deal by which you get a $200 gift card on purchase of the 5030UB so I took this deal to my local Best Buy and asked them to match the price. I expected some kind of resistance, but there was none. Unlike Vapex, who give you a $200 visa card, BB gave me a store card. I also opened a BB credit card which the manager said would give me 10% of my initial purchase in cash back which can be used in store. I am yet to receive my card/first statement, so only time will tell if I do get the cash back.

I got the projector home, set it up on a small stool, hooked it up to my PS3 and projected a 120" video on the bare wall. I first saw a few minutes of a silent Kill Bill on Netflix (speakers are not installed yet), and 120" looked a bit on the larger side. But when I switched to the Fifth Element on Blu Ray (2.4) on a 16:9 screen I found the image more pleasing. In the end, I let the wife decide and she liked the 120". This was unexpected as the last time I had to beg to get a 47" TV for the living room - she wanted something smaller. I have heard a lot of people say "I wish I had gone bigger", but not one has said "I wish I had gone smaller". Also, if the image feels large I can always move the recliners back a bit. In my setup the viewer is 13' from the screen.

 

[jksaabh]

Quick Update:

The fire sprinklers were removed, painted black and lowered to below the line of the drop ceiling.





The first coat of the new light gray has been applied to the rear wall.


I put in an order for the Vapex 120" electric tension screen. This screen comes with a wireless 12v trigger that I can hook up to my projector. This way, when I switch on the projector, the screen will drop on its own. Visual Apex has a package where they include a basic universal remote, a ceiling mount for the projector, a 35' HDMI cable and a Disney WOW Calibration Disc along with the screen for not a lot more. I was originally planning on getting the peerless mount for my 5030UB, but will give Vapex's mount a shot. I guess, I'll use the universal remote for the TV in the living room.

Another design element I am considering changing is the location of my wireless router. I was originally planning on housing my router along with my A/V gear in the media rack under the stairs. I now fear that having it in such a concealed location would impact it's performance significantly. I already have a coax running to my media rack, so I plan on hooking it up to my router and checking the performance in the upper levels. If the performance isnt up to mark, I would have to run another coax to the office area and house the router there. I have pre-wired a cat6 from the office area to the media rack - it was supposed to connect to the router in the rack and be used by my Mac in the office. Now it will be used the other way around: the router would be in the office, and there will be a cat 6 splitter which will connect my A/V gear to the router.

Has anyone placed their router in a concealed location with favorable results?

 

[jksaabh]

It's been a while since my last update, and loads has happened since. The drop ceiling is more or less completed:



The wall plates are done too:
Front wall:




Right wall:


Left wall:


The left wall has a HDMI plate, which has a HDMI cable running to one of the input ports of the receiver. This way, I can display images from my camera or computer on the projector.

I also picked up eight 60W equivalent LED bulbs from Sam's Club. They light up the place really nice, but on adding the IR dimmer to the mix we noticed that the bulbs don't switch off. It was then we realized that the IR dimmer does not support LED blubs. I searched for LED bulb dimmers, and found quite a few but none of them had the IR feature. On doing some digging we found a hack: replace one of the LED bulbs with a normal bulb and the dimmer works. Of course, this is a ugly hack as one of the bulbs will look different from the others. So the idea is to now have a very low wattage bulb inside the drop ceiling, and add that as one of the bulbs connected to the dimmer. Also, will try using a busted normal bulb to see if that helps. I really don't want any light leaking through the drop ceiling.

The media rack is slowly taking shape:

 

[jksaabh]

It's been a while since my last update, so here goes:

The drop ceiling support structure is up, and the ceiling tiles are being put in place. The black drop ceiling looks pretty neat.










Also, found a fix to the IR dimmer not working with LED lights. I have one very low wattage nightlight included in the bulbs attached to the dimmer. With this arrangement, I am able to dim the LEDs using the remote.
The Visual Apex 120" screen has arrived, as has the free projector mount, Disney WOW Blu Ray, universal remote, and 35' HDMI cable.

Also, scheduled the carpet installation for this Saturday. Oh boy, we are in the home stretch, folks.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Looking great! It's been fun following your progress.

 

[jksaabh]

The carpet installers were visiting us this rainy morning, and before they did the stage had to be completed. The stage was stuffed with insulation, and a heavy OSB board was installed on top. The right of the board was cut so that it could be removed to access the condensation drip hole. The original idea was to have this on a hinge, but that would mean the hinge may be visible. So we dropped the hinge idea, now to access the hole all one has to do is lift the door.



We were very nervous that the carpet may not go with the other grays in the room. But as it turned out, the carpet went rather well. After the carpet was installed, I *finally* opened my speakers and a/v receiver. Since the projector wasn't setup yet, I impatiently connected the receiver to my old toshiba TV. In a room, devoid of all furniture, I saw X-Men first class on a 32" non-HD TV while sitting on the floor.



And it was fantastic!

 

[Bobofbone]

Of course it was fantastic. Now, the trick is to get the rest done in between breaks !!

 

[jksaabh]

Unfortunately, it appears like I have jinxed my project. After mounting the visual apex 120" screen on the front wall (leaving space for the TV to be mounted behind it), I noticed a small black mark on the bottom middle portion of the screen. On holding a flashlight behind the screen, it was plain to see that it was indeed a small tear in the screen material. I immediately called up Vapex, and spoke to one of their support personnel. They were very professional, and said they would send me a replacement right away (it's expected to arrive later this week).

We also mounted the projector using the visual apex mount (that came free with the screen). Maybe I didn't do it right, but my projector turns rather freely horizontally. This made the initial alignment, and calibration quite a nightmare. Every time I tried to change the zoom or focus settings, I ended up moving the projector itself.



Later, after I got the projector setup the way I liked it, I noticed that on playing a movie there was a vertical black line on the screen. This line seems to pass through the tear on the screen, which makes me think they are related. Since I'm getting a replacement anyways, I did not bring it up with Vapex.

On the positive side, though, the screen casing looks awesome and the wireless IR trigger works like a charm - dropping and raising as I switch on and off my projector. I'm hopeful that the replacement will have no issues.

The two single power recliners from Overstock arrived, and they seem pretty good. I should be receiving the loveseats sometime this week. The problem with the loveseats is they don't have cup holders, but since the single seats have one on each arm I guess we should be alright.

We also mounted my surround speakers, I based the height off the Klipsch recommendation: a couple of feet above the listening position. So my surrounds are around five and a half feet off the ground. I cant run it any lower as it would then obstruct anyone walking the narrow aisle between the recliner and the wall. I ran the XT32 calibration, and boy the speakers sound really amazing. I do have concerns about the speaker height though. Dolby suggests that for an atmos setup the sides should be as close to ear height as possible. I, unfortunately, will not be able to achieve that so it will be interesting to see how the setup sounds after I add my ceiling speakers.





Speaking of ceiling speakers, I have been debating on whether to have a 5.2.4 or a 7.2.2 atmos setup. I'm leaning towards the former, but I would love to hear your opinions.



In the evening, we saw our two year old's favorite movie, the Jungle Book. It was fantastic. Later that night, I saw the Avengers on Netflix. Having the wifi router in the media cabinet means that I get to hardwire my receiver and PS3, and boy I didn't have any buffering issues. I wasnt expecting such good sound from a streamed movie. Since the wife wasn't interested she called one of her friends. She has a habit of pacing around the room when on a call, and every step she took in our living area shook the projector quite a bit. I expected there to be some amount of vibrations from someone walking directly overhead, but this was more than I imagined. I am switching my mount with the peerless mount, which has fantastic reviews on Amazon. If nothing else, it should at least keep the projector fixed in one position.



Also, the stairs are completed too. I think they look pretty cool in black and the yellow railing complements it rather well.





I also hooked up my harmony remote the way I had planned (details in earlier post), and it works fine. I had to have the IR blaster up front on top of the screen so that it can interact with both the projector as well as the dimmer (which is on the left wall). So now on one button click, the receiver, PS3 and projector start up, the screen drops down and the lights go off. On clicking the same button again, all devices switch off, the projector screen returns to its casing and the lights... stay off! I haven't found a way of adding a "turn on lights" step in my activity. Need to do some digging there.

That's about it for now, more later.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Any updates, or are you still just sitting back and enjoying the fruits of your labor? (nothing wrong with that, btw)


Have your impressions changed much since you wrapped up the work? Any pleasant or unpleasant surprises?