Man Cave - Theatre

[That_Sound_Guy]

Hey all - Just sharing my construction thread so far and curious on opinions on how I'm doing.

LED's I installed under the sectional with remote control to change colors and brightness.

Basement was a complete open slate when I started. I did all construction with 2 friends and my father in law except for drywall taping and carpet install.

Theatre - 14x16x7.5
Receiver - Marantz SR5007
Mains - Aperion Grand monitors
Surrounds - Monoprice 5 1/4's (given the sound stage distance - these cheap speakers matched the higher dollar speakers as they are barely driven at all). Great little speakers on the cheap. Only fault they have, the back of them are not enclosed.
Sub - Currently 1 JBLPSWD115 - I have two SVS PB1000's on order.
Sony BD player
Belkin power conditioner
Epson 3020 3D projector
Visual Apex 120" 1.1 16x9 screen

The open area is still unknown as to what Im going to put down there. The drumset now has a Mackie studio monitor system behind it - the rest is wide open.

The ceiling of the theatre is only fire taped for now as Im currently building the fiber optic panels for a starfield ceiling. Time....absorbing....project....

HTPC is a I3 Sandy Bridge - Samsung 830 SSD - 8GB - Hauppage TV Tuner - Win media center connected to NAS for movies/internet/streaming. FUGLY ass case which needs to be replaced. Deciding on building a new machine for gaming on the screen which will result in all new hardware since my current mobo only has one PCI-E slot for the TV tuner. Yeah for failed future planning.

 

[jws86]

That looks amazing...I'm very jealous..spent to much money on my gaming rig to have a nice setup like yours!

 

[jws86]

I bet that sectional is comfortable! How big is your screen?

 

[jojo69]

envious

 

[dan87]

Wow, looks awesome.

 

[wra18th]

really nice.

 

[That_Sound_Guy]

Thanks for all the kind comments everyone. Construction started Oct 28th and I'll hopefully be done with everything by mid march.

I bet that sectional is comfortable! How big is your screen?

Since the room wasn't wide enough for 3 theatre seats we decided on a sectional. Thankfully this one was on clearance so we got a bit of a deal. It's a firm seat with a spring base and not pad. I hate "puffy" seats that you get swallowed into. 120"

That looks amazing...I'm very jealous..spent to much money on my gaming rig to have a nice setup like yours!

It hurt to save and live without things we don't need to make this happen. We have no cable TV, lower end cell phone and internet plans and rarily go out to bars and such. The basement was justified to help our resale value or appeal to a buyer if ever needed and I wanted the challenge of doing as much as I could by myself and not hiring someone.

 

[wra18th]

It hurt to save and live without things we don't need to make this happen. We have no cable TV, lower end cell phone and internet plans and rarily go out to bars and such. The basement was justified to help our resale value or appeal to a buyer if ever needed and I wanted the challenge of doing as much as I could by myself and not hiring someone.

It looks like it was all worth it in the end. You sir, have much skillz.

 

[valve1138]

No PT against the concrete?

 

[Adidas4275]

love epson PJs I have had my 720 Home Cinema for 3 1/2 years running all the time (wife loves watching movies on our setup) I have gone through 2 bulbs in 3 years and not had 1 issue.

The Epson LCD PJs are bright (even in a non-light controlled room like mine) and last a long time.

I want to upgrade mine to a 1080p version and with more lumens but the one i have works great so........ it is going to be a while!

Nice build and do show us the HTPC (even in its crappy case)

 

[Quicksilver_]

But can your system run Milkdrop? IMO a good system should be able to run milkdrop at a moment's notice at a glorious resolution (or frame rate, words can't express the awesomeness of 75fps+ Milkdrop.) Also, you put a hole in the wall, but not a hipster mini fridge? Your cave needs at least a fridge in it, though judging by the quality of the carpet, any form of spillage would probably result in someone being de-balled.

 

[Lethal]

LED's I installed under the sectional with remote control to change colors and brightness.

Made me think of what I call the "disco lights" in our spa tub.

Great job! I'm sure a fully finished basement like that will add tremendously to the house value. Is there a bathroom down there? A wet bar/fridge? Microwave for popcorn, or better yet, a real theater type popcorn machine.

You know, all the necessities for when you settle in for a movie marathon. No one wants to have to walk up a flight of stairs to take a leak.

Looks like you have plenty of room for a pool table, too. I am so jealous.

 

[That_Sound_Guy]

No PT against the concrete?

PT?

love epson PJs I have had my 720 Home Cinema for 3 1/2 years running all the time (wife loves watching movies on our setup) I have gone through 2 bulbs in 3 years and not had 1 issue.

The Epson LCD PJs are bright (even in a non-light controlled room like mine) and last a long time.

Nice build and do show us the HTPC (even in its crappy case)

I love Epson hardware and will continue to support them. My projector is in ECO mode and still plenty bright for my throw distance of 16 feet on a white 1.1 gain screen.

I'll get the pics of the media pc to add.

But can your system run Milkdrop? IMO a good system should be able to run milkdrop at a moment's notice at a glorious resolution (or frame rate, words can't express the awesomeness of 75fps+ Milkdrop.) Also, you put a hole in the wall, but not a hipster mini fridge? Your cave needs at least a fridge in it, though judging by the quality of the carpet, any form of spillage would probably result in someone being de-balled.

I'm not at tuning/capability mode yet as I'm still tuning audio and waiting for equipment to arrive. I have used Milkdrop before and I will be using it for burnin or capacity testing for lack of better term.

As for the cave fridge. On the opposite side of the theatre there will be a fridge, counter, microwave etc for all the theatre foods. If spillage occurs, my happiness level will plummet quickly.

Made me think of what I call the "disco lights" in our spa tub.

Great job! I'm sure a fully finished basement like that will add tremendously to the house value. Is there a bathroom down there? A wet bar/fridge? Microwave for popcorn, or better yet, a real theater type popcorn machine.

You know, all the necessities for when you settle in for a movie marathon. No one wants to have to walk up a flight of stairs to take a leak.

Looks like you have plenty of room for a pool table, too. I am so jealous.

I hope the value will increase but I mainly did it for the challenge of construction and to have more livable space (and the theatre of course). There will be a bar but it won't be wet as the area where I wanted the contertop/fridge would have been difficult to run piping. Plus I didn't think it would be used very much. There is a rough in bathroom but not finished (yet), that's in funding part two.

We are still undecided what will take up the floor space. Thinking a convertable table/poker table (octagon) but wow are they expensive.

 

[valve1138]

PT = Pressure treated wood.

 

[That_Sound_Guy]

PT = Pressure treated wood.

Oh. No I don't. I didn't give it much thought really. My basement is dry plus I have 6 mil plastic up for a vapor barrier to assist if moisture ever becomes an issue. A third of my basement is exposed to the outside as well. I have a dehumidifier set at 50% humidity and I rarily hear it run.

 

[wra18th]

Looks like you've covered all of the bases. Bravo! Excellent job! But...........can it play Crysis? LOL

 

[LeninGHOLA]

Looks great. You may have a heck of a time with room modes, but I guess you'll just have to buy two more of the SVS subs to compensate

 

[Jabroni31169]

Oh. No I don't. I didn't give it much thought really. My basement is dry plus I have 6 mil plastic up for a vapor barrier to assist if moisture ever becomes an issue. A third of my basement is exposed to the outside as well. I have a dehumidifier set at 50% humidity and I rarily hear it run.

code requires you use pressure treated wood when it touches concrete. as long as the inspector doesn't see it you'll be ok.

 

[Jabroni31169]

and go ahead and get a pcd-12. I've got one in my theater and if blows away anything I've ever heard.

 

[That_Sound_Guy]

Updates:

New HTPC is a Fractal case with a core I5 Ivy 3570, 8GB, GTX650, Sam 830 SSD and BD player. My first go around with Win 8. Its not terrible but certainly worse than Win 7. It was a free license and got in for the free media center key so I can't really complain. Still installing all my HT apps and games to see what issues I run into.

My point and shoot camera is shooting vivid shots by default and won't let me change it. The colors therefore are deepened and not the real shade. Yay technology....

 

[LeninGHOLA]

Looks good. You'll have to hit that ceiling with a non reflective paint, but otherwise it looks like a nice man cave.

 

[That_Sound_Guy]

Looks good. You'll have to hit that ceiling with a non reflective paint, but otherwise it looks like a nice man cave.

Ceiling in the theatre is getting a fiber optic starfield panel grid installed. Im in the process of building it now and will be wrapped in GoM fabric. 3 stars per sq/ft in a 14' by 16ft room. The fabric will help with sound deadening and reflective light termination. The drape is there to also grab light and sound to hopefully kill any boomy our acoustic bounce effects since I don't have a real easy way to put up acoustic panels. Hopefully....

 

[LeninGHOLA]

Nice plan. It's turning out to be something you will enjoy greatly.