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Wiretap's Home Theater

w1retap

w1retap

[H]F Junkie
2FA
Joined
Jul 17, 2006
Messages
14,401
This worklog will be a month to three months long, and I'll document the progress as it gets finished.

I am in the process of making a home theater in my basement, starting from scratch. Currently there are bare cement walls and nothing else.

The plans are to have a home theater system with a 1080p DLP projector hooked up to a home theater pc for HDDVD/Blu-ray and HD Cable. 7.1 surround sound will be supplied through Yambeka Audio speakers with a Bic H-100 sub and Onkyo 605 receiver. The theater screen will be homemade and about 105-120'' or so. I'm also getting 6 leather reclining home theater seats with cup holders.

I am having construction professionally done by a new home builder I know very well. He does awesome work. The electrical in the whole house has to be updated. 1940's style electrical runs won't cut it for what I need. The electrician is coming in and going to run separate circuits for all the different components of the theater system and computers. This will of course happen after the walls are framed in, and before the drywall & drop ceiling.

Current status as of 06/11/2007 @ 6am EST.

th_pano.jpg

Full Size: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a1/wiretap25/Basement/pano.jpg
 
Nice area, I cant see how it'll all be placed but I cant see for progress!
 
The construction actually starts today, so tonight I'll have more pictures of it all studded in (hopefully).

I am at work right now, so I'll have to get pictures of the actual construction floorplan tonight.
 
You installing cabinets too?

any ideas on what type of wood/finish?

We're gonna need all the details, figgered I'd get them out of the way on the first page. :p
 
Should be interesting. How are you going to put the seats in? Ie 2 rows of them or try to put the 6 in a single row. If you are going with 2 rows are you going to put the second row of seats on something to raise them above the first row?
 
nah, no cabinets. For the HTPC and receiver I'm going to just get the simplest floor standing audio rack, probably with glass shelves. My HTPC and receiver are going to be silver, so that will probably be the color of the audio rack.

In the back of the room behind the home theater seating, there are going to be two IKEA desks I already have purchased. Its a huge wrap around with the nice round "A" legs. The color of those is the dark brown. I believe they are the Galant series tables. Some of my server computers and Cisco routers are going back there.
 
swatbat said:
Should be interesting. How are you going to put the seats in? Ie 2 rows of them or try to put the 6 in a single row. If you are going with 2 rows are you going to put the second row of seats on something to raise them above the first row?
Click to expand...

I'm probably putting them in two rows.. 3 per row horizontally. The behind row will be raised up about 6 inches on a box I'm going to make. It will be carpeted to match the rest of the room, so it will look natural.
 
Holy cow.. I came home from work and the whole basement is 90% framed in. :eek:

The exterior walls have plastic wrap behind them to prevent moisture from seeping through and causing mold. The wall frames are all anchored into the floor and ceiling. They feel super sturdy.

The first picture is of the whole overview like the very first picture I posted in post # 1. It shows the stairway coming down into a landing area. That small framed in room will be for shoes, coats, and other misc. items. There will be closets in there for storage. The floor will probably be tiled.

In the second picture is the next room down. It goes to the end of the basement. It is the home theater and computer area. The computers and IKEA wraparound desk will be closest to the corner where the saw is sitting in that picture. The movie screen will be at the end where the window is. I'm making a blackout curtain to go up in there so no light comes through.

Current status as of 06/11/2007 @ 7pm EST.
th_pano2.jpg

Full Size: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a1/wiretap25/Basement/pano2.jpg

th_pano3.jpg

Full Size: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a1/wiretap25/Basement/pano3.jpg
 
subscribed. I love seeing home theaters come together.

do you have any ideas for what hind of hardware you'll be using for the HTPC? Also putting the HTPC and other components in a closet or something would look better since they would be out of the way instead of in the middle of a theater.
 
SC385 said:
subscribed. I love seeing home theaters come together.

do you have any ideas for what hind of hardware you'll be using for the HTPC? Also putting the HTPC and other components in a closet or something would look better since they would be out of the way instead of in the middle of a theater.
Click to expand...

I already have my case, but no hardware yet. I'm using the Antec NSK2400 case. I already lined the interior with sound dampening foam, and converted the fans to 3 pin. For hardware, I think I'm going with a 65nm AMD, biostar 690g mobo, 2gb ddr2-800, nvidia 8500gt, x-fi xtreme music, 750gb DB series seagate hard drive for media storage, and a VL System VFD screen. It will be running Vista Home Premium.

Don't worry though.. keep an eye on the thread and I'll show my progress for EVERYTHING as I go along. Everything from building the HTPC, to wiring up the receiver for 7.1, and building the theater screen. I'm not going to skip out on anything. :)
 
A 750GB drive, eh? I think two things:

A: Will that be enough capacity for high def content

B: No redundancy in case of drive failure, perhaps there is network storage?
 
zyonuf79 said:
A 750GB drive, eh? I think two things:

A: Will that be enough capacity for high def content

B: No redundancy in case of drive failure, perhaps there is network storage?
Click to expand...

Plenty of storage.. a 1080p x264 is only DVD9 size or a little larger, and 720p is only a DVD5. I already have a shitload of content on 500GB drives in redundant configurations on my network servers. If I lose a hard drive, it is already backed up somewhere else and no big deal. Plus, most of the movie watching will be done with HDDVD's anyway.
 
w1retap said:
Plenty of storage.. a 1080p x264 is only DVD9 size or a little larger, and 720p is only a DVD5. I already have a shitload of content on 500GB drives in redundant configurations on my network servers. If I lose a hard drive, it is already backed up somewhere else and no big deal. Plus, most of the movie watching will be done with HDDVD's anyway.
Click to expand...

werd
 
I like the what you have going there so far. Looks to be solid framing, nice.

I recently did up the walls for a HT room for my brother and we had a similar setup in the basement and here's how ended up setting it up.

EDIT - Walls are in yellow, and the blue is self explanatory.

 
love the seating choice ive had the chance to sit and watch a movie in one of those and they are comfy as hell man..
 
Adidas4275 said:
looks good... i thought that HD dvds were over 10gb of data?
Click to expand...

HDDVD's are 15GB to 30GB. I own the actual disks and Xbox 360 HDDVD player I will use via USB on the HTPC. I don't have to worry about storing them on the hard drive.

But, the update for today is they just finished framing in the window, and made a closet next to the hot water heater at the left side of that one small room by the stairway. I'll have pictures up in a while.
 
Alrighty, here is the update for today. The closet by the water heater in the stairway landing was framed in, and the window at the end of the basement was framed in. I will have the theater screen hanging off the face of that, and the window will be covered by blackout curtain so no light comes through.

Next I guess we have to wait for the electrician to do all the electrical and run the power wires. A new service box also has to be installed, so this could take a few days depending on how slow DTE Energy is.. lol. (My father and I work for DTE Energy) :p A new line has to be run from the pole to the house too.. currently it is attached to the gutters (LOL) which is not allowed. Everything has to be brought up to code.

We almost ran into a problem with the city build permits.. it was a close one. They said we were going to have to have a fire exit from the basement which would cost a couple thousand dollars. A section of the basement wall would have to be removed to allow a ladder leading to the outside back yard in case of an emergency. We talked our way out of it saying that nobody would be living down the basement.. it was only going to be used for computers and storage. :cool: That would have been a nightmare.. I could only imagine the water leaks that would be caused, or someone potentially breaking in and stealing all my stuff. I have a neighbor that likes to steal and I caught his foot prints in the snow one time all around the house checking for open windows.

So.... I'll be sitting tight while the electricians do their thing, hopefully it won't take too long and I'll have some more updates in the mean time.

Current status as of 06/12/2007 @ 9pm EST.
th_pano4.jpg

Full Size: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a1/wiretap25/Basement/pano4.jpg

th_IMG_3149.jpg

Full Size: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a1/wiretap25/Basement/IMG_3149.jpg
 
w1retap said:
Alrighty, here is the update for today. The closet by the water heater in the stairway landing was framed in, and the window at the end of the basement was framed in. I will have the theater screen hanging off the face of that, and the window will be covered by blackout curtain so no light comes through.

Next I guess we have to wait for the electrician to do all the electrical and run the power wires. A new service box also has to be installed, so this could take a few days depending on how slow DTE Energy is.. lol. (My father and I work for DTE Energy) :p A new line has to be run from the pole to the house too.. currently it is attached to the gutters (LOL) which is not allowed. Everything has to be brought up to code.

We almost ran into a problem with the city build permits.. it was a close one. They said we were going to have to have a fire exit from the basement which would cost a couple thousand dollars. A section of the basement wall would have to be removed to allow a ladder leading to the outside back yard in case of an emergency. We talked our way out of it saying that nobody would be living down the basement.. it was only going to be used for computers and storage. :cool: That would have been a nightmare.. I could only imagine the water leaks that would be caused, or someone potentially breaking in and stealing all my stuff. I have a neighbor that likes to steal and I caught his foot prints in the snow one time all around the house checking for open windows.

So.... I'll be sitting tight while the electricians do their thing, hopefully it won't take too long and I'll have some more updates in the mean time.
Click to expand...

Subscribed!

Home Theaters are just freakin awesome :cool:

If you don't mind telling, how many square feet is your basement? It looks huge..
 
The entire basement is 25' x 50', so roughly 1250sq.ft. Only one half of it is being finished. The theater room itself is about 35'x 13'.
 
Thank you.. I'm working 50-60hrs per week at work to pay for this.. lol.. and I thought the 37'' Westy was a big expense when I got it last year. :p Maybe I'll start charging neighbors $5 to watch a movie, or even more for high def sports content. haha.
 
Subscribed.

Only this is, I didn't see anything about a couch our two. Couches are great for couples watching movies. :]
 
w1retap said:
Maybe I'll start charging neighbors $5 to watch a movie, or even more for high def sports content. haha.
Click to expand...

Just get some friends over to watch like ufc ppv fights and have them all go in and pay for it.
 
that is sick...i would love to be able to do something like that... i gotta buy a house first though :eek:
 
Got my cables today from monoprice, but still waiting for the electrician so no more progress pictures of the theater room yet.

IMG_3155.jpg


A) 300ft 14AWG Enhanced Loud Oxygen-free Copper Speaker Cable. This is for the 7.1 surround sound from the Onkyo TX-SR605(S) to the Yambeka Audio speakers.

B) 25ft Digital Coaxial CL2 Rated RG6/U 75ohm S/PDIF Subwoofer Cable. Obviously going to the sub, probably a Bic H-100.

C) 3ft Premium 3-RCA Component 18AWG CL2 Rated RG-6 75ohm Cable. This is to connect the HD Cable box to the receiver.. I'll probably upgrade it to a HDMI connector later on once things are all sorted out.

D) 3ft HDMI-->DVI 24AWG Gold Plated Cable. For connecting the HTPC to the receiver.

E) 3ft Premium Optical Toslink 8.0mm Cable w/ Fancy Metal Connector. For connecting audio from the HD Cable box to the receiver.

F) 35ft Premium 3-RCA Component 18AWG CL2 Rated RG-6 75ohm Cable. This will be run through the ceiling from the receiver to the projector.

G) 35ft HDMI-->HDMI Tin-Plated Copper 24AWG CL2 Cable with Gold Plated Connectors. This will be run through the ceiling from the receiver to the projector.
 
ok wow... all my updates got deleted.. this could be the end of the worklog. I'll take it somewhere else.
 
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