[s_inman]

Hi,

I thought it was about time I shared my second creation with AVForums.

I've wanted my own dedicated room for as long as I can remember and having recently moved into a 3 bedroom semi-detached I figured it was time I put my dream into action.

The chosen room was the second largest bedroom and measures just over 11' square which was a reasonable size to work with. We would all love to have a bigger room but I can't complain as I at least about to get stuck into the my first venture in a proper dedicated cinema.

I actually started buying new kit towards the end of last summer, i've bought 99% of the equipment second hand and saved a small fortune over the recommended rrp.

The final kit list is as follows;

JVC HD350 Projector
Panamorph UH380 Anamorphic Lens
DIY 110" Seymour AV centre stage XD screen
ADA Cinema Rhapsody Mach ii Processor
Behringer DSP1124p Parametric Sub EQ
Lumagen VisionPro HD Video Scaler
Dune Prime 3.0 BluRay (media) player
5 x Pro Audio Power Amplifiers
Jamo D7 Left, Centre, Right (mounted behind screen)
M&K S-85 rear surrounds
M&K S550 side surrounds
DIY 18" Fi audio SSD D2 Sub
Sky HD
Xbox 360
Demopad (iPad) remote.
Global Cache IP2IR

The decision to build a 2.40:1 screen complete with anamorphic lens was decided way before the room was started, nothing compares to the true cinematic feel the super wide screen gives... After all who wants to watch the news larger than the majority of major movies?

Once I had all the kit sorted it was onto the build. I actually started the room at the beginning of December 2011, I had 3 weeks off over Christmas and my initial plan was to have the whole room done by new year. I now realise that the plan wasn't realistic as I eventually finished it last weekend (Easter weekend) it all went downhill once I hung the projector, I found myself watching my favourite scenes on repeat... Bad move!

Anyway I learned some basic acoustic science and read quit a lot on room treatments for the home cinema environment. I eventually decided to fully sound treat the room with Wickes 50mm general purpose insulation slabs which as far as I can remember has a density of 60kg m/3. The entire front wall has been covered 3 layers deep (150mm in total) with bass traps bellow and above the screen. First reflection points have also been sorted floor to ceiling including clouds with a 50mm covering, the rear wall has a 100mm thick covering with a "faced" surface to reflect high frequencies to help liven the room (i didn't want it to sound too dull) the rest of the room has been treated up to ear height with more 50mm slabs. The effect is superb, upon entering the room the whole atmosphere changes and the overall sound is much more controlled without being too dull.

The frames housing the acoustic treatments are covered in Maplins felt speaker cloth, the cloth is acoustically transparent so is ideal for this type of application. It's also great if you have a projector as it really does turn the room in to a bat cave . I had originally planned on using Devore but it was going to cost a fortune to cover the room, I may re cover the screen wall in devore at some point but for now it's perfect for me. The screen does hang in a black hole.

The front LCR speakers are positioned behind the Seymour AV centre stage XD (acoustically transparent) screen and again offer that true cinema feel. The screen is 110" diagonal with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. It also has a 40' radius to clear up the distortion "pincushion" that is caused by the anamorphic lens with a fairly low throw ratio.

I was originally hoping to put the 36U 19" rack In the third bedroom but in the end it would have been quite a lot of work getting wires to and from the projector/speakers. I settled with the rack to the right hand side of the screen, I did have initial concerns over reflections but in reality this isn't an issue.

All the lighting within the room is LED, the ceiling lights change colour slowly on a red, green, blue routine and the low level plinth lighting is a static 3000k white. Both are controlled independently using my iPad.

I did quite a lot of reading on DIY subs and I'm glad I did, for the cost of a DIY it out performs an off the shelf item at a fraction of the cost. I settled on the Fi audio 18" dual 2 ohm driver as it was a very good price, it's driven by a Behringer EP2500 amplifier.

These are my winISD and Google sketch up designs for the sub, I wanted a fairly easy design as its my first attempt at anything like this. The box is constructed from 25mm MDF.

The box is a touch under 165 litres with a Qtc of 0.688, *I wanted more top end punch over lower end SPL. It sure does punch quite well .

I also ran REW once the room was finished to see how well it performed..

As you can see it lacked some SPL below 20hz and had a huge peak at 45hz. I added some filters to the Behringer DSP1124p and here is the outcome.

The sound is now much more controlled and balanced. It also has good low end output even when playing at reference levels. I may add a second in the future to make it a little more effortless but for now I couldn't be happier.

Onto things I would do differently the second time round? Well I would ideally want the room to be a good 5 feet longer so I could move the seating position away from the rear wall a little and also hide the sub behind the screen wall. A black projector would also disappear a little better in the room... Maybe I should upgrade to an X30. Apart from that I'm happy and for my first venture in the dedicated room scene I'm extremely please with the rooms performance. I do however hope to get the JVC calibrated some time soon.

[s_inman]

Onto the pictures. Most of these pictures are over exposed because the room is so dark, even with the lighting on.

[s_inman]

[s_inman]

[s_inman]

Some screenshots of the projector in action, the colour even though it hasn't been calibrated is far better than these pictures show (I think it was a white balance problem as most of these pictures suggest a major red crush).

[s_inman]

And a 1.85:1 shot

[s_inman]

Stuart

[Baseley09]

This is perverse, quality looks amazing.

[zunglam]

That is an insane screen, loving the FI 18" SSD too

[Philw101]

That screen + Projector quality is quite simply stunning. Well done!

Also your DIY sub is massive! I bet that certainly belts out some bass.

I am a newbie with regards to projectors and screen - any advice on making a PJ screen? Did Seymour provide you with instructions for the frame or did you design it yourself?

[kpnuts81]

Wow, stunning what you've done with a relatively small space! Attention to detail and the thought that has gone into the planning and build seems superb.

Now if only I didn't have just the 3rd bedroom free, which is the size of an actual shoebox. Stupid kids.

Very nice photography too.

[MuzMc]

Amazing.

[PedroMalheiro]

amazing!!

[Ninjafoot]

Outstanding looking setup pictures look amazing i can only imagine what it sounds like in there, the sub also looks like it's capable of pushing out some serious LFE!!!

[scot360]

awesome room , screen ratio , sub , kit built into the wall , ceiling lighting , ETC ETC !!!!!!!

That room is on another planet!

That has got to be one of my favourite threads

The attention to detail is amazing. Just looks so futuristic!

There is only one thing that brings me down to earth thats the pine door. That defo needs an upgrade (no offence meant).

[s_inman]

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys .

Originally Posted by Philw101

That screen + Projector quality is quite simply stunning. Well done!

Also your DIY sub is massive! I bet that certainly belts out some bass.

I am a newbie with regards to projectors and screen - any advice on making a PJ screen? Did Seymour provide you with instructions for the frame or did you design it yourself?

The screen was designed and made by myself, i did however have a look at previous DIY screens for inspiration. It is quite a straight forward build and took around 2 hours to make.

The only advice I would give is make sure your happy with the size and position before you commence the build.

[s_inman]

Originally Posted by scot360

awesome room , screen ratio , sub , kit built into the wall , ceiling lighting , ETC ETC !!!!!!!

That room is on another planet!

That has got to be one of my favourite threads

The attention to detail is amazing. Just looks so futuristic!

There is only one thing that brings me down to earth thats the pine door. That defo needs an upgrade (no offence meant).

Thanks, no offence taken. I've been trying to think of ways to hide the door within the room, I have a couple of ideas up my sleeve .

Next up I'm seriously tempted to get a THX calibration done by Jules, maybe next month when the wallet starts to breathe again.

Stuart

[Rick2102]

REALLY enjoyed reading and flicking through this thread.

The attention to detail is amazing and looks stunning both from the room point of view and technically.

You have certainly spent alot of time learning and it has certainly paid off.

Great job, and enjoy

VERY jealous

[Rick2102]

btw, did you do all the work yourself?

[BlairLoch]

Actually amazing setup - that is my dream for when I have my own place, somewhere you can just totally switch off and watch a top film.

[Rodrigues]

Top notch, congrats!

[s_inman]

Originally Posted by Rodrigues

Top notch, congrats!

Thanks for all the positive comments, it really does make all the hard work a little more worthwhile.

I did indeed do all the work myself, the only point I could of done with the extra pair of hands was the ceiling.. It was a particular struggle .

Stuart

[s_inman]

Well it seems I've exceeded my free allowance on photobucket, I will re up the photos later tonight.

Any suggestions for a site with unlimited bandwidth?

[Philw101]

Hi Stuart - you could try imageshack?

[s_inman]

Originally Posted by Philw101

Hi Stuart - you could try imageshack?

It's defiantly an option. I may try Flickr..

[Richard Fenn]

Superb room! Ceiling looks fantastic, do you have any build pictures whilst you were doing the room?

[bluesmartie]

Wow, amusing. The attention to detail is awesome!! Well done mate.

[bravogolf]

Heh, I can't see your pics but am looking forward to seeing what it all looks like

[s_inman]

Im hoping to have the pictures back up later.

I have some build pictures that I will also try and get on the thread.

Stuart

[Smurfin]

I was nodding (not asleep ) all the way through your first post, looks like you've done what most people miss, and get all of the basics right - and then some! A great read and it really sounds like you've done this properly.

Looking forward to seeing the photos