New cinema build

Bippu

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I’ve finally started the cinema build, this has take a such a long time to happen. Finally got most of my house refurbished to start my AV room.
Haven’t decided on any kit yet and indecisive around large tv or short throw projector and really the entire setup. I want it to be be a good listening room as well as a cinema.

So kit wise I’m pretty open to most things.
Front Speakers I’m consider are wharfdale revo4.4
Dolby atmos I want in ceiling - if anyone has suggestions
I’m considering an amp with Home theatre setting for audio and an AV unit with pre out to allow double up in front speakers. Ive never used and I’d rather just buy a surround package and hifi separate unless this type of combination actually works well. At this point probably going for a 5.1.2 I’m not sure there’s a benefit to 7.1 unless multiple seating rows That’s my interpretation of it anyway. Please shout out if you feel the additional speakers really helped. As I could put them in wall ?
Rear speaker will be wall mounted or suspended from ceiling and although I’d enjoy another sub. I’d rather get 1 good one and another in the future if I feel needed.
I’m installing a fabric Wall system with 50mm rock wool in for broadband Absorption I’ll monitor bass problems and address if needed. Probably build and a front screen structure for all the gubbins and hold speakers if required.
Decouple plasterboard, decoupled stud walls with 75mm celotex. Going for a room within a room, and a bar area at the back to hold goodies
I’m going to use this thread to track progress and also and hope other can benefit.
I hope to finished in time to be watching Xmas movies as ill only really have weekend time to work.
 
Sounds great, do you have a budget in mind as kit prices can vary widely based on quality of components and quantity of speakers.
 
Day 1 and a coupon of evenings
Why do I have so much crap. It was quite overwhelming. Just do it elephant eating style. Where there’s a will there’s a way.
It was great to finally commence ripping all the old panelling off removing the polystyrene insulation and a damp roof membrane off the walls !! Walls of course were all damp as no air circulation.
This was pretty tough going as everything was nailed down within an inch of its life. More than I can say for the building structure.
The support piers were no more than just for show. I pushed one over it was so loose. They haven’t been toothed in, they had a small l bracket and the smallest screws. I removed on panel and the bottom of the pier dropped out. Going to rebuild the bad piers. Extra brick to roof and secure to joists and put 2 steel bars through Secured with a plate inside and a plate outside. I’ll render over outside.
Another nice surprise is corner of building is missing dpc Not entire wall just a section. Going to try use Dry rod damp proof course rods. Drill holes every 12 cm and bang them in. The silicone paste in them is meant to flow through the mortar and lot of people seem to think their good.
I noticed while tidying up that the wall plate in one corner is badly rotted. Have to think about that one.
A few photos attached.
 

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Sounds great, do you have a budget in mind as kit prices can vary widely based on quality of components and quantity of speakers.
[/QUOTE £6.5k might have to got £8k depending on the projector and screen. Hopefully can get good prices and I don’t mind good 2nd hand.
 
I would think they are less support piers as there as no fixed things above for it to support.

I am not a builder or structural engineer but i would think that if that is a single skin wall they are some sort of wall rigidity design due to the expanse of wall run.

Good going get that lot stripped out. Fix it, then the fun can start.
 
Excellent, good luck :)
At this point probably going for a 5.1.2 I’m not sure there’s a benefit to 7.1 unless multiple seating rows That’s my interpretation of it anyway. Please shout out if you feel the additional speakers really helped. As I could put them in wall ?
Have you got a sketch of the finished layout?

Decouple plasterboard, decoupled stud walls with 75mm celotex. Going for a room within a room
It was great to finally commence ripping all the old panelling off removing the polystyrene insulation and a damp roof membrane off the walls !! Walls of course were all damp as no air circulation.
I'm also building a room within a room, and I'm wondering how that's supposed to work from a damp perspective. You've understandably got damp on the existing walls, due to the lack of circulation, but how will you stop the same thing happening again when you add another room inside, leaving a gap to the existing walls and again, no circulation?
 
I would think they are less support piers as there as no fixed things above for it to support.

I am not a builder or structural engineer but i would think that if that is a single skin wall they are some sort of wall rigidity design due to the expanse of wall run.

Good going get that lot stripped out. Fix it, then the fun can start.

Came up with a better solution and I get space back from not having the piers. Going to use stainless or galvanised unistrus ceiling to floor. Much cheaper than using an rsj and the extra wide is super strong. You need support every 3 m.
 
Excellent, good luck :)
Have you got a sketch of the finished layout?


I'm also building a room within a room, and I'm wondering how that's supposed to work from a damp perspective. You've understandably got damp on the existing walls, due to the lack of circulation, but how will you stop the same thing happening again when you add another room inside, leaving a gap to the existing walls and again, no circulation?
What I’m doing is not building the floor up to the wall, I’m going to put some air bricks in. Filling wall stud with double foil celotex and using treated wood.
That should give plenty airflow under floor and through the cavity. Foil will provide barrier and could add moisture resistant plasterboard.
sorry about pics. Very rough concept plan at the moment. Originally liked ides of bean bags However as reality gets closer my get at least 2 chairs. Bottom pic was what I wall thinking about.
Where the screen is now planning to make a partition with a door in rackmount equipment and media.
I need to figure out how to control it not sure how I’ll do that.
 

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Day 2
Stripped out all the existing wiring, and rigged up a socket and light temporary. Ive removed ceiling and dumped a shed load of junk and generally prepare for arrival of building material. Found a bit woodworm nothing active but I’ll be treating that tomorrow as a precaution another add to list.
Looks like some gutter problems have been caused the root on wood problem. Have to cut it out and scarf a new piece in.
I’m still trying to find a supplier of fabric track I have an Unknown Indian company SHINING SUN INDIA PROJECTS who can supply but is a gamble and airfreight was $800 and sea freight 40-45 days is $190 + customs vat etc on top. I’d really rather source in the UK.
 
Days 3&4
It’s been a lot of work so far remediating some of the buildings issues.Removed and replaced all the piers.with steel struts. Really solid those.
Filled in all the floor gaps and cracks with concrete
Treated all the lower timbers still have attic area to do. Got the Dpm in and hopefully get the floor structure in over the weekend. All the celotex turned up. Saved a fortune using these guys Seconds & Co Insulation - Nationwide Delivery - Based in Mid Wales i would really recommend. It’s all new stuff I got, just leftovers packaged even unopened.

Ive got to put in a dampprrof course on one wall because the builder didn’t bother. Using dry rods drill 12mm hole 85mm deep as I’m single skin brick. Cut rod to size( I ordered the cutter it’s fast and less mess) Bang them in and silicone up the hole.

There does seem to be a fabric track shortage at the moment so might be delayed In finishing. I’m looking at mvel22 and spraying fire retardant on it. It’s polyester so doesn’t exactly burn well anyway

Anyway a few photos of progress to date.
Hopefully if anyone doing garage conversion with some building problems these posts will help.
 

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Love it coming on a treat gonna be superb mate following this one!
 
Making progress but supply runs and a few unexpected issues slowed stuff down. Have a bit of everything at the moment. Some floor, some studs, bit insulation. Started the block work so all good for now. A few photos
Hoping to start testing some speakers soon M&K LCR750AV package. Probably a Denon or Marantz receiver
No decision on projector yet and going for a fixed screen.
I’m having a rethink on full fabric wall. Mainly due to cost and the difficulty of obtaining track. So might go with a few DIY corner bass traps &1st reflection points instead.
 

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Hi Steve

I can see you have lots of questions so I think we should chat sometime.

I’ve designed hundreds of rooms like this and I know how to get the best and most consistent results. You’ll typically find everyone talking about their products rather than what’s really important, the basic design and layout of the speaker system.

For home cinemas and any space where someone will be using a mixer and decks, you must have as much headroom built into the system as possible so it can play loud, reliably, without distortion. You’ll get by far the best results and value for money using a pair of woofers in the front corners of the room, the right bass management and in wall or on wall speakers.

This attached chart shows why MK’s in walls are such a popular choice amongst home cinema professionals.

Please go get as many demonstrations as possible and trust your ears to guide you.

I have five very different rooms here with cinema systems, all of which use this approach that I think will outperform any alternatives.
 

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After a much longer hold on the project due to work than I wanted. Building work has resumed
Have a new door in place, insulation is progressing and pushing onto the plaster boarding.
Have made some decisions around the hardware.
Gone for a processor and power amp set up after the review from @Trophy hunter I couldn't help myself, decided to using a multiroom amp for the surrounds as a cost effective method and staying in the Anthem stack should keep everything balanced Anthem AVM70, Anthem MCA325,Anthem MDX8
Due to the complete lack of JVC N5's Ive had to push the budget up and gone for the JVC N7.
After much soul searching and practical function I'de decided on 2 x SVS PB3000 subs to liven up the party.
Seymour screens aren't available either but there is a UK equivalent which I've been assured of is just as good 8' AT Screen Excellence Discovery
Speakers I've yet to order but have decided to go with Arendal. 1723 Tower & Centre, 1723S Surrounds, 1961 Atmos - for a 7.4.2 having experienced this set up I realised what I'd be missing on the 5.2.1 I'd originally been aiming for.
Bought a couple of chairs and mocked up space. Hopefully going to fit ok. Looks a bit tight at least they look comfy. Going for a few bean bags and scatter cushions for the kids.
 

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In what seems to be the longest cinema build in history finally getting a bit of traction as the ridiculous heavy sound bloc goes on. Hopefully have a room soon.
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Slowly but surely the snail build continues, but progress is progress.
I realised that the projector with all the clearance required would be very intrusive in the room. So built a little booth for it. Might need to put some fans or a vent in, I will see how it goes. Electrics mainly in and should be finished boarding ready for plastering. I was originally taping and jointing but is taking forever so I’ve decided to go full plaster and booked in for next week.
 

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Another quick update plaster on the ceilings today. Side walls tomorrow hopefully will dry out fast.
 

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Looks good and always a nice stage to get to. I always like to leave a good week until pale pink before painting to make sure it's all dry - it is more interesting than watching paint dry however!
 
Plaster has dried out put the hatch doors in and just need ventilation system rigged up. To complete attic area.
Need to build Screen frame and space for floor standers and centre in. Not sure whether to build podiums for speakers to be in line with screen or not. Detail in thread Screen mount build and speaker placement
 

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After getting whole room plastered noone noticed that there was a small triangle piece missing in the attic area. Had to quickly board it and get the plasterer back and it dry for Monday Lucky it small. Got the face pieces in place of the beam and LED Tape. Beans were wonky donkey so wasn’t easiest thing to level. Finished out the screen build for the Arendal towers and sub cubby holes.
Had minor panic attack about screen size. I was working off the tech drawing supplied but when I opened the box the size written on the screen fabric was way bigger than required I expected a bit bigger this sent me into a spin as of course wondering if the frame size was correct. Thanks to Keith at Touchstone AV he was straight on the case and and resolved by screen supplier, all was resolved by mid morning. Amazing service and disaster averted. However I thought it best to do a quick test fit of the screen frame. It has a nice velvet flock around it and fits easily together and into the frame. I might have to raise the hanging height a bit as heads might get in the way of the bottom of the screen. I’m using club style chairs, they don’t have a high back. Centre of screen is eyelevel. Alignments all the tweeters in the middle. Once the power in I can fire up the projector and adjust the hanging height as needed. It was pretty exciting seeing the black frame in place and that it fitted perfect.
As this build has been so fragmented and taken so long I wanted to capitalise on the momentum I decided to get decorators in to try get this build finished and have someone else deal with the sticky back flock paper. I was lucky to find someone who has put up sticky back as a lot hadn’t. Decorating should be finished by end of week.
Hopefully next week can get the fuse board and sockets connected. I’m going with surface mounted sockets and they all either at the back or won’t be seen anyway. I’m going to spray the pattress box and the white smart sockets. Hopefully can find some matt black socket.
Ive had to order a shed load of new carpet samples as carpet costs seem to of skyrocketed so thought might as well look at other options. And some blind samples.
Going for some dark stained skirting with a cable rebate to mount some led strip lights for a low glow at floor level along walls. I can’t decide if I want to have the led strip below the stage or not. I might just be wasteful put one in that’s dedicated so it can be controlled independently.
Will have to decide.
 

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Got the mist coat and bit of 1st coat black on today. Amazing what even a mist coat does to the building. It really starting to take on character.
Used some cheap black paint for mist coat. Using Farrow and Ball Pitch Black no 256 for painted surfaces.
 

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Got the mist coat and bit of 1st coat black on today. Amazing what even a mist coat does to the building. It really starting to take on character.
Remind me what's the plan with acoustic treatment (absorbers, diffusers etc)?


Using Farrow and Ball Pitch Black no 256 for painted surfaces.
There goes the AV budget
 
Remind me what's the plan with acoustic treatment (absorbers, diffusers etc)?



There goes the AV budget
I know that Farrow and Ball is ridiculous expensive. Someone on this forum is to blame putting that idea in my head lol.
Initially will have the sticky back flock wall paper on immediate walls and 2 ceilings. Black Carpet on floor. Will get the 11mm underlay. Which will hopefully remove a fair amount of the room reverb. I’ll then use ARC room correction and take it from there. I was recommended to set up ARC without any additional absorption then add any absorption that might be needed. I’ll just have to wait and see what It sounds like and tweet.
The kit is all new and apart from the 2 towers and 1 sub I set up so I could at least enjoy it a bit. It sounds great in there so hopefully will be good in the new building. Only have the projector out my grey curtain and was surprisingly good.
 
Initially will have the sticky back flock wall paper on immediate walls and 2 ceilings. Black Carpet on floor.
Good plan.


I’ll then use ARC room correction and take it from there. I was recommended to set up ARC without any additional absorption then add any absorption that might be needed.
Who recommended that?

I personally think you should plan in advance for treatment. If you fit black flock wallpaper, then that's undone by any panels you may put on top. But if black flock with a couple of panels on top is how you'd like it, that's ok. But I wouldn't expect to have no treatment.
 

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