On the eighth day, man trashed his garage and invented...

[LittleNipper]

Place holder.

 

[LittleNipper]

Place holder.

 

[LittleNipper]

Welcome my fellow cinema freaks !

I’ve been keeping an eye on these threads with envious eyes for some time now and feel I now need to act !!!

I live in deep, dark Hampshire (New Forest) with my tolerant wife and newly acquired 7 month old Son ( Born, not found ). After avoiding parenthood for 54 years this has come as
quite a bit of a surprise to the system, a pleasant one I may add. I now realise (as many men do) that we need a dedicated space for some man time, and, of course dad and son
time when his ears become able to cope.

We bought the house in 2015, and I spent two and a bit years ripping it to shreds and the rebuilding it. Hard work, but as I’ve been doing this for 15 years it was more the amount of
work that had to be done rather than what was being done as I could not afford to employ many people to carry out the works other than one trusty lad who’s worked with me for a while.

At the end of the project I popped a timber garage in ( with PP of course ) so I could use it as car storage and a tool shed ! I always
had plans for the garage that I didn’t share with the other half. To butter the wife up to the conversion I managed to pepper the TV room with various speakers, so any
thought of getting speakers out of the house and into the ‘garage’ were going to be well accepted. Little does she know I’m keeping both so lets just hope she does not read this thread.

As my garages is now sans car I can now enact plan ‘B'. Plan ‘B’ as we all know will involve copious numbers of amplifiers, speakers, subwoofers and hopefully a pretty processor.

Some of you may know I have been out on a bit of a mission lately to the detriment of one of our bedrooms. I have been buying some, err, equipment. It’s been an odd mission as I’ve wanted to see
what I can do with less money than I really need to build a fancy dan movie room. To say I’m budget conscious is perhaps an understatement. The wife has observed me plodding around the house
with coats on rather than the heating. I suggest she ’think of the subs’ we can buy… Alas, that does not always go down too well…

The Equipment is all second hand and moderately priced. Once in place it will be easier to work with a dealer that I can do A/B testing of components with to see if upgrades do make
actually benefit my system and the benefit is proportional to the cost, as say this as I am a sceptic also, I can improve the sound of my system with Beer.

My aspirations are high as I have been reading all of your wonderful blogs. Now can I actually be arsed to complete the project to the level I aspire to ? I am not sure, we shall see. Hopefully others
can kick me down the road to completion.

As others have, I will reserve a few posts for future updates / summary.

My current equipment bucket list I can pick from is below. Some more stuff is needed, some stuff needs to be sold if not used. And please keep in mind, I am not a home cinema
guru or technical genius I basically like playing with stuff and trying perhaps non-conventional stuff.

Video:
Screen: AT 120” 2.35 Screen ( 3.2m wide )
Projector: Aiming for a second hand JVC N7 - Keep an eye on this one

Amps:
Crown XLS 1502 x 3 ( LCR )
Crown XLS 1002 x 2 ( Not sure, will play )
Crown DSi 1000 x 1 ( for subs )
Behringer NX3000D x 1 ( for subs, this is currently for sale as it needs windows to set up. I don’t like windows. )
Lab Gruppen E4:2 x 7 ( Atmos and other lower bed ) Amp thread

Speakers:
JBL 3667 x 3 ( LCR )
JBL 8320 x 4 ( Heights )
JBL 8340a x 6 ( Base Layer ) JBL 83xx Thread
JBL 4645c x 1 ( Have access to another JBL 2242H and might build another JBL 4645c ).
Custom Install Passive Subs x 6 ( for a what some call a wall of sound, I will call a wall of fear ).

Processor:
Currently attempting to source what I want, I’ve gone through the list of offerings and would like to drive 9.[2|4}.[4|6].

Tactile:
Buttkickers x 2 ( These will prob. be sold as Think the JBL 4645c will move me enough ).

Racks:
15U Vented x 2 ( I think I will need to stack these ).

 

[LittleNipper]

Place Holder.

 

[LittleNipper]

Firstly I needed to build the garage. This was built in 2018. It's timber framed with reclaimed welsh slate and locally sourced Douglas fur. I know, it's supposed to be fir, but I think I prefer Fur These are the plans we drew up. The slate came from a working mans club, two miles down the road and whilst it might not seem it, we have three different sizes of slate on that roof. I was driving by and noticed it being removed, I was like... I'll have that !

I let slip to my structural engineer ( who's a mate ) that we might have a very large soakaway right under where the garage is going. He wasn't too happy about that, which is why he suggested a double layer or steel mesh, even after I coughed and suggested it might not be where we thought it was... He knows me too well I think ! If anyone is interested I could dig out the structural cals. We are building on top of hoggin & clay.

So, the slab is about 6m by 6m. And we then built in from the edge. Fortunately after looking at these pics ( as I can't remember what I did ) I can see I put bolts in to stop the roof spread. Looks like I also rockwool'ed between the studs and with the ply over, my life ( I think ) is getting easier. However, I'm going to need to re-do all the electrics as well as bringing a bigger feed in from the house. I was tripping the garage ring with my 110V chop saw and a few lights, heaven knows what amps and projector will do !!!

Fortunately, I've left 4" ducting in so I can draw stuff through from the main property.

 

[burtonpark]

Tremendous work so far, great space, the fun bit starts now!

 

[Sign of the times]

Great post

 

[LittleNipper]

Whilst the ceiling height, when finished should be about 2.3m, the Atmos height speakers I'm going to initially use with brackets will sit down about 300mm. So, what I was considering doing was to create recessed strips in the ceiling that can accommodate them.

This will mean creating two channels that run down the left and right of the room ( at the appropriate width position ) that will me to initially do .4 and in the future .6.

Fortunately, the ceiling joists run the length of the room from rear ( where projector is ) to front where the screen will be. As such should not be too much cutting and chopping.

The speakers I will be initially using (JBL 8320) do not have any ceiling fitting kit so will use an adapted K&M 24471 which will allow me to tilt towards MLP. The speakers I might move to (JBL SCS-8) have their own fitting kit. So, as long as the channels are in place I should be good for an easy swap out.

Can anyone see any potential issues with doing this ?

 

[burtonpark]

Are the 4x2 beams in the diagram the existing rafters so the height is restricted to 2.3m or is this all new?

My ceiling is 2.4m I did something similar with two Atmos tracks using 42mm channel strut, this gives the option to slide 3x speakers along the track, plus the track itself contains the cables and has a snap on cover so has the dual purpose of trunking.
In the photos You can also see my dropped ceiling acoustic cloud panel to help with the room acoustics , plus you can install a star ceiling or light permeter to the cloud. A cloud makes is an ideal treatment to tame the reflections.

 

[LittleNipper]

Are the 4x2 beams in the diagram the existing rafters so the height is restricted to 2.3m or is this all new?

Yes, they are existing and as such are fixed.

They are existing ceiling joists at 355 centres with 18mm ply above screwed into them. These ceiling joists were 5.4m and then trimmed so they run the entire width of the building and are then attached to the wall top plate and bolted to the bottom of all of the roof rafters to stop any potential spread.

It is overkill from a structural point of view, but I wanted to use the area above for storage. The area above will now only be used for empty box storages, as such very little load. Also, when I plasterboard the underside of the ceiling it will essentially act as a torsion box.

When the ceiling speakers are installed the face will be 'about' flush with the bottom of the ceiling.

The recessed boxes will essentially be ply boxes and internally finished with what ever material I end up using. As I'm 6'4" means I don't feel the need to duck as I walk around the room !

 

[burtonpark]

Yes, they are existing and as such are fixed.

They are existing ceiling joists at 355 centres with 18mm ply above screwed into them. These ceiling joists were 5.4m and then trimmed so they run the entire width of the building and are then attached to the wall top plate and bolted to the bottom of all of the roof rafters to stop any potential spread.

It is overkill from a structural point of view, but I wanted to use the area above for storage. The area above will now only be used for empty box storages, as such very little load. Also, when I plasterboard the underside of the ceiling it will essentially act as a torsion box.

So, when the ceiling speakers are put in, there face will be 'about' flush with the bottom of the ceiling.

I added more info and photos to my post, you will have to be mindful of the extra depth needed for the speaker tilt

 

[burtonpark]

Recesses so long as speakers are Dropped level with ceiling, it Seems like a decent idea, you could also Add a drop down fabric ceiling at a later stage to cover the whole area. i’d probably only create the slots in the extend of the Atmos area I think ceiling slots could look a distracting feature above the screen.

 

[LittleNipper]

Recesses so long as speakers are Dropped level with ceiling, it Seems like a decent idea, you could also Add a drop down fabric ceiling at a later stage to cover the whole area. i’d probably only create the slots in the extend of the Atmos area I think ceiling slots could look a distracting feature above the screen.

I like that idea. That way you'd not know if I had .4 or .6 in the ceiling line. I could also do something to defuse the sound depending on how I set things out.

 

[LittleNipper]

Whilst I kinda know what I'm going to do, it isn't until you see a room you get a feel for it. Alas, as with all garages, over time, well, they fill up with stuff. So, this needs to be removed before I can really get started. I've already moved the 80 25kg bags of Hydraulic Lime that I though was a bargain until I realised I could not resell for a profit. In the end it's gone to horsey people who wanted to alter Ph of there fields - who would have know.

So, I started off with the first two pics. This is either side of the garage. I need to remove the dividing wall. Some of the tools went into my Boot room ( after moving some pine cupboards for storage ) and the rest has gone to a lockup elsewhere or been binned - I found that quite hard to do....

The benches have been deconstructed and timber and screws have been put to one side - oh lord things have gone up. Tomorrow I need to go and do some proper work, and on Wednesday need to go and collect some subs and surround speakers, so I will be back on it on Thursday / Friday when I hope to remove the middle wall. Ah, I also need to sand and spray those two fireplaces, the wife said she would do them ... LAST YEAR !!!

On the weekend I will post proposed sort of layout if anyone would like to comment please do so.

For now.. I shall have my reduced price Doombar !

 

[LittleNipper]

I will need to totally rewire the area and also bring a larger feed in. I emailed pictures of the amps to my spark. He just replied 'cock'. I've known him a long time... But come on ... they do have nice bottoms ... ( note these are not the big boy amps.... just the baby ones ).

 

[burtonpark]

I like that idea. That way you'd not know if I had .4 or .6 in the ceiling line. I could also do something to defuse the sound depending on how I set things out.

Exactly, plus the drop ceiling panel can hide acoustic treatments or speakers, or include a star ceiling if you want to be fancy!

 

[LittleNipper]

I have to say, I'm not a fan on star ceilings. It's a little too bling for me. I prefer subtle or silly. I would not get away with stylish !

 

[burtonpark]

I will need to totally rewire the area and also bring a larger feed in. I emailed pictures of the amps to my spark. He just replied 'cock'. I've known him a long time... But come on ... they do have nice bottoms ... ( note these are not the big boy amps.... just the baby ones ).

Isn’t it a bit early in the thread for Amp porn photos? putting such equipment in the loft might keep the fan noise level down, or have you another plan?

 

[LittleNipper]

Isn’t it a bit early in the thread for Amp porn photos? putting such equipment in the loft might keep the fan noise level down, or have you another plan?

These amps run silent. I've done some research, removed the existing fans and put a new one in you won't be able to hear them. Lab Gruppen Amps

I'm just trying to determine how to set out the racks so they are accessible but also, when needed sound isolated. As I'm using mostly class D I should not have too much heat dissipation, but will fit in some ducting so that in the future if needed I can either pump it into the room ( winter ) or outside ( summer ). The room will be wrapped in Celotex so will keep it warm in winter and cool in winter. For example, this is a room in my house before I put plasterboard in and screeded the floor. I'm all for cutting my heating / cooling costs !!!

I've used about 350 sheets in the main house ! I essentially insulated the sh*t out of the house !

 

[burtonpark]

So that’s why there’s a UK cellotex Shortage?

As you have the option and given your balanced id still consider placing the amps in a different rack tower venting to the low level stuff, so the amps don’t push the temp of the whole rack up

 

[burtonpark]

BTW Procella amps are rebadged lab GRUBEN so can’t be bad

 

[Smurfin]

Well this is going to be a rubbish build. Who in their right mind would use proper cinema speakers for a DIY build in a garage!

/subscribed

 

[LittleNipper]

So that’s why there’s a UK cellotex Shortage?

As you have the option and given your balanced id still consider placing the amps in a different rack tower venting to the low level stuff, so the amps don’t push the temp of the whole rack up

I've already bought two 15U racks. One will be for amps and hot stuff ( and I don't mean those old mags from in the loft ) and the other for cooler running items and sources. As we have an iffy power supply I will get a UPS as we get powers glitches quite often. The amps will cope with it but less so media players, processors ect.

I'll prob. remove the sides to provide better airflow for the amps. For the other rack, I'll keep the sides just to keep dust down a little on the more expensive / sensitive stuff. The racks, were, as with most stuff, second hand and £20 a pop.

 

[LittleNipper]

Well this is going to be a rubbish build. Who in their right mind would use proper cinema speakers for a DIY build in a garage!

/subscribed

@Smurfin I know, I must be joining the idiots club or somtehing ;-) ( Intentional spelling )

 

[Triggaaar]

Whilst the ceiling height, when finished should be about 2.3m, the Atmos height speakers I'm going to initially use with brackets will sit down about 300mm. So, what I was considering doing was to create recessed strips in the ceiling that can accommodate them.

Do what you can to get the speakers high. Also consider a layout which matches Auro 3D spec, which has the top channels lower than Dolby.