The Room With(out) A View. A 7.1.4 DIY ground-up cinema build

[batfink007]

Post is a work in progress....

The building will be as large as I can go within permitted development, so head-height (and therefore Atmos speaker height) will be a limiting factor.

Internal measurement will end up just under 4m wide and about 7m long. There will be entrance door which will open into a narrow ‘lobby’ which will open into the main room.

I bought some plans from William at Oakwood Garden Rooms (see Youtube) and modified them slightly to allow for thicker walls for extra insulation. I won’t be putting bifolds in, but I have put a steel in just incase it makes sense to convert it into a garden room should we decide to sell the house at some point. I will post a few pictures of the construction, but won’t go into detail because 1) the ‘IP’ is not mine and 2) there may be differences of opinion on what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ with the approach. I don’t want to get into that.

I want 2 rows of 3 seats, but don’t really have the head height for a riser unfortunately. Will have to see how that works out.

Projector will be mounted ‘in’ the wall dividing the lobby and the cinema. This dividing wall will also serve as storage for discs, and as a sound-absorption panel (solid, plastered on the 'lobby' side, partially open / covered with fabric on the cinema side).

Speakers will be partially mounted in the walls by 50mm + depth of the internal walls.

Internal walls will be one layer of 18mm OSB plus 2 layers of 12.5mm plasterboard. Insulated with 70mm rigid and then 50mm rock wool. Not sure I’ll be using green glue. Nearest neighbour about 75-100m away.

External will be covered in black feather edge, which I have used elsewhere in the garden. Will post a picture of that later.

More details to come.........

I’ll use the 2nd post in this thread for a picture of the latest progress and the 3rd post for a kit list. I’ve started to narrow down option on the kit, but still a long way to go.

The ‘before’ picture. Don’t expect this to be a quick one!

Very rough sketchup:

 

[batfink007]

Reserved for picture of current progress.

 

[batfink007]

Kit list:

P=purchased
S=shortlist
U=unknown


Amp:
--(S) Denon AVC-X8500H

Speakers:
---(S) LCR, DIYSoundgroup HTM12s
---(S) Sides/surrounds, 4 x DIYSoundgroup HT8s
---(S) Atmos, 4 x Volt10s

I am worried about availability of these speaker kits. I've been in contact with Erich but supply issues on components are still a big problem. I'm in no rush, but I can imagine sitting here in 6 months with no improvement. I did try to buy some speakers from him a few years ago, but after lots and lots of back and forth on logistics it still never happened - I know loads of people have imported to the UK since then, so the logistics (using a reshipper) seem to have been sorted.

Subs:
--(P) 2 x SI-HT18s (already had these)

Projector:
(U)

Screen:
--2.35:1. Will start with spandex diy screen

Media:
— unraid server
-- kodi box
— (S) Xbox series X

Seats:
--(P) 6 x OSCAR LEATHER RECLINER w DRINK HOLDERS ARMCHAIR SOFA CHAIR RECLINING CINEMA | eBay

Heating/cooling:
--(S) electriQ Black 12000 BTU WiFi Smart A++ DC Inverter Wall Split Air Conditioner with 5m Pipe Kit iQool12B | Appliances Direct

Alarm:
--(P) Not tellin'

 

[Sloppy Bob]

Will you be projecting straight onto the hay bales?

 

[gibbsy]

Will you be projecting straight onto the hay bales?

First film will be Straw Dogs.

 

[batfink007]

Will you be projecting straight onto the hay bales?

Not sufficiently acoustically transparent

 

[Triggaaar]

Could we have some plans please

Failing that, even some measurements and specs would be nice

 

[batfink007]

yes, a broad outline of what I'm looking to achieve will be up in the next day or so. I actually started the build a month or so ago, so there will be lots of pics to come!

 

[batfink007]

This is the feather edge I've used elsewhere.

 

[batfink007]

A few build pics

 

[batfink007]

Does anyone have any experience of these? Are they effective in winter AND summer? How noisy (quiet!) are they internally?

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[Triggaaar]

Very rough sketchup:

View attachment 1511352

I appreciate the sketch is rough. Your door appears to be about where I'd want my rear left speaker.

 

[batfink007]

I appreciate the sketch is rough. Your door appears to be about where I'd want my rear left speaker.

I welcome the comment, and agreed. The entrance will be as close to centre as possible once the PJ ‘housing’ size is known (it needs to be buried in the wall), which I haven’t worked out yet. However, I also want to minimise the amount of light which comes through the external door without necessarily having to put up a curtain or similar. I will have to compromise somewhere. (Actually there will be several compromises along the way).

 

[Triggaaar]

I welcome the comment, and agreed. The entrance will be as close to centre as possible once the PJ ‘housing’ size is known (it needs to be buried in the wall), which I haven’t worked out yet.

Although the door could also go towards the corners, I'd prefer to leave those clear for the option of 4 subs, 1 in each corner, so towards the centre sounds good. What's the overall internal length and width?

There's two rows of seats, right? Are the rear seats on a riser? And if so, is it not an issue having the door at the back?

However, I also want to minimise the amount of light which comes through the external door without necessarily having to put up a curtain or similar. I will have to compromise somewhere.

I'm not sure what you mean? Why would light come through the door?

 

[batfink007]

Although the door could also go towards the corners, I'd prefer to leave those clear for the option of 4 subs, 1 in each corner, so towards the centre sounds good. What's the overall internal length and width?

There's two rows of seats, right? Are the rear seats on a riser? And if so, is it not an issue having the door at the back?



I'm not sure what you mean? Why would light come through the door?

I agree about the 4 subs, but again, another compromise - i don't think I have space at the rear to walk in and move around the back row. Maybe once the gear is in I'll feel differently, so I intend to run cables just in case I'm wrong (likely for 2 x SVS SB1000-PRO). Internal dimensions, after OSB and 2 x plasterboard are approx 3.82 wide by 6.8 long (less approx 0.9-1.0m for the 'lobby' and dividing wall.

Currently, I'm not putting a door on the dividing wall, and the external door will be doubled glazed full glass - a design compromise for how the building looks from the garden. I know sound leakage might be an issue, but again, fortunately my neighbours are not closeby. I can always 1) add a curtain for light control in the partition as I mentioned, or 2) add a blind to the external door, or 3) add a door to the partition at a later stage (although tbh, one other reason I did not want to do that was for easier means of escape).

 

[mb3195]

I agree about the 4 subs, but again, another compromise - i don't think I have space at the rear to walk in and move around the back row. Maybe once the gear is in I'll feel differently, so I intend to run cables just in case I'm wrong (likely for 2 x SVS SB1000-PRO). Internal dimensions, after OSB and 2 x plasterboard are approx 3.82 wide by 6.8 long (less approx 0.9-1.0m for the 'lobby' and dividing wall.

Currently, I'm not putting a door on the dividing wall, and the external door will be doubled glazed full glass - a design compromise for how the building looks from the garden. I know sound leakage might be an issue, but again, fortunately my neighbours are not closeby. I can always 1) add a curtain for light control in the partition as I mentioned, or 2) add a blind to the external door, or 3) add a door to the partition at a later stage (although tbh, one other reason I did not want to do that was for easier means of escape).

You’ll definitely want an internal door acting as some sort of porch.


Good luck with the build though, having a cinema away from the main house is the best overall solution IMO (unless you’ve got an endless budget for soundproofing).

 

[Owl40]

Your build is quite similar to mine but a different orientation, I’ve had modification works done in the last month which has made a huge difference. Like Mark has said definitely go for an internal door for light control and sound leakage. Don’t forget it’s not just sound escaping but external environmental sounds coming into the room. You don’t want your neighbours lawn mowing or dogs messing with your movies.

rather than spend stupid money on an acoustic door go for an internal fire door and put a thick mdf backing with green glue sandwiched in between. I’ve done this an the results are pleasing.

Another thing to consider is whether you increase the size of the internal lobby so you can put your pj and av equipment in there.

 

[batfink007]

Kit

Your build is quite similar to mine but a different orientation, I’ve had modification works done in the last month which has made a huge difference. Like Mark has said definitely go for an internal door for light control and sound leakage. Don’t forget it’s not just sound escaping but external environmental sounds coming into the room. You don’t want your neighbours lawn mowing or dogs messing with your movies.

rather than spend stupid money on an acoustic door go for an internal fire door and put a thick mdf backing with green glue sandwiched in between. I’ve done this an the results are pleasing.

Another thing to consider is whether you increase the size of the internal lobby so you can put your pj and av equipment in there.

Cheers.

Kit will be going here (in the lobby)

 

[Owl40]

Sorry didn’t see the diagram - is the pj going in there?

 

[batfink007]

Sorry didn’t see the diagram - is the pj going in there?

No, middle of the dividing wall (see first post)

 

[Owl40]

I would be tempted to put it in the lobby if the pj you opt for has a noisy fan (like my Epson). If it has a quiet fan then it probs would make little difference.

I’m looking forward to following your build.

 

[batfink007]

I would be tempted to put it in the lobby if the pj you opt for has a noisy fan (like my Epson). If it has a quiet fan then it probs would make little difference.

I’m looking forward to following your build.

That's kind of the plan more or less. It will be mounted 'through' the wall, venting out to the lobby and boxed-in in the cinema. Haven't looked into PJs too much yet. Would love a native 4k, so hoping the prices have come down by the time this build is done (2024....lol)

 

[Triggaaar]

I agree about the 4 subs, but again, another compromise - i don't think I have space at the rear to walk in and move around the back row. Maybe once the gear is in I'll feel differently, so I intend to run cables just in case I'm wrong (likely for 2 x SVS SB1000-PRO).

Yeah, you'll want to be able to walk around one way, but you may not need to be able to go around both ways, so you could have a third sub in one location. So yeah, run the wires.

The room is a good size, and having the projector through the partition sounds like a good plan.

Currently, I'm not putting a door on the dividing wall, and the external door will be doubled glazed full glass - a design compromise for how the building looks from the garden.

I have a building in our garden, and we used a solid external door, which looked better than glass for our building. I'm not saying solid will look better for yours, but it's not a given that glass will look better. But if you do go glass, you'll definitely want some sort of curtain between the room and the outside. Whether it's over the partition opening, or on the external glass door, or both. It's no big deal to do either or both, and not having one is an unnecessary compromise. If you have something over the partition, then you can keep the porch area lighter etc.

 

[batfink007]

I was dreading this part of the build.

And I was right.

Good god the rubber roof was heavy.......

Built a ramp out of 5x2, a sled out of OSB with some 'runners' on the bottom. That did the job. Only a small amount of swearing was required. Much less than I anticipated tbh....

 

[batfink007]