Building an Affordable High End Home Theater Premium

393 Pages·2010·10.55 MB·English

by  Chris Fink

DIYMOVIEROOMS.COM

DIY Home Theaters
Building an Affordable High-End Home Theater

Chris Fink
5/1/2010

Building a home theater is not as difficult as it seems. This book will share my
project experience while building my dream home theater. I'll go into detail on my
construction techniques, design considerations, and share my final product with you.
By sharing my experiences I hope to give you the confidence to “DIY” and build the
home theater of your dreams.
Building a Home Theater www.diymovierooms.com

Table of Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................. 4
Preface ................................................................................................... 4
Design & Planning ...................................................................................... 6
Planning ................................................................................................. 6
Room Shape and Size ............................................................................... 6
Speaker Configuration / Channels .............................................................. 9
Speaker Placement ................................................................................ 11
Screen Aspect Ratio ............................................................................... 14
Screen Size ........................................................................................... 16
Functionality & Features ......................................................................... 18
Construction ............................................................................................ 24
Framing ................................................................................................ 24
Front Stage ........................................................................................... 25
Rear Riser ............................................................................................. 26
Front Cabinets ....................................................................................... 27
Equipment Room ................................................................................... 28
Electrical Rough In ................................................................................. 31
Wiring & Conduits .................................................................................. 33
Lighting ................................................................................................ 35
HVAC ................................................................................................... 37
Insulation and Sound Proofing ................................................................. 39
Drywall ................................................................................................. 41
Painting ................................................................................................ 43
Trim ..................................................................................................... 46
Carpeting .............................................................................................. 54
Equipment ............................................................................................... 55
Equipment Installation ............................................................................ 57
Integration (Audio/Video, HTPC & Remotes) .............................................. 58
The Finishing Touches ............................................................................. 62
Seating ................................................................................................. 63
Finished Room Dimensions ...................................................................... 64

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Pictures…………………………………………………………………………………… 64
Breakdown……………………………………………………………………………… 376
Materials and Costs…………………..…………………………………………... 376
Summary……………………………………………………………………………….. 377
Final Tips and Advice…………..…………………………………………………….. 378
Appendix………………..…..…………………………………………………………. 379
1A: Construction Costs………………………………………………………….. 379
1B: Equipment Costs…………………………………………………………….. 380
1C: Cost Summary……………………………………………………………….. 381
2: Proposed Basement / Theater Plans………………………………………. 382
3: Proposed Electrical Plan……………………………………………….……… 383
4: Final Wiring Diagram………………………………………………………….. 384
5: Proposed Step Lighting Plan……………………………………………….… 385
6: Final Step Lighting Specifications………………………………………..…. 386
7: Early Stage and Screen Designs………………………………………..…… 387
8: Very Early Seating Plans………………………………………………………. 389
9: Early Rear Wall Design……………………………………………………..…. 390
10: Early Side Wall Design………………………………………………………. 391
11: Early Proposed Seating and Riser Design………………………………. 392

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Introduction

Building a home theater is not as difficult as it may appear. When you look at my finished
project the first thing that may come to mind is “How did you do this all yourself” and “This
must have taken forever”… My responses always come as a surprise to my friends and family.
Seldom do people ask about the cost, they probably just assume the worst. My response is “It
doesn‟t have to cost a fortune…” and “It was not that difficult”. With some planning and some
basic skills you can build a home theater of your dreams and I‟m going to show you how I did
it, step by step.

A successful home theater can be as simple or as complex as you make it. Everyone‟s
definition of a home theater differs; some may prefer to go extravagant while others like to
keep it simple. Whatever works for you is fine. I think many people get intimidated by the
appearance of some home theaters, especially when making a decision to do-it-themselves.
When you break the project down into individual pieces the tasks will become less daunting. A
major part of building a successful home theater is planning. This book breaks down some of
those barriers and gives you the confidence to get started on your project. Even if you are
having a theater built professionally you can use this book to see what I did and perhaps
incorporate some of my designs and concepts into your space.

Preface

When taking on projects of this size please put safety first and follow all of your local building
codes. Obtain permits where necessary. If you are not sure, check with your local township.

When I claim “building a home theater is not as difficult as it may appear…” it does take some
basic skills and construction knowledge. I have no experience in the construction field at all -
None. I am a software engineer by trade. I do consider myself handy and ambitious and will
generally tackle almost any task… as long as I first do my homework and understand the tasks
involved. I didn‟t just pick up a hammer and start framing. I used a few reference guides
along the way but figured out all the tasks on my own. If I didn‟t feel I could achieve the
same end results as a professional, I would not have taken on the task. If you do not follow
code, or take shortcuts, your end result may actually devalue your space, require tear-down,
or significant rework. The tasks that were beyond my capabilities were contracted out, all of
which are pointed out in this book; both costs and efforts.

The theater build occurred over a 90 day period, starting in June 2007 and ending in
September of 2007. In addition to the theater, the remainder of the basement was also being
finished at the same time. This book will only focus on the theater.

When I hired a professional, I hired them for both the theater and the remainder of the
basement; I sold the job as a basement remodel rather than a theater build. Efforts and costs
that are represented for the theater are very accurate, however does not represent the actual
cost I paid to the contractor. To provide accurate representations of just the theater cost, I
had to estimate some of the costs. These estimates were based on cost per square foot, and
in most cases, I over estimated the cost of the subs on the theater to be safe.

The cost to finish my entire basement was $36k (including the theater but excluding the
carpeting for the remainder of the basement). As you‟ll discover throughout this book, the
theater construction cost alone was about 50% of this budget. The square footage of the
entire basement is 1800 square feet with the theater and equipment room taking up a little
less than 350 square feet. Again, the purpose of this book is to focus on my theater
construction, not the rest of the basement. I just wanted to clarify this since many of the
pictures show the additional work going on in the background.
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And last, this theater build was not actually my first one. In my prior townhouse, in 2003, I
built a basic home theater in my unfinished basement.

My first theater was not nearly as elaborate; it consisted of a single room with a screen hung
on the wall and the projector mounted on the ceiling above two sofas. I acquired most of my
equipment in 2003 and just transferred it over to my new theater in 2007.

All of the equipment was in a cabinet, in the same room, but behind the sofas. Most of the
integrations I will discuss, such as the remote and home theater PC, were already in place. I
learned a lot in my first theater… but all of the work was done by a professional; a single
contractor did the framing, drywall, electrical, and trim. Once the room was done, I installed
the equipment and did all the setup myself. In fact, the contractor never even knew the room
was going to be used as a theater. In the end, this project cost me under $10k and the entire
construction only lasted 2 weeks. I enjoyed this space for several years, but was constantly
thinking about the plans for my next home theater.

My first theater, built in 2003. The equipment was in the same room.

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Design & Planning

Planning

In 2006 we moved into a single family home and the reality began to sink in that I was going
to have my chance to redo the theater, this time literally from the ground up. I transferred all
of the equipment and was tasked with building a room around it. The existing screen was
100-inch diagonal and the projector‟s throw distance was 9-13 feet. The goal was to build a
dedicated room in the basement, rectangular in shape, and design it to accommodate all of
the existing equipment incorporating several new design ideas.

I had a few years of enjoyment from the first theater; however, I wanted to do things a bit
differently in the new one. The early design ideas/goals included:
1. Dedicated room
2. Secluded equipment room
3. Seat 5-7 people comfortably
4. Two rows of seating, the rear on a riser
5. Stage area to hide the speakers
6. Make it look like a real movie room

I considered this list the essentials for the new room. As time went on, this list would grow,
but this list served as the foundation for finding the appropriate space in the new house.

Room Shape and Size

The shape of the new home theater was a very important decision. A properly shaped room
will dramatically improve the acoustics and help optimize the sound system. Often audio
problems such as difficulty understanding the dialogue are a result of improper room design.
With these simple tips you'll be able to design a properly sized room, achieve the most out of
the audio system, and build an affordable home theater.

If you've ever researched acoustical science and optimal room setup you'll quickly become
inundated with technical jargon and discover that many companies want to charge you a
fortune to configure your room. You don't need to hire a pro to get the best results... In order
to keep your home theater in budget all you need to do is follow a few key, simple rules and
you will be off to a great start.
Avoid building your theater in a square-shaped room…
Sounds simple...well it is. When your room is a square, the sounds emitted from your
speakers "build up" and bounce off the walls, creating an effect similar to "singing in a
shower". However, if you don't have this option and you decide to keep your room square you
can minimize this affect by placing acoustical panels, furniture, or other padded surfaces in the
correct locations to absorb this reflection. This will dramatically improve your sound quality.
Next…
Always Carpet your floors when building a theater…
Always! No exceptions. Hard, flat surfaces should be avoided, as they will also contribute to
standing waves. Carpet will dramatically improve your acoustics and will also provide the
added benefits of warmth and insulation. If you decide not to use carpet, expect to spend a
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large portion of your budget on acoustical solutions, such as sound diffusers, bass traps, and
wall panels. Pictures of carpeting below (Pictures A and B).

A: Carpet padding installation B: Carpet installation

Back to the principle of keeping your theater space rectangular. If you can go the rectangular
route, the ideal ratio for your room shape is as follows:
“Room width should be 1.6 times the height and the length
should be 2.6 times the room height... “
This acoustic room ratio, deemed the perfect ratio, will give the room the very best acoustical
properties.

The dimensions of my home theater are as follows:

 21 1/2 feet long
 12-14 feet wide
 8 feet high

Using the perfect ratio, it recommends my room width be 12.8 feet (1.6 times my 8 ft ceiling)
and my room length be 20.8 (2.6 times my 8 ft ceiling). My room is pretty close to these
measurements; I'm about a foot longer than the recommended length and my room width is
right in the middle.

I've minimized the hard flat surfaces with several techniques. I've broken up the large
sidewalls by making the front of my theater narrower than the rear and incorporating trim on
the walls that breaks up the flat surfaces. The ceiling height also varies, ranging from 6 1/2 to
8 feet. I was able to accomplish this by the use of a rear riser and creating two tray ceilings
surrounded with perimeter soffits. These simple and effective design considerations
tremendously contributed to my room's acoustical properties; and I was able to save money in
the process by doing it myself.

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Achieving good room acoustics does not need to be a budget breaker. By following these
simple rules on room shape I was able to design the theater properly and achieve amazing
results. The room size allows me to comfortably seat 7 and also accommodates a large 100"
screen with two rows of seating (Pictures C and D), the second row seating 4 on a 12-inch
riser platform. The screen size is proportional to the room size and the acoustics sound
amazing! In fact, I had a friend bring over his high-end speakers and I did not even notice a
difference (he calls my speaker's entry level)...

C: 7 seats with rear 4 on 12” riser D: 100” Screen

Other important considerations we'll discuss include speaker placement, screen size, and how
to determine the proper seating distance.

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Speaker Configuration / Channels

Typical home theater setups are configured with 5.1 channels. The 5 denotes the use of 5
speakers or channels; right front, (front) center, left front, right rear, and a left rear. The .1
indicates a subwoofer for the low-frequency effects.

For most home theater setups, 5.1 channels is adequate. However, some common
configurations add an additional two surround channels, called Dolby Digital Plus 7.1. These
additional channels include a left side surround and a right side surround. But…the fun does
not end here.

Newer configurations allow for 9.1 channels, known as Dolby Pro Logic IIz. This configuration
adds two front channels placed above the front speakers and angled down towards the
listening area:

 Front left effect speaker (LFE)
 Front right effect speaker (RFE)

The intent is to add the feeling of space and depth to the found field by placing the effect
speakers up high, above the existing front channels.

Deciding which configuration to choose for your home theater is not difficult. I love a good
setup and put a lot of emphasis on acoustics. However, in order to achieve outstanding
results you should not get caught up in all the hype – you don‟t need 9-channels! In fact you
don‟t even need 7. For most theater‟s, 5 is perfect.

Going with 5.1 will accomplish the acoustical result you desire and save you money in the
process. As you add more channels, you‟ll need to increase your budget. With additional
speakers, more demands are placed on your receiver. If you are concerned about missing out
on all the new sound effects offered in the latest films, don‟t worry…most are still recorded in
5.1. Most importantly, I am confident you won‟t even notice a difference in adding the extra
channels. However, if your intent is to build a very large theater with ceilings higher than 20
feet, you may want to explore 7 or 9 channels.

During my design and planning, I decided that I wanted to stick with 5.1 but also keep my
options open in the future in case I changed my mind. To accommodate this, I fitted my room
with conduit pipes (Pictures A and B).

A: Conduit to front speakers B: Conduit to projector

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Knowing that the studios are always trying to create and push new sound mediums for the
consumer I decided to future proof my room the best I could. I accomplished this by running
extra speaker wire, in the 9-channel configuration, and installing PVC conduit in my ceilings so
I could quickly and easily run new wire in the future. The extra cost was minimal and I highly
recommend it to protect your investment in the future. Plus, if a speaker wire ever fails, it
can easily be replaced.

To complement my 5.1 setup, I added an extra subwoofer. An extra sub is not necessary, but
two are usually better than one for a couple reasons.

 Improved bass response
 Smooth, evenly dispersed bass

Assuming you are using the same make and models, an additional sub will yield significantly
better bass response. The sounds will be smooth, more evenly dispersed, and the listening
area will be wider. The quality of the sound will extend to all of your seating areas and you‟ll
have a very hard time determining the source of the low frequencies. Often with a single sub
the bass may sound good from one seat and lumpy from another. Assuming proper
placement, one sub is good but two are even better!

In summary, when designing your home theater all you need is a 5-channel setup; don‟t get
caught up by all the hype on adding extra, unnecessary and costly channels. If your receiver
supports the use of two subwoofers, go ahead and add an extra. And last but not least, don‟t
forget to future proof your room by adding some extra wiring and conduits. These are a few
of the principles I followed when building my dream, yet affordable, home theater.

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