The Buckeye_Theater evolution

[Nick250]

(snip)

For me, the room upgrade has by far made the largest improvement(dollar-per-dollar) of any single upgrade I have ever made. Experiencing the difference was an epiphany.

I guess that says it all Thank you for detailed reply.

Regards, Nick

 

[Glenn Kuras]

Buckeye....beautiful setup! I have been keeping up with all of your room treatments and remember you telling me that treatments would certainly help out in my room. Just today I received my GIK Tri-Traps from FedEx and placed them in the front corners late this evening ... I hope you don't mind me sharing a photo of the Tri-Traps in place on your thread, I am pleased with the results and thanks for the recommendation!

Rick.

What a great looking room. Boy this reminds me I need to update our client page. So many kick *** rooms out there!!!

Glenn

 

[MatrixDweller]

Bulkheads...arrrrg

I friggin hate bulkheads. I'm finishing my basement and have one running right through the center. The next house I buy is gonna be custom and I'll get them to add a foot or so to the basement height either by adding more cement or by lifting the first floor up a foot.

I also hate the way they have to run water pipes on the bottom of the joists. The builder always takes the cheapest approach in the basement I have found.

Things to look for or specify when building a new home's basement.

1) Furnace and water heater placement. Best in a corner or under stairs if possible. Some builders will put them right in the center of the basement. That saves them a few bucks in the size of the furnace and the amount of galvanized steel they need for vents. I'd say it's worth a few thousand to give your self a basement you can actually finish to maximize the square footage of your house.

2) Basement height. An extra foot goes a long way especially if your thinking about a dedicated home theater room that has soundproofing involved.

3) Ducts, pipes and bulkheads. Have the designer build the house so that ducts follow the joists parallel and can be tucked inside the gap. You'll loose a foot or so building a bulkhead around it if not. Pipes should go through the joists or parallel to them. You can't just slap up drywall if the pipes are on the bottom of the joist (more bulkheads).

4) Get a house that you can build a home theater in on the main or upper level and get out of the dungeon. Basements can be nice and dark and the cement walls do wonders for soundproofing but I've know many people who've finished their dungeons only to have a flood or washing machine and/or water heater accident that ruins hours of hard work.


OK now that I've vented my frustrations with basements...I like your setup.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

I like having my HT in a walkout lower level because it offers seclusion from the rest of the house. This layout was exactly what I was looking for when we were shopping houses. It's not below ground, so flooding isn't an issue. If my wife isn't in the mood for a movie and I am, I can do my thing and enjoy a movie without wreaking havoc throughout the entire house.

Being secluded from the rest of the house, I can listen to movies at reasonably high SPL's 'after hours' far removed from the kiddies without waking them. All the windows are along the back wall, so they were easy to treat with media drapes, and I can darken the room nicely any time of day.

When I do eventually replace my 65", I do plan to replace it with a PJ, and yes.... in that situation...... the ductwork is an issue. I'll have to mount the PJ 14" lower from the ceiling than normal to work around that friggin ductwork. As it relates to the ductwork, I agree with your thoughts. I would gladly have paid a little more to have our lower level dug 14" lower so the ceiling could be flat, but we didn't enter into contract on the house until it was near completion.

Thanks for the compliments..... we get a lot of enjoyment from our humble HT

 

[djsHTnut]

The room looks great. Wish I could have a bunch of games. The colors look nice with the furniture, good choice in paint color. You will definitely enjoy movies even more and sporting events once you get your projector, but it looks like you have a great setup now.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

The room looks great. Wish I could have a bunch of games. The colors look nice with the furniture, good choice in paint color. You will definitely enjoy movies even more and sporting events once you get your projector, but it looks like you have a great setup now.

Woahh..... digging this post up was a blast from the past!!

This thread was buried deeeep

The furniture all came before the most recent HT evolution, and it will all eventually be replaced with black furniture. And yes.... I make due with the 65", but I've vowed it to be my last TV I ever own. The next will be a PJ/Screen combo that will make my current screen look small by comparison. A 96" screen should fit nicely in the space provided once my current TV begins to falter with age.

What I like most about the walls is that they disappear completely when watching movies. When I had white walls...... light reflections made them easily visible.

 

[djsHTnut]

once I hooked up my projector I vowed the same. The size screen you get and the value is just to good to buy another tv. I love watching it big, and a projector gets that job done.

 

[westcott]

All you folks living up North are lucky to have basements. No such luck down here in the South. I would love to of had a room your size Buckeye_Nut for my very own home theater. That is a lot of open square footage, and as others have said, secluded from the rest of the house.

I can just imagine the possibilities.

Enjoy what you have and let us know when you go front projection. I am sure there will be even more changes in store for you when you make the leap.

Signed,

A jealous home theater owner without a basement

 

[senna1a]

Very Nice - Especially the little things like the air ducts,etc.... are you running HD-DVD or BR?

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

thanks & Nope...... I refuse to take part in the little spat that pits studios against each other. I wont adopt until I can buy a single player without concern over which studio released the movie.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

The Buckeye_Nut theater continues to slowly evolve. My latest evolution was to apply ceiling acoustic treatments. The reasons behind the change are two fold....

1. Acoustically....My low hanging ductwork served as the primary and most significant acoustic reflection point that had yet to be addressed. With the other primary areas of concern being treated, it truly seemed as if I could feel the reflections bouncing off that ductwork, and directly into my face during loud movie segments

2. Light reflections! My entire room darkens very nicely, but the ductwork remained as an annoying eyesore during movies. While the entire room melted away in darkness, the ductwork seemed to glare like a beacon in contrast.

For ceiling treatment, I chose Auralex 2'x4' foam panels with a 2" thickness, and I used four panels to treat an area 8'Wide by 4 feet in depth. I chose foam because it's virtually weightless, and I thought it would be the least intrusive under my low hanging ductwork.

This is the new front view in natural light. I did this to better convey how the room really looks in person. Artificial flash tends to make my entire room & paint scheme look much brighter and different than it does in person.
View attachment 4902

The 2nd photo is a side perspective to show how the ductwork, treatments, and positioning all fit into the grand scheme of things under artificial light.
View attachment 4903

Visually.... the change has made a huge impact and effectively eliminated my primary light-reflection point.

Acoustically... I have yet to put them to the test, but I will tonight

 

[westcott]

Another reason I get so jealous of those of you with dedicated spaces. Room treatments are much easier to implement. Nice job!

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

I'll have to admit..... it's fun being boss of your own room. Of course, my wife is boss of the rest of the house, and that must be taken into consideration.

Don't I get control over one room of many?

 

[j_garcia]

Well, that is my compromise too. The living/HT room is MY domain. I do with it as I like and she is only "advised" of what will be happening. The rest of the house, she can do what she likes (within reason)

Looks nice.

 

[zimm0who0net]

All you folks living up North are lucky to have basements. No such luck down here in the South. I would love to of had a room your size Buckeye_Nut for my very own home theater. That is a lot of open square footage, and as others have said, secluded from the rest of the house.

I can just imagine the possibilities.

Enjoy what you have and let us know when you go front projection. I am sure there will be even more changes in store for you when you make the leap.

Signed,

A jealous home theater owner without a basement

You can always banish your cars to the front lawn and convert your garage into an entertainment room!

 

[westcott]

You can always banish your cars to the front lawn and convert your garage into an entertainment room!

I wish I could but there are three reasons why I can not. One, I love my cars as much as I love my home theater. Two, home owners association will not allow it. Three, it has already been converted into my third love which is custom wood work\cabinetry shop. I'm no Norm Abrams but I do have a lot of wood working tools.

Besides, its square shape and low ceilings are not conducive to quality sound. And the volume levels would be too much for my neighbors to take.

 

[croseiv]

Cool! I really like what you've done with the room treatments. This is an area I've yet to explore, but may delve into.

 

[Tomorrow]

Wonderful setups! Congrats!

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

Cool! I really like what you've done with the room treatments. This is an area I've yet to explore, but may delve into.

I highly recommend you do!! Giving yourself a "room upgrade" will provide the single most dramatic improvement 'dollar-per-dollar' that you can make to your listening experience. The difference a room can make is quite dramatic indeed!!

I realize that some might not be able to take it to a level that I have, but even modest room treatment can make a significant difference. In fact, no media room is complete without addressing the room acoustics issues that exist in every room.

Thanks everyone for the feedback