New Home Theater Project

**jairo** · **07-03-08, 04:15 PM**

I am new to the group and a long time enthusiest to HT and just wanted to share some information on my new HT project. I currently live in Costa Rica, and soon will be starting my HT project. My wife an I just bought a home here and I have always wanted to make a HT. I will be starting it off with a 54¨HD Rear projection LG TV, a JVC THC60 HT, and 2 chairs a sofa and 4 Large movie posters which I had my father in law help me build, the posters were attached to poster board and then sealed in plastic, and heat shrunk to remove all the wrinkles, and the frames were painted black. I have also redone a small table which will be plaed between the front 2 chairs. I have also purchased 2 cans of midnight blue paint to paint the walls and ceilings. And 2 shelves (black) to be placed above the TV for my movie collectables. I also made with my wife a clapper board to hang on the wall. The room is approximately 8X8, and is constructed of solid concrete blocks which were filled with concrete. The floor is carpeted. I also plan to place a table for holding my HT system. The system fires a continous 1200 watss RMS which is pleanty for this room. The walls as well as the ceiling will be Blue. there is only 1 window in this room so this shouldnt be a problem. It should get started in the next week, awaiting for the old tenants to move out on the 13th, I will start posting pics as soon as the project is started. Anyideas or info is greatly appreciated.

**bpape** · **07-03-08, 04:24 PM**

Welcome to the forum Jairo.

It's a great bunch of guys here. Post any questions you have - you'll get all the help you need.

Bryan

**salvasol** · **07-03-08, 05:04 PM**

Welcome to the forum

... from one central american to another

Quote:

jairo wrote:

... The room is approximately 8X8, and is constructed of solid concrete blocks which were filled with concrete ... there is only 1 window in this room so this shouldnt be a problem. It should get started in the next week, awaiting for the old tenants to move out on the 13th, I will start posting pics as soon as the project is started. Anyideas or info is greatly appreciated.

Please post pictuers to see the building process of your HT room ...

Like Bryan said ... "post any questions you have"; there's always somebody willling to help.

I'm sure you will need some accoustic treatment for the walls (specially because they're concrete).

Have fun with your project

**tonyvdb** · **07-03-08, 05:29 PM**

Hi Jairo, Welcome to the Shack.

You will find lots of friends here and even more information than you can handle. Enjoy your stay.

**Prof.** · **07-03-08, 09:04 PM**

Hi Jairo and welcome...

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid you have a problem with your room size..
Apart from being fairly small, you have the worst situation (acoustically speaking) with a square room..
This will set up all sorts of standing waves and resonances, and will require some special treatments to try and reduce them..
Bryan might be able to help you with that..

**salvasol** · **07-03-08, 11:02 PM**

Quote:

Prof. wrote:

... I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid you have a problem with your room size.. Apart from being fairly small, you have the worst situation (acoustically speaking) with a square room..This will set up all sorts of standing waves and resonances, and will require some special treatments to try and reduce them..Bryan might be able to help you with that..

Well ... you're right about this Prof.

But we need some clarification from Jairo ... he posted the size as 8x8, but didn't specify meters or feet

... if is meters he's okay (around a 26' x 26')

**jairo** · **07-04-08, 09:13 AM**

hello everyone, The room is correction: 12´X 10´. I just found out the people that were in the house are leaving tommorrow so the project will start sooner than anticipated. Good news!! Bad news as I can see from your responses is the size and wall construction. Here in Costa Rica the houses are all made of concrete block and sometimes filled, the room is one hugh brick. I tested several HT systems prior to buying the JVC THC60 and the sound and volume was the best for my application. I also tend on adding fabric on the walls as decoration as well as for diffusion and sound correction. I beleive if the right pattern of fabric, texture and thickness it should assist me in creating a better sound enviorment. I was debating on going projector as opposed to the 54¨rear projection TV, but didn´t because 1) my wife hates projectors and 2) the replacement bulbs here in costa rica are super super expensive.I figured out that with the cost of current replacement of bulbs i could purchase a new tv every 2 years, witht he cost of them here. When I lived in Wisconsin, projectors were supper expensive, but that was 3 years ago. Any suggestions? I also want to add some pillars in the front section of the room for audio equip and appearance, but need to maintain the room space for adequate walking room. Here is an image of 1 of the 4 posters i will be hanging up. As the project runs along a will be posting lots of pics. Also for cosmetic purposes i will be hiding the lower portion of the tv in dark blue fabric as well as hanging curtains on the top and sides of the screen to hide the tv, or any other good ideas on how to best hide the TV would be greatly appreciated.

**bpape** · **07-04-08, 09:45 AM**

You'll definitely need a good amount of broadband bass control as the concrete will reflect everything. Don't go too overboard on curtains and thin absorbtion that will just kill the highs and leave the rest along giving you an unbalanced sound.

Bryan

**jairo** · **07-04-08, 09:51 AM**

Bryan,
How can I best correct the sound? I am new to the HT desiging portion. And also need to maintain myself to a small budget and also hopefully products I can easily locate in costa rica.

**salvasol** · **07-04-08, 06:02 PM**

Quote:

jairo wrote:

... The room is correction: 12´X 10´...

Are you planning to have one or two rows (chairs and sofa) ... I have two rows, but my room is 9' x 18'

Quote:

... I can see from your responses is the size and wall construction. Here in Costa Rica the houses are all made of concrete block and sometimes filled, the room is one hugh brick... Any suggestions? I also want to add some pillars in the front section of the room for audio equip and appearance, but need to maintain the room space for adequate walking room...

Do you have access to fiberglass??? ... maybe you can check companies that install air conditionings; I read before that you can use it to make accoustic pannels. Bryan is the expert on this ... he will guide you better than me

.

Can you make a sketch of how you're planning to set up your HT room??? ... I'm sure it will help to get suggestions

.

Quote:

... Also for cosmetic purposes i will be hiding the lower portion of the tv in dark blue fabric as well as hanging curtains on the top and sides of the screen to hide the tv, or any other good ideas on how to best hide the TV would be greatly appreciated.

I always share this links http://www.hometheatershack.com/foru...on-thread.html and http://www.hometheatershack.com/foru...ld-thread.html ; I like what they did in the front wall ... I can't do the same in my room because I have a door way in the left side.

If you're planning to cover the bottom of the TV, maybe you can do a false wall to cover the whole front, you can hide the speakers behind it ... and just leave the TV screen visible

**jairo** · **07-07-08, 11:11 AM**

I plan on having 2 rows, the first row will consist of 2 chairs and a table and the 2nd row a sofa. There is fiberglass but not as we would see it in the states as since the climate here is always warm it is not used or seen in the format it is in the states. More like hugh sacks of cotton. I have to measure the base around the base of the tv to see the amount of space i have, to see if a false bottom will work as you suggested. Yesterday my father in law , my wife and I went to the house and started preparing the walls of the house. I took a picture of the room to show the start to finish of the HT room, i should hve them up today if not by tommorrow. I know its hard to get a picture of how the room looks or give advice, especially if theres no idea of how the room is setup. I have attached the drawing i had made before this whole project was started. As you can see there is not enough room to place the surround speakers directly in the corners of the rear of the room and those will have to not use the stands, but instead attache them to the wall, facing inward, due to the door being in the corner of the room, this really hurts the original master plan.

. But the ideas on how to better my room keep rollin in and that has opened my eyes about several things. Thanks everyone, and keep them ideas a coming.

**bpape** · **07-07-08, 12:05 PM**

General treatment advice.

First, get the seats in the right places. Start with the front row 62% of the length and get the couch as far from the back wall as you can.

Broadband bass absorbtion in the corners.

Completely dead front wall with 2" absorbtion

Soft absorbtion on the side walls at the reflection points.

Thicker absorbtion with a thin reflective facing in the middle of the rear wall.

Bryan

**jairo** · **07-07-08, 03:42 PM**

Thanks Byan, the only problem is that there needs to be a walkway for people to walk to the bathroom as there is only 1 entrance to the bathroom. So you say it best to leave the walkway behind the sofa and the sofa more in front of the door? And where exactly should the front chairs be?

**bpape** · **07-07-08, 04:58 PM**

Generally best starting point is your seated ear position approx 62% of the room length from the front wall.

As for walkway, I have no idea of your seating dimensions so I don't know what's feasible. Realistically, you need approx 24" or a bit more for a walkway. So, with a 10' width, assuming the couch is 6' or less, you're OK.

Bryan

**Prof.** · **07-07-08, 07:34 PM**

Also, apart from moving the sofa forward, you need to move the surrounds forward as well..
There should generally be a spacing of about 5' from the back of the front chairs to the rear seating, with your surrounds positioned about midway between the two..

**jairo** · **07-08-08, 09:59 AM**

Thanks guys, i get the distance factor now. As you can see the room is not that big and the painting started yesterday but apparently 2-3 coats of paint will be needed. I looked into the making of the false bottom for the tv, and i should have enough room as long as i dont utilize anything more than 1/2¨thick. Also for general viewing i will have to cut out and fabric the areas for the tv speakers as the HT system will solely be used for the BIG games and Movies, I was looking at the Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-ray Player, and was very amazied at the image clarity over the PS3. Also I was wondering if someone could assist me with the best video settings for my TV. (contrast, Brightness, etc) I have used several DVD setup tools and they dont appear to set the tv the right way, I have also used the THX setups on several dvd´s such as Indiana Jones and Episode 3. But if someone knows what the best settings are , or whom has setup several Large rear projection TV´s, I heard that if the contrast is too high it is bad for the set, etc. I know its personal preference but the best would be to set it up by past expieriences. Thanks as always.

**jairo** · **07-09-08, 10:42 AM**

Hello everyone, back, finished painting the HT room last night, all is dark blue including the ceiling, (matte finish). I should have a picture of it up tommorrow as it was too late to take one last night and the only camera i have is on my cell. Need to paint the living room dining room and kitchen today so there will be a gap between updates. is there someone whom can help me with the best settings for the tv? Please let me know, I need to set it up as it should be. Thanks again everyone for all your assistance so far, hope the super amount of questions isnt too much, just want to make sure all comes out well.

**salvasol** · **07-09-08, 02:26 PM**

Quote:

jairo wrote:

.... is there someone whom can help me with the best settings for the tv? Please let me know, I need to set it up as it should be. Thanks again everyone for all your assistance so far, hope the super amount of questions isnt too much, just want to make sure all comes out well.

Good to hear that everything is working well

About your TV settings ... I think you have to do it as you did it before (use the THX optimizer, DVE or AVIA discs) and set the brightness, tint, color, etc. according to your viewing ambient (if you will watch movies with the light off, lights on, etc.) because every TV set, room, etc. is different ... I'm sure some will have the contrast at 50 and that will be to dark for others

Your other option is to pay for a calibration from a certified technician (I don't know if there is any in Costa Rica, maybe a TV repair man???) ... they have the tool to set up correctly (read this article I found online http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/fea...mystified.html)

**jairo** · **07-15-08, 04:33 PM**

hELLO EVERYONE, The room is painted and unfortunately we had to replace some wiring in the light fixtures, unfortunately the previous owners were un aware of the jobs that were done on the house, today i have to work an off shift so will be unable to get any work done on the room, this weekend i also bought some floor trim and am still deciding on whether to leave them natural for a more elegant look or paint them black or blue. I should have some pictures up soon to show the progress. Any ideas on what color may look best on the trim would help out greatly...see you soon.

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