Tanner Ridge Cinema / YW84U's HT

[YW84U]

Nearing completion - Latest Update Pics Dec 2007








The construction began on July 15, 2006 - The entire build was DIY, save and except for calling in the pros to do the carpet.

Quick & Dirties:

Room: 12.5ft x 20ft x 90in . Single drywall, mineral wool sound control, sealed door
Screen - 136" 16x9 DIY screen - drywall, with Behr SilverScreen coatings
First Row - ~12 ft
Second Row - ~19ft on a 13.5 in riser

Equipment -
Optoma HD72 PJ
Sony STR-DE945 AVR
Sony STR-DE 345 AVR for LFE
Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD
Panasonic RP-56 DVD
Behringer DSP1124
Toshiba VCR (for CATV Tuning)
HotLink Pro IR Repeater
Harmony 880 Remote
Paradigm Monitor 7 mains
Paradigm CC270 center
Paradigm ADP-170 surrounds
Paradigm PS-1000 Sub
Aura Bass Shakers x 4
Insteon Dimmers / remote dimming
Schwack of DIY Acoustic panels/treatments

[salvasol]

I was looking at your equipment list and I though: He is missing a buttkicker ... and then I saw "Aura Bass Shakers x 4" ... How do you like them???

I'm curious about your receivers (STR-DE945 and STR-DE345) ... you mention that you're using the 345 for LFE ... Do you mean, the Aura, Subs or both??? ... How did you connect the two receivers??? ... I have a STR-DE897, it has the sub pre-out (I'm sure that's what you're using on your 945) ... but where did you connect it on your 345???

[YW84U]

salvasol wrote:

I was looking at your equipment list and I though: He is missing a buttkicker ... and then I saw "Aura Bass Shakers x 4" ... How do you like them???

I'm curious about your receivers (STR-DE945 and STR-DE345) ... you mention that you're using the 345 for LFE ... Do you mean, the Aura, Subs or both??? ... How did you connect the two receivers??? ... I have a STR-DE897, it has the sub pre-out (I'm sure that's what you're using on your 945) ... but where did you connect it on your 345???

Hi Salvasol,

I'm very happy with the shakers - I've never had opportunity to compare them with the ButtKicker version (I imagine they are far superior), but for the small $ investment it was definitely worth it to me. I went into it with the view that if I didn't like the shake, I would not have put a lot of money into it. After living with them for a year, I can honestly say that these things add a nice dimension to the HT experience, and will likely deploy them again in HT 3.0

The 345 comes into play only for the Shakers - there is a single Sub Out on the 945 that I split with a dual RCA connector - one RCA to the Sub (via BFD left engine), the other RCA goes into the right engine of the BFD (for a ~40HZ Low Pass filter) then onto the VIDEO IN for the 345 (some people report that using PHONO yields better results due to the sensitivity of the PHONO input, but I find all of them the same). The 345 mains out then drive the shakers, wired up for 8 ohms (2 4 ohm shakers per channel L/R). The handy thing with the setup is that the shaker 'volume' is adjustable via either the Big Knob or using the remote The downside of having two Sony's together is the remote codes are similar, sometimes making component switching a little tricky since both want to respond. I will likely be replacing the 945 with something along the lines of an Onkyo 705 down the road, so that would remedy the codes overlapping...

Cheers!

[Bob_99]

Very nice work. Was this a converted room or new construction? It looks well planned and I bet it sounds great.

Bob

[YW84U]

Hi Bob

It was a 'destroy and rebuild' room....I started a construction thread over in the HT Design forum to document the transition, and have finally gotten around to placing the link in my sig below. Be forewarned, it is picture-intensive, and may take a bit to load up!

Cheers,

[Bob_99]

Thank you for the link. In addition to doing an excellent job on the room, you also did a great job on documenting the construction. That's a lot of work and I was sweating just reading through each step.

I hope you get a lot of free time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Bob

[salvasol]

YW84U wrote:

... I will likely be replacing the 945 with something along the lines of an Onkyo 705 down the road, so that would remedy the codes overlapping...Cheers!

I'm glad you enjoy your HT ... as I think most of us here enjoy ours

Now is the time to look around for a receiver, after christmas there is always people returning things that they didn't like and have second thoughts ... I was lucky and I got a Yamaha RX-V2700 at BB for only $399.99 (it was their floor model at Magnolia), but it didn't come with a remote (they found it later), manual (I got it free online) and the YPAO microphone (cost me $25.00), so I got a $900.00+ receiver for about $457.00 including taxes ... that was my Christmas present

[dieselpower1966]

they say a photo speaks a thousand words so I'll use a few of them.

Wow, very well thought out, articulate, uncluttered, and flawless,
great job

dieselpower1966

[YW84U]

dieselpower1966 wrote:

....... flawless,

Oh good heavens no! It is far, far from that! I'm glad I opted for a dark room color

An old friend of mine, who was teaching me some basic woodworking skills a few years back, had always told me that "the difference between a professional woodworker and a novice is that the pro is able to hide his mistakes a little better"! I think most of my time during the build is spent trying to remedy those things that perhaps may go unnoticed, but for some reason still bug me just simply because "I know they're there'. Can OCD be considered a tool?
Maybe time for me to see the shrink

Cheers,

[raw23062]

Wish I had a dollar for everytime I was upset about something I had just finished building because of a flaw I noticed and had my wife ask "where" to which I reply "right there" "Where??" "right THERE." "WHERE???" "RIGHT THERE!!!" I feel your pain Tom, and know it well, but I think it serves us well in the long run, I have to agree, from the pics it looks flawless, I keep going back to your pics each night after sanding and filling for hours, just because I know it will make me do it all over the next night.
I'm REALLY not this much of a suck up, I just REALLY need the inspiration...

[Bob_99]

Wish I had a dollar for everytime I was upset about something I had just finished building because of a flaw I noticed and had my wife ask "where" to which I reply "right there" "Where??" "right THERE." "WHERE???" "RIGHT THERE!!!"

Sounds very familiar. My wife now considers me very anal.

Bob

[Prof.]

Bob_99 wrote:

Sounds very familiar. My wife now considers me very anal.

Bob

Isn't everyone that gets into HT?.

[YW84U]

Feb 2008 Update -

Finished off the rack and the DIY faceplates





Getting near to the end ....

Cheers,

[superchad]

Looks fantastic! I have those "Bass Shakers" in boxes still, one day I will install them.......a friend has thwm and they work great!
Again that is a grreat looking room, I hope one day my room can look that classy but I have a ways to go but I do know rooms like your inspire me and feed my ideas.