Still working on my basement arcade/theater

THEDJ

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I had the flu last week, and limited funds, But was able to due some work this weekend.

what i am doing is a

THEATER ROOM THATS 10 X 20 WITH 9 SEATS - WILL BE ON 3 LEVELS 3 SEATS ON EACH.

ARCADE ROOM 14 X 24

WILL HAVE 10-11 GAMES AND A SMALL KARAOKE/GUITAR STAGE 6X6 (I KNOW I COULD PUT A COUPLE MORE GAMES IN THE AREA, BUT WE LIKE OUR MUSIC TOO.

HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS SOME FAR, WE ARE NOT GOING TO PAINT THE WALL ON THE RIGHT, BUT INSTAED GONNA COVER WITH FAUX BRICK PANELS.. (ANYBODY KNOW A GOOD PLACE TO BUY?)

BLACK CARPET LAST.

THANKS
CHRIS
 

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Where did you get your seats from? They really look authentic! I finished my basement off a few years ago and I won't label it an arcade or a theater...even though I've got 10 games and a 55' 3D with a 6.1 Definitive Tech surround system. My current project is finishing off the attic...and turning that into an official "theater". It'll probably be about the size of yours...maybe 15'x28'. The toughest thing I'm having to deal with are the sloped ceilings and my furnace/air handler up there, in addition to trying to maintain some storage.
 
Little bit of work today.

After my "day insurance job" I was able to do a little of my fun work..

added the AV rack in the wall for the sound/dvd/ect..

The seats game from a GENERAL CINEMA REMOD in our local nall -From the late 80's

chris~
 

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I finished my theater (if you can ever finish a home theater) last winter and the family loves it! Have you decided on a screen and projector yet?
 
WILL HAVE 10-11 GAMES AND A SMALL KARAOKE/GUITAR STAGE 6X6 (I KNOW I COULD PUT A COUPLE MORE GAMES IN THE AREA, BUT WE LIKE OUR MUSIC TOO.

This may sound silly but consider a fog machine. We got one last year after Halloween (day after clearances) and it goes over VERY well for both Halloween and ROCK BAND parties.
 
That's pretty sweet - would love to see it when you get it done. I'm just a couple hours away in Cincy and get over to So IN a few times per year. Hit me up sometime.
 
That's pretty sweet - would love to see it when you get it done. I'm just a couple hours away in Cincy and get over to So IN a few times per year. Hit me up sometime.

Once i get it completed, I will let you know.


thanks for the kind words
 
I finished my theater (if you can ever finish a home theater) last winter and the family loves it! Have you decided on a screen and projector yet?

i have an optoma hd projector.

As for the screen, i made my own.

bought white - black out material, and built a frame with 1x4 wood, 110"

only cost me $20 bucks

got any pics of your room..

thanks
chris
 
i have an optoma hd projector.

As for the screen, i made my own.

bought white - black out material, and built a frame with 1x4 wood, 110"

only cost me $20 bucks

got any pics of your room..

thanks
chris

By next winter I want to finish my "arcade" to go with the theater. The Optoma projectors are really nice, one day I will sneak a Optoma HD66 into the theater and start playing 3d movies. :)

I went with an acoustically transparent screen which allows all of my speakers and sub-woofers to be place behind the screen out of view. I need to take some new photos but Homer gives you an idea of where the center channel sits. This "anchors" the dialogue to the center of the screen.

Plus, I added Aura bass shakers and line-filter so the seats shake whenever there is deep bass. The kids love the shakers for video games...gives an extra kick to explosions. These were all taken during the construction process, I need to snap some pictures to capture the finished product. Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions along the way, I learned a lot by trial and error.

DSC_0521.jpg


Screen and speakers in place.....

DSC_0523.jpg


All the surround sound speakers are hidden in columns....

DSC_0813.jpg


I have stadium seating for 7 with power recline....

seats.jpg
 
That's fantastic! So jealous. :)

By next winter I want to finish my "arcade" to go with the theater. The Optoma projectors are really nice, one day I will sneak a Optoma HD66 into the theater and start playing 3d movies. :)

I went with an acoustically transparent screen which allows all of my speakers and sub-woofers to be place behind the screen out of view. I need to take some new photos but Homer gives you an idea of where the center channel sits. This "anchors" the dialogue to the center of the screen.

Plus, I added Aura bass shakers and line-filter so the seats shake whenever there is deep bass. The kids love the shakers for video games...gives an extra kick to explosions. These were all taken during the construction process, I need to snap some pictures to capture the finished product. Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions along the way, I learned a lot by trial and error.

DSC_0521.jpg


Screen and speakers in place.....

DSC_0523.jpg


All the surround sound speakers are hidden in columns....

DSC_0813.jpg


I have stadium seating for 7 with power recline....

seats.jpg
 
That theater is an AWESOME idea. I wish I had the room but sadly, I'm sure I would just fill it with games anyway. :p
 
Wow, that looks really nice.

I know mine will not look that nice.. . But it will look alot better once i have the carpet in. and the risers built for the seats.

I was out of town this last weekend, so no work was done. i should get some thing done this week/weekend. i will post pictures.

I can think of a couple questions...

are you doing 5.1 sound. I will be. I did not see the need to go to 6.1 or 7.1

What do you play your movies from (dvd or media storage hard drive, or ?)
I just have a blue ray player, but i want some way to play previews before a movie.. my blue ray player has a usb memory stick, and i have some previews on their, but i have to goto a menu, and pick each preview, and then pick the movie, and wait for it to load, and then hit play. Kind of long and drawn out, and not automaited. any ideas?

Oh, and i need ideas on wall coverings. I want some sort of curtains or something on the side walls. (i am only going to put a base of redish color down, but i am not going to tape/fill my drywall seems, because the wife wants some sort of fabric wall curtains to make it look like a theater. i will have two sconce lamps, and two switches to cut around... any ideas?

Thanks
chris
 
I went 5.1 but wired the room for 7.2 so its just a matter of cutting a small hole in the drywall and pulling out the existing speaker wire. I suggest running flexible piping from your bluray player to the projector location so you can upgrade when hdmi is no longer the standard.

I have 300 movies on my computer (HTPC), a bluray player and PS3. I did the same as you, I wanted previews and even found classic movie concession style ads from the 50's to play while everyone took their seats on my PC. When I hit play on the remote for the bluray the lights over the stage automatically drop to 0%, side lights to 50% and 25% over the seats....then after a few minutes they seamlessly all fade off.

Cool right!? Well, after a few months the whole idea of watching previews (new or classic) gets old and you just want to watch your movie. Trust me, its just not worth it as time goes by.

Sound treatment is important. I have a special insulation on the wall behind the screen. You can see it behind Homer. It stops the echo from the sound bouncing off the rear wall, front wall and back again. Without something like this your dialogue will sound washed out. Most people build wood frames and wrap them in fabric called GOM. Behind the fabric is the special insulation to absorb the sound. This is what you described as fabric on the walls.

Color is important, especially on the screen wall because the screen reflects light back to the audience causing a glare. Notice all the black around my screen...that is a velvet type material that gives the screen the theater feeling its floating and absorbs the glare. In theory, you should use flat paint in the room and the entire ceiling should be painted black.

My wife was concerned a all black ceiling would look bad...like a cave. My solution was to paint the underside of the trey ceiling black. Again, use flat paint and dark colors to cut down on reflections. The camera flash makes the room appear lighter than it is in person.


Wow, that looks really nice.

I know mine will not look that nice.. . But it will look alot better once i have the carpet in. and the risers built for the seats.

I was out of town this last weekend, so no work was done. i should get some thing done this week/weekend. i will post pictures.

I can think of a couple questions...

are you doing 5.1 sound. I will be. I did not see the need to go to 6.1 or 7.1

What do you play your movies from (dvd or media storage hard drive, or ?)
I just have a blue ray player, but i want some way to play previews before a movie.. my blue ray player has a usb memory stick, and i have some previews on their, but i have to goto a menu, and pick each preview, and then pick the movie, and wait for it to load, and then hit play. Kind of long and drawn out, and not automaited. any ideas?

Oh, and i need ideas on wall coverings. I want some sort of curtains or something on the side walls. (i am only going to put a base of redish color down, but i am not going to tape/fill my drywall seems, because the wife wants some sort of fabric wall curtains to make it look like a theater. i will have two sconce lamps, and two switches to cut around... any ideas?

Thanks
chris
 
are you doing 5.1 sound. I will be. I did not see the need to go to 6.1 or 7.1
chris

I disagree. If you're in the construction phase run any and every possible combination you can think of. Speaker Cable's pretty cheap, even 10/12 gauge and there's no better time to run it.

I have a 6.1 system I'm running as a 5.1 currently, and even though I plan on upgrading to 7.1 I'm wiring my theater up for 9.2 (sub in the front and/or back and 2 "HIGHS" in the front.) If I still have enough cable left over I'll run a center back so I can use the pure 6.1 stream.

My advice is run the cable and cap it off (or terminate it to a plate) in the event you change your mind in a few years. Also I agree with the Flexible tubing idea for HDMI. I have a peice of 2" PVC pipe mounted to the ceiling (will be above the drop ceiling when that gets put in) so I can pull new cable to / from the projector. I also took 1 "column" of the wall where everything comes in for the receiver and didn't drywall it up. That will be a door, so I can always get in and switch up my wires and components to "the latest model".
 
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