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Thread: Finally making progress on my Media Room

  1. #1
    Senior Member HCSGuy's Avatar
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    Finally making progress on my Media Room

    First, sorry for the bad pics - they'll get better, but I wanted to get this started (I also realize there is none with the projection screen down, so I'll remedy that next set). Second, I am master of few things, but one of them is getting project ideas, then buying the stuff (especially tools) needed to do the project, but am not so good at the last stretch, so although I am trying to get work done on this room, now that Spring has sprung, my time is mostly taken up outside clearing brush, and soon working on sprinklers and irrigation. Finishing this room may take a pause until next winter, but it is at least up and running in a basic, un-EQ'd form for now. First batch of acoustic panels arrived today, so I'm going to start mounting them maybe this evening.

    Speakers are Widget's old 1400 Array towers (which my wife thinks look funny, but understands she has no say over), his old 880 Array center, DIY line source surrounds, and currently just the one HB5000 subwoofer, with its 120v to 100v transformer as seen in the pic. My intent was to do 4 subs, and the room is wired for them, but I'm not sure yet how exactly they will be implemented. We have maxed the HB5000 out a few times on really low passages, even at reasonable volume levels, so more is definitely needed. Not really visible, but in the pic to the left of the couch, currently holding movies, is a
    1500
    Array sub, which looks really good with the other Arrays, though I just got it moved up to that room and haven't listened to it yet. I don't have 4 of these, so if I go that route I'd have to wait for more to pop up on the market. Also, my plan had always been to run the subs passive, so purchasing a 1500 Array and then running them passive seems like a waste of money, but we'll see. I do not have electrical service in the room for 4 or them, so they would have to be passive - I'm done running wires.

    My goal in doing the room was to use as much of the equipment I already had, and purchase as little as possible, so compromises had to be made. Screen is a plain old matte white 120" 16x9 screen, which I'm still conflicted over. The room is only 14' wide, which leaves 28" on each side of the screen batten when it is down. I had hoped to be able to wheel in other speakers to play with, but that's not enough room for many of the larger ones, unless they're up against the side walls, which will not work. So, I am going to be moving speakers in, listening to them, and probably selling of quite a few of them. Also, the screen is not acoustically perforated, and barely clears the LCD TV, so the center speaker has to go down below. Again, this works, but I would have liked to get the center speaker higher.

    I'll provide more spec's as the build continues, but here's the short of it. Emotiva RMC-1 processor, Bryston 9BSST running the center and bi-amping the 1400 Arrays, (3) Crown CT's running the surrounds and Atmos height speakers, and a Crown iTech5000 sitting in the rack waiting for passive subwoofers. Room has (3) dedicated circuits; (1) 20A-120v for the Bryston and Crown CT's,
    (1) 20A-120v for the sources, processor, and projector/LCD, and (1) 20A-240V for the iTech5000.

    Gotta get back to work, but (queue Ahnold), "I'll be back!"

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  2. #2
    Senior Member jmpsmash's Avatar
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    Damn that's incredible setup!

  3. #3
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Very cool! Glad to see it coming together... I had a pair of Sub1500s in 5 cu ft boxes tuned to 20hz. With 600 watts each they really pressurized my old SF home theater and it was a much larger than your room. I would think you can make this work.

    I like those DIY line sources. More info please.

    What projector are you using?


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  4. #4
    Administrator Robh3606's Avatar
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    What a nice room! I bet its great in there watching a movie. Enjoy it!

    Rob
    "I could be arguing in my spare time"

  5. #5
    Senior Member grumpy's Avatar
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    Nice! I'm surprised using line arrays like the cbt series for surrounds hasn't caught on better.
    In home-sized rooms, the lack of a pronounced proximity effect would seem to be an obvious bennie.

  6. #6
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by grumpy View Post
    Nice! I'm surprised using line arrays like the cbt series for surrounds hasn't caught on better.
    In home-sized rooms, the lack of a pronounced proximity effect would seem to be an obvious bennie.
    Yep, I use line arrays in many of the HTs I design. They are especially useful in narrow rooms.


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  7. #7
    Senior Member HCSGuy's Avatar
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    The surrounds are almost done (Still have to be wrapped in fabric to match the acoustic panels), and are designed around this doorway - there's 6 1/4" between the doors to fit a speaker. There was also a leg of a 4-way light switch behind where the bottom of the right side surround speaker is now. My original prototype speaker was built shorter (39" vs 48"h) to barely clear the switch. However, after the sectional arrived, I found seated ear height was about 3" below the bottom of the last driver, and it was enough to change the sound quality - not wreck it, but certainly change it, so we got rid of the light switch and built all the speakers to the same height.
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    Because the sectional is slammed against the left wall, and we bring in an extra seat on the right when the whole family watches, I built the side surround speakers as bipole line sources. I really hate the distraction of a surround speaker pointed right at me, and these absolutely fix that - I've watched a movie with my head a foot from the right side surround, and still had a great experience - not perfect, but far better surround balance than any other Media Room system I've done. Btw, if I did it again, I would probably experiment with not doing the Bipoles - the effect of the line array is so great, it probably outweighs the extra dispersion of the Bipole. The rain demo from the Dolby Atmos demo BD is absolutely convincing - it sounds like there is rain scattering all around you, very evenly dispersed.
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    The drivers in the surrounds are Dayton ND64-16's from Parts Express. 2 1/2" drivers, good from about 100hz to 15khz, then lumpy from there. They're the same drivers used in D.B. Keele's lower end line array tower kits that PE sells. I haven't EQ'd them yet, but look forward to that - I absolutely love the dispersion and room coverage, but if you connect them as front speakers and play music, they're in need of EQ. There are 18 drivers on each face, with the sides being Bipoles, as mentioned before, and the front and rear width channels being monopoles. Nice thing about "Full range" drivers and a good pre-pro - no crossover needed
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  8. #8
    Senior Member HCSGuy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget View Post
    Very cool! Glad to see it coming together... I had a pair of Sub1500s in 5 cu ft boxes tuned to 20hz. With 600 watts each they really pressurized my old SF home theater and it was a much larger than your room. I would think you can make this work.

    I like those DIY line sources. More info please.

    What projector are you using?


    Widget
    Projector is a Sony VPL-VW285es. As I mentioned, I'm on a budget, and got this on closeout when it was the cheapest native 4K projector around. Now there seems to be several. Picture quality is very good, though blacks aren't amazing.

    One other option on the subs is (4) Sub1500's. I have the drivers, and 4 really nice enclosures for them, but they're sealed, and maybe 1.5 cu ft or so (I'll need to re-measure them). The enclosures are Black ash, though, and the 1500 Array subs look much prettier. It may be a while before another shows up at a price I can afford. There's no way I'm going to fit 5 cu ft boxes like yours in this room, unless I find a way to sit on them
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  9. #9
    Senior Member jmpsmash's Avatar
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    Goodness. you have ordered like... hundreds of those drivers?

  10. #10
    Senior Member HCSGuy's Avatar
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    Making progress...Most of the absorptive panels are up, though I changed the design a little and have to have two more small ones made - hence the mounting brackets up high on both sides of the LCD, with no panels mounted. I'm rapidly getting to a stopping point for the season, as my attentions have to move outdoors to fix things around the property. For now, I have settled the subwoofer issue with four powered subs - (3) 1500Arrays, and one HB5000 doing duty in the rear of the room. Unfortunately, and not shown well in the pics, is that the 1500Array on the front wall is wood grain finish, the two on the side walls are the "Black Gloss" finish, so they don't match too well, though they certainly look better together than the HB5000. Come next winter, I will start experimenting with diffusion panels, finish the trim panel for where the screen drops out of the ceiling, and find rope lighting for the crown moulding - If anyone knows of some that is nice and flexible, and still warm white - 2700deg k or so, let me know. I bought some, but it's not very flexible, and only flexes on one axis, so we'll see how it works out. I also have to paint the grills for the ceiling speakers and HVAC grills in the ceiling, and wrap the surrounds in fabric, though that last job will probably wait a good long while, as it won't be easy. Name:  MediaRmPanels1.0.jpg
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    Now that I've gotten this far, here are some changes I would make if doing again. First, I would skip the LCD TV - haven't used it yet. This has turned into a special event room, so when we use the room, we want the special event feeling, and even an 85" LCD just doesn't look that impressive. Plus, if I skipped the LCD, I could bring the screen out from the wall farther, make it acoustically perforated, and put the center channel speaker up at ear height, or even use a tower sized center speaker. I would also change the surround bipoles - either skip the bipole and build them as monopoles, or change the front panel angle from 90deg to 120deg, and stagger the drivers so that I can get them closer together. I think this would get some of my HF roll off back, and tighted the side surround image a little - I may build a prototype this winter to play with.

    I just got the subwoofers in the room and connected - carrying subs up 2 flights of stairs is making me feel really old. They are now all connected, but I have to start listening and setting crossovers and gain. Hopefully I'll be able to watch Blade Runner 2049 by this weekend - I haven't seen it, and was saving it for when the room was working well
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  11. #11
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HCSGuy View Post
    I just got the subwoofers in the room and connected - carrying subs up 2 flights of stairs is making me feel really old.
    I feel your pain brother!

    Looking great! I bet the room will sound fantastic once you have everything balanced and tweaked. Have you set up the Dirac Live yet?


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  12. #12
    Senior Member HCSGuy's Avatar
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    Question

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget View Post
    I feel your pain brother!

    Looking great! I bet the room will sound fantastic once you have everything balanced and tweaked. Have you set up the Dirac Live yet?


    Widget
    Dirac Live - what’s that According to Emotiva, it is “Coming Soon”. Btw, so far, not super thrilled with the Emotiva processor. It sounds better than the Marantz Pre/pros we have used, but it does not sound as good as my old Lexicon MC12, all other things being equal, as I understand there is a bunch of tech my MC12 did not have. I mentioned in my post that we never use the LCD - that is good, as the Emotiva doesn’t do a good job of handling two monitors via HDMI. If I turn on the LCD, then turn it or and turn on the projector, I get no picture until I physically unplug the LCD’s HDMI cable. Not a biggie, as we don’t use the LCD, but if we did, I’d be upset.

    I got lucky on the subs, as I store them with the woofers separate, so I could carry them separate - the 1500Arrays are pretty good as you can grab the woofer hole with one hand, and the port with the other. The HB5000 was the worst, as the enclosure is double thick and weighs a ton, and there is nowhere good to grab it. I think I need a household robot.
    That the internet contains a blog documenting your life does not constitute proof that your existence is valid. Sorry.

  13. #13
    Administrator Mr. Widget's Avatar
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    My two favorite current surround processors are the Lyngdorf MP60 and the StormAudio unit. Unfortunately both are significantly more expensive than the Emotiva, but both work well and sound good. I particularly like the Lyngdorf.


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