AndySTL's Basement Family Area/Theater

[AndySTL]

This post is overdue but I have some time now to make it, so here we go. Having a basement projector has been a longtime dream of mine. My mom's lifelong bachelor brother had an old CRT based system in his basement from the mid 1980s that he bought from his buddy that was a bar owner. He made upgrades over the years to the projector, speakers, and electronics and had a theater room that was way ahead of its time. He had a large collection of movies that he copied onto BetaMax. He eventually moved into LaserDisc and was an early adopter of DVD. I would visit him 2 or 3 times a year and marvel at his room and watch his old movies. It is what sparked my enthusiasm for electronics and it got to the point that I had better knowledge of how his system operated than he did! It is a very fond memory of mine and I have always wanted a theater of my own. Fast forward to adulthood, marriage, two different homes that weren't quite perfect for a theater and add 3 kids to the mix. There has always an obstacle that preventing me from pulling the trigger on a projector of my own. Last fall our nice Panasonic 60" plasma meet and unfortunate early demise. Death administered by a kids toy! The screen cracked and that was end of it. So we discussed for a few weeks and decided that it was time to move forward and attempt to pull off a mixed use room that included a projector. The budget was small and but I quickly narrowed the list to a few highly regarded models. I posted on here seeking advice, and The 2015 Audio Annex MAN OF THE YEAR, CMonster, made me an offer to sell me his old projector! He made me a deal I could not resist and he even lined up Randy to act a currier between KC and St. Louis so that we could avoid the cost and risk of shipping it. Thanks to both of you for assisting me in this project!

My room is full of compromises. It is by no means a dedicated room. I have 3 kids all aged 5 or under and this basement serves as a play area for them as well as an extra space for the family to gather or entertain friends and family. And it's also the main point of entry of the house as we have a tuck-under garage (a walkout basement has pros and cons). It's not decorated the way we want yet as we've only been in this house 1.5 years, but we plan to be here a long long time so things will improve as we go.

I just wanted to share and give a shoutout to both CMonster and Randy for helping me get this project off the ground. I plan on tweaking it as I go and trying to make improvements. I can't change things too much as this room needs to work so I know it will never be perfect. But I am open to any suggestions people have. At some point I may relocate the electronics to another part of the room so I can move the screen lower and bump it up in size. All my wiring is routed just fine now and I kind of dread the idea of doing it all over again.

The video portion of the room is quite excellent in my opinion. The audio side of things could use improvement. It sounds somewhat thin. Not sure how to describe it. I'm sure my awkward layout is mostly to blame and I need to play with moving the speakers and sub around a bit. Currently I am 5.1 but I could go 7.1 without too much wiring trouble. Do people find 7.1 to be a huge advantage over 5.1? Atmos is intriguing too but I don't know how well that would work with my fiberglass ceiling tiles. Thoughts?

Also I should mention that this setup is for movies and watching sports only. I love music and spend alot of time listening to it, but this isn't the place I am able to really enjoy it. My office serves as my music consumption room and I'll post pics of that once I get it properly arranged. That will be another thread soon I hope.

Components are:
Epson Pro Cinema 6010
92" Fixed Frame screen - not sure who makes this. I bought it on craigslist for $100 and I feel like that was a great price. The material is perfect and has no blemishes or wrinkles and the frame is sturdy
Denon AVR-4310CI - this is area I think I could use an upgrade as it does not support 3d
Sony TA-N9000ES
Samsung BD-J5900 BluRay Player
Apple TV Gen3
Dish Hoper Super Joey
Polk Audio RT3000p
Polk Audo CS1000p
Polk Audio F/X 300i
HSU VTF-2 Mk2

Untitled by Andy, on Flickr

Untitled by Andy, on Flickr

Untitled by Andy, on Flickr

Untitled by Andy, on Flickr

Untitled by Andy, on Flickr

Untitled by Andy, on Flickr

Untitled by Andy, on Flickr

Untitled by Andy, on Flickr

Untitled by Andy, on Flickr

Untitled by Andy, on Flickr

 

[Botch]

Much better room than a few of us have!
I gotta admit though, your stacked mains + 3 kids <5 years old makes me nervous.

 

[AndySTL]

Those speakers have sorbothane pads between them that have a good bit of stickiness to them. You actually have to give it a good try to separate them. All that being said, I wouldn't mind upgrading the speakers

 

[PaulyT]

Awesome! Glad to see the pj getting good use. Way bigger screen than I've ever had... someday maybe. Anyway, looks like a great space, very family friendly. I could definitely see my wife sitting at that table knitting while the movie's going.

 

[AndySTL]

Awesome! Glad to see the pj getting good use. Way bigger screen than I've ever had... someday maybe. Anyway, looks like a great space, very family friendly. I could definitely see my wife sitting at that table knitting while the movie's going.

Thanks! That table is a sore subject. It is really beat up and much bigger than I think we need down there. I'd like to dump it for something much smaller. It is nice having a table down there though. The kids do crafts etc and tonight after the kids go to bed my wife and I are doing dinner down there while we watch a movie!

 

[Zing]

Your excitement is palpable, not to mention warranted. Enjoy the hell out of your new room!

 

[Barney]

I agree with Zing. You have a room to play with that is , as Botch stated, better than I have.

 

[Towen7]

That space looks awesome. I often wish my space were more multi-functional.

Great job!
Enjoy it.

 

[heeman]

Nice Job Andy................Enjoy the hell out of it!!

Cudos to the Brothers here at the AA that helped!!

:bow-blue: :bow-blue:

 

[Randy]

Awesome and congrats and you suck and...

Glad I could be of help getting your project going, I am pleased I could help you out. Looks great and all rooms have compromises unless you are filthy rich and can have a room designed and built specifically for HT.

 

[Batman]

Nice job and setup Andy!! That projector is killer!! :handgestures-thumbup:

 

[Babs]

The kids do crafts etc

I find it heart warming when children are crafty. Learning new skills, coloring, writing, drawing, etc. Very important in our "social media" society.

Nice family area, Andy. It seems very cozy.

 

[Huey]

Looks nice Andy! :text-bravo:

 

[Haywood]

That looks great. I like that it maintains that family room feel while still giving you the advantages of a dedicated space. The only thing I would add would be some blinds for light control during the day. Another suggestion might be switching the florescent panel out for some dimmable cans.

 

[jomari]

Babs hit it on the nail for me, Cozy is the word that comes to mind.

so, 5.1 vs 7.1? better mains? better speakers? atmos? 4K?

it will never end. what matters is that at the end of the day you enjoy your room and be proud that you built it from scratch. add the fact that you had a couple of friends helping out makes it even sweeter. same thing with cars i guess, you can never replace the blood and sweat you put into 'rebuilding' your dream car versus a higher end brand new 2016 model.

i like it a lot. i was wondering what the bookshelf speakers were on, are those 'subwoofer type speakers'?

you have a better room than i do, i envy people with basements. love how clean your setup is, especially the back speakers (i cant do in walls, and if i mount my ceiling speakers, its gonna have wiring issues. and your ceiling makes me enraged as i cant do that either.

one thing, dont worry too about bulb replacements, just keep on enjoying it, watch whatever you want without a time clock to monitor it. lifes too short for that. i still have my HD70 projector from two forums ago and its still running well. family enjoyed it, and thats what matters.

its an amazing room andy. i can see your kids running around in it too.

 

[AndySTL]

The only thing I would add would be some blinds for light control during the day. Another suggestion might be switching the florescent panel out for some dimmable cans.

Yeah, I am not a fan of the fluorescent lights at all. And the drop tile ceiling is a love hate thing. I've considered drywalling it and adding cans and also just adding cans to the current tiles. You have to add a few cans to match the light output of the fluorescent. But all of this is way down the list. I have kitchen/bath remodeling, flooring etc.... The basement is fine for now but down the road I definitely want to make some changes to the ceiling and lights.

I do have blinds sitting in the closet to be installed, but this PJ puts out so much light that it's really not even necessary! The day I took these pics it was particularly bright.

 

[AndySTL]

i like it a lot. i was wondering what the bookshelf speakers were on, are those 'subwoofer type speakers'?

Those speakers are Polk Audio RT3000p. They are a powered Sub/tower combo. Those bookshelves on top are specifically designed to work with sub units below. The center channel matches them and also has two powered sub drivers built into it. They are from around the year 2000. With the prevalence of dedicated subs these days this setup probably is a bit passe

 

[Randy]

If you like them treat them and tune them as full range mains and add/ use a separate sub. I used to have a similar setup that I was very happy with.

 

[jomari]

The only thing I would add would be some blinds for light control during the day. Another suggestion might be switching the florescent panel out for some dimmable cans.

Yeah, I am not a fan of the fluorescent lights at all. And the drop tile ceiling is a love hate thing. I've considered drywalling it and adding cans and also just adding cans to the current tiles. You have to add a few cans to match the light output of the fluorescent. But all of this is way down the list. I have kitchen/bath remodeling, flooring etc.... The basement is fine for now but down the road I definitely want to make some changes to the ceiling and lights.

I do have blinds sitting in the closet to be installed, but this PJ puts out so much light that it's really not even necessary! The day I took these pics it was particularly bright.

there are also LED cans nowadays, that are relatively inexpensive now given how its been established they are now in the market.

nonetheless, whatever works for now right? a nice floor light, yellower than flourescent might be a good calming light for the evening...

 

[Botch]

Yeah, I am not a fan of the fluorescent lights at all. And the drop tile ceiling is a love hate thing. I've considered drywalling it and adding cans and also just adding cans to the current tiles. You have to add a few cans to match the light output of the fluorescent.

If you do decide to drywall your ceiling, make sure to run cables for 5.1, 7.1, 9.1, Atmos, Hi Front, 37.14, and all the other audio formats currently out and upcoming. I've actually thought about running 2" or so PVC pipe through my basement (if I ever build something down there) to accommodate future formats/cabling.

EDIT: Oh yeah, until then you can buy fluorescent tubes of different color temperatures, I've got some "Sunlight" temps in my kitchen which are a lot nicer than the "Cubicle Blue". :handgestures-thumbup: