I work in the Hollywood motion picture business and I have the unique experience of reviewing and color timing finished movie trailers in state of the art screening rooms at FotoKem, Deluxe and Technicolor. From fresh film prints (just out of the chemicals and running through a projector for the first time) to Digital Intermediates in 4k (projected with the highest level of professional gear available anywhere in the world.)
Now, this in no way compares to my home theater, but as someone who has spent a good amount of time in some of the worlds best reference screening rooms, I can say without a doubt that my modest home theater kicks sufficient ass! More importantly, it's price to performance ratio is through the roof! If you're considering creating a dedicated, light controlled, front projection home theater, and you're working with a modest budget and small space, then I highly recommend all the components I'm using in my room.
I began with a slightly small and odd shaped space (approximently 13x9x9). I had it originally built out as a home editing bay but never used it much. The room has no windows and 2 doors, one to a hallway and one to a small closet.
It's actually about one half of the garage. I left the rest of the garage available for one car to park and some storage. Ideally, if I had built this out as a theater in mind then I would have made it bigger and I would have given more thought to customizing the walls and insulation.
Following THX recommendations (36 degree viewing angle) I determined that the largest screen I could use would be 92 inches and the viewing area would be 10 feet back. This allowed me 3 feet of space behind the viewer to place the components and give me some bass control by not having to put the viewing position against the back wall. I also added 4 inch thick acoustic panels to absorb some of the lower frequency sound behind the viewing position and 2 inch thick acoustic panels all along the side walls for the upper frequencies. I could probably stand with some diffusion on the ceiling but I'm happy with the way it sounds now.
I had the projector professionally calibrated. I'm glad I did this because it is the ideal preset for watching Blu-ray. DVD, HD and SD television benefit from one of the Panasonic "cinema" presets with a bit more contrast, but it's Blu-ray that really makes this room shine!
I painted the walls and ceiling a dark, neutral grey (I just couldn't handle a black room even though it would have been ideal) and I added burgundy velvet curtains to cover the entry door (a good deal at Ikea).
Is it the biggest, most expensive theater out there? No way. Is it a giant killer, Absolutely!
Thanks for taking a look and check out my 2 channel hi-fi on Audiogon.
Full HD, 1920x1080, 3LCD design. An amazing projector, I've loved it and I'd highly recommend it. That said, I must admit I've had a few issues with dust blobs. Nothing that couldn't easily be fixed with a little research on the web, but still an annoying quirk. Some reviews knock the styling but I like it's minimalist boxyness.
Draper 92 inch Onyx M1300 Cineperm screen
Fantastic screen, 1.3 gain, with 4 inch black velvet border.
Onkyo TX-SR605 HDMI 5.1 Receiver
I'm using all HDMI I/O
Sony PS3 Blu-Ray player
A perfectly acceptable Blu-Ray & DVD player. Updates firmware via wireless internet connection. I replaced the standard gaming remote with a classic, DVD player style, bluetooth sony remote.
Aperion Audio Intimus
Using 532-LR bookshelf speakers for left/right rear channels, 533-VAC Center for center channel and the sub is an S10, 10inch, 200watt powered sub. All speakers in the Cherry finish
Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo Three
A pair of floorstanding speakers used for front left and right channels.
Blue Jeans Cable Speaker & HDMI
I'm using broadcast-quality Blue Jeans Cable. Speaker cable is custom cut Belden 5T00UP speaker cable terminated with locking Banana Plugs.
ATS Acoustics absorption panels
We also use these in our edit bays at work. 4 inch deep panels for the back wall and 2 inch panels along the side walls
Professional Calibration by Glen Carter
The presets are pretty good with this projector. I wanted to get that extra level of performance. If you're on the fence when it comes to calibration, you can probably pass on it.
Chinatown movie poster
decent reprint from MovieGoods.com
Monster Power Home Theatre Reference HTS2600 MkII
power conditioner
Skycraft hospital grade power cords
inexpensive hospital grade power cords. grey - 18Awg
Though the equipment would be mid fi---the room set up and attention to detail would be hi fi. Which in many cases beats hi fi thrown into a room with no consideration of room accoustics. You get it.Job well done
Looks great, I came to cross comment from the note you left on my system. I'd love to have the room in my apartment to do two systems like you have done.
I'm also in post production, but on the studio side, paper pushing. I've spent some quality time in post house screening and QC rooms, and I think this is better than most I've seen, you know, excluding the big rooms.
Looks killer/ You might try moving the sub left or right all the way over to either wall in front of speaker crossfiring to the middle. I get good results with this on rooms your size. Trying costs nothing
No matter how much $$ you spend on home theater set up, a power condition is very important, if you have a chance, try on ISOTEK product, Titan plus 6 outlet expansion, very expensive but it worth the money you spend on for sound & picture quality. I use Nova & Titan for my home theater.
Vmain13- The center speaker stand is also from Aperion. It's the Wood Tech CC18 Center Channel Stand 18"
Blindjim- Thanks, and I couldn't agree more. ATS acoustics suggested the number of panels based on room size. I ended up covering about 70% of the exposed back and side walls. It was really trial and error. I thought I'd start with these and add more, or add diffusion, if I felt like I needed it. The improvement was quite noticeable , they really cut down the harsh brightness I was getting without them.
