CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[oliverg]

Gentlemen (and lady if you count Curt)

I am planning a HT with 9 seats. I really like Kal's design as it stands.

The main features;

Provision for 12.5" of 1.2 gain screen. Maybe electronic masking.
- the screen initially will be 120" within the above

- adequate working area behind the screen for a rack
- seperate feeds/ducting for power/mains type leads (shielded and eathed properly) and interconnect + speaker type leads.
- Sources will include a high spec HTPC in a side room with preview monitor
- Broadcast grade soundcard
- 4.5Tb of storage (RAID5). All titles (music and video) totally lossless.
- Side room will double as DVD etc storage library
- High end Bluray and HD-DVD players (PS3 etc)
- Crystalio 2 VP also acting as a media server that has full access to the storage array.

I will blend 2 x G90s using either the dedicated CRT blending box that tvOne are developing or Blendzilla. I will probably try both out before I make a decision. Tim is great to deal with but I want to try some of the newer solutions that are becoming available.

I want to have 9 seats. Each will be a self contained unit, micro-suede, full electronic reclining with cup holders.
There will be a natural raised slope angling towards the screen, except at the termination of the floor, there will be a "cliff"
which will be raised about 1" and in the huge cavity underneath all the seats, the 2 G90s will poke out of the "cliff face" towards the screen. So effectively, the front 3 seats will be almost sitting on top of the 2 G90s. The G90s will be sitting on an area which will be vibration isolated from the rest of the room. (I'm hoping this, together with efficient temperature control will help in keeping drift to a minimum).

Either that or I will have a custom steel beam straddling the whole room and the two PJs will be mounted on top or underneath the beam. The beam will be wide enough that the backs of the PJs will not overhang/overlap.

(Personally my preference is for the "cliff" at this point")

A bar at the back like Kal's. The whole HT lighting system will be designed by someone who has deployed someof the best theatre and architectural lighting systems in the world with custom dimming and dichroic mood lighting with spot control.

The sound system I have yet to spec, but I will probably stay with my Martin Logan array (Odysseys, Scripts, Cinema and Descents) - I can use this area for music listening too. Sony 9.3 STR-DA9000ES is getting dated now and won't decode LPCM, it downsamples it and the newer Sony 5300ES doesn't have enough power to drive my MLs. So I'll probably go rack mount. Anthem is what I'm thinking.

This leads to a question - I know a few people here have created a space like this but without seeing plans, I am finding it hard to picture actual dimensions. Also, I am envisiging this in a cellar type area, not in a roof. I want total lighting control (ie no windows to let in natural light) Has anyone put their HT in the 'attic' or upstairs areas? Most architechts save upstairs for bedrooms. Has anyone got plans they can share? All ideas would be great - if I've left something out or you don't think something fits, let me know.

I'll want to have all the usual plush carpet, movie posters (like Kal's) and maybe a dome roof with projected stars using a Sony Ruby

That last point was a joke, I hope no-one fainted

[Gino]

Sounds like a great project!

[Clarence]

[Clarence]

render based on customer floorplan and swatches:
http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/8674/sharmapass120001gf4.jpg

rendered 3D environment:
http://web.mac.com/joseph.schrand/iWeb/Site/Movie.html

It might look a bit over-the-top, but here's the owner's resulting build:
http://gallery.avsforum.com/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/273

[Tim in Phoenix]

Say Oliver

The top of the screen cannot be below the top of the lenses, unless you are willing to tilt the bottom of the screen out a bit. Even G90 owners will concede that parts and support are few and far between, keep that in mind.......

[jask]

Oliver I think your setup will require tube killing geometry correction unless these seats are mounted in some sort of balcony.. most of the crt projectors have fairly rigid and inflexible "ideal" mount positions, and with the challenge of throwing a blend into the mix you should aim for a high mount even if it requires some engineering.. what is the ceiling construction? or why do you think you will need a steel beam?

jask

[oliverg]

Thanks guys. Well I have one G90 already, just took some pictures of the tubfaces. 600 hours for green and blue tubes.

The second G90 left the USA yesterday!

I love the idea of rendering up plans - creating a virtual HT which evolves into reality, that's a great idea! Thank you. I might be able to post some of the 2d images up as the evolution grows.

[emdawgz1]

that sounds like a Seriously smokin setup.... but am i reading right? You want to floor mount the pj?

i dunno? i think a ceiling mount is more desirable, if you have the height.

[oliverg]

[jask]

Oliver how much distance is there going to be from tube face to screen? this setup as drawn will kill your tubes, and be a royal pain to set up...(is that too blunt?) why do you not want to ceiling mount??

[Gino]

i don't see his plans being all that different to what i have, only a little more extreme. at the moment, my projectors are table mounted, with a riser for my seats so i can see over them, granted, my chairs aren't sitting on top of the projectors.

in order to do what you want there oliver, you are going to compromise a lot on your geometry, especially keystone. also, from my position at the moment i feel my eye line is at about mid screen height, but i feel like my screen should still be higher, but i left it there so that i didn't have the keystoning/geometry problems, plus being 13' wide it kinda makes this acceptable. your proposed setup will likely have you feeling like you are uncomfortably looking down at your screen.

[oliverg]

OK, this is exactly what I needed to know.

So, balcony/mini mezzanine it is. My logic was to isolate the projectors on stands that would be set into concrete blocks - eliminating drifts. Also, it would hide the PJs. Some theatres are sloped down and I was hoping to emulate that but now I'm definately having second thoughts.

I appreciate all the observations everyone. Thank you.

PS The ther option is like the setup below: A little like Gino's, where the PJs are on tables.