building an HT from scratch

[cobracommander 0]

LMAO

how come 7.1 is pointless (i can explain it to my dad when he asks why)

also, im gonna start with the easiest things first (IMO)

the projector, and even easier, the screen.

we were going to order one, but trying to find the biggest screen to fit within the angled ceiling, is hard. then he mentioned painting the wall...

we were gonna smooth it and paint a screen, but then i saw a DIY write up, this guy made a frame from like 1x2's, and then stretched the white "blackout" curtain material over it. i think its the same material the alot of the actual projector screens use.

i think that would work the best, i can build it the biggest to fit, and cover it in this material. in total, itll be maybe 35$ in materials.

my only question is, how do you know you have the right height and length of the screen, to keep it within the 16:9 ratio and not have it thrown off (for instance, if its 44" high, how wide would it be?)

also, i edited the top pic. there is 2 outlets along the bottom, i added them in so you can see the max dimensions for the screen.

i know your're doing 5.1, but to answer your question there's very limited content available in 7.1

this is what i was telling him, most dvd's are only encoded for 5.1 so your channels are just split, seems kind of pointless, when I did some research a while back it just seems like 6.1 and 7.1 is more of a marketing ploy to get you to spend money or just to say oh yea you have 5.1? Then go out and buy a 7.1 system to be better than your buddy

[cobracommander 0]

did a quick search

Don't Get Stampeded By The 7.1 Parade

February 26th, 2006 | by Mark Fleischmann

As a home theater tech critic, I spend much of my time evangelizing for surround sound. I do it unashamedly and with all my heart. I love surround sound and I want everyone else to get as much pleasure from it as I do. But I worry that a lot of people still waiting to dip a toe in the sound-field are turned off by a bunch of seemingly conflicting numbers: 5.1 and 6.1 and 7.1.

I've seen this over and over with people who are just getting into home theater as a hobby. When told they have a choice of 5.1 or 6.1 or 7.1 channels, their eyes glaze over and they mumble something along the lines of: "Um, well, I guess I'll just keep my two speakers and think about it." When speaking with newbies, I've learned to discuss surround as a 5.1-channel medium, which it essentially is, and leave it at that.

Why bug people with a choice that most would rather not make? The expansion of the 5.1-channel standard was born in the moviehouse, where it's easier to cover a large space with surround effects if you add a back channel served by speakers in the back of the house.

In film exhibition, 6.1- and 7.1-channel systems make sense. At home, however, 5.1 channels are quite enough. It's easy to generate a solid soundfield in a small space with three speakers in front and two on the rear of the side walls. To me it's self-evidently nonsensical to have four surround speakers outnumbering the three in front.

Your family's attention is riveted on the screen and that's where a home surround system should deliver most of its firepower. Adding more channels gives your surround receiver more work to do. That's never a good thing. Despite the "100 watts per channel" specs you see in spec sheets, the majority of surround receivers measure at more like 35.

So when an action-movie soundtrack swells up, it drives the receiver into clipping. This might sound like a slight deflating of dynamics. Or the sound may get harsher as it gets louder. In the worst-case scenario, the receiver overheats and shuts down. If you don't like what you hear when you turn up the volume, clipping is what you're hearing.

There are two ways to minimize clipping. One is to dump your receiver for separate components

[pimpedout97x 4]

lol, the dude forgot the center channel? HT 101.

i know

[pimpedout97x 4]

[ABXX49 20]

It sucks that your ceiling has a slope like that.

[pimpedout97x 4]

it wasent supposed to be a HT, its above the garage. but we didnt need 2 attic's, so we made this into a small HT. not something thats gonna be used daily. for what it is, i think itll come out pretty nice. no windows, deadened and insulated to hell

[Robert_J 0]

not something thats gonna be used daily.

We thought the same thing. Only for movies and big sporting events. Now I only turn on the living room TV about once a month. Otherwise we are in the theater room watching our favorite shows in glorious 720p high def on a 103" screen.

The sloped ceiling isn't a bad thing. In fact, it should help on acoustics.

-Robert

[ABXX49 20]

not something thats gonna be used daily.

We thought the same thing. Only for movies and big sporting events. Now I only turn on the living room TV about once a month. Otherwise we are in the theater room watching our favorite shows in glorious 720p high def on a 103" screen.

The sloped ceiling isn't a bad thing. In fact, it should help on acoustics.

-Robert

Yeah, I just figured without a sloped ceiling he would be able to get his screen a little higher off of the ground.

[topgun 262]

Just a construction note...

Next time you build a frame like that, a way to make it even easier is if you attach everything together using a pocket hole jig. They work very nicely for doing things like that.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores...25X-_-100401259

[cobracommander 0]

ought to be fun

[pimpedout97x 4]

that tool would have been helpful, but ill only use it once, thats why i dont own one. lol

[chad.SQ 0]

What? Above your garage? Somehow do you have a doorway leading to there or everytime you have to take a piss you have to climb up and down a foldable ladder...

[ABXX49 20]

What? Above your garage? Somehow do you have a doorway leading to there or everytime you have to take a piss you have to climb up and down a foldable ladder...

Could be connected to the house.

[Robert_J 0]

that tool would have been helpful, but ill only use it once, thats why i dont own one. lol

That is no excuse for a real man not to own a tool. I've bought a set of 150 drill bits for a single 1 that I needed. I've bought tools that I thought I might need in the future. I've never used my strut spring compressor nor my torque wrench but I have them just in case.

What? Above your garage? Somehow do you have a doorway leading to there or everytime you have to take a piss you have to climb up and down a foldable ladder...

At least in this area, the room over the garage is known as the 'bonus room'. Mine is my office so I can work from home. It has a full set of stairs leading to it just like any upstairs room.

-Robert

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Robert, I will have to come by and see all the tools.

[Robert_J 0]

Robert, I will have to come by and see all the tools.

Stop by any time your are in the area. This is my latest tool that should be shipped tonight.

[topgun 262]

Pics of the rifle are needed.

[Robert_J 0]

Pics of the rifle are needed.

I'm surprised that someone quickly figured out what type of tool that was! I used it as an example. It's very limited in its use but absolutely necessary for some of the things I am wanting to do. Proper tools are an investment.

Below is a Rock River Arms model 1291 with a match trigger. I've added a 4x scope, front grip and a green laser with a pressure switch on the front grip. It's only missing a tactical sling mount (one reason I need the tool) and a barrel mounted light. What I don't have pictured is a RRA stripped lower that I picked up Tuesday after work. I'm going to build a 2nd AR that is identical to the one pictured. My sister-in-law had me pick up a lower for her husband and my cousin-in-law will be getting a lower to build his 2nd AR. I'll be sharing the tool among 3 people now.

-Robert

[pimpedout97x 4]

What? Above your garage? Somehow do you have a doorway leading to there or everytime you have to take a piss you have to climb up and down a foldable ladder...

you get to the room from the second story inside lol.

[topgun 262]

Ohhhh, I do like the AR.

That is the only tool I know that looks like that, plus the DPMS is a heck of a give away.