DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

A rather HUGE home theater et al

29K views 66 replies 22 participants last post by  Fix'n it 
#1 ·
My first post here, so I'll jump right into it!

I'm outfitting an 1100sf building to act as a home theater/game room/bar/gym (what a combination!). I've been at work on it for over 2 years and have dumped over $30K into it - and I still have a ways to go!

Some links:

The Gym

The Partybarn

All my projects

It's been starting to get cold here this week, so I plan on revamping the PB site since I'll have time now (instead of throwing 200+ pics on one page!) AND time to interact a little more on the web!

Some pic highlights:


the one on the left is the Partybarn




















the gym


I got tired just posting this, sheesh - I must be getting burned out on it - heh heh. :no:
 
See less See more
9
#6 ·
Wow - thanks everyone! Over the holidays we've done a lot of cleaning. I plan on having carpet installed in about 3 weeks - I can't wait to get some pics of THAT. A lot of people don't like the idea of carpeting it all - but I need to do >something< to improve the accoustics. Eventually I'd like to put fabric drapes on the walls, but have too many other things to blow money on - so the carpet will help a lot. After the carpet, we'll probably have our first little get-together with some friends to break in the bar. By mid-year all the big stuff should be done (after carpet comes the sound system, then the big screen, then the video projector, then the computer system - over $10k of stuff - yikes!). I'll be glad when this thing is finally all usable...
 
#8 ·
Are you sure that one big open area for theater, bar, billiards, reading, weight lifting, computer/internet, etc. will work out? If you cannot make the theater area nearly pitch dark, you will spoil the picture quality from any front projector.

Video hints: http://www.cockam.com/theater.htm
 
#9 ·
Hmm, well, the gym is in a separate room. -no problem there. Computer/internet will be up in the loft area - if I want, I'll use the big screen - if not a regular little 19" on the control desk will do fine. Ambient light from a little 19" monitor located 40 feet from the screen should not be a problem. The lighting on the bar is dimmable if need be. The neon that will be above the bar is all on a switch - if it's too bright - I'll flip the switch. All the main lighting are dimmable spots - each spot has it's own dimmer - and all on a main switch where it can all be shut completely off if needed. The walls are paint flat black - doesn't get much darker then flat black. The carpet (going in soon) will be a dark gray. I really don't see how I could possibly make the room darker. I'd also point out that when in "party" mode, the big screen won't serve much of a purpose - so if it's a little washed out - no biggy. In "theater" mode all the lighting will be turned down. I don't see any issues. I guess I'll be finding out first hand before long...
 
#10 ·
I see I originally posted this in NOV of last year. I've made some progress since then. This week I'll be getting in most of the sound system (Denon 7.1 receiver, Infinity speakers, Mackie sub) and I'll be working on carpet this week or next. I think by the end of next week I'll have made some noteworthy progress. I'll keep this thread posted...

...oh, and if no one has checked recently - I revamped the website: http://polarsoft.net/partybarn/
 
#12 ·
I just updated the Audio/Visual section of my site with info on the sound system. Anyway, the sub I ordered (a Mackie 1801) really comes highly recommended by the reviews and I ordered mine through Amazon for $699 + free shipping. I see on EBay you can submit "make an offer" and perhaps get a better deal, but considering freight charges are about $110, I don't see getting much of a better buy. Anyway, this sub is a monster! It's about a 30" cube on wheels that goes down to 35hz and can produce 135dbs! It has an 18" speaker and a built in 800W amp (1000W peak) Wow! I can't wait to hear the 1812 overture on this thing - heh heh.
 
#20 ·
So Matt, what do you do in your spare time?:whistling2:


It's great to see somebody follow through with their ideas/dreams. The lifting cabinet is a neat idea.


So, how far from the barn to the house? I see you were running cat5 for your computers. Limit is about 300 feet with that. Seeing you seem to have unlimited financial resources, if you have any problems with the cat 5, you should really consider fiber. All your problems gone in a flash!
 
#22 ·
So Matt, what do you do in your spare time?:whistling2:


It's great to see somebody follow through with their ideas/dreams. The lifting cabinet is a neat idea.


So, how far from the barn to the house? I see you were running cat5 for your computers. Limit is about 300 feet with that. Seeing you seem to have unlimited financial resources, if you have any problems with the cat 5, you should really consider fiber. All your problems gone in a flash!
Yeah, not really unlimited. We pull about 100K a year. We have very little debt and like to spend $$ on things we can use (rather then things like eating out, cruise vacations, things with no return). So, not unlimited - just frugal in a twisted sort of way - heh heh.

The Cat5E is 200 feet long. I agree, something higher capacity would be nice eventually. In theory I might be able to pull more cable through the buried conduit - but I'd probably have to dig it all up to run fiber. If I ever run into an unacceptable bottle neck - I'll run the fiber. I wouldn't be surprised though if a wireless method might not be available before long that would work as well...
 
#23 ·
actually we already have what you need.

802.11n wi-fi. range 300 feet at 70 Mbps

Don't know if you have anybody close or can get close but if you do this, be sure to use security measures and encryption.

Personally, I am just not a big wireless guy. Too many systems claim to be the end all to everything but in the real world, they fall short of the promises. Hardwire is hard to beat.

70Mb should handle most anything a household user would need. It is way faster than any internet connection and in reality, most LAN's don't need to be superfast anyway. It's a great selling point but in reality, most folks don't have the need for speed, or at least as much as they think they do.

and in reality, the wi-fi is much cheaper to install.
 
#24 ·
actually we already have what you need.

802.11n wi-fi. range 300 feet at 70 Mbps

Don't know if you have anybody close or can get close but if you do this, be sure to use security measures and encryption.

Personally, I am just not a big wireless guy. Too many systems claim to be the end all to everything but in the real world, they fall short of the promises. Hardwire is hard to beat.

70Mb should handle most anything a household user would need. It is way faster than any internet connection and in reality, most LAN's don't need to be superfast anyway. It's a great selling point but in reality, most folks don't have the need for speed, or at least as much as they think they do.

and in reality, the wi-fi is much cheaper to install.
Well, the cat5e should be plenty fine for now. I'm just thinking like 5 years down the road there will be better wireless solutions that I can choose from.

Not to get OT too much, but where in MI are you? I grew up in Clio and I have a brother that still lives there...
 
#30 ·
Carpet's in!

The carpet went in, in sections. The main floor, the ramp, the loft and the catwalk. Basically all the horizontal surfaces. It's really nice! :thumbsup:
Some pics:








this last shot is from the end of the catwalk looking back at the loft...

The acoustics improved somewhat with the carpet in - but still needs work. I'm off next week - so I'll be working on the sound system (the rest of which should arrive by then - I hope!).
 
#32 ·
The sound equipment is mostly in. Here's the sub:


The receiver (Denon AVR 1909):


The speakers (Infinity's):

I picked up a small flatscreen mount for mounting the center channel. The other speakers already have mounts built in. It'll be a snap to set the speakers in place. running all the wire will be the biggest pain though (actually running all the conduit! - ack)


The control desk is starting to come together:

You can see my custom rack rolled nicely up to the desk on the right.
The AV link from the Partybarn site: http://polarsoft.net/partybarn/av.htm

I'm off this coming week - can't wait to hook it all up!
 
#33 ·
In the past couple days I've run 160'+ of conduit and miles of monster cable. A couple hours ago I connected all the speakers and built a custom harness for the sub and connected it also. Next I ran the Auto Configure to set it all up (took 30 minutes or so I guess). That Auto Configure was pretty nifty. This receiver came with a little mic that I had to set up on a tripod and move around the room to set 6 different positions - is this a normal feature these days? My last receiver was 'stereo'. It could be set up for 4 channels, but it was still stereo - my how times have changed. Anyway, it really sounds great! The sub woofer is actually a tad on the overkill side. It looks like I'll be keeping it below 50% for most of its life! At "normal" volume, I could hear the bass in the house (about 150' away). Would dampening things inside with fabric/carpet on the walls, etc. cut this down? I guess it's no biggy during the day, but I'll have to tone things down a bit at night. My neighbors house is quite a ways away, but I bet if I turned things up even a little, the bass would carry 1000' or more... With that said, I'd rather have an overkill sub then an underpowered one - so I'm not complaining! Especially for the bargain-basement price ($699 shipped!). All in all, I'm pretty happy with sound aspects of this arrangement. Tomorrow I'll be cleaning up (I made a complete mess), and take/post more pics!
 
#36 ·
Nice job, what a nice little escape from the house. Does the sound echo much in that big of a room?
Before the carpet - the echoing was bad. Now, after carpet, it's tolerable - but still needs work. After we start to get more "stuff" in there, I think it will settle down a little more. I also plan on placing some carpet pieces on the walls / in corners, etc...
 
#37 ·
Here are some current pictures that I posted today to the site: http://polarsoft.net/partybarn/current.htm

The latest is the new chairs and tables. They are solid maple and stained to match the bar. Oak would have been nice, but these sets were very inexpensive and will fit the ticket perfectly. We plan on getting one more set in to allow for our 12 max occupancy. It will be summer before I can get a screen in from the way things are looking...





 
#39 ·
Tuscola is on Abilene's south border.

The tables and chairs came from a little furniture store next to the local Big Lots (it's so unmemorable - I can't remember the name!). Anyway, There was a LOT of assembly involved. Each set probably took over an hour. I was VERY impressed by the fitment and quality of everything. Not bad for something made in Malaysia (wherever THAT is!). They are "counter height" - a little shorter then the bar but taller then normal. They were $289 a set (table+ 4 chairs). They are made of Maple - not a hard wood, but harder then, say, Pine (or Balsa - lol!). What's weird about Maple is it's pretty heavy also. I'd guess as heavy as Oak, just not as hard if that makes any sense...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top