History
I've wanted to have a dedicated room for watching movies for a long time.
Originally I wanted to have a 53" projection tv built into a cabinet, some
raised seating and some mood lighting. A trip to the Toronto International
Home Show changed all that. They had a room set up with an LCD projector,
a large screen and were playing a DVD (I think it was The 5th Element).
Anyway, the image was pretty damn good and the overall size blew me away.
I had seen the LCD projectors a few years ago but the image was pretty
bad due to the screendoor effect and they cost over $10K Canadian! It looks
like the performance has increased over the last few years and the price
had dropped significantely. A 53" inch tv wasn't going to cut it anymore!
I wanted a front projection system! Our old house was a smallish town home
that we considered a "starter home" so it wasn't worth setting up any kind
of home theater in it. My wife and I both took on jobs that meant lots
of commuting. This also meant we were spending a small fortune each month
on tolls and gas just for the privalege of going to work. We decided to
move closer to her work location and out in the country where we could
get a decent size house and some property. We found a small development
and decided to build the house you see below. It was quite a step up from
our last house! We went from having a 35 foot wide lot, 1500 sq feet
of living space, a single garage and congested streets to a 185 foot wide
2.5 acre lot with a three car garage and about 2500 sq feet of living space-
which didn't include the basement. Of course, I immediately started thinking
of building the home theater I've always wanted!
Once I decided to go front projection I started
to surf the net to research the LCD projectors. It's during that research
that I stumbled on the AVS Forum
and signed up right away. If you have any interest in home theater, automation
or anything to do with audio/video then you will want to visit that site.
I was all set to buy a DLP projector when I ran into a bit of good luck.
I found an old CRT projector sitting in the basement at work that looked
like it was destined for the crusher. It was an Electrohome ECP4000 data
projector that was used in the classrooms. After a bit more research
I found that these projectors could put out a really good picture if set
up properly. After the necessary paperwork I managed to get the projector
home for personal use. I don't think they will ever want it back as the
classrooms are all using the much more convenient DLP projectors now. So
it was settled, I now had a projector and a goal in mind.
From hanging out on the AVS forum I soon realized that "home
theater" meant different things to different people. Some considered home
theater to consist of a direct view tv with a "theater in a box" speaker
arrangement. Others didn't consider it to be "home theater" unless you
had front projection, seperate amplifiers and decoders, theater seating
and wall treatments to control sound. So, you could spend $2000 dollars
or $100,000 or more and it would all be considered "home theater".
Our interpretation would have to fall somewhere inbetween. We knew we wanted
certain elements that would convey a sense of being in a real movie theater-
like the big screen, surround sound and raised seating. At the same time
though, we had to have a realistic budget, something that would not bankrupt
us and still allow us to have money for all the other necessities required
in a new house such as landscaping, additional furniture, drapes, driveway
paving etc
We decided that we would forego the "room within
a room" construction techniques and fabric wall treatments that most upscale
home theaters have to save on construction costs. The room would be built
like any other room except that we would add insulation to the ceiling
and interior walls to help with noise a bit.
Here is what we came up with. We've watched a number
of movies in it now and are very happy with it. I'm going to add a video
capture card to the HTPC (Home Theater PC) to allow us to watch satellite
programs and possibly upgrade to 7.1 surround when it becomes a bit
cheaper. Well, enough rambling. If you have any questions just drop me
a line!
The house in general
The theater in general
construction photos
Some screen shots
