For the Home Theatre buffs among us

[68gtxman]

I used to use the 2nd "army attack on Godzilla" scene of the Matthew Broderick movie as a surround sound demo scene.
No foul language and no blood and guts, but great for hearing deep, wall shaking bass and bullets, guns, missiles, helicopters, etc etc.

I had empathy for the Godzilla in that movie, and felt sad when.....well, I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen that one yet.

I use the scene from Iron Man 2 when he flies into the convention with the dancing girls and the fireworks going off to demo my home theater. Lots of bass and pretty girls dancing. I don’t have 7.1 like you do, but 1,000 watts into a Sony 5.1 really rocks the room. 125” diagonal is just the right size.

 

[biomedtechguy]

I use the scene from Iron Man 2 when he flies into the convention with the dancing girls and the fireworks going off to demo my home theater. Lots of bass and pretty girls dancing. I don’t have 7.1 like you do, but 1,000 watts into a Sony 5.1 really rocks the room. 125” diagonal is just the right size.

Nice...
It's actually 9.1 which is just a derivative of 7.1 the front and rear side surrounds play 2 channels into 4 speakers. The 2 rear back surround speakers are a separate channel from the 2 pair of side surrounds. Now because the front most pair of side surrounds are direct radiating Heresy large bookshelf speakers, and the rear most side surround speakers are bipolar and have a front angle and rear angle speaker array, although they get the same audio information, they sound quite different.
It's hard for me not to go into detail, that was my profession for 2 decades.
I also have a 125" 16:9 screen. From about 7 feet away, it's perfect.

 

[biomedtechguy]

One of my favorite all time surround demo scenes isn't for everybody.
I has the worst curse word, although appropriate for the scene, and it's bloody and frankly gruesome,
BUT
the sound and picture quality on BluRay in my theater really puts a viewer IN the scene.
It's the 2nd scene of Swordfish, at the bank, when the girl gets "rescued" from the group of hostages.
Let it suffice to say that you want to hit the floor, which is shaking, to avoid what seems to be 1,000 ball bearings flying through the room...

 

[Gone]

One of my favorite all time surround demo scenes isn't for everybody.
I has the worst curse word, although appropriate for the scene, and it's bloody and frankly gruesome,
BUT
the sound and picture quality on BluRay in my theater really puts a viewer IN the scene.
It's the 2nd scene of Swordfish, at the bank, when the girl gets "rescued" from the group of hostages.
Let it suffice to say that you want to hit the floor, which is shaking, to avoid what seems to be 1,000 ball bearings flying through the room...

That's screwed up. No comms with the SWAT.

 

[kiwigtx]

I also have a 125" 16:9 screen. From about 7 feet away, it's perfect.

I feel slightly inadequate now with my meager 92" ...but from 8 feet away, my eyes can just manage to operate OK.

 

[Gone]

I feel slightly inadequate now with my meager 92" ...but from 8 feet away, my eyes can just manage to operate OK.

I feel even more inadequate, what with my 47" TV and a simple Bose soundbox. I didn't know that I was in the company of such audiovisual giants.

 

[biomedtechguy]

I feel slightly inadequate now with my meager 92" ...but from 8 feet away, my eyes can just manage to operate OK.

Hey my Klipsch brother!
My wife and I sold our home in Metairie rather quickly, and the family that bought it expressed interest in some of the items in my Theater Room (the one that was published in a magazine) and I was looking to do some upgrades on a couple of things, so I was cool w/that.
The projector and electric drop down screen (92") were 2 of the things I was interested in selling.
One of the retail shops I worked at had the manual pull down 125" screen that a customer never picked up or had installed, and since it was a special order and had been in the warehouse for a couple of years, I got a great price on it.
Eventually I'm going to get a tensioned drop down screen, because that tensioning really makes a big difference, but it will probably be the same size.

 

[Brandy]

One of my favorite all time surround demo scenes isn't for everybody.
I has the worst curse word, although appropriate for the scene, and it's bloody and frankly gruesome,
BUT
the sound and picture quality on BluRay in my theater really puts a viewer IN the scene.
It's the 2nd scene of Swordfish, at the bank, when the girl gets "rescued" from the group of hostages.
Let it suffice to say that you want to hit the floor, which is shaking, to avoid what seems to be 1,000 ball bearings flying through the room...

I absolutely love me some Claymores, where appropriate...few weapons will focus ones attention quicker...

 

[biomedtechguy]

Call it COVID-19 boredom, and I'm really "in to" A/V gear, here's a few pictures I just took.
Cool little strip light below floor level so it has no effect in the theater, but it safely lights the stairs up and down.

The "temporary," bargain 125

My parents had my invitation to the publication party, cover page, and the article on my theater room framed and matted.

Concession area, w/Popcorn Machine, Hot Dog cooker, Nachos warmer, liquid nacho cheese dispenser, Sno-Ball machine, refrigerator and microwave, and lots of cool movie stuff.

Movie Marquis and posters:

Star Trek shadow boxes:

Electronics rack, all of the exact models of equipment that I have worked with or researched over my career, and pretty much better than just about anything new I could buy that doesn't cost as much as my Roadrunner...

I'm going to move this 1080p 3D projector to the theater room in our Gulf Coast house, and get a better one for this room, but this one is still very nice!

Visitors have been warned!!

 

[kiwigtx]

Having been engaged in several discussions about Home Theatre and A/V equipment, I thought it best to start a separate thread here.

I was recently fortunate enough to put together a system for myself, and also to demonstrate to potential clients...and friends who are keen on systems. I have previously been involved at Installer level in the Media Industry...OK, it was in the UK, and it was 25 years ago. But the principal is the same...wires, connectors and projectors and stuff....all the good stuff.

In those days I worked as a sub-contractor for a company called MediaTech, and they specialised in Boardroom/Meeting room systems....mostly in the higher end of the business market. I was able to work in places like the VISA Centre in basingstoke, Royal Bank of Scotland HQ in Glasgow, Glaxo HO in Madrid, London Int. Financial Futures Exchange....some big players in the market. It was mostly rear projection screens with Barco 3-lens projectors...in the day when they cost around 10,000 Pounds (huge money then), and not many players in the market. I worked alongside the company Tech's and often had another temp worker - usually Kiwi's as my helper. Our job was to run the cables, make connections, and assist with the commissioning. All great learning experience...and we had some fun out of town away from home also. I had my first experience 10-pin bowling in Madrid....many strikes, and a score around 160....including a Turkey.

Anyhoo...on with the show. I will drag a post made by my latest advisor ( @biomedtechguy ) over here to help get the ball rolling. Thanks to him, I was happy to proceed and purchase a set of Klipsch ceiling and wall speakers for my system. I only wish I had more money at the time to expand on a couple more items of wishlist hardware.

On with the show....

 

[kiwigtx]

The first 9 x posts have been dragged here from another thread on a totally different subject....apologies if they look slightly out of context here....

 

[kiwigtx]

@biomedtechguy ...you have an awesome system in the magazine shoot....and many thanks for your input into mine.

Here's a little walk around my room so far. Got some tweaks and finishing to go yet...but only small stuff now.

See if you guys can understand my lingo....

 

[dadsbee]

What my Son has done since he was 12, run the local theatres projectors and the drive in as well. When the theatre closed his boss gave him both projectors from the booth and all the "hot dog jumped into the bun" reels along with other full movies. Lucky me.. it's all in the basement.... Pictures are the drive in machines, ones out of the theaters are a bit older and when we weren't home things like picture #3 happened in the yard with the projector rolled over to and shooting out the patio door.

 

[kiwigtx]

Here are some screenshots of the App for my seats.....cup holder and underneath the front are colour and intensity selectable

 

[68gtxman]

Well, I put together a quick little video showing many of the features I built into my home theater. Of course, I experienced unusual problems as I videoed this with the remote switch not turning off the disco lights and the screen getting caught on the door handle.

I added cup holders to each seating position. They are easily used in either upright or reclined positions. The rear speakers are ceiling mounted. The area above the “Live Laugh Love” writing is a shelf lit with both led lights and black lights. The kids (mostly nieces and nephews) like watching the disco lights with the black lights on. I mounted remote controlled up-lighting on the rear wall and you can select which color to make them (or have all colors scroll). I sometimes use the red up-lighting, when guests are here with us, so they can see what’s going on in the room while the show is playing.

My wife calls this my man-cave. I use it every night and sometimes I fall asleep in there for hours. That’s why I added the red LED clock on the wall. It’s usually just me and Lucy (our dog) in this room, but the box of tissues is for my soft hearted and cute wife.

 

[Budnicks]

Not really a Home Theater or a AV buff at all

I feel so inadequate with my 55" Sony hi-def
& the stand up amp/pillar speakers surround sound system
I have now, a few other speakers about the room
& a center/rear woofer
I rarely ever even turn on, we sit about 11' from it
more than I really need, loud as all hell

cool effects occasionally with certain movies
good for (Sony) video games,
sports or Drag racing (we don't have now)

but it's just me & Dad, 99% of the time
more just a TV & entertainment system, than a home theater

 

[GetX'd]

I envy you guys with the home theatres. I would love to have one but my living space just doesn’t allow for it. Like Bud I only have a couple of 55” screens with surround sound speakers that are simply inadequate. I know more about cars than I do about setting up a theatre. You guys have pretty cool set ups. Congrats!

 

[YY1]

I've currently got a projector on loan from work (being the IT guy has some benefits), and a few weeks ago hung a screen I've had for a few years in front of the fireplace. I believe it is 80" give or take. No surround on my 1972 Pioneer receiver but sound is good and the small projector speaker acts as a center channel to help clarify dialog at times.

The first movie I played when I used surround for the first time in the early 90's is what I still use as a demo.

It's a helicopter squadron action film called "Firebirds" and the the sound of choppers flying around the room is incredible.