Hello,

I live in a new Home in Leamington, ON. (1/2 hour from Windsor). I built the house completed in April 2006.

I've always dreamed of having a home theater in my basement but didnt quite have the knowledge before.

After months of studying and purchasing, I've aquired the following goodies:
(Prices are approximate and include tax)

Speakers:
Paradigm Studio 40s CherryWood V 3.0
Paradigm Studio 20s CherryWood V 3.0
Paradigm Studio CC370s Center
Paradigm PS1200 Sub
Premiere J Series Silver Speaker Stands
$4900

Receiver: Pioneer Elite VSX84si
DVD Player: Pioneer Elite DVD46a
$2300

Gaming
XBox 360 Premium $550
PlayStation 3 $900

HD DVD / Blue Ray
Toshiba HDA2 - $682
PS3 - inc above

Display
Panasonic AX100u - $2200
Sanus Ceiling Mount - $228
DIY Theater Screen Paint - $248

Misc.
Monster Power Bar - $228
Calbes 90% AudioQUest (Speaker, HDMI + Component 35', various) - $700

The approx total of the electronics is $12,936

Well that's pretty much it for the gear, the only thing remaining is a 2 channel 2x200W bryston AMP to drive the fronts. I'll pick one up after xmas

The real gem of it is the bar / entertainment room im finishing to house it. I'll post before and inprogress pics when I get home tonight.

Heres a few before pics of the room in the basement

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Before/Kevins%20rec%20room%20011.jpg

Heres another

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Before/Kevins%20rec%20room%20012.jpg

And another:

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Before/Kevins%20rec%20room%20013.jpg

The Bar will be going in the back while the screen will be going in the front of the room (Where the 65"HP television is currently sitting)

Nice job, congrats on a great setup. Let us know how that screen paint works out.

I actually painted the screen already. It looks amazing. I highly recommend the business. I called in and the owner was great.

They say theres enough paint (inc. primer) for 2 coats for 150" screen.

I have 3 coats on a 106" screen and I have 1/4 of the paint left over. I'll use it for touchups and what not.

Heres a few pics from the 1st day of work.

We have 5 days of work so far and I'm just about done!!

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Day%201/Kevins%20rec%20room%20016.jpg

Thats the stand construction. It's 150" wide by 3'

Heres the next step.

I used 3" MDF to frame the screen and painted the wall and screen black:

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Day%202/Picture%20016.jpg

I also decided that I'll use a 6" Oak Chair Mld. to break the room into 2. The top is going deep red (my fav colour!) and the bottom an earth brown (almost black)


http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Day%202/Picture%20015.jpg

On the third day, I removed all the baseboards and finished the oak moulding.

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/DAY%203/Picture%20008.jpg

I also began framing the bar in the back of the room and finally removed the 65" beast of a tele.

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/DAY%203/Picture%20011.jpg

An updated pic of the screen with the moulding:

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/DAY%203/Picture%20009.jpg

On the fourth day, we made the frame for the mirrors behind the wall.

I also had a slight problem running the component and HDMI cable to the projector.

I drywalled my walls and ceiling during initial construction. The speaker calbes were no problem. Just ran them under the baseboards.

My solution was to cut 5x5 holes in the drywall and run the cables using an electrician fish tape. I covered the holes with stainless fresh air return covers from Home Depot. They actually look quite good and look as though they were ment to be there!

Heres a pic of the bar on the fourth day.

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Day%204/IMG_1024a1.JPG

Thats about all for pics during construction.

Currently the walls are painted, the bar is just about done (waiting on the granite top), the wires are run and the projector is up.

I'll post more pics when I get home tonight.

I am very interested to see how the shelving and what not turns out....

By the way the room is approx 13 ' x 45 '

Looks awesome dude! Great work, bet you can't wait to get it up and running. Looking forward to seeing the finnished job.
I will post pics of my HT after New years(new cam coming) cause I have to work all through xmas and new years...sob,sob...LOL

Dedicated HT, 20'x15'.5"

Sanyo PLV-Z5 PJ / 96" diag. screen

Oppo 971H DVD Player

Yamaha Rx-V2500

Klipsch RF83 Floorstanders (fire breathing monsters) LOL.[li]

Klipsch RC62 Center.

Mirage OM260 floorstander surrounds

Polk R10 rear surrounds

Paradigm PW2200 Sub Mirage 10" Sub

KGeorge, one other thought , looking at your equipment list, have you looked at the Anthem Statement P2 for your fronts, they are quite something, check out the power and specs on these babies. Not that you can go wrong with Bryston. I would love either one. I am getting the Anthem MCA 50 5 channel amp in the New Year.
Good luck and enjoy your new theatre!


http://www.anthemav.com/

I actually would love a complete anthem statement system but it's a bit out of my budget. I spent over $6000 on my bar and labour / paint (I figured it would increase my house value more the a great a/v pre / pro) :)

I put my gear and my stand and installed the speakers and players today. Im going to post some pics of the progress tomorrow. I still have quite a bit to do but it's taking shape.

hey.....looks great. 1 question though............do you have tall windows or something? Looks like your ceiling is lower then your window. i'd like to see what you did inside the window part. Thanks!

Yes they are taller then standard basement windows. They are also completely above ground (no window well outside)

I wanted as much light as possible downstairs during the day as I love fresh air and sunlight in the spring and fall.

Wont do much this weekend downstairs as it's time for family and friends!

update - xmas and all that crap is over thank goodness - back to work!

I put the gear in the stand this weekend and measured it out to get my tinted showcase glass installed. It will work almost exactly like a sanus lowbow stand - basically the same but double the size.

I also ran the auto speaker setup on the pioneer elite receiver - works great actually but I find that it never gets the bass right.

Oh well; more pics tomorrow - The granite should be here for the bar by the end of the week.

Well after a few more days work, I'm just about done.

Heres a pic of the bar:

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Almost%20Done/Picture%20001.jpg

The projec. hanging from the wall (Sanus Ceiling mount); I used a standard plug cover to make the HDMI and component cable look somewhat neat.

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Almost%20Done/Picture%20004.jpg

Heres a sample for the granite for the bar:

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Almost%20Done/Picture%20009.jpg

It's called tan brown.


Heres a pic of the semi completed stand:

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Almost%20Done/Picture%20010.jpg

A few more pics of the gear:

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Almost%20Done/Picture%20013.jpg

and a few more:


http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Almost%20Done/Picture%20014.jpg

http://www.leamingtoncollision.com/pics/Almost%20Done/Picture%20015.jpg

Whats left to do:

1. Change the Carpet - I ordered a really old fashion looking red carpet (with gold and blue accents)

2. Install Granite counter top on bar.

3. Install popcorn machine (Great xmas gift!)

4. Finish the stand:
a. Install the speaker mesh to cover the 2 subwoofer holes.
b. Flat Black (almost grey) Tile on the top of the stand.
c. Waiting on Tinted Glass Showcase to cover the gear (using 2 rollers and 2 tracks with silver handles)

5. Wire management!!!!!!!!!!

6. Home Theater Seating! (Have no idea yet but one step at a time; I'll sit on my beanbag until then)

7. Hang my sports (mostly detroit tigers) framings on shorter wall between the 2 openings.

8. Install velvet red curtians over the screen and 2 wall openings.

9. Install brown (same colour as bottom of wall) blinds to the 3 windows.

Possibilites:
Change the studio 20s in the rear to ADP 470's (Wall mounted)
Change the studio 40s up front to paradigm millenium's (sp)
or Sell the entire speaker package and receiver / dvd player and hold off until I can afford the speakers I really want! (Studio 100s) and use a sound bar for now.

Thats it; I'll update in a few days when the top is on.

Really nice work so far. Thanks for sharing the process with us. My wife and I just bought our first home and it has a completely unfinished basement. Your thread has provided me some great ideas.