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My wife and I began our home theater construction in January 2000. We decided that given our passion for movies along with my love of audio / video and computers, this new addition to the house (located in the basement) would help us to really enjoy movies without normal living room distractions. For three to four months prior to starting the home theater project, I spent a lot of time researching equipment and other theaters to figure out if front projection was affordable and how we could make it look as professional as possible. Now, over two years later, we can't imagine home theater any other way.
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We first looked at the basement floor plan to try and figure out how we could fit in a nice size theater comfortably without taking away the usable space in the basement. With the stairs heading down toward the center-front of the house we decided on the right-front half of the basement for the theater. This side of the basement was much better suited for the theater and allowed for the room size we desired along with much better acoustics.
Also shown are the front Polk RT2000i speakers and the Polk CS1000p center channel. |
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The location of the stairway created an extra challenge for wiring, drywall etc., though it allowed us to have an extra area offset from the main theater room where all the stereo equipment could be housed. I use this area as my office when the theater isn't in use, as the computer which runs the theater is also my everyday PC (though made specifically for HTPC use). The final layout of the room is shown on the Theater Layout Page. This makes it a little bit easier to see what we are talking about in most of the photos. Since the most common question I'm asked, is "What are the dimensions of your theater," the final room dimensions are 12.5 foot wide, 18.5 foot deep with the rear half 15.5 wide.
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Jake, my buddy the fat bulldog, is shown to the left. When creating this web site to highlight the theater and it's construction, Jake was obviously an inspiration. |
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The closeup shot to the right shows my work area in the corner of the theater. I use this area often, as it is also what I use as my office. The computer running the theater does double duty - though it is kept clean (data-wise), and up-to-date (driver / maintenance-wise) as the theater operation takes priority. One of the coolest features of the HTPC run theater, is that it is driven entirely from a Pronto remote control. All room operations, including lights, DVD, HDTV, music from CD etc. are all run and controlled via remote control. The how-to portion is explained in the Links and Drivers section of this web site. |
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