System #177 (Aerius i, Cinema, Depth, Fresco)

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J

JGEN848

Guest
Name: Jim

Location: Buffalo, New York

Speakers: Aerius i
Cinema Center
Depth Sub
Fresco Surrounds
Polk ceiling speakers (rear effect channels)

Other Equipment:
B&K Reference 30 Pre Amp
B&K 2220 Amplifier for the fronts
B&K 7270 Amplifier for everything else
(2) Sony 777es 400 DVD changers
Sony DVP-7000 DVD player
Sony 790 VCR
Monster 3600 Line conditioner
Control4 Media Controller
HD DirecTivo
60" Sony SXRD XBR1 TV
Panasonic 900u Front Projector
Elite 106" Cinetension Screen

I purchased the Aerius' and the Cinema at the Speaker Shop in Amherst, NY and the Depth I got off Ebay (it was too good of a deal to pass up!). I originally had Scripts for the surrounds, also from the Speaker Shop, but I mis-measured the walkway width to the seats and had to buy the narrower Fresco's (at Costco of all places!).

My basement, named the "Shag Lounge" (don't ask), has been a project 14 months in the making. It started out as reason to get all my gear out of the family room and it eventually snowballed to what it is today. I did the entire project, excluding the programming of the Control4 home automation and installing the carpet, by myself. I have never taken on a anything like this before but with the help of friends and family along the way it went pretty smooth.
 

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Welcome fellow Buffalonian!!! Originally from GI but now live in Washington, DC. Where abouts do you live?

Dan
 
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Jim,

Do you have a starry night sky above...looking kind of like it. Just wondering how that worked out and how hard it was to do. Eventually I will build an HT at my house (about 23' X 30' or 40' is the current plan) and it will have four 7' X 7' starry nights above the seats...kind of like looking up through a divided ceiling is the effect I would like to create. Just wondering about those starry nights though, the rest is pretty straight forward.

Welcome to the group, the room looks GREAT!
 
Dan,
I am from Cheektowaga and its a Balmy 5 degrees today!

Jim,
Yes thats a fiber optic star ceiling. Another project that wasn't in the original plan. I have 8 foot ceilings in the basement but unfortunately there was a drainage pipe that ran down the entire length of the ceiling. I would have lost almost a foot of height due to the pipe so I came up with the idea putting a soffit in. Then the "Go big or go home" mentality kicked in and I decided on the star ceiling. I had all the supplies to do it sitting around for months but I kept on putting it off for fear of screwing it up. I finally bit the bullet and with the help of my Brother-in-law we got it done in around 5 hours. It was alot easier than I thought it was going to be.

The star ceiling is 6.5'x 6.5' and is a drop ceiling. I just laid the tiles on the floor and marked on the back of the tiles where I wanted the stars to go (different color markers for different size fiber optics). We divided the fiber optic strands and ran them to each section of the drop ceiling grid (I believe around 30 or so for each tile). I poked holes with a drill bit where I marked the tiles and fished each strand through as my Brother-in-law held the tile. I glued each strand and popped the tile in.
As long as you get a game plan in place before you start its not that bad at all.

Here are some more pictures...........
 

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Jim, welcome ! Go Sabres !!! yes another transplanted "Buffalonian" here as well (West Seneca). Very nice HT set-up you have, looks superb!

BTW, Glad to see the Bills resigned Nate Clemments, certianlly one of the best corners in the league.
 
The star ceiling is 6.5'x 6.5' and is a drop ceiling. I just laid the tiles on the floor and marked on the back of the tiles where I wanted the stars to go (different color markers for different size fiber optics). We divided the fiber optic strands and ran them to each section of the drop ceiling grid (I believe around 30 or so for each tile). I poked holes with a drill bit where I marked the tiles and fished each strand through as my Brother-in-law held the tile. I glued each strand and popped the tile in.
As long as you get a game plan in place before you start its not that bad at all.

Here are some more pictures...........

Looks GREAT! Very well done! Where is your light source and how long did each fibre optic strand have to be? Are the strands expensive? How about the source?

Sorry for all the questions, but I LOVE the effect and am totally intrigued by it!
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. It makes the all the times I smacked my thumb with a hammer worth while!

Jim,
The The fiber optic strands have to be a couple feet longer than the distance of your light box (so you have some room for play). My longest, I believe, is around 9ft. You should get a couple different lengths of strands so as you get closer to the light box you don't have a huge spider web of extra strands up in the ceiling. The light box is in the ceiling near the left hand corner of the soffit. It tucked in between two joists and there is adequate ventilation for the light box (which you need). I got my stuff from Drama Lighting which happened to be local (I googled Fiber Optics Buffalo and they came up). I bought the stuff over the summer and I cant remember how much but I believe it was around $400 for everything. Mike from Drama Lighting said there is a difference in the quality of the light boxes and he gave me a better one. He said the cheaper light boxes crap out after a while. Mike definitely knows his fiber optics. They have done the fiber optics for the Guggenheim, Smithsonian, and Ceasar's.
 
Glad to see the Bills resigned Nate Clemments,


Man, did I have this one WRONG !! I'm bummed we lost him to the 49er's, hope you Bay area folks appreciate one of the best corners in the league !!
 
Great system, love the Aerius and the fiber optic. I wish I would have done it when I built my house.
 
I got my stuff from Drama Lighting which happened to be local (I googled Fiber Optics Buffalo and they came up). I bought the stuff over the summer and I cant remember how much but I believe it was around $400 for everything. Mike from Drama Lighting said there is a difference in the quality of the light boxes and he gave me a better one. He said the cheaper light boxes crap out after a while. Mike definitely knows his fiber optics. They have done the fiber optics for the Guggenheim, Smithsonian, and Ceasar's.

Thanks for all the info, not nearly as expensive as I thought it would be, but I suspect the installation would be pretty high if you had someone else do it...
 
:welcome:

:wow: Beautiful Room
Jim, If your system sounds half as good as your room looks.
You must be one happy man.
 
Wonderful Aerius i HT ~ ML Set-Up...

Jim,

Welcome to the ML Club!:D
What a beautiful listening room you have for HT. Looks to be very comfortable and user friendly as well. I too, like your HT starfield ceiling ~ a very nice touch. :wow: :banana: All around a truly gorgeous HT... :cheers:
 
Jim, fantastic room for listening and viewing the HT... I can just imagine the value/enjoyment of sitting on that plush couch watching a great movie...
 
Jim,

That room is truly impressive!

What are the dimensions of the room?

I'm looking at THs with 600 sq ft basements and want to make it into a HT.

You've really done a heck of a job on that room!
 
The total dimension of the room is approx. 25' x 25'. The theater side is around 14' x 16'. I put a wall in the front of the theater for electrical access and storage as well as to hold the Sony XBR. The Sony was supposed to be the only TV down there but after watching a couple DVD's I wasn't getting the "At the Movies" feeling. I love the Sony and it blows away the Panasonic projector in picture quality. I use the Sony around 75% of the time for everyday use and bring down the big screen the remaining 25% for movie night with the wife and kids.

Here are some pics of the XBR as well as some 3-D models of the basement I did on the computer before building it.
 

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