Until now, the rear speakers had been sitting on the floor. Now that they’ve been mounted near the ceiling, the sound is improved tremendously. The wires are still just hanging from the wall and running along the ground. I bought a “snake” for fishing wires through tough-to-reach places, but I haven’t used it yet.
The drapery over the door has been replaced with something to match the planned future decor.
We bought a set of Palliser black leather recliners. I had tried these out at a large furniture store several weeks ago and had been impressed with how comfortable they were and how well-made they appeared to be. We came across them again at a Billiards and Barstools store. This “Melrose” series might not have been my first choice, but they happened to be on sale at an irresistible price so we took the plunge and ordered them.
When they arrived a few days later, the delivery guys were so impressed with the theater room that they wanted a demo. Being young guys, they were most impressed with “MX Unleashed” running at 1080i on the Xbox.
Previously, the projector was sitting on a cardboard box at just the right height to line up with the bottom of the screen. With these seats in the room, I had to raise the projector up onto a shelf. The height is not correct now, so I have to use the projector’s “keystone correction” to get the picture aligned correctly, otherwise it has a trapezoidal shape (wider at the bottom). This situation is temporary until I can mount the projector on the ceiling. Then it will be upside-down and again aligned properly with the screen and keystone correction can be turned off. I’d like to do this soon, because digital keystone correction degrades the picture. I can’t tell so much for movies or TV, but on the computer screen, it is evident that the fonts aren’t as sharp as they should be.
Phase 1 of the screen was building the wooden frame and stretching the blackout cloth over it. I used 1×3 lumber to keep the frame light. I got the “premium” lumber at Home Depot, but even still I had to pick and choose to get boards that weren’t warped or bowed. I used a miter box to cut the 45 degree angles, then screwed the pieces together with brass wood screws and angle braces. I bought an electric staple gun for stapling the screen material to the frame. Since the cloth was 54″ wide and frame itself was 54″ tall, a bit of stretching was required. An extra set of hands was definitely needed here (Thanks, Michelle!).
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Screen frame under construction. 1×3 lumber was used for the frame. |
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Close up of screen frame corner braces. These were fastened on with brass wood screws. |
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Completed screen frame, ready for the cloth to be stretched and stapled on. Sorry there are no photos of the stapling job in progress. We were concentrating too hard to remember to take photos. |
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Projector’s eye view of the mounted screen. Speakers weren’t spaced properly because I didn’t have long enough speaker wire yet. The wire-frame equipment rack is very temporary. The extra white cloth you see is to black out the window behind the screen. |
For the first time in my Texas life, I was able to shoot off fireworks instead of only watching them. Andrew and I bought a modest bundle (spending around $130) and along with a couple of pals who were over, the whole family had fun setting them off. No photos of the action, but here’s one of our supply before we got started.
 Fireworks in Ellis County. For the first time in my Texas life, I was able to shoot off fireworks instead of only watching them. Andrew and I bought a modest bundle (spending around $130) and along with a couple of pals who were over, the whole family had fun setting them off. No photos of the action, but here’s one of our supply before we got started. |
Dying to try out the new projector, I quickly threw together this makeshift screen: blackout cloth thumb-tacked to a 10-foot 1×6 which was balanced on top of an upturned bed frame. Components (A/V receiver, satellite receiver, etc.) are just scattered on the floor. Boy was I was impatient! The projector picture had ripples because of the loose screen material, but it was still the best picture I had ever seen. Gotta build my real screen soon.
We are really digging the new house. So much work to do still, though. For a while, I was almost dead (I added yet another “Person most likely to be mistaken for a corpse” award to my huge collection.) Thank God we had tons of help, or we would have never gotten done. Since Monday, everyone who has come to the new house has stopped at the old house to pick up a load. We had countless Rodeo, CRV, Caravan, Highlander, Tacoma, and Ram loads brought down. By Tuesday night, we had moved an impressive amount of boxes and such. At one point I started thinking that we wouldn’t need a very large U-Haul to get the remainder. Boy was I wrong! On Wednesday, I picked up the 26-foot “Super Mover” at 8am. The worst part about moving during the week is that lots of the crew wasn’t available to help until the evening. So Michelle and I start loading up the U-Haul by ourselves, and as I predicted, we started thinking $1500 for movers sounded better and better. Luckily, my firefighter pal Joe (Amanda’s husband) was able to start helping in the early afternoon and we had that “Super Mover” packed to the top, from the front to the back. (Photos later, after I can find my CF card reader in whatever box it’s in.) Joe had a prior engagement, so he couldn’t help me unload once I drove that behemoth down here (The truck was so big I couldn’t get it into my new driveway — I had to drive it on the so-called lawn). Surprisingly, one of Michelle’s cousins whom I barely know was waiting to help me unload. We had gotten it about half unloaded when a huge caravan of packed vehicles and workers showed up. The remainder of the unloading went quickly, but chaotically. Due to haphazard stacking, the garage was full way earlier than it should have been. We had to stop unloading at one point and rearrange the garage so we get everything else to fit. The next morning, we went to the old house with the plan of picking up what I expected to be the “few” remaining items. I thought with how much stuff the 5 additional vehicles had brought down Wednesday night, surely the house and garage must nearly be empty. I was nearly floored when I saw how much remained. I quickly determined that we needed another U-Haul. This time we got a 17-foot “Easy Loading Mover” (much easier to drive with its automatic transmission) and started filling it up. Joe showed up again and we packed that whole truck full and again, Joe had to leave. (He’s worked harder than most anyone and has yet to see the new house). Joey came down and he and I unloaded the 17-footer (after more garage rearranging) and finally I was able to sit down and have a beer. We’ve been sleeping on beds without frames and my computer desk right now is a file cabinet. We’ve got tons of work still to do, but at least the time pressure is off, and we can unpack and settle in at our leisure. On a fun note, the proper home theater is really gonna happen. I have ordered the Sony VPL-HS20 Front Projector and it should be arriving early next week. Then I will get to determine the best placement for it, build the screen, and finally pick out some cool seating. We’re thinking something like the red seats near the middle of this page: http://www.palliser.com/?action=view_catalog&Join_ID=335234&template=living_home_theatre_group.htm7
I order the Sony VPL-HS20 Projector from bhphotovideo.com. They had one of the best prices on the Web, and I knew them to be reputable. Because I had just moved, my shipping address didn’t match the address on my credit card. To make sure I was really the one using the card, and that I wanted the projector shipped to the right place, they insisted on speaking to me on the phone. This caused a couple of days delay before shipping.
One way Michelle convinced me to move out to the sticks was by promising that I would finally have a dedicated theater room. The house we bought has a 19×17 foot room upstairs that should work out just fine. Even though the ceiling is partially slanted, we’ll be able to make this work.
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