Building a Home Theater from Scratch: 4K, 7.2.2, Dolby Atmos

[@ThomasGregan]

Hey, I'm a complete nerd over HT and AV so here's some pointers: 1. For your blinds you want "Cheap and easy DIY automated roller shades" by smart home mastery. You need blackout fabric and need to motorize it, then you need to build tracks on the left and right so there's no light leakage. 2. For remote you want the Logitech Harmony HUB with whichever hub remote you like. This is discontinued but will keep getting support for a few more years. It can be integrated with smart devices. There's no other remote like this for DIY folks. Everything else will be expensive or "dumb". Only good ones are savant and Control4 but they have to be set up by dealer and serviced by them ($$$$). 3. Extra tip, if you could black out around the screen and even the inside of the cabinet towards the screen it will help a LOT with the image quality and reflections. You will want triple black velvet plush fabric from syfabrics, its the best in the biz for cheap :) Good luck and looking forward to an update video.

[@LRN2DIY]

Such great advice! Thank you for sharing these tips. I'm definitely going to look into these. On the remote, I went ahead and purchased both a Logitech Harmony Companion remote with hub as well as a SofaBaton after making this video and I've been trying them out. I love the flexibility of the Harmony and especially being able to integrate smart home assistant commands. Such cool stuff. You may see other videos in the near future based on some of the great ideas you've listed so thank you!

[@wthomas253]

Omgosh! So happy to find your channel. I'm helping my sister and her husband in designing and eventually installing their first home theater room in their basement. Budget is of course very important...know when to save and when to splurge. I completely agree with buying used or refurbished products. My initial theater set up cost me less than $800 for the audio and visual and was quite satisfying by using products sourced from eBay and FB marketplace. By the way, the matte around the screen is ESSENTIAL! I couldn't believe what a difference Sherwin Williams Cashmere flat paint in Tricorn Black and some black velvet type material around the sides of the screen made my older Epson seem like it was delivering crisp edges. Took a day to paint and trim the edges of the screen with the fabric. Tricorn black is the perfect true black and the Cashmere paint by SW has self leveling agents that makes a deep tone look 100% saturated with no blotching. Keep up the great vids. We'll be digging into your archives for inspiration! Thanks again.

[@iSleepDoc]

This is how a real life home theater looks like👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 Affordable, great sounding and beautiful!!!!

[@guisousa7139]

00:28 Sir, congratulations. Every Brazilian loves Guaraná antartica!

[@gordoa172]

I love that You Did This! And the most important part is that Your Family loves it 💪! Awesome sauce my man! Enjoy for many years to come!

[@thisoldchitbox4x4]

I work nights, both telemetry and ems, so a dark room is critical for good sleep. I extended a shower curtain rod and tucked it as snug as I could into the window frame, with blackout curtains bigger than the frame, the extra material fills the gaps, and I am able to easily allow light in during the day.

[@tastylumpkin]

I live in Alaska and blacking out bedrooms is a big deal up here with 20+ hours of sunlight in the summer. Last year we upgraded our bedroom blinds to cell shades, that + blackout curtains and our rooms are black in the summer. If you really want to get fancy you can install a magnet strip around your window frame (then paint over it to match your wall) and attach the other side of the magnet to the edge of your blackout curtain so it will "snap" to the wall and stop all light. Also, you can get much thicker blackout curtains than the ones you showed, ours don't allow any light through but you do still need better blinds because the light will glow out of the top/sides.

[@larryallard3141]

In addition to the black border, you need to eliminate the light reflected back onto the screen and into your eyes from the white sides of the shelving units and the ceiling directly adjacent to the screen. I used black fleece drapes and the same fleece glued to the ceiling, extending 8’ from the screen, and it does a terrific job. Use black felt tape for your border; I don’t believe you can find any black paint that will be as non- reflective as black felt or black fleece.

[@LRN2DIY]

Thanks for the info, Larry. Sounds like it's time to start looking at black fleece!

[@BoondockSaintRyan]

Yes. Yes. Yes. There's a reason that movie theatres aren't white, or light in colour. Darker paint colours solve this problem. Doesn't have to be black, but use some common sense when designing and painting.

[@thisischetan]

living my dream.

[@bigsiegee]

I know I've come in pretty late to this conversation. I was talking to a German the other day who was talking about roller-shutters. Basically, a rolling shutter on the outside of the window that winds down from the inside. Completely blocks out the light if done right. Search - 'rolling external window shutters' to get an idea. Some of them pretty slick.

[@flappaflippa]

I love the Guarana!

[@greenbrierjournal]

I would use a privacy film or window tinting to block out the light in addition to your blackout curtains.

[@hstudio30]

Cool little room sir well done🤙🍻

[@MarshallAmpMan]

Way cool... wish you lived near me so you could make recommendations to my tiny little home studio

[@HeoMoi2013]

Did you just hook up direct from Bose cube speakers to the receiver as atmos speakers?

[@arunmegha7393]

Great video! Thank you for posting the links for your equipment too. I had one question: Your receiver is 7.1 right? How did you connect 7.2.2?

[@Carl-iw9sy]

I have that same receiver and it does have two subwoofer outputs but they are not Independent, meaning they can't be used to set the distance and room correction for each subwoofer separately.

[@bhrugutrivedi34]

Harmony hub would work best to control all of your equipment 👍🏻👍🏻👌

[@khurram88]

Unplug the Bose ASAP and check their impedance. Small speakers part of a home theater in a box have very low impedance. Your receiver most likely isn't rated to handle them.

[@Hereth_Edits]

^

[@CorpseCallosum]

Concrete will not only stop sound from going through, but it will also completely black out your windows. Concrete FTW!

[@shashankmallamraju4271]

So u saying if I have a concrete wall, sound doesn’t leak out?

[@originlgazza5925]

Looolllll so you didn't go with the nebula projector after all 😎😎

[@LRN2DIY]

Not in the end, no. We kept the Nebula for several months, feeling that it was the best choice but since I still had the Epson, I tried them again once I had blacked out the room completely and felt like, in that situation, the Epson was actually the better performer - specifically for blacks - so we switched back to the Epson. That's what we're using today still. I have had to replace the lamp already (a bit pricey) and that's my biggest gripe on the Epson - the bulbs don't last nearly as long as these LED or Laser projectors but the picture quality really is great on them.

[@Chris-hr2uj]

Wow very well planned out and awesome theater. Looks amazing, good audio equipment

[@MattyDaddy14]

Great video and advice for going the diy route! Thanks. It looks like you figured out the remote situation, now I’m hoping you get more into HT and show us how to go back and require for a full 7.2.4 or more speaker setup! As well as utilizing more than 2 subs (in-wall, wireless, on walk, etc). We haven’t started building yet, but would be cool to see how you go back and “step-up” to the next level HT for diy on the cheap :) maybe give examples of how to retrofit or take advantage of a basement already finished but not wired for HT Lastly, I know this is budget diy HT, but i think you should def make a trip to RBH in Layton to see what it COULD be. 🎉. Maybe make it all diy speakers or flat packs? I dunno. Just like the way you present stuff on your channel without all the extra Bs along with it. 🎉

[@darylcross4336]

Looks good just a question on your insulation was all the white ram setted fibreglass on all the outside walls? Cause putting insulation over ur vapour barrier not really good idea🙂

[@donmorton4597]

Excellent video and excellent motivation.

[@rruizproductions]

Great setup! I use an hdmi switch controlled by IR control to accommodate Firestick and DVD player. Added a Logitech Harmony hub and linked it to Alexa for voice commands through activities menu in app. Recently added an Optoma laser projector which is amazing. Great video to help others.

[@mstringham]

10:10 my favorite drink

[@LRN2DIY]

Mine too, brother!

[@Marcio_RAR]

Brazilian soft drink and Passatempo brazilian biscuit!

[@warrenphilips8441]

A magnetic detachable blackout panel might be the cheapest/easiest blackout option. Personally I am considering going with external shutters, not the traditional American two panel ones that you have to manually close or open from the outside, but the metal rolling ones (some of which have a remote control). I had these on all my windows in Germany and they worked perfectly, 100% of light blocked when they were closed and opens easily. I wish they were more popular here in the states.

[@LRN2DIY]

I love the idea of magnetically sealed panels! I've been looking into that since I saw your comment and a DIY option might be best for me. I taped my blackout fabric to the vinyl frames of the window and it works quite well but magnets would be best I think, and would make a great seal. Thanks for the idea! I agree about the external shutters - that seems like it would be an amazing solution.

[@Patriots2004]

very insightful

[@stytos]

Argent home theater near SLC has a VR headset setup attached to one of their projectors. This makes it so that others can follow along with your VR gaming. A very nice touch. You may look into that for your home theater.

[@LRN2DIY]

Definitely something on my short list. VR has come a long way and is so cool nowadays!

[@marvintrott7450]

Cool great job

[@eloimeyer9378]

For the remote controls, I know a guy on Craigs List who can hotglue all your remotes together for a couple of bucks.

[@LTDrone]

Looks great! If you're looking for some more fun I'm behind Thanksgiving Point and a couple months into my basement build, come on over! ...in the meantime, any tips/advice on soundproofing? Was just the insulation + drywall all you did and was it enough to at least minimize the sound from being super annoying in the rest of the house?

[@LRN2DIY]

Happy to help if I can! And yes, just insulation and drywall. I know you can take it further with double drywall, soundproof insulation and more but what we did works pretty well, especially for our home layout where all of the bedrooms are on the opposite end of the house.

[@LTDrone]

@@LRN2DIY I'm sure you'd at least be able to keep me from electrocuting myself as I try and figure out wiring lights :D

[@AK__Productions]

Did you go back to the Epson projector? In one video you said that you sold it and bought a new projector. I bought the same Epson projector 2 years ago because of your comparison video and it was good but because I wasn't watching it enough and because it was not practical I sold it. I will buy a 77" OLED TV in the next couple of months instead of a projector. I love that you can change the picture size in the projectors but they are not so practical than a TV. My bedroom was a mess when I had a projector in it.

[@mugan88]

I was thinking the same thing

[@LRN2DIY]

Yeah, I did go back to the Epson. I actually recorded an explanation for this video but I'm now realizing I may have forgotten to put that in the video! My bad. Anyway, after several weeks with the Anker Nebula Cosmos Max 4k projector, we just felt that the Epson was the best solution for that particular room, contrary to what we thought originally. We just didn't need/use the smart features or speakers since we had all that from the theater.

[@BoondockSaintRyan]

I think projectors are impractical for most applications. With the dawn of 75"+ sets, and new tech making OLED cheaper (or obsolete), traditional projectors don't make sense. Most people are turning smaller bedrooms into theatres, or making the most of their existing living room. Bigger ULEDs and MiniLEDs are more than sufficient for these applications. And short throw/laser projectors for anyone with larger rooms. I've got a 5.1 soundbar/satellite and a 55" in my living room. Maybe a 65" one day, but not necessary.

[@ken1martin]

Hi did you replace your Epson projector for the nebula cosmos max in the end??

[@LRN2DIY]

I did, but then after several weeks we realized that for that particular room/setup, the Epson probably was still the better choice, mostly because of the brightness and contrast it has. Every room and setup has different needs so you have to do what works best for you.

[@FURognar]

If you paint it a dark color the room gets super dark for a better presentation for your projector.

[@BoondockSaintRyan]

Cheapest and easiest solution, for sure. Too many people painting rooms white and complaining about light and reflection. Hahaha

[@FURognar]

@@BoondockSaintRyan if you want to up your game, put black velvet on the wall surrounding your screen. Absolutely absorbs all light. Maked it look like your movie screen is floating in the void LOL.

[@ATLballer]

question????????????? whats a more expensive hobbies 1. guns 2 home theater 3 cars

[@brianhuber1295]

I am installing golf sim via laptop amd using fire stick off the benq projector. Also like to hook up my Xbox and run everything through my Bose complete home theater system (v35 system). the connections to get it all to work got me twisted. Laptop to hdmi to Bose work great which will run my golf sim software. I can run projector with fire stick but stuck on audio. Would hdmi/ether extender solve that? How do you have Xbox to receiver and projector

[@LRN2DIY]

Think of a receiver as the hub for all media. From what I can tell from a quick search on the Bose V35, this system essentially has a receiver that you can plug up to 3 sources into. You can plug your laptop, XBOX and Firestick all into the Bose receiver and you're good to go. Just select which input you want using the Bose remote so you can switch between XBOX, Golf and Firestick.

[@sudorelabs4901]

Dude i have the ultimate build for a budget build. I have a Denon Avr 3801 & Avr 3802 & avr 3803 - cost £300 Each amp is 7.1 but the 3803 is 7.2. I have each amp doing multi zone all in one room with Bose 301 Speaker x 9 and Two set floor bose speakers which are quads with 3 subs which are JBL Active as well a some sony high end book shelf speakers handling the mid part of the room and two centre speakers from bowers Sounds amazing with no distortion total cost £800

[@LRN2DIY]

Sounds like a great setup at a great price! Nice find!

[@sudorelabs4901]

@@LRN2DIY I really advise doing them same

[@donnaskin]

I've seen a video on some social media platform can't remember which one at the moment where the guy built an easy detachable blackout window panel using magnets. Also look into a velcro type of thin projector screen black border. (Black felt tape border)

[@LRN2DIY]

Great ideas - thanks, Pammy!

[@mycyexpress2862]

I made my own rectangular foam inserts. I purchased 3" seat foam, blackout fabric, and soft black fabric. I cut the seat foam into 3 rectangles that are slightly larger than the window area using an electric knife. Then I cut the blackout fabric in rectangles the same size as the foam rectangles. I wrapped the foam with the soft black fabric, inserted the blackout fabric on one side, and sowed the soft black fabric to enclose the foam and blackout fabric. Now I simply insert the 3 rectangles into my window and the light is 100% blocked. The inserts are slightly larger than the window area, and because they are foam, they squish together to form a perfect light seal. When I want natural light in the room I simply remove the 3 foam inserts. You could leave your curtains if you like, to cover them, but they look fine as they are. They also serve as an acoustic treatment for the room.

[@scottsoward]

Drop the bass... karate kick!

[@gatekeeper501st]

U can simply use external shutter on the windows, they block off all the light in my theater. i'm trying the Sonoff switches and controllers for the lights, so far so good

[@LRN2DIY]

Definitely going to look into that. Thanks!

[@samlocoaa1726]

Nice

[@elical2012]

How high are the back row seats from the floor?

[@LRN2DIY]

In my case, about 11" but that's based on the measurements I took earlier to make sure we could see over the front row. Yours may be different.

[@tornadocapoeira]

I like how u make this cheap

[@24Mangible]

You should get the Logitech harmony remote. Especially since there no longer going to be making them. I love mines. There's nothing like it!!!

[@LRN2DIY]

So last night I ordered the Harmony Companion and the SofaBaton to try both out. The Harmony Elite looks incredible but it’s way expensive. We’ll see how these two go!

[@24Mangible]

@@LRN2DIY you will love the harmony. I have the sofabaton remote also it's good but you have to select each device on the remote to turn on and off instead of 1 activitiy to turn all your devices on and off

[@2Timothy2.15]

Logitech Harmony is being discontinued. Grab one now while they're still available. The Elite is top notch.

[@LRN2DIY]

I noticed that everything said "Renewed" when I searched for them - I wonder if something is taking its place?

[@2Timothy2.15]

@@LRN2DIY Yep, Logitech is no longer making them but will continue supporting them with any bug fixes and additions to their remote database.

[@LRN2DIY]

@@2Timothy2.15 I ordered the Harmony Companion last night. The Elite looks amazing but it’s so pricey!

[@CorpseCallosum]

Hold a piece of insulation over your face and shout then tell me how much sound it stops. It does not stop sound from passing through, it stops it from bouncing around. You need mass to stop sound. Like concrete and layers of sheetrock etc.

[@stevelovesgod]

Soundboard sheetrock is best as far as sheetrock, its dense and equivalent of 8 layers of sheetrock., ⅝xp soundboard drywall... Just a fyi

[@profuse007]

Isn’t the point of using ATMOS single unit is to eliminate the 5.1 or 7.1 multi speakers?

[@LRN2DIY]

There's actually a lot of controversy on this. Most are saying that the reflection speakers, the ones that sit on your floor speakers and then bounce the higher up sounds off your ceiling, are worthless and that a pair of bookshelf speakers mounted in a high location is much better. Mine are certainly not ideal as far as Atmos speakers go but they were free and I'm good with it. It'll be interesting to see where Atmos lands as far as what most home theaters end up using.

[@FURognar]

@@LRN2DIY I am a home theater enthusiast for about a decade now. I currently have a 5.2.2 Atmos setup. Planning to build a 7.4.6 when I buy a home in a year or so. Most home theaters with a dedicated room go with 7.2.4. Most of your big box receivers max out at 11 channels. Those who step it up to separate amplifiers and a pre-amp processor are going with 16 channel processors which is becoming the norm, so we are starting to see 9.1.6 becoming more common. Still the vast majority of theater builds are 7.1.4 with 5.1.4 right behind that.

[@FURognar]

And no, the point of Atmos is not to eliminate the surround speakers. Its to ADD speakers to the ceiling which work with the surround speakers to create a more immersive experience. The intended effect is that your system should be able to anchor sounds in 3 dimensional space. When your system is set up correctly, this can happen. There have been a few occasions where they created an effect where it felt like an object wizzed right past my ear. It didnt sound like it came from the speakers....it sounded like a physical object almost hit me. Both times I got that effect, it was from a DTSX soundtrack.

[@BoondockSaintRyan]

No. When done properly, Atmos speakers are purely height channels, while the surrounds are to be located at ear level. I think that you're referring to is what many people are doing to either cut cost, or because they haven't done their homework. Height is height. Surround is surround. Front is front. Etc.

[@kovrcek]

@@FURognar weird is that even with my 5.1 I get this "wizz by my ear" effect a lot of times (Matrix, Alien 2). I think good receiver with good speakers (with great mastered movie of course) don't really need more channels than this. I would even say that today's movies are worse mastered than in for example 2000's (Terminator, Jurrasic park, Matrix etc.). And if you place your speakers higher, you get this "above the head flyby" effect even without ceiling speakers (Pearl Harbor good example). Another example is in "Thin red line" where guns fire to the ground, I can clearly hear the height of bullet impact is on my front floor but my front speakers are 2m high - how can you explain this? I tell you - good sound mastering. I don't doubt for a second that greatly mastered atmos movie sounds better, but I'm really dissapointed with some new movies in terms of sound.

[@faustooliveira3443]

How about the Guaraná

[@LRN2DIY]

É a melhor bebida no mundo, cara! Morei no Brasil há uns 20 anos e ainda bebo sempre que posso.

[@silkwavestudiovideo4424]

Super boulot , bel espace , mais couleur et organisation inadapté ... dommage , il y avait un super potentiel

[@jokeracdc]

And not a single speaker is at ear level?

[@BoondockSaintRyan]

Thank you!!!!! Another viewer just asked if "the Atmos should replace some of the 5.1 or 7.1"? We need more basic videos explaining what the numbers in a 5.1 or 7.2.2 mean. Too many goofballs spending lots of money to build crappy setups. You can save money AND build a proper theatre.

[@AnonYmous-kg4ht]

i'd switch to tinfoil on the windows

[@joep3625]

As an electrician I can say those wires and pipe you ran are absolutely atrocious

[@LRN2DIY]

Thanks for the feedback, Joe. This channel is all about learning to DIY, so maybe help us learn. Can you give us some pointers on what to do better? As long as I can follow along with what you say, I'll incorporate those improvements into future videos.

[@leecaldwell1029]

hard to take anyone serious when they don't want to pay for custom blackout curtains.. but is sitting in 10K worth of theater chairs.. Call a blind company and those are your options.

[@fishaman1980]

Valencia is disgusting. They have sent so many seats to youtubers while everyone else is stuck paying their overpriced prices. I know I’ve seen at least 10 different youtubers getting these free seats.

[@BoondockSaintRyan]

Personally, I don't care for the Tuscanies. You're right. Every KZbinr uses them and talks about how good they look. I'd prefer cleaner looks and comfort. Lots of other options out there.

[@nonametofame]

I do feel it's rather disingenuous to boast about the budget surround sound setup and fail to mention the seating is about 9 times the cost of the gear.

[@pstone7657]

Maybe when you could start your own channel and have over 357k subscribers Valencia will comp you chairs too. I paid 3k for 3 Tuscanies a few months ago and don’t regret a penny of my cost. They are the BMW of motorized recliners 👍🏻

[@andysummersthxcinemaandmyc7748]

load of rubbish home theatre mismatched LCR

[@khurram88]

You can make a constructive suggestion instead of hate.

[@BoondockSaintRyan]

Hahaha. While you're not entirely wrong, that was harsh. I wouldn't dream of making a "how-to" video without doing my homework. When designing a home theatre, why not look at traditional movie theatres and think about how they execute things properly!? Am I right?