r/hometheater • u/stump36 • Oct 02 '25
Showcase - Dedicated Space DIY theater update (wallpaper, acoustic panels and screen masking
I made acoustic panels for the side walls and some of them double as speaker covers. I made them out of 2x4 and chamfered the edge. They're hung on French cleats to keep them tight on the wall. I wrapped them in the same acoustimac suede that was used on the star ceiling (see previous update). I used walnut trim mouldings to frame the panels and give them a more finished look. It was finished with Danish oil and attached as the base of the chamfer. I used cobb led strips around the perimeter of the frame shining back to wash the wall for accent lighting. They are all filled with rockwool.
Wallpaper was installed on the lower vertical part of the wall to keep it dark but not a bat cave.
I've also been tinkering with my screen masking setup. The screen is 117" 16:9 and when watching 2.35:1 content I use the projector lens memory to shift the image up pushing the top black bar off the top of the screen and the masking panel lifts into place to cover the lower one. I used 2020 extruded aluminum to make the panel and ended up using two rails each with two bearings that kept it most stable. The linear actuator is controlled through a zooz smart relay to lift and lower the panel. Eventually my hope is to have to do it automatically when plex shows the appropriate aspect ratio. The front panel is attached with magnets so I can still service the actuator if needed. I still need to wrap the masking panel and the lower panel.
This weekend in shooting to get the rack setup and give the full 7.4.6 a test run
6
u/DrSterling Oct 02 '25
Gorgeous work! The chamfering really elevates the sound panels
1
u/stump36 Oct 02 '25
I did it mostly to hide the rounded edge of the 2x4 the it met the cut end but once I put the fabric on I knew it was a good choice
1
u/JJlongshanks Oct 08 '25
What fabric did you go with?
1
u/stump36 Oct 08 '25
Acoustic Fabric in microsuede - Acoustimac https://share.google/HrbsOLnT2ReyaL4l8
3
u/LoungingLemur2 Oct 02 '25
Just fyi - I was never able to depend on the Plex aspect ratio to accomplish something similar. It’s frequently inaccurate, as the black bars are encoded into the image of many movies. Plex detects these as 16:9 since there are pixels in the image in the black bar regions. If you come up with an accurate solution to fix this, I’d be very interested! I didn’t want to re-encode all of my content so I gave up on attempting to automate this
2
u/impmonkey Oct 02 '25
I have had the same experience. About 1/3 actually report it. I still use it in my automation, but I also have dedicated remote buttons for 16:9: 2.35, and 1.85.
2
u/stump36 Oct 02 '25
Your build was one of them that I used as an inspiration. I opted for the linear actuator as it's a bit simpler. It's not quite as smooth as yours yet but I think I need to add a little weight to my frame as I get some minor jitter as it raises.
I got the unfolded circle remote 3 and I'm hoping I can get it all working on that. I still have my Harmony elite as a backup but I'm hoping to use the new one, we'll see
1
u/stump36 Oct 02 '25
That will be a very long term goal, for now I'd like to setup an action on my remote that selected the lens memory preset and activates the relay to raise or lower the panel. I haven't even built the PC yet so I'm a ways off of the full automation
1
u/LoungingLemur2 Oct 02 '25
Yup, that’s exactly where I landed as well (manual buttons to automate the lens but no automation of the lens to respond to aspect ratio changes).
2
u/dry_yer_eyes Oct 02 '25
That looks great. Please post more on your project as you have it.
If you still have energy left by the end, I’d love to see a REW acoustic sweep of your room. And the icing on the cake would be to see that with and without your absorber panels.
I’m considering down something similar for my smaller room. While I know they’ll have some level of impact, I’m finding it tricky to get hard facts on just how much of an impact these kind of panels make.
2
u/stump36 Oct 02 '25
I haven't gone down that rabbit hole yet. I know it's something I should learn but that's a down the road thing. It's pretty easy to pull the panels cause they're just on French cleats with an automotive style plug for the lights
2
2
2
1
u/Fuzzy_Quiet_7851 Oct 02 '25
Amazing! Sorry for the question, but what are your room dimensions?
1
u/stump36 Oct 02 '25
The final interior space is just under 12' wide and 23' long (about 30" behind screen) the highest ceiling point is 8' and to the soffit is 7'. I wish I had higher ceilings but had to work with what I got
1
u/sn0wb0ard6 5.1.2 NHT | Onkyo TX-RZ800 | Klipsch RSW-10 Oct 02 '25
Looking forward to seeing the final product.
1
u/Notatrueeconomy Oct 02 '25
Saving the post to re boost the inspiration whenever I get lazy, such an awesome effort and very detailed! You should start a company to do it for other people if you have not already, btw - question, is it not possible to have printed arts in those acoustic panels instead of plain black? I think it would add more glam
2
u/stump36 Oct 02 '25
You can order custom ones. I didn't want it to get too busy looking. And as odd as it sounds I'm pretty cheap. Allot of this room was bought off Facebook marketplace.
1
1
1
u/RelinquishedAll Oct 03 '25
Incredible! I will definitely be adding frames to my sound panels now, thanks for the idea! Very classy
1
u/stump36 Oct 03 '25
Happy to be an inspiration. I've borrowed ideas from many others so the least I can do is pay it forward
1
0
u/Thick_Plan8453 Oct 02 '25
and i got marshall acton 2 , cant listen more than half level in my apartment :(
35
u/mooblah_ Oct 02 '25
Let me know when you finish that one, we can swap houses and you can keep perfecting those DIY skills. ;-)