Erwin's House & Homecinema project

[Erwin.BE]

view from nextdoor driveway

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[Erwin.BE]

downstairs is looking at the HT
upstairs is looking at the open plan living room where the Jamo's will go

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[Erwin.BE]

detail of special glass frame structure with layer of polyurethane embedded

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[Erwin.BE]

looking at the spot where the Jamo's will go

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[Erwin.BE]

better half

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[Erwin.BE]

view from the right side of the garden
downstairs is her office
upstairs our bed+bathroom

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[Erwin.BE]

Are those pics clear enough? The joists are FJI ("Finn Joists") that are known in North America as TJI. They are used in the roof (height 40 cm = 13"!) and they are immensely strong because of that height. To be filled with blown cellulose (made of misprinted papers). A special foil on the inside is vapor-open in the summer (dry-out) but vapor-closed in the winter (to prevent moist getting in). Name is "pro-clima". EPDM on top.

Walls: the same FJI, only 30 cm (12"). inside is OSB 18 mm and all the joints will be taped up to make everything as air-closed as possible (that's why thinner OSB doesn't work). Outside is a sort of light stranded board that's more "open" than OSB to let the moist evaporate. Then some ventilation space and to finish a weather proof cement based board called "Pictura" from Eternit.

The whole house needs only 4kW of heat , not including "gains" such as human body heat, solar gains, household appliances. That's 4 XPA-1 playing on max volume... (but my Jamo's can only take 500 Watt each continuously ;D). During a bit of frost, but with a nice sun hitting the triple glazing, no heating will be needed at all, that's a promise.

[Erwin.BE]

This is the house we saw in South Australia in 2007. You see the similarity. It's overlooking the Ocean from the Great Ocean Road.

Another great inspiration was Mies Van Der Rohe's Farnsworth House in Massachusets (IL). I obviously translated it all to our climate and the present thermal demands, plus my wood knowledge and our needs.

www.farnsworthhouse.org/photos.htm

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[Erwin.BE]

Feb 21, 2012 8:36:04 GMT -5 aliminas said:

I wonder how your SW compares to the ones i would normaly turn to, Danley DS-10 or Tuba HT; nice work, anyways.
By the way, one of my favourite sub amps is Crown K-2. Stays cool, fairly powerful and no fan!

This NU6000 of mine will need a fan mod, it's intolerably loud now.

[Erwin.BE]

The house build is progressing, but very slow. I will make a few pics next weekend.

The introduction of the new XPR-5 and also the upcoming Marantz AV8801 11.2 capable processor are two heartwarming events... I really like the idea of a totally over the top amp! Of course, we need 11 channels of amplification but getting two XPR-5 plus one XPR-1 is a bit too much.

I think I will go for one XPR-5 plus two XPA-3's. Moneywise still managable and the XPR-5 can power the "standard" channels while the XPA-3's can each do one side of Width/Height/BackSurround.

Better half ordered me to make the HT also complementary to her (accountancy) office. She wants to do Powerpoints (easy) and use it as a conference room and to double as an extra office (temporal) space. So I did some adjustments to the design (see attachment floor plan). I propose 3 "desks" that can be easily moved around to form a conference table. This also gives me the opportunity to swap the on-ceiling Back Surrunds for identical towers like the others... ;D

Plus I added 2 extra sub positions, just in case! A 4th desk can be added to the left side, facing the ground floor terrace. The other three are facing the garden.

We already have the AT screen from Seymour AV (bargain B-stock in the exact designed size)

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[The Mad Norseman]

Jul 4, 2012 8:14:04 GMT -5 Erwin.BE said:

The house build is progressing, but very slow. I will make a few pics next weekend.

The introduction of the new XPR-5 and also the upcoming Marantz AV8801 11.2 capable processor are two heartwarming events... I really like the idea of a totally over the top amp! Of course, we need 11 channels of amplification but getting two XPR-5 plus one XPR-1 is a bit too much.

I think I will go for one XPR-5 plus two XPA-3's. Moneywise still managable and the XPR-5 can power the "standard" channels while the XPA-3's can each do one side of Width/Height/BackSurround.

Better half ordered me to make the HT also complementary to her (accountancy) office. She wants to do Powerpoints (easy) and use it as a conference room and to double as an extra office (temporal) space. So I did some adjustments to the design (see attachment floor plan). I propose 3 "desks" that can be easily moved around to form a conference table. This also gives me the opportunity to swap the on-ceiling Back Surrunds for identical towers like the others... ;D

Plus I added 2 extra sub positions, just in case! A 4th desk can be added to the left side, facing the ground floor terrace. The other three are facing the garden.

We already have the AT screen from Seymour AV (bargain B-stock in the exact designed size)

Beautiful work Erwin, I'm really enjoying this thread as I'm an architect by profession (and also a HT enthusiast).
I'm looking long and hard at the new XPR-5 myself,...(drool...).
So please keep the progress photos, comments and enthusiasm coming!

[Erwin.BE]

Jul 4, 2012 20:59:36 GMT -5 The Mad Norseman said:

Jul 4, 2012 8:14:04 GMT -5 Erwin.BE said:

The house build is progressing, but very slow. I will make a few pics next weekend.

The introduction of the new XPR-5 and also the upcoming Marantz AV8801 11.2 capable processor are two heartwarming events... I really like the idea of a totally over the top amp! Of course, we need 11 channels of amplification but getting two XPR-5 plus one XPR-1 is a bit too much.

I think I will go for one XPR-5 plus two XPA-3's. Moneywise still managable and the XPR-5 can power the "standard" channels while the XPA-3's can each do one side of Width/Height/BackSurround.

Better half ordered me to make the HT also complementary to her (accountancy) office. She wants to do Powerpoints (easy) and use it as a conference room and to double as an extra office (temporal) space. So I did some adjustments to the design (see attachment floor plan). I propose 3 "desks" that can be easily moved around to form a conference table. This also gives me the opportunity to swap the on-ceiling Back Surrunds for identical towers like the others... ;D

Plus I added 2 extra sub positions, just in case! A 4th desk can be added to the left side, facing the ground floor terrace. The other three are facing the garden.

We already have the AT screen from Seymour AV (bargain B-stock in the exact designed size)

Beautiful work Erwin, I'm really enjoying this thread as I'm an architect by profession (and also a HT enthusiast).
I'm looking long and hard at the new XPR-5 myself,...(drool...).
So please keep the progress photos, comments and enthusiasm coming!

Thanks for the kind words... We shall call you The Sensible Norseman from now on...

As a building construction & furniture production manager / audiophile, I find the whole sound in house thing fascinating, how sounds respond/reflect in rooms, how absorption/dispersion works, how sound proofing works, etc! I learnt so much from designing and building this.

[Erwin.BE]

A couple pics of where the multipurpose HT will be

Looking through the back glass wall to the left glas wall.

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[Erwin.BE]

Looking from the ground floor terrace with the "front" wall on the left side. There will be a kitchen against the "right" wall (here in the back of the pic)

Window frames are "passive" standard. In this case a sandwich of 12 cm (almost 5") thickness with 2 layers of pinewood (Lariks) + 1 layer of Purenit + 1/2 Polyurethane (PUR) + 1/2 Purenit + 1 layer of Lariks. Purenit is a mixture of MDF and PUR in which a screw can be attached, whlie retaining part of the insulation characteristics of PUR. Triple glazing will be used (Ug = 0,5)

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[Erwin.BE]

The front wall. Seymour AT screen already in possession (though not in position ;D). W = 330 cm (11')

About a foot of thickness is what the flooring package measures. Upon the concrete, first a zone for technical things with all sorts of tubes... Then a wooden frame, completely isolated from walls and floor by means of polymere (rubber foam) to prevent the sound energy passing through to the rest of the house. Holes probably filled with loose polystirene. OSB on top. 12 cm thick layer of hard PUR floor insulation. Pur is very effective @ lambda 0.023 W/mK (compared to to the blown cellulose in the walls : lambda 0.040) W/mK = Watt per meter Kelvin

lambda is the factor of heat loss you need to know the "R" (resistance against heat transmission) You divide lambda the thickness of the material (in meters) . Like this: R = thickness PUR 12 cm (5") / lambda PUR 0.023 = 0.12 m 0.023 W/mK = 5.217

Then you inverse this number to get the "U" value 1/5.217 = 0,1916

Note that this number is already 2.5 times smaller (=better) than that of the triple glass (Uglas = 0,5). That's without all the other materials added to the floor. I calculated that 3/4 of the heat loss of our house will be via the glass and window frames, despite the effort and technology behind it.

A small amount of very low temperature heating will be routed in the top side of the insulation. Than a 18 mm (3/4") of dry floor (cement based) and 8 mm (1/3") of Oak wood to finish. Thin wood so the heat can still pass.

Add black oil (RAL 9005) for that true purpose-full stage look!

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[The Mad Norseman]

Very, very nice progress Erwin.BE!
Looks like a lot of glass area in that one spot (which I assume is not where you're putting your HT?).
This project is coming along nicely, and its good that you have your enthusiasm to driving it - that's the MOST important factor after all I've found!
Keep 'em coming!

BTW, you'd mentioned learning a lot about acoustics while planning and building this (no doubt!), but if you aren't already familiar with this book, it is indeed worth getting for all of the great and practical suggestions for improving sound - either in a dedicated HT, or for two channel - highly recommended - see attached JPEG.

Signed,
The Mad, er, "Sensible" Norseman

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[Erwin.BE]

We made progress on the house: the east wall cladding is done. Here's a pic in early stage, looking south.

First, a 18mm damp-open fibre board called celit 3D is nailed to the vertical joists. This contains and protects the cellulose thermal insulation that will be blown in later (1 foot thickness).

Second, a 2" thick vertical frame is attached and a lot of effort is used to make it 100% flat and level. This frame allows the system to be ventilated at all times, assuring the "health" of the exterior.

Ultimately, a painted cement based cladding sheet (Pictura from Eternit) is glued to the frame. Foam tape is used to allow the glue to cure for the first 24 hours.

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[Erwin.BE]

In this pic, we are almost finished. Just clean some spots, remove the scaffold and finish the botom.

The ground level doesn't have the Pictura, but we prepared multilayer pannels (W 50 cm) with solid wood strips vertically attached to it, which we attached to the wall in the same way as the Pictura. Also perfectly ventilated.

The pannels were finished with black oil (RAL 9005). Nothing beats a black house in a green environment!

Now I need to hire scaffolding for the north wall, which is 30 meters long. Yes, that is 100 feet!

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[Erwin.BE]

I spent time yesterday to figure out about the floor in the homecinema. We have a total floor height of 1 feet. It's my understanding that only a heavy weight floated floor is suitable for decent sound insulation of sub bass.

Here's a link to a Flemish company that provides the polymere pads that support such a concrete floor. Take a look at the attached pic.
www.doxacoustics.be/nl/geluidsisolerende-bouwproducten/trillingvrije-montagesystemen/143-vloer-iso-float

The idea is to lower the resonance frequency as low as possible, because the system isn't effective below that frequency. The two subs are tuned to 13 Hz and some in-room additions is to be aspected. The heavier the floating floor, the lower the resonance frequency.

I also need to provide space for pipes and very effective thermal insulation. Since the concrete base is very uneven (may the contractor rot in hell), I will make a leveled wooden frame to support the pads. The pipes can run through that. The space can be filled with recycled Expanded Polystyrene for thermal + acoustical insulation. The space not occupied by the 2" thick pads can be fiberglass, also for thermal + acoustical insulation. OSB 22 mm resting on the pads. Poor 4" of concrete on top, covered afterwards with 8mm of mozaiek oakwood or rubberwood finished in black oil. The sides of the floor are also 100% isolated from the building.

This way, we get one bad-ass mass/feather/mass system!


One more thing: just Bankwired the amount for one XPR-5 to be headed for Belgium. ;D

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[Darksky]

Beautiful work, Erwin. I wish I could walk the site with you. I would like nothing more than to bring my tool bags and spend a few weeks helping and learning from you. I am impressed with your envelope.

It is interesting to me to see the TJI used on end as framing members. It certainly gives you your space for insulation. I would imagine the simplicity of labor while framing them offsets the additional coet of the material.

It does not lok like you use much roll blocking. Do you get a lot of wind load? Here I have hurricane ties and straps everywhere...

With your weather is there any need for a environmental cooling system?

Are you on a water tap line or a well and septic? Have you considered grey water diversion? I did not do grey or rain water diversion and now wish that I had.

I enjoy your progress and pictures. I envy your theater.

-Bradley