TURBOED

Thanks for the advice so far. I am definitely ignorant to this process, but, do any jewelers do some sort of computer modeling of the design or anything?

Yeah, that kind of ring shopping. I'll be using one diamond I already have (heirloom) and probably purchasing some others depending on the style I decide to go with. I am hoping to get some custom-made type ideas and not just a "choose from these 10 settings" approach. Anyone have any good rec's? Preferably in the Hilliard/Dublin area, but I can travel if need be.

Try $13 - $15 billion.

Hmm, that's a little farther away than I'd like. I used to bowl quite a lot (and took bowling class twice in college ). Haven't rolled much in the last 2 years or so though. I was good for averaging 180 or so, with somewhat frequent 200+ scores.

Haha, yup that's me. I figured it was you, based on the primer miata described in your signiture You planning on coming out more this year? Honestly, I was thinking more like $15-$20 for that piece of carpet. Anything over that, and I can't really justify spending the money just to cover up some holes. If you can't let it go that cheap, I understand, and I apologize for being a cheap bum. Let me know what you think...

Ahh, nevermind on the rear finish panel, I don't want to deal with painting it. Yup, the package shelf is the section of carpet that the top folds down on to. I have cleverly pointed it out in the picture here: http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/miata3.jpg

I need the package shelf carpet if it is there. Also, if it has a cupholder instead of ash tray, I'd like that too. Edit - What's the rear finish panel condition? Car color?

Sooo... my "ultra" budget theater just turned into a "sorta" budget theater. Watching my first movie last night, and "POP!" there goes the bulb in my $70 projector. Damn. New bulb would cost $200, which brings up the "how much is too much to put into an old, loud, 480i projector?" Of course, now that the room has been pretty much completely dedicated to being a theater, there is no turning back. As fate would have it, I stumbled upon this thread on avsforum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1230908 A bunch of phone calls later, I was on my way to Best Buy in Grove City to pick up a new Optoma HD65 for $399. 720p and regarded as a very good "bang for the buck" at $700+, I got a steal at $400. Can't wait to get it hooked up...

You sure? I know they worked him out, but I heard the results of said workout were very bad.

I know all of this. I could buy a lot of things to make the install cleaner. There is one key word in the previous sentence that stops me from doing it... see if you can spot that word. Over the next year+, I'm sure I'll slowly upgrade components, as well as buy certain things to hide wires, etc. For now, the budget is "as little as possible." If you have any suggestions that don't involve spending money, I'm all ears...

Floor joists run perpendicular to the direction I would run the speaker wire. No way in hell I'm taking down the ceiling and drilling through all those floor joists just so a few cables are hidden. BTW - they are a lot less noticeable than the pictures make it seem. That corner I show will be covered by the subwoofer, and the wall they run back to front on is mostly covered by the couch and such. I do plan to run the front speaker wires up through the wall though, that's easy. $200 on a screen in a theater that will cost less than $500 total? I don't think so. How do you figure a 40% light loss?

OK, update with new pictures... my budget audio setup. Receiver: I picked up a used Harmon Kardon AVR-235 on Ebay for $130. It does pretty much anything you could want from a receiver besides have HDMI... but since the projector is 480i, that is OK with me. So far it sounds great. Picture (nevermind the sloppy wiring, it's temporary) http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0758.jpg Subwoofer: I had an 8ohm JL audio 12w0 sitting around, and an old KLH 12" 100watt powered sub in a ported box. The KLH driver was garbage and the box was in awful shape. As a housewarming gift, my brother spec'd out optimal box volume for the JL driver, and built the monster ported box you see below. It doesn't have TONS of output, but it is very tight, clean bass. Really fills in the sound nicely for the basically $0 it cost. The finish is roll on truck bed liner... it turned out pretty good. Speakers: I'll be using 5 Advent Heritage H200 speakers. Though this speaker was branded as an Advent (crappy best buy brand) in the US, Advent is owned by Audiovox, which also owns a high end German speaker company called HECO. The Advent Heritage series speaker is actually just a rebranded HECO Krypton series speaker. So, a $200+ set of speakers becomes a $120 best buy brand speaker. Then about two years ago they went on closeout at Parts Express for $50/pair, and my brother and I bought I think 6 or 7 pairs I also have two small infinity satallite speakers that I am kicking around doing 7.1 with, but I haven't decided yet. Sub and 2 speakers: http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0761.jpg I now have all the speakers wired. It's a little jank, but all in all doesn't look too bad for not spending a bunch of money on nice looking cable runs. The cable clips I used to mount to the walls cost $1 for a box of 100 from monoprice. Front Right: http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0763.jpg Surround Left http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0766.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0767.jpg And finally, a front view of the fronts and center mounted up. The wiring below the center still needs to be secured to the wall. Also, the board under the center is temporary. I'll be making a wedge out of foam to set the center channal to the correct angle, so that it is aimed to be the same height as the front speakers when sitting in the central viewing position. http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0768.jpg

Thanks to everyone for the compliments. I got the 2 fronts and center speaker wire run last night but haven't taken pics yet. Hopefully I'll finish running wires tonight and have an update with pics tomorrow.

I could put the screen up there... but there would be no picture projected onto it Screen placement is nearly all a result of projector specs. At my throw distance, the image at the wall starts about 13" below the lens, which is 4" or so below the ceiling... so you see my point. Besides that, you want your screen to be at a comfortable eye level. Flush with the ceiling would look really wierd, I think. I agree the window looks a little strange, and I plan to paint the window covering, which should help it blend more. As is, you really only notice it with the lights on (aka when not watching something).

I got it at Jo Ann Fabrics. The official name for the material there is "Budget Blackout Cloth." It is actually meant to use as a drape lining to keep light out of a room. It's nearly 100% reflective, which makes it perfecct for a projector screen. Pretty widely used as a budget friendly DIY projector screen. Cost is only like $6/yard, although I got it 50% off on a random sale weekend

Yeah, it was the first projector my brother bought for his theater 5 or so years ago. The light tunnel went bad so he just bought a better projector. After I bought my house, he told me if I bought a new light tunnel ($70), he'd give me the projector. It's not great... just a 480i DLP projector. Doesn't do too well with much ambient light in the room, and the color wheel is pretty loud, but a 95" DVD resolution screen for $70 was well worth it to me

When my brother offered me his old projector (InFocus SP4805) for $70... I figured it was a sign from above that I should have a theater in my basement. So over the last month or so, I have been piecing together some audio equipment to go with it, and last weekend I finally got down to business. Thought it would be fun to update a thread as my build goes along. This post will be all projector mounting and screen building, since that is basically what I have finished right now. Projector Mount: I didn't take any unmounted shots, but it is pretty straightforward. Cost was under $20, and it gave me adjustment of every corner via the wingnuts connecting the two boards. http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0750.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0745.jpg And now onto the screen. I was planning on doing a simple wood frame with blackout cloth canvas stretched across it. I had a little challenge, since the screen would be partially covering a window, and the window sill sticks out about 2.5". Because of that, I made the frame out of 1x4's to add depth and get over the window, and had to notch it to fit over the window frame. Frame: http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0744.jpg Window I have to cover (and a sneek peak at some of the audio goodies): http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0746.jpg I then covered the window in blackout cloth to keep light from leaking through: http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0747.jpg Then stretched the fabric over the frame: http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0751.jpg And mounted the frame to the wall with some L-brackets. I wanted to solid mount to the wall to gaurd against bowing of the wood from the tension of the material on the frame. Also, the material covering the window will eventually get wall-colored paint: http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0753.jpg Finally, I took more 1x4's and routed the inside edge with a round-over bit. Some black spray paint and a nail gun later, and we have a nice frame: http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/jjschafe/IMG_0757.jpg (note - There was a lot of light in the room for this pic, and this is not the brightest of projectors. Picture is of course 100x better with lower light) Total cost so far: Projector - $70 Mount - ~$20 Screen - ~$50 Will update later this week as I start to run all of the audio components

Badass white girls. The Alphas at Purdue put on a step show philanthropy every year... each fraternity teamed up with a sorority and had an Alpha as a coach. You'd think a bunch of white people would put on a bad show, but it was always awesome. And yes, the 2nd place team in the coke competition are a bunch of whiney losers.

Fun story, but I don't get it... he couldn't afford both? I mean, really, why trade instead of just having both?

I've definitely got a recommendation. I know he is very good with the Worthington/Dublin/Hilliard/UA/Clintonville areas. I'm sure most any other area he is knowledgable about, those are just the places I was looking. I actually wound up using his mother, who is a mortgage person with 5/3. She is GREAT with new buyers. Helps you through every step. PM me if you want his/her info.

Go Boilers. That is all :bangbang:

Don't punish northern KY like that...

"To satisfy your sense of responsibility." Exactly what I try to do when buying a new car...

I'd have to get ~$10k for it. I literally just spent $1,000 three weeks ago (timing belt, water pump and replaced a tire that had a bubble in it), so it's hard to let it go as a steal right now. Oh, also just had all 4 coil packs replaced with the updated VW parts.

I would definitely sell mine for the right price also. 04.5 PG GLI, 75k miles, timing belt/water pump just done at Hatfield. No go on the trade though. Let me know if you get rid of the camaro and I can send you more details.