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  1. #1
    Putter GoHogsAR is on a distinguished road
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    Golf simulator/home theater

    Good afternoon,

    I joined this site almost a year ago when we began drawing up plans for our new house. I’ve learned so much by reading the forums in the last 11+ months and want to thank you all for that.

    I tend to over-analyze everything, and as we are nearing the end of construction I need help with the golf simulator/home theater room. The builder, AV guy, and wife have all left this room up to me for the most part, and now that it's down to crunch time I'm starting to panic.

    After two layers of 1/2" drywall and sound-deadening fiber board on all walls and ceiling, we'll call the finished room dimensions 30' long by 16.5' wide for simplicity. It's actually divided into two sections: the "golf area" is 18' long and was dug down to create a 12' ceiling. The upper part is 12' long and a 19' wide but a "bar" with a sink, cabinets, refrigerator, and kegerator runs along the wall in the wider part of the room. The upper part of the room will also have four theater chairs with a high bar behind them. The entire room is prewired for 7.2 audio.

    Here is the hardware list as it stands now:

    Hardware/software: GC2/TGC
    Projector: BenQ HT1085ST (purchased)
    Screen: HQ2 from Par2Pro (now on backorder, may have to go with another option)
    Mat: 5x5 Country Club Elite Real Feel Golf Mat
    PC: TBD

    I plan to use the area as a golf simulator almost every day, but it will also be used as a home theater multiple times per week. I’m really struggling with how to get the best out of both applications. The two biggest issues that I need to solve now are the screen and the speakers.

    Screen - Projection
    It seems that it would be ideal to project to the bottom of the screen for golf and as close as possible to the top of the screen for movies. I haven’t been able to find a solution that will allow me to do that with only one projector. If I have to choose one or the other, I’ll have to project to the top of screen so that feet aren’t blocking the screen when we’re reclined and watching movies. Are any of you using your sim like that, where the “ground” is actually a few feet off the floor (I believe mine would be three feet off the floor)? I think that would be especially annoying when putting. I haven’t ruled out the possibility of mounting two HT1085STs side-by-side but don’t want to spend the extra money if there is an acceptable alternative.

    Screen - Material
    I had my mind set on using Cory’s HQ2 material for the screen but it’s on backorder until mid-February. The house should be finished in 4-5 weeks and I hate the thought of not being able to use this room on day one. I don’t want to start that part of the research over, but are there other options that are just as good and similarly priced?

    Speakers
    If I go with a screen that is 10’ tall, that gives me 18-24 inches above the screen for a soffit, depending on how much space I need to allow for attaching the screen to the soffit. The AV guy tells me that I can get left, right, and center speakers that will fit in that space above the screen and can be aimed down at the theater chairs. I’m worried that having the sound coming from above is going to take away from the theater experience.

    The other option I’ve come up with is framing out 18-24 inches on each side of the screen for in-wall left and right speakers so they can be installed at more or less ear level, though the center will still have to be above the screen. Obviously I lose screen width by doing that, and with the primary viewing area being 20’ from the screen I’m not sure if I want to do that.

    I could really use any feedback at this point. Please feel free to suggest anything else I should consider or point out anything I’ve overlooked.
    Last edited by GoHogsAR; 01-05-2016 at 01:45 PM.

  2. #2
    Albatross mthunt is on a distinguished road
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    Wow. You have everything I have (projector, LM, SW, Screen). I'll say this. I wouldn't change a thing. I suggest you cut your screen 2 inches long. That'll protect the bottom enough. Put netting behind. Project 16x9 and you'll be fine for movies and golf.

  3. #3
    Putter GoHogsAR is on a distinguished road
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    Glad to hear it mthunt. I feel good about my sim selections so far but I'm really struggling with how to make it a really good home theater as well. Do you use yours for both purposes?

    I'm leaning more towards having a soffit built above the screen to house all three front speakers. Since the room is 12' tall, I suppose I should get the maximum height screen which is 10'. How much space do you have between the top and sides of the screen and the actual ceiling/walls? I guess what I'm asking is how much space do I need to allow for bungees? This will impact the width of the screen that I need.

  4. #4
    1 Iron AJA is on a distinguished road
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    I have the HQ screen and I'd vote that you wait for the material, even though it's backordered. Because it's raw, you will have to get it custom sewn to the proper size, but most upholstery or marine cover places should be able to do this. It is a very good dual purpose material. Only be sure to have it ironed or steamed to take out the wrinkles before installation.

    Length of bungees is dependent on the mounting method, etc. so you have to make that decision first. In my view the best installations are tensioned all around, on all 4 sides. To acheive this, I used steel channel screwed to the walls floor and ceiling on all four sides and then used bungees to tension the screen, attaching them to a rod that was housed in a full length pocket sewn in each side of the impact screen material. As mthunt suggests definitely put netting behind the screen, if not the full width then the middle 2/3 where there will be golf ball impacts. This extends the life of the impact screen.

    With respect to speaker placement - you can put speakers behind the impact screen if space permits. The screen protects the speakers, does not intefere with the sound and gives a clean look to the installation. Of course it depends on the amount of space behind the screen but this should be no more than 18 - 12 inches from the back wall.

    I have a post on another forum that shows a lot of these details in my sim build.

  5. #5
    Albatross mthunt is on a distinguished road
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    Quote Originally Posted by GoHogsAR View Post
    Glad to hear it mthunt. I feel good about my sim selections so far but I'm really struggling with how to make it a really good home theater as well. Do you use yours for both purposes?

    I'm leaning more towards having a soffit built above the screen to house all three front speakers. Since the room is 12' tall, I suppose I should get the maximum height screen which is 10'. How much space do you have between the top and sides of the screen and the actual ceiling/walls? I guess what I'm asking is how much space do I need to allow for bungees? This will impact the width of the screen that I need.
    I only use it as a sim.

  6. #6
    Putter darpar is on a distinguished road
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    I wanted the same thing,home theater/golf sim combo.I made a dbl frame from 3/4" EMT tubing found at HD and used some PR-20 (white) netting from Westcoast Netting in Az.The archery netting works great for hitting balls into and still gives a pretty clear picture for watching movies etc. My screen is 9' x 8' with grommets for bungees and only took about a week to order.
    The frame I made has a clearance between the screen and the the part that mounts on the wall of about 5",which is plenty of room to hide
    a left/right and center speaker behind the screen.
    Made a wooden frame painted black to finish off the project.

    Sounds like you have plenty of room,and could make a custom size frame/screen any way/shape you want.
    Here's a couple pics of my little project:

    The finished screen


    Side view of the frame with hooks welded on to attach the bungee cords.


    The frame

  7. #7
    Par Dax is on a distinguished road
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    My suggestion would be to put your speakers behind the screen (it is perforated enough to allow for this). Add netting as suggested above. If budget allows, My thoughts would be to use a second projector and screen for the theatre. The screen for the theatre could come out of the ceiling. My reason for saying this are that you have gone to great lengths to have a great room, but that from a theatre perspective you might not be happy with the quality Of your image with the hq2 screen and also that the screen would not be perfectly flat over time due to hitting into it and eventually you will also have ball marks on the screen as well. You also say you are wired for 7.2 and I wonder if you have considered adding a few more channels for ceiling speakers for say Dolby Atmos? I don't think the new DTS:x needs the ceiling speakers as it will make do with what is in the system, but having the ceiling speakers might really add to the sound. Thus, consider having a 7.2.4 system.

  8. #8
    1 Iron FaultyClubs is on a distinguished road
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dax View Post
    ... from a theatre perspective you might not be happy with the quality Of your image with the hq2 screen and also that the screen would not be perfectly flat over time due to hitting into it and eventually you will also have ball marks on the screen as well...
    Excellent points and why I use a separate home theatre screen.

  9. #9
    Putter darpar is on a distinguished road
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    That's why I like the PR-20 netting,it gives a pretty good quality of picture especially in Blu Ray or 3D mode,
    plus it's easy to stretch wrinkles out of the material after hitting balls into.
    Btw,Almost Golf balls are way less destructive to the netting than using real golf balls.

  10. #10
    Par Dax is on a distinguished road
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    I'm not a big fan of 3D, but I believe if 3D is important, then getting the right screen is also important as lumens will become critical as well. Any golf screen will have a pretty good amount of light bleed through the screen and is why I feel putting your speakers behind the screen should be ok; but the light that bleeds through the screen will likely really take away from the amount of light reflecting back for a good 3D image.

  11. #11
    Sand Wedge Godfather68 is on a distinguished road
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    I used in wall Definitive Technology Speakers for my three front channels and they work perfectly through my net screen with a blackout backing. The picture is good and the screen does not appear to muffle the sound at all and the speakers are safely out of the way. My experience so far of balls hitting ceiling in the final 4ft or so before screen, suggests to me that it will be very difficult to put speakers in this zone and protect them.

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