My DIY Home Theater Rig

[greekbull]

I used to have a sim rig and was very into driving both Forza and GT. Loved the setup but it was not stowable and at the time my main system was downstairs in the family room. My wife hated it(because it was a pain to stow.) So I eventually sold it and stepped away from sim racing for a couple of years.

Here are some pics of my old rig:

So I just recently built out a dedicated man cave/gaming and theater room upstairs and got the bug again to build something especially with the new Xbox and Forza 5 coming out. So I started looking at other rigs. On the insidesimracing forum I found the DIY plans that SIMUL8R did for a full rig and though that would be perfect to modify and cut down to integrate with my theater chairs so I set out to make a rig.

Here's the new cave:

I basically chopped the design in half and put a large U shaped top deck that comes back and is mounted to the stand and to two spare home theater cup holders that plugs into my theater seat. The result is way more rigid than my old play seat and honestly feels just like a car seating position. There is zero wobble or movement no matter how hard I try. Really excited to get the Xbox One in and the the new Thrustmaster TX, and hopefully a loadcell for the brakes, and lol hopefully a TH8RS shifter if it works with the TX...

Here's my setup and the finished product(waiting for the hardware):

My wheel history:

Xbox wireless wheel
Logitech DFGT
Logitech G25
Bought and returned a G27
Fanatec GT2 Wheel
Fanatec ClubSport Pedals
Fanatec Red ClubSport Color kit
And Thrustmaster TX on pre order....

My Current Gear:

Buttkicker Gamer 2
Epson 8350 1080P LCD Projector
135" Crystal Clear Screen
Sony 7100ES Reciever
PS3
Xbox 360
Xbox One on Pre-Order
Boston Acoustics Lynnfield L, R, C
Velodyne 2700W Sub
Def Tech LS, RS, LR, RR

And the final build of the theater chair rig until the hardware is mounted. I painted it, added the Diamond Plate for the pedal board, covered the top deck in a leather like Vinyl, added some 3M Di Noc carbon covered pieces and the prancing horses lol:

Update 10/13/13

Sick Cylinder thanks so much for the advice!

Wow this thing is amazing. Got everything setup and sat in the rig(no steering or pedals until the TX releases) But fired up Forza 4 and it's awesome. I can feel the engine, gear shifts, bumps in the road everything. Amazing imersion and much better than my old Buttkicker gamer 2 setup. Sound is great paired with my 7.1 audio at 200W/channel and my 2700W sub.


Here is the amp all setup:

Bass Shaker on the theater chair:

Bass Shaker under the pedal deck:

And it all plugged in from above before I put the back of the chair back on:

Update 7/30/14:

An update of my theater seat Rig. I built this as a variation of the PVC rig Simul8r designed. With a couple of spare cup holders bolted into the top deck so it simply plugs into my home theater seats. I originally built it with a set of T500 pedals with the Basher Break mod. It was nice but not where I wanted it. I recently ordered a CPX adapter from Basher that came in Monday and what a world of difference it makes now using my TX base, GTE addon wheel, and CSP V2s!!!! I added a thicker viscocity oil and a stiffer shock to the CSPs and got everything nice and dialed in with the CPX adapter settings. Totally changes the experience and blows away the T500 pedals I was using in the past!



I'm using my rig with a 135" HD 1080P projector setup that actually gives me about the perfect cockpit vantage point from my seat. Zero movement or flex in the rig. It's rock solid. Now I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the TH8A shifter

 

[lemansfanatic]

Looks good, like the carbon touches. Can I make a suggestion? Looks like the bottom might slip out under heavy pedal pushing feet. Is there a way to mount something to the bottom of the couch that could click in and out of (think of child safety restraints) that would make it so you could press on the pedals as firmly as you want without worrying about slippage. This might require flipping the couch over and bolting something to the bottom. Other than that, this is a great man cave- color me jealous!

 

[greekbull]

Looks good, like the carbon touches. Can I make a suggestion? Looks like the bottom might slip out under heavy pedal pushing feet. Is there a way to mount something to the bottom of the couch that could click in and out of (think of child safety restraints) that would make it so you could press on the pedals as firmly as you want without worrying about slippage. This might require flipping the couch over and bolting something to the bottom. Other than that, this is a great man cave- color me jealous!

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. The rig actually has a wide and long enough footprint and I built the cup holders up to to such a tight fit(almost too tight lol) that even when I push as hard as I possibly can on any part of the pedal deck there is no push out. I was actually thinking I might need to have some type of connection under the theater chair before I hooked it up and realized it's not needed. I honestly feels just like one piece. Planning on putting a dual mini lfe SIM racing kit from buttkicker into it soon to help with the feel as well.

Btw that 3M Di Noc carbon is pretty awesome stuff to work with. Hope to do some carbon on the wheel, brakes(case), and cover the black plastic on the TH8RS(if it's compatible of course)...

 

[wajdi1977]

Nice compact rig mate and nice house also!

 

[Sick Cylinder]

Superb work Greekbull.

Just a suggestion regarding getting a tactile effect into the pedal area - if you isolate the plate that you mount the pedals to from the frame you won't need much power for a good effect - a 50W Aura Pro shaker (or two) with a small subwoofer plate amp would probably be enough and would be a lot cheaper than the Buttkicker option. For isolation you can use auto exhaust isolation bobbins (a rubber bobbin bonded to a washer and bolt each side). If you don't isolate the pedal area from the frame you might find too much vibration reaching the wheel table or even the frame vibrating itself so it travels away from you across the floor as you drive.

 

[greekbull]

Superb work Greekbull.

Just a suggestion regarding getting a tactile effect into the pedal area - if you isolate the plate that you mount the pedals to from the frame you won't need much power for a good effect - a 50W Aura Pro shaker (or two) with a small subwoofer plate amp would probably be enough and would be a lot cheaper than the Buttkicker option. For isolation you can use auto exhaust isolation bobbins (a rubber bobbin bonded to a washer and bolt each side). If you don't isolate the pedal area from the frame you might find too much vibration reaching the wheel table or even the frame vibrating itself so it travels away from you across the floor as you drive.

Is this what your talking about?: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0079NPDIK/?tag=gtplanet-20

I was looking at adding this from Buttkicker: http://www.buttkickergear.com/BKDA_PACK_2_p/bkda-pack-2.htm

Will the Aura be as good? was looking to put two in my chair and wasn't going to put one on the wheelstand but that's a great idea under the pedal deck! What strength amp would you recommend for the bass shakers. I saw a 100W and 250W from Dayton Audio that seem reasonable in price. Thanks!

 

[Sick Cylinder]

Hi Greekbull

The 100 watt Dayton is on offer from Parts Express at the moment for $77.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-802
It is 75W @ 8ohm, 100W @ 4 ohm.

I did mean the Aura Pro AST2B-4 Pro. They are 50W 4 ohm so you can wire 2 in series for a 50W 8 0hm load or 4 in series parralel for a 200W 4 ohm load.

I have experimented with them and find they are excellent for the pedal area - one is sufficient. You could add a second to go under your TH8RS - the Dayton 100W amp will have plenty of power for 2 shakers.

Regarding whether they will have a good effect on your chair, that is difficult to say without experimentation. I have a fairly similar setup to you with a film room serving double duty as a driving / gaming room and a full rig being unacceptable to the rest of the family.

I have a modular 3 seat sofa, the two end seats are recliners with metal frames. A single large offcut of kitchen worktop (wood and formica) bolted to the bottom of the metal frame with a single Aura Pro Shaker in each recliner is enough to give ample shaking. The centre seat, which I use for driving is made entirely of wood and it does not transmit vibration anything like as well. I am currently using two amps, for a stereo effect, powering 4 shakers, but it is still not as effective as a single shaker in the metal framed chair. I recently acquired a BK Advance transducer to go under the middle of the seat, but until I get a 300W amp for it I won't know how effective it is - I may need to replace the centre seat of the sofa with a proper car seat which, having a metal frame, should tramsmit the vibration more effectively.

I can recommend the Aura Pro shaker for your pedals, but it is difficult to know what transducers will work well with your theatre seat as this will depend on it's construction. The Mini LFE reportedly work well on rigs and seats made of metal, although the larger BK Advance.

You could go for 4 Aura Pros - 2 on the seat, 1 pedals and 1 shifter and perhaps consider fitting one each to your theatre chairs for when watching films.

 

[greekbull]

Great thank you! I'll define update this thread with progress.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

Hi again

Having read up about the items in the the BK simulation kit you mention - that looks like a very good deal and could give good results on the seat area. If you add 2 Aura Pros, 1 for pedals and 1 for the shifter and power them with the Dayton 100 for $77 you should get very good effects.

 

[greekbull]

Hi again

Having read up about the items in the the BK simulation kit you mention - that looks like a very good deal and could give good results on the seat area. If you add 2 Aura Pros, 1 for pedals and 1 for the shifter and power them with the Dayton 100 for $77 you should get very good effects.

I ordered the Amp and a couple of the Bass Shaker Pro's last night, along with some vibration isolators to mount around the pedal deck. Should have it all setup early next week. Excited to try it and gives me some more to do while waiting for Forza 5 lol

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

That turned out great. I really like the innovative idea of engineering the steering wheel structure into your cup holders. Locks it in nice and solid that way. I bet the audio upstairs in that attic room is really good.

 

[greekbull]

Some updates...built a housing for the Dayton Audio Sub Amp..

Finished and waiting for the amp which arrives Monday:

Pieces cut to screw into my theater chairs and hold the Aura Bass Shakers

And the Vibration Isolators for the pedal deck along with the 12Ga Speaker wire and RC Car plugs which I'm going to use for the cord on the pedal deck to plug into and unplug when I want to store the wheelstand:

I have some cabling to solder and prepare before monday and then I'll get all the transducers installed and up and running...

 

[Sick Cylinder]

Wow Greekbull!

You are fast moving - very impressive!

 

[greekbull]

Ok update everything is ready for the Bass Shakers. This is with the Seat back removed and the wood deck is screwed into the seat frame behind the main cushion. It will hopefully bring a lot of the vibration though since it is connected to the frame where the seat hangs:

Here is the plug I made under the seat to plug the Rig into, and the plug from the stand, also got the isolators installed on both sides of the pvc where the pedal deck is screwed in...

I decided against the RC car plugs so I went with standard speaker plugs...

 

[greekbull]

Update:

Sick Cylinder thanks so much for the advice!

Wow this thing is amazing. Got everything setup and sat in the rig(no steering or pedals until the TX releases) But fired up Forza 4 and it's awesome. I can feel the engine, gear shifts, bumps in the road everything. Amazing imersion and much better than my old Buttkicker gamer 2 setup. Sound is great paired with my 7.1 audio at 200W/channel and my 2700W sub.


Here is the amp all setup:

Bass Shaker on the theater chair:

Bass Shaker under the pedal deck:

And it all plugged in from above before I put the back of the chair back on:

Update 7/30/14:

An update of my theater seat Rig. I built this as a variation of the PVC rig Simul8r designed. With a couple of spare cup holders bolted into the top deck so it simply plugs into my home theater seats. I originally built it with a set of T500 pedals with the Basher Break mod. It was nice but not where I wanted it. I recently ordered a CPX adapter from Basher that came in Monday and what a world of difference it makes now using my TX base, GTE addon wheel, and CSP V2s!!!! I added a thicker viscocity oil and a stiffer shock to the CSPs and got everything nice and dialed in with the CPX adapter settings. Totally changes the experience and blows away the T500 pedals I was using in the past!



I'm using my rig with a 135" HD 1080P projector setup that actually gives me about the perfect cockpit vantage point from my seat. Zero movement or flex in the rig. It's rock solid. Now I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the TH8A shifter

 

[greekbull]

Found a great deal on a Thrustmaster F1 Wheel. Picked it up I sure hope it's compatible with the new TX wheel.

 

[EVader]

Found a great deal on a Thrustmaster F1 Wheel. Picked it up I sure hope it's compatible with the new TX wheel.

I've been tempted this week to get the F1 wheel, but i'll wait, i just want 100% confirmation that it will work with the TX wheel.

 

[greekbull]

I've been tempted this week to get the F1 wheel, but i'll wait, i just want 100% confirmation that it will work with the TX wheel.

I found it NIB for $119 shipped. At that price I figure if it's not compatible I can at least make my money back.

 

[Paul33993]

Update:

Sick Cylinder thanks so much for the advice!

Wow this thing is amazing. Got everything setup and sat in the rig(no steering or pedals until the TX releases) But fired up Forza 4 and it's awesome. I can feel the engine, gear shifts, bumps in the road everything. Amazing imersion and much better than my old Buttkicker gamer 2 setup. Sound is great paired with my 7.1 audio at 200W/channel and my 2700W sub.


Here is the amp all setup:

Bass Shaker on the theater chair:

Bass Shaker under the pedal deck:

And it all plugged in from above before I put the back of the chair back on:

Hi,

I just purchased this same amp and shakers. And I'm completely baffled since I can't get it to work. What imputs are you using on the amp? The "Low Level Input" jacks right? And then do you have the aura's hooked up to the "To Speaker" speaker jacks?

That's what makes sense to me, but it's not working. And out of desperation, I've tried every combo I could think of. Nothing.

Then I started reading the Dayton user manual and it says "High Level Output", which is what I have my shaker hooked up to, only passes a signal on if "High Level Input" is also used. But that requires speaker input connections. I need to be able to input the source data using an RCA jack.

Is that what you're doing? Are you inputting your data with the "High Level Input" jacks? How?

I'm so frustrated right now. I'm completely baffled. And considering how common this recommendation of Dayton amp and Aura shakers are, it just seems there has to be a simpler solution. Like RCA jack in. Speaker jack out.

EDIT: Saw a thread somewhere where they mention you needed crimps to connect the speakers (I'm assuming to the two wires in back). Guess I'll try that next.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

Hi Paul

I only just noticed your post and I expect you've got everything up and running fine now, but just in case and for any other readers as I've noticed queries on how to connect sub amps to bass shakers come up quite often on this forum:

The wires coming out of the back of the amp connect to the loudspeaker or bass shaker - normally they need to be extended to reach.

The signal is fed to the amp via the left RCA input on the front panel if it is a mono signal e.g. .1 (LFE).

The signal is fed to the left and right RCA inputs if it is a stereo signal e.g. when using the RCA stereo outputs of a PS3 when the PS3 is in multi-out mode. NB these and almost all subwoofer amps are mono amps and a stereo signal is combined into a mono output, therefore to use these amps with Simvibe four are needed for chassis mode.

The high level inputs and outputs are used when using the amp to power an audible subwoofer when that subwoofer is being added to a stereo audio system which does not have a .1 (LFE) output i.e. instead of the amplified signal going to the stereo speakers it goes to the high level inputs on the sub amp, the high level outputs from the sub amp then go to the stereo speakers. The audio subwoofer speaker is connected via the leads at the back of the amp - the stereo signal has now been split between the sub and the stereo speakers creating a 2.1 system. The phase, gain and low pass filter controls are then adjusted to suit the speaker system and room.

 

[Paul33993]

Yeah, I eventually figured it out. I was thrown by the specs stating it could power 1X100 or 2X50 (Mono) and decided that since there were four banana inputs (enough for two speakers), surely the banana plugs must somehow play a role in it. LOL

Thanks, anyways.

 

[greekbull]

An update of my theater seat Rig. I built this as a variation of the PVC rig Simul8r designed. With a couple of spare cup holders bolted into the top deck so it simply plugs into my home theater seats. I originally built it with a set of T500 pedals with the Basher Break mod. It was nice but not where I wanted it. I recently ordered a CPX adapter from Basher that came in Monday and what a world of difference it makes now using my TX base, GTE addon wheel, and CSP V2s!!!! I added a thicker viscocity oil and a stiffer shock to the CSPs and got everything nice and dialed in with the CPX adapter settings. Totally changes the experience and blows away the T500 pedals I was using in the past!



I'm using my rig with a 135" HD 1080P projector setup that actually gives me about the perfect cockpit vantage point from my seat. Zero movement or flex in the rig. It's rock solid. Now I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the TH8A shifter