The Frey Home Projection Theater

Frey Theater Photos - Basement Layout
The Frey Theater Marquee Photo

This Image, used for the Frey Home Theater and this website, was actually modified from the original photograph seen at right, using photo editing software on a computer.		This is the original photograph of the marquee at the State Theater in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For the Frey Theater Image at right, I modified the STATE lettering, removed the dark guy-wire mounts at the top edge of the wall, and also altered the green "Now Showing Upstairs" and the wording on the white letter-board below.

The Lobby Area

When walking into the basement from the garage, the first thing you will see is the food table where all the snacks and drinks are laid out for the evening. The back part of the theater is visible at rear - the projector on the ceiling, the rear speakers and Subwoofer, and the tall cabinet for the surround system components.

A framed 8x10 print of the Frey Theater marquee photo hangs on the wall of the theater above the concession table.

At the bottom of the basement stairs, next to the

door leading out to the garage, is an upright freezer

which I have converted into a keg refrigerator.

I keep a half keg of Yuengling Premium at just

above freezing so the beer is always Ice cold!

Come to any Movie Night, and the

BEER IS FREE!

On the side wall near the Keg Fridge is a really nice neon beer sign for the Yuengling Brewery, a local Pennsylvania brewery that makes the beer I usually keep on tap. The sign was purchased at a real bargain - I only paid $75 for this slighty-used sign from a Bargain Counter ad in the local newspaper, but later discovered the sign sells new for $600 everywhere it is available! WooHoo!

The Theater Area - Past and Present

October 2007

Walking over towards the theater area, you get a

better view of the rear speakers and subwoofer,

the projector on the ceiling, and the Audio/Video Cabinet.

The speaker wiring on the floor will eventually

be routed up through the ceiling

August 2008

The current rear-theater area looks quite different now - the walls have been painted blue, the A/V rack has been moved, the speaker wires running across the floor have been re-routed through the ceiling, a movie poster marquee and a DVD rack has been added on the far wall, and the subwoofer has been upgraded.

Inside the cabinet is the meat of the audio and video

system; From top, an HDMI Switch, DirecTV HD

receiver, Pioneer Elite DVD player, Fuhrman Power Conditioner, 3 BSR Equalizers, a Parasound preamp, a

Carver 5-channel THX Amp, two Carver M-500t Amps,

and my HTPC computer for recording DirecTV broadcasts.

The main "power plants" for my audio system are these three Carver power amps seen here: a Carver Premier 705A 5-channel home theater amp with 200 watts per channel, used for the Center and Rear channels, and two Carver M-500t amplifiers configured for bridged-mono mode at 700 watts each, which drive the two front-main speakers. Along with the 1,000 watt powered Subwoofer in the mix, there is over 3,000 total watts available to create a very intense aural experience!

A Mitsubishi HD-1000U DLP Projector is mounted to

the joists above the drop ceiling. This projector has a

native 720p widescreen resolution for High Definition video.

The rear of the projector shows the two simple cord connections, one for power and one for HDMI video.

There are also jacks available for VGA, Component,

S-Video, and Composite signals.

October 2007

A close-up view of the front of the room, with my original Advent

center channel speaker on the floor under the screen. This

rather small speaker has now been replaced with a new

Premier Audio PA-8 Center speaker, seen at right.

December 2007

The size of the PA-8 Center Channel speaker is pretty impressive - Two ported 8-inch drivers, 3-inch midrange, and 1" dome tweeter. It will handle 400w peak power, is 26" wide,

and weighs almost 30 pounds! The copper-colored polycarbonate cones really compliment the

solid cherry top and bottom wood panels, while

the two side panels sport a gloss-black piano finish.

December 2007

This view of the theater shows the navy blue painted walls, and the front and center channel drivers with their grills removed..

August 2008

The beige carpet was replaced after rain water seeped into the basement and ruined it. The new carpet is black to help minimize screen reflections. A new plum-colored,

carpeted stage has been constructed, to protect

the speakers from getting wet.

January 2008

A new addition to the theater is these three framed posters mounted on the wall behind the screen and visible when the screen is retracted. I wanted these posters to appear like paintings hanging on a wall, so I purposely looked for

"A-run" or "teaser" posters, those that come out before

a movie opens and usually have little or no text or movie

info on them. Here we see posters of Star Wars 3,

Spiderman 3, and Pirates 3,

August 2008

Not too much has changed here except for the addition of the purple stage platform and black carpet on the floor. The teaser posters are the smaller 24x36" size, and are mounted in black wooden poster frames. I would eventually like to install eyeball lights in the drop ceiling in front of the posters for illumination

October 2007

The front Channel Speakers are a huge pair of

Cerwin Vega 380 SE (Special Edition) speakers

with upgraded drivers - 15 inch woofers with

cloth surrounds, two 7-inch midranges and a 2" tweeter.

These babies will handle 400 Watts/1000 Watts peak,

and each speaker weighs a dainty 95 pounds!

December 2007

My 8 year old Daughter Elizabeth stands next to

on of the Cerwin Vegas to help illustrate the

massive size of these monsters.

My main front-row seating is a used, black

"pleather" sofa with two reclining end seats. It's not

the prettiest thing, but those two end recliners

sure are comfy when watching a long movie!

My 11 year old daughter Anna stretches out

and relaxes on one of the reclining end seats on the sofa.

Just try not to fall asleep during the movie!

November 2007

The rear surround speakers feature a pair of Infinity

SM-152 that are taller but only half the weight of the

Cerwin Vegas up front. The cabinet on the right is a

JBL 12" long-throw sub with an internal 400 watt RMS amp.

September 2008

The big Infinity's also have 15" woofers,

with two 5-inch mids and a 1' dome tweeter.

This new 15" Nuonic ATAK Class Subwoofer

features an awesome 1000 watt RMS amp -

this fellow can easily shake the house when needed!

I also have a movie poster light box mounted on the

theater wall, just behind the surround speakers. The light box features marquee race lights around the edges, and has one of my favorite movie posters of Charlize Theron installed! We're all ready for Movie night now...

This is one of a Lot of 15 Art Deco style wall sconces I acquired

to mount on the walls of the theater room. They are all metal,

and will need to be repainted to a proper color for the decor.

They will each be installed on a 3-tier, decorative plywood Art Deco pattern mounted to the walls in the center of each wall panel.

The sconces currently have fluorescent fixtures and transformers in them; I will be converting them over to incandescent lamps

so they can be used on a dimmer control, just as in

a real movie theater.

The Guests

Some of the Thursday night attendees from January 10, 2008 congregate around the concession table after viewing "The Bourne Ultimatum" to socialize a bit before heading home for the night. Terry Zink took this snapshot with his cell phone camera. From left: Matt Klunk, Darren Weller, Fred Rowe, and Matthew Frey.	Another motley-looking crowd relaxes by the concession table during the intermission at the Saturday Movie night on January 12, 2008. From left, Craig Williams, Kyle Mabry, John Kropleski, Michael Kurtz, Brent Haas, and Gene Shaiebly. We had plenty of snack foods that night, as witnessed by the table full of open bags.

The guests for the Thursday, February 7th showing of "The Kingdom" included (from Left) Matthew Frey, Fred Rowe, Greg Sollenberger, Moon Phongxaysanith, Matthew Klunk, Gene Shaiebly, and Terry Zink. Along with host Troy Frey, this was probably one of the larger groups in attendance since the Frey Theater moved to the Manheim location. Good turnout for a really good movie!

A good shot of everyone in their seats as they watch the drama "The Kingdom." This movie is very gripping - the photo here was snapped right at the climax of the film, which is an intense and somewhat gruesome moment. The grimaces on the viewers faces tell the story...