Movie Night!

scubalab
scubalab Posts: 3,103
in The Clubhouse
Well, our first ever outdoor movie night was a tremendous success last Friday evening. We decided that since Finding Dory opened Friday, that we'd show Finding Nemo to kick off our summer movie nights.

The setup rocked, and worked perfectly. I had an old Da-lite 92" fixed frame screen that I mounted to some 10' PVC pipe in our side yard. I used a nice projector I picked up last winter at Penn State's Surplus store. It was a pro series projector (720p) pulled from a university conference room with only 752 hours on the lamp. Picked it up for $75!

I used my Oppo BDP-83 for the blu-ray and as a 5 channel pre and an old B&K AV5000 amp to drive the 5 channels (Paradigm Studio 40 fronts, Boston VR-920 center, and Polk RT25i surrounds). Had to adjust the gain on the channels through the Oppo, but it worked great, was able to adjust the volume using the Oppo, and the sound level was WAY more than adequate! If the neighbor was home, I'm sure she would have noticed!

We had about 40-50 people (adults and kids), some nice cold beers, great burgers, tons of delicious sides, and great weather. Hopefully we'll be doing this again every 2-3 weeks this summer.

Pics to follow shortly!
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Comments

  • scubalab
    scubalab Posts: 3,103
    The initial setup and trial...

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  • scubalab
    scubalab Posts: 3,103
    Feature Presentation...
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  • scubalab
    scubalab Posts: 3,103
    The Bartenders (serving drinks and fresh popped popcorn for the price of One "Dory Dollar")...4r5nqnissqfh.jpg
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,596
    edited June 2016
    Good stuff man!

    I'm glad it worked out like you wanted. I'm gonna steal your idea eventually myself, although I may go a bit more ghetto and just use the side of my shed as the screen :wink: lol....

    Was the projector on that rack with the amp and blu-ray player, or elsewhere?
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • scubalab
    scubalab Posts: 3,103
    Nothin' wrong with goin' ghetto, Dan! I happened to have a good functioning old screen I was able to repurpose! Though I will say that 92" was a little small, since some of the viewing was from 50-70 feet away on the patio.

    Yes, the 'custom' (ghetto) rack I built had the amp on the first shelf, the Oppo on the second shelf, and the PJ on the top shelf. I made the top shelf deeper and put the center speaker on the top shelf behind the PJ.

    I thought I took some pics of the actual setup (rack), but I mustn't have... Next time, I'll snap a few pics of the gear.

    Definitely worth the effort. Great family night with friends and neighbors. DO IT!
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,596
    Thanks I figured thats what you did but wanted to verify :smile:
    scubalab wrote: »
    Definitely worth the effort. Great family night with friends and neighbors. DO IT!

    Yeah, if I do something like that I will probably seek out some super cheap Polk Monitor speakers to store in the shed when not in use so I dont have to move the LSi's outside lol.......

    Maybe mount them on long stakes or something.

    Plus with the in-laws down the street we could do it a bunch.

    I've long wanted to do "Release" parties for kids movies where we have a red carpet type deal lol...

    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • scubalab
    scubalab Posts: 3,103
    Good idea on the dedicated speakers! I was a nervous wreck having my good speakers out on stands in the yard. I have to say though, that the kids were great, and kept their distance from the equipment.
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,596
    scubalab wrote: »
    Good idea on the dedicated speakers! I was a nervous wreck having my good speakers out on stands in the yard. I have to say though, that the kids were great, and kept their distance from the equipment.

    Yeah, that was my first thought, that or them tipping due to the fact my yard slopes a bit, plus I have dogs.

    I'd probably do some Monitor 40's so I could "keystone" mount them to a large post which I could then drive into the ground so they would be somewhat safe.
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • polk500
    polk500 Posts: 1,171
    scubalab wrote: »
    Good idea on the dedicated speakers! I was a nervous wreck having my good speakers out on stands in the yard. I have to say though, that the kids were great, and kept their distance from the equipment.

    Nice back/side yard set up Brother, Now thats the way to host a party and it looks like you guys had a good time.
    I would love to that here but it wouldn't get dark enough till after midnight.

    Roger
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  • scubalab
    scubalab Posts: 3,103
    Thanks Roger! Midnight? How far north ARE you? :#
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  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,794
    Darn near the North pole, Al. Santa lives just down the road, eh.
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  • polk500
    polk500 Posts: 1,171
    Yup me and Santa are neighbors.
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  • scottyboy76
    scottyboy76 Posts: 2,905
    My invite must have gotten lost in the mail. lol

    Nice turnout and setup, the kids must have had a ball.
    humpty dumpty was pushed
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  • scubalab
    scubalab Posts: 3,103
    Dan, Russ, Roger, Scott, you guys are all more than welcome to stop by anytime you're in/near State College, PA! Russ, all I ask is that you let us know in advance so you don't scare the kids... :o Roger, you might have to take a 'list' home with you to give to your neighbor! Like the new Avatar pic... where is that (obviously not the North Pole!)?

    Would love to meet you guys in person some day!
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  • polk500
    polk500 Posts: 1,171
    Yup you're correct not the pole (I live in a small city called Grande Prairie, Alberta it's pretty far north but still along way from the pole), the picture was taken on a stunning beach near Loreto, Mexico, on the Baja Peninsula we were visiting some friends in May good times.

    Very kind offer, and we are planning to start doing the snowbird thing in the next few years so you never know one of these days you may see a big **** motorhome pull up...

    Cheers
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 342
    Legendary!
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  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,794
    polk500 wrote: »
    in the next few years so you never know one of these days you may see a big **** motorhome pull up...

    Cheers
    "That there's an RV, Clark....."
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,002
    ......and you can bet he'll be coasting into town on fumes. lol
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • scubalab
    scubalab Posts: 3,103
    lightman1 wrote: »
    polk500 wrote: »
    in the next few years so you never know one of these days you may see a big **** motorhome pull up...

    Cheers
    "That there's an RV, Clark....."

    Too Funny Russ. That's EXACTLY what I was thinking. You forgot this part though...

    "But don't you go fallin' in love with it now... 'cause we're takin' it with us when we leave here next month"
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  • scubalab
    scubalab Posts: 3,103
    edited July 2016
    Movie Night, version 2.0 was an even bigger success! Disney's Zootopia was the feature. We had 60 plus guests tonight. Great food, great drinks, and the best company! Kids once again worked the bar (they even earned some tips). Served fresh popcorn and ice cold drinks throughout the feature! I think we've got ourselves a summertime tradition started!

    Roger, I waited all night for an RV to pull in!

    Here's some pics:

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    The equipment (after I put the center speaker away - it sits right behind the projector):

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  • polk500
    polk500 Posts: 1,171
    Nice stand, love the cantilevered shelf for the projector not bad carpenter skills Al.

    I was there but got lost in that crowd brother....

    Cheers
    Roger
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  • mark090852
    mark090852 Posts: 996
    Very nice Al. What a great way to spend a summer evening!
    McIntosh MA252 Integrated Amp, LUMIN D2 Network Music Player, Yamaha Aventage RX-A840 receiver, Emotiva XPA Gen3 2 channel amp, Polk LSiM 703 speakers. Oppo UDP-203 Blu-Ray player, Polk LSiM 705 speakers. Polk Signature S20 speakers.
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  • scubalab
    scubalab Posts: 3,103
    Thanks Roger! I whipped that up in a couple minutes with some scrap wood we had. It works great.

    Mark - I should have mentioned our movie night to you; we're practically neighbors! It was a great night. Beautiful weather, cool evening breeze, and all around great fun.
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