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Hey mackie, that reminds me. I just listened to a pair of Studio 60 speakers and a monster Paradigm sub at a small local audio/video shop. After fifty years in business, the place really needs to be remodeled. The room was 9x11 with nothing but a chair in the center, with hollow walls that felt...

I just purchased a pair of Newton M80 bookshelf speakers for our modest home theater (Integra 6.2 Receiver, JVC XV-N410B DVD, Newton MC300 center, Newton S200 surrounds, Sony KP46WT500 television). They replaced my two smaller MC200 units from the same line which I moved into another room...

I've got a 92" 16:9 Da-Lite Contour Electric and I'm very happy with the overall quality. The motor is quite smooth and makes a "vrrrr" sound that is not unpleasant. I don't have the tensioned option but, honestly, the quality of construction is such that I feel tensioning isn't a requirement in...

Yeah, man. I had that $1,000 earmarked and Robert_J had to come along and rain on my parade ;) Now I'll have to spend that money on equipment that will actually work the way I want it! Damnit! :D Sean.

Ugh. Then I'll wait a bit longer before getting a unit. Thanks for the info. Sean.

When we moved to Blacksburg, VA from Orwell, VT in June, I stopped by the Adelphia store and was surprised to learn that I could get the Explorer HD-DVR for a small monthly fee.... Fifteen minutes after walking into the joint, I was walking out with a big box of juicy goodness. That was four...

I had to look twice because for just a moment it looked like you moved into the bedroom of my house :) You might consider bolting a small platform on each side of the entertainment center for your speakers. What you have looks like MDF and it should be strong enough to hold your speakers on...

I goofed around in Lightwave 3D and from 7 feet (eyeballs to screen) a good placement would be at least 3 feet away from the dead center of the screen. So you should be good with shelf or side-of-wall-unit placement. I'd consider the stands though; they would look better and you wouldn't have to...

Here are some of my thoughts, FWIW. If the l/r mains are placed on the shelves then (it seems) they won't be at the proper angle with respect to the listening position. Dolby recommends a 45 degree angle for 5.1 soundtracks for proper imaging. To get to roundabout 45 degrees you will likely...

I have the Sony KP46WT500, and I very highly recommend this line of televisions. I would caution you against the Hitachi 46F500 if you're considering it along with the Sony. The primary reason is that Hitachi's F500 series is their new "economy" line. The Sony line has a higher build quality and...

John, Don't get me wrong I like those industrial storage cabinets. Actually, I don't have that $210 cabinet myself, but Wes was looking for something cheap so I browsed around for a few minutes to find him something. As for my own DVD storage solution, I'll be building my own integrated...

Check this out: Rollout Cabinet for $210 holds 375 DVDs I think $210 is pretty cheap considering the utility of the cabinet. We you considering that industrial style cabinet because you plan on putting a TV on top? Sean.

Nice work! I like the open style. How are you going to be handling wire management? I also found that modeling a furniture design in 3D really helped flesh out the project. For our entertainment center my goal is to hide everything when the TV isn't being used (which is quite often...

In your environment I would recommend upgrading a different piece of your equipment. Proper 7.1 audio can't be designed into that room without some major guesswork, and in the end, you could very well end up with sub-par 7.1 (read: waste of money). Your money may be better spent upgrading your...

It might take "One" coat for someone with a $700 spray gun :). The rest of us have to trudge along with our 18th century brushes! Sean.

Aaron, The service manual for the kp46-wt500 includes instructions for doing manual convergence through the service menu. Converging is actually adjusting the geometry :) Since you are moving r/g/b beams on a grid. If you're not paying attention, you can correct your convergence but at the...

Hey Dan maybe he's 90% deaf? :D Turn it up! Sean.

Daniel, I live in the country, so my suggestion might not work well with the way city folk (grin) interact with eachother, but have you considered asking your neighbor to help you locate your acceptable audio level? For example, you could arrange a time with him, then have a friend remain in...

What type of motorized screens have you priced? The snack bar and sofa placement also force the room to be "off center". One concept that springs to mind is this: Add a wall approx. 3.5 feet from the entrance wall extending from the utility door wall to within three feet of the right...

Projection. Heh! Dolby. Heh! A Jedi craves not these things. Screen size matters not! Judge it by its size, do you? Begun, this home theater obsession has... Dangerous and disturbing, this hobby is. Meditate on this, I will... Sorry, couldn't resist :D Sean.

Jay, I agree that speakers on shelves aren't ideal. So to address this in my own wall unit design, each side cabinet section is tapered from 26" next to the center section, down to 12" on the outside edges. The taper creates room for both left/right speaker stands. Also, with this design the...

If you want both the RPTV and the front projector to share your home theater audio system then I would suggest keeping both in the dedicated theater. If you don't care, and don't mind having a house invaded by televisions (grin) then put the RPTV in the family room. My own opinion (likely a...

I'd make sure you're measuring the distance between your eyeballs and the screen, and not the edge of your sofa. Unless you're 1 foot tall, the difference can be as much as 3 feet which changes viewing angle calculations significantly. If your first row of seats are 11' away in a 11x14 room...

Yes, the corner is not an ideal location although it may be the only option for your room. It makes it difficult to place your surround speakers in a balanced way. I have the same TV and find that a 9 foot viewing distance (eyeball to screen) is the best compromise between TV and DVD viewing...

Hey, big improvements! If you have friends over to watch movies then I hope you have them take their tennis shoes off before hopping on your bed with their bowl of popcorn :) You asked for input and I have a creative suggestion. You mentioned some sort of cloth mural cover for the screen, so...

For what its worth, here are some considerations and suggestions: It looks like your screen will be a 16:9 110" diagonal. At 22 feet from eyeball to screen, your viewing angle is almost 21 degrees. This is comparable to sitting 9 feet from a 46" widescreen - something that I do at home. While...

Yes! That's a very nice home theater setup. You did a fantastic job and thanks for providing the photos! Sean.

Well, competition naturally controls the amount of dealer markup. If there isn't much competition, then there is less pressure on the dealer to reduce the markup amount. The only benefit of using a professional designer and installer is getting a more professional final product and having the...

Can you post a picture? It's hard to offer up a good suggestion without seeing it. My first suggestion would be to try coating it with some sort of acrylic clearcoat spray paint. That might put a damper on the vibration without totally screwing up the functionality of the spring. You might also...

If you tap a glass pane with your finger and hear rattling then the pane itself might not be snug inside the window frame. If this is the case then look for visible areas where the glass and frame aren't snug. If you can find any areas like this, then inject some basic bathroom sealant with a...