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Being "Clark Howard" cheap, I personally would welcome any technology that will upconvert my existing DVD collection to better quality - even if it is NOT a "Blu-Ray Killer". I will buy a Blu-Ray player some day, but I will only buy "special" movies - like my favorite concerts or great action...

Thanks for all of your time and effort to help me!!!!

The Quikcrete tube is acutally 8.25" on the ID. Thanks, Bud

Ok, so you think I should trim the ports to 32". Any other suggestions before I close it up? Thanks, Bud

I was working off of the recommendations in this thread - I do not have any modeling software, and this is a one time project for me, so I am hoping to get by without having to buy anything. It was recommended that I use a 35-36" tube to tune it @ 13Hz. Any other suggestions before I seal the...

I know it has been awhile, but my oldest daughter started playing travel softball so my free time to work on the HT went to zero. I am picking it back up now and am about to finish installation of the subwoofer. My question is regarding insulation of the subwoofer cabinet. Do I need to put some...

I have a BENQ W10000 and they have a really cool placement calculator on their website for all of the projectors BENQ offers. http://www.benq.com/product/projector/calculator/ It is really helpful in determing how big your screen can be based on the placement of the projector in relation...

Outdoor theaters will never match the picture quality or audiophile sound capability of a custom built HT, they are still a lot of fun and with a little bug spray, a Monticristo #2, and a good guys movie or concert DVD I am one happy camper.

While I will admit that this is really cool and kudos to you for spending the time and effort to come up with such an "out of the box" idea, but I have to ask a question - since you have a projector why would you want to watch anything on the regular TV? It is kind of like watching shows in HD -...

As Robert mentioned earlier, the projector you use will have a BIG influence on the quality of the picture and the mounting location. If you have not bought the projector, I would recommend finding the best mouting location for the projector and then by a projector that works well from that...

A friend of mine and I just built a 300" outdoor movie theater using a canvas he bought off the internet and some 2" PVC for a frame. It is a lot of fun watching movies outside when the weather permits and as an added bonus I can smoke cigars while watching a movie without my wife having a...

A friend of mine and I built a 300" outdoor screen with a canvas he bought off the internet and some 2" PVC for a frame. It works great and it makes for some great movie nights with the families. I brought it up because I think the black out cloth or a canvas would work great and can be done for...

If you have carpeting in the room and you are trying to run speaker wires of reasonable guage a lot of the time you can tuck them under the baseboards with the carpet. Then I would cut a small hole in the sheetrock above the baseboard to fish them into the wall. Good Luck, Bud

I get Parts Express catalogs in the mail and they usually have a 'do-it-yourself' speaker design article. Awhile back there was a project for building a down firing low profile sub that would slide under most couches. I bet if you contacted them they would be happy to provide you the information...

Sound board is great, but if you are going to use it on a wall that you want to finish like regular sheetrock you are going to have to add a second layer on top or put wallpaper or a faux finish on it. I used anaglypta wallpaper from Home Depot and it came out great. Gives the walls a 3D look...

I had the same issue, so what I did was buy a Sansui 50" plasma TV. It fit perfectly into the space above my fireplace and it has a speaker mounted at the bottom of the TV. Now for the best part - it has an HDMI input, but it will allow me to chose whether to use the HDMI audio or an external...

An important element to your question is how much time, effort and money do you want to spend to ahieve the results you are looking for? The main component is to try to minimize the base frequencies that are traveling through the ceiling. One way is to build a second set of ceiling studs that...

My HT is still under construction, but I have been to some HT stores and watched the Blu-Ray and HD DVDs and they are awesome. The problem I am going to have is I have 300+ SD DVDs and I am way to cheap to buy the HD DVD replacements when they come out, so while I may splurge and buy a couple of...

Cable companies will not guarantee an HDMI connection on their set top boxes for a couple of reasons. 1) Some HD set top boxes only have component outputs, 2) Some HD set top boxes have a DVI output, 3) Set top boxes with an HDMI output are not always compatible with other HDMI components...

Sound board covered in fabric makes a very cost effective accoustical wall panel, but don't expect it to work miracles especially with base frequencies. Good Luck!

During initial construction it is easy to run electrical wires. Therefore, I would suggest you run wiring for both wall sconces and can lights. You can install both - with dimmers - then use the ones that work best for any given situation. My $0.02 would be that can lights are more practical...

Now that I am 80%+ finished with my theater, the one thing that I missed during my HT planning was to budget for insulation. I insulated my riser, my stage, the walls, ceiling, and trays. At the end of the project I probably have $800+ in insulation. Insulation is one of those things that are...

Here is a website that gives some really good information on seating arrangements, screen size and viewing angles. There are a lot of variables to consider and changing one variable effects the others. http://www.myhometheater.homestead.c...alviewing.html Good Luck, Bud

I don't know that it is a requirement, but I would highly recommend that you do it if your budget will allow. Any hollow spaces in your theater could rattle of resonate if the cavity is not filled. Good Luck, Bud

The general rule of thumb with seating distance is 1.5X your screen dimension. This is subject to personal preference and can also be effected by the resolution of your projector. Higher resolution projectors allow for closer viewing without the "screen door" effect. Solid core doors should...

I have never heard of a subwoofer cracking tile floors, but I agree with Eric - it would make a great sales pitch for a subwoofer manufacturer. Kind of like the old commercials where a guys glasses cracked when his buddy cranks up the stereo. Anyway, my thought would be that the cracks in...

I do not know your DIY abilities, but if the room does not have any crown molding you can add some - it makes a great place to hide speaker wires. If it already has crown molding you can add another piece below the existing molding and hide some speaker wires in the gap. Then you can drop the...

I am not sure who told you not to put carpet directly on the concrete flooring, but it is done all the time here (Atlanta, GA) in basements and on slab foundations. Do the plastic test and if it looks OK just put the carpet and the pad directly onto the concrete and just run a dehumidier in the...

The most important thing you have to do right now is run all of the wires you can think of before the sheetrock goes up! I did not see a reference as to what type of TV you are planning to use, but it will make a BIG DIFFERENCE is the wiring configuration. Most mid/high end projectors have...

The rule of thumb I have always used is the same as Jim - eye level of your first row of seats (in case you have risers) should be 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of your screen. The other consideration is where are you going to mount your projector and how well does your projector adjust to...