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New House ??'s

#1
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6/18/09 at 7:08pm
  • Joined: January 2009
  • Post Count: 16
so i'm working w/ the electrical contractors for my new house which begins framing next week. i plan on getting directv w/ hd dvr. i know that this will use 2 cables from the box to satellite. is it worth it to get this done? they also offer the "in-ceiling" speakers made by SUN. is it worth it to go this route or should i spend my money towards the granite countertops (something else). I feel comfortable fishing speaker cables/hdmi once the drywall is up so i just wanted your opinions on what stuff you would do through the electrical/audio contractors at this point. thanks in advance! this is the company doing the cabling... http://www.sstsun.com/index.htm
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#2
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6/18/09 at 7:37pm
  • Joined: January 2004
  • Location: Mechanicsburg, PA
  • Post Count: 1,116

Re: New House ??'s

The DVR's no longer require 2 cables. You can get a "Single Wire Multiswitch" that allows you to have one cable for each unit.

Skip the in-ceiling speakers. They are great for grocery stores and background music. Not good for home theater.
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#3
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6/18/09 at 7:42pm
  • Joined: August 2000
  • Location: Southaven, MS
  • Post Count: 4,539

Re: New House ??'s

While we were building I explained to the electrician what I needed for phone, DirecTV and speaker cables. He looked at me for a sec and just told me to mark where I wanted him to drill holes. He drilled and I ran all of my cabling over a weekend when no one else was working.

What will you be using your ceiling speakers for? They are fine for background music and to save some money, the Dayton line from Parts Express is great. Don't get them for home theater use. I did compromise and use them for my surrounds of a 5.1 system in the living room.

If you plan on having more than 4 tuners in your D* system them you will have a multi-switch. That means you will need to run all of your cables to a central location in the attic or basement. For me it was easier to put all of my equipment in the theater room. I have three D* DVR's there and feed both my projector in the theater and my HDTV in the living room from them. I use a Monoprice 4x2 Matrix switch box to direct the signals. So plan ahead and run extra wires.

-Robert
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#4
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6/18/09 at 7:56pm
  • Joined: January 2009
  • Post Count: 16

Re: New House ??'s

thanks for the quick replies. its good to know the directv hd dvr uses only one cable now. in regards to the in-ceiling speakers, i was gonna use em for my HT hooked to a onkyo sr806. i was looking at some polk in ceiling speakers.
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#5
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6/19/09 at 4:44am
  • Joined: August 2000
  • Location: Southaven, MS
  • Post Count: 4,539

Re: New House ??'s

If you are going for sound quality, skip the ceiling speakers. Buy real speakers.

I always forget about the D* SWM since I went HD before this was available. I'd still run extra cables for things like video distribution, atting an antenna or security cams.

-Robert
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