inkmonkey

Little overwhelmed and need help planning

Hey there. My first post here and I must commend everyone for the wealth of knowledge they have created. Incredible forum!

I apologize as I suppose this has been asked dozens of times but I'm quite green to HT and trying to learn as much as I can in a short amount of time. Time is short because I am currently in the framing stage of my basement where my HT will of course be housed. We are trying to get it done quick as we have twins on the way in a couple months and may never leave the house again. So I have a small window to get my wiring done before drywall gets slapped up.

I just want to get my infrastructure in place for now. I am on a modest budget and want the best bang for my buck on my purchases.

I am planning for an overhead projector setup. So I THINK I need to buy a long HDMI cable and run it in wall from wherever my receiver will be situated to wherever my projector will be situated. Is that all there is to it? Thanks to this forum I found monoprice but I am quite confused as to the type to buy. I see tin, silver, etc. Any difference? Anything else I should know in that regard?

Other than that do I simply need to run several speaker wire runs from the receiver location to each planned speaker location? What is the best "value" wire to use here? This I have no idea about.

I am very appreciative of any advice you can give and grateful if you take it easy on the newb. I look forward to hanging around here and absorbing info.

Robert_J

Re: Little overwhelmed and need help planning

If you run a single HDMI cable then you will need a receiver that can "upconvert" every source to HDMI. Otherwise, you would probably want to run a component, composite and s-video as well. You can't have too many wires. And don't forget a power outlet in the ceiling.

For speaker wires, just get some in-wall speaker wire from Monoprice but Home Depot or Lowes should have some if you want to save on shipping. Since most subs are powered, you need to run a long sub cable or do like most of us and run RG-6 that you can terminate with RCA plugs.

While you are running RG-6, you can also do the same for your component and composite cables to the projector. I'm using RG-6 for sub, composite, component, digital coax, satellite, RF audio/video and analog audio. It's a very versitile cable as long as you have the correct plug on the end. You can even use a pair for s-video with adapters.

-Robert

inkmonkey

Re: Little overwhelmed and need help planning

Thanks Robert. I'll try and digest what you've given me before asking more questions.

As far as the HDMI cables from monoprice - which variations am I looking for exactly?

Thank you in advance.

Robert_J

Re: Little overwhelmed and need help planning

In-wall rated.

-Robert

Allan Jayne

Re: Little overwhelmed and need help planning

If you are unsure of exactly where speakers and equipment will go, that will slow you up a lot.

The experts recommend 12 gauge speaker wire for runs over 20 feet including from the wall to the speaker and from the wall to the receiver. I think 14 gauge for runs up to 30 feet is OK.

Video hints: Constructing a Basement Home Theater

>>> you can't have too many wires...
Read: If in doubt, put it in. It is more likely you will end up needing a wire you did not put in as opposed to end up with wires you do not need.

Enigmatism415

Re: Little overwhelmed and need help planning

Let me set you up with a couple of hypothetical setups.

Plan A:
Designate a section in the front of your room for your "equipment rack," which includes an A/V Receiver/Amplifier and Video Source(s) (Video-game console, Movie console, Television Console). Next, connect these video consoles to your Receiver, and your Receiver to the LFE, Left, Center, and Right speakers. The only cables you'll have to run to the back of the room are two speaker cables (for the surround-left and surround-right speakers), and an HDMI1.3 cable (for your projector).

Plan B:
Place your "equipment rack" under your projector in the back of the room. Connect the video sources to the A/V Receiver and then run three speaker wires to the front of the room for the Left, Center, and Right speakers. Next, run a Digital Coax (RCA-connector) cable to the front-right or front-left of the room for your LFE (subwoofer).

Some tips on A/V Receivers:
- Try to get an A/V receiver that up-converts your video sources to 1080p, if you have non-HD(480i/480p) or partial-HD(720p/1080i) sources you wish to view. If it cannot up-convert your video sources to full HD and you wish to view non-HD media, you will have to wire Composite/S-Video/Component cables to your projector in addition to HDMI, which is a pain.
- Get a receiver with [Dolby Digital EX / Pro-LogicIIx] and [DTS ES/Neo:6 96/24] (These are pretty standard 5.1/6.1 specs these days for decent average-priced receivers).
- iPod connectivity isn't totally necessary but certainly doesn't hurt.

An example of a setup:
- 5.1 Digital A/V Receiver (Up-converting; 1080p HDMI1.3 to projector)
- XBOX360 (Component Video, Optical Cable)
- BluRay/DVD Player or Playstation 3 (HDMI)
- VHS VCR (Composite Video, RCA Stereo)
- Digital Cable / Satellite set-top box (Component Video, Digital Coax Cable)
- Laserdisc Player (S-Video, Digital Coax Cable)
(for audio)
- CD Changer (Optical Cable)
- Dual Cassette Deck (x2 RCA Stereo)
- Turntable (RCA Stereo + GND)

inkmonkey

Re: Little overwhelmed and need help planning

Thanks everyone.

So do I need the HDMI 1.3a? My concern with that is the lengths are a little shorter than I hope. I'm gonna need a 35 footer to have some wiggle room I think.