First home theater progress (With Pictures) Opinions/suggestions/coments welcomed. (1 Viewer)

I have been home for about six weeks and the HT is coming along just great. Since I started my research on this site I figured it only fare to give an update of our progress.

The beginning: My old system is between 10-15 years old to include the TV, audio system, DVD player and speakers. In this time, I did little to NO research so I came to this site blind of all knowledge on the HT experience. Over the past two years I have been away from home (Actually out of Country for most of those two years) and during this time I thought about updating our "Computer/ storage room" into a home theater room. Originally I planned on dropping $5,000 into the room but with little research and lots of recommendations I learned that it's better to do lots of research before I purchase anything... Sage advice indeed; that said, I decided to build the HT over the next year doing the research and they purchasing one item at a time. Here is our progress.

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First the canvas; we started with a finished (rather small) room, so we are unable and unwilling to build new walls to hide wire etc. Here are the dimensions of the room.



As you can see, there is a closet in the room with one window and one door. I have a few ideas as to how to cover the doorway and window that I will cover below.

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Our first set up looks like this: DONE 10 MAR 09



This is our current set up. We have a desk in the closet that includes our network (Computer and router) and will be the future location of our DVD/Blue ray library a well as our home network. The floor is a low quality rug so we threw down a throw rug to bring the seating and the system together. The far wall holds our current entertainment system and the odd squares and circles in the middle are our misc seating. The only upgrade we did at this point is a Denon receiver, this being the “Hub” in the HT system (Meaning most componants route through the receiver at some point) we thought this would be a nice place to start, we found a great deal on the Denon 2809CI.
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Our next step:
Projected finish date: 25 MAR 09
Seating: Installed 16 MAR 09
BO Curtain: 23 MAR 09 (Backordered)



This photo depicts items currently ordered and will be the next upgrade. The blackout curtain should arrive by the end of the month (Backordered).

SEATING: For seating we decided on duel (Independent) reclining HT seating. We looked into powered seating but figured there would be fewer issues with manual and the price difference was HUGE. We also looked into the shakers and again this brought the price above what I was will into spend at the moment so we will upgrade this in the future. This seating requires only 4" of wall clearance which is great in our rather small room.

Here are the specs:

“2 Seater Row: 70.5"(W) x 32"(D) x 39"(H)
Seat: 23"(W) x 19"(D) x 19.25"(H)
Arm width: 8"
Armrest height: 23"
Reclined clearance: 60.5"(D) fully reclined
Requires 4" wall clearance to fully recline
Requires 24.5" front clearance to fully recline
Material: Leather/Leather Match on the back.”



The seating was easy to assemble right out of the box. The cardboard that they were shipped in looked a bit beat up but the inner package was ample enough to stave off any mars in the leather. Upon opening the seating I noticed one spot (About three inch diameter) that apprears to have been "Re-stained" black. I noticed no scuffs and since the spot is under the upper seat padding (The seat arrives in two pieces, you simplyplace the back on the seat and push down and it is together) when I put the top on the bottom, the spot was hidden.

After I set up the seating I gave it a test run and found that the button release did not operate. I got out the tool box and pulled the cup holder out to look into the seating. I pulled the button and noticed that the wire was moving properly. It took me about 3 minutes to realize the seating was sinking to much into the rug for the gravity system to work. I places a 1X3 under the front of the seating and they work perfectly now. I can not call this a flaw of the seating though it is good info to know. I will eventually place a piece of plywood under the whole seating to level the seating. As of right now, the wood is not that noticable, when I place the playwook under, I will paint it black or apply some tight short rug around the rug to accent the seating.



CURTAIN: Prior to doing research I never heard of "Blackout curtains". Needles to say we needed a curtain to block out the lighting of the one window and we decide on the "Tristan Eclipse Black-out Coordinates" that we saw in JCPenney. We took the info and went home to do some research on line and found them on sale (On line) add a $10 dollar coupon that I found on line and we got them below half price. While researching the curtain we were toying with the idea of completing the room in curtains for a few reasons. First the whole theater effect, second since we are working with a finished room we will have to figure out a way to hide the wiring. Wall curtains will fix this issue. However, this is an expensive avenue to hide a few cables. I estimate the total wall covering will cost about $400. We decided to purchase one set up to cover our window, if we like how it looks we will continue around the room covering all the walls. This will cover the closet, window and door, plus buying on line and installing myself will save about 50% (Half of 800 is the 400 mentioned above).

JCPenney : Tristan Eclipse Black-out Coordinates

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Our next step should look like this:
Projected finish date: TBD (We need to verify the above ordered curtain will cover the wall from ceiling to floor)



Hopefully the walls will be covered; we plan on breaking up the brown with four vertical lines (Curtains) of a tan color. The curtain we chose will not reach the ceiling but we are hoping that the top valance will be able to be moved up to cover the top part of the wall. If not, we are probably going to paint behind the curtain. We also need to figure out if we are going to paint the ceiling. Currently it a popcorn white (I really dislike popcorn ceilings).

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There will be a few more steps (See list below) before we are done but here is our final plan:



As you can see, we will turn the room around. There are many reasons for this but the most obvious is our current set up sits 24” off the wall. When we reverse the room, we will remove the entertainment cabinet (See below) and mount the TV/Projector on the wall. We plan on mounting the curtain a few inches off the wall so we can mount the HDTV behind it, and the valance an inch or two in front of that so the projector screen can drop out from behind it. If we can keep the set up about 12” off the wall it will fit and should look pretty good. When the curtain is closed, you will not see the TV or the screen.


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Here is a list of items we have installed:

IR Dimmer: We located a dimmer at The Home Depot for about $40. I do not intend to install lighting on the walls so we are going to upgrade the ceiling light cover and install a dimmer, this should set a mood.

UPDATE: The dimmer has been installed and it works exactly as planned. This dimmer has a preset that we use to get everyone quiet as a warning that the movie is about to begin. It was very simple to install and took only about 10 mintes.

Ceiling light cover:We had the basic cheapie that home builders install.

UPDATE: We picked up a ceiling light at Home Depot for $50 and intalled it with the dimmer.

Rug:We ordered a new rug for the living room last night so the rug that is in the HT will stay.
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Here is a list of other items I am researching in about the order we will be adding them to our HT:



Wall curtains:Once we verify the blackout curtains fit the wall from ceiling to floor, we will install. If they do not work, we will come up with another plan.

Projector:I have a few in mind, I am looking at the $1,500-$2,500 area.

Projector Screen:We were originally planning on painting this on the wall (Still on the table).

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Here are a few pictures of the setup that I started with:




The beginning, the receiver will be the only thing staying, everything else will get replaced over time.


Our current layout as of 21 MAR 09.



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COST:

1) Receiver: Denon 2809CI
$875.92


Overhead Dome Light:
$54.72


IR Dimmer:
$43.79


Seating:
$710.00


Rug: 7'-10" X 10"-10" (And a runner for the hallway leading into the HT room)
$259.82


Surge protector/Power conditioner: Home Theater PowerCenter™ HTS 2000 MKII with Clean Power™ Stage 2 v.2.0
$170.90


Speakers
SCS-01M-7.0-black Model SCS-01M 7.0 Set with SCS-01M Surrounds Black
*includes three pair SCS-01(M) speakers and one SCS-01 center.
SUB PC12-NSD w/SUB CABLE: IC-5 BetterCables Silver Serpent Interconnect 5m
Speaker mounting brackets (3 pr)
$2,067.13

Base Shaker (2ea)Not installed yet, also 12 Gage wire and connectors.
$149.70


PS3:From what I am reading, this is the best choice for a Blue Ray system.
$465.05 (Plus extra paddle and a game)


HDTV:Panasonic TH-58PZ800U w/wall mount and warranty
$3,355.57 (Delivered)

Speaker tuner
$52.21

TOTAL: $8,204.81

Nice pictures!

You're going to have a projector AND a HDTV?

What kind of speakers are pictured?

Thanks, my wife tells me I am thorough in what I do. Yes, I plan on having both the HDTV for normal use and video games (12 y/o in the house) and a projector for "Movie Night" and events. The way I have it planned, when the room is closed up, you will not see either the TV or screen. I am planning on a retractable screen and curtains on the walls to cover both.

Since I decided to take my time on the build, I don't really have a budget. As the money comes in, I will add to it. Originally I planned on a $5k budget, in the end, I suspect 10-12k will go into it. I am hoping this equipment will last about 10 years or so before it needs to be upgraded so I am trying to buy something a little nice but not to expensive.

The bottom speakers (The white 15" speakers) are from an old Fisher system that I purchased... heck more than 17 years ago. The top 12" black speakers don't have a name on them..lol. I have no idea who made them.

Thanks for the post.

if your looking into conserving room, you could go with in wall speakers (Speaker Craft has some pretty decent ones). Im assuming you want to localize your gear in that closet space to hide it and have a set of components and hdmi (or cat-5 w/ a balun) to the tv location. in that case you'd likely want an RF remote or an IR repeater.

for a sub I would recommend SVS.
as far as bass shakers go. Parts Express is having a special on tactile sound transducers, plus I think they still sell Aura Pro Bass shakers (I have those in my living room theater; definitely a great and cheap improvement).

I think you'd be better off going with 5.1 in a room like that. The side speakers need to be directly to the side of the listening area. You currently have them several feet in front, which I would not recommend. However, if you put them directly to the side of the seating, then they're too close to the back wall and there won't be any separation of sound. So, I'd either just go with 5.1 or move your seating way up (so it's even with the side channels) and go with a much smaller screen.

Great information, thank you for your post. I will be using the closet as a media room to house our DVD/Blue Ray collection as well as our home network. I do not plan on putting the stack in there as it is a little cramped and I will not be able to get behind the equipment easily to make adjustments. In the end, the HDTV will be at the distant wall and the wiring would become a problem.

I looked at SVS speakers and I am probably going to go with their 5.1 system with the upgraded 12 series sub. Thank you for the suggestion. I have read on a few threads on this forum that these are a nice way to go.

As for the shakers. I am concerned about wired coming from my receiver o the shakers. It seems these shakers require direct hook up. If my memory serves me correctly I remember seeing some wireless shakers on the market that I am probably going to look into. Thank you for the link though as their prices seem very reasonable.

You are absolutely correct and I will be gong with the 5.1 system. As many have recommended I will most likely go with the SVS speakers. Thank you for your post as you just saved me a nice chunk of change and I will most likely enjoy the system with proper speaker placement rather than trying to cram extra speakers in the room.

I have a set of SBS-01's (white) which are sitting in my basement ever since we bought our house last Aug. I used to have them in our bedroom at our last place and they were absolutely incredible, I loved them. Unfortunately, aesthetics are getting the best of both of us now, and now for our bedroom, Im again, going to go in-wall. I just ran all my lines from my a/v rack in the basement up for it, now its just a matter of time before I finish it.

as far as the bass shakers go. you just need a speaker line to one and run the other in either series or parallel.

as far as the "stack" just put it on something with wheels to roll out. The lines could be run from either above (if an attic or crawlspace is there), or below (if an un-finished basement or a drop ceiling is there).

I am now searching for a HDTV, any suggestions would be appreciated. As noted above, I did some research, read the reviews and checked the forums. I decided on a Plasm and when I went to the store (HHGregg) the sales guy told me Panasonic as the way to g when purchasing Plasma.

PLUG: Of all the places I visited while doing my research HHGregg has demonstrated the MOST knowledge. I was very impressed with two different sales reps on two different occasions. Needless to say, they had so much info that I had to re-evaluate my whole thought process.

That said, the LCD's were looking great, the Plasmas were looking great, the 58" HDTV's were looking great...

Here is what I know so far:

1) I want a 50-52" set.

2) I want 1080p

3) My room will not have any ambient light, I plan on closing out the window with at least black out cutins, then something actually in the window to further block light. That said, the LCD will not be needed for the brightness and the Plasma will not have a problem with glare.

4) I need to learn more about the 120hz, but from what I know now, this is a must.

This is where I am at now.


(Current layout)



BTW our current 32" TV is below number 1.

If you've got the money, get 120hz. More and more manufacturers are releasing 120hz panels. But personally, i think you should get a Plasma (they don't usually have a Hz rating, because it's different technology and goes fast enough already). In a completely dark room, some LCDs are harsh on colors and brightness, and a plasma would produce the best blacks and richer colors. I think you'd be happier with Plasma than LCD.

Chris,
Thanks for the post, you are correct, plasma is the way to go. I went to HHGregg and recieved the rundown on about 15 HDTVs... There is so much to learn, so much to know before we make decisions.

Thanks,
Ray

I guess I broke my $5,000 budget...

Lookin good man, It all takes time (and MONEY)