"The Parsimonium Theater" Build (1 Viewer)

As the title states this HT project will be parsimonious, which basically means: extreme care or reluctance in spending.

This is my idea of what I would like to accomplish:




I will be posting pics shortly of the actual room/area.

I'm in great need of frugal direction in order to get this completed.

The thread will cover and document everything from start to finish.

Well, I have the room which is 21 feet long and 15 feet wide.
It is poured concrete in the basement with no windows. (purposefully designed to be a theater)
There is a 6 inch step riser 10 feet back from the front wall.
The room is framed in and that's about it.

Help me not spend a ton of dough and still achieve a respectable theater.
I'm not looking for a lavish state of the art cinema, and likewise I'm not going to lay down and cringe every time I open the door to watch a flick either.

Budget is something that I have thought of because I know this is basically the first and probably most important question one should ask himself when planning a HT.

Well I have a clear and rather easy number to start with: $0.00

Having said that I can fork out the cash as long as it suits my needs and not my WANTS.

I am however concerned with the aesthetics, materials and "looks" in general of the finished product.


I am very close to purchasing this: http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ONKHTS9400/Onkyo-HT-S9400-THX-7.1-Ch-Network-Home-Theater-Receiver/Speaker/1.html to get the ball rolling.
It was in stock and $599 yesterday :-(


Soooo, lets go...

Dynil(or other MLV) Unless you do a double QuietRock with green/blue glue.

Youre building a three-row home theater in a room 15'x 21' and dropping in a $650 sound system? In my opinion thats neither want you "want" nor "need", far short of both. A better plan is to start out with a decent 2.0 system and build over time, adding additional channels as funds permit. Have you researched the used market in your area??? Used speakers and AVRs are usually pretty easy to come by. Theres no shame in buying used or building a system over time, Ive done both for many years and it has served me very well.

Type A said:

Youre building a three-row home theater in a room 15'x 21' and dropping in a $650 sound system? In my opinion thats neither want you "want" nor "need", far short of both. A better plan is to start out with a decent 2.0 system and build over time, adding additional channels as funds permit. Have you researched the used market in your area??? Used speakers and AVRs are usually pretty easy to come by. Theres no shame in buying used or building a system over time, Ive done both for many years and it has served me very well.

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I found him a 7.0 set on his local Craigslist of 5 Def Tech Mon 600 and two 800 for $600.He decided to pass on that.

I'm just apprehensive about craigslist. Been burned more than a few times. Still consider it if it suits.

paratus said:

paratus, on 16 Feb 2014 - 11:26 AM, said:I'm just apprehensive about craigslist. Been burned more than a few times. Still consider it if it suits.

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Thats buyer error and it happens to the best of us. The key is to learn from your mistakes. In the classified listings of this forum Sonnie Parker is selling a center and pair of bookshelf speakers made by Carnegie Acoustics, he only wants $700 with free shipping. I know that blows your budget but it will mean the difference between building a system you will want to keep and building a system you will want to upgrade from the moment you take it out of the box. I think the latter will be the case with the A4L system youre considering. If I didnt think my wife would immediately file for divorce I personally would snatch those CA speakers up at that price, $700 is a killer deal. I know Sonnie well (Im a former member and moderator of his forum Home Theater Shack) and he's an upright guy.

Buyer's error, been there.Have two pairs of Radio Shack/Optimus bookshelves. One pair Linaeum/Kevlar. Needed re-foamed. In my search, find a guy selling the 4" drivers. One Kevlar, two regular. Buy those...to save myself time...and they cost less than two re-foam kits.Show up, worse than the 4 I already have. Sent an e-mail asking how on Earth are these considered "perfect"(in the listing as perfect)."Once you re-foam them"...Round and round with Ebay case resolution, got 40% back.

Ive got one for ya. A guy buys my whole 7 speaker AV123 speaker package for what I paid for them a year earlier. Not bad, I was pleased. While at my house loading he notices Im using an Emotiva UPA-2 amp to drive a pair of Infinity P162 bookshelf speakers in zone 3 and he says to me, "Its just a zone 3, Ive got an Audio Source Amp Two Im not using. Ill trade you that amp and $150 cash for your UPA-2." Well I was on a financial build-up to replace the speakers heading out the door and I thought yeah ok that sounds good, I can use the extra $150. BIG mistake! I didnt bother to check it first. Oh sure, it worked fine but I could tell from the moment I hooked it up there was a lot of grunt loss and it was a serious downgrade in performance even at moderate listening levels. Go figure a power amp would make such a difference. Sold that crap amp for $60 on craigslist. I figure $210 is fairly reasonable for a used UPA-2 but I still felt stupid and it was a serious blow to my pride. Now just using the AVR to power that zone but its still not the same. Live and learn...the hard way.