Gear Patrol says "Think Twice" before building your own home theater (1 Viewer)

http://gearpatrol.com/2015/02/18/expert-advice-on-building-a-home-theater/


Obviously, I disagree and found the article to be a sales job of the highest order. It all depends on what you want out of your theater. There are people who will spend more on carpeting than I did on my theater. Jeremy Kipnis's amplifiers cost more than my house. But there is nothing in any of the 4 5.1 systems in my house that is rocket science and that a 'normal' person couldn't put together on their own.


Possible exceptions include fishing wires behind walls, I recommend a professional help you with that, but you don't need an AV consultancy for that. 2 of my setups were pre construction but mimiced what I had in NJ that were DIY.

Sam I agree with you.

Sounds like a typical sales pitch to me. 99% of "how to do it" can be found on this Forum or elsewhere on the web.

I think it's partially a sales pitch, but he has some points. The second set up I put together was in a bonus room on the second floor of the house I slept in. It had a high vaulted ceiling, an open hall way to the bedrooms, and an open stairway to the floor below. The acoustics were lousy. I used the same system in the previous house, and it sounded much better. I worked lots of hours and rarely enjoyed it, because everyone complained about the noise. When I used headphones, I got complaints because I never heard anything directed my way. I could have avoided may of the problems with a bit more sophisticated input than what I had at the time, but it was kind of a mute point for me. I wasn't around enough to enjoy it myself, and I didn't look at it as my concern.


If I was going from scratch again, and had no desire to find out how to improve, a professional could build something better than what I had. However, I agree that, if you want to put in the time, effort and thought, you can come up with something that is a couple of quantum jumps beyond what I started with. I've done just that. There's a wealth of information from several sources, and if you put in the time, it pays off. I've been in a couple of professionally done home theater setups. They are impressive, but in many ways, the well designed and well executed DIY theater can come pretty close. There's also quite a price differential. I've seen a couple screens that went for $1000 to around 3-5 K. When the lights are controlled, and I'm watching in a darkened room, the screen I made with wood from Lowes and blackout cloth looks pretty much the same to me.


We may have our own bias, though. We enjoy envisioning, planning, executing those plans and seeing the vision come to life. I look at my screen, and can say "I made that". Someone else may look at their Stewart Firehawk screen and feel something quite similar, because, to them, they feel they have found "the best". They may also have a vision, but they accomplish it in a different way. To me, both provide an interesting variety.

Business must be slow.

I just read that article. I had one of them on speed dial for years...

Fixing their mistakes.

And pouring cement for a riser?

Has anybody seriously done that?