Help Building a small home theater (1 Viewer)

[Myles]

I am currently building a new house and part of that house is a 12x14 home theater room. I have a very modest home theater right now and I would like to build the room (walls are up and that's it...not even any wiring yet) with future upgrades in mind (since I will not have much extra money for it now).

My current equipment is an Integra 5.2 receiver, Sony 32" regular TV, PSB and Paradigm speakers, an axiom sub, Pioneer DVD player and a Star Choice Satellite system (I'm in Canada).

The home theater room in the new house is as I said, 12x14 or so. It has one large window but I plan to have blackout coverings to control the light. The ceiling is also quite high at 10 feet. It is on a concrete slab...so no basement below. Here's what I have been wondering about....

-Having in the wall rear speakers instead of my small Paradigm Atoms...PSB has some nice looking ones...http://www.psbspeakers.com/s/cs/CustomSound.html

-Instead of ceramic tile on the floor(we have in floor heat)...should I have something else less sound reflective...say cork flooring...something else???

-I'd like to upgrade to HDTV soon...should I go with a front projector(I worry about lighting)...or say a rear projector(worry about viewing angles) LCD? DLP?, or even spring for a plasma (worry about cost and burn-in). Keep in mind this will be used for TV watching as well and I'd rather not have the blockouts on the windows all the time.

-My current receiver has only 5.1 sound...no ES or anything...should I prewire for 1 or 2 rear center speakers in case I upgrade the receiver later?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Dave Milne]

It sounds like you already understand many of the common issues with HT-building. You must have been reading this forum.

should I prewire for 1 or 2 rear center speakers in case I upgrade the receiver later?

Prewire for everything: 7.1 surround, CATV, satellite, Cat5 ethernet, telephone, extra power outlets, etc. Wire is cheap. Retrofitting later is a real pain. Don't forget to run conduit and power to the ceiling where an FP might go.