My May 25 deadline (1 Viewer)

[Darren H]

My wife and I will be closing on a new home on Wednesday. When we first toured the house, I mentioned casually that the mostly-finished basement, with some fine-tuning, would make for a fantastic home theater. She's made a number of allusions to it since, so today at lunch I nailed her down:

"So, when do you think we should start building the theater? Because a projector, screen, new electronics, and new surrounds will be pretty expensive."

"Oh, well, I've already told a few people that we'll be having a Return of the King party on May 25."

Where's that smiley icon? Oh, here it is . . .

 

[DelRay]

May 25. Better get cracken. work. work. work.

 

[Jeff Engel]

Damn, better get to more than craken. It took me 5 months to do mine. Better hire some elves. No more posting, get to work.

 

[Darren H]

Well, like I said, the basement is already mostly finished, so I won't be framing or drywalling, which should save me some time. Fortunately, one of the rooms adjacent to the soon-to-be-HT is unfinished, so I have access to the studs on the back of one wall. I plan to build the equipment cabinet into that wall, and, because we plan to use the unfinished room for storage, I don't have to worry about making it "pretty" in there. Also, I have access through a closet to the back of the wall on which the screen will hang, so running wires to the front speakers should also be pretty simple.

Oh yeah, and I'm going to cheat. Given my significant limitations when it comes to construction, I've decided to hire a professional installer to run the wiring for the projector and the surrounds. It will be cheaper in the long run.

I spent about an hour with my favorite AV dealer yesterday (and months researching/daydreaming), and I think I've decided to go with:

- NEC HT1100 (assuming that it's released in the next month, as planned)

- 4:3 screen -- haven't chosen brand or dimensions yet. I'm going with 4:3 because the majority of my DVD watching is older and foreign films. More than half of my collection is "taller" than 16:9. The HT1100 comes with an optional anamorphic lens, so I won't lose significant resolution on anamoprhic discs.

- Denon AVR-3805

- Denon DVD-2200, -2900, -5900, or whatever new universal player Denon releases between now and then. This decision will likely be determined by budget.

- Paradigm Studio 20s or ADPs for side surrounds. Haven't decided which.

- Paradigm SA In-Ceilings for rear surrounds. Not an ideal choice, of course, but ours isn't an ideal room.

Pieces I already own and that won't be upgraded just yet:

- Paradigm Studio 40s and Studio CC (both v.2) for front

- Malata multi-region DVD player. Such a great little machine.

- Klipsch KS-12. Yes, I realize that this little sub will get swallowed up by my big room. It will do for now.

Any advice/suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[Darren H]

Someone just reminded me that I had created this thread and wanted to know if I met my deadline. The short answer is "yes and no." My projector (NEC HT1000) arrived in time for Return of the King, and so we were able to watch the DVD projected at nearly 7' wide. The HT1000 is an amazing piece of technology -- even when projected on a light yellow wall -- and a bargain right now at its discounted price.

I just returned from Statement Audio with my Denon AVR 3805, Denon DVD 2200, and my Paradigm AMS-150Rs (in-ceiling rear surrounds). The Paradigm Studio ADP-470s (wall-mounted side surrounds) and Draper Silhouette V screen should arrive in the next couple of weeks.

Can you tell I'm excited?

Hopefully I'll have pics of the completed install by mid-July.

 

[Pus Suchre]

Yes, yes- let's see some pics

 

[Glenise]

Nice piece of equipment you have!