What to put behind the walls for basement home theater? (1 Viewer)

[Knock Wood]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and to home theater setup. I'm in the middle of a basement remodel and need some advice. The setup I'm going for includes the following:

[*]Wall mounted LED Smart TV
[*]Dish network Hopper
[*]Blu-Ray Player
[*]Onkyo HT-S7400 5.1 Receiver/Speaker Package
[*]Nintendo Wii
[/list]
Before the drywall goes up I'm trying to figure out what cables to put in the walls HDMI, speaker wire, etc. and the best way to do it. I was considering just purchasing basic electrical boxes and connecting them with smurf tubing, but I'm open to all suggestions. Let me know what other information would be useful for you to help me. HELP PLEASE! Thanks in advance.

 

[mattCR]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and to home theater setup. I'm in the middle of a basement remodel and need some advice. The setup I'm going for includes the following:

[*]Wall mounted LED Smart TV
[*]Dish network Hopper
[*]Blu-Ray Player
[*]Onkyo HT-S7400 5.1 Receiver/Speaker Package
[*]Nintendo Wii
[/list]
Before the drywall goes up I'm trying to figure out what cables to put in the walls HDMI, speaker wire, etc. and the best way to do it. I was considering just purchasing basic electrical boxes and connecting them with smurf tubing, but I'm open to all suggestions. Let me know what other information would be useful for you to help me. HELP PLEASE! Thanks in advance.

I always tell everyone to make sure at least some of their wire is Cat6, to every single location.. it's a future proof way to get movement later. Beyond that, don't worry as much about what goes in it right now as how to do it. You can find full body in-wall conduit. Run one or two and pull several pull strings. It will make later access easy if you need to upgrade. Beyond that, the question with HDMI will depend on if your devices are at a distance from your display (closet etc.) If they are close, just get short hop HDMI and one primary HDMI to your display. Run your speaker wire planning on 9 speaker locations and 2 subwoofers. You may not deploy all of them, but it helps future proof you should you decide to.

Using Electrical boxes is not a bad idea; it's a cheap functional idea, actually.... I almost went that way. Depending on your budget, it's not that bad. I would tell you, actually that someone almost talked me into using Hole-House Vaccum box-ends. It's a nearly perfect consealable trap that can stays flush and hides pretty well.

Just plan it out and commit to it. Balance your cosmetics with your budget and you'll be happy

 

[schan1269]

One thing you "could" do to make this easier...get the "Wii to HDMI" adapter.

I second running conduit, makes future enhancements easier(HDMI 2.0 is coming...).

 

[DaveF]

Conduit was recommended to me here, instead of HDMI prewire. Speaker wire isn't changing, so you're safe there. Be sure to put in AC outlets where you need them. Also one in the ceiling if you're planning on a projector. I pre wired Cat5e (it's what the installation company did). Do cat6 if an option. I skipped soundproofing in the ceiling. I wish I'd done it now, but so it goes

 

[Knock Wood]

Thanks for all the input. Sounds like conduit is a must. Is 1" sufficient?

 

[schan1269]

Id go minimum 3".