Craig,

I agree for the average guy it is a bit of steep learning curve and one I'm not really interested in but Dean hooked me up with a CQC pro who will do the "work" for me for a reasonable rate. I just tell him what I want and he works via remote assistance to program CQC and work with my equipment. I haven't built my CQC box yet to say how well it works but it seems that from what I've read it is pretty common and works well.
I'll let you know when I get there :)

On a side note my 131' HDMI cable from Monoprice showed up in the mail and I'll be testing it later today to see if it works (fingers still crossed)

Cheers
Calvin
Also very interesting. I'll do some more reading this weekend - CQC has moved up to the top of the list now with the latest discoveries (have to love AVS!!).

Good luck with the HDMI cable - that's a mighty long run! I have a 50' Blue Jean cable running to our FR plasma from the rack in the basement with no issues. I'll be curious to see your results.

Craig,

The test upstairs on the 71" DLP to the XA2 shows the 131' HDMI passing 1080P with no issues and I have Connect here now running it from the 46" LCD to the AV rack. I should have it tested on the LCD shortly once they have it completed and in place.
I'm hopeful it will work as intended.

Cheers
Calvin

Now the other issue (again, take this or leave it as you see fit) is that it seems it would be very hard for me to create something like that myself.

Well, difficult in the sense that it's a fair amount of work. It's not technically difficult. It's just a fair amount of grunt work. But that's always going to be the case, if you want a highly customized and sexy looking interface, the amount of work will be considerably larger than something simpler and plainer.

Update:

Not to much luck today sadly. Spent all day fishing that 131' HDMI cable from the upstairs LCD to the downstairs AV room and it didn't work :(
It was working upstairs but something happened to it between the 3 hours of gentle pulling and tugging and the end result is I have nothing but a 131' HDMI cable I have to pull out (later though I'm not messing with it anymore today).
Plan B is to pull the 50' again and then test it, then add a repeater / booster and another 50' cable to the AV rack and see if that works.
Plan C is throw everything with HDMI I own into a giant fire and go back to component and DVI
I'm hoping plan B works ...

Cheers
Calvin

Update:

Not to much luck today sadly. Spent all day fishing that 131' HDMI cable from the upstairs LCD to the downstairs AV room and it didn't work :(
It was working upstairs but something happened to it between the 3 hours of gentle pulling and tugging and the end result is I have nothing but a 131' HDMI cable I have to pull out (later though I'm not messing with it anymore today).
Plan B is to pull the 50' again and then test it, then add a repeater / booster and another 50' cable to the AV rack and see if that works.
Plan C is throw everything with HDMI I own into a giant fire and go back to component and DVI
I'm hoping plan B works ...

Cheers
CalvinThat sucks. I wonder why that would happen. Maybe if it twists a certain way it kills the signal. Interesting. I agree on the HDMI - if it wasn't for DHCP/1080P I wouldn't even consider it.

Update:

Not to much luck today sadly. Spent all day fishing that 131' HDMI cable from the upstairs LCD to the downstairs AV room and it didn't work :(
It was working upstairs but something happened to it between the 3 hours of gentle pulling and tugging and the end result is I have nothing but a 131' HDMI cable I have to pull out (later though I'm not messing with it anymore today).
Plan B is to pull the 50' again and then test it, then add a repeater / booster and another 50' cable to the AV rack and see if that works.
Plan C is throw everything with HDMI I own into a giant fire and go back to component and DVI
I'm hoping plan B works ...

Cheers
Calvin

Sorry to hear about that Calvin,

Personally, I like your plan C. HDMI is nothing more than a pain in the a**. To me the difference in video quality, if there is any, is not worth the hassle. Even the plugs themselves are really poorly designed and often come loose because of the heavy cable requirement.

I ahve used hdmi for very short runs but until the industry forces me to totally change I plan on staying with the separate component and digital audio cable combinations for a while.

Joe

I'm with you Joe damn HDMI has never been a good thing for me either I would be a happy man if they kept video and audio seperate for good but I don't think it is going to happen sadly.

On a brighter note I have installed the last of the panels this weekend (well the last I have - I may end up getting a few more for more coverage .. still looking at maybe putting another 4 on the ceiling and 2 on the reflection points on the wall just in front of the screen.
I'll have to make a decision on that before the acoustic engineer comes in so I'll likely buy more if I'm going to in the next 2 weeks.

(click to enlarge photos)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementHTpanelsadded8.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementHTpanelsadded8.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementHTpanelsadded7.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementHTpanelsadded7.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_BasementHTpanelsadded2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/BasementHTpanelsadded2.jpg)

Cheers
Calvin

Calvin,

The place looks fantastic. It really does.

Congrats!





Joel DuBay
ReadyAcoustics.com

Calvin,

The place looks fantastic. It really does.

Congrats!

Joel DuBay
ReadyAcoustics.com

Thanks Joel,

I may be calling you soon for a few more panels. The picture below points out what I'm leaning towards doing. I don't know if I need another 3 further back of the 2 I currently have on the ceiling but I should put at least 1 more beside the 2 up there. I think I will need one on each wall at those early reflection points from the LCR speakers as well.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Panelplacement.jpg

Once I have my custom door made and installed in the archway that should help a lot as well for the acoustics of the room (having trouble atm getting a guy here in Alberta due to the boom though every able bodied man is working already it seems at 100% - I can't even get call backs for quotes :( )

Thoughts on the new panels and placements anyone?

Cheers
Calvin

minor update.

I just ordered a new MAS 7.1 to replace my Sherwood Newcastle HSB-600 which isn't working to my liking. Here is a link to the new unit which I'm hoping works for my set up (I should know soon as it shipped today)

http://www.zektor.com/mas71/specs.htm

Zonn let me in on the powerbuy here at AVS so for $399 I couldn't resist :D

I'm also taking another run at the pesky stair lights - I've ordered 3 different types of bulbs (2 low wattage Halogens and 1 LED type) I'm hoping one of the 3 will work for my uses....
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/ScreenHunter_01Aug1414.55.gif
I ordered these from bulb america and I'm hoping one of them fits the bill or I will have to look at getting an electrician in and rewiring the stair set up (which won't make me happy)
I've put a few hundred into these darn lights already so I hope this solves it finally.

Anyone wants to buy a Sherwood Newcastle HSB-600 let me know I have 2 for sale one new and one used for a couple of weeks.

Cheers
Calvin

Hi Calvin:

Nice... the place is really coming together.

You additive plan for a few more panels looks reasonable, if you think you need them, but you should use the keyholes on the back of the steel frames for mounting the Chameleons from the ceiling instead of the bag straps.

We have had good luck with lightweight decorative chain found in home improvement stores and small "S" hooks. Black chain would look great IMO, though any light gauge hanger wire or cable would also do the job.

Keep up the good work.

Scott,

Thanks for the kind words. I will look into the chain for hanging the traps, to be honest I ran out of the wire that I was using and just used the straps to hang them temporarily until I bought a more permanent solution.
My only complaint and it is a small one is that the holes are so small on the steel frames you can't really used a decent sized headed screw to mount them where you would slot them " Push them up and then back to hold them in place" like you can with many other wall mounted items. I tried to do this originally but it is nearly impossible in the ceiling space where I need all 4 screws to securely hold the trap. I did use 2 screws in the top 2 slots for the wall mounted panels in the back but I couldn't get the bottom 2 in those cases either (although with their weight and gravity I don't think it matters to much)

I'm going to be unable to get around to fixing those for a few weeks as I have other more pressing concerns, unless hanging them by the straps is a safety concern ? There isn't a fear of them breaking free is there? (if there is I will have to get my brother to swing by the house and take them down)

On the other issue;
I'm honestly not sure if I need all of the traps but I'm not really sure how I would know short of having the room tested before the traps and then again after the traps to see their effect. I'm thinking for the extra $300 or $400 I should just err on the side of caution and get the extra 3 for the ceiling even if they don't help, they can't hurt. Right?

Cheers
Calvin

Hi Calvin:

For flush wall hanging a Chameleon the best solution we have come across is to simply drive two screws into the wall about 12" apart and level to one another [typically using hollow wall anchors] about 1/2" down from where you want the top of the panel to end up... and leaving the heads about 1/4" from flush to the wall - then simply press the panel to the wall and let the upper lip of the backside of the steel frame slip over the screw heads. Very easy to do [or undo if you later want to move your panels] and makes for a very stable mounting.

I have just finished a long re-write of our mounting tutorials for our support page [should be up soon] that includes a number of little tricks such as the above described we have developed [many from ideas passed along from clever customers]. If you come up with any spiffy work saving ideas while mounting treatments for you project please shoot me an email so I can work them into our tutorials.

I think your temporary use of the straps is completely safe... the straps will certainly hold the weight... I just like the look of color coordinated chain with the Chameleon... kinda goes with the soft/hard upholstery/steel look of the units... entirely subjective I admit, its your room, so please yourself.

I think your proposed minor additions to the room's acoustic treatmeant installation are good ideas... do it.

Good Luck!

Thanks Scott. I'll be in touch when I get a break from this craziness called work ;)

I'm looking for a good 1 or 2 space amp for my upstairs inwall subwoofer (the 8" in-wall proficient - it's passive). Some how I over looked this until the morning before I flew out back to work and realized I can't run the sub through the R-771 and I don't have an extra amp to run it either.
My choices are get a new reciever to run the 5.1 system upstairs and sell the R-771 or get a small amp to run the one sub so I'm leaning towards buying a small amp unless someone can suggest a decent receiver that can power both the 5 speakers, the passive sub and has HDMI switching?

Thanks for any suggestions I would like to order either the sub or the new receiver with in the week so I can ensure that everything is working accordingly and also so the acoustical engineer can tweak that room as well as the basement.

Cheers
Calvin

Calvin,

Your theater looks great....as well as the rest of the house. Been lurking a while but, have a question.
How much have the acoustic treatments helped your room?

Thanks
Dan

Dan,

The effects are not as dramatic in my case as in others but it does make a difference. The sound is cleaner (if that makes sense) My room never did suffer from any really noticeable echo or reflection but the traps do clean up what was there.
The easiest way I can explain it (I'm sure someone can do it better then I can and if so please post ;) ) is this. After I put in the panels I can really tell where each speaker is and exactly which speakers are been used in a movie /game. It seems to have removed or cut down on a lot of reflection and overlap.
I think once I get the remaining traps in place and my acoustical engineer does his thing it should be a great sounding room (I think it is now but I'm sure once those two things happen it will be that much better - I don't even have my BFD's hooked to the subs yet as the AE is doing that when he tweaks the room so the bass alone should undergo some serious tweaking for the better).

Anyone have any thoughts on a good 1 or 2 space amp for the In-wall sub in the living room HT? I was looking at a Pioneer Elite X10 but I'm not sure it will have enough power for that sub - I'll likely need something better but I could use a short list of candidates to narrow my search.

Thanks
Calvin

Update:

Picked up this new amp for my sub upstairs (which I realized last weekend I needed )

http://www.alesis.com/product.php?id=31

The inwall sub upstairs is a 300watt unit so I'll be running the new amp bridged to get the best bang for my buck. I'm hoping it works for my needs, did some research and it seems pretty well received by others that own it.

Specs on the new unit:

Height:
_ 2 RU

Rated output per channel:
4 ohms:
_ 150 watts RMS per channel
8 ohms:
_ 90 watts RMS per channel
8 ohms:
_ 300 watts RMS, bridged mode

Signal to Noise Ratio:
_ >105dB

Frequency Response:
_ 10Hz - 70kHz +0, -3dB

Distortion:
_ < 0.02% @ 4ohms, 20Hz - 20kHz

Input Sensitivity:
_ +4dB for rated output

Crosstalk:
_ 85dB, 1kHz

Output offset:
_ +/- 50 mV, Servo controlled

I'll let you know how it sounds and looks after I get it installed (should be this upcoming Thursday or Friday)

Here are some new pics as well I've taken recently (click on them to expand)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_PE3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/PE3.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_PE2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/PE2.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_PE1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/PE1.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1980.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1980.jpg)

Cheers
Calvin

Should be home tomorrow and have some updates again.

The new amp should be waiting for me to install and test.
I'm hoping the new bulbs are as well so I can get that issue resolved.

Finally Amazon shipped me a few new HD-DVD's the wife told me yesterday so when I get home I'll be able to finally watch "Hot Fuzz" which I've been patiently waiting for :)
(I also picked up the new version of Payback and Spy game - two older movies I have on SD I figured I'd update to HD)

I have a meet the bride and groom weekend at the house this weekend and we have people coming from all over so it should be one heck of a busy weekend for me Fri, Sat & Sunday but I'm sure the HT rooms will be getting a work out and a few comments.

More when I can.

Cheers
Calvin

Calvin,

Just went through every page of your thread -- very impressive! The room looks great. It was nice seeing how things changed a bit along the way. The seating looks great and those glowing cup holders are cool.

A few questions (and I apologize if you already answered these):

1) How are those subs performing in the room. Have you played the PULSE (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=820187) scene in your room to see how well they do on low frequencies? It causes havoc in my room when the volume on my AVR is higher.

2) Did you make the sub frames yourself or did they come with the subs? I noticed you dyed the fabric and did not know if you had to create the entire frame as well or if you used the one that came with the subs.

Steve,

Thanks for stopping by and the kind words I can answer those questions for you.
1. The subs are performing pretty well already but I still haven't had the room tweaked and I haven't hooked up the Feed Back Destroyers either. I'm waiting for my acoustical engineer to stop by and finish calibrating the room. Once he has done this I'll try the PULSE scene and see how the room does (hopeful well)

2. The sub frames on the thors are built-in I just had to build the bracing (2x 4's) to attach them to. So far so good they are performing well. The proficient 10" sub upstairs does has a back box installed that was a seperate purchase and with the new Alesis amp installed it is working very well :D
I hope to have some pics up later been a busy weekend have a ton of house guests so the rooms are getting a real work out yesterday (and will again today with over 50 people visiting).

More when I can.

Cheers
Calvin

Hi Calvin,

I need to run a long hdmi cable for my TV above the fireplace. Are you running any 50ft cables? If you are any problems with that length? Can you do 1080p?

thanks,
Brendin

Brendin,

I have bought two 50' cables I haven't had any issues with them so far and they pass 1080P with no issues. My 131' also worked with no issues and passed 1080P till I fed it through the conduit but something happened along the way rendering the cable useless. I'm hoping I can work the two 50' lengths through the conduit and get a working solution for the LCD in the living room HT but it will be a couple weeks before I get around to it again.

I had over a 100 people through the house this weekend was pretty crazy and the HT's got a real work out :D
I will have a couple pics up when I get a chance later this week to show a few changes in the rack as well as a couple from this weekends festivities.

Cheers
Calvin

Hi Calvin,

I need to run a long hdmi cable for my TV above the fireplace. Are you running any 50ft cables? If you are any problems with that length? Can you do 1080p?

thanks,
Brendin

I too run a 50 foot hdmi cable. But i paid a little extra to make sure I got one that was hevily shielded.

Joe

Brendin,

I have bought two 50' cables I haven't had any issues with them so far and they pass 1080P with no issues. My 131' also worked with no issues and passed 1080P till I fed it through the conduit but something happened along the way rendering the cable useless. I'm hoping I can work the two 50' lengths through the conduit and get a working solution for the LCD in the living room HT but it will be a couple weeks before I get around to it again.

I had over a 100 people through the house this weekend was pretty crazy and the HT's got a real work out :D
I will have a couple pics up when I get a chance later this week to show a few changes in the rack as well as a couple from this weekends festivities.

Cheers
Calvin

Calvin,

I don't know if you did the last time you pulled the cable but, wanted to mention that you may need some lub on your cable to reduce the pulling force required.

Here is a site with all types
http://www.polywater.com/lubricants.asp

It can make a big difference on long cable runs.

You may also want to tape string to the HDMI cable (the whole length) and pull the string instead of the cable to prevent damage to the HDMI cable.

Dan

Thanks Dan,
I actually had the pros at Connect AV pull the cable. They did use a pull string and used lubrication unfortunately it still didn't work. Their fellow employee that set up the conduit run didn't make it an easy job for them and that is the major reason we are having some difficulties. Thanks for the info and the post though.
Appreciate it :)
Cheers
Calvin

This weekend was pretty crazy we had over 100+ visitors Friday and Saturday for our meet the bride and groom weekend and all the HT rooms had a major work out.
The new equipment is working out nicely. I picked up the Alesis amp and the Zektor MAS 7.1 just in time for the big event and here are a couple of new pics of the rack with the new gear. I'll try to get some pics up of the action this weekend if I get a chance.
(click to enlarge photos)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_TherackwithFlashAug26.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/TherackwithFlashAug26.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Therack.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Therack.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Newequip.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Newequip.jpg)

I'm running the Alesis in bridged mode to get the most bang for my buck. The sub upstairs matches the 300W bridged output prefectly and I must say I'm pretty impressed with the 5.1 upstairs considering it is all in-ceiling, in-wall and the room is pretty spacious with 10' ceilings and hard surfaces through out. I put in a few movies into the living room HT this weekend and my wife also ran a powerpoint presentation of our honeymoon on the 46" LCD with sound and it worked wonderfully.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Flashonnewequipment.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Flashonnewequipment.jpg)

Cheers
Calvin

Wow!!! I started following this thread when it started, and fell away about the time you had the unexpected issue with the ceiling heigh due to the duct work. Just spent the last few days reading the whole thing to catch up...

Congrats on the wedding, and finding a bride who will join you in this madness (especially all the chores to go pay customs while you are out of town).

It definately looks like you work hard, and also get to play hard as a result. Keep coming with the updates, especially with the CQC automation.

Michael,

Thanks for the post and the kind words. My bride is a special lady that is for sure. I did compromise on the ceiling but so far so good I usually forget all about it after the movie or the game starts but when the lights are full up it still bothers me that I lost that 8" or so.

I'll be sure to keep the updates coming and I hope to begin on the CQC automation soon I just need to pick up a new PC and get it started.

Cheers
Calvin

calvin,
i'm enjoying looking over the thread. it's great to see the progression and everything that is involved. one day, my wife and i hope to build our own HT. i'll pick up some pointers, for sure, from reading the whole thread. btw, those red and gray chairs that you had a picture of, where did you find them? they look swank. :)
also, what brand of tv do you recommend?

thanks.

Jeremy,

Thanks for the post. The chairs in the pic are Berklines and they are carried all over including many AVS sponsers here on the site. I purchased my chairs from Kyle McKabe at Carolina Furniture (you can find him here with a search as well).
For TV's I recommend (and have bought myself) at this moment Samsung for LCD & DLP, Pioneer Elite or Panasonic for Plasma and for PJ just about any 3 chip DLP or for a lower budget the RS1 would be my choice if buying today.

Cheers
Calvin

nice. i'll check out those chairs. they look like i could fall asleep in one. :)
i do have a Sammy hl-s6187w. i'm waiting to get the DVE disc to do some calibration to it. do you charge an admission fee for others to watch movies? :P

Sorry to hear about that Calvin,

Personally, I like your plan C. HDMI is nothing more than a pain in the a**. To me the difference in video quality, if there is any, is not worth the hassle. Even the plugs themselves are really poorly designed and often come loose because of the heavy cable requirement.

I ahve used hdmi for very short runs but until the industry forces me to totally change I plan on staying with the separate component and digital audio cable combinations for a while.

Joe
Well, I agree with all of this and I'm glad someone finally had the guts to say it. So bully for Cal and Joe. I'm having handshake issues with it galore with my HD DVD/PS3/ Mosquito/ Dragonfly/RS-1 setup. The only problem is I think you start running into some 1080P limitations if sansing HDMI don't you?...... Or am I just whistlin dixie-doo? BTW Cal, the theater is really bumpin along! So how's married life?

nice. i'll check out those chairs. they look like i could fall asleep in one. :)
i do have a Sammy hl-s6187w. i'm waiting to get the DVE disc to do some calibration to it. do you charge an admission fee for others to watch movies? :P

Jeremy,

I have seen a few people fall asleep in them already they are really comfortable and they recline way back so you can almost be laying prone which leads to some pretty good relaxation and sleeping.
I don't charge admission but the wife might when I'm not at home ;)
I'm a fan of the Samsung DLP's for sure you have a good set there.

Cheers
Calvin

BTW Cal...are you going going for anything like the Audyssey for sound setup?

Well, I agree with all of this and I'm glad someone finally had the guts to say it. So bully for Cal and Joe. I'm having handshake issues with it galore with my HD DVD/PS3/ Mosquito/ Dragonfly/RS-1 setup. The only problem is I think you start running into some 1080P limitations if sansing HDMI don't you?...... Or am I just whistlin dixie-doo? BTW Cal, the theater is really bumpin along! So how's married life?


Javry,

HDMI was always something I was trying to avoid just seems like a mess but sadly it is getting harder and harder to avoid it as time goes on. I really dislike the handshaking issues and the plugs themselves are horrible they really should have implemented some type of fastening device for them ( I know there are some companies that add a fastening screw but they should have come up with something standard at the onset similar to DVI / VGA or a host of other connections).
Married life is good, looking forward to spending some more time at home been domestic :) Hopefully when this next project finishes up in December I can take a few months off and work around the house and spend some quality time at home. I know I have a few weeks work landscaping come next spring I'm not looking forward to :p

Cheers
Calvin

BTW Cal...are you going going for anything like the Audyssey for sound setup?

Javry,

I actually haven't planned a separate set up like the Audyssey. My plan has always been to get the professional acoustic engineer from Connect AV to come in and do a calibration with his high end equipment. Once the room has been calibrated and finalized I'll just write down all the settings and try to keep them as close as I can when changing out equipment in future. I haven't decided if I'm going to do all 3 rooms yet or just the basement but once we discuss the costs I'll make the decision.
I'm assuming once he's done his work I won't need anything like an Audyssey so I hope I'm correct in my assumption.

Cheers
Calvin

i'm very happy with my Sammy hl-s6187w. looking forward to getting the HD DVE disc so i can calibrate it. :)

Javry,

I actually haven't planned a separate set up like the Audyssey. My plan has always been to get the professional acoustic engineer from Connect AV to come in and do a calibration with his high end equipment. Once the room has been calibrated and finalized I'll just right down all the settings and try to keep them as close as I can when changing out equipment in future. I haven't decided if I'm going to do all 3 rooms yet or just the basement but once we discuss the costs I'll make the decision.
I'm assuming once he's done his work I won't need anything like an Audyssey so I hope I'm correct in my assumption.

Cheers
Calvin

that sounds right. If I recall, that particular piece seems to be aimed more at people who don't want to DIY. And once you professionally tune your room to your liking, a benchmark of all the settings will alow you to re-set it anytime you need to. Good approach. Keep up the good work. Yur makin us proud:p

javry,

I hope it works out ok. I'm glad I'm making a few people proud I just noticed I wrote a sentence up there " I'll just right down all the settings" that should have said "I'll just write" so I'm sure if my mom was reading this she wouldn't be to proud after seeing that and knowing all that 'schooling' I took :o
he-he damn spell checker only works if you misspell the right words ;)

On that note back to work with me. I hope to get a couple pics of last weekend up tomorrow.

Cheers
Calvin

A few shots of last weekend’s adventure as promised

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/th_DSCN7145.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/DSCN7145.jpg)

The kitchen area was a busy place and we had both hot and cold food round the clock for our many guests.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/th_DSCN7226.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/DSCN7226.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/th_DSCN7234.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/DSCN7234.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/th_DSCN7222.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/DSCN7222.jpg)

The Nintendo Wii was a huge hit and boxing seemed to be the couple choice strangely. The Wii was on a lot over the weekend and I noticed many people playing had hardly or never really played video games before so it appears to be working in getting new people into gaming :) Always a blast to watch people play Wii sports and we had people of all ages going through out the weekend.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/th_DSCN7076.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/DSCN7076.jpg)

My lovely Bride and her close friend Tanya

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/th_DSCN7155.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/DSCN7155.jpg)

Cutting the cake (at this point I don't think I could smile anymore after 8 hours of pictures my whole face hurt)
Edit: I should mention my brides sister made the cake :) she did a wonderful job and it was one of the best darn tasting cakes I've ever had as well as a pretty nice looking.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/th_CIMG7394.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Wedding%20party%20Aug%2024/CIMG7394.jpg)

A shot of us with the brides immediate family she has 8 brothers and sisters so we have large family functions (I have 3 only on my side).

I didn't get any really good shots of the other media rooms (that I have found yet but lots of pictures are still to be sent to me from the many guests that had cameras). If any good ones show up of the living room HT or basement in action I'll post them up.

Hope you enjoyed the glimpse into our special weekend. It was a lot of fun to have our family and friends over to the new house to enjoy it and each others company over 2 - 3 days. I should do that more often :)

Cheers
Calvin

She got you? Suckah!

Seriously, though, congrats. May you be blessed with lots of loud and boisterous children!

She got you? Suckah!

Seriously, though, congrats. May you be blessed with lots of loud and boisterous children!

Thanks jwatte :) I don't have any pics of us playing Wii boxing but you can rest easy knowing she always kicks my butt :o
We hope to have 2 boisterous children in a year or two when the wife gets closer to 30 and we have a traveled a bit more. Still a few countries we hope to see such as Africa and Russia/ Czech regions before we start travelling with /as a family.

Cheers
Calvin

Looks like it was a fantastic weekend, I have the same thing happening next weekend as I just got married a couple of weeks ago in Vegas and most family couldn't attend.

I hear ya on the Wii boxing, every couple that comes over for some reason has a wonderful time beating each other up...lol

Thanks for the post Becks. Congratz on the Vegas wedding and good luck with your weekend hope it goes as well as mine :) (the weather was nice and there were no issues with anything - everything went as planned for a change :D if only my HT plans worked as well)
Your post reminds me I need to get down to Vegas again soon I have a timeshare down there I paid big $ for I hardly use.
Cheers
Calvin

My gf saw the outside picture of your house, and now we have to get ours that color. :)

Nice HT room though!

cobolisdead,

Glad to help ;) My wife picked all the colors other then the Hardwood and the basement HT room. It appears your GF and my wife have similar tastes. I'm not crazy about the color of our house honestly but the nice thing is that it doesn't look like any other houses in the neighbourhood so it makes it easy for people to find :)

Thanks for the kind words all 3 HT rooms have been getting some good reviews from family and friends so far.

Regards
Calvin

Grats calvin :cool:

Grats calvin :cool:

Thanks W00lly :) Married life isn't so bad after all ;)
I may post another picture or two later to better show the crowds once I find some. We had over 150 people over the weekend and at some points we had about 20+ people in each HT room (didn't get many shots of that though sadly - I didn't have a camera and most people were to busy taking pictures of the bride and groom and not the people there to see the bride and groom :o)

On a HT related note. I still haven't gotten my bulbs from Bulb America they are MIA - I sent them an e-mail last Thursday to see if they can track them down but I don't expect to hear from them for a couple of days due to the long weekend. I'll keep the thread posted on those items. I hope they show up soon and I can get the lighting in the riser finished off.

Next on my list to do is to order more panels from Joel at Ready acoustics, buy or build my PC for CQC, pick out a touch panel for CQC, finish off riser lights and finally get the darn HDMI issue worked out from the base AV rack to the upstairs LCD. Whew.....

Cheers
Calvin

Great looking family Calvin. Hope you have many Happy years together ! Johnathan

Yeh, congratulations. Taking on a marriage and a home theater and an automation system all at the same time might be some sort of record of some kind :-) Is there like a 'Guiness Book of World Responsibilities" or something?

Thanks Guys :)
I've been pretty busy lately that is for sure. I didn't get around to doing anything this weekend on the HT. Connect didn't have an appointment (hoping to get them over next days off and try to sort out getting 1080P and the IR repeaters set up for the upstairs flat panel).
I just messed around with the rack a little and spent most of the weekend playing Warhawk for the PS3 and about 5 new games I picked up for the 360 (well that and the odd movie).
The problem with almost been done is you can enjoy the benefits of the theater now ;)
I hope to get the panels ordered today and track down my missing bulb america order and then I should have something worth showing on my next days off again.
Cheers
Calvin

Calvin --do you have any money left to build your house after all this........LOL looks like you know what your doing --I , unfortunately do not ---and am looking for some quick advice on setting up a small system. I posted a thread below yours in the General Home T section ---I really need some advice . I'm looking more on the wiring /hiding aspect and componets / supplies needed. I'm technically handy and should be able to peice it all together myself. Just dont know where to start. Good luck with your house.....Eric

Eric,

Thanks for the post. I do have some $$ left (just some) which I'll be busy spending on more ready acoustic panels (ordering 6 today) and then the rest will be spent on CQC and getting my flat panel up to speed so I have 3 properly functioning HT's in the home.
I’m looking at doing my landscaping soon, which is going to be very pricy (well the dirt work to get it to final grade then let it settle over the winter before finishing it off next spring).
You may not think you know what you’re doing but you were smart enough to come to the right place ;) AVS can and will answer just about any question you may ever have so if you have questions you can find the answers here. If you have any specific questions for me by all means fire away and I'll do my best to answer them for you.
For starters I would always plan everything out on paper, work the room 1st and do equipment last. Find a budget and try to stick to it (which is tough because everything is just a little bit more $ and just a little bit better it seems which leads to a never ending upgrade problem most of us AVS people have ;) )

If your a local fellow send me a PM and I can help you out with some information on local retailers to talk to and more.

Best of luck with your build
Calvin

Thanks Calvin. I own a hardwood floor company and am also a firefighter here in Boston....so I'm not local. I posted elsewhere ,but no-one answered. What I'm looking to do is --if possible this. My living room has the tv mounted on the wall as of today. I will move the outlet up there (with surge protector built in?) I have a nearby closet behind the wall in open floor space that I want to put the AV equipment. This area connects to a new 500 sf kitchen that I want to put another tv over the fireplace. I would like to be able to run all AV cable down thru cellar to Closet. I imagine I can use the same AV equipment except for maybe the cable boxes to run the TV's ...or maybe I cant and need 2 of everything. I dont know. I would like to have a master remote with IR ? so it works wherever and switches whatever. For now though there is only one TV so far. Any advice---oh ya --speakers in the walls were never planned pre-construction and everything is closed up. Can this still be done correctly without tearing everything apart??? Any advice is appreciated ---I'll tell you everything I know about floors.........

Thank you

Eric

Eric,

I have done some things very similar to what your planning in my home which I detail in this thread somewhat. I have 2 sets of everything (well 3 if you count the upstairs HT) so that all of the HT's can be used at the same time if I have a full house.

I would suggest getting the surge protector for the whole house if possible but if not just the one outlet is a good idea as well (for the flat panel you've wall mounted correct?)
You should be able to put all your equipment in the location you've picked as well as install in-wall speakers it is just a lot harder due to the fact it is not new construction and you have to work everything into place. You will likely have to hire a professional electrician to "fish" the wires into the locations you want for your AV rack and speakers which a pro with the right tools can do (if your real handy you may do this yourself but I wouldn't myself - new construction is easy but existing - not so much).
I would get 2 of everything if you think both areas will be used at the same time and IR should work fine for your needs as long as your remote doesn't need to transmit through a lot of "solids" or goes a great distance. This is easy enough to check once you have it hooked up and if it doesn't work you can buy IR repeaters to ensure it does work.

Good luck

On a side note - I put in my order for 6 more panels with Joel at Ready Acoustics yesterday and those should be on route today or tomorrow. He had mentioned some "beta test" for a new ceiling mounting system and that he would include some if there were any left so I'm hoping I get a couple to try out with the order (fingers crossed).

I'll have an update and some photos when I get home again and get to installing the final 6 (final this time for sure ;) I have to get that acoustic engineer over before 2008:p which means I have to stop changing things )

Cheers
Calvin

Minor update:

I still working on getting my lights from Bulb America - I still haven't received a tracking number from these guys but they told me on the phone they have shipped them (after a month of confusion due to me phoning the order in instead of buying online - which I couldn't as their website wouldn't allow you to ship to Canada... I'm forever curious about these "international" US sites that don't even ship north a few hundred miles.

I should hopefully have the new acoustic panels waiting for me when I get home in a couple of days and I've got my fingers crossed that Connect AV will be coming back to do some more work this weekend. Still have a few odds and ends to get done on the upstairs display panel such as the IR transmitter and getting a digital signal up there.

On a side note I'm having a get together on October 19 & 20th for friends and members of The Adult Gamer so if any of my AVS friends are gamers and would like to attend my mini gaming marathon that weekend just post on the thread or send me a PM. I'm hoping it will be a good time for all and it will be a great stress test for my "wired" home to see if we can have everything online and gaming at the same time for a few days in a row ;) {I'm thinking Halo 3 and COD4 will be getting a lot of play time)

If you are interested in attending or want more information let me know.
I'm looking forward to meeting a few people in person.

Cheers
Calvin

Congrats!

So... erm... what's Tanya's story? :D

Overtone,

Strangely I get that one a lot ;)
Cheers
Calvin

Well sadly after 6 weeks of waiting and playing telephone tag I find out that bulbamerica is refunding my $$ for my order :(

Looks like I'm back to step one - looking for a new replacement bulb for the riser. I'll be scouring Google again looking for a place to order any MR-16 LED replacements. There has got to be a blue bulb out there that works for my application and I'm going to find it (eventually).

Anyways flying home again today so hopefully my acoustic panels are waiting for me and I get some of that work done this weekend (I'm moving my cousin tomorrow so Friday is a write off but I still have Sat & Sun to do some installations).

Cheers
Calvin

Minor update.

No acoustic panels yet? I'll have to talk to Joel and see what is up with the delivery I expected them to be here by now

Edit: Talked to Joel they are on route :)

I Purchased another PS 3 for the downstairs so I can have blu-ray and PS 3 gaming on the basement HT . Here are a couple screen shots (click to enlarge)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_2218.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_2218.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_2220.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_2220.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_2217.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_2217.jpg)

Edit.
I ordered bulbs again today this time from bulbdirect.com ;) They told me they have them in stock and they will ship tomorrow so I have my fingers crossed (again)


Cheers
Calvin

Update,

I've corresponded with Joel this morning and my 6 panels will ship out soon and they will be coming with the new mounting hardware so that is exciting news (for me anyways). I'll be sure to post some pics and my thoughts on the new fastening devices when I get installing them in mid October when I'm back at home again (I'm a working machine again only 5 days off in 40+ days over the next month and a half).

I'm hoping to have the new bulbs in the riser and the new panels up before my gaming get together for TAG in mid October.

More when I can
Cheers
Calvin

Thought I would post this PM here as I've received this type of question a few times and I think maybe posting it might answer a few future PM's before they are sent ;)

Hey Calvin

I've got another question for you ;)

I've decided that I now want to also have a multi room 5.1/7.1 set-up but I have a couple of questions. For my upstairs family room, I plan on also having a wall mounted plasma/lcd above the fireplace and in ceiling speakers but what are you using for IR control as I didn't see any pics of it? I think your receiver is in your downstairs media closet with just the speaker cable and component cables run upstairs, right?

Also, do you have separate sources for each of your multi room set-up's or do you have multiple cable/sat boxes for example? I would love to have just the one HD cbl pvr (so the wife can watch the recorded shows on any tv ;)) but I'm not sure how I could feed both rooms the digital signal. I know it's pretty simple to use zone 2 of my receiver or use one of my old receivers for the family room, but then it would just be 2ch audio as I would want the second receiver to stay in the media closet downstairs.

Any suggestions?

Thanks again
Becks

Becks,

I was originally using the Harmony 890 RF remote to use the components down stairs with the living room HT. My new plan forward is having Connect install a Proficient IR system. I have some pictures in the thread in post # 731 of the system they will be installing in place of the RF Harmony 890 as it wasn’t working as well as I would have liked.
I currently have all the components downstairs in the rack and the cables run to the display are still sadly just component as I’m still working with Connect trying to get HDMI there – our last 2 attempts have failed as chronicled in the thread :(

I don’t have any satellite or cable boxes yet but when I finally get there we will be using a multiple box set up and I will have them run through the distribution panel to all locations. Using the panel I can put each box into as many or as few rooms as I need which is one of the reasons I bought it, which is one of the reasons the panel is extremely handy:)
In your situation I would likely get 2 units and have them feed their respective HT’s for the sake of simplicity. If funding is an issue you may have to work with one and that will work as well but then you will both have to watch the same show at the same time as only one video / audio output is possible per unit. It is easy enough to get a splitter and push the signal to multiple displays though. Just look up splitters in the forum or Google and you will find what you need in short order.
I’m looking into buying 2 HDTV FTA PVR Satellites (Holy abbreviations batman!) I just have to make up my mind on whether to stick with Coolsat (which I’ve owned previously) or try out a new company?

Currently I’m looking at these and I haven’t made up my mind yet.

Coolsat 8000HD or the 8100HD Micro PVR.

Diamond 9000 HD PVR USB.

Anyone have any opinions on these 3 units? Any real world experience users care to weigh in? The real thing I need to work on learning is how easy is it to get them back up and running once they “go down” which is usually pretty easy with Coolsat but I know nothing of the new Diamond FTA services.

Now that I’ve asked a few questions I should say that if anyone needs more info or has more questions fire away in the thread or PM I’ll do my best to answer regarding the multi-room questions.

Cheers
Calvin

Hmm...nothing on the FTA satellites yet I see. I may have to delve into the forums here and see what the news is (was hoping I had a reader that might save me some time).

On a side note I'm 11 days away from my gaming weekend at the house so if I have any local (or non local) people wanting to come by for a day of gaming on the 19th to 21st weekend give me a shout here on the thread or PM me for directions. I'm hoping for a decent turn out and I'll be supplying food and drink for guests for the 2-3 day event.
It's looking like Halo 3 and PGR4 will be the games of choice but with all the hardware and software I have we do have a lot of choices so no telling what we will end up playing through out the weekend.

I'm not home for a few days yet so I'm hoping when I finally do get back I have some acoustic panels and LED lights waiting for me (and not just a stack of Blu-ray and HD-DVD movies I've been ordering off of Amazon the last couple of weeks).

Cheers
Calvin

I would like to hear input on the FTA HD as well. Right now I am using a Pansat 2700. I have not found anyone with relieable input on the HD units. Please pass along any info you receive on these units to me.

Cal, I only get to pop in from time to time so excuse me for asking dumb questions but are you at least in the watching movies mode now? I'm assuming you are and that most of what you're doing these days is trim work? Is that a fair assessment?

Boss252,

I'll do some checking and get back to you. In the meantime if anyone has some real world experience please comment on any of the FTA's I've mentioned above.

Javry,

Hello again. :) There are no "dumb questions" I always say anyways (just dumb answers ;) )
I'm in movie watching and game playing mode but I still have a laundry list of items to follow up on. I'm not out of the woods yet. I still need to get my automation and control system worked out (I should have looked harder into that at the start but I was sure the Harmony 1000 would work better then it has sadly).

I still have the HDMI to the main floor display to run it hasn't happened successfully yet. The IR system shown awhile back still needs to be implemented as well it is not yet installed.

The GE Carma distribution panel has a few bells and whistles that are ordered and have come in that Connect still has to install. Hopefully that is done soon.

I have to pick up a couple FTA satellite systems and get TV into the home so my lovely wife can watch 24 & Desperate housewives (she politely reminded me last week that it would be "nice" to watch those shows again now that we are in the house and settled a bit - which translates into TV = ASAP ;) )

The lights in the riser are still a work in progress the new bulbs from the new company will hopefully be at my house waiting for me upon my return from this shift in a week or so.

Six new acoustic panels from ready acoustic are hopefully waiting for me at home (or will be when I get there). I’m putting 2 to 4 more on the ceiling and another 2 to 4 on the walls at the 1st reflection points from the center soundstage. I was leaning towards the 4 on the ceiling and 2 on the walls as outlined in the posts above but I may just put 2 or 3 on the ceiling and 3 or 4 on the wall. I have to make up my mind once I get them downstairs and see how they work before I mount them. I don’t have my tracking number from Joel yet but they were supposed to have shipped (I’ll keep the thread updated when I get confirmation).

Finally I will have some trim work and the door to work on in the room itself. I have sent the blueprints to a co-workers friend to try and get a custom solid core door built for the arch way by the rack. I’m going to get a acoustic seal and all that fun stuff with the door to help insulate the rest of the house from the sonic boom that is the downstairs. Right now that arch way works like a wind tunnel to funnel the noise from downstairs up through the rest of the house at high volumes. I’m hoping to see something back on the door soon once they give me an estimate to build. I would like to get some custom carving on the door ideally as well but if the wood worker is not an artist I’ll likely have to get something that works and fasten it to the entrance side of the door.

I’m sure there are a few more items I’ve forgotten or just don’t even know I have to do that are not on the above list but over all I’m 90%+ done :D

Cheers
Calvin

Update:

The bulbs are in and my wife tells me the box looks mint so I'm hopeful I'll finally get to try some new bulbs and hopefully fix the light in the riser issue. I should have an update Tuesday on that issue.

The panels are also in transit Joel tells me so I should be seeing those on the doorstep anytime as well. He has sent 4 of the new mounting brackets as well so I'll have my thoughts and a few pics up on that when I can.

Still trying to research FTA but been pretty swamped at work last few days so I've not had a chance to get to much into my research on the 3 models I'm looking at.

More when I can
Cheers
Calvin

Some updated pics. (click to enlarge as usual)

Getting ready for the gaming weekend: The rack is loaded up and ready to go with all 3 HT's having a 360 and internet connection.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Readytogo.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Readytogo.jpg)

The new lights are in at long last. They are working like a charm after I modified the casing- The new bulbs were a little larger so I had to remove the swivel in the light case and just set them in.
Here are a few pics of them in the dark.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Riserlights6.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Riserlights6.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Riserlights5.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Riserlights5.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Riserlights4.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Riserlights4.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Riserlights3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Riserlights3.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Riserlights1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Riserlights1.jpg)

I'm pretty happy with the overall result thankfully it saves me getting an electrician in and rewiring the whole riser like I thought I may have to.

Cheers
Calvin

Update.

3 of the 6 acoustic panels arrived and the other 3 which I've located will be waiting for me at the fed ex building when I get back to town (back to work again today).

Had a good weekend testing the house out as we had a few guests from "the adult gamer" over and played till the wee hours of the night on Friday and Saturday.

Some pics

The big tims

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_Thebigtims.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/Thebigtims.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_BigTims.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/BigTims.jpg)

Some random action shots

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_Sl33p33LastactionheroandBulldogBain.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/Sl33p33LastactionheroandBulldogBain.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_Ravenheartreadytogo.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/Ravenheartreadytogo.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_Ravenheartinaction.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/Ravenheartinaction.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_Lastactionheroinaction.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/Lastactionheroinaction.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_Bulldogbainereadyingup.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/Bulldogbainereadyingup.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_BiggKFubarfatherwagsHerethechampand.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/BiggKFubarfatherwagsHerethechampand.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_2for1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/2for1.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_BiggKgettingfocused.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/BiggKgettingfocused.jpg)

Cheers
Calvin

A few more shots of my gaming event. We had 6 Xbox 360's and 2 PS3's all going at the same time and there were no issues other then a few IP address mishaps that were fixed by putting in the information manually (luckily BiggK is an IT guy he had it up and running in no time everytime a conflict popped up)

Champ and Lastaction boxing it up

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_ChampandLastactionboxingitup.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/ChampandLastactionboxingitup.jpg)

Round # 1 winner (actually I won but then put in another round so someone else could win as I didn't buy my prizes to win them ;) BiggK stepped up and scored his best ever to win the prize with the extra round in GeoWars)

Round # 1 winner Limited Halo 3 figure and Controller (Cov. version)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_BiggKround1winner.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/BiggKround1winner.jpg)

Round # 2 was bomberman live and it was a 3 way tie till Fatherwags pulled out the stops and took us all to school.
Champ looks on at the prize he nearly had. The limited camo headset round # 2 went to Fatherwags

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_Fatherwagsround2winner.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/Fatherwagsround2winner.jpg)

Round # 3 was a Burnout Crash party 3 round competition that went down to the finals with Calv1n1, Fatherwags, BiggK and Fubar

Here Fubar looks on as Fatherwags takes home his 2nd winnings

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_Round3winnerunwrapped.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/Round3winnerunwrapped.jpg)

Fubar impressed with awesomeness of the new Halo3 controller

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_Round3winner.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/Round3winner.jpg)

Round # 3 winner Limited Halo 3 figure and Controller (MC version)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_Round3swag.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/Round3swag.jpg)

The big winners showing off the swag!!

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/th_BiggKandFatherwagscleanup.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/TAG%20Weekend/BiggKandFatherwagscleanup.jpg)

it was a blast I may do it again next year.

Cheers
Calvin

Looks like a blast Calvin. Is the 360 that's displayed on the main floor tv located downstairs? If so, any controller-console connection problems?

Becks,

Yes, the white xbox shown in the rack controls the 46" LCD on the main level and the Black Elite is for the basement HT.
I don't have any controller issues when I just use the 3 that I own in the home but I did have some connection issues over the weekend when we had 6 or 7 Xbox 360's all going in the home at the same time I guess it was just to much RF traffic and that location suffered as it was the furthest point in the home at the time. The distance from controllers to the console is around 25' if you drew a straight line through the floor and with 4 or 5 extra xbox's going and another 10 to 16 controllers it seemed to confuse that box as the controllers lost contact several times (only player one though strangely never player 2 and player 2 was further away. We tried swapping out batteries and other joysticks and nothing fixed the problem other then turning off a few of the other 360's)

All in all it was a great time though we had some minor issues but worked through them.
The controllers disconnecting on the main level was probably the biggest pain but it only effected 2 guys for an hour or two.

Cheers
Calvin

Minor update:

The remaining 3 panels showed up my wife tells me so I have all 6 finally at home ready for install. If it doesn't snow my next days off I'm going to try and get my back yard up to final grade so it can settle over the winter but if the weather goes bad I'll be inside working on getting the panels up and the "honey do" list my wife has for me (more shelves? Who would have thunk it ;) )

More when I can.
Cheers
Calvin

Are you happy with the Proficient speakers? I am building my HT now and am considering the highest end proficient audio speakers. can you give me some feedback?

thanks!

Are you happy with the Proficient speakers? I am building my HT now and am considering the highest end proficient audio speakers. can you give me some feedback?

thanks!

Texas Tuck,

Quite happy with them. I also bought their highest end in-walls at the time and they perform well I have no complaints.

Cheers
Calvin

Hey Calvin,

Been following your build since the start, a couple of great looking setups you have there. It like a big kids heaven. Curious if you found any info on your FTA satellite.

thenish03,

Thanks for the post. I'm going to pick something up this weekend and try to get something up and running in the house for my wife over the winter so she can watch some TV (she only watches a couple of shows but she does enjoy them).

I'm leaning very heavily towards the coolsat 8100HD Micro PVR and my second choice Viewsat 9000HD.

I'll let you know which way I end up going soon.

Cheers
Calvin

Wow, just checked out this thread. Never realized you were from
Edmonton. I was born and raised in the hood (Millwoods). ;-)

I'm stuck in Red Deer these days. I'd love to see your setup
sometime, if you ever feel like giving a complete stranger a tour!
;-)

lumpy69,

I own a property in Millwoods as well (my 1st home, I use it as a rental currently).
Send me a PM if your going to be in town and if I'm home and I have some time I'll show you the place.

Thanks for the interest in the thread and the post.

Cheers
Calvin

Well the panels were at the house but unfortunately this is as far as I made it to hanging them :(

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_NewPanelsnotmounted.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/NewPanelsnotmounted.jpg)

I ended up working in the garage and putting up additional shelving in the walk through pantry and a few other things for the wife so I ended up running out of time.

I also didn't get around to picking up my FTA satellites so this weekend was a write off for the HT.
I hope to get some things done when I'm home again next week... just ran out of time this set of days off again (it happens).

I did manage to get around to sorting out some of the media though - went through my games and HD movies this weekend and collected them into one spot as they were spreading through out the house into the different HT's like a virus ;)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_Movies2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/Movies2.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_Movies.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/Movies.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_Games.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/Games.jpg)


I also need to get a hold of Joel at ready acoustics as they sent me some new hardware for ceiling mounting but I haven't figured out how they intend to use them and the website doesn't outline there usage either:confused:

More when I can...

Cheers
Calvin

THanks Calvin. Looks like we are no officially a Proficient dealer. Our model home will have four different 7.1 speaker selection set ups. Looking forward to hearing the inwall sub as well as the seven 1030 kevlar setups. Likely go with the Integra 8.8 as the receiver. I need to post some pics.

THanks Calvin. Looks like we are no officially a Proficient dealer. Our model home will have four different 7.1 speaker selection set ups. Looking forward to hearing the inwall sub as well as the seven 1030 kevlar setups. Likely go with the Integra 8.8 as the receiver. I need to post some pics.

Texas Tuck,

Your a speaker dealer?
Your putting in FOUR 7.1 Home theaters?!?!
Wow, I thought I was going over board with two 5.1 and a 7.4 :D

Looking forward to the pics

Cheers
Calvin

o my god~!

o my god~!


I'll assume that is a positive religious reference... so...thanks :)

Cheers
Calvin

hey calvin, just wondering what monitor size that this guy is playing on(The last pic where a sort of guy playing on a wood desk, post 819), because I am going to get a monitor to play 360 and PC game on, and that looks like the perfect size.

sorry I cant post URLs

Everything looks great!

cyron,

Thanks for the kind words. In the bottom picture BiggK is playing in my office on the 24" Dell
The model is Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW Widescreen LCD and can be had for a very reasonable price (call them rather then order online and you can likely get them to knock off another 10 to 20% I always find what I want online then call and barter ;) )

I don't know if they still carry it I think it was replaced with the newer model the 2407 but it will still be basically the same just have a different looking stand to match the newer style like the 20" you see in the 1st picture with a LCD (4th one down) in post # 819.

Cheers
Calvin

Minor update: Basement HT solid core door and threshold seal.

I'm currently out for bid on getting my custom door built for the basement HT and I'm asking for a standard "drop and seal" type of system.
I'm looking at combination of the first or second seal combined with its matching plate shown below (click to enlarge). I haven't spent much time on this area so I'm trying to do some learning on the pros and cons of the different types of seals.
Anyone with real world experience that could share their thoughts, please do :)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_ThresholdSeals.gif (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/ThresholdSeals.gif)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_ThresholdPlates.gif (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/ThresholdPlates.gif)

I'm still looking for more info and ideas as well as a good supplier for this type of material in Canada and the US so if anyone has any info please let me know.

Thanks,
Calvin

Nice build...and nice to see some people in the local area
I'm in Sherwood Park.

In general terms, have you found that you are ordering from the US more then buying locally? Lately I seem to be finding that an issue...

Nice build...and nice to see some people in the local area
I'm in Sherwood Park.

In general terms, have you found that you are ordering from the US more then buying locally? Lately I seem to be finding that an issue...


Stick4legs

Welcome to thread thanks for the post and the kind words. It is also nice to see some local people reponding to my build :)
I have purchased 85% of my electronics from the US almost everything that went into the 3 HT's with the exception of the 46" LCD and 71" DLP and the PE VSX 82 those items I picked up at Visons (displays) and Double Diamond electronics (AVR).

I still look at purchasing virtually everything from the US before I entertain the idea of local spending. I did pick the display due to their shipping and warranty as a local item and the AVR as DD gave me an excellent price even compared to US.

Cheers
Calvin

LOL

yet another person who knows John over at Double Diamond.
I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one looking south, I just can't ever find anything locally that fits the situation...

Stick4 legs,

John gives a good deal here locally :)
I still look south for the vast majority of items though and with the strength of our dollar I really wished I had waited a year or two would have saved me many of thousands ;) (hindsight is always 20/20)

Good luck with your ordering if you want some info on the places I ordered from send me a PM.

A minor update on my build.

I have installed all the acoustic panels but 1 on the ceiling I'll update with some new photos of the almost finished basement room in a day or two :)

Cheers
Calvin

Hey Calvin,

Been following your built since I joined AVS and I just want to say wow what an awesome job you have done on it and the house looks amazing. Your thread has really got my mind set on making a dedicated home theater when I graduate and purchase a home. I have learned a lot just from reading this thread.

Now a question for you. What do you think of the flying mole amp, do you like it, would you suggest it to other people for the amount of power it outputs in the small amount of space it occupies?

Evan

Evan,

Thanks for the post and the kind words. I'm very impressed by the flying mole cascade the only minor con I have is that it gets warmer then I expected in the rack. This may be in part due to the other 2 amps running under it but I was expecting it to be cooler then it is from the reviews I've read. As far as its power handling it has no issues handling my seven 8" speakers and the only clipping I get on the higher ends is from my Crown and Behringer on the thor subs the rest of the system runs great.
Cheers
Calvin

Some new pics. (Click to enlarge)

I've put up the 5 of the 6 remaining acoustic panels. I have one left which I've put in the corner for now (seen in pic #1 between the corner and wall mounted panels on the right side). The last panel will join the 2 on the ceiling on my next days off then I'm finally ready for the acoustic engineer from Connect to come and "treat" the room :)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_2401.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_2401.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_2399.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_2399.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_2398.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_2398.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_2397.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_2397.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_2396.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_2396.jpg)

Here is a photo of my newest addition. I picked up another Elite for aesthetics mainly, replacing the white premium I had there earlier. I wanted the HDMI port and I prefer the black.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_2394.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_2394.jpg)

I'm hoping to have Connect over soon to finish up the room and the main level so I can get back to the touch screen and controls I've put on the back burner till I get this finished up.

Cheers
Calvin

Update to show why my HT is so going so slowly lately ;)

Just showing some of the landscaping done recently. We are lucky enough that the snow hasn't fell yet so I've been able to bring the yard to final grade (or 99% there anyways) and my plan is to let it settle over the winter and then top it off and get my final grade cert next spring. Once I have the certification I'm off on the rest of the adventure which will be the landscaping of the 10,000+ Sq ft yard we have.

(As always click to enlarge photos)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_BackyardNovember24th.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/BackyardNovember24th.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_Backyard3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/Backyard3.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_Backyard2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/Backyard2.jpg)

So far our basic plans are lots of trees on the outside perimeter, a shed that can hold the ride-around lawnmower, snow blower and some bikes plus a multi-tiered deck with a 6-8 man hot tub.

Cheers
Calvin

HUGE yard! You mean 6-8 WOMAN hot tub...

looking good as always. and I am seriously jealous. Wish I had a job that pays as well as your does. Anyways I agree with Elmalloc, a 6 - 8 woman hot tub sounds much more enjoyable than a 6 - 8 sausage fest one.

- Josh

Thanks guys,

It would have been a 6 to 8 women hot tub but you may have forgotten that I got married in June so my "tom cat" days are over and I think I'll be far more likely to have 3 or 4 couples where we have an even mix of male and female then I'll be having all females over (for my own safety... after all I have to sleep sometime and when I do... she'll be waiting ;) Never under estimate your wife many foolish men have done that and I don't plan on joining that group).

I should have some more updates on the HT soon as my landscaping duties are now over till next spring :)

Cheers
Calvin

Just wanted to repost this PM here. ScottJ0007 was awesome enough to send this along to me and these are the best photos I've seen to show what it is I'm going to do with the basement HT so here they are.

Calvin,
I saw your post regarding automatic door bottoms. I installed two of these in some solid core doors. It is not too difficult, but it is a little time consuming. Here are some links to a couple pictures...
pic1 (http://home.comcast.net/~scottj0007/theater/pemco_0001.jpg)
pic2 (http://home.comcast.net/~scottj0007/theater/pemco_0002.jpg)

Thanks again ScottJ007, I'm hoping I'll be showing my version of this door threshold seal soon. I'm still waiting for all the estimates but hopefully soon.

Cheers
Calvin

... We are lucky enough that the snow hasn't fell yet so I've been able to bring the yard to final grade ...

Cheers
Calvin

You had to say it! :)

Brendin

Brendin,

LOL, yep I guess I'll take the blame this time. We have had snow up here by Fort Mac where I'm working for some time (and lots in the last couple of days). Guess it was just a matter of time before the house got some.
I'm very happy I got the final grade in before we got the big dump of snow that is here / coming.
My wife is happy because we have snow now and she likes the snow for x-mas.
I can do with out the -25 up here at work though :(

Cheers
Calvin

Cal, I keep thinking back to where you were this time last year [empty basement....lot's of plans.....and still unmarried!!!!] and it's hard to believe it's the same room. If the HT is any indication of what the yard will look like, I'd say you're well on your way. Keep it up bud!:D

Cal, I keep thinking back to where you were this time last year [empty basement....lot's of plans.....and still unmarried!!!!] and it's hard to believe it's the same room. If the HT is any indication of what the yard will look like, I'd say you're well on your way. Keep it up bud!:D

Thanks Javry :)

Yep I have come a long way from the my first plans and prints where I had 2 computer desks and a network printer in the back of the room.
The back yard I'm sure is going to be something special, I'm equally sure it is going to be expensive. I'm budgeting between 70 to 100k (it was 5k just for the dirt work done so far) so we'll see how it shakes out it might be more depending on how crazy the wife gets. I'm leaving the planning up to her:eek: I'm just there to advise a little but it is going to be all hers (including the grass cutting duties, I wanted a walk out and small yard but she wanted the huge pie-lot so that was our deal going in ;) )

I should have some new info and photos in the coming weeks still have lots of HT related issues and plans to get working on and now that it is the winter months that means I'm trapped inside to do them :)

Cheers
Calvin

but it is going to be all hers (including the grass cutting duties, I wanted a walk out and small yard but she wanted the huge pie-lot so that was our deal going in ;) )

Um, slightly different context. But I think you have done the following:

Never under estimate your wife many foolish men have done that and I don't plan on joining that group

Check back in year two of mature grass and let us know who is actually mowing (or paying someone else to mow). There might have already been a plan at the time of the "deal" that - under the influence of love - wasn't immediately apparent. :D

Um, slightly different context. But I think you have done the following:



Check back in year two of mature grass and let us know who is actually mowing (or paying someone else to mow). There might have already been a plan at the time of the "deal" that - under the influence of love - wasn't immediately apparent. :D

Audixium,

Those are all good points and I've secretly been convinced that I'll be hiring someone to do the yard work for sometime. However the "official" story I tell everyone (especially if the wife is with in earshot) is that lawn duty is all hers ;)

The down side is I'm sure she will buy the most expensive lawn tractor she can find in the city and it will be picked on how it looks and how she will look riding around on it rather then on what its technical merits :rolleyes:

The one big plus I have is that my wife loves to be outdoors and she is a very active woman (she is a triathlete and Ironman or “Ironwoman” if you will )I'll let you know how it works out but I've been prepared for plan "B" since the start despite still holding on to hope that plan "A" will work for at least a summer or two.

Cheers
Calvin

Hello all. It was my b-day this weekend so I haven't had much time to post but I did get a few things done this weekend and some news which I'll hopefully get around to posting in the next day or two.
Cheers
Calvin

Happy birthday! it took me a long ass time to go over your thread lol. Exelent job on your HT.
I wish i have your kind of budget when i built mine.

Hey Looking good Calvin!!

Yes, I am still lurking ;)

Happy Bday! How old now?

BTW, can you comment a little on the touch screens you are looking at that you referenced a few posts ago?

Joe

Happy B-day Calvin!

Still enjoying your thread :)

Calvin,

Everything is amazing. I was just wondering what kind of "toys" your wife gets? You get some pretty impressive "toys" yourself, so what does she get?

Thanks for the b-day wishes everyone :)

Yellowblanket,
I hope you get a good budget as well. I saved for 2 years before I started my buying spree it was tough not spending knowing I had a good chunk of change in the bank but I'm glad I waited and I ended up getting better prices by buying a lot of items at the same time.

jmorris,

Good to see you again thanks for stopping by. I'm 35 now. It seems like I was 25 just yesterday, man how time flys. I'm still looking into touch screens there are so many on the market place right now I haven't decided which one I'm going to settle on yet but it will likely be one that works with CQC or control4 type systems. Right now I'm using the Harmony 1000 but it is just a placeholder for the real system down the road.

Becks.
Thanks nice to see you again and thanks for the b-day wishes.

djshtnut,

My wife gets some very nice "toys". Mainly jewelry,watches and clothes but I have bought her a few big ticket items like a Grand Prix GT a couple years ago. She is spoiled but as the love of my life it is the way it is supposed to be ;) I can't take it with me when I'm gone :)


Anyways back on topic. It has been an exciting couple of days.
I had a flood in the basement and I ended up getting a fresh water (thankfully) flood coming out of the basement toilet. I still don't know the how and why and I haven't figured it out as to what happened but I did manage to stop the water and everything appears to be working now. The one down side is that water went into the basement floor plug and now it keeps kicking the breaker on the front row of chairs. I'm going to dry it out the plug area throughly and then I'll call an electrician if it is still acting up.

We also had a power outage for a large portion of the city Sunday night. Made for a candle light everything

On a HT note I've been having the drywaller back to fix some issues with the one wall I wasn't happy with.

Day one pics

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_2411.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_2411.jpg)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_2413.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_2413.jpg)

Day 2 pictures - 2nd coating and sanding done.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Wallday2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Wallday2.jpg)

Just one more day with the drywallers on the 14th and then they will send in the painters and hopefully get the "waves" out that were there since possession.

More when I can
Cheers
Calvin

Some pics of the damaged plug in the basement from my "little flood" over the weekend. I replaced the power outlet but it is still kicking the breaker so it looks like I'll be getting an electrician in to fix it after all :(

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_basementplug.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/basementplug.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Floorplugchangeout.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Floorplugchangeout.jpg)

Water and power don't play nice hopefully I get this basement issue worked out soon I'm talking to the city and the builder this week to see what my options are and how to prevent any future "flooding"

Cheers
Calvin

Update.

It appears the reason for the flooding on the weekend is due to my fancy new low flush toilet I installed in the basement it just doesn't push enough water so I'll be replacing it with the older and more expensive to operate models which will be cheaper in the long run as I won't have to re-carpet the basement at some point ;). I have the brother in law lined up for the swap out before X-mas and hopefully that will solve any future flooding issues.

Another small task I have is to add another row to my HT storage area it appears I'm running out of room already I'll be adding another row to the bottom when I get back home for the X-mas holidays.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_2409.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_2409.jpg)

One of these days I'll get around to playing all these games I've been buying...

Cheers
Calvin

I've had a few questions about the lights via PM since the install so I thought I'd repost this again along with one of the PM's to help some people out that may have questions.

Hi Calvin,

In your recent post replying to lighted cup holder request, you have pictures shown the lighted cup holder, but I am more interested in the floor light in the picture. Can you please tell me what was the cool blue light? I am in the process of remodeling my HT with a riser, I think that will work perfectly.

Thanks,

The lights are the 3rd ones on the list. I purcashed mine at Bulbdirect.com but there are several online retailers that have them just make sure you confirm they are in stock before paying as I had to cancel my 1st order due to no stock

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/ScreenHunter_01Aug1414.55.gif

Some shots of them in action (click to enlarge)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Riserlights6.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Riserlights6.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Riserlights4.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Riserlights4.jpg)

Cheers
Calvin

Hi Calvin,

This is the only one I found on Bulddirect.com, but it says it's white. Are we talking about the same light?:confused:

Thanks,

Tom

Hi Calvin,

This is the only one I found on Bulddirect.com, but it says it's white. Are we talking about the same light?:confused:

Thanks,

Tom

Tom,

That is the right light same model just in blue. Phone them at the 1-800 number and ask if they can bring it in or find out if they have any stock if it is no longer listed on the website. They had a few left when I picked up my 2 and been LED they will last a very long time before you need replacements so that makes the $25 /ea price tag easier to swallow.

If bulbdirect doesn't have them anymore try out bulbamerica.com they carry them as well but were out of stock when I purchased mine originally.

Good luck
Calvin

Great! I will give them a call. BTW, what do you use for housing on those lights? I stopped by HomeDepot last night, but they don't even have anything else remotely possible to fit those lights in except a couple of Track lights.

Thanks,

Tom

Tom,

I purchased a swivel housing from Home Depot that accepted MR11 and MR 16 LED and regular halogen bulbs. The exact model can be found in some pics and posts back a few pages when I was building the riser.

These new "Dragon" lights do have a larger "shell" though so I ended up having to remove the swivel from the rest of the housing and I have them just lying propped up in the light cans. It is not elegant by any means but it looks fine in the low light and I'm sure no one would ever notice if I didn't point it out. I may get adventurous one day and try to make something that allows me to swivel the larger lights but for now it’s not on my priority list.

On a side note you may be able to get a suggestion for them from the manufacturer or the online vendor on which "housing" is best suited for the bulbs. I had already bought and installed mine so I was married to using the Home depot housing I have unless I want to go through a lot of trouble with the riser again (which I don't)

Good luck
Calvin

I'm home again for awhile :D I decided to renew my contract again rather then take 3 to 6 months off which I was originally going to do but they offered me to much $ to turn down so I'm back at it the 1st week in Jan 08. Still it will be nice to get some RR time and finish up some loose ends around the house.

1st thing on the agenda when I got home was to replace the bulb in the 333 it had finally burned out after 1547 faithful hours of service :D


http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Oldbulb.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Oldbulb.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Burntbulb.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Burntbulb.jpg)

If the replacement lasts as long it should likely be the last bulb I'll need as I'm sure I'll be moving to a 1080p PJ before I get to a third bulb in 2 years time (hopefully another 3 chip DLP of some sort I'll need the brightness now that I'm used to it)

I was also busy making the living room look like Santa had visited ;)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_LivingroomHTtree.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/LivingroomHTtree.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_LivingroomHTandtree2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/LivingroomHTandtree2.jpg)

9 feet and 1500 lights of holiday cheer in the living room HT at the moment :D

I should have some updated photos over the coming weeks still have a panel to hang and who knows what other "trouble" I can get into with a few weeks off and some expendable income this x-mas.

I just finished Mass Effect on the xbox 360 as well - great game I'm going to start again with a new character again and be a bad guy this time - no more paragon for me ;)

Cheers
Calvin

Cal, what PJ are you using. I guess I could look back through your posts..... but alas, me thinks I'm a bit too lazy.

Update.

It appears the reason for the flooding on the weekend is due to my fancy new low flush toilet I installed in the basement it just doesn't push enough water so I'll be replacing it with the older and more expensive to operate models which will be cheaper in the long run as I won't have to re-carpet the basement at some point ;). I have the brother in law lined up for the swap out before X-mas and hopefully that will solve any future flooding issues.




I was wondering if it was the toilet or possibly just a "2 flusher" that only got one flush:rolleyes:

Theater looks great! Have you installed your door theshold devise yet?

Cal, what PJ are you using. I guess I could look back through your posts..... but alas, me thinks I'm a bit too lazy.

Javry,

Still using the Infocus 333 its a kodak cinema varition of the 777. I've been very pleased with it since I got it. Just an amazing PJ and I don't think I'll be upgrading until I get another bright 3 chip DLP @ 1080P for 12k- 15k or less
(another year or two likely)

Cheers
Calvin

I was wondering if it was the toilet or possibly just a "2 flusher" that only got one flush:rolleyes:

Theater looks great! Have you installed your door theshold devise yet?

Gonzo,

It appears in my quest to save money and the enviroment I haven't done myself a favor regarding the low flush toilets. Should be getting the new one put in soon and that should be the last of the issues in the basement. I fixed the plug and swapped out the breakers that were potentially damaged. Everything is working like a charm again.

I also purchased a new router and worked on the trim for the screen wall where the subs are. I should have some pics soon the paint is just drying on the piece now.

I still haven't gotten back all my quotes on the basement door yet looks like it is going to happen in 08 now as is my next Connect AV visit.

Cheers
Calvin

Some updated pics of the trim after the router work and paint.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Trimpainted2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Trimpainted2.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Trimpainted1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Trimpainted1.jpg)

Some close up shots of the new trim piece installed with flash


http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_TrimInstalled5flash.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/TrimInstalled5flash.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_TrimInstalled4flash.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/TrimInstalled4flash.jpg)

I ended up with a different router bit then I thought I bought but the end result is still good enough I'm not going to redo it.

Here are a couple shots of finished product

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_TrimInstalled2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/TrimInstalled2.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_TrimInstalled1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/TrimInstalled1.jpg)

Next post I'll have some updated photos of the final acoustical panel install.

Cheers
Calvin

For the panels I took them down and removed the 2 hook spacing that I had previously and went with a perfectly spaced and perfectly level installation with the ducting run you can see in pic #1.

I still have to touch up the paint on the ceiling once the plaster touch ups dry and I'll likely paint the hooks black as well finishing this portion of the work.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_3panelsinstalled4.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/3panelsinstalled4.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_3panelsinstalled3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/3panelsinstalled3.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_3panelsinstalled2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/3panelsinstalled2.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_3panelsinstalled1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/3panelsinstalled1.jpg)

We tenatively have Connect coming with the acoustical engineer to calibrate the room and I can't wait :) Now that all the panels are done I just need him to work his magic and get those feedback destroyers in action and I should be one step closer to getting my HT done.

Cheers
Calvin

I was reading this construction journey till 5 am. Hard to believe actual sale transaction was delayed about 6 ms and as a result HT was not ready for about a year after thread started. Admire your work on HT and especially on interior of your home. Being Realtor myself and reading situation with escalating values of the houses in your market could you describe what is going on at this time. I know it is not HT related but I couldn't resist to ask. Over here buyers have more interest in total sq ft rather than tens of thousands of $ in upgrades. Looks like in your case it was hundreds of thousands. Unless it is an over 1M home and than $50K does not sound like a such large number.

I was reading this construction journey till 5 am. Hard to believe actual sale transaction was delayed about 6 ms and as a result HT was not ready for about a year after thread started. Admire your work on HT and especially on interior of your home. Being Realtor myself and reading situation with escalating values of the houses in your market could you describe what is going on at this time. I know it is not HT related but I couldn't resist to ask. Over here buyers have more interest in total sq ft rather than tens of thousands of $ in upgrades. Looks like in your case it was hundreds of thousands. Unless it is an over 1M home and than $50K does not sound like a such large number.


Odessit,

Thanks for the post. I'm not into real estate despite owning a couple of properties but it seems the market has cooled some in Edmonton. This is a good thing as the way things were even a year ago where a little insane. Houses were selling in days and even minutes we are back to a month and half and up to around 15,000 on the market compared to 10% of that a year ago. I think things will surge again in 2009 with all the US money coming into Alberta again in the oil and gas markets but I don't think it will be as bad as it was during the time in which I bought my home. Houses doubled or better in that 2 to 3 year time period (my property tax has also increased over 33% in the last 2 years so there are down sides to this as well).

The buyers here for the most part don't want the 6000 sq ft houses or larger unless they are going to be multi-family unit which only a few ethnic groups in Canada usually do and of which we have many in my area as the homes are larger and usually to expensive for just one family to buy so they have 3 to 6 people paying the mortgages. In my area houses start around 700k and go right up to 5 or 7 million depending on the "subdivision" you move into lots start at around $240k and go to 2 million for the ones across the road from me.

As far as my home I haven't priced it as I have no intention to sell but we put around 150k into "upgrades" or improvements and its value would be over the million mark I would think closer to 1.2 I would guess.

On the house and entertainment topics I've been busy building a new PC computer desk in the bonus room and I should have some new pics ups in a day or two.

Cheers
Calvin

I figured I would give PC gaming another go this month since I have a few weeks off and some expendable income not to mention a nice location for a decent set up in the bonus room area.

First up was the desk. I found something the wife and I both like which worked out with the color scheme in the house as well.

Some pics of the unit assembled.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_NewDesk2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/NewDesk2.jpg)

Next up I had to go buy the components for the new gaming PC.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_Components.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/Components.jpg)

A closer look at the gaming case I picked up

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_BoxforCase.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/BoxforCase.jpg)

Once it is all put together.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_PCbuilt.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/PCbuilt.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_Caseputtogether.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/Caseputtogether.jpg)


http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_BackofCase.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/BackofCase.jpg)

The components are as follows.

Intel core 2 Quad core Q6600
Asus P5N-E SLI mobo
Kingston 1 GB PC2-6400/800MHz DDR2 RAM x 4
Western Digital 500GB 16MB SATA II HD x 2 in RAID 1 (mirror)
2 EVGA GF8800GT Superclocked 512 Video Cards in SLI

LG GSA SATA Lightscribe DVD Burner
Antec 900 gamer case ATX mid tower
Thermal take 750W tough power active PFC PS
Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5000 Laser
MS Office 2007
Pro Data 10' HDMI to DVI 1080P digital cables x 2
24" LG Flatron pro monitors x 2 (include PIP, component hook ups, VGA and HDMI)
Logitech Z5500 5.1 audio system.

Next post a few shots of this put together and working :)

Cheers
Calvin

continued post from above.

A look at the war zone while I was building the new PC station.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_Warzone2.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/Warzone2.jpg)

Powering up the system initially.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_Powertothesystem.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/Powertothesystem.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_Dualmonitorboot.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/Dualmonitorboot.jpg)

Close up of the speaker installs

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_SpeakerinstallinDesk.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/SpeakerinstallinDesk.jpg)

I still need some cable management which is my job over the next couple of days to clean up the overall look but I'm still working on getting myself all trained up on the new Windows Ultimate 32 bit OS ;) ( I almost went with 64 bit but it just isn't where it needs to be just yet IMO)

After running it through its paces I decided I had to much horsepower and thus to much heat for the tower in the small enclosure so I moved it out the side. It has some easy access USB and other plug ins which make it a better move to store with in easy reach and also it kind of looks pretty cool so I don't mind having it sit outside.

Some final shots of the new PC in its new home.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_Outofthedesk.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/Outofthedesk.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_BluelightsonCase.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/BluelightsonCase.jpg)


Still working out the kinks but looking forward to getting it online and playing some games :)

Cheers
Calvin

Vary nice Calvin I plan on building myself a new rig when I get the HT done. What kind of PC gaming are you into. I just got back into WoW after about a year layoff and find I'm getting hooked all over again :)

W00lly,

I was into WoW for more then a year now I've moved onto some new games. Been playing C&C 3 and Unreal Tourney mainly and looking into getting Hellgate and the Gears of War PC version in the near future when I finish off a few more Xbox 360 and PS3 titles that have waiting to get played.

Cheers
Calvin

But can it play Crysis....? That is the question.:confused:

Rickeo,

Not sure about Crysis I'll have to pick it up I guess. I ran futuremark 05 and scored around 16k and in futuremark 06 around 13k. The windows Vista experience index score is a 5.0 out of 5.9 and it would be higher but as I'm only using the 32bit OS it doesn't see all 4GB of RAM I have installed.

I'll be picking up Crysis soon to see if the new rig can handle it, hopefully it can.

Cheers
Calvin

You should get one of the Auzentech soundcards, the DTS Connect is amzingly better then just plain EAX. IMO It has an edge in terms of over all dynamics too.

And it will add .2-.3 points to MS Vista Experience Score IIRC

I got a 5.2 on my gaming PC with a single card non sli, and only Dualc Core 6000+

BTW Nice score on 3Dmark I only get a 9300 Points may buy a my buds card off him so I get sli.

~Bobby

Bobby,

Thanks for the tip I'll look into one of those cards :) I've never heard of Auzentech before but I do need a better card then the cheap thing I picked up at Best buy which I'm using now as the onboard sound was really bad.

Cheers
Calvin

Hellgate

I'd pass on Hellgate. I tried it and was unimpressed.

What WoW servers were you guys on? I was on Laughing Skull for close to two years. Many nights wasted... :)

Nice rig calvin, mine is very close to yours. Same case, MB and processor. I currently have mine OC'd, but even in stock form you'll have no problem with any of the new games. Bioshock and DX10 look great.

I'm currently hooked on Team Fortress2.

I ended up picking up both crysis and hellgate. Honestly I'm not to impressed with either one. Hellgate reminds me of dungeon runners and Crysis reminds me of Far cry but runs pretty bad at a decent rez even with my new machine very poor programming I think it badly needs a patch.

I'm likely going to finish off my C&C 3 campaign missions and go back to my PS3 and XBox 360 where I spend most of my gaming time anyways. The new PC will be doing more as a media extender in my home and office use then anything else likely.

I'm hoping to see Connect AV in the new year to finish up some of the remaining outstanding issues so I should have some new posts and pics after their visit

Cheers
Calvin

How are you liking those LG monitors?

Big Worms,

I'm liking the LG monitors I would have likely gone with the dell 24" if I wasn't so impatient as I'm sure they are just as good or better and are cheaper. I didn't want to wait the 2 weeks for them to arrive though and these despite been a bit more have the HDMI and PiP functions which are nice. So far I've been impressed have been my many visitors that have seen them since the purchase.

Cheers
Calvin

Thanks! Now I have to decide if I want a 24" or do I want to go bigger. I am looking at upgrading my 22".

hey cal if you ever find your self having any down time shoot me a PM or skype (if you use it, umdivx is my skype name) and we can hit up some online play for CnC3 i've been on a huge kick of CnC3 and Company of Hereos.

- Josh

Big worms,

I looked at 27" and 30" but to be honest for myself anyways having 2 of them side by side they were just too much. I settled on the 24" which is about my whole range of vision from where I sit with the keyboard at the new desk. I sure like the dual screens though but I find 3 or more too much as well I can only really multi-task with 2 with any effieciency.

Josh,

I don't have Skype but I'll send you a PM sometime. I'm not very good though we may have to do some co-op against the Computer ;) I'm sure my one vs one won't be to much of a challenge. I have been getting more into Hellgate actually and of course I have a ton of games on the 360, PS3 and Wii I keep playing and try to get playing :)

Cheers
Calvin

Big worms,

I looked at 27" and 30" but to be honest for myself anyways having 2 of them side by side they were just too much. I settled on the 24" which is about my whole range of vision from where I sit with the keyboard at the new desk. I sure like the dual screens though but I find 3 or more too much as well I can only really multi-task with 2 with any effieciency.

Cheers
Calvin

That is were I am at also. I used to use 2 screens, but when I got my 22" I used only one. So I have been thinking either 2 24" or 1 27"-30". I do coding so trying to think what is best for me. Decisions....

Big worms,

I have a friend that does a lot of coding as he is a professional programmer for a medical firm in Vancouver. I gave him a call to see what he does at work and he uses 2 x 22" displays (viewsonics) so I think maybe going with another one of those or upgrading to 2 x 24" would be about your best bet.

Cheers
Calvin

Thanks Calvin!

No problem Big Worms :).

Update,

Just adding some stuff to the bonus room PC and the basement PC in the way of sound cards and new cabling etc...

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_Newsoundcardsfor2PCs.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/Newsoundcardsfor2PCs.jpg)

I also decided a new chair was in order after a 5 hour stint of Hellgate made my back very unhappy with my old chair

This is the new chair I picked up


http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_Newchair.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/Newchair.jpg)


and this is it out of the box and all set up. It is a pretty decent chair for only $650 swivels, rocks and turns plus locks in all sorts of positions as well as the rocking ottoman :)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/th_Newchairsetup.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/New%20PC%20bonus%20room/Newchairsetup.jpg)

now to install those new sound cards and get back to Hellgate ;)

On other house related and HT issues I have the new toilet and I'll be installing it in the basement today around 4 when my brother in-law swings by to give me a hand and Connect AV has e-mailed me and will be coming by Jan 18th to do the final install on the HDMI to the main level display + any remaining outstanding issues I have (cable management I hope the back of the AV rack needs some work). I hope the acoustical engineer makes it on the 18th as well i've been dying to hear those feedback destroyers in action :D

Cheers
Calvin

On other house related and HT issues I have the new toilet and I'll be installing it in the basement today around 4

How's that new HT toilet coming along? Got a buttkicker installed on it?

Michael,

The new toilet is installed but no buttkickers installed ;) Hopefully it should elevate any future problems with the plumbing downstairs in the HT I sure hope my last minor flood is indeed the last one. I'll post a few pics in a few days when I'm back home again sadly I'm back to work again this week (1st day back today:( I should have taken a few more weeks I think )

I only installed one of the new sound blaster cards and returned the other one after testing the 1st one. I'm not overly impressed with the card and I'm dissapointed the card doesn't have an coax or digital optical out only a stereo jack :confused: I'll be looking into getting a newer better card over the next couple of weeks.

I should have followed Bobby's advice above and just ordered Auzentech but I was impatient and bought what they had in the store which wasn't the right choice to make. I'll be ordering an Auzentech card if I can find a 5.1 unit this week online somewhere that ships to Canada.

More when it happens
Cheers
Calvin

Calvin, Awesome project and thread - thanks for sharing your process with everyone.

I am looking for an in-wall sub and am considering the proficient 10" since I have been pretty happy with the other proficient speakers that i have around the house (C870s, C850s, C610s, AW650s). what are your impressions of the in-wall sub now that you've had more of a chance to test it out? How does the proficient compare with the Thors? What would you go with for a sub now if you were doing it all over again?

I'm also eyeing the new proficient F400s LCR inwalls - anyone have any experience or thoughts on them?

Thanks!

dman,

The Thors are a much better speaker hands down but the proficient is still a decent sub just not in the same league as the Thor IMO. It is pretty tough to do an apples to apples comparison as I have 4 x 12" Thors vs. 1 x 10" Proficient but when I tried to do a subjective test of the same scene upstairs and down back when I just had the 2 Thors hooked into the riser they just seem to be a lot more sub in every way. Of course you have to take into account they are larger, have more power been poured to them and come with a built in housing vs the back box all which have to be considered. Cost wise they are about the same if you count the back box, so dollar for dollar the Thors are my choice.

If was doing it all over again and going in-wall I would still buy the Thors I think I haven't heard or seen a better in-wall sub yet but I'm also not auditioning the new stuff either so take it with a grain of salt ;)

I don't have any experience with the new f400 LCR's from Proficient but my installers Connect AV are using them and speak highly of the new line - I personally haven't heard them but I would assume they would be the same or better than the ones I have which are top notch IMO - no complaints.

Cheers
Calvin

Hello Calvin,
Great thread, very well done.

How is your 333 since you changed the bulb, and do you have any complaints? If and when you are looking to upgrade, I may be interested. I have been trying to find one but no success.

I can't imagine the effort it must take to keep the thread updated especally with the amount of time you spend in away from home. Thanks for the tremendous effort you have put in for all of us. We sure enjoy it.

1Sharpdog
Luke

Luke,

Thanks for the kind words. The 333 is bright and working well since I changed the bulb it really is a super bright PJ even when I had 1500+ hours in the bulb I never used a filter the entire time I viewed it :)
I won't this time around either although it must dim some over the life span of the bulb it is hardly noticable. (I'll try to get some measurements this time around before the bulb goes on this one).
I'll give you a shout on the forum here if your still around when I'm looking to sell but it won't likely be for another 12 to 24 months depending on when the 3 chip 1080P DLP's get down to my comfort zone which is around $15k CDN. I don't really want to spend more then that at this time (still getting ready to spend a small fortune on landscaping over the next many months).

You may want to mention your looking for a 333 in the thread of owners here on AVS in the over $3000 forums and maybe someone is upgrading sooner then myself if you can't wait (of course myself been a short jump away makes it much more attractive for a pick up sale. which I can understand as I spent over $500 in shipping alone to get mine up to the international with white glove treatment).

Thanks again for the post
Cheers
Calvin

Just a minor update I've been working on the back yard planning a lot recently trying to get everything in place for the spring madness to ensue as planned. (My previous plan of "Grass" wasn't embraced by the wife so a landscape designer and I have come up with this along with ideas from the wife)

It is not really HT related but since I know I have a lot of thread viewers and most of you have back yards and likely many of you have more experience then I have regarding these types of things I thought I'd throw out a pic of the plans and let you guys throw out some ideas or comments on what I've come up with so far.

Let me know what you think please - the sooner I get this wrapped up the sooner I can get back to working on the finishing touches of the HT's

Here are the plans (click to enlarge as always)

Over all plan and layout (concept so far)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Backyard/th_Backyardconceptplan.gif (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Backyard/Backyardconceptplan.gif)

Close up of backyard area

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Backyard/th_CloseupBackyardplan.gif (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Backyard/CloseupBackyardplan.gif)

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestions.

Cheers
Calvin

Hey Calvin,

What software did you use to make that backyard layout? I ask because about 13 years ago, I worked for a company that made a landscape software. The company was EaglePoint, and the software I was a part of was LandCad.

Micheal,

It was CAD and my landscape designer actually built it with his software with the wife and I giving him input. It was maybe LandCad, I'm not certain to be honest I missed most of the intial building done in the software and we just came in to do the final mark ups on a hard copy a couple of times.

{The pictures that I have linked to are from a PDF that I used screenhunter on to take screen photos and then dumped to photobucket to link here.}

What I've shown here is rev 2 or 3 and we will likely get one more kick at the cat so to speak before it goes to final. I'm just throwing it out on the forums to get some ideas and thoughts on what we have so far and I can assume by the silence that there are no major fax paux's here.

I was looking at few trees in particular that I think might work for our area. Does anyone have any experience or have these types of trees.

Royal Empress Trees
Thuja Green Giants (do these kill the grass around the bottom of the tree like spruce do)
Ginkgo Trees

Here is a larger picture as well - I've figured out how to link to larger expandable photos now in photobucket so this one should give you a better idea and be a little easier to read.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Backyard/th_8358d81b.gif (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Backyard/8358d81b.gif)

I thought I should mention as well that we don't have any coy ponds, fountains or anything dealing with water at this time as my wife wants to avoid those types of things (for now) we may implement them at a later time when I'm at home more to deal with the maintenance and winterization of these types of things.


As always interested to hear any thoughts or comments from members and guests out there.

calv1n,

It took me about an hour and a half, but I've read your thread from the beginning. Let me tell you, I am very impressed by your enthusiasm, dedication, and your quality of work. You have really inspired me with all of your insight when it comes to my HT construction. Obviously, that will be sometime in the future. Keep up the amazing work and congrats on your two wives, your wife and your HT, lol.

lostcase,

Thanks for the post and the kind words :).
Good luck with your build when you get to that point down the road. If you keep spending some time here at AVS you should have no issues when your ready to go.

Cheers
Calvin

Figured I'd get around to posting this finally.

This is the new toilet I installed last month after the freshwater spill we had. After some thorough testing I'm sure this will solve any future problems. The nice part about the new toilet is it a lot higher so its easier on the knees and it flushes 6 gallons in a fraction of second similiar to an airplane so you don't have to worry about the 4 degree slope gravity drain like I did with the low flush unit I replaced despite it been brand new and in mint working condition. It also has a 2. 3/4 inch opening vs the 2" on the low flush all of which helps in a basement install.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_newtoilet1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/newtoilet1.jpg)

This is the old "library" downstairs that needed replacement.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Basementbathroomfinished.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Basementbathroomfinished.jpg)

cheers
Calvin

Figured I'd get around to posting this finally.

This is the new toilet I installed last month after the freshwater spill we had. After some thorough testing I'm sure this will solve any future problems. The nice part about the new toilet is it a lot higher so its easier on the knees and it flushes 6 gallons in a fraction of second similiar to an airplane so you don't have to worry about the 4 degree slope gravity drain like I did with the low flush unit I replaced despite it been brand new and in mint working condition. It also has a 2. 3/4 inch opening vs the 2" on the low flush all of which helps in a basement install.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_newtoilet1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/newtoilet1.jpg)

This is the old "library" downstairs that needed replacement.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Basementbathroomfinished.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Basementbathroomfinished.jpg)

cheers
Calvin

Hey Calvin, its lost again. I was showing my girlfriend your pics, (ht and pc) and she didn't care for any of it. All she cared for was how beautiful your bathroom is. Okay, please tell me, what is the name of the paint you used for the walls. She's driving me crazy with paint swatches, that every day she changes her mind.

Lost,

I'll get the wife to look it up and get back to you. I don't remember off the top of my head I always call it "sandstone" but it has some fancy designer name I'm sure. I'll get that info to you in a few days (have to check on the order paperwork from our builder package to get the right manufacturer and name for you).

Does this mean you don't get a HT now and just a few really nice bathrooms :eek:?

Cheers
Calvin

Lostcase,

The paint is a ICI Dulux "lifemaster" Semi-Gloss acrylic with formulated teflon paint.
The sticker on the side used to order more says.

00YY 371221 Onion Skin Tan

That should be all that you need.

Cheers
Calvin

Awesome thanks.

wow, what an attractive name LOL

wow, what an attractive name LOL


I assume your responding to the "Onion Skin Tan" paint? I thought it was something like Sandstone which is what it looks like, heck even Camel brown would have done ;) There are so many thousands of colors now that I'm sure there are plenty of other pretty fun names out there.

I do feel for lostcase though I remember looking at hundreds if not thousands of paint swatches over a few days picking colors. Its pretty tough to look at a 2" x 2" paint swatch and envision what a room or an entire house will look like but I think my wife and I did ok with the over all colors in the house.

Best of luck lostcase.

Cheers
Calvin

Yes I was and yes I also feel the pain.

there is nothing fun in staring a 50 different 2x2 swatches of nearly identical colour.

And come ON how many different shads of pure white can their be?t

What makes it worse is that I work for a company that puts a lot of store in reproducing colour accurately. I spend abnormally large amounts of time staring at color patches and images under certified lighting conditions.

I feel for you Charlie :) your job doesn't sound like much fun at all. I understand all to well about the white as well LOL. I couldn't even understand what my wife was talking about when she said we had to go pick out a "white" color when we at that stage.

I was like "What is there to pick? It's white?"

Boy did I learn about the paint world in a hurry in a few days. White isn't just "white" anymore that is for sure. Remember when crayons used to come in about 8 colors? Have you seen a new crayon pack these days? Outrageous! and when it comes to paint it is that times a 1000.

Cheers

What's worst, whenever I suggested a color I liked, she would turn it down. But lets say her daughter, sister, or anyone else other than me, would suggest the same thing, she would go "oh yes, that's a good choice". Women, can't live with them, can't live without them. I guess it's a right of passage as men to go through hell for a bit.

Hey Calvin

Was just checking out your landscape planand it looks like alot of work. I am in the lawn and landscape maintenance end of it all and see what works and what doesn't.

First off make sure what ever they do that they put some form of edging around all of the mulched beds. This will make maintaining the edge between the grass and beds much easier. If you don't within a year you will have grass creeping into your beds and every time you trim along the edges with a weed eater it will throw the mulch out into the lawn :mad: I have been mowing for 26 seasons and landscapers in the last few years have been installing mulch beds with no edging because its alot faster and it saves the home owner some cash but believe me you will pay for that in the end when you have to have them back out to re-cut the edge every other year.

ROCK

Rocks are your friends :D just remember what ever beds that are not rocked and have mulch will need to be redressed almost yearly maybe every other year if your lucky so when the mulch starts to decay it will fade and look like crap. Rock mite cost you a little more up front but you only pay for it once.

As for trees bushs and what not about all I know is what most of them are and how to whack em when they get out of control

Good luck with your outdoor project :) make sure you leave room for the outdoor projection setup :p

http://www.fast-growing-trees.com/

When I move upstairs I'm not going to miss the acorn tree falling on the glass room 24/7 lol. I do get allot of enjoyment out of the room though and the plants do well in there all year with the heater on. It was modular and the company just built it onto the side of the house in one day. We liked it so much we got a second one to use as a breakfast room. Here is a link to one that is DIY kits near your area if you are interested. They also have spa enclosures. There are some other nice places to look at those as well and some that can be assembled on-site by the companies.

http://www.screen-house.com/

Everything is looking great!

Scott,

Thanks for the post. I'll definitely discuss edging with them.
Do you have an affiliation with fast-growing-trees ? Ironically that was where I spent a lot of my time planning which trees to look at, I just picked Montana which is basically straight south of me a few hours and seen what works for that state as it will quite likely work for my province as well.

I don't think I'm ever going to see an outdoor HT set up either my wife has plans for nearly every square inch of real estate out there already (might have to buy an adjacent lot ;) )

Do you know anything about the rubber mulch products? I've been looking into them as an alternative as well for the cedar mulch which isn't so attractive to me due to the $1500/year or every 2 years to "fill" the beds again. I would be better served by Rock or this rubber mulch (if I can sell it to the wife that is, as the basement was mine the yard is hers :p )


SteveMo,

Thanks for the kind words and the link. I'll check them out and I sure hope we can use something like that in some of the cases anyways. Our developer has very strict guidelines in our subdivision of what is allowed and what isn't so we really have to stick to their and the city's "outline" or it won't stay up long :(

In the case of the shed in the drawing just for example it has to be stick built can't be over 10' high and must have the same exterior siding and shingles as the main residence. Sadly almost all of the new areas are like this now so we'll have to eat the added costs. I don't think they are to picky on the sun rooms and decks yet just on the dimensions (height especially) of those structures your allowed.

My wife and I are still looking into it with the city and the builder and of course our entire back yard plan has to be approved and permited before we can move forward so that should save us from having any big mistakes or tear downs due to not following "code".

Thanks again

Cheers
Calvin

The rubber mulch is geared more for play grounds so when the monkeys fall they won't get hurt. one thing about the rubber is that it never decomposes so if it gets out into the lawn you have to pick it up and throw it back into the beds :( and believe me it will. I would try to do a combination of rock and mulch. rock up around the house and walkways. I rocked all the beds around my house :D I hate mulch

no affiliation with fast-growing-trees just used google and they came up :) I love google

Thanks Scott,

I'll be talking to the wife about more stone. I know she isn't to fond of it but you make a compelling arguement and I don't want 4000sq ft of mulch I have to "fill" every couple of years. I'll let you know what we decide the plan is just going in for another revision we've changed and moved a few things including making the deck a little larger.

Cheers
Calvin

I wonder if UltraMon will ever work with Vista. Makes the dual monitor setups much nicer.

I wonder if UltraMon will ever work with Vista. Makes the dual monitor setups much nicer.

Mr Welsh.

UltraMon 3.0 which is currently out does work with Vista from what I've read (there are some issues but with Vista this seems to be the norm for a lot of software, I'm sure they will be addressed in a later patch but it does work for Vista for the most part right now).
I don't use it myself as I prefer to use the software that comes with the NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards I buy. I find that NVIDIA suite and ATI Catalyst software performs everything I require as far as dual monitor support so I don't see the need for 3rd party software. What do you use in UltraMon that isn’t in the graphics card software? I’m curious I didn’t see anything listed that jumped out at me that UltraMon does that isn’t done by the others.

Update on other stuff;

On the HT front, not too much is happening at the moment. Connect unfortunately ordered a 30' HDMI cable instead of a 30M HDMI cable so my last visit was postponed and we are looking at the last week in February now as I'm in Montreal and Quebec for the winter carnival on my next set of days off for some R&R. On the next visit the feed back destroyers will be hooked up, the new 30 Meter HDMI cable will be re-run to the 46" LCD on the main level and tested. I don't have confirmation that Scott the acoustical engineer is coming on the next visit but I'm hoping he will be able to come and do his calibrations during this visit as well.
The basement HT arched solid core /w threshold seal door is still waiting for a quote, the information and blueprints have been with the contractor for a couple weeks but I've yet to hear back from him.

So, that is it other then the landscaping “design and plan” continues.

Anyone have any good ideas on what to do in Montreal on a Friday night (downtown area) I have about 6 hours till kill while I wait for my wife to fly in and I haven’t been there in almost a decade so it will be like my 1st time visiting again I’m sure (I’ll be wandering around like a lost tourist I’m sure ;) )


Cheers
Calvin

Mr Welsh.

Anyone have any good ideas on what to do in Montreal on a Friday night (downtown area) I have about 6 hours till kill while I wait for my wife to fly in and I haven’t been there in almost a decade so it will be like my 1st time visiting again I’m sure (I’ll be wandering around like a lost tourist I’m sure ;) )


Cheers
Calvin

Chez Paris :D

Mr Welsh.

UltraMon 3.0 which is currently out does work with Vista from what I've read (there are some issues but with Vista this seems to be the norm for a lot of software, I'm sure they will be addressed in a later patch but it does work for Vista for the most part right now).
I don't use it myself as I prefer to use the software that comes with the NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards I buy. I find that NVIDIA suite and ATI Catalyst software performs everything I require as far as dual monitor support so I don't see the need for 3rd party software. What do you use in UltraMon that isn’t in the graphics card software? I’m curious I didn’t see anything listed that jumped out at me that UltraMon does that isn’t done by the others.
Cheers
Calvin
I don't use Ultramon, but it does alot of stuff that you can't do with built in software.

A few things:
additional taskbar for each secondary monitor

The UltraMon wallpaper manager adds the ability to use a different picture on each monitor, or stretch a single picture across the desktop.

Side note. Are you using Vista 64bit edition?

The 3 things about UltraMon that I like are:

1. Easy wallpaper management - you can do anything
2. Moving windows from one screen to another is easy to manage with extra buttons and/or drag & drop
3. Extended windows taskbar across secondary monitor that shows what's open on that monitor

I have also heard that it's still buggy with Vista (what isn't? :) ). Nice setup. I'm not familiar with what current ATi & NVidia drivers can do...I had to give up my dual 17" setup for a laptop. I really loved the dual screens for general work and surfing the net...someday I'll get it back.

Big Worms / Mr. Welsh,

Thanks for the info on UltraMon may have to check it out after all.

On a side note my Azuntech sound card finally arrived at the local store they called me yesterday to inform me it arrived. I likely won't be able to pick it up and install it till mid Feb due to my upcoming travels but looking forward to getting it installed and trying it out.

I was also contacted by a magazine editor that has expressed interest in showing my HT in their magazine. Sounds like it might be fun so I've e-mailed him back. I guess we'll see where it leads, maybe I'll have my 20 minutes of fame one day.

Cheers
Calvin

I received this PM today and it got me thinking about doing something a little sooner then planned. I was going to do a mini-meet at my house for the local AVS guys at some point and originally I was hoping to have everything finished but at the rate I'm going that may be awhile so I've decided I should do it sooner then later and I can always do another one once the HT is finally finished off.

Hey there!

Was just reading your build thread. It's awesome to see so many Edmontonians on here (and with an interest in HT). I have a place and plan to put together a modest theater in the basement in the next couple of years. I'd love to check out your build in person someday.



So I'm hoping that Connect AV finishes up what they need to do Feb 22nd during the day and that we can get a few guys together for either the night of 22nd or the night of the 23rd (which ever one works best for those that want to attend - but only 1 night as my wife will not be willing to share me two nights in the same weekend )

So tentatively I'll be hosting any AVS members that want to swing by for a visit on one of those days. If your interested please post here or PM me and I'll make sure your reserved a chair.

Looking forward to seeing a few of you in person later this month.

Cheers
Calvin

You can definitely count me in :)

Chez Paris :D


pwb,

Missed this post initially sorry. I don't think visiting Chez Paris will be a good idea for a recently married man ;) I think I would be getting myself into trouble as something tells me it is not a coffee shop.

Cheers
Calvin

You can definitely count me in :)


I'll keep a chair reserved for you SpaceMoose and I'll give you a call a few days before the "meet". I'm hoping we get a few more "locals" attending as well - would be good to meet a few more of my fellow AVS'ers in person.

Cheers
Calvin

Calvin,

Just started reading your thread recently, great setup. Imagine my surprise when I got to some of your pics and saw the one out of your window looking out into the street, it appears we're neighbors, I just bought a little 2-story at the end of rabbit hill road!

A couple of questions for you if i may, how do you find your setup conductive to more active games like the Wii, Guitar Hero, Rock Band etc? I'm working on finishing my basement right now and the fiance only had one rule, that the placement and distance was optimal for being able to play those games with friends.

Second, are there any places here in Edmonton you'd suggest for an expert to come in and give their opinion on how to build an av setup, including where/how to frame the walls, wiring, what gear to pick up etc.?

P.S: How'd you like driving last week in the valley on 23'rd or what we like to call the Valley of Doom?

Thanks,
Bart

Calvin,

Just started reading your thread recently, great setup. Imagine my surprise when I got to some of your pics and saw the one out of your window looking out into the street, it appears we're neighbors, I just bought a little 2-story at the end of rabbit hill road!

A couple of questions for you if I may, how do you find your setup conductive to more active games like the Wii, Guitar Hero, Rock Band etc? I'm working on finishing my basement right now and the fiance only had one rule, that the placement and distance was optimal for being able to play those games with friends.

Second, are there any places here in Edmonton you'd suggest for an expert to come in and give their opinion on how to build an av setup, including where/how to frame the walls, wiring, what gear to pick up etc.?

P.S: How'd you like driving last week in the valley on 23'rd or what we like to call the Valley of Doom?

Thanks,
Bart

Bart,

Welcome to the thread neighbor and thanks for the post. It sounds like your in S.T phase 4 or higher ? I sure hope they connect Rabbit Hill to the Anthony soon sucks having to drive around the "block" so to speak to get to it when it’s almost visible from the window.

As far as set up. I haven't really played the rock band and GH games they aren't my cup of tea but I do have scene it and the Wii and they work fine in the set ups I use them in. I haven't hooked up the Wii to the basement HT I just use it on the 71" upstairs and I don't have any issues. There are many here on AVS that have them hooked to PJ's with no issues so I think you'll be fine with any display set up. The primary concern would be that your not to close to the "display" that your interfering with seeing everything on a big screen set up - If that isn't an issue then you should be good to go.

In the city there are a few experts out there but they are pretty costly. There is a place on 99th that deals high end and of course the guys I use at Connect AV which has 1 of the 2 acoustical engineers in the city. If you want I can send you the info to contact Connect I've been dealing with them for awhile and they are good. My only complaint is the time it has taken due to their hectic install schedules and my "hardly at home" schedule. It has taken months to do what should have been done in weeks due to both parties.

I can certainly give you my opinion and you’re definitely in the right place to find out everything and more you would ever want to know about AV here at AVS forums so pull up a chair grab some coffee and start reading. I've been reading here for years and I still learn something nearly every day here.

If your going to be around on the 23rd of Feb why you don't swing by the house with spacemoose and others to check out what I've done 1st hand. I can go over what went right and what I would do differently if I was in your shoes and doing a fresh build. Might be time well spent. PM me your info and I'll give you a call to confirm and give you the address later in the month before the night of the "mini-meet".

I missed the driving last week in the "valley" I've been up here near fort mac making my millions and due to my present work I sometimes miss a week or two in town. The wife said it was ok just a bit slower getting to work for her but I can attest to seeing it getting "hairy" down there a few times I've driven through bad weather.

Cheers
Calvin

Been awhile since my last post. Not to much new I've been messing around with getting media players to work on all the displays from the various PC set ups I have in the house and I've taken a few photos and sent them off for the potential magazine exposure I discussed a few weeks back.

I'm hoping to see Connect this weekend but they haven't confirmed yet so its not looking good for them swinging by to finish up the outstanding stuff as I had hoped. *at least not this weekend*

Here are some new pics and I hope to have some new updates soon.

Vista media center testing:

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000111.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000111.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000109.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000109.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000108.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000108.jpg)

Some photos off the upstairs PC shown on the basement HT big screen.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000112.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000112.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000114.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000114.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000118.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000118.jpg)


Looking at upstairs - while downstairs.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000113.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000113.jpg)

Testing the network in the home both wireless and wired.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000116.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000116.jpg)

Looks good across the board

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000117.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000117.jpg)

Works just as well on the PS3 as the Xbox 360.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000048.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000048.jpg)

More photos next post

Some new shots taken.

The black levels even on the new very bright bulb are still remarkable.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000103.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000103.jpg)

A few shots of the room from various angles.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000079.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000079.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000078.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000078.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000077.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000077.jpg)

With Flash on.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000072.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000072.jpg)

With out flash.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000071.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000071.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000065-1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000065-1.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000101.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000101.jpg)

The upstairs and main level are still getting a little play time as well and I took a few photos for the magazine of these 2 locations as well. Here are two sample shots.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_B0000000.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/B0000000.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Home%20theater%20Bonus%20room/th_B0000009.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Home%20theater%20Bonus%20room/B0000009.jpg)

Cheers
Calvin

Nice install over the fireplace. Sharp 52"? where's the equipment? one HDMI cable run?

jjackknife,

The LCD is a 46" Samsung and I have one HDMI (going in soon) as well as a wall plate that handles component and audio + the IR sensor going to the basement AV rack for a nice clean install.

Some pics

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/th_WiremanagementLCD4.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20living%20room/WiremanagementLCD4.jpg)

The components are in with the dedicated basement components leaving nothing but the display upstairs and one universal remote (the only downside is you have to go downstairs to change out the movie)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_B0000042.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/B0000042.jpg)

Cheers
Calvin

Hey Cal,
I have to ask...what kind've camera are you using? Those photos are awfully good.

Hi Javry,

The camera I use is a Canon Powershot S3 IS. Great little camera I picked it up a year or two ago for around $600 I think you can get them much cheaper now. I'm looking at upgrading to Rebel XT or one of the other Digital SLR's out there but I haven't had much time for camera shopping lately.

I have been away from the thread for awhile as some personal tragedy has recently struck. I'm sad to announce my grandfather passed away on Monday and we've been spending a lot of time at his bedside of the last couple weeks since he fell ill. I was very close to him growing up as we lived only a couple acres apart (our little farms were side by side growing up). We spent almost every day together in some capacity for over 15 years so its tough to let go despite he lived a long full life passing away this week at 90 survived by 3 children, 8 grandchildren and many great grandchildren. He will be missed.

As such I didn't get around to doing my mini-meet and all AV stuff was cancelled or put on hold.

I don't know when I'll be back with the estate stuff to sort out now but likely I won't be doing much HT related projects for another week or two at this point.

Thanks again for the post and I hope to have some more positive news and photos in the coming weeks.

Cheers
Calvin

My condolences on the passing of your grandfather. Always sucks to hear bout things like that.

ok now that is said, just wanted to ask you how your liking MCE? are you using any of the DVR functions or are you just using it for media playback?

- Josh

Very sorry to hear the sad news ... certainly places this HT stuff in perspective.

I am admiring the screen shots ... I am more convinced than ever to change my ceiling to black.

Derrick

Hey Cal,

Sorry to hear of your loss

Charilie, dmcleod & umdivx,

Thanks for the posts and the sentiments for my grandfather.

umdivx,

I'm really enjoying the ME functions. I haven't used it for DVR yet just media playback but it is nice to in that regard. I'm sure I'll get more into the advanced functions as I play around with it more but so far it is very slick and easy to use.

Dmcleod,

Going darker was a terrific idea the results are easy to see :D

On the HT side of things I should be back at in a week or so and I have connect scheduled to visit on my days back in town so I hope to get somethings tied up then (at long last).
I have the new smart home IR adapter onroute so I can use the harmony 1000 to control the lights in the room until I can figure out how I want to control everything (still looking at products nothing has me sold yet... so the harmony is going to do till I do)

I am looking at maybe getting a new reciever. The R-965 is still very new but I want access to the new HDMI 1.3 codecs and to be honest the Sherwood Newcastle was bought prematurely in my case I should have waited and bought a newer model (due to the complete unresponsive nature of everyone I've tried to talk to about sherwood products though I'll likely never buy another Sherwood product again - horrible customer service in my experience).
I'm looking at the Pioneer elite 94x and a couple others right now....

Anyone have any suggestions for a new AVR in the $2 to $3K range to replace the R-965 and Mas 7.1 combo I have now?

Cheers
Calvin

Calvin sorry to hear about your Grand Father. On of the sad things in life is loosing the people we love over time.But all part of it I guess. Everything looks great ! I did get a new panasonic BD-30 Blu Ray player last week. See ya Johnathan

Calvin sorry to hear about your Grand Father. On of the sad things in life is loosing the people we love over time.But all part of it I guess. Everything looks great ! I did get a new panasonic BD-30 Blu Ray player last week. See ya Johnathan

Thanks for the post and the sentiments Johnathan :) Let me know how you like the new BD player after you've had a week or two to "play" with it. I'm sticking with my 2 PS3's for the time been they are doing the job just fine so far.
My newest upgrade will likely be a new AVR, if I can decide on something to replace the Sherwood Newcastle R-965 with.

Anyone with suggestions feel free to chime in - I'll be doing some reading on the reciever forums today and right now to be honest I'm leaning towards the Pioneer Elite VSX-94TXH but I still have a lot of looking to do. Main thing I want is HDMI 1.3, upscaling and of course enough power to compare with the R-965 I have a decent sized room to "fill"

Cheers
Calvin

Minor Update:

As I discussed it above;

Here is the link to the product.

http://www.smarthome.com/2411r.html

This little gem has appeared so I've ordered one and it should fix the issue of 2 controllers for me

I'll post some pics and my feed back once I get it home, intalled and tested.

I talked to Connect and they were originally scheduled for the 21st but then realized that was good Friday so that is a no go now. I'm hoping either the 24th or April 4th I see them and more importantly Scott their acoustic engineer to do the final calibrations for the room. I'm going to also do my best to have a new AVR in place before Scott does that Calibration so the room is set up with the new reciever which will likely be in use for the next 3-5 years.

More as it happens.

Cheers
Calvin

Hey Cal,
Haven't dialed in for awhile. Been moving [see new location]. Sorry to hear about your Grandfather. Glad to hear that you're finally 'living large' with your new setup. And to think where you were a year ago. Fugetaboutit! Will dial in again soon.

Thanks for the post Javry. Good luck with move :)

I should have some new info soon - right now I'm doing the big easter weekend - had 18 people over yesterday and we are going to my brother for more feasting tonight.
I should be all done eating and visiting and back to HT just in time for some updates next days off when hopefully Connect is in to visit and do some work.

Cheers
Calvin

Calvin,

Thanks for the info you provided a month or so back on the subs you are using (I decided to go with the IWS10). I was hoping you could also share some of your experience with the other proficient speakers that you are using.

I see that you went with all W850's in the main HT and the IW550 with the ceiling 850s for the other room. Which are you happier with as the center channel? I am planning on using the IW550 as my center and am not sure if it would be best to go with W850's as the LRs or if I should go with 2 more IW550s. Any thoughts? Paired with the IWS10 (potentially even 2 of them) I don't think i need the greater bass response of the W850s but wasn't sure if there was another compelling reason to not go all IW550s for LCR.

Thanks!
Derrick

Derrick,

Glad I could help out with the sub. Regarding the speakers I'm happier with the 850's and I wouldn't suggest going with three IW550's as your LCR sound stage as the speaker is really designed for a top or bottom of the display center channel only and wouldn't serve you well IMO as the L & R channels. I spend a lot more time with the 850's and to be honest I don't have any complaints with either speaker it just seems more logical to use the larger "better" speaker if possible. The greater bass response of the 850's can be "tweaked" or removed to give you the more level response your referring to on the IW550's just a few minor adjustments on most AVR's or cross over’s depending on your equipment.

If your anywhere near the Edmonton area and you would like to swing by and hear them in person just send me a PM and we can arrange a visit. There really is no substitute for hearing them in person before making a decision.

Cheers
Calvin

Thanks for the offer - but Virginia is unfortunately a bit too far away to justify the quick visit to audition the speakers...

Glad to hear that you are happy with your choice of the 850s. I do find it interesting to see you refer to them as the "better" speaker over the IW550. As a newbie to speakers, I honestly wasn't sure which was better for use as the LRs - the 850s have one larger (8") woofer but the 550s have 2 midrange (5+") woofers (much like the new F400s that are designed specifically for LR). The 550s actually cost just a bit more per pair so I quite frankly am just not sure what to think. Positioned vertically along side the plasma, the 550s might look a little better since they are longer and narrower but aesthetics are of much less concern. I'm assuming I can't go too wrong either way and absolutely appreciate the input.

-Derrick

Derrick,

I should have done a bit more checking into your specific set up. When I responded above for some reason I was thinking you had a similar acoustical transparent screen situation as I do, which is not the case ;)

With that in mind you pose an interesting question. I'd be asking the same in your case and certainly from an aesthetics point of view I think three IW550's would look better around a flat panel. In retrospect, I would likely go with the three smaller speakers in a similar set up to what you are describing especially if you don't have a large room to "fill" where the additional wattage of the 8" would be required.
I honestly think you would be happy with either set up and perhaps in your case the IW550's may be a better fit.

let me know which way you end up going and post some pictures of the end result (here or on a separate thread - would love to see them)

Best of luck
Calvin

Calv, amazing room. Insperational. I can't wait till next summer when I can do my basement.

Calv, amazing room. Insperational. I can't wait till next summer when I can do my basement.


Thanks for the post bdoyle13 I appreciate the comment :)

Are you doing a dedicated build in your basement in 08 and are you going to do a build thread here on AVS ? ( I highly recommend the build thread here on AVS - it helps to have a few sets of eyes on these things and there are a lot of smart fellows on the boards that can help you out).

Best of luck
Calvin

Calvin

I just found your thread on Friday and just finished reading it. Quite the journey you have taken us through. Congratulations about the purchase of your home, getting married, your HT, and all the toys you have purchased. Also very sorry to hear about your grandfather.

Any news on the new reciever? I have anthem gear that I am very happy with (although no HDMI 1.3).

I also live very close to you as I live in Whitemud Hills. Are you still considering having a meet at your house? There seem to be many AVS members from Edmonton. It would be interesting to get a group together to see what we could learn from each other. I have completed my HT but would love to learn more about what you (and others) are doing with regards to accoustical treatments, calibration, and home automation.

Regards,
Darryl

Calvin,

I just wanted to echo the sentiment that your story and this thread are quite inspiring. If you are interested, send some of your photos (build, etc) and perhaps we'll add them and your story to our website. Might be fun for other folks to see and learn from.


Way to go mate!

Calvin

I just found your thread on Friday and just finished reading it. Quite the journey you have taken us through. Congratulations about the purchase of your home, getting married, your HT, and all the toys you have purchased. Also very sorry to hear about your grandfather.

Any news on the new reciever? I have anthem gear that I am very happy with (although no HDMI 1.3).

I also live very close to you as I live in Whitemud Hills. Are you still considering having a meet at your house? There seem to be many AVS members from Edmonton. It would be interesting to get a group together to see what we could learn from each other. I have completed my HT but would love to learn more about what you (and others) are doing with regards to accoustical treatments, calibration, and home automation.

Regards,
Darryl

Darryl,

Thanks for the post and the kind words I appreciate them :)
I'm still looking at my options for a new AVR and it seems that if I'm going to get something to improve upon the Sherwood Newcastle R-965 + Zektor MAS 7.1 combo I have at the moment I'm going to have to wait. The new equipment is supposed to be coming to the showrooms in Edmonton in the next few months from the higher end dealers I've talked to in town.
I would honestly like to audition any new receiver I buy in my own space before shelling out the $3 to $7K+ (or what ever it ends up been). I sure would hate to have my heart broken by hearing something I loved in the "showroom" just to take it home and find out my room doesn't work for the piece. So I've made my mind that is how I'm progressing moving forward. It will cost me a lot more to buy locally from these boutique companies but the reality is I'm better off having a live demo in my own home then I am buying blind off forum recommendation as I have in the past. (I know I could just demo them, find something I like and return it to the store and buy it online but that is not in my nature, I couldn't and wouldn't do that)

As far as the HT meet I sure would like to do that this summer and I'll try to arrange something again here for June or July. I'll put your name down beside Space moose and a couple others for a "space" when I get a chance to put this meet together.

You live really close by so as far as a visit before the meet we could likely do that as well just send me a PM and I could possibly have you over this weekend depending on what plans the wife has for me. If I’m free Saturday or Sunday I could have you over a few hours to “visit” if that works for you and you don’t want to wait till the “meet”. I’m easy either way and I will for sure be down there playing a game and watching a movie or two this weekend regardless :)

Let me know and of course I wouldn’t mind swinging by Whitemud Hills and checking out your HT as well – nice area, my wife and I have walked through it a couple times as we are just down the hill and we have some friends from Belgium that live there up.

Cheers
Calvin

Calvin,

I just wanted to echo the sentiment that your story and this thread are quite inspiring. If you are interested, send some of your photos (build, etc) and perhaps we'll add them and your story to our website. Might be fun for other folks to see and learn from.


Way to go mate!

Thanks Joel. I may just do that :) I would like to wait till I have the acoustics done in the room and then I could include a graph or two which helps the "AV nerds" out there really understand what the panels are doing for us. I'm hoping I have Connect here on the 4th to do the calibration (finally) but it hasn't been confirmed that the engineer is free as of yet.
It will happen just a matter of time - luckily I'm a patient man.

Additionally, I may actually have a new painter go down and do another complete coat on the room as well - I would like to have a pro touch up the "construction" marks I've added since the move and I'm leaning very heavily to painting the speakers to match the wall instead of the black I have now so they stand out less. This is more appealing to me now then the black is. I've changed my mind from when I painted them all those months ago. Once that happens I'll have some better pics worth showing on a website such as yours

Right now there is still some work to be done (including that darn door which has been ongoing for ever - the fellow I've "hired" is still in BC going to school for his trade and I'm hoping he will be installing the new door in the next couple of months but its not looking great...I may have to take up my wood working tools again and build my own solid core door at this rate.

Cheers
Calvin

I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out.

Some news.

The wife and I were at the home and garden show yesterday for about 8 hours - good times so much to see and do.

The highlights of the event were;

I found a Control 4 dealer and I'll be giving him a call to come by and give me a quote on set up and install - awesome news after just discussing this with Craig recently to stumble upon them at the show :) Looking forward to seeing what they can do for me.

Found a perfect shed - just have to get some info to them and they can get to building it with matching vinyl siding and shingles so it works with the house and the landscaping this year. Best part of all this 10' x 12' beauty is only around $5k including all the bells and whistles.

Found about 20 guys to call for estimates for everything I could possibly think of regarding my upcoming landscaping needs. Lots of phone calls coming up in my future and I'm hoping to have the "project" kicked off early next month - I have 2 quotes in already and going for 3 more before I decide.

Looking heavily at a sun room and putting a hot tub in the sun room just outside the main level.
We ended up picking up a hot tub at the show as well. They had one that the wife and I both really liked and we saved a bunch of money due to the show prices and they took off the GST and added a ton of options. That been said the darn thing was still more then a lot of cars. It always surprizes me how much you can spend on things like this but I'm happy with the deal we got on it and it is a special high end tub for our climate so we should be happy with it for years to come :)

Here are a some pics and info (click to enlarge as usual)

Options on the tub we picked up (all listed and few more that are not)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Hot%20Tub/th_ArticSpapic3.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Hot%20Tub/ArticSpapic3.jpg)

Here are a couple pics of the new tub - We picked up the Legend model opting out on the therapy air jets as they were the only option we weren't crazy about (have it in the tub upstairs and the wife and I never use it)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Hot%20Tub/th_a0b355e8.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Hot%20Tub/a0b355e8.jpg)


http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Hot%20Tub/th_ArticSpapic.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Hot%20Tub/ArticSpapic.jpg)

On a side note will be getting together with Darryl tonight and doing a quick visit to his HT and then back to mine tonight. Should have some notes and pics later.

So that is the latest and greatest news on the homefront.

Cheers
Calvin

Darryl aka AltaHomeTheatre his wife and son came over for a visit last night and my wife and I went over to his home to see his HT as well. Was a good night of comparison and discussion and it was nice to see the JVC RS1 in action and compare direct scenes in the same movies across both our systems. He has a great set of paradigms and a much smaller room which I think gives him an edge in sonics the sound in his room was very good and with the seating and speaker placement reflection isn't really an issue as the speakers are literally 6 to 8 feet in front of you. Vison wise I would give the edge to my 3 chip over the RS1 but it does throw a very nice picture certainly close to the quality of the 3 chip IMO.

I think both Darryl and myself are looking forward to getting together with a few more local guys here in the Edmonton area in the coming months and do more AV talk and see what every one else is doing with their rooms.

On a side note some of my LED rope lights have come in (I'm missing 2 x 25' ones of course - my irish luck coming into play again ;) ) but I did recieve one 25' and a 12' that I'll be messing with on my next days off)

All for now - next days off should hopefully be the ones I've been waiting for and I finally get the rest of the Connect AV activities completed before I call in the Control 4 guys for a quote.

Cheers
Calvin

Picked up around $1500 in accessories for the hot tub yesterday so we will have some nice grey stained cedar steps and railings for drinks for the tub. I also got to check out the "HT" side of the tub and see the pop up speakers - looks pretty slick. They didn't have a MP3 player handy when I was in yesterday so I didn't get a chance to audition the aqua tunes in the tub which they tell me is very cool with the built in subs resonating in the "hull" of the tub. Looking forward to getting it installed and trying it out first hand.

Cheers
Calvin

I would like to extend my thanks to Calvin and his wife Rachel for having myself and most of my family over for a visit. Both him and his wife are exceptionally nice people and made us feel very welcome. Calvin gave us a tour of his beautiful house and we spent a little time in each of his theatres.

We didnt spend much time in the living room theatre, but I can tell everyone that the setup is very clean. The 5.1 system is built-in and you dont even notice it until it is pointed out.

The loft theatre was exceptional. Many would kill to have it as a main setup. I only watched one demo saved on the PS3 and the sound and video was exceptional. The large 71" TV had an amazing picture. I was really impressed with that space.

My son (also a gamer like Calvin) was drooling over all the games and game hardware. Multiple PC stations and multiple PS3s, XBOXs and a Wii.

We spent most of the time in the main theatre in the basement. Again, it was very impressive. It looks good in the posted pictures, but looks even better in person. The fit and finish is exceptional. The colors are great. I also found the actual room dimensions/layout better than I had envisioned from the pictures. I had the impression that the jog where the fireplace may be distracting, but this is definitely not the case. The berklines look great and although we only sat in them for about an hour, my family all agreed they were very comfortable. Another thing I noticed is that you do not notice the accoutical panels on the walls and ceiling. With the color of the walls and the black trim, they just blend in. For those worried about WAF, this room shows how it should be done.

The Infocus projector is big and a little loud, but once the movie came on, I certainly did not notice it - even during quiet scenes. It does throw a very nice and bright picture. As Calvins room is very big (I was sitting about 25' back) and the screen is very large, he needs a projector that can throw a lot of light. Some were questioning the affects of the stair riser LEDs and cup holder LEDs in earlier posts. I would say that these are fairly bright (I would put them on dimmers), but in no way did I feel they take away from the brightness of the picture. I think Calvin would have even a better picture with the removal of some of the ambient light. Knowing Calvin, these will likely all be controlled from his new Control4 system.

The accoustics were good, but I believe that after the visit from the accoustical engineer they will be even better. Calvin has treated his room but not spent much time tightening up the sound - he does not even have a sound meter. Of course he did this knowing that he was going to get a professional engineer set it up. I look forward to hearing the difference that a professional calibration will do.

As far as the subs in the riser, they return good bass and the affects when sitting in the rear row of seats is great. With the four subs in the room, there is no lack of powerful bass. This will also get even better when the calibration is completed.

Again a thank-you to Calvin and Rachel, you guys are great. Also thanks for lending me your light meter, I havent tried it yet, but will do so soon. Let me know how it goes with the sound engineer. See if you can steal some secrets to help the rest of us out.

To the rest of the group following this thread, my impression is that Calvin has created three first class systems in his house. Not only do they look great, most importantly (at least to me), is that when the lights are out and you cant see the room, the theatre experience is first class.

Cheers,
Darryl

Hey Calvin... where did you get a hold of your Proficient Speakers here in Alberta? I was thinking about getting some of those in-walls.

Darryl,

Thanks for the post and the kind words. It was our pleasure to have you and the family over for the evening and I appreciate the visit to your beautiful home as well :D

Looking forward to getting a larger group of us Edmontonians together for a larger meet in the near future :)

Dyslexic,

I ordered mine from Dave at outdoorspeakerdepot.com out of Florida - there are several places in Alberta you can order from but you will pay double (or worse ) if you go that route. PM me for more info if you want a local dealer I have that info as well.

Cheers
Calvin

Just a minor update;

I've contacted the local control 4 dealer and he is swinging by on the 18th in the afternoon to take a look and see what they can do for me with my set up. I'm pretty excited to be moving away from the current control system which hasn't been great (ironically Harmony 1000 just released a patch for the remote that fixes the freeze and unresponsive problem which I have with the remote - none the less I like the control 4 from what I've seen and read from Craig (strange brew) experience - I think it will be a good fit for me).

Other then that I have a couple student / college / University painters coming by to do a touch up paint of the basement - I want it back to immaculate after I installed the panels I need some touch ups and that will be their task along with turning my "black
Speakers into "grey" speakers so they blend into the wall instead of stick out which is my preference at this time.

Finally I have the remaining 2 x 25' Blue LED's shipping out that were short shipped on the last order and the quotes for the back yard are beginning to pile in for the landscaping. Now I'm just taking a hard look at a sun room / screen room for the hot tub area. We are tossing around the idea of putting it on a deck or just doing a rock pad (or cement) not sure which way we'll go at this time as the cost for deck vs. a rock pad are fairly close. I'm leaning towards insulated deck for the winters up here but still need some quotes.

More when I can.
Cheers
Calvin

I am truly jealous now! before I was aw inspired, now just jealous. Control4 will be a kick ass system to control everything. plus it'll be supported so you "know" it'll work.

btw if/once you get the control4 system install and no longer have a need for that harmony 1000, I wouldn't mind taking it off your hands since you won't need it any longer ;)

- Josh

I am truly jealous now! before I was aw inspired, now just jealous. Control4 will be a kick ass system to control everything. plus it'll be supported so you "know" it'll work.

btw if/once you get the control4 system install and no longer have a need for that harmony 1000, I wouldn't mind taking it off your hands since you won't need it any longer ;)

- Josh


Sounds great Josh, I'm sure I can work you out a great deal on the Harmony - it has very little use and I'm sure will work fine after I install the "patch" when I get back home.

Thanks for the post and the kind words. I'm looking forward to the control 4 visit - I just hope it doesn't cost so much I have to put it on the back burner until I get the landscaping under control (the landscaping is #1 priority and the wife and I have a lot of travel plans this year as well so my control 4 is "want" and not a "need" so if anything slides for the budget this year it will be this :( )

On a side note - I check out your blog from time to time and I see you still haven't posted any pics of the new car, lets see some pics of the new wheels with the proud owner - heck post em here I don't mind :) )

Cheers
Calvin

On a side note - I check out your blog from time to time and I see you still haven't posted any pics of the new car, lets see some pics of the new wheels with the proud owner - heck post em here I don't mind :) )

Cheers
Calvin

Waiting for the weather to get better. In the last week we've have two major snow storms (in April of all things) so waiting until I can wash and wax her.

BTW for anyone out there looking for a nice/reliable/relatively inexpensive mid-sized sedan, check out the Ford Fusion, I absolutely love mine!

- Josh

Josh,

Thanks for the info the new fusion look pretty sharp - looking forward to the picture :)


Update; (Off Topic - landscaping post - Sorry the only HT related thing back there is the sound system in the hot tub as it is our "back to nature retreat and all" )

Some of the bids are starting to come in on the back yard and my last company included a picture of some of the rock work they did on a previous job which is pretty similar to what we are looking at for our yard. This has the fire pit and "sitting wall" same as the plan / outline we have.

Thought I'd show the picture - I hope mine turns out as well.


http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Backyard/61d18ee3.jpg

I'm hoping to have the "project" awarded with in the next 2 weeks I'm just waiting for a few more quotes and then I'll be interviewing the top 2 companies and pick a winner.
I still need to work out the logistics of the "sun room" with the new tub as it pushes the dimensions almost to far from what is shown on the plan. I have to get out the tape on my next weekend at home and see how this effects the overall layout by going from a 14' to a 20' or larger deck / screen room.

Cheers
Calvin

wow, just wow. Looks nice.

- Josh

I can't believe I just found this thread. I didn't realize that so many Albertans were on this forum! Anyways excellent work Calvin! This build has given a lot of info on how to build my own ht. Thanks for all your detailed posts.

I can't believe I just found this thread. I didn't realize that so many Albertans were on this forum! Anyways excellent work Calvin! This build has given a lot of info on how to build my own ht. Thanks for all your detailed posts.

toppy23,

Thanks for the post. There are quite a few of us from Alberta on AVS that is for sure, not surprising for me anyway considering the great wealth in this province :cool:

Thanks for the kind words and good luck on your HT build - are you going to do a build thread here on AVS?

If your interested PM your information and I'll give you call when we do the AV meet in June / July (or just watch the thread I'll have more info as the date gets closer)

I'm hoping to get most of us here on AVS that have HT's in Edmonton and area and get together at my home and possibly visit a few others some time soon in the coming months. After meeting with Darryl earlier this month it’s rekindled me to try and make this happen again.

Cheers
Calvin

Update;

Woke up this morning all ready for the big day and spent the morning waiting....nothing. So I figured I would check my e-mail before phoning Connect and sure enough there is an e-mail there that says all Friday 18th appts are cancelled due to an illness with my installer :(
They are saying the 23rd now which doesn't help me at all as I'm now going to be tied up and out travelling for the next 4 to 6 weeks.

I'm pretty bummed out I was really looking forward to getting the room's audio calibration done this weekend and now its just been pushed back another 2 months likely. I'm not sure what is worse; my work schedule or my luck.

Calvin

i just don't know how you(or the wife) can handle being gone so much for work. I go for a few days at a time and it sucks.

What all is left to be done in terms of calibration? Audio and video or just audio?

- Josh

Josh,

The travel does try one at times but the travel coming up is all for fun so this time around it is good :) No work related travel is ok.

I just have the audio calibrations left to do. Unfortunately I"m back to waiting to see when that will happen. I have some HA guys coming to have a look at the system Monday maybe I'll see if they have an acoustics guy I'm about out of faith for Connect this has been going on for far to long.

More as it happens.

Cheers
Calvin

toppy23,

Thanks for the kind words and good luck on your HT build - are you going to do a build thread here on AVS?

Calvin

haha not for while, at least not until I finish my last year of college. In the mean time i'm looking for a plasma TV (50" or above) for the living room.

My plan is to turn part of the basement into a HT eventually ( I might even buy a projector this summer to set up a temporary gaming center downstairs).

Good luck when you get to that point Toppy23. I'm sure you will do just fine by the time you get to the point your ready to start with all the knowledge you will have by spending time here at AVS.

update;

Still working on getting quotes on the landscaping (My main project) However we ended up getting a large snow fall over the weekend, so I headed back into the house and started messing around in the HT again.

I ordered some LED rope lighting for around the Riser and enough to run along the ceiling to the screen. I want to put up some crown molding and then rest the rope light in "nook" so the light isn't direct rather a blue glow on the ceiling with the new lights and crown molding. I didn't get the crown molding yet but here are a couple shots of the rope light around the riser (I haven't set it in firmly in it's final position as well this is just laid out for a quick visual to see if I like it)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/20080417_0227.jpg


http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/20080417_0224.jpg

That and the other big news is I had 360 entertainment over to give me a quote on the beginnings of a Control 4 system for the house and I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do for me and getting more into HA with the house and C4.

Cheers
Calvin

Update;

Gave my notice at work - I'll be done on the 15th and I can't wait. I'm going to take month off and do some travelling and then I'm going to start at a new location right outside my back yard more or less (20-30 minutes away). Going to be taking a pretty big hit on the wages side but I don't care really the been home everynight more then makes up for a 1/3 salary drop.

On a HT related note I'll be talking to Connect soon about the Hi-Def signal to the 46" display in the main level - they have come up with some sort of work around they tell me to send HDMI through Cat5e so I have to see what it is they are talking about soon (I'm not 100% sure and the e-mail didn't go into specifics)

On the HA side I'm waiting for my quote from Control 4 and I have shore to shore automation stopping by Friday to take a look and generate an estimate for me.

Saturday I'm off to visit friends and then back to work Tuesday for my final shift out of town for what I hope is a long, long time!

Cheers
Calvin

Josh,

The travel does try one at times but the travel coming up is all for fun so this time around it is good :) No work related travel is ok.

I just have the audio calibrations left to do. Unfortunately I"m back to waiting to see when that will happen. I have some HA guys coming to have a look at the system Monday maybe I'll see if they have an acoustics guy I'm about out of faith for Connect this has been going on for far to long.

More as it happens.

Cheers
Calvin

Now there's the spirit. Surely there are other outfits that can calibrate your audio.

Thanks for the post Javry. I'm still working on that among many other things at the moment - man I have to move some stuff off my plate of things to do I'm so swamped some days I don't even know where to begin...

Anyway.. I'm back from my mini-vacation out to Vancouver where my wife just ran the marathon last weekend and we visited some friends for a couple of days and watched the Iron Man movie at the Richmond Cineplex. It was nice to get out and enjoy the lovely Vancouver weather but my HT is much better then their cinema I must say. I have 9 more working days and then I'm off for another 2 week traveling adventure and coming home for 2 weeks to straighten some things out (HT & Landscaping mainly). In mid June I start my new job down the road and I'm looking forward to been home every night for a change!

Craig (Strange brew) is helping me out reviewing the Control 4 quote I received last week right now and with his wisdom and advice I hope to have some questions answered and maybe the quoted price lowered somewhat as he's suggested they are high in some areas. (Thanks Craig! I very much appreciate your expertise here :) )

Once the madness of the next 9 days passes I should have some new information and pictures soon of all the great stuff I'm working on (I hope). I still have Shore 2 Shore coming in to estimate a HA system for me, Control 360's quote to review and finalize and Connect to come in and finish the HD signal run for the main level and audio calibrations....

Still so much to do

More as it happens
Cheers
Calvin

been to Richmond many times in the past. Mr brothers ex and her parents still live there. He lives closer in town near Granville Station [does that sound right? It's been awhile]. Lot's of good things being said about IM and RDJ's chances for an Oscar.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1023752&page=5

BTW, was your wife able to finish the marathon?

Craig (Strange brew) is helping me out reviewing the Control 4 quote I received last week right now and with his wisdom and advice I hope to have some questions answered and maybe the quoted price lowered somewhat as he's suggested they are high in some areas. (Thanks Craig! I very much appreciate your expertise here :) )
You're most welcome. I'm happy to help out where I can.

been to Richmond many times in the past. Mr brothers ex and her parents still live there. He lives closer in town near Granville Station [does that sound right? It's been awhile]. Lot's of good things being said about IM and RDJ's chances for an Oscar.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1023752&page=5

BTW, was your wife able to finish the marathon?


I really enjoyed Iron man it was a very entertaining hour and half which can't be said of a lot of movies - next to batman begins it is my favorite super hero movie yet!

My wife was pacing some of her students for a 4 hour 30 minute time and she coached them in at 4 hours and 18 minutes so it was a good day for them all ( My wife can do a full in around 3 hours and 30 minutes if she is running for herself and she has never done a marathon she hasn't finished - I think she has done over 20 now - half they reason we travel lol- speaking of which we are off to Ottawa for another next weekend - she and her sister are doing one together - the whole family runs more or less on her side).

Have some more news and photos soon!

Cheers
Calvin

You're most welcome. I'm happy to help out where I can.

Craig,

Thanks alot for your help so far! Just after you and I did our back and forth I've hooked up with Tumult and I'm getting some good ideas and learning more as well which is great!

Have you looked into the new hardware and 1.6 software coming out? Tumult thinks I should wait for it in July before I move ahead.

Anyway one way or the other I've already got them to knock off 10% of the quote if I get it done all at once which is a pretty good chunk of change so I'm getting closer to jumping at it but I need to get my landscaping finished up and all the costs totalled there before I spend 20K+ on a C4 system. If my wife doesn't get "her" vision in the backyard I better not get "mine" in the basement ;)

I'm happily unemployed at the moment and today I slept in - wandered around aimlessly and went out and bought a new toy for our next vacation (2 days away) + this beauty should help in capturing all the new and wonderful things about to happen around the house both in and out!

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_20080514_0246.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/20080514_0246.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/th_20080514_0244.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Misc%20shots/20080514_0244.jpg)

Anyway I should have some news and photos soon (with the new SLR :) )
I have the front row of chairs finally hooked up the AC adapters showed up at long last but I seem to have either an issue with the wiring or a cupholder on the left chair in the loveseat- NC is already sending me a replacement cupholder so that will be taking care of if that is the issue. I'm going to mess around with the wiring later today and see if I can get it to work - the first love seat caused me issues as well which I straightened out so hopefully this one is the same!

More when I can

Cheers
Calvin

we are off to Ottawa for another next weekend -
Cheers
Calvin

How long will you be in town? Maybe we can meet up if you have a free minute

Becks,

We are bouncing between Ottawa, Petawawa and Toronto for a couple weeks doing all sorts of craziness!

I'll PM you my number- give me a call on Saturday am - I think that might be our best chance as I'll have several hours to visit when my wife is running the marathon in town (pretty sure its Saturday).

Hopefully we'll get a chance to meet up next weekend when I'm back in town (we spent most of yesterday there visiting and touring around the politicians play ground and driving down Sussex drive, too bad it was raining during our tour). We are back at Petawawa today and I think off to Toronto on Tues/ Wed before heading back to Ottawa on the weekend.

I've sent you my Cell# so give me a shout on the weekend and hopefully it works out for us both :) I should be a captive audience along with the rest of the "non running" husbands wandering around looking for coffee at the start line ;)

Cheers
Calvin

Calvin, I COMPLETELY get the willingness to take less salary for less travel. At 125K air miles last year, I'm looking for something a bit more "local" and I work out of the house!!!

Hey Calvin,

I saw your post about Control 4 in the HA forum, asked a question, and then read your construction thread. I guess I should have done it the other way around. :D Most of my questions were answered just by reading.

Any more news on the quotes? Are you planning on controlling your bonus room HT with Control 4? Or just leaving it alone?

I really like what you've done with the place. It seems like a really enjoyable home everywhere you go. Any plans for backyard audio or video when you get it landscaped?

thanks man,

Calvin, I COMPLETELY get the willingness to take less salary for less travel. At 125K air miles last year, I'm looking for something a bit more "local" and I work out of the house!!!

Killer,

I think most people would take the pay cut to be home with their family every day (I hope they would anyways - you can always make more $$ IMO) 125k is a lot of air miles! I've never traveled so many myself in one year think I do about 50k a year in the air and around 20k driving on average.

Thanks for the post!

Cheers
Calvin

Hey Calvin,

I saw your post about Control 4 in the HA forum, asked a question, and then read your construction thread. I guess I should have done it the other way around. :D Most of my questions were answered just by reading.

Any more news on the quotes? Are you planning on controlling your bonus room HT with Control 4? Or just leaving it alone?

I really like what you've done with the place. It seems like a really enjoyable home everywhere you go. Any plans for backyard audio or video when you get it landscaped?

thanks man,

Benson,

I do have some more info on the quote I'll be sharing next week when I get back home (Monday or Tuesday I think) there are some new factors been discussed and some interesting stuff going on with C4 very soon. My plan is to control all 3 HT's with C4 at some point but I may just do it room by room despite that 360 is offering a 10% discount if I do everything at once.

Thanks for the kind words I really enjoy the home I'm glad we took some time putting it together and had a lot of the extras put in. It sure makes it a lot more livable and functional now :)
I don't have any plans for back yard audio or video at this time but our new hot tub does have a acoustics package (2 pop up speakers and 2 subs built into the "hull" so it does some interesting thing like a vibrating massage called "aqua tremor" and some other things I'm interested in trying out).

Still in Ontario for a couple days :cool: sadly I don't think I'm going to get to see becks this time around but hopefully on my next visit!

On a side note my brother and sister in-laws we are staying at just got a HT make over while I am visiting. I took them out to Future Shop last night and spent $4800 of their money and now they are enjoying their own basic 5.1 HT system! I'll have some before and after pics + a little write up for those interested in what I would do with $5000 and one night in Ottawa to put together a HT - this is the end result. Those pics and that post in a couple days once I get the pictures uploaded!

Till then
All the best,
Calvin

Back from the trip.

Just sorting through all the pics and I figured I'd post the HT before and afters I mentioned in the post above to show what I ended up getting for my brother and sister in-law (well just my sister in-law at the moment as my brother in-law is over seas with the army for the next 4 to 6 months ) He'll be pretty surprized when he gets back I think!

Here is what they had when I showed up at the house.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/th_HTbefore.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/HTbefore.jpg)

They had a $5000 budget to work with and this is what I ended up with after some pretty heavy bargaining and haggling with the local future shop in Ottawa

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/th_IMG_0594.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/IMG_0594.jpg)

Here is the receipt - as you can see I did a pretty good bartering job - even had a couple hundred bucks to spare after taxes which she spent on Blu-Ray disks.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/th_FutureshopInvoice.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/FutureshopInvoice.jpg)

A quick look at the back speakers to round out the 5.1 set

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/th_Backspeakers.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/Backspeakers.jpg)

They even came with these handy mounts - I didn't have the equipment or the time to fish them properly through the walls but through the ceiling and down is fine for now ;)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/th_IMG_0599.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/IMG_0599.jpg)

The 5.1 System is made up off all the impressive Energy RC-mini's & the ESW-V8 sub. The Display is a Samsung 550 series 1080P 52" LCD, add on PS3 40GB for source and the bell xpressvu reciever they already owned for the "entertainment" and finally the Yamaha HTR-6160 for the AVR and you have how I would spend my $5k today if I had to put together a system with that budget. The results I must say are pretty damn good it really surprizes me what you can get for $5k these days :) With that equipment in their space (13' long x 11' wide x 8' high) you have a excellent looking and sounding system IMO.


http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/th_IMG_0561.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/IMG_0561.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/th_IMG_0559.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/IMG_0559.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/th_IMG_0562.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/IMG_0562.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/th_IMG_0563.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/IMG_0563.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/th_IMG_0566.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/IMG_0566.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/th_IMG_0568.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/IMG_0568.jpg)

I left the sticker off the TV placed on the wooden "table" for the photo to show the LCD series.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/th_IMG_0570.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Ottawa%202008/IMG_0570.jpg)

When they get some more $$ they are going to add the new HD PVR from Bell and get a stand / cabinet for the TV and equipment + some new couches to finish off their new HT room - should be even better once they add those finishing touches in a month or two!

All in all I'm pleased and she is estatic plus we had a wonderful time in Ottawa and Toronto over the last couple weeks during our mini vacation.

Now it is back to business and landscaping for me.

More when I can
Cheers
Calvin

Still in Ontario for a couple days :cool: sadly I don't think I'm going to get to see becks this time around but hopefully on my next visit!



It's too bad I missed you this time around but at least next time you're over here my house and HT will all be done :)

Hey, i just read your whole thread... i was just nosing through these things because i was planning on buying a 50 inch plasma next week for 1450 ( 1080p panasonic pz80u )

i think i changed my mind hhaaha... very nicely done... also i was offered a job setting this kind of stuff... i had no idea what really went into it until i read your posts... so anyways ya now i sell tvs ( plasmas and lcds mostly ) and was offered a job to set up like projectors and sell pretty much high end stuff and after reading this i think i may consider a little more than i did... once again well done... reason for choosing samsung over sony for the flat panels? just curious

Becks, I'll catch you next time :)

Bruiser - thanks for the post and good luck with new job if you take it. My reasons for choosing Samsung over Sony are these;
1. Same panel as the Sony for less money
2. Prefer the Sammy Bezel (piano black)
3. I've had better luck with Samsung then Sony in the past so the only Sony products I ever buy now are the Playstations (and that is it).

Cheers
Calvin

Some updates.

New player for the main level HT - save some rack space by using this handy piece of tech!

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1013.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1013.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1014.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1014.jpg)

Some shots in the rack;

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_RackMay08.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/RackMay08.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_LGplayerinitsnewhome-1.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/LGplayerinitsnewhome-1.jpg)

Putting up new speaker grills on the in-walls behind the SMX - 1st coat of paint after sanding already done!

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Basementspeakergrills.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Basementspeakergrills.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_Speakergrills1stcoat.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/Speakergrills1stcoat.jpg)

My new audio card - I decided in the store to change my mind from the Prelude to the new Asus card instead - so far so good it is running like a charm

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1023.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1023.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/th_IMG_1024.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/HT%20Main%20-%20Basement/IMG_1024.jpg)

Been busy working on the back yard - just finished staking everything for the landscaping guys and did one call for the line finds before any piling goes in.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Backyard/th_Deck-firepitandmore.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Backyard/Deck-firepitandmore.jpg)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Backyard/th_Backyardfromupstairswindows.jpg (http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h248/Calvin2006/Backyard/Backyardfromupstairswindows.jpg)

I've also been busy putting the finishing touches in the garage (more sheet rock oh joy!) and the home office - I'll need to go back to work soon just for a break (although I am back on call for work - just in case something comes up - and of course so I can bill 4 hours a day for stand by ;))

More when I can.

Cheers
Calvin

calvin thx for the reply i have another question because u seem like a tech smart guy that can help me out with this one ... may be off topic just a tad but anyways ill shoot it out and hope u can help me by friday june 6th ( pay day ) sale ends saturday... anyways ok so i have these prices available to me because i have an additional discount off of panasonics ( plasmas cuz i want a big one ) im also a heavy gamer

panasonic 50 inch th-50pz85u
panasonic 50 inch th-50pz80u
panasonic 46 inch th-46pz80u

also the samsungs... another tv im considering

samsung ln-46a530

heres why ask u
1. u bought all samsung lcds when it comes to flat panel
2. im a heavy gamer (should i buy a plasma?)
3. is the a530, a550, a580, a540 any different
4. should i wait and get a better tv or jump on these prices now while i still work at this place
5. why no 120hz with the $5000 budget (my opinion i think its overpriced for one feature)

thx for any feedback

the reason i come to u with these questions because finding these answers from knowledgeable people in the tech world is hard to come by

and and and

ur tech life is about where i want to be at in 5 years so if i knock this first home theatre out of the ball park then maybe the 2 following it will be something i can wait for more patiently

also i have had some bad luck with sony in the past as well so u r not the only one
broken stereos... seen tvs with completely washed out corners 2007 model lcds im talking like mass dead pixels or something that turned the corner completely black
broken camcorder and so on... ok thx sorry so long

The Bruiser,

It is good practises here on AVS to not quote prices direct only MSRP here on the forums. Please edit your post above.
If you want to talk direct prices as above please PM them - that way none of the mods has to get involved and they have enough to do so please try to refrain from doing so in the future.

Ok onto a few of your comments and questions;

Panasonic 50 inch th-50pz85u
Panasonic 50 inch th-50pz80u
Panasonic 46 inch th-46pz80u
Samsung 46 inch 46a530

All 4 are good sets - I'd buy the Samsung hands down though it is my preference of the 4. If I was inclined to buy plasma it would be the Kuro that is the only one I would consider right now.

Your questions ;( answers are all my opinion of course but you asked so here are my answers).

Q: i'm a heavy gamer (should I buy a plasma?)

A: No - I'm not a fan of Plasma and considering your 4th consideration is a 20,000:1 Samsung LCD that is the set I'd get out of the 4 choices no question.

Q is the a530, a550, a580, a540 any different?

A: The 530 is the base and is 1st in the 5th generation of 30,000:1 contrast models I believe. The 550 is pretty much identical to the 530 but has the USB Wise link and is a bit smaller (bezel that is) and heavier then the 530.

The Samsung A540 and A580's are cell phones so I'll assume you mean to discuss the 6th and 7th generation panels which are the A650 and A750. These newer generation sets are both 4ms response times compared to 5 ms on the 500 series sets.

The A650 is a step up and has the 50,000:1 contrast, Wise link an additional HDMI port (3 total) and has the new "red to black" bezel that many like (I do not)

The A750 is the 7th and latest generation and is the top o the Samsung heap at the moment. If I were to buy a LCD today it would be this one (for myself that is because I don't pay attention to things like budget which drives my wife crazy). Biggest difference between the 650 and the 750 is the wise link pro USB port which adds some functionality to the set otherwise they are very close. The 750 is also a bit smaller and lighter due to a more defined bezel.

Q; should I wait and get a better TV or jump on these prices now while I still work at this place

A: When to buy is always the hardest thing to do in electronics. The reality is that something better is always around the corner and the prices are always dropping so if you wait it is always going to be better - however a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush if you know what I mean and if you don't have it you aren't using it so I'm always of the mind that you should buy the best you can at the time and then just enjoy it - but do yourself a favour and stop reading about and looking at the new sets once you settle on the one you buy - that road only leads to regret and madness ;)

Q: why no 120 Hz with the $5000 budget (my opinion I think its overpriced for one feature)

That 5k needed to include everything the entire HT not just the HDTV. The 5.1 audio the new AVR, the PS3 and all the cables had to be in that budget. I'm not that good at getting deals - I don't honestly think it could have been done with out me robbing the place :p I got the best deal I could at the time trust me for the $4800 we spent we walked away with some nice gear the sales guy went home happy as well - it is the best you can hope for IMO.

Good luck,
Calvin

ty for being very respondant to my questions and i apologize for throwing prices on here i am new to forum and will avoid doin in the future

look at this model
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8802824&st=samsung+46&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1206141604950

the a580

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11289088&search=samsung%2046&Mo=0&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=5000043&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=samsung%2046&Ntt=samsung%2046&No=0&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

the a 540

the reason i think these models exist is to avoid price matching between stores

also i think that since i heard before there is no standard in measuring contrast ratio that the numbers are all just ways of getting new models out to do this with a little bit of a bezel change

honestly i think the contrast ratio is the same ( possibility marketing tactics ) probably on all of these 5 series models just a way to get around the price matching

ok on to my next question ( projector questions im extremely uneducated on these)

there are some cheapies i guess i can call them without hitting prices sold at bestbuys website mostly the ones for a guy like me not looking to spend more then 2k because i dont make enough each year to do that yet ;(

optama
mitsubishi umm

basically what i am asking u is how does a noob like myself go about buying a projector

my local audio video store that sells these tells me runco is top of the line in projector making

do u have to replace the bulbs on these things and how much are they about

this guy also told me krell audio is good and he told me that lg plasmas are the best...

he basically took everything i knew from teaching myself and told me the opposite

told me krell audio is top of the line

also same guy who offered me a job and he tells me he pays like 400 a year for some magazine subscription for high end movie theatre stuff

so what do u think and once again apologizing to moderators for price screw up

i have a sharp lc-42d64u now and its ok just a little small
i have a very crappy home theatre system philips htib hahah 1080i upconvert
getting mgs4 ps3 when it comes out in a week or so

Bruiser,

I stand corrected on the 540 and 580 very interesting - I tried to Google them last night and all I came up with was cell phones. Thanks for the links though pretty interesting... It appears these are a step up on the other gen 5's with the additional HDMI and another 5000:1 contrast increase over the previous models. I'm sure as you surmised it is due to marketing and they are best buy and Costco exclusives or at least limited to a select few B&M stores.

No worries on the price listings as well but please edit your post above to remove them that way no one will get their feathers ruffled (only you or a mod can edit your posts so I suggest you do so, so they don't have to).

Regarding PJ's you’re in the right place and my construction thread will go way off tangent if we get into an in-depth discussion on them. Just browse the threads here already on AVS to learn everything (and more) that you would ever want to know on just about every model in the market place. I don't usually like to speak to PJ's unless I've had personal experience with them and I've never owned or had any experience with Runco but I understand they make an excellent although somewhat pricey machine.

I think you would have people argue as to which is the best and that likely changes every few months as something bigger and better is always around the corner in this hobby. With all PJ you have to replace the bulbs and they are usually any where from one hundred all the way up to several hundred (mine is around $800 cdn if I remember correctly perhaps more with the air freight but I'm saving some on the conversion now that they CDN $$ is nearly on par with the US).

Krell audio is one of the better names in audio no argument there but I think like the PJ's above to say that any one brand is better than another is strictly for arguments sake. I think people can each have their favourites and as long as you’re happy that is the only consideration I think you should worry about. Some people love Krell others are quite the opposite so my suggestion for you and anyone else is to make up your own minds by listening and viewing the products in person so you can make a decision with your preferences and not from strangers on a forum. Everyone is different so make your own decisions is always my best suggestion.

LG makes a decent plasma but for my money I would say the Pioneer Kuro is the top panel and has been for some time.

I would head out and take a look and a listen before you make any buying decisions. If you don't want to be disappointed make sure you take the time to do that before any purchasing and you should be ok.
My suggestion is do some reading for PJ's and sound systems in your price ranges here on AVS then demo or preview them in person before making a decision if at all possible.

Best of luck
Calvin