Our media room was originally planned to be just a large flat screen tv and surround sound. Over the last year, with research, construction of the room and obsessive buying habits this has escalated from what was originally planned and I think I have updated almost everything twice since starting.

Below is a current listing of the equipment in the room as it progresses and below that are pictures of the finished room/

VIDEO
Projector: JVC RS1 1080p (http://www.projectorreviews.com/jvc/dla-rs1u/index.php)
Screen: Stewart FireHawk Deluxe Fixed Frame Screen 110" (54" x 96") HDTV Format

SPEAKERS - MTX In-Wall Speakers - 7.1 Setup
1 MTX ( HT2625W ) Dual 6 1/2" 2-Way In-Wall Video Shielded Center Channel
2 MTX ( HT520BDP ) 5 1/2" 2-Way In-Wall BI-POLE/DI-POLE Surround Speaker
2 MTX ( HT825W ) 8" 2—Way Rectangular Pair
2 MTX ( HT8253W ) 8" 3—Way Video Shielded Rectangular
1 Subwoofer - SVS PB12-Plus/2

Equipment Closet
Component Rack : MIDDLE ATLANTIC Slim 5 Rack 21-Space
Blu-ray : Sony PS3
HD DVD : Toshiba HD-A35 & HDA1 HD-DVD Player
Dvd Recorder : Toshiba D-R410
Cable : Pace HD-DVR TDC779X
Receiver - Pioneer Elite VSX-94TXH

Seating
7 Home Theater Recliners - Berkline Cinema Collection - 090 series (rtheaters.com)

Accessories
Popcorn Machine : Metropolitan - 6 oz w/Pedestal (http://www.rtheaters.com/popcornmachines/) (rtheaters.com)
Universal Remote: Harmony 880 Remote Control

http://www.tomweigel.com/pictures/ht/ht1.jpg

http://www.tomweigel.com/pictures/ht/ht2.jpg

http://www.tomweigel.com/pictures/ht/ht3.jpg

http://www.tomweigel.com/pictures/ht/ht4.jpg

http://www.tomweigel.com/pictures/ht/ht5.jpg

http://www.tomweigel.com/pictures/ht/ht6.jpg

http://www.tomweigel.com/pictures/ht/ht8.jpg

http://www.tomweigel.com/pictures/ht/ht9.jpg

love to have this ht,great job.

Looks great Tom. I am taking delivery off my first projector this week in no small part due to the HDA1 and we are getting ready to turn our "media" room into a dedicated FP room and I am not going to lie, I am all giggly about it.

Very nice set up Tom. What are the dimensions of the room? Just curious. :-)

Thanks all

EchoBaseGeek, which pj did you order & congrats

pedra12 , 20' long x 14' wide

Tom

Looks fantastic and seats a lot more than mine! Enjoy!

Ed

Very nice. I've got the same Berkline configuration on order. Should be here in the next two weeks. Can't wait!

Really nice!

Nice but this belongs in your home theater pics, not in a thread here.

Nice HT. One thing I noticed was sheen off of walls, did you use flat paint or is that a gloss finish of some sort?

Which model Berklines are those? My theater is going to be about the same width as yours, so I'm trying to visualize what it looks like with that many chairs.

Thanks,
Guy

Nice but this belongs in your home theater pics, not in a thread here.

Hi Vurbano and thanks. As per my OP, I know this is the wrong forum and hope you excuse it but I wanted to share with the guys here since this is the forum I spend my time

Nice HT. One thing I noticed was sheen off of walls, did you use flat paint or is that a gloss finish of some sort?

I used a flat paint only. I know the camera made the walls look reder then what they are, its actually a dark maroon. Flash was on camera and all the lights were on, maybe that influenced the sheen you see

Which model Berklines are those? My theater is going to be about the same width as yours, so I'm trying to visualize what it looks like with that many chairs.

Thanks,
Guy

Hi Digial Man, I believe it was the 090 model. I got them from Roman (RSH) here on the site during a powerbuy. Also got a popcorn machine from him. He was excellent to deal with!

Tom,

Terrific room very nice. I was a bit suprized you went with inwalls and didn't do them behind the screen with AT screen for a more theater like experience. Minor point. The room looks great anyways and I'm sure it sounds excellent as well.
Cheers
Calvin

Tom,

Terrific room very nice. I was a bit suprized you went with inwalls and didn't do them behind the screen with AT screen for a more theater like experience. Minor point. The room looks great anyways and I'm sure it sounds excellent as well.
Cheers
Calvin

I consulted an installer about the perferated screens and he said they lose up to 10-20% light for them so I decided against it. With the front wall & speakers both being black, there hardly noticable with the lights out but just wanted to say it was a prior consideration.

Nice HT. Too bad I have a smaller room. 10' x 20'. It is a bit cramp. So, my gears are in living room at the moment.

Very nice look. I bet you are enjoying it a ton. :)

Art

Very nice.

Reminds me a lot of my own room (same seating layout, sub, similar room dimensions, and even a couple of the same posters).

Thanks all. Yes I'm very happy at the moment and enjoying it very much, ya cant get me out of the room each night. On a good note I just got a great promotion at work so of course now I wish to upgrade already but everything I currently have doesnt even have 200 hrs of use on it yet...

Thanks all. Yes I'm very happy at the moment and enjoying it very much, ya cant get me out of the room each night. On a good note I just got a great promotion at work so of course now I wish to upgrade already but everything I currently have doesnt even have 200 hrs of use on it yet...

Fortunately or unfortunately , your desire to upgrade is a common one among us and will be unlikely to pass ever !Enjoy what you have while researching and considering the next upgrades

Art

Awesome job! Looks great!

Fortunately or unfortunately , your desire to upgrade is a common one among us and will be unlikely to pass ever !Enjoy what you have while researching and considering the next upgrades

ArtTruly agree. But, WAF plays an important role in upgrade too :(

Truly agree. But, WAF plays an important role in upgrade too :(
WAF can work to your benefit. Let's face it, they usualy have a better design sense than we do, which usually results in us having to hide equipment, which can compromise the end video/audio end of things a bit, but ends up looking way better.

WAF isnt a problem here per say... The wife is the one that wanted the room in the first place, I wanted a swimming pool. You can see who won that one. Now the only problem with her is she see's everything working and doesnt see the need to upgrade the equipment since it all has less then 200 hrs on it. Now if I talk about doing something she doesnt already have that a different story.

I'm probably one of the few people that understand and play the WAF to my benefit. Besides some of the odd things they can come up with it comes down to this. It really doesnt even matter if the wife likes it or not but whether or not it will give her the ability to brag about having it to her friends. Now her being able to say we have a movie theater with a projector is good enough for her to brag about, on the other hand her bragging about whether or not it is 720p or 1080p makes no difference to her because her friends wont understand it.

Looks fantastic! Question: I can't tell from the photos if you can get behind the back row of chairs to access the shelf of DVDs, or do you just reach across from in front of the chairs?

How do you like the Berklines?

Looks fantastic! Question: I can't tell from the photos if you can get behind the back row of chairs to access the shelf of DVDs, or do you just reach across from in front of the chairs?

How do you like the Berklines?


Hi Mike:

Thanks. There a bit of room behind the seats, enough to walk behind and also leaves room for the chairs to recline. Its a bit tight but yes we can walk behind it to get to the dvd shelves. Well half the shelfs are HD DVD and Blu-Ray movies now, slowly replacing all the dvds.

As for an update of the room itself.

I've added a Panasonic DMP-BD10 Blu-ray player along with my current HD DVD player

In order to get multiple HDMI connections I had to update my receiver already. I got a new Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXS receiver yesterday to replace my Marantz SR7500 receiver.

It's a real shame the Marantz SR7500 receiver is great, I paid like $800 for it and it only has about 200 hrs of use on it but doesnt have the multiple HDMI connections I need. So now I have this virtually new receiver sitting there not being used

Also yesterday I had the HT room and my upstairs plasma tv ISF calibrated.

how do you like those mtx's?

how do you like those mtx's?

I think they sound great. Even the ISF calibrator was surprised how well the in-walls sounded

Hi Tom,

Great HT Setup! Have a couple of questions though if you don't mind answering.

1. When sitting in the rear row, how do the surrounds and rear speakers sound? Basically, how is the "surround effect" as compared to the first row?

2. How far back from the screen is your first row of seats?

Thanks in advance for any input you can give me. And again, great pics! Very inspiring!

- Ian

Hi Tom,

Great HT Setup! Have a couple of questions though if you don't mind answering.

1. When sitting in the rear row, how do the surrounds and rear speakers sound? Basically, how is the "surround effect" as compared to the first row?

2. How far back from the screen is your first row of seats?

Thanks in advance for any input you can give me. And again, great pics! Very inspiring!

- Ian

Hi Cole, the surround sounds great in either row. It was optimized as far as placement for the first row but I can say I've noticed a difference while in either row.

The first row is about 13' from the front wall.

Are those lights installed above the screen? It looks like they might be installed in a heat duct. If they are, what kind of lights are in there? I have a similar situation (no lights though) as my heat duct is similarly placed and I want to install lights there, but I'm not sure I can safely.

Just curious. Nice looking theater, btw.

Cheers,
Randy Stewart

whether or not it will give her the ability to brag about having it to her friends

Keeping up with the Joneses is so 1950 :-)

Are those lights installed above the screen? It looks like they might be installed in a heat duct. If they are, what kind of lights are in there? I have a similar situation (no lights though) as my heat duct is similarly placed and I want to install lights there, but I'm not sure I can safely.

Just curious. Nice looking theater, btw.

Cheers,
Randy Stewart

The soffit in the front of the room is empty and just meant to even out the soffit on the side that would have been partially over the one side of the screen.

But on the side wall soffit it does have ductwork and recessed lights over the posters. They are small recessed lights that are right beside the ducts. Doesnt seem to be any problems with it.

what lights are using on the riser?

thanks

On the riser is simple rope lights picked up from Home Depot

Looks great, same color combo Iwas thinking about

Looks great, same color combo Iwas thinking about

Thanks, It came out nice and appears a bit brighter in the pics than it actually is.

For your Berklines, what grade leather did you get and are you happy with it. I'm thinking about buying some at the moment and kinda debating on which grade to go for.

For your Berklines, what grade leather did you get and are you happy with it. I'm thinking about buying some at the moment and kinda debating on which grade to go for.

I'll have to check with the wife about that one, all I remember is it was the grade that was recommended by Roman here on AVS. Yes I'm happy with the chairs they are very comfortable.

Hi Tom,
Cool setup! I'm in the process of building at room much like yours, and I 'm seriously thinking about replacing my CRT projector with a Benq 8720, but I have a few questions, if you have the time?
- Can you see any SDE from that seating distance?
- Have you noticed any RBE from the 8720 at all
- Do you notice the projector noise when you watch a movie?
- Are you running your HD DVD/Blu-Ray at 60 Hz or 24/48 Hz?

Thanks, Morten.

Hi Tom,
Cool setup! I'm in the process of building at room much like yours, and I 'm seriously thinking about replacing my CRT projector with a Benq 8720, but I have a few questions, if you have the time?

Thanks, Morten.

Hi Morten

Thanks for the compliments

- Can you see any SDE from that seating distance?

No. SDE is hardly visibile even from very close-up. I hate SDE and after comparing many different projectors I picked this pj because it was the best in all the comparisons I made about this specificly

- Have you noticed any RBE from the 8720 at all

No, I havent noticed any RBE on it

- Do you notice the projector noise when you watch a movie?

At 23-25 db's (depending on mode selected) you would be hard pressed to find a pj that is quieter then this one.

If you can tell by the pictures of my set-up the pj is mounted practically directly overhead of our seats in the second row and you dont hear it at all during the movie unless the movie is dead silient.

Honestly I think my blu-ray player that sits much further away in the room is louder then the pj.

- Are you running your HD DVD/Blu-Ray at 60 Hz or 24/48 Hz?

24/48

When you make your purchase, make sure it has the latest firmware for it otherwise you'll have to send your projector to the dealer in order to have it updated.

If I can help any more just ask or PM me anytime.

Actually I may be upgrading sometime in the next few months to Benq's 1080p model to go with my HD DVD & Blu-ray player so I may be putting this projector up for sale in the sale section of the forum.

Depending when you need it by and if your interested let me know and maybe we can work something out.

Thank you for your answers and for the offer, Tom, but I think it's a little to difficult and expensive to ship it to Denmark, don't you think? ;)

I can understand your motivation for going to a 1080P, who wouldn't, but the 720P is still great for HD DVD/Blu-Ray isn't it?

Have you ever seen a BG808s in action? If you have, would you say that I would be disappointed in a 8720?

Thank you for your answers and for the offer, Tom, but I think it's a little to difficult and expensive to ship it to Denmark, don't you think? ;)

I can understand your motivation for going to a 1080P, who wouldn't, but the 720P is still great for HD DVD/Blu-Ray isn't it?

Have you ever seen a BG808s in action? If you have, would you say that I would be disappointed in a 8720?

Yes you will definetly still see a difference with either of the 2 high def format on a 720p but of course to take full advantage of 1080p source material you would need a 1080p pj

No, I havent seen a BD808 to say either way

Great looking room Tom.I have to say the a black ceiling is really the way to go good for you ! I am holding out to get a HD DVD player. Then Hope to get a blue ray also. Johnathan

Great looking room Tom.I have to say the a black ceiling is really the way to go good for you ! I am holding out to get a HD DVD player. Then Hope to get a blue ray also. Johnathan

Thanks, the black ceiling and black carpets really keep it nice and dark in the room.

I would definetly suggest the high def players (there great) the HD DVD players can be had for around $350 now and you get 5 free HD movies with it.

For the BR players (unless you want a PS3) I would wait till after the summer since they will be changing there specs on the format players and plus there still pretty expensive

Thanks Tom
I will wait on BR. But HD DVD is in my very near future!Johnathan

Thanks Tom
I will wait on BR. But HD DVD is in my very near future!Johnathan

Good for you, I'm sure your enjoy it :)

Finally pulled the trigger an updated to a 1080p projector. I ordered the JVC RS1 from AVS and expecting it to arrive today :)

My beloved BenQ still has less then 500hrs on it and was recently ISF calibrated, if anyone is interested in it send me a PM

I should have ran more cables for future use when the walls were still open, now less then a year later its already biting me in the *** . Ok so at least I remembered to run the wire for the cable before hand but hoping I could use that for a future internet connection was wishful thinking. Ok so I have to run Ethernet wire to the equipment rack now to get an internet connection to the HD DVD player.

What I would like to ask is how many lines should actually run? Would one Cat5 or Cat6 line to the equipment rack and then splitting it right there with a hub be enough for future multiple connections or should I run extra lines with it now?

Also I haven’t even started researching it yet but we are already tired of pointing the remote control to the back of the room when using it and I want to add whatever is needed to the front of the room to make using the remote easier. I think it’s an IR repeater I need but have to look it up still as I said. But my immediate question about that would be what type of cable wires do I need to run to the front wall for it and how many lines? This way perhaps I can

Also I haven’t even started researching it yet but we are already tired of pointing the remote control to the back of the room when using it and I want to add whatever is needed to the front of the room to make using the remote easier. I think it’s an IR repeater I need but have to look it up still as I said. But my immediate question about that would be what type of cable wires do I need to run to the front wall for it and how many lines? This way perhaps I can

Search for a product called Leap Frog, I use it for for Plasma so no wires are seen... And very nice setup..

Hi Daniel:

Thanks for responding but I dont think this is answers my question. If i'm not mistaken this leap frog looks like some type of wireless setup. Additionally they look like fairly large sensors that would need to sit on something in the front of the room.

I would rather have very small rather invisibile little dot sensors barely noticable on my wall around my 110" screen.

My main question about it is, since I'm going to run one line soon for an internet connection anyway, how many lines should I include at the same time for a wired IR repeater system?

How many sensors would I need on the front wall 1-5, I have no clue?

Does each need its own line all the way to the equipment rack or can the single line be split and branched for the different sensors?

A wired IR repeater like a Xantech uses three wires, so there are plenty of wires available in a Cat-5.

My Xantech worked quite well until I got my plasma. Plasmas throw off so much IR noise that it confused the heck out of the Xantech. I ended up getting a "plasma compatible" unit, but it never worked as well.

I'm now using a Control4 automation system, which includes a universal remote that communicates to the brain unit via ZigBee. The brain unit has 8 IR blaster outputs, each of which can have two emitters connected. Works great.

Awesome set up!

Thanks Mike and Gordon.

I'm getting ready to run another line for something else and it would be easy to attach the extra Cat5 or Cat6 lines at the same time.

I havent selected which set up to use yet but at the moment I only want to know how many Cat5 lines I would need to run to the front wall for a future IR repeater set up?

The movie posters on the walls, LOTR, Harry Potter, King Kong, Braveheart give your HT room a very cool movie theater like feel.

Hi Tom,

Assuming that you're just doing the IR receiver in the front of the room, one CAT-5 should be plenty to allocate for that. My strategy in my own theater and home is to run two to everyplace. It's not that expensive, and that way if I ever want a network drop or something, it's there. For me, though, wiring to most rooms is difficult, so it makes sense for me not to have to pull wire again. If you have easier access (attic, crawl space), then you can probably just do what you need.

The movie posters on the walls, LOTR, Harry Potter, King Kong, Braveheart give your HT room a very cool movie theater like feel.

Thanks Mike... Actually if your interested in the posters let me know... The wife is seems to be tiring of them already and asking when I'm going to order new ones... (i think the HP is the only one she likes currently)

I got the ethernet wire ran to the equipment rack and connected to my router in my first floor office. I think its fantastic that I can hook the HD DVD player up and have web enabled features now with the movies...

I ran two extra cat5 lines at the same time to the equipment rack, since I'll probably just use a hub in the equipment room for any more internet connections I think that covers me pretty well. Plus I did wind up pushing a conduit pipe through the soffit so it would be pretty easy to run any future wires needed.

As for the IR sensors / systems, I really dont know anything about them except that pointing the remote to the back of the room is starting to get real annoying. From what I can tell its a few sensors that go on the front wall and some type of receiver in the equipment rack, is that correct?

On the front wall how many sensors are needed? Is it just one or does it have to surround the whole screen?

For the receiving unit, does every components/devices need to be taken into consideration for which unit/system to purchase?

Currently I have the following that would need to be controlled with it: pj, cable TV box, HD DVD, Blu-ray, A/V receiver plus would like to leave room for future additions

Wow, it looks great the only thing I see missing is the popcorn machine..

Ergo, actually the popcorn machine is on the outside of the room....

Hi Tom,

First off, if that's a "Fellowship" LOTR movie poster, and you're really interested in getting rid of it, I'm interested! Dunno if it's rollable or if it has been mounted... Probably only if it can be rolled up would it be practical to get it to CA.

Regarding the IR repeaters, I'll tell you about the system I used. I had a Xantech "Dinky Link", which is a little gizmo about the size of a Chapstick. It's black, and has a small IR window in it. You could place it, for example, on top of or on the side of your center speaker.

The little receiver has a fine black wire that runs from it, and you would connect that up to some of the lines on that Cat-5 you ran to the front.

Back in your equipment closet, you mount the other end of the system, which is a little box about the size of two matchboxes. That little box plugs into the wall with an AC adapter, and has some sockets on it into which you plug little wired IR emitters. (See, for example, the Xantech CB60 or 789-44PS). This is called a "connecting block".

The little wired emitters stick on the front of your components, right over the IR receivers.

I get the Blink-IR emitters from Xantech, which in addition to the infrared LED also contain a visible red LED. This is great, because you can see if pressing a button on your remote is resulting in your emitters doing something. VERY useful for system debugging. The Blink-IR units are available in a "dual" model that has two emitters connected to one plug. So, for example, if you get a connecting block with four IR emitter outputs, you can control 8 devices.

So long as you don't have compact fluorescent lamps or a plama TV operating in the same room as the receiver, this system works wonderfully well. If you have CFLs (I doubt it, given your pix), then you would need a "CFL-friendly" Dinky Link receiver. If you have a plasma, then you need a "plasma friendly" receiver. These both have much more aggressive filters to try to reject the IR noise emitted by the CFL or the plasma.

Hope this helps!

PS: I did say that I "used" this system. I now use a Control4 automation system, which includes a Zigbee (digital wireless) remote. The Control4 main unit has plugs on it for IR emitters. So, on the rack end, I still have the little stick-on emitters (and here's where the blinky versions REALLY pay off, since Control4's 8 outputs are individually controlled...), but I no longer have the up-front IR receiver.

Heck, if I could figure out where my Dinky Link and connecting block are, I'd offer it to you cheap.

Just listing the recent updates to the room.

I did run some cat5 lines through the room to the equipment rack. My HD DVD player now has a dedicated internet connection which is great with the recent HD releases having web enabled features.

I did run 2 extra lines through the soffit at the same time for a future IR system which may be my next project.

Well I already listed my largest update for the summer which was upgrading my pj from the BenQ to the JVC RS1. I've had the new pj for about a month now and love the picture. I do have some gripes though and think there were many features on the Benq that I prefered. The Benq hit the mail yesterday and is on its way to its new owner. What a friggin loss I took on that in a year since I bought it...

Other then that I've continued to purchase as many title as I can as fast as they are released on HD and Blu-ray. I think both are capable of an outstanding picture quality specially on a 110" screen with 1080p pj but have been happier with the HD DVD format giving me more content, features, intereactivity and now web enabled features.

With BR players being incomplete and at least 3 new profiles still due out in the future I dont have very good thoughts of the grand I invested in this player continuing to fully function.

At this point I will continue to purchase titles on HD DVD but will not continue to purchase BR releases.

Wow a fellow Douglassviller!

Your room looks great, I was actually thinking of painting my theater red, I'm under construction and doing everything myself (the whole basement - playroom, game room, and theater)

If there's anything that you're looking to sell (cheap) let me know. Maybe we can meet up sometime.

Bill
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=895524

Wow a fellow Douglassviller!

Your room looks great, I was actually thinking of painting my theater red, I'm under construction and doing everything myself.

If there's anything that you're looking to sell (cheap) let me know.

Bill
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=895524

Heyya Neighbor:

Open invite if you want to come check out the HT room if your looking for ideas or even comparisions.

Over the last year I have upgraded some of my equipment already and have sold some of the original items such as PJ, Receiver and BR player...

I have just replaced a couple of the posters in the HT room. Your welcome to have the old ones if you pick them up. Its the one of King Kong, Braveheart and there's a 3rd one but I forget what it is.

Tom, I am definetely interested in any posters you no longer want and stopping over to take a peak at the theater. Let me know if this weekend is a good time.

Bill

Sounds good Bill

As for this weekend I should be free on Saturday, busy on Sunday though. If this weekend doesnt work for ya, just let me know which does. Just send me a PM and let me know when works for ya and I will give you my info

I like what you've done in the theater. Cool color schemes.

It's funny that you guys live in Douglasville! I am in the Fleetwood/Oley area just up Route 662. I'll have to invite you guys up this spring when my theater is (finally) finished and up and running. Who am I kidding, it's never "finished" but will be up and running.

Its great to meet local friends interested in HT. I'm previously from Philadelphia and have only lived in the area for about 18 months now so I still dont know many people in the area.

We should get the AVS'ers in the area together once in a while for a "Pizza and a Movie" night. We could rotate through everyone's theaters. Something to consider as everyone gets there's finished.

Welcome to the area anyway. I lived near Bala Cynwood and then Glenside for a few years. Don't miss the city at all though!

We should get the AVS'ers in the area together once in a while for a "Pizza and a Movie" night. We could rotate through everyone's theaters. Something to consider as everyone gets there's finished.

Welcome to the area anyway. I lived near Bala Cynwood and then Glenside for a few years. Don't miss the city at all though!

Sounds like a good idea. All are welcome over my house if ya can ignore the fact the rest of my basement still isnt finished. I finished the HT room and just sort of stopped on finishing the rest of the basement... :D

As an update to my room, I have sold my Panasonic Blu-ray player to a fellow AVS member and replaced it with a PS3 which I hope will have a better chance at being upgradable.

Next project is still to run some type of IR repeater system throughout the room but the little bit I researched it still has me confuse on what to get and how to do it.

Tom,
Great pics! I hope to have some like it some day.
How do you like your MTX in walls? I am looking at using 3 of the HT2625W for my fronts
and 2 pairs of the HT520BDP for my surrounds in a 7.1 setup. Are you happy with the sound you are getting?

Thanks
Kevin C. :)

Tom,
Great pics! I hope to have some like it some day.
How do you like your MTX in walls? I am looking at using 3 of the HT2625W for my fronts
and 2 pairs of the HT520BDP for my surrounds in a 7.1 setup. Are you happy with the sound you are getting?

Thanks
Kevin C. :)

Thanks Kevin. Yes I am very happy with the audio quality of the speakers. I can't claim to be any type of audiophile but I think they sound great and even the ISF calibrator (who should know more then me) that came to the house previously seem impressed with there quality.

You didnt mention anything about a subwoofer and figured I would suggest not using an in-wall sub, it will rattle the walls to much.

Yeah,
I had considered it but the installer selling me the rest of the speakers also advised against it. He is pushing a Pinnacle subwoofer. He has one I can listen to so I am going to check it out.

I am not an audiophile either. I have tried posting questions about speakers in the speakers area but without much luck. They pretty much ignore you unless you are willing to drop about 5k.

Thanks,
Kevin C. :)

Ya I originally ordered the MTX in-wall sub but was happy others here on the board talked me into returning it before I ever even set it up. I have the SVS sub now and cant say enough good things about it, it litterally shakes the floor and house when it kicks in... :)

And yes most here do not even want to discuss in-walls. Personally though I think the appearance of regular speakers all around a display is more distracting then any noticable audio difference and definitely prefer the hidden in-wall speakers.

With the new low prices on HD DVD players, I picked up another addition for the HT room and got a HD-A35 to replace my HD-A1 player.

I've also decided its time to update my AV receiver - Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV since I had it for about 6 months now... :D and figured its time to get something with even more HDMI connections and upgrade to HDMI 1.3. So now I'm looking to get the Pioneer Elite VSX-92TXV or 94 model.

Any of the guys local to my area know of any retailer that has these receivers at decent prices?

I've seen them for around $850 online and $1,300 at BB and tweeters. T'was hoping to find it at a local retailer for around 1k.

Tom, I'm very interested in the sizing of your room since we are in the early stages of finishing our basement and creating a dedicated HT room. I have the option of either a 14x20 (just like yours!) or 14x30, except unfortunately I will have a column right smack in the middle at around 15' that will separate the first and second row seats (hoping to be able to fit a Berkline 4-seater in the front and 2 loveseats flanked on each side of the column-but don't know if it will fit). A Sharp XV20000 will be hung from the ceiling right in front of the column. Hoping to still be able to go with a 100' Stewart fixed screen.

If I go with the 14x30 I will have 2 additional columns flanking the right and left sides behind my second row. Obviousy, I'd like to minimize the column effect and go with 14x20 but am curious as to whether acoustically it's better to have a larger room if at all possible. Did you find any serious limitations with the 14x20 set-up?

Hello:

I had the same problem, the dimensions of my room were based around the columns in my basement. The front and one side wall both have the columns inside the wall at this time. I opted to not have anything that would distract anyones view of the screen.

I've seen several of Theo Kalomirakis theaters which use the posts ,setting them as a line of columns on one side and the wall a few feet beyond. The seating is still restricted inside the space between columns but the room itself is much bigger and the theater appears much more spacious.

Art

Aside from aesthetics (14x20 only facilitates door in front while 14x30 can accommodate back door), will it make a big difference acoustically? I plan on a B&W 804S set-up with center, sub and 4 in-walls.

Strange because I know Tom replied and now it disappeared.

Anyway, another question for you Tom. You mentioned that you placed the first row at 13' (I think). Where did you start your second row and what height did you use for the riser? I have the 78s (which I believe are nearly identical to your 90s in dimensions) on order from Roman and will do IOIOOIOI in the front and IOIOI pole IOIOI in the second.

Strange because I know Tom replied and now it disappeared.

Anyway, another question for you Tom. You mentioned that you placed the first row at 13' (I think). Where did you start your second row and what height did you use for the riser? I have the 78s (which I believe are nearly identical to your 90s in dimensions) on order from Roman and will do IOIOOIOI in the front and IOIOI pole IOIOI in the second.

I did reply and dont know why the post is missing, I certainly didnt delete it...

I'd have to measure the riser to see exactly, I dont recall how far I extended the riser off the top of my head although I'm tempted to say 6'. I can say the first row started at 13' and the riser begins right behind those seats and extends to the rear wall.

For the base of the riser I used 2x10"'s and then 3/4" plywood on top of that. Not sure if it helped anything at all but I did stuff the riser base with insulation too.

When the rise base was in place, I ran the wire through the riser and up behind the column for the rope lights. One suggestion (that I did not do) is perhaps pre-wire under the riser in case in the future you decide to add butt kickers or something like that.

My seats & popcorn machine also came from Roman. He is excellent to deal with and he will continue communicating with you after the purchase.

I think (without looking back) the pictures show my seating. Anyway there individual seats connected together for the rows, 3 in the first row, 4 in the back row. The only thing I may have done different with them is to remove one of the arms so the two middle seats in the back row fit the wife and I together. As they are now, she keeps climbing into my seat with me... :mad:

As an update to my room itself, I purchased another HD player the HD-A35. However I found it wont work with my fairly new Pioneer Elite 72 AV receiver unless I send the receiver for an update. The dealears around here say its a 8 week wait though. So I'm thinking about upgrading it again, 3rd time in less then 2 years....

At what height did you hang your 110" screen?

At what height did you hang your 110" screen?

Very Low....

I would have prefered if I could have hung it a bit higher but I didnt have much choice in the matter. Because of the soffit I have in the front of the room, the bottom of the screen is only 20" off the floor.

Yes, I have viewed your pics many times, studying placement of everything since it's likely that my room will have the same exact dimensions as yours. In addition, your chairs are the same dimensions as mine, screen size same, projector (leaning towards sharp xv-z20000 but many have told me to go with jvc rs2) could potentially be yours too.

Where did you place the outlets to plug in the chairs? One on the riser side I would presume, but where did you plug in the second row of chairs? Did you just get a surge strip and plug them all in or something else? I like that you cannot see any plugs.

Yes, I have viewed your pics many times, studying placement of everything since it's likely that my room will have the same exact dimensions as yours. In addition, your chairs are the same dimensions as mine, screen size same, projector (leaning towards sharp xv-z20000 but many have told me to go with jvc rs2) could potentially be yours too.

Where did you place the outlets to plug in the chairs? One on the riser side I would presume, but where did you plug in the second row of chairs? Did you just get a surge strip and plug them all in or something else? I like that you cannot see any plugs.

I have the JVC RS1, I could be wrong but I thought the RS2 was supposed to come out at alot higher of a price tag.

I hid the chair outlets real good... there are none :D

I dont have anything connected to the chairs. The subwoofer I have is excellent, it litterally shakes the room when the LFE sounds kicks in, I havent really seen the need to add any butkickers. I'm so glad someone on AVS talked me into returning the original sub I ordered and getting the one I have listed now.

I do have electrical outlets on the back wall behind the second row though. I wish I would have ran a few lines in the base of the riser and put some outlets there behind the first rough but so far havent really had the need for any.

I didn't opt for the butt-kickers either, but I did get the motorized recline so I still need an outlet. Yes, my dealer suggested a B&W sub to match my mains but everything I read points to Velodyne or SVS.

I didn't opt for the butt-kickers either, but I did get the motorized recline so I still need an outlet. Yes, my dealer suggested a B&W sub to match my mains but everything I read points to Velodyne or SVS.

I have the SVS

Out of curiosity, did you do any acoustical treatments to the room? Also, where did you place your sub-is that it in the front left of the room?

Out of curiosity, did you do any acoustical treatments to the room? Also, where did you place your sub-is that it in the front left of the room?

No, I did not place any acoustical treatments in the room. I was more concerned with trying to limit the sound from getting out of the room. For that I put a double layer of insulation in the walls, ceiling and riser.

Yes that is the SVS sub in the front left of the room. I think its 140-150 lbs.

Edit:

Just to add the only other thing I have done to the room with audio is when I had the pj video calibrated I also had the ISF calibrator, audio calibrate the receiver, components and speakers for the room.

With the one sub do you find that in some places in the room you hear more sound than others. Another recommendation I got was to do a sub in the front and the side. What do you think?

With the one sub do you find that in some places in the room you hear more sound than others. Another recommendation I got was to do a sub in the front and the side. What do you think?

I think that would be overkill with a good subwoofer and is not needed. I recall also being suggested the same of using 2 subs and glad that I decided I would try just the one first.

The SVS sub is excellent and has no problem at all filling the room in fact I have it set very low and it still completly fills the room including rattling the entire room during explosions and such.

If I turn the sound up, the sub can be heard throughout the house from my basement (semi-sound proofed room), through the 1st floor and all the way up to the second floor bedrooms.

Ok thanks. And I didn't think you would still be able to hear it in other parts of your house (esp second floor!) with the double insulation you did. Would you recommend I do something different to my room to keep the sound in?

Ok thanks. And I didn't think you would still be able to hear it in other parts of your house (esp second floor!) with the double insulation you did. Would you recommend I do something different to my room to keep the sound in?

The two layers of insulation in itself was expensive. Of course there is plenty more you can do to sound proof the room but that depends on how much money you want to spend.

Let me say that the double layer of insulation was enough to eliminate all the sound except the sub when I have the volume cranked on a good action/war movie. The sub vibrates the floor, walls, studs etc and I dont think there is any eliminating that.

Listening to most movies will not be heard outside of the room. However I have hearing damage left over from the war and really like crank the volume on my action/war movies.

If you are putting in heating & air ducts like I have, you can make sure you use a soft pipe and it has a few turns/curves in it. This will trap the sound from traveling straight through the ducts.

Other then that you can put extra layers of sheetrock up and/or pay extra for special sheetrock and tiles that are more sound resistent. Doing to much though may dull the sound in the room.

Tom, what about the wiring for the speakers and sub. How were you able to hide them? I would imagine you had to run pretty long wire since your equipment rack is in the back.

Tom, what about the wiring for the speakers and sub. How were you able to hide them? I would imagine you had to run pretty long wire since your equipment rack is in the back.

It was easy enough, just bought a whole spool of wire and ran a seperate line to each of the 7 speakers in the studded wall back to the equipment rack before I sheet rocked.

I tried to future proof it a bit in case I ever needed to re-run wires in the future.

Room layout, on the back side of the front wall (screen) is an unfinished utility room this gives me access to the whole wall there. This also provides access to getting behing the left side wall described below.

The left side wall, I left about 1.5' of space between the foundation wall and the room wall so if I need to change anything in the future I can squeze behind the wall if I must.

On the right side, I left a large plastic pipe running through the soffit so I can phish additional wires from the front wall to the back wall if I have to in the future.

The back wall is built out a few inches from another foundation wall. Not enough for me to fit behind but enough for me to be able to phish wires behind the entire back wall if I have too. I can get to this section from the closet behind the equipment rack on the one side and behind the left wall on the other.

Only the right wall surround speaker would be problematic if I ever had to run all new speaker wires in the future. I might need to cut a hole to do it but I dont picture the wire going bad anytime soon (hopefully).

Room Update:

Having updated my AV receiver twice in the last 18 months both receivers costing me around 1k each, I was very happy with the second receiver (Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV) which gave me 2 HDMI outlets that my first Marantz receiver did not have. I was then able to listen to the TrueHD tracks on both HD DVD & Blu-ray.

Recently upgrading to the HD DVD HD-A35 player I found a bug in the Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV receiver. On the newer 1.3 players it would play audio and not video although it worked find with my gen 1 HD-A1 player for 18 months now.

I researched the problem and found that the receiver needed an firmware update that is being provided by Pioneer dealers that specifically corrects this problem. I called 2 dealers within an hour’s drive of me and both say it’s a simple one hour fix but there is an 6-8 week waiting list at each location.

Not wanting to be without a receiver for 8 weeks or even waiting that long to correct the problem, I decided to upgrade receivers again (and piss off the wife once more). So last week I purchased the newer Pioneer model, Pioneer Elite VSX-94TXH AV receiver for $1,400.00 at Tweeters.

The new receiver gives me several upgraded features such as 4 HDMI connections (older player only had 2), HDMI 1.3, internet connection port for streaming music and the ability to decode DTS-HD tracks.

I figure now I can sell my existing Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV as-is to some one that may be closer to a dealer with a shorter waiting list or jump on the 8 week list here and have it updated and then sell it (probably for around half of what I paid for it within the same year I purchased it).

I'd have to measure the riser to see exactly, I dont recall how far I extended the riser off the top of my head although I'm tempted to say 6'. I can say the first row started at 13' and the riser begins right behind those seats and extends to the rear wall.



Tom, do you find that 13' was far back enough from your 110" screen? Also, are you satisfied with the 110" being the proper size. I'm undecided between the 100" and 110" and exactly where to place my first row of seating. I was thinking 14' (but I suppose that gives less to second row riser) but others have actually suggested 12'. Thanks.

Tom, do you find that 13' was far back enough from your 110" screen? Also, are you satisfied with the 110" being the proper size. I'm undecided between the 100" and 110" and exactly where to place my first row of seating. I was thinking 14' (but I suppose that gives less to second row riser) but others have actually suggested 12'. Thanks.

Thanks for reminding me, I'm working from home today so I was just able to run down and measure it for you.

The riser does extend from the back wall out seven foot.

When seats are in the upright position this leaves about 2' space in front of the back row and 1.5' behind the seats.

I've read about many HT rooms using smaller risers but think this is an ideal length specially considering the extra space you need when the seats are fully reclined.

If anything, i'd love to have an additional foot or two behind the row just to make it a bit easier to get behind the seats for the movies on my shelves and also for cleaning.

The 13' distance from the front of the room to the start of the riser is fine considering the seats are actually placed a little bit in front of the riser. This should put there heads around 12' which is suggested.

I dont recall how high is your ceiling and is anything (such as a soffit) forcing you to lower where your screen will be?

The 110" if fine in my room and I would continue to keep a screen that size in there rather then settle for a smaller screen. However if I could, I would love to be able to hang it a foot or so higher then it is now because the bottom of the screen is only 20" off the floor.

Note: this is because I was forced to lower the screen because of the soffit.

My riser was built with the 2x10" base plus 3/4" plywood and carpeting. So the full height is around 11".

If I had to rebuild the riser I would have made it a bit higher (2x12"s base and 2 layers of plywood) just to make it a little bit easier to see over the front row seats.

When seats are in the upright position this leaves about 2' space in front of the back row and 1.5' behind the seats.

I dont recall how high is your ceiling and is anything (such as a soffit) forcing you to lower where your screen will be?

The 110" if fine in my room and I would continue to keep a screen that size in there rather then settle for a smaller screen. However if I could, I would love to be able to hang it a foot or so higher then it is now because the bottom of the screen is only 20" off the floor.

Note: this is because I was forced to lower the screen because of the soffit.

My riser was built with the 2x10" base plus 3/4" plywood and carpeting. So the full height is around 11".

If I had to rebuild the riser I would have made it a bit higher (2x12"s base and 2 layers of plywood) just to make it a little bit easier to see over the front row seats.

I've got 8 foot ceilings, with no visible impediments. I'm thinking of hanging my screen 35" from the bottom of the floor and doing an 8" riser (used a calculator turks created and it spit out 8 1/8").

So it sounds like starting my first row at 14' would make it too tight with the second row.

I've got 8 foot ceilings, with no visible impediments. I'm thinking of hanging my screen 35" from the bottom of the floor and doing an 8" riser (used a calculator turks created and it spit out 8 1/8").

So it sounds like starting my first row at 14' would make it too tight with the second row.

Yes I would say if anything, extend the riser longer if you can to give you more room in front of and behind the seats

Yes I would say if anything, extend the riser longer if you can to give you more room in front of and behind the seats

So if you could do it all over again, would you move your first row to 12' instead?

So if you could do it all over again, would you move your first row to 12' instead?

I can move the first row of seats anywhere from 13' to 1 inch from the screen now, simply by pushing the seats forward... :)

The riser starts at 13' so thats the maximum you can move the back of the seats too. The front of the seats are less then the 13'.

Also the front row seats you can move anywhere in front of the riser you want.

Differences if I could change anything:

If my room was a couple feet longer though, I would have extended the riser (still keeping it from 13' from the front) only to add another foot or so of space behind the 2nd row seats.

Other then that, the only difference I would make would be to put the riser a few inches higher then I already have it.

Even with your screen capable of being hung higher then mine I would still build up the riser higher. It just makes it easier to see over the seats and heads of people in front of you.

I would think 2x12's or 2x14s with 2 sheets of 3/4" plywood would be ideal as long as it still leaves at least 6' of space to your ceiling. Plus this will give you more room to cut and place electric outlets, boxes etc in the front of the riser for you chairs and/or future accessories.

An editior from some German HT magazine has seen this thread and has asked if they can publish pictures of my HT room in it. So hopefully this may come to be sometime in the future.

Knowing my luck, its probably an article on what not to do when building your home theater.... :D

Cool about the mag. I can't tell you how many times I've re-read your thread. One other question which I don't think I've asked yet. For the aisles, from your pics it looks like you made the left side aisle bigger than the right side. What are the dimensions of each aise? Thanks.

Cool about the mag. I can't tell you how many times I've re-read your thread. One other question which I don't think I've asked yet. For the aisles, from your pics it looks like you made the left side aisle bigger than the right side. What are the dimensions of each aise? Thanks.

Nope everything is even and centered on both sides of the room. The riser steps on both sides are 2' foot wide and its about 3' from the side walls to the 1st row seats.

So if you could do it all over again, would you move your first row to 12' instead?

What I meant to say was if you could do it all over again, would you extend the riser out to 8' from the wall (as opposed to the 7' that you did), which would then push out your first row to 12' (from 13').

What I meant to say was if you could do it all over again, would you extend the riser out to 8' from the wall (as opposed to the 7' that you did), which would then push out your first row to 12' (from 13').

No, with my current room dimensions, I would keep the same length riser that I currently have.

With the back of the seats pushed against the begining of the riser at 13', the center/front of the seat is already around 12'-12.5' from the screen.

If the room was another foot longer I would have extended the riser another foot behind the second row but the start of the riser would still have been at 13' from the screen.

I have still been researching IR Repeater systems and I'm afraid to say I'm still a bit confused about which package/kit I should purchase. Is the "IR Repeater System" even the right terminology?

It's funny the wife originally talked me out of putting this in the room thinking it would not be a big deal to point the remote(s) at the back equipment rack. But she has a terrible habbit of still pointing the remote at the screen whenever she attempt to use any remote.

I already have extra cat5 wire ran to the front of the room to the equipement rack and can easily change this to another type of wire if needed. I just need to find what type of full kit to purchase, put the sensors around the screen and hook it up to the components.

About the only thing I know I want in the kit are small sensor(s) that I can insert in the wall around the screen.

My exact equipment is detailed on the first post of this thread but in summary I will need it to work for the HD DVD HD-A35 player, Blu-ray PS3 player (with whatever is needed to use this since its not IR), the cable box and the Pioneer receiver. The PJ is already good and working with pointing the remote at the screen.

If anyone can help me out, it would be appriecated very much.

Also I'm still trying to find out what damn connection type outlet is on the wife's laptop so I can connect the laptop to the pj.

Other then that, I'm running out of things to upgrade (ATM) but since the building of the room has turned as much into my hobby as watching the actual movies, I'm constantly trying to think what else I can do/add to it.

Also I was previously talking to Driving_Hamster & billd25 in this thread who live close to me. We discussed getting together sometime.

I even made arrangements to do so the one time but I had to cancel for some forgotten reason. If you guys are still available, we can schedule a time to get together sometime soon.

hmmm I dont think Ive added much to the HT room this year besides Blu-ray movies :)

Getting the update bug I decided to finish off my equipment rack by ordering & adding custom faceplates for each of the shelf/components. Its a bit pricey at around $50 per faceplate plus another 50 for the extra shelves so $500-800 isnt the smartest money ive spent on this but after seeing pictures of others on the board I want to finish it.

Besides that my Harmony 880 has passed away (will only work when about 6" from each of the components) so Im trying to decide which remote to upgrade to now.

Also I was interested in picking up a rack-mountable Vudu XL2 box last week but have since found out they have been discontinued (6 months after its release) so im undecided if I should pick up one of there lesser models or not now.

Hi Tom! I noticed that you recently started posting again and was wondering whether you might resurrect your thread. You may not recall but early on in my build you answered a lot of questions I had since I was using your build as my inspiration. Nice to see you back.

Heyya Queen, yep im back. Lacrosse season is over for the year and my beloved Philladelphia Wings lost so Im back to being bored until next season and need to spend lots of money on my HT room just to piss of my wife....

I just followed your link and saw some of your room pics. It looks fantastic... 40 pages is a bit to much for me to read real fast though (I will though) by the way where are you located? :)

I like the chairrail and have considered doing the same but it would eliminate me being able to hang any posters on the one wall then because of the soffit.

Yes, my build thread is a bit of a bear to read through. Hopefully, it provides some help to others just starting out. I'm in NY.

For some reason, I thought you had sold your posters or maybe you were just swapping them out?

Yea ive change the posters a few times. That reminds me I still have the original posters (in the room pics) if anyone local wants to pickt them up.

Waiting on my last (hopefully) shipment to arrive today that should finish off the equipment rack (except for one compenent/shelf). What started off as simple idea to add faceplates to the rack shelves has winded up costing $700-800 to finish. It definitely looks nicer then it did but from a cost comparison Im not sure I would have started this if I had calculated the entire expense first.

Below is a diagram using the mid atlantic rack tools that shows how each of the components fit in the rack. After I have finished adding all the faceplates I'll add before & after pics.

http://www.tomweigel.com/Pictures/HT/HT_Rack.jpg

I received my order yesterday and one of the shelves sent wasnt the size that I had ordered. So I will now have to go to the trouble of getting this corrected, waiting for the new shelf to come (which will be the 4th delivery for this in the last few weeks), sending the incorrect shelf back, plus having to pull out the rack from the cabinet to fix the shelves yet again. Moral of the story, get all the right shelves to start with so you dont wind up going thru this later...

Im still waiting to get the last correct shelf but wanted to put up some pictures now. It does seem to make a large difference.

http://www.tomweigel.com/pictures/ht/rackbefore.jpg
http://www.tomweigel.com/pictures/ht/rackafter.jpg

The rack is looking really great with those custom face plates!

Question: With all of the other upgrades you've done... Any thoughts of changing the MTX in-walls? (for the record: I'm not an in-wall basher and have never heard the MTXs) I was just curious if you still liked them.

The rack is looking really great with those custom face plates!

Question: With all of the other upgrades you've done... Any thoughts of changing the MTX in-walls? (for the record: I'm not an in-wall basher and have never heard the MTXs) I was just curious if you still liked them.

The speakers sound great and theres no reason for me to change them. At this point I think Ive upgraded everything in the room but those speakers and still dont see a reason to replace them.

I received my order yesterday and one of the shelves sent wasnt the size that I had ordered. So I will now have to go to the trouble of getting this corrected, waiting for the new shelf to come (which will be the 4th delivery for this in the last few weeks), sending the incorrect shelf back, plus having to pull out the rack from the cabinet to fix the shelves yet again. Moral of the story, get all the right shelves to start with so you dont wind up going thru this later...


I made a variety of mistakes while compiling my MA rack. A big one was thinking that I could order a normal x-space universal shelf and put a custom faceplate on it. Nope. I still have 2 or 3 universal MA shelves lying around.

I also somehow screwed up my space count when ordering final space fillers. I have room left for an xbox360 but I'm not jumping on that yet...to much to enjoy since finishing.

In any case, I now have a 1 space hole above the drawer. I need to replace that two spacer with a three.

What are you using to light your rack? I need task lighting - I left a one-space above the receiver at the top but haven't found lights I like. I dont care for the goosenecks. I saw some MA custom jobs that were expensive...and as you stated, these racks really add up.

I bought the 4-rail slide-out version so I can slide it out. Why? No need. It backs into a closet and I can walk in and do all the work I need. ...another example of poor MA rack planning that probably cost me lots of dough!

http://mybasementrenovation.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/re-img_3307.jpg