So I've finally started on my Plasma, 5.1 Surround sound installation in my family room. I have many challenges, namely, an open plan house.... I know that most of you have dedicated rooms for this. I alas do not.... It's a project of compromise I guess.

Here is the equipment list....

1. Panasonic TH-50PH9UK
2. Vienna Acoustic Webern L, C & R
3. Speakercraft AIM 8 Threes for Rears
4. Marantz SR7001
5. ATM System 1 External for heat / cooling management
6. Panamax In Wall Powerkit-TL
7. Harmony 890 Remote
8. Dvigear HDMI, S-Video, Component, Coax In Wall Cables
9. Bluejeanscable Speaker cable
10. Halo Recessed lighting

EDIT - New Equipment Added
11. Wii
12. Apple TV
13. Panasonic DMP-BD10A
14. SVS SB12-Plus Subwoofer
15. Lutron Spacer System Lighting

Here is a picture of the room at the beginning. I put a poster up where the plasma would go. Most people in this house plan put the plasma above the fireplace. I value my neck so I refuse to go that route.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C74D5AE71511DB.jpg

As part of this project I plan on putting in a cabinet in the enterrtainment nook area and running cables through the walls etc. A repaint is due too... Something a lot more mellow this time...

The work has begun (first deciding on color scheme)

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C77BF4E71511DB.jpg

And then taking out the bottom part fo the entertainment nook.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C7690CE71511DB.jpg

I decided to go with the chocolate paint by the way... Behrs Brown Ridge (I believe it is...)

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C7CC82E71511DB.jpg

Here is the entertainment cabinet before I removed the bottom of the soffit thing... It will have glass shelves and glass front doors with some lighting in the top....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C7BCD8E71511DB.jpg

This is right before I am about to take down the dry wall (I painted it all chocolate to make sure that is what I wanted before I go with retexturing etc.) Call me weird but I wanted only one finish of paint on the new drywall!

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C7ACD2E71511DB.jpg

I have now taken down the drywall and the shear wall to expose the studs...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C80CB8E71511DB.jpg

Got to love the Rigid Shop Vac! It's a life saver! Also that 9mm plastic to put down on the carpet when ripping down drywall and shearwall!

Here's the walls exposed...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C86DC2E71511DB.jpg

Nothing like jumping in with both feet. It's going to look great when you are done. I salute you for not going over the fireplace route.

But I gotta ask. It's pretty obvious that aren't an arthroscopic surgeon who can do just about anything with a few small holes. Did you really take that whole wall down to run a bunch of cables?????

Those are pretty classy looking speakers you've selected I assume you are planning on the wall mount? So even with building a niche for the Plasma (Which might violate the design specs of the shear wall) did all that stuff have to come off???

Am I missing something here? You painted the wall before you torn it down, then you ripped the wall out so you could install speaker wires? I think there were easier ways to resolve this problem.

BTW, I have the picture you have hanging over your fireplace. Gotta love IKEA. :)

I'm totally confused. You painted the entire wall, then removed the drywall?

Ah yes, the confusing color scheme.... So yes, I did the crazy thing of painting the room first to get my color choices sorted out. I didn't originally plan on ripping down the dry wall completely etc. But I realized it would be pretty difficult to do everything I wanted without doing that.

Oh, by the way, the room has a few more walls that are chocolate. The amount of drywall I tore down isn't that bad in terms of repainting. I just wanted to make sure I knew what colors to go with.

I've know run the cables... I had a mass. I re-routed some of the original circuit ROMEX to try and keep a safe distance between the cables etc. I also used the soffit form the adjacent laundry room to get the mass of AV cables through.

I've run the basic cables through now....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2013.59.25%20-0700/Image-179F3458032711DC.jpg

I just tried the speaker location. I decided I want to move them out further. I need to get 2/3 of the distance that I am sitting from them between them right?

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2013.59.25%20-0700/Image-179F7C92032711DC.jpg

Next I am going to work on putting in the Active Thermal Management System 1 Fan! Time to tare a big hole in my house!!!! Yikes!

But before that I had to break the rules and hook up the plasma to check all my cables still work!

I am not sure I understand the comment on violating the sheer wall specs? I am not building a niche for the plasma. I shall reinforce the studs and hang it. Am I missing something? Yes I have the L & R speakers wall mounted and plan on having the center speaker on low table using the table mount. Progress is moving along nicely... But still a LONG way to go. I need to research the lighting positioning too. Will keep you guys posted!

Matt

Ok, I am sure someone will tell me I broke the golden rule or something... But here's the plasma on the floor with the speakers....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2013.59.25%20-0700/Image-179F9D12032711DC.jpg

Now back to that external fan.

Ok, I've managed to get the fan in. The whole idea here is have it on a thermostat that kicks in at 90F and stops at 80F or whatever I set it at. The ducting will attach to the bottom of that cabinet. The fan should be quiet enough as it is on the outside of the house. I will also be running it at 1/3 speed as the cabinet CF is less than the 100 CFM it can handle.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2013.59.25%20-0700/Image-179FBAAE032711DC.jpg

The hole is cut....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2013.59.25%20-0700/Image-179FD7F2032711DC.jpg

I've got the fan on. Just need to wire it up to the Lutron power inlet which will power it via the thermostat (which I think is an attic fan thermostat that ATM sold me....)

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2014.25.18%20-0700/Image-A507F02A032A11DC.jpg

The inside of the fan....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2014.25.18%20-0700/Image-A507E104032A11DC.jpg

I now need to work on finishing off the cable routing and also reinforce the studs for the speakers and Plasma. I cannot wait to get this all togther!

I was going to put up sconces on either side of the plasma... I decided against it when I couldn't find anything I liked the look of. I decided to go with some pictures or something above the plasma and do a kind of wall wash with the recessed lights. What do you think? I plan on having two zones one for the plasma wall and a spot over the fireplace. The other zone would be the general lighting over the sofa area. Has anyone done something similar?

I have a set of challenges with the recessed lights as in the spots I want to put the lights I end up running into my stupid gas pipe!!! Joys of living on a concrete slab...

Anyway, back to the project.

Maybe it's the picture, but is that mold all over your fiberglass insulation in the pic where you praise the Rigid Shop Vac?

Now you got me scared... I've gone racing out to check the insulation in the garage. I think it was just the picture... No not mold, some kind of junk. Glad to report it's not mold! Thanks for checking though as that would be bad news! I am putting in new insulation as part of this project anyway. I also plan on putting insulation in the main wall where the plasma will go, there was nothing there before at all. Probably some R13, I plan on putting (I know it's not a full job and many claim pointless but while I'm at it...) Green Glue on the Shear wall before I put up the dry wall....

I am not sure I understand the comment on violating the sheer wall specs? I am not building a niche for the plasma. I shall reinforce the studs and hang it. Am I missing something?
Matt


I was guessing that one of the reasons you were performing major surgery on the wall was to gain access to the studs to create a Niche that the plasma might have been recessed into.

I guessed that the sheer wall was a seismic construction code item and that the OSB panels provide the lateral strength to keep the wall stable during an earthquake. If you removed the OSB to create a Niche you would be significantly compromising the resistance to lateral movement.

So tonight I decided to read up on Sheer walls and found this Power Point training presentation for contractors.

http://www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/eqmaps/fixit/ch3/sld001.htm

It turns out my assumptions were pretty much correct. When a window is installed in a sheer wall, special additional blocking is required. Similar blocking would be required to create a niche.

Bottom line is to be sure to put either OSB or plywood back on that wall. Be sure to make sure you use the required number and type of fasteners. You really don't need additional blocking for a Plasma with plywood covering the wall. Not sure with OSB.

Ah yes... No, I am not messing with the Shear Wall. There will be no niche for the plasma. If I had done that I would have built it on top of the shear wall or something. After taking down the shear wall. I think it was the right move as I needed to reroute existing romex and some other things, plus the path for the cables ended up being different than I planned after I saw what was down there to play with. I think I will end up with a better install because of it. OSB and some nails doesn't cost much. The drywall isn't too much. Given the extent of the drywall patching I would probably have to skim it anyway to get a nice finish. My wife wouldn't go with a patched look on that particular wall.

Tonight I got my recessed light cut outs and romex pulled through... What fun that was....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2014.25.18%20-0700/Image-A50743F0032A11DC.jpg

Looking good, keep the pictures of your progress coming.

Ah yes, the confusing color scheme.... So yes, I did the crazy thing of painting the room first to get my color choices sorted out. I didn't originally plan on ripping down the dry wall completely etc. But I realized it would be pretty difficult to do everything I wanted without doing that.



Don't feel bad. I built a riser within my theater and then tore it down. When asked why I did that, my answer was that I wanted to make sure I put the electrical outlets on the wall above the riser at the right height.

So I've started on the lovely job of patching dry wall holes.... I had to move the recessed lights slightly to get them out of the way of a gas pipe.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2014.25.18%20-0700/Image-A507A2DB032A11DC.jpg

I also came up with a better routing for my cables. This time it goes straight into the ceiling of the soffit. Then drops down the back of where the cabinet will be.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2014.25.18%20-0700/Image-A5068A70032A11DC.jpg

I also put some blocking in for the Plasma Mount and the Speakers....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2014.25.18%20-0700/Image-A5067792032A11DC.jpg

Progress is still being made....

Matt

based on your work (I.e. tearing down drywall) is it safe to assume that this is the first floor of a 2 story house...or a room that has a floor above it?

Also would it have been possible to run conduit for the cables in case you want to change them out in the future?

Looks like loads of fun.

Yes it is a two story house. The conduit question.... I decided that I would not run conduit, at least for the cables that I have to put in right now. I actually thought that running conduit would be difficult to be honest given the path I have. I did think about running conduit for the sections... i.e the plasma up to the top corner soffit, I think you can see that in the pictures. There is no way I can make a path that will be an easy replacement pull. I am still toying with whether i should run a conduit for the future. I don't plan on being in this house in 7 years or so...

I've run the following

1. HDMI
2. Component Video
3. S-Video
4. Coax

I am hoping that should keep me going. I am nervous though of a cable break for some reason though. What do the rest of you think? I could run a low voltage conduit and have known access points...

I've run the following

1. HDMI
2. Component Video
3. S-Video
4. Coax


I'd add ethernet and serial, just in case.

-drin

I would actually probably replace the coax with another HDMI (of course it depends on the devices you are going to attach). You can always use a splitter for the low resolution sources if you have more than one (I.e. VCR, BetaMax, etc)

Any recommendations on where to get those? Bluejeans and dvigear don't carry them... Any other good quality reasonable price vendors? The more I think about the more I think I shall go with a LV conduit to at least make it possible to pull a new cable without going too crazy with my drywall next time!

Any recommendations on where to get those? Bluejeans and dvigear don't carry them... Any other good quality reasonable price vendors? The more I think about the more I think I shall go with a LV conduit to at least make it possible to pull a new cable without going too crazy with my drywall next time!

"Those" being ethernet and serial? Get two lengths of plenum rated cat5e cable, either in a coil from Home Depot (expensive) or by the foot at any Home Depot (more expensive), Lowe's (even MORE expensive), CompUSA (not too bad), or the like. Monoprice is actually having a sale right now - a 50 foot cable is $5.88. Buy two of them and you're set. One can be used for ethernet and the other for serial.

How long is the cable run going to be?

-drin

Ah monoprice. I shall check them out. So what would the serial cable be used for most likely? I was kind of hoping that maybe with wireless internet cards etc, the need for ethernet would get less. Maybe I'm wrong... I am actually at the point where running additional cables is pretty darn difficult.

I am not sure why running another HDMI would be a good idea? Switching seems to have got better these days and the cable is really thick and pretty pricey to be honest. I am trying to do this on a somewhat reasonable budget. Yes I live in CA but I'm house poor!

oh cable run is about 25 feet or so.

Before you close things up some things to think about

One of the best sources of free HD content is OTA HD. For that I use an attic antenna and a run of quad shield RG6. (also your cable may go out)

If you think you might go with a satellite service at some point you might want 2 runs of QS RG6 from you equipment stack to a point on the exterior of the house where the lines would come down from the roof. If you are using Cable now, at some point the HD wars might heat up and a satellite service may offer more choices.

To future proof you may want to think about downloaded content and where your "server" will be located.

I am actually not a very big TV person. I am more a movie buff... I did however upgrade my cable from the $12 / month cheapest package from Comcast to include the HD. I get a few extra things etc. which suits me fine. I doubt I would ever go for the Satellite etc. Mind you with downloaded content and more onDemand type choices I might have to up my subscription at some point.

I think I should go with Ethernet and potentially a conduit run and call it a day. I know I could future proof my house more, but budget and time etc are pulling at me.

Ok, so last night I hooked up my recessed lights for the plasma wall and above the fireplace. These are 4" Low Voltage Remodel Halo Cans with trims. The cans have the transformer on the can itself. I had heard that they can produce a hum.... Well I didn't expect quite such a hum. I am actually confused why they have such a product and why people would be cool with the hum. I have heard of placing a transformer that can power 4 or so lights somewhere else for this reason. Does anyone have experience with that?

If I get a transformer do I still run Romex from the transformer to the cans? I am going to stop by my lighting / electrical store today and find out what my options are. I decided to not put in the remaining cans until I have a strategy. Maybe I shall go with incandescent for the rest.

Any thoughts?

Ok, so apparently in CA you have a tough time getting the remote transformer to work. However, they did ask about the dimmer they sold me. I was told it was the right one for the Low Voltage lights... I am using Lutron Maestro Digital Dimmers. Anyway, he said it should be MALV600, turns out they sold me MA600 (just checked...) I am hoping that will eradicate this problem.... Have to return the dimmers today and get the right ones! Despite this I am actually pleased as this might be a quick fix. So far NOTHING has been a quick fix.

I did some blocking work to reinforce the plasma and the speakers.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2014.25.18%20-0700/Image-A5067792032A11DC.jpg

What is that yellow cord that keeps dropping off the bottom left corner of every picture??

Also are you going to be running an outlet for the plasma? Just don't forget.

That bottom 12/2 yellow cable is for the plasma power. I have the Panamax Powerkit thing. I am running it low to keep it away from the component cables, 3 feet when parallel and 90 degrees when crossing the component cables.

I HATED paying for the panamax. Seemed such a rip off for what is in essence a recessed clock and a power inlet. If these were mass produced they would cost $20 max! The electrical boxes that came with them are the funkiest I've ever seen. I bought some low voltage / 120V boxes from Home Depot that are way better.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2014.25.18%20-0700/Image-A50792F6032A11DC.jpg

I needed a similar solution for my System 1 Fan. I did more research and found (thanks to avsforum) the Lutron Power Inlet. It's not a perfect looking thing, but is way cheaper than Panamax.

This picture shows the back of the cabinet.... You can see the other side of the panamax wired up in the bottom left. I'll have to take everything off to drywall. I just wanted to check it at this point.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-15%2014.25.18%20-0700/Image-A50753F4032A11DC.jpg

Hate to make a grown man cry:

http://www.telephonestuff.com/Catalog/Model_4937.htm less than $20

http://assets.twacomm.com/assets/1894393907/product_images/20679.jpg

You know what I have that.... That is what I used for powering my fan. You can see it in the previous picture. I know it's an external inlet, I would like to see a home internal one made that has a nice face plate etc. Something a little more domesticated. I like the inlet for the Panamax, but it's just SERIOUSLY overpriced.

I had the following question in my inbox.... I decided to post a generic response.

Hi can you link me to your power set up with Panamax. I'm new to this and I have no idea what you're talking about in your reply post, and a visual would help me to understand what you mean by inlets and recessed clocks. Thanks a lot.


Hi.

So here's the problem and there I shall give you the current solutions:-

Q. You want your plasma / projector to be on the same circuit as your components. Ideally you want them to use the same conditioned power too. In order to do that you would want to plug the plasma / projector into your power conditioner next to your amps. The problem is most of use don't have our projectors near the amps.

Solution 1
You can mount a regular recessed clock outlet. This is an outlet (just like your regular power outlets) but they are designed to go behind wall clocks (that tell the time). They are recessed so the device can be flush. Here's a quick picture of what a cheap nasty one looks like :-) Only thing I could find really quickly...

http://www.residential-landscape-lighting-design.com/store/images/ClockRecepta.jpg

This is the cheapest solution and doesn't address the problem with the power being in phase. If you do this at least make sure you use a surge protector recessed clock, and make sure you pull power from the same circuit as the power conditioner for your amps / components. You can buy a recessed clock for about $50 from Panamax if your clock is visible and you want something a little flashier, but by definition the recessed clock should not be visible, or at least color coordinated to hide it as best possible.

http://www.panamax.com/imagelibrary/products/inwall/MIWPower_mid.jpg

Solution 2
Run a power cable from the conditioner to the projector. This is only to code if the power cable does not go in wall. You need a CL2 or CL3 In wall rated cable. For most of us this is Romex.

Solution 3
Place a recessed clock behind the plasma / projector and run ROMEX from that outlet to where your amps / power conditioner is located. You then just need to get the power to that romex from your conditioner. This is where it gets a little more confusing.

You could use a product like Panamax's PowerKit which is an inlet (i.e. a male recepticle) where you plug in a power cord which is plugged into your power conditioner. This way you have clean power going into the ROMEX to the projector. This solutions costs about $300.

http://www.panamax.com/imagelibrary/products/inwall/MIWPowerkit_mid.jpg

Solution 4
A cheaper solution which is in essence the same thing is to buy the Levitron Inlet http://www.telephonestuff.com/Catalog/Model_4937.htm which is the same principle as the Panamax product, just not as pretty. Run ROMEX to a recessed clock outlet and hey presto you have the Panamax Solution for a fraction of the cost.

http://assets.twacomm.com/assets/1894393907/product_images/20679.jpg

I have used both variations of solution 3 in my install. I shall show pictures when it's all wired up correctly. Hope this helps.

I forgot to mention that I had my electrical inspection and apart from them wanting me to change the power cable to the fan to be 12 instead of 14 everything was okay. They want to come back to inspect the Shear wall when done. It actually doesn't make sense changing the fan power cable. The reasoning was it's bad form having a 20A circuit feed something with a 15A cable.

Sounds logically at first blush, but.... The fan is powered by an attic thermostat switch and is not 12 awg to begin with. In essence all I've done is create an extension cable in the wall, it connects in the fan to 18awg cable. I though the draw from the fan would never exceed the 15A threshold so what's the problem? I also noticed that the Panamax PowerKit has a 15A rating on the inlet. I will have the power cable plug into a power conditoner that is coming from a 20A circuit, but I don't see why that would be a problem as the Plasma is the only device on the ther end of the circuit and will never exceed the 15A draw. Have I missed anything?

Is BigMouthinDC my only viewer!? ;-) BigMouth any comments? Anyone?

Is BigMouthinDC my only viewer!? ;-) BigMouth any comments? Anyone?

I have been keeping up on your thread its been interesting as personally getting ready to do the same thing with plasma in family room. With equipment and power conditioner in a different room. Thought I had the wiring figured out in my head but it was nice to see it all laid out. Keep up good work.

Glad this thread is of use. I also just had to mention how much I like the guys (and girls) at www.activethermal.com (ATM) - I searched high and wide for products to help cool my cabinet, I had many an e-mail with the owner and a phone call where we discucssed the best option for my cooling system. He didn't want me to overspend if possible. I had some strange requirements though.

1. I am on a concrete slab (no basement to pump the warm air into, or to get cool air)
2. I don't want extra vents on my walls etc.
3. I don't have a room I can pump the hot air into, my wall is the outside wall.

Finally he let me buy their Sytem 1 EXT with a speed control to knock it down to about 33 CFM. I have a thermostat which means it will only kick in once it gets to 90F.

I wasn't going to bother with cooling as I only have a few components. However, when I ran my plan by my friend at Dolby Labs, his first question was cooling. He was shocked with my solution (overkill he thinks.... what me? who rips down the entire drywall / shear wall to route cables etc.) but it should work well.

The customer service in returning anything that is faulty is awesome. I think I have a bad speed control, and they are shipping one out right now. They are the best.

I still need to work out what kind of vent I should put on the front of the cabinet to get the cool air into the cabinet. I have a way to go before I get there though.

So I hooked up the new Dimmers for the Low Voltage lights. Still a pretty noticeable HUMMMM. Not happy with them. So I've learned that really Low Voltage lights are only useful in places where you don't spend much time, maybe the bathroom! Then again maybe you do spend too much time there.

I am going to "can" all the Low Voltage cans and go with Incadescent. I bet if I had read enough threads here on avsforum about lighting I would have been okay. I am hoping I can get the effect I like though, I shall try with some wall wash lights and something for the fireplace. I am a little nervous about the angle I can achieve with an incandescent lights. I guess by tomorrow night / Saturday I shall understand a lot more about incandescent recessed lights!

TIP: Don't use Low Voltage Lights in your HT unless you are allowed to store the transformer in a different location.

So before I take down the Low Voltage lights which I love EXCEPT for the noise.... I thought I'd share some of the pictures. I didn't bother hooking up zone 2 as I wasn't happy with the sound and it would only make it worse.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-17%2022.27.27%20-0700/Image-6CA71DAA050011DC.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-17%2022.27.27%20-0700/Image-6CA730F6050011DC.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-17%2022.27.27%20-0700/Image-6CA74186050011DC.jpg

You can also see that I've tied up the cables and cleaned things up a little. I am pretty close to putting the shearwall back up. Hopefully this weekend if I get some results with the recessed lights tomorrow. I also still have to run the low voltage tubing for future unknown cables....

http://www.pegasusassociates.com/4inLiVRemodelHousing.jsp

Go line voltage with a 4 inch remodel housing:

http://www.pegasusassociates.com/products/RecessedLighting/images/PDN-05%20Remodel%20Housing.jpg

Lamps: depending on the trim selected, this housing may use a 50-watt reflector lamp, a 50-watt PAR20 Halogen Lamp, or a 50-watt PAR16 halogen lamp

Plenty of different style trims:

http://www.pegasusassociates.com/products/RecessedLighting/4InchLineVoltageTrims.html

Yeah, that is what I ended up going with.... I got 9 line voltage Halo 4" Halo cans. I also upgraded to the Lutron Spacer System for my dimmers. I believe I can set 4 scenes with them via the Harmony 890 remote. I am hoping I don't need the Lutron Scene remote in order for my Harmony to learn how to operate them. Has anyone else done anything with a Harmony 890 and Spacer Sytem?

I bought 5 trims that have a 30 degree tilt and then 4 trims for regular lighting. I shall put them up tonight. Hopefully have the lighting complete. I am nervous I won't get as nice a finish look as I got with the Low Voltage, but you never know I guess. I shall keep you all posted.

Now I am on the hunt for 9 foot sheets of OSB. I think Home Depot only has 8 foot sheets. Have to get the shearwall done this weekend. Have too... Not sleeping on the couch for months! ;-)

Have to get the shearwall done this weekend. Have too... Not sleeping on the couch for months! ;-)

She is that pissed?

Nah, not really she really would like the whole deal done soon though. I've been procrastinating too long. I had the plasma in Jan! I've not had anything setup or going really. The painting stuff started in Jan. Yeah, slow. I am putting up the lights tonight and hopefully putting insulation in the walls (can you believe the plasma wall didn't have insulation?) and the shear wall tomorrow. Wish me luck! I found a lumber yard that has 4' x 9' 3/8" CDX Plywood sheets. I couldn't find any OSB.

Now I need to borrow that nail gun! Has anyone tried building a HT without a Nail Gun? I've not hung drywall before, so I need to do some research on that. Do you counter sink screws or not? Any tips?

I am really hoping that today my replacement Speed Control for the Fan will arrive and also the additional www.dvigear.com plate that I shall use in the back of the cabinet. Once I have those pieces I can start with putting things back together.

Also, I looked around on people's threads and it seems that most are using R13 for insulation. Any other ideas or recommendations before I buy mine?

R13 is normally used as its what fits for 2x4 studs. Not worth getting a higher R value as once you squish it it loses the R value.

Cheers,
Mark

I've not hung drywall before, so I need to do some research on that. Do you counter sink screws or not? Any tips?

Why am I the only one helping here?

Something to keep in mind. Drywall comes in various lengths and widthes except if you buy it at HD.

For the walls you are doing you want to avoid BUTT seams. If you look at a sheet of drywall the two long edges are slightly tapered. When you fit two sheets together that taper on both pieces forms a gully. The taping and mudding goes on in this gully and the wall looks nice and flat. If you butt two ends together no gully so the tape and mud create a ridge that you have to disguise by spreading it out over a wide area.

So measure your walls and use pieces big enough so that you don't have any butts. Building supply houses that carry a full line of drywall will have 8,9,10, 12 and longer sheets of drywall. It will be worth your effort to get the right stuff.

Also don't be afraid to put the drywall on horizontally. If you get 12 foot goods put one up to the ceiling on that big wall, then one below that, and then a dinky strip at the bottom. The result is a horizontal joint at 5 ft and one at 1 ft assuming 9 ft tall ceilings. You can tape and mud those joints standing on the floor. Doing a joint that runs floor to ceiling requires a ladder and is just one more hassle.

As for counter sinking the screws in drywall, they will do it automatically. The trick is to get it just right. They do sell a drive bit that does it for you just stick in your electric drill.

If you sink them too deep you rip the paper.....not good.

Actually that makes a lot of sense! Thanks! The wall is exactly 12 feet or just under by an inch so that might work perfectly. Dealing with seams at 5' and 1' would be easier but a 3 feet longer ;-) I didn't know that about the dry wall and the seams. I think I need to call up my best man who in a previous life was a drywaller and worked on the Downtown San Francisco Marriot before he "de-skilled" himself and became an accountant! Maybe now he would have the money to build his own HT!?

I appreciate your help BigMouthinDC.... Have I seen your name somewhere?

You'll also need to get corner strips, they're metal strips the give a clean straight corner. These get screwed into the drywall and then spackled.

Been watching this thread from the start, thanks for providing all the details about your wiring, these will be things I will need to keep in mind when I get the chance to start my project.

Here is quite a nice guide on drywall mudding (http://www.rd.com/content/openContent.do?contentId=18078).....they color each coat so you can easily see each coat.

Cheers,
Mark

Drywall is not that hard just take time worst part is it is messy. From following your thread you will have no problem just follow Mark's link and go for it if you mess it up just us more joint compound. Keep in mind the dust from sanding goes everyway. If possible try to seal dust in the room or wife will not be happy.

Good luck
Todd

Drywall is not that hard just take time worst part is it is messy. From following your thread you will have no problem just follow Mark's link and go for it if you mess it up just us more joint compound.

I'm going to call a great big NOOOOOO on that one. The goal is to use LESS joint compound, not more. Adding more joint compound to try and fix a mistake will cause nothing but grief in the long run. Search for cgott42 on here for picture examples of what can happen when too much joint compound is used. His pictures demonstrate it very well.

Keep the amount of joint compound you use to an absolute minimum. Always.

Check out Drywall School (http://www.drywallschool.com/protips.htm) for some good pointers on mudding and taping.

-drin

I would really recommend getting building supplies from some where other than HD or Lowe's. I got burned pretty bad when I was buying all the metal studs for my basement (Lowes had them at 250% of the local drywall supply shop price). Sheetrock and insulation was between 25%-50% cheaper at the supply shop too.

Drywall school!!!!! Go to it prior to starting!!!! Watch the videos!!!!!
You can turn it into a disaster if you do not learn some good techniques before you start. It will be the best 30 minutes of your life (well that may be an exageration, but watch the videos anyway :) ).

Drin, Drywall school, looks great! Thanks for that link! I shall check it out tomorrow for sure. I appreciate all you guys help. I don't have any pictures really to show. I spent the weekend cutting the shearwall and getting it ready. I also had to go out with my family (visiting) over the weekend. I have a few pieces of R13 up. So much nicer than the insulation I pulled out! I love the paper backing and the paper lip for stapling. Very nice... Ah, sad how small things impress me ;-)

Anyway, my buddy should be stopping by with his nail gun on Tuesday hopefully to help me get the shearwall up. Then I get my shear wall inspection before dry wall. I did hang the plasma briefly and found out that I had to move down my power and component boxes as the plasma covered them a little too much. I now have them in the area of the plasma that is thinner. I think I need a picture!

I did run the Cat 6 cable. I am still waiting on my new speed control for the fan. I'll put up some more pictures tomorrow night. Thanks for everyone's help. It's been a great help!

OK, sorry I've not posted anything recently. Not an awful lot to say to be honest. I put the insulation into the walls and also did some extra reinforcement under the plasma incase we decide to ditch the table top center speaker and mount that on the all like the left and right channel speakers.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-22%2023.17.54%20-0700/Image-3AFCC59008F511DC.jpg

I also decided to put in a double gang for the component the cat 6 cable. Rather than mess around later. I also put a cat 6 gang in the enteraintment nook. You can see it on the right side with the component, hdmi and s-video plate...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-22%2023.17.54%20-0700/Image-3AFCE58608F511DC.jpg

Today I persuaded my buddy to come over with his nail gun for 45 mins to help me put up the shear wall. That was quick work! Ah the wonders having a birthday can pull!

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-22%2023.17.54%20-0700/Image-3AFD4D6208F511DC.jpg

Oh, and if you are wondering what is the blue painters masking tape doing on the floor? Great question. I marked off the studs with that before the shear wall went up and then used a laser to draw a line so we knew exactly where the studs where when nailing. Worked like a charm. I also marked the nailing plates on the shear wall with a NO NAIL box so that we wouldn't (I still hope we haven't) hit any cables!

Tomorrow afternoon I have the city coming over to do an inspection of the shear wall and the electrical changes I made. (see previous posts to find out what that was).

I have some final framing to finish off in the nook area to make sure the cabinet fits nicely, then we move onto drywalling. I still have a challenge with dry walling around the mass of outlets etc I have!!! Any suggestions?

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-22%2023.17.54%20-0700/Image-3AFD3D2C08F511DC.jpg

The picture makes them look awful. Some of the plates are not fixed yet (as the drywall is not done). The boxes themselves are level etc. I think the camera is doing some kind of fish eye trick. Anyway, the gaps are pretty small. I am trying to think how best to go around these... Should I just give up and put a wood backing to it? Maybe stained and finished? Any ideas?

to think how best to go around these... Should I just give up and put a wood backing to it? Maybe stained and finished? Any ideas?

Assuming you are using 1/2 inch drywall. I would get a piece of 1/2 MDF and cut a rectangular piece to address the area. Then cut out all the box holes and install it flush with the surrounding drywall. Paint it to match the wall and run a "picture frame" of some kind of transition moulding around the perimeter of the MDF hiding the gap between the MDF and Drywall. Paint everything the same color to make it disappear.

I second the MDF suggestion. Drywall would be tough around all those boxes. If you don't want to put a picture frame as Big suggested, you could fill any gaps and do some sort of skim coat of plaster or drywall mud to smooth it all out. I'd personally go with the picture frame though.

HTH
Tom

BigMouthinDC (do you have regular name by the way?) I like your idea. It's pretty much what I was thinking except for the picture rail addition. I think that might work well. This section will not really be visible because the cabinet will be placed in this nook area. I shall cut the same section out of the back of the cabinet in order to access this area. I will need to somehow seal the cabinet and the wall as the fan needs to draw the air through the bottom of the cabinet not through the sides. Otherwise my cooling will not be as efficient. I would like to caulk the back of the cabinet to the picture rail, that might work nicely. Need to re-measure everything to make sure I can make that work!

Great tips guys!

Oh, I think I shall start with some firm carboard and try and make a template / stencil for cutting the MDF. You really think MDF is better than some other type of wood? I found with the jigsaw on a 3/8" MDF that it created a lot of splinters when cutting. Any tips on that?

I can't help but think you could have used some type of structured wiring panel like this one that I recently finished in our new house. There has to be some way of doing all of what you did INSIDE a structured wiring panel and having everything recessed in the wall. There are a multitude of modules available for these panels to do pretty much everything you've done. You could even make a custom cover for it and have it look very inconspicuous. (within reason...) Don't get me wrong, you're on the right track and doing some good work, but when I looked at your picture I gasped at the proximity of high and low voltage wiring. I'm just trying to provide a little constructive criticism, that's all. Just my .02.

http://media.mopartech.net/files/panel.jpg

You know I did think about that... I did some preliminary searches but found nothing. To be honest. I did keep all my line voltage away from the low voltage stuff by at least a stud and brought them to that access point via very different routes. (The only exception is the CAT6 which is located near the 20A outlet although paths are different. CAT6 not in use at this time) When wires cross they are at right angles.

I think in essence I am creating an access panel.... I am just creating it out of wood. I will be able to get access to the area if need be afterwards.

No worries about the concerns. I would rather people voice their concerns and me make a decision with proper information. I might not always perform the suggestion but I would rather know that opinion / concern when making a decision. Something about informed decisions I guess....

Thanks for understanding....

Here's a link with some of the many modules available.

http://www.security.honeywell.com/HS/jsp/main.jsp?FUELAP_SITEDBID=SITE%5F%2D66&FUELAP_OP=FUELOP_NewScreen&PHOTORES=lo&PHOTOTYPEID=RESPHOTOTYPE%5F78812&TEMPLATE=UWS%5FPhotoDetail%2Ejsp&PAGE=PAGE%5F38829&NAV=NAVIGATION%5F37905&SITE=SITEINFO%5F37768&

(do you have regular name by the way?)

Jeff

Jeff

Mystery solved!

At this point, Jeff's idea with the MDF is probably your best bet. Instead of redoing the whole thing, just build up something nice there.

Oh ya.... MDF won't splinter. You may be confusing it with OSB.

Just had my shear wall and last (pre finish) inspection... I PASSED! Actually they did give me some additional info on shear wall that I hadn't found out before. His first comment was TOO MANY NAILS! I had nails every 3" on the edge (which was according to the architectural plans) He was okay with it after that, but said he would prefer the nails staggered etc. They had a mix. Anyway, they approved it and we can move onto the drywall stage!

So I hooked everything up after putting up the shearwall just to make sure a stray nail didn't do any damage. Everything appears to be okay at this stage. Thankfully!!!

Here's some pictures. The room gets all the sun in the day so the pictures are not as good as they could be. I should have taken them last night. Tomorrow I plan on finishing the framing in the nook for the cabinet. Then we move onto drywall.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-24%2008.34.18%20-0700/Image-21A7904E0A0C11DC.jpg

I just noticed today that the Sony Blu-Ray BDP-S1 player on amazon is now $697. I still haven't decided which way to go. I might get the HD-DVD and then wait for the cheaper Sony Blu-Ray to come out this summer. Seems like a lot of you are getting both formats... I plan on relying on Netflix for content until it maybe settles down and I know which one to go with. It's sad as I was really looking forward to watching Casino Royale as my first movie in HD..... I never got to see it at the movies.

I'm also ummming and ahhhing at whether to jump in and get one of the first version of the Apple TV. Personally I think they will come out with another model with a larger disk drive (which I think is needed). Any thoughts?

I'm also ummming and ahhhing at whether to jump in and get one of the first version of the Apple TV. Personally I think they will come out with another model with a larger disk drive (which I think is needed). Any thoughts?

That depends. Do you want Apple TV for the iTunes synchronization feature, or to use as a Digital Video Recorder? There are many other DVR solutions out there, most of which allow you far more customization of the interface and the underlying hardware than you'll get with the Apple product.

I use SageTV from Frey Technologies (http://www.sagetv.com). All of my DVD movies are ripped to hard drive so I don't need the discs handy. The same is true for our 400-disc CD collection. I can record three TV channels simultaneously and watch a fourth recorded program at the same time. Pause, fast forward, rewind - all the usual DVR functions are there. It will search YouTube and Google Video, show me the latest radar/satellite weather maps for our area, do IMDB searches for movies that appear in the electronic program guide - you name it, it'll probably do it. It also plays Internet radio stations.

Oh, and I can repeat its functionality to all the TVs in the house - they all have the same interface, they all play DVDs and our CD library, all the recordings work. It's identical everywhere.

Many of the DVR packages out there function in a similar way, so you can pick and choose as you like.

After all that rambling the short answer is it depends on what you want to do with Apple TV. :)


-drin

I mainly want the AppleTV for listening to my iTunes library and viewing pictures. I only ever download one TV show sometimes (LOST). I don't think I would bother ripping all my DVDs to Disk... Seems like a lot of work and a lot of diskspace! Currently I only have a powerbook so not having a dedicated desktop would make that a more troublesome project. The problem I have with the AppleTV is that I don't want to have my Mac on to get music that is not buffered on the 40GB drive.

I'm going to take a more detailed look at Sage though.... Looks interesting. Thanks for the link.

Apart from having to remove a big old tree for the yard and taking a trip to the West Coast version of Ellis Island a.k.a Angel Island (family visiting). Oh which included freezing to death in the middle of the bay and on the island. I managed to fit in some time to get some of the project done. All I can say is cutting out electrical boxes for drywall is a pain. I had no success with the dremel. Resorted back to using the old fashioned drywall saw. As I'm an amateur I have some fixing / patching to do.

Anyway, here's some pictures from the weekend...

Firstly finished off the framing for the cabinet. I decided to have a trim that goes around the cabinet on the side of the drywall so I don't have to try and get it perfect (which would never happen)... Think door jam and siding....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-29%2009.32.43%20-0700/Image-1F87123F0E0211DC.jpg

Here's my "MASSIVE" supply of drywall.... I bought some 12' x 4' panels. I cut them down in the store to 9' made it much easier. I picked up this load with the U-Haul truck I had used to drump my tree.... Oh it broke down on me too in the middle of the road! No comments about usual U-Haul quality....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-29%2009.32.43%20-0700/Image-1F86E0180E0211DC.jpg

So here's my experiment with Green Glue. I am curious if it will help keep some sound at least out from the laundry room behind this wall.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-29%2009.32.43%20-0700/Image-1F87229E0E0211DC.jpg

As I mentioned my family are visiting so I enlisted the help of my dad to put up some drywall sheets...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-29%2009.32.43%20-0700/Image-1F8742570E0211DC.jpg

You can see in this picture I had to use some drywall shims to get the wall a little more level. I did buy a drywall bit for sinking the screws to the right depth. It worked about 70% of the time. Annoyingly I heard the tearing paper and cracking drywall way too much for my liking. My only comfort, my drywaller friend says they can normally fix anything!

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-29%2009.32.43%20-0700/Image-1F87AF8E0E0211DC.jpg

Annoyingly I don't have the final picture which shows the wall. I was convinced I had uploaded that... Oh well will have to wait until next time. I have a few panels left to hang and then it will be time to tape and mud.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-29%2009.32.43%20-0700/Image-1F87E1B60E0211DC.jpg

OK, I did find the current status picture....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-05-29%2009.32.43%20-0700/Image-1F87329A0E0211DC.jpg

I am actually not a very big TV person. I am more a movie buff... I did however upgrade my cable from the $12 / month cheapest package from Comcast to include the HD.

You didn't need to do that. They're required by law to provide the local HD channels in their most basic package. Or did you want the extra HD channels? I don't watch much TV, either, and the $15/mo works great for me. Also, most TVs these days have a QAM tuner which will pick up all the basic cable channels without a set-top box, so you don't have to pay that rental fee either.

I only pay $15/mo for the basic cable and run it to a Sony HD-DVR I picked up for $250 which gives me a DVR without shelling out an extra $15/mo. It's a great solution and I just love sticking it to the cable company. Those monthly fees add up quickly,, so you might want to look into it.

I only pay $15/mo for the basic cable and run it to a Sony HD-DVR I picked up for $250 which gives me a DVR without shelling out an extra $15/mo. It's a great solution and I just love sticking it to the cable company. Those monthly fees add up quickly,, so you might want to look into it.

I pay $0 a month for cable (internet only) and can get the digital in the clear channels on my Sony HD DVR. I have an antenna up also to get guide data and a few channels from other areas (including the local CW in HD which isn't on TWC)

Interesting. So if you get cable internet, you get cable TV too (for free)? Makes sense, I guess. I'm on DSL right now, but I'll have to try that out when it expires.

Ok, so here's my deal....

I get cable internet and it's cheaper to get cable internet with the $12 TV package than to just get cable internet.... I guess most don't get the cheap packages. I pay something like $57 / month for Cable Internet and the basic TV. I paid $5 extra per month to get HD channels including some ON-Demand stuff and they give me a set top box (as I have a disaply Plasma not a TV kind). So for $62 + Tax I get my cable and HD TV bundle. The nice bit is my company contributes $40 / month towards internet access. Which is used 99% of the time for my own pleasure... So I get a good deal of internet and HD TV for $22. At least I am happy about it :-)

Oh here's my update. I had some nights off (eating sushi, drinking sake) and got back into it last night for an hour or so. I put up an extender for the fan (4" Duct Connector) to make sure it would poke through the drywall into the space behind the cabinet. I also started work on my cardboard cutout for all my crazy outlets behind the cabinet. Took lots of measurements and cut it out. I have a few little tweaks to make tonight I think and then I can use it ias a stencil for the MDF with a jigsaw over the weekend I hope. I'll take some pictures tonights.

Once that is done I shall finish up hanging drywall and then start mud and tape (shudder). I also have some cabinet work to decide on. I shall probably post for ideas on that when I get around to it.

For my blu-ray player.... Well I decided it's not primetime enough for me yet. I want a TrueHD player with the next version of Java etc. Seems Samsung came close to getting me to pull the trigger, but wasn't happy with the amount of people saying things don't work. I really wanted to watch Casino Royale as my premier on the new system as I missed it at the theater, I was really happy to find out Comccast has it in HD for Rental! So I can skip the blu-ray for now and wait and see..... Problem is I need a good upscaling DVD player for my SD stuff.

Oh and the new Apple TV with 160GB... I am going to get that. I am currently converting a lot of my music to the Lossless format (done with crappy Mp3 quality)...

For my blu-ray player.... Well I decided it's not primetime enough for me yet. I want a TrueHD player with the next version of Java etc. ..... Problem is I need a good upscaling DVD player for my SD stuff.


The good OPPO upscaling players run about $200...another option to look into is an HD DVD player. Mine upscales great on my 100" screen and on top of that I can watch TrueHD movies with TrueHD audio. How much did all of this set me back? $250 at Costco (Toshiba HD-D2). You can also pick one up at Amazon for about $230-$299 depending on the deal you catch (known as the HD-A2). It also comes with 5 free HD DVD's by mail.

The way I looked at it, a good up-converting player was $200, the Toshiba which up-converts nearly as well -- if not as good as the OPPO -- was $250 and I got 5 free movies (~$100), too. Was a pretty no-brainer decision. Great up-converting player and get to watch HD DVD's, too.

http://www.thelookandsoundofperfect.com/

Have bought a couple of HD DVD's (including Planet Earth) and love it. This will hold me over until the dual format (BD Disc and HD DVD) players are down to about $300.

Just something to think about.

Yeah I have though about this... that's why I started considering HD or Blu-Ray. I preferred the movie selection on offer with Blu-Ray, but it's starting to get big money. If I spend $350 on a HD player I am almost at at the blu-ray price. But then I hear so many compaints about both HD and Blu-Ray in terms of stability and bugs with playing discs. I just want it to work right now. So maybe screw upscaling and stick with my component until end of the year or something. It's frustrating as I wanted Blu-Ray.

$350? Mine was $250....I have had zero problems playing the following HD Movies (not a single problem with any regular DVD)

Matrix Trilogy
Smokin' Aces
Happy Gilmore
The Departed
King Kong
Batman Begins
Planet Earth
Jarhead

Others have reported problems with these even with the same firmware I'm running, but I haven't seen any problem yet. Maybe because I have newer hardware (just about 1 month old, but the same models have been out since November 2006)

...but then again, I might be biased as I'm anti-Sony after working for them for a while -- that's all I'll say about that.

Travis, thanks for the encouragement to spend more $$$ ;-) I hope it is as clean as you say. My only other concern is convincing my wife that after having a new HD-DVD player that we will need a Blu-Ray too.... Let me check the lay of the land.

I was checking homes for sale in my neighborhood and found that someone is selling a house with the same layout as mine... they had done the plasma install and cabinet. I thought I would post it. I hope mine will look better. I've no idea where they have their front speakers. I think it's just a TV install (speakers).

Their furniture makes the room look more like a corridor than a room...

http://img75.imageshack.us/img75/7044/plasmaij5.jpg

I agree, horrible furniture placement. Yours should look a whole lot better if you put some time into getting the layout just right. I'd do a couch facing the fireplace and a couple of lounge chairs facing the TV, and definitely a coffee table.

I checked out the above house this weekend. The install in the picture was sloppy to say the least. Made me feel a lot better about what I am doing. It also looked like it wasn't to code. They did the classic drill a hole behind the plasma and then above the baseboard and run cables through on wall raceways (lots and chunky looking) to the cabinet. I am 99% sure they just ran a regular power cable to the device (through the wall... not good). Wouldn't be surprised if the AV cables are not CL rated either.

So in all of this quandry over which blu-ray player to buy etc. I made the easy decision of buying a Wii. I got to play one last week and it was a blast. Sadly no HD but still a ton of fun. I picked one up at Target yesterday.

I also managed to finish hanging the dry wall over the weekend. I will post picutres this evening. Hope to get it textured next week and then paint it. Soon I shall have my room back + a great AV system! Cannot wait. Once I have the room complete, I shall also pick up my Apple TV.

Hold onto that Wii remote :)...don't want a broken TV.

Can Apple TV do HD and 7.1 yet? No? I'll pass.

I just can't force myself into buying anything other than HD after seeing so much in HD :) (Feels like buying a 1980 Civic when you can afford at least a 2005 :p)

Ah yes the Wii remote I plan on coming up with a better design for making sure it doesn't come off an over enthusaistic hand!

For the Apple TV, well I bought it for 2 reasons....

1. Listen to my Music collection (all encoded using Apple LossLess)
2. Look at my picture etc.

I might watch the occasional TV I miss or something (rare).... I think it will suit my needs at this time. Granted it's not everything I want but what the heck...

Oh, I just read that the Sony DBP-3000 supports TrueHD out of the 5.1 analog output. If this is REALLY true I think I shall take the plunge. One thing I'm not sure on yet though is how good of a job it does at downscaling to 720p / 1080i. Does anyone know?

OK, here are some pictures of the current status as promised. Here's where the cabinet will go you can see the exhaust for the heat in the cabinet, the fan is actually on the outside (see early pictures)

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-11%2018.15.09%20-0700/Image-17907634188211DC.jpg

This is the next piece which I think I shall do in MDF. No one fancies mudding etc around these.....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-11%2018.15.09%20-0700/Image-1790B522188211DC.jpg

Here's the template / stencil I've made out of cardboard. Hope it works well!

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-11%2018.15.09%20-0700/Image-1790C9E8188211DC.jpg

Here's the cabinet area from a little back...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-11%2018.15.09%20-0700/Image-1790EA4A188211DC.jpg

Oh and finally, here's the current inside of my cabinet with some of the equipment. Still need the Apple TV and the Blu-Ray player... Oh notice the Wii ;-)

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-11%2018.15.09%20-0700/Image-1790FBB8188211DC.jpg

mhallida, earlier you were explaining to me how to install a recessed outlet like panamax or leviton.

So let me get this straight, to run power within a wall, first I install a recessed outlet, and then to supply power to this recessed outlet, I use Romex to connect the recessed outlet to a power surge, and then I just plug the plasma power cord into the recessed outlet.

Let me know if I have this correct. Thanks a lot!

You haven't talked about how you connect Romex to your power surge / conditioner. You cannot just hook up romex directly. You need to end the romex in an electrical box and then have an outlet. The outlet you need is the one I talk about earlier in this post. I think it's a Levitron. It has three prongs sticking out. Once you have that you then plug in a power cord from the power conditioner to the levitron and it will make the romex hot. The power cable from the recessed outlet behind the plasma is then hot making everything work *hopefully*.

Easy way to visualize this is to think extension cable in the wall, but you're using romex and have fixed outlets. I have a lengthy discussion on this earlier in this thread. Check it out.

Ok guys, done with the 1st coat of mud / tape. Tonight is sanding and coat #2.

Here's some pictures of the latest progress. I am thinking maybe I should instead of having texture (which the rest of the house has) have the wall flat. I am considering floating the entire area now... What do you guys think? I prefer the look and I reckon now would be the time, except it's a REALLY messy job. Is it worth it? I know I know, only I can answer that.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-14%2009.19.46%20-0700/Image-B004F8C11A9211DC.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-14%2009.19.46%20-0700/Image-B0050B481A9211DC.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-14%2009.19.46%20-0700/Image-B004B9AE1A9211DC.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-14%2009.19.46%20-0700/Image-B004D43C1A9211DC.jpg

I am still flip flopping on whether to give the drywall a shot around my mass of outlets? I was going to go with MDF, but I cannot find 1/2" MDF around here (is that weird?) I have 3/8". I might just give the Drywall a shot..... What do you think?

Back to my bathroom project (not sure if I talked about this here) I will be backing the powder room flat. Need to clear it out this evening!

mhallida, I like where you're headed with this room, what are its' dimensions? Seems similar to the 20 x 13 family room in the house we just bought-- which also has a fireplace on one of the short walls. Thanks

Thanks Matt. I am looking forward to seeing it all done!

Yeah the room is about 20 x 13 and then a kitchen on the side. I'll include some pictures tonight of the whole area and maybe a picture of the floor plan. The area you are looking at is 12 x 14 (fireplace wall is 14').

...but then again, I might be biased as I'm anti-Sony after working for them for a while -- that's all I'll say about that.

I never worked for them, but I've owned enough to know not to waste anymore of my money on equipment that has poor quality capacitors and dies in 13 months.

mhallida, room's coming along great. You're on the downhill slope now

Keep up the good work!
Chip

Thanks Chip! I'm with you on Sony. I am leaning towards the Panny or the Samsung... Or maybe I'll just wait till something more interesting shows up. I wish the panny did 24p. Then I'd take the plunge! Hang on, haven't I been changing the rules every time I say ".... then I'll take the plunge!" ;-)

On a side note which is much easier to deal with. I just picked up the Nyko Wii Wireless Sensor Bar (http://www.nyko.com/nyko/products/?i=101) now I can have the unit in my cabinet too!

I also picked up a 48 x 24 x 1/2 piece of Birch Plywood at Home Depot during Lunch. I shall try and cut out my outlets tonight. I was thinking of maybe staining it rather than painting seeing as I have a nice piece of wood. Any thoughts? I don't recall ever seeing outlets ontop of wood, does it look too much like a cabin? Will it look nice? What do you guys think?

So for those interested, here's the layout of the room. I know I know I should have started with this picture huh? If you cannot work out which walls I demolished from the pictures and the plan, you have no business looking at the plans! ;-)

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-14%2021.54.50%20-0700/Image-7134B45F1AFC11DC.jpg

If you remember I decided to go with wood around the mass of outlets I have in the back of the cabinet. Even though they will not be visible, being the consumate perfectionist (yes I even measured each stud before drilling holes for my romex ;-)) I wanted a clean nice look. I ended up using a piece of Beech Plywood.

Here's my awesome work environment and fancy equipment...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-14%2021.54.50%20-0700/Image-7135189E1AFC11DC.jpg

The smartest thing I did in all of this was the template I showed a few days back. That took a while but made the cutting of the beech a piece of cake. So here is the birch in place before....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-14%2021.54.50%20-0700/Image-71352A2F1AFC11DC.jpg

And now here is the outlets after some mud and tape....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-14%2021.54.50%20-0700/Image-713505521AFC11DC.jpg

I shall paint it all the same color and see if I can get some texture on it too.

So here is the cabinet area.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-14%2021.54.50%20-0700/Image-7134F36D1AFC11DC.jpg

Next stage is the texturing which happens tomorrow night. I am not doing the texturing so I decided after hearing how much it would cost to float all the walls in this area to make them flat that I will go with texture afterall, maybe HT 2.0 (yes it's already planned...) will have that.

Now back to importing my entire CD collection in Apple LossLess.....

So I'm now getting excited about seeing the end in sight and my mind got back to wanting to watch Casino Royale as the premier of course on HD. So that gets me back on my quest for a Blu-Ray player. I'm very tempted by the Panaosnic 10a until I noticed a major problem in a thread here on AVSFORUM. Someone who has a 15 foot HDMI cable is experiencing glitching and issues.... He tried it on a short cable and it worked fine. You might remember my cable run is 25 feet. So we could have a problem. Part of me thinks get it from BB and return it if I have an issue. I normally loathe buying from Best Buy but this might be the way to go. I'm also hearing of a 12% discound which will gobble up the tax nicely...

Has anyone experienced glitches with any other Blu-Ray player on cable lengths of 25 feet or greater? Or probably a better question, who is not having problems on which players with long cable runs. Oh and the guy was using a Monoprice cable... And I know what you guys think about those! :-) In my case I went with a slightly more expensive cable from dvigear.com (HDMI Super High Resolution Copper Cables).

Matthew,
Did the person with the cable problem have the 10a or the 10? since I think the 10a's have just started shipping and almost no one has them yet, [waiting for mine currently] also I would say that sounds like it may well be a wonky cable just as likely as the player itself.

The problem is on the 10A. They had a 2.0 firmware and then upgrade to 2.1 and it was worse.

Here's the post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10791847&&#post10791847) .....

OK, so help me out here..... I'm torn between the Sony 3000 and the Panny 10a. Bear in mind I have a Marantz SR7001 which has 1.2 HDMI. I am running a 5.1 Surround speaker setup. My plasma is 720p (1048 x 768) or 1080i. Here's my current thoughts.... Maybe you can help me decide....

1. I would like the best quality sound possible in my configuration. I like the idea of Lossless...
2. 24p sounds appealing but I've never experienced it in person. Does it really work?
3. The 5 free movies doesn't really play into it for me.
4. They are close enough so that cost doesn't impact my decision.

Which would be the best choice?

Ok, I took the plunge and got the 10A from Best Buy for $527 (with a 12% voucher). Probably hook it up on Tuesday of next week I guess. I am shooting for a Premier in 7 days of Casino Royale!

Ok, I took the plunge and got the 10A from Best Buy for $527 (with a 12% voucher). Probably hook it up on Tuesday of next week I guess. I am shooting for a Premier in 7 days of Casino Royale!

That's about $50 cheaper than my first DVD player cost me in 1998. However, I still can't force myself to buy a Blu-Ray player....something about supporting a "Sony only" (okay, I know not technically only, but they hold the cards to the technology) format is not appealing. Not that it would be any better if it was anyone else, either.

At least the non-single corporate run DVD forum supports and helps define standards HD DVD :o (Plus these are region free....imports can be fun)

Either way, enjoy HD movies...I know I enjoy all my HD DVD's on my 100" Screen :D

So had the texture done this morning... I am not sure yet how good of a match it will be. It looks a little thin to me, but I am assured it will look fine once I prime it. I am doing that tomorrow. I bought Primer 1 2 3 as suggested by the drywall guy.

So guys this is the sad news... Really stupid on my part. I had the money counted out ready on Friday night to give the guy, he then postponed and said he would come on Saturday. I grabbed the money I had counted out before hand and gave it to the guy after the job and said here you go $X dollars.

Later on this afternoon after test riding this bad boy....
http://www.triumph.co.uk/images/G_ST_2.JPG

I found out that my wife and put $100 in the same pile of cash I foolishly handed the guy without counting. As you can imagine I am in the dog house somewhat after that. Was dumb, but there you go painful lesson. I called the guy, went to voicemail. I am not skeptical yet.... so left a voicemail. We shall see what comes of this.

Oh and as a suprise and congratulations a friend brought around the movie I wanted to watch for my first movie on the Plasma etc. Casino Royale on Blu-Ray! Sweet! I'll keep you posted as to the story of the missing $100.... GRRRRRR.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow after I prime and maybe do the first coat. Oh my drywall buddy who lives in Idaho said to knock off the burrs with a knife before priming. That was a good tip I didn't know about. Very gently run the knife over the knock down to take off the edges and he said it will look a lot better. Hoping it looks good. Fingers crossed everyone!!

OK, 3 updates and a question....

1. No returned phone call from the drywaller guy. My buddy who recommended him assures me he is on the up and up, so there's still hope......

2. For fathers day I managed to get an Apple TV 160GB. The box looks awesome, not opened it yet. Waiting until I get everything hooked up this week.

3. Put a coat of Primer over the drywall last night. Looks pretty good. Probably an 85% match. Not sure anyone would notice unless I pointed out and even then my wife cannot tell......

The question....

I am putting recessed cabinet lights in the top of the glass shelf area, here's a picture of the cabinet before I started on the project without it's doors and glass shelves...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C7BCD8E71511DB.jpg

I would like to have these lights on a dimmer with a remote option. I plan on doing table lamp style dimmer. I don't want to do the metal sheath wiring, as I am not sure that is too easy at this stage. In an ideal world I would like to plug in something to my outlet / power conditioner and have an IR remote control the dimming or on and off. I picked up a WAC product over the weekend which consists of a transformer you plug in and can support two low voltage cabinet lights. The guy in the store though would not confirm a dimmer would work on it. He actually refused. He wasn't helpful to be honest. I could do with a helpful lighting store around me. Not found one yet.

Any ideas? I'd rather not hack up my nice wall so how should I approach this?

Ok Guys (and lady),

My wife would really like to paint the room the green color below so that it is a better match for the drapes we have. I am a little worried that it's too light and will cause problems with glare etc. from the plasma. What do you think? I would love to be accommodating and comprimise here if possible but would like to know how much of a mess it could be. Any thoughts. I personally love the chocolate color....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C77BF4E71511DB.jpg

Here's a picture when the sun is off the wall a little more.......

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C79CE4E71511DB.jpg

Thoughts?

Ok Guys (and lady),

My wife would really like to paint the room the green color below so that it is a better match for the drapes we have. I am a little worried that it's too light and will cause problems with glare etc. from the plasma. What do you think? I would love to be accommodating and comprimise here if possible but would like to know how much of a mess it could be. Any thoughts. I personally love the chocolate color....

Thoughts?

Let her go wild with that green on the surrounding walls and go with a green that's a shade or two darker on the plasma wall.

I like that idea... I think I might see what is in that family and look at a slightly darker color. Do you think the side wall where the cabinet and fireplace are should be darker or just the plasma wall. Generally I am not a big fan of the transistions from one color to another I've never been able to pull them off....

So here's my color palette options. The first one is the green we have currently on the other walls with a shade darker of green for the plasma wall (it's a sample picture not the real room in case you think I've made some serious modifications!)

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/275/testra7.jpg

The second one is the same green on the right wall but the plasma wall has a darker shade of green this time....

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/381/test2lm9.jpg

The final picture is this.... Going with the darkest shade of green with the medium green on the right wall. The other walls in the room would be the lightest green, but not in the family room area.

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/3825/test3ol1.jpg

What do you think? I picked up the medium green so I might give that a shot first, can always become my tinted primer for the darker green if I go that route...

Oh and I was curious how much does it normally cost for those guys on the forum who do graphic rendering of the room? That would have saved me SOOO much time / hassle and money probably.... Thanks everyone for your help!

So I picked up the Crocodile (Behr) paint and did the plasma wall.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-20%2022.13.51%20-0700/Image-FE4F45C01FB511DC.jpg

I am still undecided if I should to the fireplace wall in Crocodile or Harmonic Tan (the other color you see in the picture). Any thoughts. Also if I go with an accent wall for the the plasma wall only do you think that thin strip of white you see on the edge should be the harmonic tan or the crocodile. My wife thinks it should be harmonic tan. If I do the fireplace wall in Crocodile then I will do that little white return in Crocodile too. I shall put up another coat in the morning before work. I'll post pictures when it's dry and has 2 coats, should look a lot better. As I skipped the tinted primer it might take 3 coats. We shall see.

I would paint the white strip Crocodile so that the paint just wraps around the corner of the wall. I would also paint the fireplace wall the lighter Harmonic Tan and see how it looks, if you and your wife don't like the look you can paint it the Crocodile color; it's much easier to go from light to dark than it is to go from dark to light

Keep up the good work!

I have a few questions about what you've done so far:

1. What was the reasoning behind getting the building department involved?

2. Why did you buy 12' sheets of drywall, and then proceed to cut them down to 9' and run them vertically? Didn't this add to finish work compared to 12'x54" panels run horizontally?

3. What is the gap next to the new equipment cabinet for?

1. Having the electrical inspection is required in my city if you add a new circuit. Adding recessed lights counts as a circuit too. They wanted to inspect the wiring etc. Also because I had taken down a Shear wall they had to inspect the nailing etc. If I were JUST running low voltage cable they didn't really seem to care. I'm glad I did now as it was pretty easy and nice to have all my bases covered.

2. Finding 54" Drywall sheets is pretty tough these days and a BRUTE to work with. 12' sheets are bad enough. It was easier to cut them down to 9' in the store (my ceiling height) and just have two tappered seams to deal with.

3. I think you are looking at the picture when I was talking about colors right? That is an old picture (before I tore down the drywall and reframed the cabinet area. In the final deal there should be no gap (at least no more than 1/4").

I think I covered your questions Mr Welsh. By the way I'm actually from Wales. :)

Tonight I managed to finish off my plasma wall coat. I had some rough peaks from where I didn't knock down all the burrs after drywalling. I had to do a little bit of sanding between the 2nd and 3rd coat. The wall is nice and smooth now.

I hooked up the wiring for my recessed lights and the fan. I'm not 100% happy with the job the drywaller did. I'll show pictures later, but around the light switch the faceplate has a gap between the wall where it's not flat. I don't have that anywhere else in my home. So I'm kind of bummed about that.

I did some prep work for painting th rest of the room. Probably my LEAST favorite work out of everything I hate prepping for painting. Such a drag. At least I feel like the end is somewhat insight. Although I have a lot of work to do with the cabinet. It's in thee parts and I have to come up with a plan to hook them together. I think I'm going to take some picture of the room with the recessed lights on. Will post them tonight...

So I connected up the recessed lights tonight and here's the picture...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-22%2001.10.38%20-0700/Image-046C934E209811DC.jpg

It's a bit grainy (no tripod)....

I still have some of my paper masking tape stuff up. I think I can take it down now. Just wanted to make sure before I do that. As I hate putting up that stuff.

I like the colors. Looks good. :)

Thanks VT...

So I decided that maybe I should take the plunge and put a sub in the system. I've wired for it. So I have NO clue about subs never bought one. I guess I have a couple of basic requirements...

1. Has to look pretty nice as it is on display, not hidden.
2. Has to sound good but not too over the top. I haven't got complete sound "proofing" done. I don't want to scare the neighbors I just want to compliment the speakers I have and give some more depth to them.

So that being said I would guess a 10" Sub would be ideal. I did some research and found the Martin Logan Dynamo for about $550 or so. Any opinions? Stay clear? Or Will I like it?

Thanks!

Take a look at the Hsu subs or perhaps SVS. You can get a lot of sub for your money with either internet direct brand.

Thanks Cathan! I actually just ordered the SVS SB12-Plus! I hope this thing is good! Cannot wait to hear it all hooked up.

If you want a "Pretty" one, look at Velodyne with the remote control, It really is an attractive Sub and as I say has a remote which is a nice feature, it has great sound as well.
http://www.velodyne.com/velodyne/products/product.aspx?ID=12&sid=464x147h

Thanks McCall... I am looking at the DLS-3750R. It looks pretty interesting. However, it doesn't seem to be as configurable as the SVS SB12-Plus. I do like the idea of the remote though for night versus evening listening etc. How much control do you have over a regular sub using your receiver? How often do you need to turn dials around if you want to be somewhat sensitive to the rest of the house or neighbors!

I enjoyed this thread and ty for all the pics. I need to paint my front room a darker color as I have a 58" plasma and a 95" fp dlp. I do HT for a living. I am actually an electrical contractor who does all the wiring in a home and then integrates it together. I bought a condo and did the same thing you did. I never run just 1 hdmi though. Standard runs include the following:
2 hdmi
1 component or 2
1 svideo
1 coax audio
1 optical
1 rg6
1 stereo audio

This gives my customers more flexability when they decide to choose their equiptment.

Well I don't have that problem. first my theater is in a separate building for all intents, just connected by a long hall, to make it legal basically. and we did a lot of soundproofing and acoustic treatment.
Also I now use a Revel B12 for one of my subs one on the riser for tactile qualities and sound and the Velodyne in front behind my AT wall, I can use the remote through the AT fabric by the way.
sometimes I will change it for music as we do listen to a lot of music out there as well as movies.
Heck, I have REVEL speakers and Lexicon RV8 and from time to time Esoteric CD player out there, why wouldn't I listen to music LOL

Anyway if you don't know much about Subs the velodyne is user friendly and nice looking to boot and has the remote. and is in that price range. To me it was much smoother sounding than others we auditioned at the time.
Though I have to say the REVEL B12 blows all the others I listened to out of the water. we even auditioned a B15 in the theater but I preferred the B12, with the Velodyne.

I myself prefer Definitive Technology subs and speakers. Sounds great with music and movies and have fantastic customer service.

Thanks Deez for the compliments. Yeah I know I probably should have run more cables etc.... However, I am hoping the HDMI switching on my Receiver is a lot better than the early days ;-) Plus at this time my Plasma only has 1 HDMI input. My wife keeps saying we shall move when the low interest rates expires on this house in 7 years! :-) So as long as it's not TOO old and out of date at that time I should be good.

Well I don't have that problem. first my theater is in a separate building for all intents, just connected by a long hall, to make it legal basically. and we did a lot of soundproofing and acoustic treatment.

Yes I'm jealous.....

I've not cancelled my order for the SVS SB12-Plus yet. I'm still wondering though if I should and go with the Velodyne? Anyone else have an opinion?

While looking at the SVS website I came across their calibration offering. Has anyone tried this is it worth it? I've not given much thought to calibration at this point. Is it worth it?

http://www.svsound.com/products-parts-avia.cfm

I've used it and needed to make some minor tweaks to my HD72 for the better. But that was just for testing/learning on a light gray wall. My SMX came in yesterday, so hopefully within a month I'll be doing the final run. I followed the link and see a new version is coming, looks like more money to spend. The version I got a year ago seemed a little dated, but I'm sure the fundmentals are the same. Probably easier to use now, with tests for 1080P.

mhallida I first want to say nice job on the room. Mixing Home theatre with family room is hard to do but you have, also I wanted to say thank you for doing somthing different. No to criticizes anyone elses thread but i like the fact you have a plasma and not a projector. Good to see something different. I was also wondering if you could post all out your equipment you will be using in your theatre. Thank you

Thanks Chip for the advice, I took the plunge and purchased it.

Cableman, thanks for the compliments. I appreciated it. However, I am blown away by the SERIOUS quality of craftsmanship here in this forum and don't really feel I should even be viewed by the same browser!!! I do hope the finished look is good though. I am currently struggling... So the weekend was spent applying coat after coat of paint.....

First, I primed..... then I went with idea number 1.....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-25%2008.06.04%20-0700/Image-77BAB847232D11DC.jpg

The room had a WOW factor and not the good variety. It was "WOW, it's green!" it just felt a little over done. However, the picture seems to look good but when in the space felt a little overpowering. So somewhat inspired by the brown paper for masking I went with a brown.... the wrong brown...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-25%2008.06.04%20-0700/Image-77BB46AA232D11DC.jpg

The picture makes it look almost green, but it was a kind of brown. Anyway, I wasn't happy with that.... So we broke down and asked a friend who is an JC Penny's interior advisor to try and help us out and point us in the right direction. Here's what we shall go with the....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-25%2008.06.04%20-0700/Image-77BB8BE0232D11DC.jpg

The Crocodile is the one that's up. Expedition Khaki will be the hopefully last and final attempt for a color combo!

Tonight I have the joy of painting the walls again. I also had a miserable experience with my paint roller extender thing. I had a wood one, it snapped and the broken end went right into the wall and took our a junk.... So tonight I am back on drywall again.... SIGH!!! At least it was just a small nick. Nothing too major.

My SVS SB12-Plus is in shipping.... Hopefully I'll get it by the end of this week! The cabinet should be going in on Wednesday. I have to work out how to put a grill on the kickplate so that it can suck air into the cabinet when the fan kicks in. The space is kind of small. I'll post pictures when I get to the cabinet layout.

I am beginning to think that maybe I should plan a HT 2.0 Thread here. I am thinking it would be good to acoustically treat the plasma wall. I think it would look good with some panels etc. up. I've been doing some research and I think I can retrofit it to my project. What do you think? I like what GPowers did with his walls and frames. Something like that might look good. I know I would have to rework the the boxes etc. I am not sure how the speakers would work? Would you mount them onto the frames? What about the plasma? I would guess I would make a gap for the mount and then have the plasma sit on top of the frames might make it look even more flush which is a good thing. How much difference would treating just this one wall make? Pointless? I think I remember reading somewhere that it was the most important wall to do first? I had thought it was the side walls (which is not an option with me unfortunately.)

Sounds good as long as you could retrofit it. No major reconstructions would be nice., dont think the time and money would be worth it. I dont know where to get accoutic panels at. Maybe you could do some diy ones. or put carpet up on your walls. ... Just kidding I know you wife wouldn't let you do that.

put carpet up on your walls. ... Just kidding I know you wife wouldn't let you do that.

Hmmm I don't think I would allow that!!

I think I can retrofit it easily enough. I just need to work out how to handle the panels with the crown molding I want to put up etc. I am not sure yet how the guys here have done that, same with the baseboards. I would guess they put a strip of wood about an inch thick there first and then just have the baseboard on that. However, not sure how that would look as you obviously cannot caulk the baseboard to the GOM!!?

Need to search through more HT threads...

So I just finished the two coats of paint. I took these pictures while it was still wet before coming to work. I hope they will work I think it might. For some reason it looks more green in real life. The color is called Expedition Khaki and it's more tan than green etc. I think it will look good. The crown molding when installed should make it really pop. Tonight I shall do the touch up and fix the edges etc where paint went where it should not go.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-26%2009.53.15%20-0700/Image-A0CBCFEE240511DC.jpg

Here are the drapes that will be going against the Expedition Khaki color...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-26%2009.53.15%20-0700/Image-A0CB9B34240511DC.jpg

And for the HT guys..... Here's some pictures of my Panamax (I need to touch up the drywall around the wall plate) and the HDMI, Component and S-Video. Behind the plate I have a CAT6 and RG6 cable. I've not hooked them up as I haven't found a Cat 6 quickport yet. Is there a difference in the port between Cat 5 and Cat 6?

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-26%2009.53.15%20-0700/Image-A0CC101C240511DC.jpg

Here's the panamax, both this and the component stuff will be hidden behind the plasma.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-26%2009.53.15%20-0700/Image-A0CC1FDC240511DC.jpg

I feel things are beginning to come together now! Finally! :-)

The colors of your theater are the same as the apartment I was in last year. same texture too. and I have those same drapes in my front bedroom now of one of my houses now.

The colors of your theater are the same as the apartment I was in last year. same texture too. and I have those same drapes in my front bedroom now of one of my houses now.

Now, does that mean you approve? ;-)

Yup, I used the same colors in the home I moved to after the apt, since I had bought all new furniture to match the apt. ROFLMAO.
Overall in a theater I prefer little to no light colors but in mine, I have mostly dark, Orchid purple, Navy, Black and scarlet with gold trims but then I also have a light Mauve on my Projector wall treatment and light mauve stencil on my black soffits and my seats are a light to med mauve which is why I chose the other colors I did, [Used seats so stuck with the color] Point is I do have some Light color in there but not where you can really see it facing the screen.

I would have done the whole room darker, but WAF kicked in.... ;-) Last night when the lights were down it looked good though. I don't think it will be distracting. If it proves to be.... I guess I will be painting again!

So I just ordered my vent for the front of the cabinet. Hopefully it should arrive tomorrow..... I got the Active Thermal Management Cool Vent 1.

http://activethermal.com/Cool-Vent.htm

I purchased it without the fans. I don't think I'll need them given that I have the System 1 pulling air from the back of the cabinet. If I find I do need it then I shall go and get the fans.... But hopefully not.

Some bad news though.... I risked it when pulling the masking tape off during lunch and the paint wasn't cured properly so I pulled off a ton of paint, down to the drywall...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-26%2013.15.40%20-0700/Image-EE9E793A242111DC.jpg

You can see a little of the drywall on the back of the paint..... hopefully it's more of the mold of the drywall....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-26%2013.15.40%20-0700/Image-EE9E8BB6242111DC.jpg

Anyone have good ideas on how to fix? My approach was going to be this....

1. Apply some primer just to the section that have lost the paint
2. Apply a coat of paint
3. Gently sand around the edge / seam
4. Apply another coat
5. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 until you cannot see the seam...

Anyone done this stupid thing before? Another reason I should do GOM! Huh?

for future refference masking tape should always be taken off while the paint is WET. lol

WOW MAN, nice chunk of paint, ....

i say this so obnoxiously in lieu of the fact that i did that 23 minutes ago :mad:

how long id you wait until you pulled the masking off?



otherwise, nice room...i should have actually put paint on the walls like you did to decide which color (mines too dark now...ahg)

nice work

-jl

Yeah it's called be super lazy and not wanting to have to re-mask 4 times for the primer coats and the top coats.... Question is.... what's the best way to fix it. Plus now I am looking at the colors I am not sure i like them. ARGH! I'm going crazy here. (I want to burn those drapes as the room would be chocolate right now!)

I don't like how the white window sills look against the wall. It looks way to bland for my tastes. I'm not convinced the dark crocodile green is the way to go either. I would prefer a dark brown / chocolate color. I'm going nuts here.... And my wifes family arrive for her sisters wedding this weekend and I'm supposed to have everything done! KILLING ME!

Don't feel bad, My theater was suppose to be done for my anniversary Sept 7 of 2006. you notice we are STILL working on it.

Overall in a theater I prefer little to no light colors but in mine.... Point is I do have some Light color in there but not where you can really see it facing the screen.

How is this for you McCall? I'm going nuts here.... I feel like selling the house and bailing (pathetic huh?) Tell me it's worth it!!!

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-27%2009.51.40%20-0700/Image-96F6458424CE11DC.jpg

That's it... Final color, going with it. I think it will work.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-27%2009.51.40%20-0700/Image-96F6718024CE11DC.jpg

Today I shall be installing the cabinet and hooking up the ventilation etc. That should be a fun day....

I like that color a lot. Nice Job

Ok, cabinet is somewhat in... It needs to come out again to attach the tunnel box thing in the back of the cabinet which will be caulked to the wall to make it a sealed unit so the ventilation works correctly. I cut the holes and put the three pieces of furnituree together. I need to work on getting it in right and then I shall probably drop some screws through the side of the cabinet into the side wall to give it a nice sturdy earthquake friendly finish!

The cabinet will have two recessed cabinet lights in the top part which also has glass doors and glass shelves. I've not put those in yet, can you believe the cabinet didn't come with screws to attach the doors to the cabinet!? This thing cost me close to $3k from KraftMaid. All I can say the cabinet isn't particularly well made. I should have learned how to make one myself!

Ok, here's some pictures... First off cutting the hole in the back of the cabinet.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-28%2009.41.39%20-0700/Image-5BB45A10259611DC.jpg

Next, the hole for the front ventilation. This will have a cover of it when it arrives (hopefully today). Then I'll drill ventilation holes in the bottom shelf and the air should (theoretically) flow from the bottom up through the cabinet and out the exhaust hose.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-28%2009.41.39%20-0700/Image-5BB43A58259611DC.jpg

I then put some plastic (4mm) and 2 3/8" Plywood (that I had left over from my shear wall) on the concrete slab. I shall get some liquid nails on those pieces to secure them safely. Whoops the picture is rotated... camera did that automatically weird....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-28%2009.41.39%20-0700/Image-5BB46DC0259611DC.jpg

Here's the look once it's in... Still needs the crown molding on the top and the flutes down the side. I need to cut the carpet to fit too.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-28%2009.41.39%20-0700/Image-5BB4B582259611DC.jpg

And here's a day shot...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-28%2009.41.39%20-0700/Image-5BB556B8259611DC.jpg

Next, inside the cabinet.... The mass of boxes! Strarring.... (starting from Top Left)...

1. Speaker Plate
2. HDMI, S-Video & Component Plate
3. RG6 (and hidden Cat 6 - still need to find out if the cat 6 jack is different to the Cat 5
4. Dedicated 20A Power Circuit for the cabinet

Bottom Left......

5. Panamax In-Wall - (power Plasma)
6. Cable
7. Speed Control for the external Fan (Active Thermal System 1)
8. Power inlet for the Fan (this will be regulated by what is essentially an active fan thermostat - see next picture)

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-28%2009.41.39%20-0700/Image-5BB5BDEC259611DC.jpg

Here's the thermostat....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-28%2009.41.39%20-0700/Image-5BB535F2259611DC.jpg

One thing I am thinking about right now is if I should dry and match the interior of the cabinet in the paint around the outlets? Not really sure what I should do.... I shall be building a box (4" deep) so that it attaches to the wall and the cabinet, then trim out the cabinet. Should look nice!

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-28%2009.41.39%20-0700/Image-5BB58748259611DC.jpg

After that I steam cleaned the carpets and noticed that I needed another coat of paint on the plasma / screen wall. I might mount the plasma and speakers tonight. What do you think of it? Coming together....

So I found a somewhat decent price on the Panamax M5400EX so I went with that. Once I've used it I will make some comments on how much I like it. Although I am not sure I want to bother switching everything around once I plug in. Maybe I should so I can see if it makes a difference which will make me feel better about shelling out the money, then again maybe I shouldn't know and just think it makes a difference! ;-)

So now that I have all my components I am beginning to give some thought to how I should set them up in the cabinet. I have 4 shelves (including the base shelf). I have the following components, I was thinking of putting the cheapest / hottest products at the top, in case they get fried....

TOP Comcast Box (not mine so if gets fried...)
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHELF
| Nintendo Wii ($250)
| Apple TV 160B ($399)
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------SHELF
| Panasonic DMP-BD10A ($500)
| Marantz SR7001 ($1200)
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------SHELF
| Panamax M5400EX ($450)
Bottom----------------------------------------------------------------------

I could move the Panamax around, I have no idea how much heat that thing generates. What do you think? Any suggestions? I have the Wii and Apple TV together as they are not stackable and are funky shapes. The Comcast box gets HOT so I wanted that away from the other devices. Once I have the layout then I can drill the holes under the air vents in the components for maximum air flow through the cooling areas on the components. At a push I could probably order another shelf and place that between the Blu-Ray and Receiver.

Help appreciated!

That cabinet turned out really nice. Looking good.

ya looks really nice. Can't wait to see it with the molding around it. I bet the paramax will generate a lot of heat. I would be really carefull maybe a shelf just for itself which i see you have. best to keep it the way iyou have it

My conditioner does not throw out much heat - its the cable boxes and AVR's that seem to be worse culprits.

Agree unit came out great.

Cheers,
Mark

Anyone have good ideas on how to fix? My approach was going to be this....

1. Apply some primer just to the section that have lost the paint
2. Apply a coat of paint
3. Gently sand around the edge / seam
4. Apply another coat
5. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 until you cannot see the seam...

Anyone done this stupid thing before? Another reason I should do GOM! Huh?

That has happened to me, but often when I took off the tape too soon. If everything is bone dry and you use the tape for sensative surfaces, you can avoid paint lifting. It also depends on how the surface was prepped.

Anyway, to fix it, here is what I would do:

1) Use a razor to cut away the ragged paint that has already lifted.
2) Apply primer
3) Use mud to fix the seam
4) pimer again and left fully dry
5) Paint.

I've tried the sand/paint method but it never works. You won't get paint to level the area.

Thanks, I think it's beginning to take shape, still have some ways to go.... Last night I hooked up everything. I'll post some pictures in a bit, but the bummer..... My Panasonic Blu-Ray was D.O.A. It doesn't power up. Nothing. I was seriously bummed. I do hope that BB has some in stock. Although I am tempted to just ask for my money and wait for July 1st and they get the extra 5 movies (on top of the Panasonic 5) you can get from Blu-ray.com as promo....

The paint mess.... Cathan.... actually layering paint seems to be working. I've not tried sanding yet, but I've managed to remove some seams already!

Matthew, I have to say that the various reports of problems with the BD10A is making me real nervous. I ordered from VE and he says it will be august before I get it, but they seem to having a LOT of problems which is odd since they are supposed to be the same machine as the BD10 just with software upgrades.

Wow, august! I am going back to BB today and see if they have another. By the way the DVD pack included had Best Buy stickers on the DVDs. Weird isn't it?

Ok, here are some pictures of the current status, still a lot to do, but getting there...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-29%2009.21.03%20-0700/Image-AA91BAC7265C11DC.jpg

The center speaker is still waiting on a wall mount, so for now it's on that bed table thing. Before someone says something, the reason the left and right speakers are level with the top of the plasma is that I have a 6 month old son who will be a toddler very soon and I figured the extra 3" gives me some extra time in "educating" him about not touching daddy's speakers!

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-29%2009.21.03%20-0700/Image-AA91DB64265C11DC.jpg

In this picture I still need to trim the cabinet, put in the glass shelves, cabinet lights, and glass doors. If you look closely you can see the vent in the bottom of the cabinet (hidden by the carpet I need to trim).

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-29%2009.21.03%20-0700/Image-AA91EF1E265C11DC.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-29%2009.21.03%20-0700/Image-AA920044265C11DC.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-29%2009.21.03%20-0700/Image-AA9210DE265C11DC.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-29%2009.21.03%20-0700/Image-AA922132265C11DC.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-06-29%2009.21.03%20-0700/Image-AA923DCA265C11DC.jpg

Here's a close up of the cabinet vent. I need to paint it the same color as the cabinet etc.

Lastly, the in ceiling rear speakers and recessed lights. The picture looks awesome by the way at night. I shall take some still pictures tonight. Still a lot to do... but feel like I made some good headway!

So I just returned the Panny 10a. Unfortunately they have none in stock. There are none in the entire Bay Area (at least at BB). They refunded money and then I had to fight to make sure they would honor the price I had last time (12% off voucher which has now expired). Finally got them to see sense.

I am guessing that maybe like McCall I have to wait until August!? That sucks. What a bummer.

Oh and a final update... My wife says "oh the speakers kind of look big, and distracting..." so now it's back to seeing if I can sell them and maybe pick up the more subtle (and my first choice to begin with....) Acoustic Vienna Waltz' in Piano black (to match the SVS SB-12Plus Sub that arrives today!!!).... Anyone interested in a set of 3 Webern speakers?

how subtle would "in-wall" speakers be? Yes, you may lose a little sound quality, but the clean lines should meet the WAF.

Heck, what's a few more holes in your new drywall? :D

Looks great, BTW

Thanks for the compliment. I actually don't want to go the in-wall route. I have a shear wall and it just makes things more difficult, plus I have my speakers of center on the studs so really it's not very easy. Plus I do prefer the sound of on-walls to in-walls. Ideally I should have an SMX screen with the speakers behind and I could use my nice tower speakers!!! :-)

So I had to give a quick update to say how much I like the sound from the SVS SB12-Plus, it's really nice, fast, refined and fits in very well with my mix. I've not even done a proper calibration yet! I do have the SPL meter which I hope to get around to doing this week. With a family wedding going on and lots of visitors it will prove to be hard. The good thing is this.... My wife saw the Sub and said "what it's huge! Do we have to have that....." Then I put on her favorite Celine Dion CD and she had a huge grin on her face. I think it took her right back to the time we saw the Celine Dion show in Vegas (of course the sound was better in our house though!!) She's not mentioned the size of the sub or anythine else since.

Kind of like how I got suckered into buying a Kirby vacuum cleaner last night for $1,100!!! Mind you it did take a lot of crud out of the carpet that two going over with the rug doctor failed to fix!

Still bummed I cannot find a new Panny 10a to replace my dud one..... I didn't like what I read on the Panasonic website.... "until stocks last." That was a bad deal for the 5 free movies. I am wondering if there are another rumours of players coming out. I only know about the Sony S5000 coming next I think....

Did you get your Rack put in and all set up yet?

The equipment is not fully in yet. I had a family wedding last Saturday so it's been really busy. I hope to dry and drill the ventilation holes in the cabinet and shelves this week. Probably next week I shall trim out the cabinet. My Panamax and new HDMI (22 AWG) cables should arrive today. Hopefully that will fix the issue with the dropped signal.

Nice work!

Ok, so a couple of updates. I changed out the Acoustic Research HDMI cables that I had on the Receiver to wall plate and the wall plate to the Plasma (remember I still have a chunky HDMI cable in the wall) to be the same as the in-wall cable (22 AWG). I watched about 3 hours of Apple TV last night etc which was losing signal. I have no problems now.

So I think I can somewhat safely say that the 26 AWG -> 22 AWG -> 26 AWG HDMI was causing a problem. I went with all 22 AWG in the end. Actually saved me money in the long run as the 22 AWG was cheaper as not from Best Buy. I know how to go and return those cables and let them know they don't work! So good news on that front. Glad I don't seem to have a problem with too long of a run or something.

The Panamax 5400EX arrived and works like a charm, very happy with it. My current load doesn't exceed 4.5 Amps which is good to know. I can load it up with more goodies now! I still need to attach the Comcast box and Blu-Ray whenever that becomes available. I am actually considering a rack to go inside my cabinet instead of using shelving. I never really considered that but I thought it might make it easier to get access to the back etc.

Ok, so my latest saga.... The Panny BD just died on me. Number 2. It now doesn't recognize any BD discs. Not sure what to do now. I have it on 2.2. It plays CD and DVD. Pretty annoying I am sure Best Buy will not replace on the spot. Probably send it away which stinks. GRRRR.....

So I've finally started on my Plasma, 5.1 Surround sound installation in my family room. I have many challenges, namely, an open plan house.... I know that most of you have dedicated rooms for this. I alas do not.... It's a project of compromise I guess.

Here is the equipment list....

1. Panasonic TH-50PH9UK
2. Vienna Acoustic Webern L, C & R
3. Speakercraft AIM 8 Threes for Rears
4. Marantz SR7001
5. ATM System 1 External for heat / cooling management
6. Panamax In Wall Powerkit-TL
7. Harmony 890 Remote
8. Dvigear HDMI, S-Video, Component, Coax In Wall Cables
9. Bluejeanscable Speaker cable
10. Halo Recessed lighting

EDIT - New Equipment Added
11. Wii
12. Apple TV
13. Panasonic DMP-BD10A
14. SVS SB12-Plus Subwoofer
15. Lutron Spacer System Lighting

Here is a picture of the room at the beginning. I put a poster up where the plasma would go. Most people in this house plan put the plasma above the fireplace. I value my neck so I refuse to go that route.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C74D5AE71511DB.jpg

As part of this project I plan on putting in a cabinet in the enterrtainment nook area and running cables through the walls etc. A repaint is due too... Something a lot more mellow this time...

The work has begun (first deciding on color scheme)

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C77BF4E71511DB.jpg

And then taking out the bottom part fo the entertainment nook.

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C7690CE71511DB.jpg

I decided to go with the chocolate paint by the way... Behrs Brown Ridge (I believe it is...)

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C7CC82E71511DB.jpg

Here is the entertainment cabinet before I removed the bottom of the soffit thing... It will have glass shelves and glass front doors with some lighting in the top....

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C7BCD8E71511DB.jpg

This is right before I am about to take down the dry wall (I painted it all chocolate to make sure that is what I wanted before I go with retexturing etc.) Call me weird but I wanted only one finish of paint on the new drywall!

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C7ACD2E71511DB.jpg

I have now taken down the drywall and the shear wall to expose the studs...

http://homepage.mac.com/oddb0d/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2007-04-09%2020.44.34%20-0700/Image-A2C80CB8E71511DB.jpg

in one of the pics it looks like your taking off your shear wall. i hope not! its there to help hold your house up.and against codes if it was already there

I didn't think about the first time I saw this picture of the shear wall, but it might have been easier to take the drywall off the other side and do the wiring from that side.

Yes it was the shearwall. I replaced the shearwall and had it inspected by the building inspecteor guy. I should be good to go. Still have a dead Panny on my hands though.

Nice clean system!

I think I would have gone with in-wall speakers for a nice clean look. It's not too late!

I think I would have gone with in-wall speakers for a nice clean look. It's not too late!

It might have looked cleaner but those Viennas sound pretty damn good. I would have put them up too.

Lots of good info in here.

Thanks to those in this thread who have helped me with knowledge and ideas..