Calvin's Games & HT construction thread - Page 34

Benson,

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

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

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

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

Till then
All the best,
Calvin

Back from the trip.

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

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



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



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



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



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



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














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



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

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

Now it is back to business and landscaping for me.

More when I can
Cheers
Calvin

Becks, I'll catch you next time

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

Cheers
Calvin

Some updates.

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





Some shots in the rack;





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





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





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





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

More when I can.

Cheers
Calvin

The Bruiser,

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

Ok onto a few of your comments and questions;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Samsung A540 and A580's are cell phones so I'll assume you mean to discuss the 6th and 7th generation panels which are the A650 and A750. These newer generation sets are both 4ms response times compared to 5 ms on the 500 series sets.

The A650 is a step up and has the 50,000:1 contrast, Wise link an additional HDMI port (3 total) and has the new "red to black" bezel that many like (I do not)

The A750 is the 7th and latest generation and is the top o the Samsung heap at the moment. If I were to buy a LCD today it would be this one (for myself that is because I don't pay attention to things like budget which drives my wife crazy). Biggest difference between the 650 and the 750 is the wise link pro USB port which adds some functionality to the set otherwise they are very close. The 750 is also a bit smaller and lighter due to a more defined bezel.

Q; should I wait and get a better TV or jump on these prices now while I still work at this place

A: When to buy is always the hardest thing to do in electronics. The reality is that something better is always around the corner and the prices are always dropping so if you wait it is always going to be better - however a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush if you know what I mean and if you don't have it you aren't using it so I'm always of the mind that you should buy the best you can at the time and then just enjoy it - but do yourself a favour and stop reading about and looking at the new sets once you settle on the one you buy - that road only leads to regret and madness

Q: why no 120 Hz with the $5000 budget (my opinion I think its overpriced for one feature)

That 5k needed to include everything the entire HT not just the HDTV. The 5.1 audio the new AVR, the PS3 and all the cables had to be in that budget. I'm not that good at getting deals - I don't honestly think it could have been done with out me robbing the place I got the best deal I could at the time trust me for the $4800 we spent we walked away with some nice gear the sales guy went home happy as well - it is the best you can hope for IMO.

Good luck,
Calvin

Bruiser,

I stand corrected on the 540 and 580 very interesting - I tried to Google them last night and all I came up with was cell phones. Thanks for the links though pretty interesting... It appears these are a step up on the other gen 5's with the additional HDMI and another 5000:1 contrast increase over the previous models. I'm sure as you surmised it is due to marketing and they are best buy and Costco exclusives or at least limited to a select few B&M stores.

No worries on the price listings as well but please edit your post above to remove them that way no one will get their feathers ruffled (only you or a mod can edit your posts so I suggest you do so, so they don't have to).

Regarding PJ's you're in the right place and my construction thread will go way off tangent if we get into an in-depth discussion on them. Just browse the threads here already on AVS to learn everything (and more) that you would ever want to know on just about every model in the market place. I don't usually like to speak to PJ's unless I've had personal experience with them and I've never owned or had any experience with Runco but I understand they make an excellent although somewhat pricey machine.

I think you would have people argue as to which is the best and that likely changes every few months as something bigger and better is always around the corner in this hobby. With all PJ you have to replace the bulbs and they are usually any where from one hundred all the way up to several hundred (mine is around $800 cdn if I remember correctly perhaps more with the air freight but I'm saving some on the conversion now that they CDN $$ is nearly on par with the US).

Krell audio is one of the better names in audio no argument there but I think like the PJ's above to say that any one brand is better than another is strictly for arguments sake. I think people can each have their favourites and as long as you're happy that is the only consideration I think you should worry about. Some people love Krell others are quite the opposite so my suggestion for you and anyone else is to make up your own minds by listening and viewing the products in person so you can make a decision with your preferences and not from strangers on a forum. Everyone is different so make your own decisions is always my best suggestion.

LG makes a decent plasma but for my money I would say the Pioneer Kuro is the top panel and has been for some time.

I would head out and take a look and a listen before you make any buying decisions. If you don't want to be disappointed make sure you take the time to do that before any purchasing and you should be ok.
My suggestion is do some reading for PJ's and sound systems in your price ranges here on AVS then demo or preview them in person before making a decision if at all possible.

Best of luck
Calvin

I missed that smakovits I guess I should contact Allen and see if I get a plaque or something

This thread has been going on a while. I'm starting to wonder if these HT's ever get "fully" completed..

Cheers
Calvin

Bruiser,

Thanks for the post and good luck with the rest of your endeavours.
I own my own consulting business where I work as a management professional building SAGD plants in Northern Alberta which is a large source of our oil for NA. Currently I’m working as an engineering technologist supervisor answering technical questions that arise during construction of these plants and the various thousands of interacting items that are required to put them together and function.
I didn’t add anything to my mortgage I saved for 5 years and paid cash for everything that went into my home other then the items installed by connect which is basically the structured wiring and Karma which are less than 5k. The rest was all paid for before even moving in and sat in boxes waiting for me to take possession of the new home. I don’t like to finance anything other than a home everything else is cash or in my mind I can’t afford it and wait and save.
Thanks for the congratulations on my marriage  My anniversary is on the 11th so I’m looking into what “paper” products I can give to my lovely bride for no #1
A couple of good forums to start are really just the main page here for $3k and under – if your budget is more then hit up the over $3k. The front page changes a lot so I won’t link you to individual threads but if a PJ has a good buzz in these forums it is worth taking a look. I’m not shopping a PJ at the moment so I’m out of the loop on what is the hot PJ at this time but I’m sure in a few hours on those forums you’ll know more than me.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=68
I don’t buy warranties on any electronics or anything that I can think of for that matter. I don’t keep things long enough for them to blow up usually and in my experience if things do go south it is with the first 7 to 90 days and that is almost always covered without any additional warranties.

Good luck
Calvin

I awarded the landscaping portion of the work yesterday (it was my anniversary as well so now I'll always associate my 1st year anniversary as costing me a fortune).
The company starts in about 4 weeks so it should start to get pretty exciting around then. I still however haven’t found anyone for building my deck and I’m looking into EON now instead of Millennium as it seems to have been better “liked” by consumer reports and a few other publications I’ve seen plus it looks like wood vs. the PVC look of the millennium.
My hot tub vendor wants to ship my hot tub to me on July 15thand I sure hope I have a deck to put it on when it shows up... time is running out I may have to break out my old carpenter hat which is a last resort!

I'm still waiting on Connect AV and in negotiations with the Control 4 dealer but it looking like they want to get rich off me so I may end up holding off on the C4 until I finish up the landscaping and all the new C4 hardware comes to market in a month or two before pursuing it again. I keeping my fingers crossed I'll see Connect for the final installations and audio calibrations before the end of June.

More as it happens.

Cheers
Calvin

Figured I would post that I'm still alive

I've been back at work and working on some other non-HT related items around the house.

I just finished up some work in the garage setting up some cabinets, installing floor protection and adding another stand up freezer for additional frozen storage. I installed a few over head storage lifts and I have another motorized "gorilla lift" coming in this week for some more.

A quick photo of the initial results (I've done a bit more since the photo but this gives you and idea). My wife is pleased as I can start pulling my tools out of the basement storage area and put them in their new home and well I'm happy because I'm a guy that has to buy some new tools for all the “unused” space




On the landscaping front I decided to go with EON decking from Home Depot despite hearing some negative things on it online it was well received with Consumers Reports and I tend to trust them. Even if it does go bad I have a 1 year warranty on it by the installer so he will fix it or replace it as required so I have some piece of mind. So far I'm waiting on the product to come in but the piling is done and ready to go.



I went with 12" x 10' concrete piles in the event I decide to do a sun room later down the road they will be already in place.

The main landscaping portion should begin this week, the hot tub will be delivered as soon as the 16' x 16' upper deck portion is in place (hopefully on or before the 19th of July) and the shed should be delivered this week.

On a personal note my wife ran her first 1/2 Iron Man last Sunday and came in a respectable time under 7 hours so I'm pleased for her and hope she does as well in the full iron man next month she has entered.

On the HT front I'm still waiting for Connect to stop by and finish up the loose ends. Hopefully that happens soon. I'm just waiting for the e-mail showing me a date that is going to happen now. C4 is still something I want but I'm holding out to see how some investments I've made over the last couple weeks pan out before I decide to spend anymore money (I have to start making some I decided as I've been doing a really great job of spending it lately). I still have my blue LED rope lighting and door to install but they have been on the back burner until I can find a decent wood worker/ finisher. I’m hoping my brother in-law in a couple months time can fit me into his busy schedule if he can stop installing hard wood and cabinets for a few days to help me out (fingers crossed).

And that loyal reader is about all for the moment.

More as it happens.

All the best,
Calvin

None HT related update:

Nothing going on inside the house lately but outside it is starting to come together.
Here is the update from the weekend. (click to enlarge photos)





Here is the product they are using on the Fir as they were unable to buy pre-treated lumber in the dimensions we needed so they are doing the treatment onsite.



Here is the preservative been rolled on (it will go on everything eventually they just did the outside main supports for now.



And here is the where it is left off as of Sunday night. I believe they are back today again to finish off the rest of the supports and then I'm waiting for Home Depot to bring in the EON product required for them to continue.





I should have a few more pic's soon.
Cheers
Calvin

Hey Josh!,

Thanks for the post I don't think I'm going to put up a big screen in the garage after all the main HT is just a few steps through the door

The deck is coming along nicely I'm pretty excited to see it come together and I can't wait till they start working on the EON composite. I've asked for a little "spruce up" as far the deck so I'm looking forward to the seeing the final product.

The finished deck will be around 1000 sq. ft. so that is a decent size and adds a decent area of "living space" onto the house.

The shed should be coming in tonight or tomorrow and I should have my landscaper starting the groundworks in the next 2 weeks. Should be a busy summer

Cheers
Calvin

Kyle,

Thanks for the post. The hot tub delivery is tentative for the 19th but I think that will end up sliding to the 26th as I still have no word from Home Depot on the EON delivery.
I think the cost to ship it down to "hold" would be quite high I best just wait another week methinks

They finished out placing supports last night and I will be receiving the shed tonight around 6:00 I should have a few new pics tomorrow or the day after.

Cheers
Calvin

Jason,

Thanks for the post. I missed your HT thread initially but I just reviewed it and you have a very nice looking room.

I'm only planning on having a BBQ and a couple of patio heaters at this time - I'm still looking for a gas fitter to run the three lines. However, they can go in once the deck is completed so they are not priorities right now. As big as the deck is I still have a huge yard and there is still a ton of landscaping that is going to be happening in late July and likely all of August. It is going to be one busy summer in the back yard for me!

I'm very happy to be out of the Fort Mac rotation but I should have taken a couple more months off....oh well maybe next year.

I'm still thinking on C4. I want it but I don't know that I want it for $25k so I'm still shopping around as they are not the only game in town and 360 is not the only installer as well. It is on the back burner until I get the landscaping under control as well (well the landscaping budget I should say).

Thanks again for the post and for reading the thread I'm always pleased to hear that my ramblings on have helped anyone out.

Cheers
Calvin

Non HT related Update;

(sorry nothing to report on the HT side as of yet... I'm still waiting for others)

Some new developments in the landscaping adventure.

First off the deck has been almost completely framed out and all of the fir has been treated with Copper Preservative.

(as always - click on pictures to enlarge)





Secondly the Shed showed up yesterday and here are a few pictures.

Backing it in after offloading the "zoom boom".



Picking it up!



My wife watching on as they move the shed into position.



I realized once the shed arrived that I had the pad built wrong and this caused some issues as the orientation had to be swung 90 degrees from pad that is existing. I ended up having to shovel some aggregate for the base to keep the shed level for a bit better then an hour and once my landscaper starts he will have to move the shed and redo the base to accommodate the new orientation. Oh well, wouldn't be an adventure if we didn't have surprises!



A look inside the shed - it is insulated to R19 and fully wired with a light inside, outside and with power outlets inside as well. The power to the shed can be run direct or with an extension cord which ever is my preference. The windows inside are also pretty damn impressive and are smooth as silk opening and closing.





The shed with all the bells and whistles attached!



It was expensive for a garden shed but considering how pleased my wife is - fair trade I'd say.

More as it happens.

Cheers
Calvin

mn_hokie,

Might be awhile I was planning on putting a lawnmower and some garden stuff in there....on the other hand it is already wired up for power

My wife would not be amused however so I'd best leave that one as a "garden shed" only...

Your a bad influence...

Thanks for the post

Cheers
Calvin

Javry,

Thanks for stopping by I hope one day it stops (it has to right?)

The new job is good, a lot more relaxing then the last one, way less stress but along with that was the 100k/yr pay cut. Guess you can't have it both ways. On a brighter note I've been investing in small oil well developments in Texas and that is looking like it is going to go a long way in making up that short fall so all is not lost.

Right now the job is pretty quiet but I'm still going in for 50 hours a week (have to invoice after all ) Things should be picking up end of August and by that time I should be all done with my landscaping adventure so the timing is nearly perfect for me switching gears back to full time work mode again.

Cheers
Calvin