The RTROSE (take my sweet time) HT Construction Thread - Page 6

Wow! Being harassed in my own thread and then saying my thread/build needs CPR! Holy Toledo! Well unfortunately I'd have to agree with you guys. I have finally cleared my home honey do list and I can now start to focus on the theater again. My wife actually commented to me this past weekend she would like to not take on any other projects until we can get most if not all of the basement done.

She even threw the gauntlet down and said she would like to see the basement done by Christmas 09' DOH!

I love that woman! The one thing I know is that if SHE wants the basement done by Christmas then the basement WILL get done by Christmas! We will see how it goes, my only concern is the cash outlay to get the basement done AND equipped the way I want. We will see.

Oh, and thanks guys for the thread CPR.

Regards,

RTROSE

Ok guys,

So you all don't think I'm a complete slacker I did over the Christmas break do a little room redo as detailed in this thread.

Cliff notes.

This is the room before.





Room after.





Did this as part of a Christmas gift for my children and to give a space back to them that they can call their own. Especially since I evicted them from their basement space and I thought by now they would have their side back. Ha! Joke is on me. At least my kids love their new room.

Just did not want you guys to think I was a total slacker. The good news is all is clear on the home project front and I am planning on spending the bigger part of the day tomorrow in the basement getting to do my "thing" i still have lots of cables and wires to run and a million other things to get started on.

Regards,

RTROSE

Dseal, Thanks!

I was able to spend several hours in the basement today. I spent about hour or hour and half just moving stuff around and cleaning up after not having been down there working for quite awhile.

If I had to do it all over again I would rent a storage unit and move everything to that to get it out of my way so I would not have to keep moving it from one side to the other and back. Very time consuming and frustrating to boot trying to work around the basement junk.

I do get to check a small "Done" box. The kids media/hangout room is now completely wired electrical, video, and audio. It was nice to finally get one room wired completely. I'll post pictures later of my progress. Few hours of fun work, few hours to myself, check a "Done" box, and a sense of accomplishment, kids cleaned the other two floors for Mom while she is at work, all in all a good day.

Regards,

RTROSE

My plan for the kids media/hangout room is for the kids to have an area of their own and that is comfortable enough for their "old man" to hang out too.

This room will have a 50 to 56 inch TV, 5.1 surround system, dvd player, and some type of game system (either PS2 or 3, Wii, or Xbox) for the kids entertainment. My thinking for this room is to have a room I to can use to watch "regular" TV such as news and such without firing up the pj and to have a room that the kids and their friend can use without concern or fear of messing up or destroying the HT.

I have tried to think of all cabling issues and have to this point run from the "command center" in the "main theater" one HDMI, one set of composite with stereo audio, one set of component with stereo audio, and cat 5. My plan at this point is to have the Denon 4308CI at the nerve center. This handy piece of equipment has 2 HDMI outs and a component out for zone two. This is the main reason why I have done run the cable the way I have. Theoretically the TV in the media room will be able to display what ever is showing in the main HT or we will be able to watch any source I have connected to the Denon. I then ran the composite for the ability to hook up to the TV 2 out on the Dish HD receiver I will be installing in the HT.

Hopefully this all makes sense and there are no holes in my thought process. Especially since I just finished running the cables yesterday!

Here are some pics.



Low voltage boxes with the cables hanging out.



Cable clip in use. The ones I purchased had three dividers creating four sections for cables. What I did was to use side cutters and remove the three plastic pieces to create one big cradle for my cables. If you look close you can see zip ties. I used zip ties to bundle the cables together to make them easier to handle and run.

I considered using conduit but for this particular run most of the run is going to be in an area that is to remain unfinished so I will have access to the cable if I need to run different or more cables in the future.



Picture showing frame out for the DIY audio rack



Close up showing cables for kids room. The area behind where the furnace, water heater, and water softener are located will remain unfinished except for the wall of the theater.

Regards,

RTROSE

You are correct. It seems as though those of us here in "fly over country" are far outnumbered by those on the left and right coasts so it is nice to see another "land lubber" chime in especially when they are a fellow Hoosier.

I understand about the build thread, I considered the same thing but alas "took" the plunge anyway. Some good natured ribbing is ok and even welcomed and it is good to see that there are many who are on the same journey as you even if they are at a different stage of the "trip".

Cathan,

This has been one of the more frustrating things during my build. It may not have been such an issue if I have chosen a build speed faster than that of molasses in January but I am working with what I can.

Regards,

RTROSE

I spent this weekend going over a few things and running more cable, specifically speaker cable. I had to modify my plan for running my cables to the front screen wall. I had planned on running my cables along a soffit to avoid drilling even more holes in my ceiling/floor joists (laziness) and after some head scratching time came to a different conclusion. There were just too many other things/wires already strung up and down the soffit and I thought just to avoid any issues I would just make a few new holes and run the wires in a more direct way.

I don't know if it is over kill or not but I also on the spur of the moment decided to run two sets (total of four wires) to each of the front speaker locations. I decided to do this just because you never know what the future may bring and I figured it was just much easier to do it now. I guess I could use the extra set for biwiring/biamping the speakers, a two channel set up later, or maybe for A/B speaker comparisons that may come my way.

Someone here at AVS talked about just going to their HT during construction and sitting in a lawn chair to "look around" and see issues, problems, or get some ideas. While trying to figure out what to do with my speaker cable I discovered an issue with my side surround speaker and the location of a sconce. Because of this I am also going to move my side surround speaker locations about two feet further forward to alleviate the issue and the new location should provide better sonic performance anyway. I'll post a pic or two to show you what I'm talking about.

In a way it is good that I am proceeding at a snails pace, it sure gives me time to find any issues before they become problems. Hopefully this holds true for the remainder of my build.

To do (short) list:
*Finish running speaker and A/V cables.
*Move side surround speaker locations
*Move outlet in workout area
*Run speaker and A/V cable in workout area
*Finish final framing door locations (rough framing done)
*Build support for projector location

and that is the short list!

Regards,

RTROSE

Went down and did some more mental gymnastics and I need some input from all you all to see if I am over thinking or if my concern is valid.



My original plan was to mount the speaker at the location where the LV box is. I decided this location is too far back and was not the optimum. I then thought I would move the location two floor joists forward, but then realized it would be pretty close to were the sconce would be located so I thought this might not work out very well. I think I will just mount in the center of the two and it should work out.

The new location will be approximately 11 1/2 feet back and about 1 1/2 feet behind the primary or first row which I'm planning on at 10 feet. I figure this will work out regardless if I purchase standard book shelf or actual di/bi pole speakers.

Any opinions? Am I over thinking this or should I just leave the speaker location as is?

Regards,

RTROSE

I'm still working that out. I had initially planned on putting the speaker on a small shelf or using ceiling mounts. Directly across from this speaker location is the support for the ceiling/floor joists and the opening into the workout room/kitchenette and is not really conducive to wall mounting. I'll post pictures later tonight as it will more accurately show what I'm talking about.

The more I have thought about the install in general the more I'm thinking I'm going to go sans the LV boxes for the speakers and just poke the wire through a hole in the drywall.

I'm also clear on the bracing just haven't gotten there yet and won't until I'm sure where I'm going to put them for sure.

Regards,

RTROSE

Logan,

I totally agree with you. This is the one advantage of moving slower. We will reap benefits on the other end when it comes to price vs. performance.

Now I'm going to go to the basement to do some work.

Regards,

RTROSE

docprego,

I really appreciate that! I've got to work out exactly how I'm going to work my surrounds in there is an issue regarding mounting and running wire to one location. I also have some finish framing to do around the doors now I know where they are going to be for sure.

My wife and I are thinking about the workout area, it simply is not big enough for what we want it to do so there is some reworking possibly going to happen with the design.

I agree that at first glance (second glance too) that the wiring is intimidating. That is exactly why I had a professional help me out and guide me (lead me) through the entire process. He was a HUGE help!

I am going to work a few hours this weekend on the HT getting the final framing done, and hopefully figuring out how I'm going to work around my speaker problem. There is still much to do and many things to keep me busy for sure. I am also going to start measuring for insulation so I can get some estimates on cost.

Thanks for stopping by! Now you know where MY build is you can stop in any time!

Regards,

RTROSE

I need to take a picture of the area where I am planning on mounting the speaker. I owe Cathan a picture of the area anyway he was asking some questions too.

As far as projectors I have the Panasonic AE3000 and the Epson 6100/6500 on my short list.

I am COUNTING on the collective intelligence here at AVS to help me along the way.

With out all who post here I would not have made it as far as I have so far.

Regards,

RTROSE

Wow!

I was here earlier, and well aware of the heckling going on here in my thread. I feel the love here boys......but I need to spread the wealth. If I start posting only in my thread and stop posting in all of yours there will be sadness and hurt feelings all around. I can't have that. I'm off next week for spring break so I'm planning on spending some quality time in the basement.

I may even get around to posting a picture of the area I need to mount my side speaker looking for advise. Just don't hold your breath!

Regards,

RTROSE

Well I figured I would make my 1000th post in my own thread and give all of you waiting on pins and needles for the "photo" some satisfaction.

Here is an overview of the area where I'm going to mount the speaker.



This is the doorway from the theater into the workout area and kitchenette.

Here is a closeup of the same area.



The doorway, framing, etc., were there prior to my construction and it was too cost prohibitive for me to redo the main wall as it is the main support structure for the two floors above. The yellow tube is the gas supply for the water heater and the furnace.

This is originally why I had planned on running the speaker wire out of the ceiling (hence the LV box there) because of the headers for the opening where I need to mount the speaker on what will be the right side (looking at the screen) of the theater. Directly behind the headers is the ducting for the HVAC, previously existing wiring, previously existing soffit, PVC piping, and a couple of water supply lines.



Not a great shot but the best I can do. The PVC piping is for my sump. Unless I lay down some serious cash none of this is going to be moving soon. I tried to take a shot of the space between the headers and the ducting and I can't get a picture that shows what I want to show. From what I can guesstimate there is approximately 1/2 to an inch between the headers and the ducting. I am thinking now that I should finalize where I want my speaker and then drill (carefully) through the header and run the speaker wire between the header and ducting and not out of the ceiling.

If it helps I had planned on mounting the speaker directly to the wall either with a bracket/wall mount or build a small shelf for the speaker to sit on.

What do you guys think?

Looking for your guidance, ideas, support, and heckles!

Regards,

RTROSE