[rick240]

Trying to finalize design for a new house that will have a 5.1 and 2.1 in a living-room where there is a desire to hide electronics, as well as a 5.2 in a media room.


I think the smart thing will be to locate all electronics in a ventilated closet (should provide better protection from cat fur too).


Can anyone recommend reading and/or provide suggestions for designing this wrt. power, remote controls and other considerations?


Thanks.

 

[Colm]

All my gear is in a built-in cabinet off a hall. I have one 20A circuit dedicated to it. You might consider two. There are power receptacles in j-boxes in the wall for each shelf, plus a switch to turn everything off. All the signal cabling terminates in j-boxes with keystone plates. Patch cables are used between the equipment and keystone plates. Surge protection is provided by a whole-house system at the service entrance. Ventilation is natural. Shelves are just shelves, with appropriate holes for cables to pass through, no rack. Everything is controlled via an infrared extender. I only use one emitter per shelf, facing the door so the light reflects back to the gear on the shelf.

 

[blazar]

Look at redco.com's custom panels. I just had a 4 gang box wall panel with neutrik Pro speakers connectors put into it.


If i had to do it over, I would have put in like 4 - 4gang boxes and gotten custom labeled connectors for everything.


If i could do my closet all over again, i would have wired for 32 speaker dolby atmos.


Obviously consider a low-dust cooling strategy.


Think about fitting a very big 19" middle atlantic style rack into the closet if you want to go "high end". Racks are just too damn sweet not to have.


For remote, control4 does a good job in home automation. The pricing for a single controller and to control lights and stuff for a media room is not tok bad anymore and worth it for a long term luxury investment.

 

[A9X-308]

There are several things you need to think about before construction starts, and my best advice would be to start by sketching it out on a piece of paper to make sure it all fits and work out the best way to lay it all out.


Ventilation: You need to make sure you have plenty of unimpeded air capacity in and out of the cupboard, and potentially some forced air assistance (maybe thermally controlled). Middle Atlantic have a good paper on their website to help with calculating these requirements.


Power: Get the cupboard wired for more than you need and think about where you are going to need the outlets placed, and how you intend controlling the power to some of the devices. Invest in a whole house surge arrester.


Network: Do any of the devices need network access, ie server or BRP that needs it for updates? Wire a Cat 6 or two in anyway and also consider your networking for the rest of the house too, if you haven't already.


Cable: Enough and suitable connections for cable, AM and FM radio etc.


Cable Management: Velcro cable ties will help neaten up the mess. Work out what you need for wall plates for the speaker and other cables leading in and out of the cupboard.


Can't help with the remote as I use a custom system.

 

[blazar]

We really need an avsforum sub-forum all aboit this in the construction section.


I think a lot of DIY folks including myself tend to re-invent the wheel when it comes to this topic, especially considering most people are only going to do this once or twice in a lifetime.


Dont forget also: a LOT of conduit for future wiring if needed is worth every penny. I had a conduit to my projector put in which I was able to use for wiring 8 new channels for my dolby atmos height layer of speakers that I am working on. It would have been a much bigger nightmare without this.

 

[rick240]

Thanks for all of the food for thought and references so far...


...keep em coming, increases the odds of my doing it right.


D'oh! And i guess i better explore the AV Control & Automation section at AVS

 

[blazar]

I did a double sided closet with a door in the back and a rack face in the front. This allows very easy modifications and equipment changes / wiring etc.


If I could do it all again I would have wired about 24-36 channels worth of speakers.


Make sure your rack is around 7-8feet high minimum. also get the double depth rack so you can use the whole back side also if you need it for routers/switches/power conditioners/whatever.


I should have used MUCH larger/wider conduit to make it easier to pass new wires to my projector if needed.

 

[rick240]



Quote:
Originally Posted by blazar  /t/1523893/electronics-closet-advantages-strategies-power-considerations-remotes#post_24539102


I did a double sided closet with a door in the back and a rack face in the front. This allows very easy modifications and equipment changes / wiring etc.


If I could do it all again I would have wired about 24-36 channels worth of speakers.


Make sure your rack is around 7-8feet high minimum. also get the double depth rack so you can use the whole back side also if you need it for routers/switches/power conditioners/whatever.


I should have used MUCH larger/wider conduit to make it easier to pass new wires to my projector if needed.

Interesting - I don't think I can do front/back but 2 accesses sounds like a great idea, maybe front/side.


And oversize conduit - check.

 

[arnyk]



Quote:
Originally Posted by blazar  /t/1523893/electronics-closet-advantages-strategies-power-considerations-remotes#post_24539102


I did a double sided closet with a door in the back and a rack face in the front. This allows very easy modifications and equipment changes / wiring etc.

Very cool.

Quote:
If I could do it all again I would have wired about 24-36 channels worth of speakers.

When you are doing wiring either during new construction or after the fact, the general rule is go big!