[Midfiguy]

I have a 10&1/2'x20' room that I am outfitting for a front projection theater. I have pulled down all the nasty wood paneling and will be instaling drywall. 1/2 of the room (10'x10') is part of the origional house and therefore has a full basement underneath. The other 1/2 is over a cement slab.


I have 2 overhead lights in the room and 6 electrical outlets. I will be converting one of the overheads into a plug for the PJ. I plan to run electric for 4 new sconces and speaker wires for my 5.1 set up. I may run two extra wires for 7.1. What else should I run now while the walls are open?


I am also having a new 200 amp service instaled. Should I have a homerun/deadicated circuit for the theater?


Any help is appreciated or if the topic is too broad can you point me to a good resource? Kinda like a dummies guide to HT wireing


Thanks,


Russell

 

[tiggers]

Hi Midfiguy,


I'm also getting to the stage in my construction where I have to start figuring out the details of which wires, and were, I will want to run. Here's what I've thought about:


I might recommend a minimum of one each of the following to the projector:


HDMI

Component

Composite


The HDMI (digital) and Component (analog) should take care of almost all your video needs, assuming your using a receiver to manage everything. The composite is just a catch all for the low end and for anything you might need a quick connection for (camcorder, digital camera, etc).


Also, if you have any kind of TIVO service that requires a phone line, coaxial for cable, or an antenna for OTA HD.


Extra gravy items to consider: CAT5 for computer network (home theater computer, music server, etc), 12v triggers, etc. The wire isn't generally all that expensive and could be ran to some general locations. Just hard to put in after drywall is up.


Not sure about your total scope/goal with your room. But I hope the ideas help


Note: Black&Decker has a new home electrical book that deals with a lot of the low-voltage lines that is quite nice (lots of pictures!)

 

[mrrrkva]

Dont forget the Infrared recievers for the remote control if your components are at the front of the room

 

[MauneyM]

To the projector:


HDMI

Composite

Component

S-Video

DVI or VGA


For each subwoofer:


(2) standard audio lines

(1) dedicated 15A or 20A circuit (sub amps can get big)


For speakers:


Fronts

Center

Surround

Rear

Front Presence (Yamaha uses these for their DSP programs)


You've already got a dedicated outlet for the projector; I would add a 20A dedicated circuit for the amp stack. All of the gear-related equipment should be on the same phase, which should NOT be used for the lighting (dimmers) and/or any other noisy equipment (refrigerator/microwave, etc.)


Wire is cheap to put into the studs. It gets really expensive one the drywall goes up.

 

[No Clue]

You may want to run conduit to a couple of locations in case you forget something or new technology needs arise. I ran 2.5" to my projector location and 1.5" from the equipment room to the front of the theater (behind a false wall for speakers, etc.).