Home Theater Design and Build

Home Theater Complete

2009-01-16T06:16:00.001-08:00

My hom theater is now complete. Here are pictures of the final design. This is a home theater on a budget, for less than $4000. It is closer to $2500 since I recycled my receiver and speakers. You dont need the fancy stuff to get up and running. All you need is the meat of the products. The only think I purchased were wires, paint, the chairs, and the projector. More details and specs to come.

KDL-52XBR4 or KDL-52XBR5

2008-05-30T20:50:00.000-07:00

I was asked what I thought of the Sony KDL-52XBR4 or KDL-52XBR5. The only difference I see is that the XBR5 has a RS-232C port. What do you use the RS-232C port for ? Looks like you can connect your computer to the TV and send commands to it, to perform some functions. Also some devices these days contain RS-232 ports to connect to the TV for communicating from device to TV either for data to what is displayed on the screen or again for controls.

There is a $400 difference between the TVs just for the RS-232 port. Not sure if this is worth it. It looks like the same TV besides that feature.

Wii Fit

2008-05-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

Still trying to get a hold of a Wii Fit. They seem to go like hot cakes. I've searched every where. Cant even get one online.

Netflix

2008-05-21T19:38:00.001-07:00

Netflix is now offering a set top box to stream DVDs to your TV or PC for $99.00 with a subscription fee of $8.99 per month. Not sure if I will be a fan of this or not. You dont get the latest and greatest DVDs, you get what is in their collection. The jury is still out on this. It will also only be in DVD quality of 480p.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6562920.html?rssid=193

DivX Media Players or HDD Media Players

2008-05-17T14:11:00.001-07:00

Stumbled upon these on Ebay the other day. DivX Media Player aka HDD Media Players. It consists of a sound card, video card, and a large capacity hard drive. It allows you to store music, videos, and DVDs onto hard drive. You can then connect this box to a PC or television and watch and listen to your collection. Might be using some kind of linux software to drive it. You would have to convert your DVDs to an ISO file or DivX format, then copy it to this device. Some also have network ports, so you maybe able to find the movie somewhere on the net already in DivX format.

Divx Media Players on Ebay (Note: I am by no means endorsing this particular product. Just providing an example of what is available. Search for Divx Media Player or HDD Media Player from the main ebay page.

Beware of the following:
1. Some do not come with a hard drive.
2. Capacity is limited to 1 TB on some.
3. Some do not do HD, highest resolution is 1080i
4. Does it do upscaling ?
5. Made in China or Canada (no offense to Canadians)
6. Customer service may be bad since they are probably just a couple of guys assembling these in their hobby shop, so you get what you pay for.

Attaching an external hard drive may be the way to go or possibly daisy chaining a set of hard drives.

But overall, if you can find one with AC3 optical sound and 1080i, it maybe cheaper than getting a media center PC or a Vidabox solution that I mentioned in previous postings. These also seem to be space savers since they look so small.

Blu-Ray for Xbox 360

2008-05-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

Im a huge xbox 360 fan. There are rumors that an integrated blu-ray xbox maybe coming out. Perhaps in 3 months or by the fall.

http://xboxfamily.com/xf/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1409&Itemid=2

http://www.tvpredictions.com/blux050208.htm

We'll see !

World's First Billion Dollar Home

2008-05-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

The World's First Billion Dollar Home built by an Indian Billionaire Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai, check out his home theater.

The Entertainment Level .

Excerpt from Forbes.com web page

Entertainment Level
It's very common in large homes to have a theater or screening room, but usually they're just large projection screens with a few nice seats. The Ambani's theater is more like those seen in George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch or Frank Pritt's Portabello Estate--a full-fledged theater, indistinguishable from a cinema. A wine room, snack bar and entertaining space, including couches and tables, fill out the room.

This is a detail from a floor plan rendering.

It has a seating capacity of 50. Makes me feel inadequate, I will only have four seats. I cant event think of 50 people that would come over and watch a movie with me. I would definitely charge admission. I figure he will have better than 1080p Native and not settle for 720p Native. He may be able to afford a Vidabox :) and not dream about one. His wife wont be painting his Entertain level for him either.

How does this compare to Bill Gate's Entertainment room ?

The Full Story from Forbes Magazine .

VidaBox

2008-05-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

Ive been looking into getting a Vidabox. I got a quote from these guys. It was in the $7000 to $9000 range. Not sure if I will drop that much on a media center player. I better off putting together something myself. These guys may optimize a nice box but extemely pricey. If anyone has once of these, I would like to get your opinion. This is the wave of the future, burning your DVDs to a hard drive and playing it from a media center PC.

Still fine tuning

2008-04-30T20:30:00.001-07:00

My house is going through some renovations, so the workers need to have access to the power panel which is located in my media room. The seats have arrived and I have two seats setup. It is pretty nice in there. But there is no point in posting pictures until the construction is done. They have plastic protectors on the carpet so I dont want to move the other seats in there until they are done.

60% Complete

2008-04-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

Im about 60% complete with the Home Theater / Media Room. My lovely wife painted the room for me. Yes ! She does the painting. Here are the latest pictures... I still need to run the wires and hang the shades. Which I have in hand. The home theater seats are on back order but I expect them within a week or two. I hope to have them before the end of the month. Here you go.

The first picture is the screen with the front and center speakers.

The next picture is of the DVD rack with my DVD collection (http://stores.ebay.com/useddvds2) that I am trying to sell. There will be a shade covering up the window to keep the light out.

Ahhh... The BenQ W500 Projector. Mounted with one try !

The back wall. No Home Theater Seats yet.... rear surround sound speakers will need to be mounted here also. Need to install a shade there also.

Finally I will place the components (receiver (5.1 or 7.1), DirecTV receiver, DVR, Xbox 360, etc...) in here. Yes there is a 22" TV in there. I need to get rid of it.

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So 60% complete. Still alot of work to do....

Projector Screen Assembled

2008-04-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

It took about an hour but I finally put it together. I'll probably need a hand to mount the screen. Pretty well thought out engineering to manufacture the parts. It is easily assembled. The key is having a clean flat surface.

All I need to do is screw the four plates to the wall and then lift the screen onto the plates. Sounds easy doesnt it ?? The screen is not heavy just cumbersome. Too wide to lift four feet off the ground while trying get the four plates into the small grove on the screen frame. This will probably another hour of work.

Outstanding parts

2008-04-01T13:56:00.001-07:00

Screen just arrived as I was posting this post. UPS guys is telling me that that his "filfthy" rich aunt just passed away but left everything to the Smithsonian....

So still yet to arrive:
Speaker wire, 250 Ft of it.
50ft HDMI cable.

I should be able to mount the screen and projector now. Should be lots of fun.

No takers for the Marantz receiver, oh well, I will probably sell it at a yard sale. Im looking at ONKYO TX-SR605 - 7.1 receiver. There are some good deals on ebay right now for that particular model.

Waiting for parts

2008-04-01T13:45:00.001-07:00

Projecting on the wall is pretty good. With the shades and curtain drawn, the picture is quite bright for the projector. I am happy with it so far.

The wall is bare without the screen. A 45" x 80" screen will be on this wall eventually. To have a 92" diagnal screen.

The Projector has arrived along with the mount, but there is no screen.

Components Purchased

2008-03-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

I have raised about $1400 via paypal selling my DVDs. This warrants a purchase of equipment. I have decided on the following:

BenQ W500 . $881.00
Sanus System VMPR1 Universal Projector . $99.00
Elite EzFrame Fixed Frame 45" x 80" (92" Diagnal) . $250.00

Total $1230.

Shout out to Kirk at the Projector People for the nice deal.

Should be here in 1-2 days.

720p or 1080p HD ?

2008-03-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

Still trying to decide between a Native 720p or 1080p projector. The problem is the 1080p projectors are currently pretty pricey for a really nice one. But the 720p projectors are dropping fast. I think I may get a really nice 720p projector and use it for a couple of years then switch to a 1080p projector when the prices drop.

Ebay analysis

2008-03-18T05:57:00.000-07:00

Since I started the fund raising period about a month ago my Ebay here is the breakdown of what i've made:

DVDs sold to date - 80 DVDs out of 300+
Total Ebay Revenue - $598.00
Ebay Listing fees - $333.00
Net Ebay profit - $265.00
Net Ebay profit per DVD - $3.31

Is it worth it yes. I was only offered $1.00 to $1.25 per DVD for the entire collection. But I guess if you factor in the gas costs of running back and forth to the post office. It might not be worth it, but im enjoying it. I was able to cut down on costs and buy shipping envelopes in bulk to save $.50 per envelope. I hope to raise about $700 to $800 more so it will pay for the projector.

Potential Components

2008-03-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

Im looking into potential components for my home theater / media room. Price is definitely in play. But I dont want to cheap out. Possibly get everything done before the final four for March Madness.

For the project im looking into the Mitsubishi HC4900. Its selling for $1999 at Projector People with a $500 rebate if you purchase before March 31.

Im looking into the Yamaha RX-V2700 for the receiver. Im looking for an HDMI receiver. This is going for under $1000, I can find one on ebay for that price. I think the bang for the buck on this is pretty good.

For speakers I have a set of Fluance speakers from the setup I had in my bedroom.

The rest is kind of play as you go. The HDTV receiver will be directv receiver no choice there. I probably wont invest in a Blu-Ray DVd player until the prices go down.

The home theater seats, my wife and I have been debating back and forth as to whether to get a reclining sofa or real home theater seats. The furniture seem to be the bulk of the budget also.

The original budget of $3000 might be up to $5000 to $6000. Stay tuned...

I would like to hear about your system and why you chose your components.

Marantz SR685

2008-03-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

Im selling my old receivers. I bought this in 1999-2000 for my original home theater. Its time to part ways with it and upgrade to a good one for the soon to be home theater. Back in the day this was one of the best receivers. I used to blast Ice Cube and Dr Dre off of this receiver with my Infinitive Technology speakers.

Check it out on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300206017974&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Mark Down

2008-03-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

Having markdown sale at my DVD store this weekend. Ends Monday at midnight. Very good deals on DVDs. Buy it Now pricing not auction. 25% off all DVDs in my inventory.

Check out my store now

Myer Emco Sale

2008-03-08T20:36:00.000-08:00

Checked out the Myer Emco "Warehouse sale" last night. They had a sony projecto for sale 720p for $999. Im still deciding if I want to go 720p or 1080p. The myer emco told me that if I had a 1080p TV then it would make my home theater look worse at 720p. I should go with a 1080p projector. that would up my costs another $1500 to $2000. I did see some used/display model yamaha and pioneer A/V receivers on sale. I need to do a price comparison to see if they are worth it. I think I might pick one of those up instead of paying full price for a new one further down the road.

My questions for this week are 720p or 1080p for the projector ?
Used display model A/V receiver (good quality) to save some money or pay full price on a quality A/V receiver later down the road ?

Information Gathering

2008-03-04T08:04:00.000-08:00

Ive been gathering information. The HT guys mentioned this HT - http://www.flickr.com/photos/shieldss44/sets/72157594165801536/

Pretty impressive for a home theater that was in the $3000 range with a projector !

HT Guys

2008-02-26T17:11:00.000-08:00

Im a big fan of the HT Guys. I recently started listening to their podcast.

Check out their web page - HT Guys Web Site

Subscribe to their podcast - HT Guys RSS Feed

They told me to check out this home theater. It is a 10' x 18' room. Looks like there is hope for a project for my home theater.

http://picasaweb.google.com/hdtvpodcast/MattFromLyndhurstOhioSTheaterRoom

New Home Theater Design and Build First Post

2008-02-26T17:01:00.001-08:00

I have decided to post my home theater design and build process. My wife recently gave the green light for me to convert one of the rooms in the house into a home theater. The room is approximately 10 x 13. A little small but doable.To supplement the cost, we are off loading some of the DVDs in my collection on Ebay. I have over 600 DVDs, right now about 100 are on Ebay now, but I eventually will list mostly all of them on there. I will keep the ones I like. I've narrowed down the ones I like to about 200.

Check out my site for a link to the my ebay store - My Used DVD Site
Subscribe to my RSS feed on the site for constant updates to my store. DVDs start from $.99 to $5.99 to buy it now.