Audioholics Showcase Home - First Look

[gene]

<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: arial"><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/AudioholicsShowcase.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 125px; HEIGHT: 94px" alt=[front2] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/front2_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>After 13 grueling months, the Audioholics Showcase Home construction has been completed.&nbsp; Now the fun begins.&nbsp; <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: arial">We painstakingly chose what we believe to be the best equipment for each application to get the job done.&nbsp; It is our intent to fill this home with bleeding edge technology for delivering the very best in home theater and video to satisfy even the most critical Audio &amp; Video HOLIC! </SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: arial"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: arial">[Audioholics Showcase - First Look]</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></SPAN></P>

 

[Sheep]

Why can't we make the pictures larger? Its hard to see everything.

A very nice house indeed. What are you going to do when it become obsolete?

Gene you should really hire set-up guys. Like me for instance

SheepStar

 

[Naves74]

Which DLP set are you guys using for the Family room?

 

[gene]

This was just an informal glimpse at what we are doing. The main articles will have full scale pictures when you click on them.

I went with the new Mitsubishi 52" 1080p DLP in the family room and the Spectre 37" LCD 1080p in the master bedroom. The main theater room gets a Yamaha LPX-510 LCD front projector and a Da-Lite 106" screen.

As for obsolescence, thats not an issue as gear can always be upgraded. The structured wiring is there to support pretty much anything.

 

[surveyor]

Hopefully helpfull sugestions?

I would use conduit for your wiring, with a pull string left in each one when finished.
I would run at least two 20 amp circuits to any room that will contain amps.
I suggest a good wire labler is a must.
I like the use of what appears to be 2 x 6's in your support walls!

Congradulations, on what is taking place!

 

[perato]

Is there a reason you chose 1080p displays for your secondary and tertiary systems but chose only a 720p display for your primary system? I know Audioholics reviewed it favorably in Aug. 2004. 1080p projectors are expensive but if you can afford 3 systems, you can probably afford a newer projector.

Any reason why you chose Auralex over other brands (RPG, Sonex, Real Traps, etc.) or even do-it-yourself treatments?

Are you going to install isolated floors and/or ceilings?

I look forward to your future articles on the subject. Good luck!

 

[gene]

I would use conduit for your wiring, with a pull string left in each one when finished.
I would run at least two 20 amp circuits to any room that will contain amps.
I suggest a good wire labler is a must.
I like the use of what appears to be 2 x 6's in your support walls!

Congradulations, on what is taking place!

My projector run has conduit so I can always add more wiring. Though I already have: 2 HDMI cables, 1 set of Component Video Cables, 3 Cat5e.

I have 3 20A circuits in the main home theater room including my main test are which interlinks with the control panel.

All of the cables have been labeled at their termination points but I was at the whim of my builder who used a sharpe on most of the panel but did a decent job marking the wires with labels incase I lose track.

This house is constructed from sterner stuff for sure.

 

[gene]

Is there a reason you chose 1080p displays for your secondary and tertiary systems but chose only a 720p display for your primary system? I know Audioholics reviewed it favorably in Aug. 2004. 1080p projectors are expensive but if you can afford 3 systems, you can probably afford a newer projector.

Any reason why you chose Auralex over other brands (RPG, Sonex, Real Traps, etc.) or even do-it-yourself treatments?

Are you going to install isolated floors and/or ceilings?

I like the Yamaha LPX-510 and at the distance I am sitting from the screen (18ft) 1080p advantages will be minimum at best until we have true HD content at 1080p at least. Realize this whole system is fully upgradeable. I ran 3 2x6 studs in the ceiling so I could mount a series of projectors should I ever decide to do face off reviews. I am ready for the future so bring it on!

Auralex along with the other brands you mentioned are all great options. I personally feel Auralex are a bit more visually appealing though I am a fan of RPG and may look into them for additional treatments (if needed). I had excellent dialog with an Auralex engineer so far and he has a good grasp of what I am trying to achieve in this room.

I don't quite have an isolated floor as I was at the liberty of my builder. I do however have some pretty good measures inplace:
1) Double R11 insulation
2) Plywood floorboard
3) Fiber rock
4) 8lbs carpet pad under berber carpets

I plan on doing diffusive/absortive ceiling treatments and will write more about this in a formalized article.

 

[gymphboi]

Gene,

Looks great!

One question...

What is the component that is sitting on top of the receiver in your picture of "system 2"?

It looks to me like a digital EQ. Is it?

Thanks,

-Tony

 

[gene]

What is the component that is sitting on top of the receiver in your picture of "system 2"?

It looks to me like a digital EQ. Is it?

Yes its the Behringer 2496 PEQ. My sub is located pretty close towards the corner cavity of the room and I had to squash two bass modes. This helped considerably.

FYI; this is the family room system, not the main theater room.

 

[r.beckman]

Stuffed Structured Wiring Box

Gene, as I look at your second picture (stuffing the box) I'm quite skeptical that you will have room to add components for termination of all these wires. Did you or did you have to put in a larger enclosure?


My house was mostly pre-wired (not to that extent) and I am slowly installing each sub-system. Now I see new innovations that will greatly simplify these challenges in the future. Have you seen the latest Netstreams addition (HDTV) over CAT5 wiring? Here is a link:

http://www.audioholics.com/news/pressreleases/NetStreamsvideooverIP.php

This will help a lot for new homeowners/builders.

I also like the idea of the Polkaudio IP speakers. With an integrated system like NHT has delivered and the IP network backbone even the most challenging room environments will be easier to tame. Of course, right now these capabilities are "pricy" but with competition and volume that will be moderated too!

 

[gene]

Gene, as I look at your second picture (stuffing the box) I'm quite skeptical that you will have room to add components for termination of all these wires. Did you or did you have to put in a larger enclosure?

This was certainly a challenge one that almost caused my builder to miss my closing date since I refused to close on my house with it being left like that.

I am publishing an article today on this but here is a pic of the solution I came up with along with my builder.

 

[gene]

Here it is.

Audioholics Showcase Home - Structured Wiring

 

[clthoma2]

Connectors and Cables

Were you able to get your 1694A cables without connectors from Blue Jeans?

Also, once the cable was run, what type of f-connectors did you use behind the wall plates? What female F-to-RCA connectors did you use in the wall plates? I know you used Canare for your RCA connectors on the room side of the wall plates.

I can't seem to find Speakercraft connectors/plugs/wall plates anywhere?

Looks great so far.

 

[gene]

Were you able to get your 1694A cables without connectors from Blue Jeans?

Also, once the cable was run, what type of f-connectors did you use behind the wall plates? What female F-to-RCA connectors did you use in the wall plates? I know you used Canare for your RCA connectors on the room side of the wall plates.

I can't seem to find Speakercraft connectors/plugs/wall plates anywhere?

Looks great so far.

Yes Bluejeans sells in bulk. I received 3 1000ft spools of the 1694 cable. You can even get it in different colors.

SpeakerCraft part#'s are atrocious. I ordered all of this stuff through DBL Distributing whom are extremely fast and reliable from my experience. Attached are pics of the parts with model#'s for your reference.

For COAX: Terminate the cable with Fconnectors, then use Fconnector to Female RCA.

 

[Ifly]

Gene: 1) Are the cables for your front three speakers, of your main theatre room, all the same length? 2) Are you using one or two cables per speaker (of the 10-gauge speaker wire)? 3) What do you mean by 10/2? 4) I'm thinking about using 53 ft per speaker, will that hurt the sound or do I need to use a different gauge?

 

[got_hp?]

looks awesome!

since im not far away, do you need any help?

will fellow audioholics be able to stop by for a demo?


im also building a new house this year, although im still at the slab phase. im going to try and bribe the super into letting me run my own speaker wire, since i have some prior low voltage experience. i wont be running a fraction of what youve got, but i would like to run some high quality cable for my surrounds and subwoofer, and also possibly do a complete in-wall 5.1 setup for my bedroom.

 

[highfihoney]

i gotta give credit where credit is due,you guys doing the wiring must have an extreme amount of patience,just looking at all that wiring makes me dizzy,i wouldnt know where to begin

 

[Jack Hammer]

It's a pretty impressive setup. I really like how you've made it possible to switch equipment for review purposes relatively pain-free. That is definately thinking ahead.

Now, if I could just get a similar setup...

 

[gene]

Gene: 1) Are the cables for your front three speakers, of your main theatre room, all the same length? 2) Are you using one or two cables per speaker (of the 10-gauge speaker wire)? 3) What do you mean by 10/2? 4) I'm thinking about using 53 ft per speaker, will that hurt the sound or do I need to use a different gauge?

No and its not important to keep the cables the same length. Just don't make 1 cable 10ft and the other 1000ft and you will be fine. I am using 2 cables per speaker since I am biamping the front speakers. 10/2 means 10AWG, 2 conductor. If you are using 53 feet, I recommend using 10/2 and you will be fine, the lower the gauge, the lower the resistance and hence less losses.