BabelFish "bites off more then he can chew" HT :)

[BabelFish]

WELCOME!

Well.. Tonight was the beginning of our home theater system. It actually started on Friday. The electrician came over and.. well.. after 8 hours.. we were worse off then when we started. Lost electricity to part of the house and need to pull all new wires in one of the conduits. Something got grounded. uhg. (more to come on that later...)

my HT setup will be:
Fronts: Paradigm Studio 100s
Center: Paradigm Studio CC-690
Surrounds: Paradigm Studio ADP-590
Rears: Paradigm Studio ADP-590
Sub: SVS PB13-Ultra
Amp: Anthem A5
Receiver: Denon 4038
Projector: TBD
Screen: TBD

Never done any construction work myself.. so here goes my nightmare.. My home theater will not be a dedicated room. It will be in the Family Room.

1. First step is to remove the ugly panneling and existing drywall.
2. Run new electrical into the room (upgrading the Amps to 20 amps. Lights and projector on 15amp and outlets on their own dedicated line 20amp) *anyone object to this??? open to suggestions!!!*
3. Put in conduit for speaker wire. Ceiling is a drop ceiling, so I only need conduit to run up enough that it goes above that. After that, just run the wires to where ever I need them. (HELP NEEDED refer to ** below)
4. Replace Windows
5. Add room darkening blinds
6. Replace Drywall (Prep and Paint)
7. Put drop ceiling back together.
8. Cleanup and put up speakers!

(I KNOW I am missing steps).. PLEASE let me know of any tips that I might be forgetting!! I am very new at construction and fairly anxious lol... but what the heck... its only wood... and my life savings... my only house in a fickle market of dropping home prices... I mean.. what can go wrong?? j/k

I will keep this update with our progress.. Pics of the speakers and receiver are soon to come! THANKS FOR READING MY THREAD ON MY HOME THEATER! lol

** what kind of electrical junction boxes do I need for the speaker wires?? I was thinking of something like this for the wallplate.. Is it just normal electrical boxes or is it something special? Do I run conduit to every freakin place that I think I might want to ever put a speaker and then just leave it drywalled until needed?? Thanks!!!

 

[BabelFish]

More pics of the progress

 

[MDS]

I have those very Dayton wall plates from PE as well as one that has 4 binding posts. They mount to any junction box or retro-ring.

Since you will have the room torn down to exposed studs you could use a normal j-box (the type that your electrical outlets use) and nail it to a stud but they can be very tight if you have a lot of wires. I'd use a retro-ring (aka mud ring) instead. A retro ring does not need to be nailed to anything and being open at the back allows plenty of space for wires.

Edit: By the way Monoprice.com sells what look to be identical wall plates for half the price of PE.

 

[dem beats]

this is awesome.. good for you Mr. fish!

 

[ParadigmDawg]

You crack me up Babel. First you are on this site all day every day asking questions and formulating a plan. Then you buy a lot of very hi-end gear and put it in the baby room without ever taking it out of the boxes. Then no one hears from you for 2 months. Now you are tearing up your house and you have yet to even listen to your set-up.

 

[BabelFish]

You crack me up Babel. First you are on this site all day every day asking questions and formulating a plan. Then you buy a lot of very hi-end gear and put it in the baby room without ever taking it out of the boxes. Then no one hears from you for 2 months. Now you are tearing up your house and you have yet to even listen to your set-up.

lol.. I know..I am horrible.. I really am.. my setup won't even talk to me now.. Here is the latest update!!!!!

can we say remote 3-way dimmers for the family room!!! lol.. "Lights, Camera, Home Theater Time!!!!" lol

electrical is pretty much done.. lights are now on their own dedicated 15amp and the outlets are on their own 20amp.. there are also some extra wires pulled (12AWG) in case I need another dedicated line for the HT... Those are just laying there neatly

 

[Audioholics]

can we say remote 3-way dimmers for the family room!!!

Can we say "buzzzzzzz" lol Good luck!

 

[BabelFish]

Can we say "buzzzzzzz" lol Good luck!

Actually.. that has already happened 3 times today.. Good Lord that hurts!!!! Who needs caffeine if you have electricity?!?!!

 

[Johnd]

That's great babelfish. Great equipment, and it looks like the beginnings of a great room. Why the watertight fittings? I hope the electrician isn't telling you that's necessary. I thought I was in Mike C's koi pond for a moment! Keep up the the good work, and keep us posted.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I feel bad for just plugging in my AVR and hooking up all the cables and wires. I should have torn down my walls first.

 

[Davemcc]

You are so lucky the room was panelled. Imagine doing that with drywall, or worse, plaster and lathe. Kudos on the massive undertaking. I'm sure it will be well worthwhile when it's done.

 

[BabelFish]

You are so lucky the room was panelled. Imagine doing that with drywall, or worse, plaster and lathe. Kudos on the massive undertaking. I'm sure it will be well worthwhile when it's done.

Well under the drywall was drywall.. so removing the paneling involved the paneling and drywall. uhg. now we are going to upgrade the insulation.. the current insulation is r-7 and r-11..I know that there is better insulation out now.. so I want to use that because it will help with sound proofing lol.. I KNOW I will need sound proofing

At this point, the room the walls are totally bare.. now for the insulation and find a drywall/tape guy... and the windows we want...

 

[BabelFish]

Well under the drywall was drywall..

I mean "under the paneling was drywall"

 

[BabelFish]

Well, the room is now fully insulated.. I have new insulation in the walls and ceiling. I upgraded the walls from R-7 to R-13 and the ceiling from R-11 to R-30. The walls have 2x4s and the ceiling was 2x10s. I am not sure what the standard was back then but it wasn't doing crap for insulation!

My next step is getting the windows installed and redoing the drop ceiling. I am moving all of the lights to even out the lighting in the room...

 

[acidzerocool]

Any update on the HT?

 

[BabelFish]

So Close

I finally made a PhotoBucket (requested by WarpDrv). Here are some screenshots of the HT as of now. We are getting the drywall done now. There will be more pics later. It has been a huge learning experience.

Video
http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh32/Babel_Fish/Home Theater/?action=view&current=406f6537.pbr

Pics Photo Album
http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh32/Babel_Fish/Home Theater/?mediafilter=images

Slideshow
http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh32/Babel_Fish/Home Theater/?action=view&current=eea61e5f.pbw

 

[westcott]

I do not think you are going to be very happy with your dropped ceiling once you get that subwoofer up and running. The whole ceiling is likely to rise and fall with every bass note, squeaking an creaking. Even doors opening and closing can cause this annoyance.

I suggest a drywall ceiling instead. I also suggest you set up your system so you know what sounds best in the room before permanently running power and wire. Especially the subwoofer placement.

Separate circuit for the subwoofer is always a good idea. They suck the power and are prone to interferance from other devices.

I commend you for doing the work yourself but as others have suggested, you need to set up your system and calibrate it before making a final decision as to where everything should be placed.

 

[BabelFish]

Yeah.. if it was an enclosed room then I would be concerned about the dropped ceiling but there is an opening into the family room that doesn't contain a door. That opening leads into the dinning room which leads into the kitchen. So far we, with the testing, we haven't had any problems. The drop ceiling was already there so it was cheaper to leave it than try to replace it.

We did setup the speakers before we put up the braces or the conduit. I would hate to put that stuff up blind. I also bought an 18ft cable so the subwoofer could be placed in all the possible areas with cable to spare.

Thanks for the tips

 

[Warpdrv]

Great Job there Babel... Glad to see some pics of your work...
I guess I missed your posting here...

I would imagine that you have drywall up by now... that has to be satisfying, and look forward to reviews...


Keep us posted...

 

[BabelFish]

actually the people that are putting up the drywall got delayed.. Drywall is set to be put up tomorrow morning. I am installing the Vapor Barrier tonight. I can't wait to have that drywall up! We are fairly close to picking carpet and the wall colors are all picked out.. Can't wait to get this project done!

Pictures to come shortly