I need help

[ddh72172]

My wife and I built a new home back in October and had them run the wiring for speakers and displays in several rooms. We have speaker and volume control wiring run to the master bedroom, master bathroom, kitchen and covered porch. We also have speaker wire run for book shelf speakers in family room as well as wiring for display over fireplace/mantle. Unfortunately in a cost saving effort at the end of construction, we decided to leave all of the wiring rough and most was just covered with plates. We have a bundle of wires coming out of the wall in the cabinet next to the fireplace as well as wires hanging out of the wall over the fireplace. I had an a/v person come out to the house and give us an estimate to make all of the connections with a display for approx $8000. I am sure he was throwing in a lot of extras that I do not need and was hoping to put together a decent, yet affordable, system on my own. I understand the basics of wiring so feel pretty confident I can make the necessary connections. My problem is knowing what connections to make where and what components I should be using. We would like to start with a display over the fireplace and maybe add speakers and v/c for the porch. I have an older Onkyo receiver that may work, but I am not too sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Midcow2]

My wife and I built a new home back in October and had them run the wiring for speakers and displays in several rooms. We have speaker and volume control wiring run to the master bedroom, master bathroom, kitchen and covered porch. We also have speaker wire run for book shelf speakers in family room as well as wiring for display over fireplace/mantle. Unfortunately in a cost saving effort at the end of construction, we decided to leave all of the wiring rough and most was just covered with plates. We have a bundle of wires coming out of the wall in the cabinet next to the fireplace as well as wires hanging out of the wall over the fireplace. I had an a/v person come out to the house and give us an estimate to make all of the connections with a display for approx $8000. I am sure he was throwing in a lot of extras that I do not need and was hoping to put together a decent, yet affordable, system on my own. I understand the basics of wiring so feel pretty confident I can make the necessary connections. My problem is knowing what connections to make where and what components I should be using. We would like to start with a display over the fireplace and maybe add speakers and v/c for the porch. I have an older Onkyo receiver that may work, but I am not too sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

How much do you really want to spend ? In other words what is your budget and what do you wnat to include in it: speakers, subwoofer, AVR, DVD, TV ?? What model is your Onkyo AVR ?

 

[ddh72172]

On the TV looking to keep it around $1200. I have had my eye on a Vizio 46" LCD at Costco, but not sure if it is what I need. I have some DCM shelf speakers I will probably use. I am not home, so not sure on the Onkyo reveiver model number. I do know that I bought it in the mid-90's. As far as ceiling speakers and v/c go, I have no idea on price. I ultimately will need a total of 7 ceiling speakers, 4 v/c's, 1 display, 1 receiver (if onkyo will not work), possibly a universal remote, port for all of the speaker wire, etc. I would love to be able to do everything for under $3000.

 

[bandphan]

which model DCM?

 

[westcott]

I recently did a master bedroom upgrade for about the same money. Here is what I bought.

42" Panasonic Plasma (not as good as a Pioneer but close for a lot less)

Denon AVR 688 (inexpensive but has HDMI support and Dolby Digital 6.1 with auto calibration)

Oppo Digital - OPDV971H. I actually had a Denon 910 DVD Player but the Oppo is what I would have bought had I been without an extra player in the house. You might find a deal on a Samsung BDP1200. It is an excellent SD player and BD player.

DishNetwork HD PVR 662

Harmony Remote. Whatever you can afford. I have three of them and they really make the wife happy. Makes operation a snap.

Speakers. I would stick with maybe a 3.1 system, at first. Quality speakers are expensive and deserve a greater investment than most are willing to consider. Do some homework in this area and start making some appointments with dealers. The Canadian Research Council has helped a great deal of mfgs make some incredible sounding speakers. I would start my homework on those mfgs that use the CRC for development. Revel, Infinity, PSB, Axiom, etc. Not a fan of in wall or ceiling speakers. I would avoid them unless space is at a real premium.

Sanus AV rack

Tripp Lite HT10DBS surge suppressor and signal isolator.

Blue Jean Cables

Good Luck and keep us posted on your progress.