Let’s pretend that one day I’ll actually have a home theater… well, should have one in May/June.
I'll definately keep this updated as things progress with the house. Framing should start late this month and we're shooting to be moved in by May.
Originally, I thought the budget was going to be quite nice; enough to accommodate a nice mcintosh amp, denon pre/pro, and some scanspeak fronts, using my current bookshelves for surrounds in 5.1.
Well, the times, they are a changing, and so is my budget. It’s not set in stone, but it definitely has taken a hit. Thus, I’m being more sensible about things, but at the same time, I do want the higher-end gear (honesty, right?).
For now, I’m just trying to nail down the basics.
1.
5.1, no 7.1 I don’t have the budget, nor do I have the need. BUT, I am going to wire everything for 7.1 for resale value/future proofing.
2.
No sound deadening/isolation. This room is the ONLY room on the top floor. I don’t really care if other rooms hear it. I’ll definitely stuff the walls with as much insulation as I can, but I’m not going the route of vinyl and floating walls. I might experiment with bass traps, but that’s probably where I’ll stop. I just don’t see the use in it right now, nor do I have the budget.
3.
Video: Still trying to decide between rear projection (DLP) or front projection. I’ve found a solid Epson projector I like for a good price. But, quite honestly, these guys are somewhat in the same price ballpark. I could get a 72” Samsung DLP (LED) and be done with it. Plus it would go with me. But, the front projection seems like a good selling point, too. Either would be fairly easy to upgrade.
4.
Power!!! I wanted as much as I could get, so this was where I planned to spend some good money. I really like Denon receivers and am considering the avr-
4308ci or
3808ci. Haven’t had a chance to see the REAL differences other than 10w/channel and wireless vs. LAN. I do want auto EQ. Wireless would be nice, but not detrimental (streaming music from PC).
5.
Speakers: I think I can still do a DIY scanspeaker L/R/C setup, but not 100%. Quite honestly, that’ll probably be one of the last things I put in. I could always go the buy it and try it route, with other brands, too. Subwoofer will likely be a DIY JL 12w7 with a plate attached to it. Had even considered going with 2 12w7’s, but that’ll be at a later time. Will pre-wire for this, though.
6.
Construction/wiring. I’m going to run some 2” conduit (father in law has HUNDREDS of feet he’ll give me) for future proofing wiring runs. I’m going to add one of
these for making the runs a bit cleaner, and also add a terminal at every point in the room where I need speaker wire to come out of the wall, rather than just having a hole in the wall with speaker wire, or running wire under carpet. I think it’ll be a nice touch, and won’t cost me much more than $30 to do. I also plan to leave a few boxes blanked out for future upgrades.
The A/V rack will be in the back of the room and house the receiver, BD player, PC, and maybe a cable box.
I’m thinking of running cat5 cable throughout the house to the main rooms, so I don’t necessarily have to worry about wireless. Either that, or I buy a wireless repeater for my router.
Btw, the room is ~ 25x25x8’. Upstairs directly above the garage. Carpeted floor. A few acoustical panels here and there to help smooth out the FR.
If I could do this all for under $5-6k, I’d be VERY happy.
Thoughts, opinions?
