Home Theater Mega Thread

[flamesrule_kipper34]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

just purchased a new hdtv (was using an old sony triniton for daily tv then my hd projector for movie watching).

i have a question for wiring things up.

i will simplify the set up to make the query clear. I have:
- hdtv
- hd cable box
- home theater in a box (receiver)
- All connections to be done using hdmi cables

i want to connect my cable box to my tv, such that i can CHOOSE if i want to use the audio from the tv itself, or my home theater in a box surround sound system.

my initial thought was to connect cable box to my receiver, to my tv. My only concerns with this are:
1) does that mean i have to listen to the audio thru the surround sound every time??

2) does that mean i have to turn my surround sound receiver everytime i want to watch tv??

Thanks in advance for the help.

Connect your TV and Cable box all thru the receiver.

You can choose an option to listen through TV speakers as well from a TV menu is that's what you really want.

And yes if you do it this way to watch TV you'll need your receiver on, but again you won't necessarily have to get sound through your non-TV speakers if you so choose.

[Vulcan]

When I turn my TV on it also turns on my receiver, through ARC. Not all TVs and recievers use ARC but if your does, this is convenient. If I just want sound from my TV, I turn off my receiver and it still passes the video and sound directly to my TV. I think this is called Passthrough. Different receivers have different capabilities.

[bubbsy]

So my set up is all Sony, I connected hdmi thru the receiver and I can watch cable without needing to run on the receiver. When I do turn the receiver the tv automatically routes the audio to the external speakers. Pretty sweet!

Thanx for the feedback.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

When I turn my TV on it also turns on my receiver, through ARC. Not all TVs and recievers use ARC but if your does, this is convenient. If I just want sound from my TV, I turn off my receiver and it still passes the video and sound directly to my TV. I think this is called Passthrough. Different receivers have different capabilities.

HDMI Passthrough is nice unless you're like me and have explicitly told your TV not to have ANYTHING to do with audio control.

I have a similar function through my TV/Receiver called HDMI-CEC which is the same thing as ARC. But I found that the TV would randomly turn off and on, and I ended up disabling it and letting my Harmony remote do everything for me.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by boosterjuice

Hey guys,

Here's my home theatre progress. I hope to have it completed early january.

That is some awesome stuff. Are you doing all the work yourself?

I love the arches in the bar area.

[DownhillGoat]

Didn't really want to post any pics until it's complete, but it's slowly getting there:

[Komskies]

Nice work, looks great so far.

Is the bottom photo taken at night or is that with blackout treatments?

[DownhillGoat]

Bottom pic was taken at night. Double cell shades were ordered today.

[fundmark19]

those are some sexy chairs. Where on earth could you have found such beautiful beasts

[red sky]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

those are some sexy chairs. Where on earth could you have found such beautiful beasts

I sent a PM asking him the same thing! He didn't give me a name as he said the guy was a huge ######bag to deal with.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

those are some sexy chairs. Where on earth could you have found such beautiful beasts

Some guy on CP was practically giving them away.

I'm still debating if I'm going to try to squeeze the 4th one in there. It'd be snug but then I wouldn't see the power cable at the wall. I still have to work on the cable management for them, bracket up the motor power boxes etc, but I think they turned out pretty well down there.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by red sky

I sent a PM asking him the same thing! He didn't give me a name as he said the guy was a huge ######bag to deal with.

I also heard that about him. Chairs are palisers by the way for the rest of CP world! With buttkickers that mysteriously showed up on them as I sold them unknowingly.

I think you should try the 4. Unless you really want that walk way through IMO I think it looks a little goofy. It is really coming together nicely. Are you doing anything behind, like a bar or just leaving it as useable space?

On your drop ceiling how much height did it take away? I was planning on using a drop ceiling but then my neighbor dry walled his and it made it look so nice and big so now I am torn.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

I think you should try the 4. Unless you really want that walk way through IMO I think it looks a little goofy.

It's tough to measure but I think if I put all 4 down there I'm going to have an interesting time getting through to the theater area. It looks like it's only going to give me a foot and a half or so. Tough to say without taking it down there.

Originally Posted by fundmark19

It is really coming together nicely. Are you doing anything behind, like a bar or just leaving it as useable space?

There's going to be a bar area. On the second pic, it will be going between the two smaller windows (where the lovely orange ladder is now). A sports bar/flames shrine theme. Still gives me a lot of free space at the downstairs entrance (not shown).

Originally Posted by fundmark19

On your drop ceiling how much height did it take away? I was planning on using a drop ceiling but then my neighbor dry walled his and it made it look so nice and big so now I am torn.

3 3/8" from the bottom of the joist to the bottom of the t-bar. I had 8 ft ceilings so I wasn't too worried about the height loss (and went with dricore instead of a traditional sub floor, so that saved some space).
A few people suggested drywall, but I went with the suspended ceiling for two reasons
- wanted access to everything after. If I want to add speakers for 9.1/11.1, change projectors, or have any plumbing issues it's easy to access without having to rip out drywall or re-surface the ceiling.
- wanted a dark ceiling to avoid reflections from the projector. Didn't really want coloured stipple, and didn't want to just paint the drywall. I think the black panels make it look a lot more theater-ey.

[8sPOT]

kunkstyle those black panels look awesome. Agreed on theatre type look, really nice looking.

[daredevil]

Just a quick heads up for anyone considering chairs.
I found that ordering from the US was WAY cheaper than buying from vendors here. I got a set of 4 chairs for $2700, including shipping, duty and GST.
They are leather Berkline (vinyl sides/back) with motorized recline.

The best price I could find here was more than double what I paid for the same set.

[photon]

Yeah I remember finding that out too when I was looking, the only downside is warranty if something ever goes wrong.

[daredevil]

From what i am lead to believe Berklines have a North American warranty that uses local techs for issues.

[photon]

Nice, good to know.

[daredevil]

Also:
These are the ones I bought in a row of 4:
http://www.theaterseatstore.com/berk...9&category=148
They price matched the seats to another price I found.
Thus the $2700 I mentioned earlier, including shipping/tax.
The shipping was more reasonable because their warehouse is in Denver as opposed to most of the companies who ship from the east coast of US.

Fed Ex dropped them right to my driveway, but wouldn't help me carry dowstairs.

[bubbsy]

am contemplating getting apple tv to be able to stream videos from the imac to my hdtv. i'm curious, if i rent/purchase hd content off it, at 720p, is the resolution good enough to watch on my hd projector?

i watch it at about 112" (diagonal) so curious if the imperfections make the viewability unbearable?

Anyone have some feedback on this?