Just thought I'd share some pictures. My 2 setups are quite satisfying to me. Compared to many of yours, they are far more tame...I'd like to add an Oppo to each room, and like some of you know, I'm looking at possibly front towers in the HT room and maybe a Rotel or NAD CD Player. But these things have to wait a bit longer. Anyways, to the pictures. Comments, questions, criticism welcome. Suggestions are even better!

A more completed home theater room...this room is in the attic of my house. I have a very old house (~112 years old) so every room needs a purpose! When we bought the house, it had rough wood floors, dark purple paint, and no heat. All that's been resolved. A/C is going in this spring, probably a Mitsubishi "Mr. Slim" model.




Shot of the blessed 1070 and Xbox360 w/ addon HD-DVD drive




Shot of the left front CDM SNT and my now-growing movie collection




Shot of the single rear RBH speaker (thanks for the advice Gonk!) and the rear left CDM SNT. In the background is my latest completed DIY, the half wall from hell. I'll never attempt drywall again. Thankfully the wife likes beadboard. I move the speaker back exactly three feet when I watch movies and back to the couch when not movie watching. Being married has it's caveats.



Close up of the center channel sans cover...




A couple shots of the downstairs living room equipment...Sony 36" HD CRT, Yamaha RX750, Atlantic Technology 2200 satellites (bipoles for the rear channels), and, not shown, an Earthquake Supernova 10". Smaller system for smaller room. But fantastic HT sound. I'd recommend AT speakers for anyone doing a second, more family friendly room.




One of the 2200 series surrounds...

Nice looking setups, RedSI.

You know, if you wanted to revisit your wall construction project, you could potentially cut a small recessed "cubby" into that knee wall and tuck the RBH into the shelf just below the cap. Feed the speaker wire down inside the wall and maybe under the carpet, and it'd be a pretty low-profile installation.

I'd be curious to hear what you think of the Mitsu AC system if you do get one. I've spec'd a couple of this little units for some odd spaces recently (none of which are actually in place yet), and the technology is intriguing. You might also check into Daikin to see if they've cropped up in your market yet - they are a big competitor of Mitsubishi's in the Asian HVAC market, and they have some equipment that is very similar to Mitsu's (variable refrigerant flow, multiple zones sharing a single condensing unit). Both have the potential to be good approaches for adding HVAC to an older home like yours.

The problem with your suggestion for the rear channel is that the wall does not extend far enough to allow for that rear to be centered. It's probably off by 2 feet or so. My friend suggested an in-wall mount as well. Oh well.

I will definitely look into Daikin. I haven't heard of them.

Here\'s Daikin\'s site and a product line card . The FTXS indoor unit is equal to the Mitsu stuff. I've got a local sales rep who is putting a Daikin system in his house, I hear the energy efficiency is remarkable.