New Home Theater...At Last!

Hi Guys. I am finally done (kind of). I still have to do a few little things and get the wires managed but the new home theater/media room is finally done.
Please click on my signature and let me know what you think. This forum has given me 90% of the info to put it together and I thank all you guys for the help.

HERE are before pics as the previous owners had the room just before we bought it.

Great job! How does the 2910 sound with multichannel music? thinking of picking one up myself.

Thanks! The 2910 sounds great.I used to have a Sony and it is a definite upgrade. I am primarily HT but I do also listen to music. I have read that the 3910 may be better but then I also have read that people could not hear a difference between the two. My only complaint with the 2910 is there are some macroblocking issues especially with dlp sets but a recent firmware upgrade seems to have fixed it pretty much.

Looks great, wingnut.

lookin' good 'nut,i just know the car stereo fix is comin' soon.

who didn't put a coaster under the gatorade?

Ha..that would be me. Born in a barn...Hey Painttoad thanks - long time no read :p

Wow, love your HT wingnut! Very nice. You can tell the planning and detail that went into creating such an inviting space. Looks like you could whip around that loveseat to add more seating in the rear - yes?

Your rear surrounds are ceiling mounted; does that work well vs. direct radiating box speakers? Did you have to do anything special for installation into the ceiling rafters?

Very impressed (and jealous! :p )

Hi Audiolib, thanks I was a little worried about the in ceiling rears but they actually worked out pretty well. Since I was having the ceiling done and insulated I figured it would be better space wise. Polk makes boxes to put the speakers in before you install them but they are sold separatlely and are not cheap- So the only thing special I did was just cut out the hole (or my handy guy did) and put them up there.

If they had been fronts or side surrounds I probably would have sprung for the enclosures but they sound pretty good up there. The tweeter is also 'aimable' so you can point it direcly at the sweet spot or away for a more diffuse sound.

I am not able to get to the link.

Hi wingnut,

That's what I thought, that in-wall/in-ceiling manufacturers provide enclosures to house their speakers. Do you feel that you had to add a dB or two to the rears to balance them w/o the enclosures? How big/deep are the enclosures that they recommend?

Guess I'm wondering how much the enclosures add to the mix... of course, you opted not to use them, but do you have any feel of what may be added by having them?

I am trying to move to 7.1 and am debating whether I should consider surface mounting my side/rear speakers or install them as in-wall/in-ceiling. Like you, I have my reservations. That type of installation is an act of commitment and deciding that you are not happy with them once they are installed is a bummer at best.

On the other hand, hiding them may greatly effect the wife-acceptance-factor (WAF)

It was definitely a commitment- especially with the tongue and groove ceiling but thankfully it worked out just great. I just demoed my HT last night for a good friend of mine who had been telling me for the last two months that his Yamaha and Klipsch combo would blow my Outlaw/Sherwood/Polk HT away. Well.... at the end of the night he told me that he would not even let me hear his HT anymore. He is in the market now to upgrade to Outlaw, etc.

As far as the db level , the rears are set to about 4db higher than the surrounds (calibrated with an SPL meter) but I am not sure if that would have been any different with the enclosures. Just make sure that you have the spacing and distance right. You may just want to experiment with bookshelves (I did) first to get an idea. It won't be exact but it will help you to know how far back and apart you ike the back two for your room. Also try to get them timbre matched for your other speakers. Whatever you do, 7.1 is awesome and I highly recommend it.

Well wingnut, 7.1 is coming soon as I placed my order for a 990 last night.

My biggest struggle will be placing the sides and rears for sure. Both sets of speakers that I will use are Def. Tech bi-polars: BP-10s and BPX. The problem is, that I have windows on both sides of the room where hanging the sides (BPX's) would be optimal. I've struggled with placing my rears to the sides previously and got tired of drilling and filling holes in the drywall -only to find that the sound wasn't right.

That's why I am contemplating in-wall/in-ceiling placement as an option. Although, cutting an 8" hole may be more of a repair than filling a couple of screw holes? :rolleyes:

My left surround is hanging right in front of a window and you are right , it is not optimal but you can still acheive great sound. I think that the blinds actually help to act as a sort of diffuser- maybe a little-

Maybe you can wire them up and have someone hold them (or a couple of people) to give you an idea of where they would sound best? Or, depending upon how heavy or fragile the speakers are, temporarily attach them to the ceiling and experiment with placement. Once you cut those holes it's set in stone..well kind of. You can always fix it but what a job. :p

Let me know how you like the 990. I have never heard it but if it sounds anything like it's Uncle Sherwood you will be thrilled.

How are those bipolar speakers? Do you have a lot of room for the fronts? I have read that the placement on those is tricky. When I was hooking up my HT just as a dry run I had a Polk FX30 bipole/dipole speaker placed as my center (just checking the connections) and I actually really liked the effect. It sounded pretty neat.

Wingnut...

placement can be tricky on the bipoles, especially those with the built-in subs, but when you find the right spots they sound fantastic. It's definitely a different sound than a direct-radiating speaker, but they give a fantastic sense of space in both music and HT.

Wingnut, I am not able to see the picture. Can you please put it up again?