My wife and I are in the process of building a new house, and she gave me the green light to make the game room into a home theater smile I'm planning on setting the room up for 7.1 sound with a front projection system. Budget is a concern (given that I'd like to stay married) so I'm looking for a mid-range setup with maybe a few perks. I'd love to hear your suggestions on my current ideas.

The room:

The room is 17' x 17'. It is basically in the back corner of the house on the 2nd floor. The plans have the room open to the 2nd floor landing, but I've already asked the builder to close off the room and install a set of solid-core doors. The two outside walls will have the standard fiberglass insulation, and the other two walls will be empty cores. The wall construction is standard 2 x 4 with sheetrock covered with a knock-down texture.

Should I fill the other two walls with fiberglass insulation? Is there some sort of sound-proffing material I should consider (under / over) the sheetrock? What about between the 2nd and 1st floors under the game room?

I plan on having the surround speakers pre-wired. What wire should I use, and where should the speaker wire come out of the walls? I'm considering Ultra Cap THX rated in-wall cable.


The equipment will probably sit below the screen - this will reduce the cost of the speaker wire for the mains / center, and the DVI cable vs putting the equipment in the corner.

I also plan on having 1 1/2" conduit installed in the ceiling to run a DVI cable to a projector. I will have the electrician install a dedicated circuit for the amp, one for the other equipment, and one for the projector in the ceiling.

Any other considerations for the room itself?

The equipment:

Outlaw 990 pre
Outlaw 7700 amp
Panasonic DVD (current player - will upgrade once the HD DVD situation is settled)
Explorer 8300HD cable box (Time Warner)
InFocus ScreenPlay 7210 projector
Carda Criterion screen

I haven't read much on screens so if someone has a better suggestion, please comment.

I'm planning on mounting the projector on the ceiling about 15' from the screen. According to InFocus' web site, that will give me 99" to 123" of diagonal bliss. Will this work well for the room size? I don't want the feeling of sitting in the front row of the movie theater - I prefer about mid way back in the theater.

The cables:

Ultra Cap THX rated in-wall 12 gauge for the surround speakers
AudioQuest CV-8 (renamed from CV-6) for the main speakers
AudioQuest Type 8 for the center speakers

Outlaw PCB Balanced Audio Interconnect between the pre / amp (don't think I can afford the AudioQuest Diamonbacks - well, maybe I could use a pair for the mains)

Fiber optic DVI cable for the projector (need to be sure 1 1/2" conduit is big enough to get the connector through). I'll have to run a temporary component cable for the DVD player until I upgrade it. I've heard of people having problems with DVI on the 8300HD - any info on this will be appreciated.

The CV-8 cables may be a bit overkill - I might back down to the CV-4's.

I'm completely undecided on coax vs optical for the DVD player and the 8300HD. I have an older AudioQuest digital coax cable I can use for one of them.

The speakers:

Paradigm Studio 60 for the mains (maybe the 100's)
Paradigm Studio CC-570 for the center
Paradigm Studio ADP-470 for the surround and rear
Paradigm Seismic 12 sub

I will probably audition Klipsch and Paradigm - though I've been told the Paradigm's will beat Klipsch hands down. I figure I ought to at least give the Klipsch a shot since I have two degrees from the Klipsch School of Electrical & Computer Engineering smile


Bryan