How I Did it



How you can do it...
       
 

 
 
Step 1) Sketch out your concept based on your room.
  
Step 2) I put 2 inch pipes in the walls and ceilings for all my cables. I used pipes so that future audio-video wiring changes could be made.
       
   
       
 

Step 3) Sketch out your ideas for audio wire placement.

  
Step 4) Sketch out your ideas for lighting placement and how you want them to work. Do you want them all on the same switch or do you want some of them to work on a separate switch?
       
   
       
 
Step 5) Sketch out your ideas for video wire placement.
  
Step 6) Rear cabinets. There is an area behind the cabinets, with a side access door, for wires and cables.
       
     
       
  Step 7) Don't forget the electrical outlets. All electric to the theater (outlets for HT equipment) should be dedicated and balanced. I also suggest you use a battery backup(s) and a good power conditioner.    
       
   
       
  Step 8) A not-to-scale wire frame rendition of the rear cabinets.  
Step 9) Same image as Step 8 with shelf ideas, rear cabinet holes for wires, top access cut-outs for wire routes to and from the left and right cabinets and the equipment list for each cabinet.
       
   
       
 
Step 10) Simple Photoshop version of room layout.
  
Step 11) Same as Step 10 with seating deck and chairs.
       
   
       
 
Step 12) Same as Step 10 with the video cable route.
Step 13) Same as Step 10 with the audio cable route.
       
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Step 14) I had blue prints made of the basic room dimensions.
Step 15) I had blue prints made of the basic room electrical setup.
       
   
       
  Step 16) Interior construction.   Step 17) Exterior construction.
       
   
       
 

Step 18) Original front to rear completed view in 1997.

The side and rear speakers were JBL 4312's (yes they were old but they were also good). The projector was a used Harmon CRT. I had to tweak it quite often due to convergence drift. I later (end of 1999) replaced it with a Runco 933 (Awesome projector as seen in the Step 20 photo).

Step 19) Transition (1998) front to rear completed view.

I added theater style seats, flat black paint, curtains, sound proofing materials (curtains are also great for sound proofing) and some other odds and ends. The center channel and main channel speakers were Legacy's.
       
   
       
 

Step 20) Today's (August 2009) front to rear completed view.

The side and rear speakers were replaced with Legacy's, the rear cabinates were cut down to accomodate the placement of the rear speakers, the rear doors were changed to French doors with interior blackout curtains and several pieces of equipment were replaced and updated.

   Step 20) Today's(August 2009 )rear to front completed view. Sub-2 now resides at the right rear.
       
       

FINAL THOUGHTS:
A home theater is always an ongoing project. Updates, upgrades and replacements are inevitable. A home theater is a great do-it-yourself project. As you can see, I started with an idea. The idea became a series of sketches. The sketches became a serious of not-to-scale designs and wire frame drawings. For those of you who prefer a big screen TV over a front projector, the process is the same.

If I didn't have the answer to a technical problem, I found and asked someone who did. Don't be afraid to crawl through your attic, build your own floor deck, do your own wiring, etc. My cabinet building skills were questional at best. I found someone who would build mine (and save me money) as a side job. I found the chairs in a home theater store. They were remodeling. The seats were being replaced by other furniture. They sold me nine (a row of five and four) seats at $25.00 each. Deals are out there. You just have to hunt them down.

Don't try to buy all of your equipment at one time, unless you have an endless pit of money. I started with used amps, a new Lexicon CP-1, used speakers, a regular TV and later a and a big screen CRT TV. As time went by, and as my finances improved, I slowly replaced my components. I chose not to design a contemporary style theater. I wanted my home theater to remain true to my great memories of a traditional movie theater.

Clearly, you don't need an engineering degree to do what I did. And no, I do not have an engineering degree. My collage studies were in film and photography.