Building A Home Theater? Start Here. (1 Viewer)

[Bob Bielski]

200 amps is plenty. Put a lot of seperate circuits in the room for your equipment. If you can afford it you could put a totally seperate power supply just for your media room. How big is your system? Also better sound if you set up long way. Display at long end. Going to work now will post some links for you tonight after work.

 

[Ben kirk]

200 amps is plenty. Put a lot of seperate circuits in the room for your equipment. If you can afford it you could put a totally seperate power supply just for your media room. How big is your system? Also better sound if you set up long way. Display at long end. Going to work now will post some links for you tonight after work.

Thanks Bob, I haven't decided on a system yet, was looking at Onkyo, but am seriously out of my element.

This is what I would like to have.

An 80"+ QLED, or OLED TV if available (not a projector fan at all)
Room behind the TV for all of my components for the clean look (cable box, gaming consoles, amp. etc)
Surround sound (done correctly)

I am totally new at this, and have limited knowledge on the equipment needed. I don't want to spend a fortune, but don't want to regret anything later either.

 

[Bob Bielski]

Saw a fantastic Onkyo I AV receiver in recent Widescreen Review. Affordable powerful and high current as well. I will post info tonight for you.

 

[Ben kirk]

OK, thanks.

 

[Bob Bielski]

file:///C:/Users/ROBT/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/IE/FTN9MYQP/213pdfs_213yht02[1].pdf
This is a pdf from Wide Screen Review from John Dunlavy on speakers and home theater design. I don't know how to give you the link. Let me tell you the issue anyway.
Issue 213 January 2017.
He talks about speakers and the parameters that can and will make all the difference. I understand what he is talking about because all the room correction software put out the same kind of signal containing these parameters. Audessey sounds the same on their test signal as my ARC system signal. The difference is in the algorithm. Mine is much stronger. My last piece of gear as an AVR was an Onkyo at about 85 watts. It performed well but my speakers are very ineffecient. About 89 db 1 watt and 4 ohms. The AVR couldn't give me large bass at high volume. I also own a 3 head cassette deck from Onkyo and never experienced any problems with that unit either. My point is Onkyo is a respected brand and personally I like the quality. The article from John talks about the room for a home theater and he explains very well why you should design the room this way. I am going to follow his plan in my own build when I get to the 2nd floor in my remodel. His speakers are very accurate and his experience is more than 40 years. I trust his judgement. I will give you the Onkyo in the latest Wide Screen issue. I went a little crazy and got seperates. I got an amp from Anthem that is stable down to a short curcuit. It is super high current and can drive any impedance on any speaker with no sweat. Output transistors will not fry up on a super low inpedance and all the current flows to drive the speakers off a cliff if you want to go deaf. I got an Anthem P5 Statement. I got it used and 5 yrs old for half price of a new one. I got a brand new Anthem AVM60 for a pre amp processor to go to Atmos and DTS X. The Onkyo I wanted to tell you about is the TX-RZ920. It is THX certified and has custom high current output. 135 watts. If I was on a budget this is what I would get. Google it and drool. Anthem also has some AVRs but pricey.
Brian has left no stone unturned. I can't begin to thank him enough for the amount of information he has posted. He has helped all of us to build our dream theater. Information is how we get there. Thank you Brian for your time and extremely valuable information. I hope I can contribute in a small way to help all.

 

[Ben kirk]

Thank you for the info! I will get that PDF and start reading. I will also check out that onkyo. This might be the very first piece of home theater equipment I buy

Which speakers would you recommend?

 

[Bob Bielski]

I would go with SVS. The bang for the buck. Also their sub is unbelivable. Also high quality and affordable. you will have no regrets. I am using old ADSL1290/2s only because I grew up with these and I like silk domes. I got a bunch of used speakers and had them reconditioned by a guy from the old factory Rich So. Once again cut corners and got extremely flat response speakers for dirt money and blow away alot of new gear. SVS is really good. and if you want to get super good check out Double Impacts from Tektonics. They have a home theater package and is affordable and very efficeint. Keep reading and when you are comfortable go for it.

 

[Bob Bielski]

I think you should go with new gear to get a good warranty. I am old school and am ready to retire. I built a center channel to match my 4 surrounds. One thing that is important is to have all speakers the same and all mains at ear level. And if you are going to go to Atmos or DTS X object based you need to read this and get all speakers full bandwith and similar drivers and crossovers and aimable to the seating.
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technol...tmos-home-theater-installation-guidelines.pdf
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-specifications.pdf
I hope this helps you.

 

[Ben kirk]

The TX-RZ920 is awesome. It will take me a month to figure it out. The manual looks promising though.

 

[Ben kirk]

I think you should go with new gear to get a good warranty. I am old school and am ready to retire. I built a center channel to match my 4 surrounds. One thing that is important is to have all speakers the same and all mains at ear level. And if you are going to go to Atmos or DTS X object based you need to read this and get all speakers full bandwith and similar drivers and crossovers and aimable to the seating.
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technol...tmos-home-theater-installation-guidelines.pdf
https://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-atmos/dolby-atmos-specifications.pdf
I hope this helps you.

I have no idea what Atmos or DTS is yet, so I will read up on it.

 

[Bob Bielski]

Ben please do not follow my suggestions as gospel. I thought you knew something. Go slow and read. For someone new 5.1 surround might be fine. and afffordable. The latest with height channels is state of the art new and expensive. i don't want to stear you wrong but you are in for a mindblowing experience.I also would go for the OLED for a display. State of the art right now.

 

[Bob Bielski]

Building in the basement is going to help you with resonant frequencies. The foundation and concrete is less excitable than wood or other material. This will be most notable with bass. Very low frequencies.

 

[Ben kirk]

Trust me, I always listen but verify. The receiver is everything I was looking for and I already liked the Onkyo. I looked at the svs speakers, but will take more time on them. My house isn't started yet, so I still have time to figure out how I want everything.

Thanks for your help so far.

 

[Ben kirk]

Ben please do not follow my suggestions as gospel. I thought you knew something. Go slow and read. For someone new 5.1 surround might be fine. and afffordable. The latest with height channels is state of the art new and expensive. i don't want to stear you wrong but you are in for a mindblowing experience.I also would go for the OLED for a display. State of the art right now.

The OLED has some burn in issues at the moment, but I liked the 77" wallpaper TV. May wait and see if they get that fixed.

 

[Bob Bielski]

If you calibrate the set and run in in a linear mode not clipping it will last and not burn the screen. Spears and Munsil has a pattern to check for clipping, it is the bomb. It is the only way to run your display whatever version it may be.

 

[Ben kirk]

Thanks, I'll look into it.

 

[Ben kirk]

Thanks, I'll try that.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

wonderful collection of information Brian. Thanks for posting so much helpful info.

You're welcome.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

I'm a complete n00b at this, and had no idea there was so much involved. I'm having a house built and the media room will be included in the basement. Some questions for you guys and gals.

1. I saw a video where a guy had a hidden room behind his tv and I think that would be a god idea, any issues? Maybe 3' deep and the width of the room.
2. My room can be almost any size but I was thinking, 9' Ceiling, 25' long and 15' wide. So with the hidden room, the room will be 22' long, or should I keep it 25'?
3. I'm going to have a 200 AMP fuse box will I need another one just for the media room?

Anything else that's required, of have any other suggestions I need to think about?

Yes, if you have your equipment up front, then having an area where you can easily get behind it will be immensely helpful for you many times over in the future.

Best to stick to the ideal room ratios if you can.
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/co...-home-theater-start-here.334769/#post-4147211

A 200 amp box should be enough for most people. However, if you're planning on having many circuits powering your room then you may want to break your HT circuits out into a dedicated sub-panel.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

Brian has left no stone unturned. I can't begin to thank him enough for the amount of information he has posted. He has helped all of us to build our dream theater. Information is how we get there. Thank you Brian for your time and extremely valuable information. I hope I can contribute in a small way to help all.

Again, you're very welcome sir!