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How to Build an Affordable Home Theater
Home Theaters are no longer only for the rich and famous. Recent advances in HDTV (High Definition Television) technology have made owning a home theater within the reach of the average American household. This manual is a simple step by step guide that will walk you through the process of building your own Home Theater without breaking the bank. Home Theater is about re creating the experience of being at the game without paying $10 for a beer and getting stuck in the parking lot for an hour after it's over. It's about re creating the experience of being at a concert without having to pay $1,000 a ticket to sit in the front row. It's about watching a film in the comfort of your own home on a system that blows your local Cineplex away. The Home Theater experience is created by a group of components that include a projector that shoots a High Definition image on a screen up to 200" diagonal.
Flat screen's are too small and too expensive and are for TV rooms.
In a recent visit to Best Buy, I found the following.......
60" Pioneer Plasma $6,500
70" Plasma $33,000
You can purchase a Sony VPL-VW60 projector that will shoot a HD image up to 200" diagonal for only $5,000!
Sony VPL-VW60
The diagram below is an illustration of the incredible value available from a front projection Home Theater system.
(Note: Screens are measured diagonally bottom left to top right.)
Technical Terms
To my knowledge, there is no industry on the planet that uses more technical jargon. Below, are several key terms defined in simple English.
Aspect Ratios:
An aspect ratio is the ratio between the width of the picture to the height of the picture. Until the mid 1950s, all films were produced at a 4:3 aspect ratio. The advent of television forced the motion picture industry to up their game and produce all motion pictures in either 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 aspect ratio to enhance the movie going experience. Television was broadcast in a 4:3 ratio until the recent advent of HDTV and all broadcasts after February 17, 2009 will be broadcast in a 16:9 ratio. HDTV format refers to a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Picture Resolution:
1080I is the best available HDTV picture resolution
1080P is the best available picture resolution produced by a Blue Ray disc player
The 1080 stands for the number of horizontal lines of resolution in the picture
Surround sound:
Surround Sound refers to the application of multi channel audio to channels "surrounding" the audience. The most common format for Home Theater is 5.1 which consists of...
Two channels for speakers at the front-left (L) and right (R)
One channel for speaker at the center-center (C)
Two channels for surround speakers at the rear-surround left (LS) and surround right (RS)
One low-frequency effects channel (LFE)
Dolby True HD and DTS HD are latest formats from Dolby Labs and DTS respectively. Both sound standards are called "loss less" formats in that they are capable of recreating the same sound quality of the original studio masters.
How to Design and Build a Home Theater
Step One: Find a Suitable Space
Room should be at least 11' wide, 16' long and 8' high.
You should be able to close off room to sound. Trust me when I say you are going to want to play the sound louder than you ever dreamed and you don't want to worry about waking up Aunt Gertrude, the kids or neighbors when you're playing a concert DVD at night.
You need to be able to block incoming light as the black in the projected image comes from the black in the room and light from the outside will wash out your image.
Rectangle spaces are best as square spaces tend to do funny things with sound.
Look for the out of the way room in your home that no one likes or visits.
Find a room that looks like this and you're good to go!
Step Two: Draw the Space
Draw out the space on graph paper you can download here. http://www.buildyourowntheater.com/files/Graph%20Paper.pdf
Scale: 1 square on the paper = 1 square foot.
Draw out the space and mark doors and windows. The door should be always be located on the side of the room. Ideally, the screen should be placed on the shortest wall in a rectangle room although sometimes you will have to compromise as we did in the drawing aove to accommodate the door being on the side.
Step Three: Draw in the screen
The screen is where you will be focusing 99% of your attention when you're in your Home Theater so draw it in first and build everything around it. Using industry standard calculations below, I have determined minimum and maximum distances to the screen for two common size screens 106" and 120". Only use these calculations as a guideline (when was the last time you brought a tape measure with you when you went to your local Cineplex) and always go with the largest screen possible.
Minimum distance to screen = 1.5 x screen diagonal
Maximum distance to screen = 2.5 x screen diagonal
Screen Screen Screen Minimum Distance Maximum Distance
Diagonal Width Height to Screen to Screen
106" 94" 52" 156" (13') 264" ( 22')
119" 104" 58" 180" (15') 300" (25')
Based on the room dimensions above, I decided to draw a 106" diagonal screen (94" wide x 52" high) and place it on the wall that would allow for the door to be on the side of the room.
Step Four: Draw in Home Theater Furniture
Before you begin specifying furniture, determine how many people you expect to be entertaining in your theater. Home theater recliners are the most popular type of home theater seating. You can buy them from a number of manufacturers in all kinds of sizes, shapes and price points.
Home Theater Recliners
Sectional couches will work great also.
Sectional Couches
Another viable option, especially for kids and teenagers, is to put a row of bean bag chairs in the front row, the kids can sit on them and the adults can use them as footrests.
A great resource for inexpensive bean bag chairs is www.target.com/
If you don't want to spend allot of money on your home theater furniture, go to a Goodwill Industries store. http://locator.goodwill.org/ Buy chairs/couches then cover them with dark colored slip covers or sheets.
The theater below was designed incorporating furniture moved from another area of the house and large sized bean bag chairs purchased from Target. It comfortably seats 8.
You will also need an AV cabinet for your Home Theater components. Buy one that's no more than 2' high and make sure you have ventilation to cool your equipment. Well designed affordable media cabinets are available at http://www.ikea.com/ and http://www.westelm.com/
Step Five: Pick a Theme for Your Home Theater
Now it's time to have some fun. As your Home Theater will be separated from the rest of your home, it doesn't need to match anything. What's your favorite sports team? What's you're favorite movie? Favorite rock band? Are you into really into science fiction? Go for it! This is probably the best opportunity you will ever have to do something wild with your home interior.
Once you have selected a theme for your Home Theater, follow these steps to execute the design:
•1. Search the Web to find information specific to the theme you have chosen for your Home Theater. Download logos and team colors then take to your local paint store for color matching. Make sure you use only dark colors so no powder blue walls as bright colors will wash out your picture. Think deep colors like reds, and purples.
•2. Finish the room out with themed posters banners and other materials consistent with your theme. If you have a sports themed theater, you may be able to find old stadium seats from your team's stadium on www.eBay.com/
Make your Home Theater look like a theater so here is a lost of don'ts:
No popcorn machine. When was the last time you saw a popcorn machine in a theater? They're in the lobby.
Sorry guys I know it sounds like a great idea but no beer fridge. They make noise, create heat and a light goes on when you open the door which will cause a distraction.
Your Home Theater will be a place for you escape so clock or phone.
Step Six, Select Home Theater Components
Through a combination of testing these products personally and exhaustive research, I have found the following list of components to be the best value available in the market today. In several categories, I suggest more than one option to help you stay within your budget. I would also encourage you to do your own research. Two great sources of independent product reviews are www.hometheatermag.com/ and www.cnet.com/
Front Projector: Sony is the biggest player in the front projector market. Two favorites are:
Sony VPL-VW60 Sony VPL- AW15
Sony VPL-VW60: Home Theater magazine says the "SonyVPL-VW60 is a" great projector at a great price". It projects a beautiful1080P image and sells for about $5,000.00.
If you're tight on money, the Sony VPL- AW15 is an incredible deal at about $1,000. No kidding, no typo! Although this model is only capable of projecting an image in 720P format, (1080 is best) Home Theater Magazine says "No rear projector or flat panel at anywhere near the cost can offer a big screen experience like this!"
Screen: Goo Systems manufactures a kit that will allow you build your own high quality screen on your Home Theater wall for around $240.00.
http://www.theaterthings.com/store/projector-screen-paint-goo-kits-4779,Product.asp
HDTV DVR: DIRECTV had the best selection of HDTV programming and is best positioned to be the market leader in next generation video on demand services that will enable you to download HD programming from the Internet directly to your HD DVR on demand.
DIRECTV HD Receiver DVR
Blue Ray Player: A Blue Ray player plays an image 5x the resolution of a standard DVD and will play your old DVDs as well.
In addition to its very popular gaming system, a Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) has a built in Blue Ray player, is internet compatible for firmware updates and sells for $400.00. The only drawback is that the unit is currently not compatible with Universal remotes although that is supposed to change in the near future.
Receiver: The receiver is an important component in your home theater system as it connects and switches your audio video sources and powers your surround speakers. Make sure you purchase a receiver with the following minimum capabilities.
Minimum 90 watts/channel
Dolby TRUE HD and DTS HD compatible
1080P Compatible
At least 2 HDMI 1.3 inputs and 1 HDMI 1.3 output.
Denon AVR-2808CI Onkyo TX-SR606
The Denon AVR-2808CI has all the capability you will need to create a great home theater experience for about $1,000.00.
The Onkyo TX-SR606 has a little less power than the Denon (90 watts vs. 110) but is the deal if the century at $400.00.
Surround Speakers: Below are two options. Select the one that works within your budget.
Option #1 B&W More Money, Better Sound
Center Channel
B & W HTM 62 $350.00
Front Right and Left
B&W 684B $550.00
Left and Right Surround Speakers
B&W 685 $500.00
Sub Woofer
Velodyne DLS 3750R $500.00
Option Two: Onix X, Budget Option
Center Channel
Onix X CS $219.00
Left and Right Front /Left and Right Surround
Onix X LS $165.00
Sub Woofer
Onix X Sub $219.00
Projector mount: The projector mount will be the trickiest component to select due to a number of variables including; the height of the ceiling in your theater and the projector you select. I recommend waiting until you have your home theater design finalized and you have selected your projector then contact www.projectorpeople.com/ and send them a copy of your home theater design drawings along with the model number of the projector you select then let the experts help you select the correct projector mount.
Universal Remote Control: The great thing about purchasing components is that you can switch out individual items if you want to upgrade your Home Theater in the future. The downside is that you end up with a stack of remotes that you will need an advanced degree to operate. A universal remote control can be programmed to operate your entire Home Theater (even your lights) with the touch of a button.
The Universal MX-900 is a great model that sells for around $350.00. Note: You will need to have your installer program.
Universal MX-900
Even if you don't build your own theater, buy a programmable remote control. They're that cool!
Step Seven, Draw in your Components
Now that you have an idea of what components you would like, it's time to draw them into your space. Below, is the key to your drawing.
RBD: Your Receiver, Blue Ray player and DIRECTV boxes. Place below the center of your screen in AV cabinet.
S: Sub woofer speaker. Place anywhere along the front wall.
LF, RF: Left front and right front speakers: Place close to the corners of the front wall and angle toward your audience.
C: Center channel speaker: Mount on top of your media cabinet and as flush with your screen as possible.
LS, RS: Left and right surround speakers: Place on the side walls just behind your audience.
P: Projector: Placed in the rear if the room and attached to a projector mount which is secured to the ceiling.
Step Eight: Draw the Front Wall Detail
Now that you have the major components placed into your drawing, it's a good idea to draw out the front wall to double check everything will fit to your satisfaction. Remember, the front wall is where you will focus 99% of your attention so you will want to get it right the first time!
Step Nine: Mark Power and HDTV Locations
Your Receiver, DIRECTV, Blue Ray player, Sub Woofer and Projector will need to be powered so mark their locations with a "P".
Step Ten: Create a Wiring Plan
Thanks to new products like the HDMI cable, wiring your Home Theater is significantly easier than in the old spaghetti wire days. You will need the following types of connections:
- HDMI 1.3 (High definition multimedia interface): HDMI cables connect your Blue Ray and HDDVR to your receiver and your receiver to your projector.
HDMI 1.3
- Speaker Wire: Don't buy the $100/foot gold and platinum version but don't cheap out either. Use a minimum 14 gauge speaker wire (smaller number means thicker cable) and UL CR3 specification cable for in wall applications. Monster cables are the industry leader. www.monstercable.com/
Monster Sub Woofer Interconnect
- Surge Protector: Don't let a random power surge or lightening strike blow up your Home Theater fun. Buy a high quality Home Theater surge Protector.
Belkin F9A702-08
You can have your Home Theater installer provide you with the necessary connections and save yourself some work. Another option is to use the wiring diagram below and your Home Theater design drawing to estimate how many linear feet of each type of connector and purchase yourself. Always buy more than you think you will need.
I recommend running wires under carpet, carpet tiles or rugs. Also, there is no rule that says you can't put a rug over carpet so you can hide wires without ripping up your carpet. I am a huge fan of carpet tiles. You can install them yourself and you can pull individual tiles up to run additional cables or wash a tile if your buddy spills beer. www.flor.com/
Carpet Tiles to Hide Wires
Although in wall wiring is cool, it's expensive as you have to rip open your walls and if something goes wrong it's a hassle to repair.
Step Eleven: Address Home Theater Acoustics
Surfaces like hard wood floors and drywall tend to echo sounds and ruin your experience. Go to the center of your room, clap your hands a few times and listen for reverberation. If you hear echoes, you need to put a rug on the floor, or hang curtains to deaden the room. Make sure you make notes on your plan. Don't stress out too much about acoustics in the planning stage as you can always add acoustic materials in the future.
Step Twelve: Create a Plan to Block Light
The black in a projected image comes from the black in the room so you need to keep your theater as dark as possible. Don't do something crazy like dry walling over windows, it's going to look stupid from the outside. I suggest logging on to www.target.com/ where you can purchase black out curtains and rods for as little as $29.99 each and install yourself. Mark where you will need to block incoming light from windows on your plan.
Black out Curtains purchased from Target
Step Thirteen: Lighting Plan
Low voltage halogen lighting is ideal. I recommend using low voltage track lighting from Lamps Plus. They have a great, simple, easy to use online tool to help you create a lighting plan for your space at http://www.lampsplus.com/ generally, 1 low voltage halogen light pointed to each corner of a Home Theater (indirect lighting) will work perfectly.
Make sure you connect your Home Theater lights to a Lutron Maestro IR dimmer switch so you can program into your universal remote!
Track lighting form Lamps Plus Lutron Maestro IR
Although you can install much of your home theater yourself, hire a professional electrician to install your home theater lighting and switches.
Step Fourteen: Soundproofing
You're going to want to play your Home Theater's sound loud and soundproofing must be addressed. Take a look at what's adjacent to all 4 walls, ceiling and floor of your Home Theater. Add an extra layer of drywall to walls and ceiling where necessary and cover the floor with soundproof material if needed.
Step Fifteen: Project Budgeting
Now that you have the basics covered, it's time to create your Home Theater project specifications and budget. Based on which components you choose and any additional work you will need to get done, your theater can cost as little as $7,500.00.
You will need to hire a professional Home Theater installer to connect and fine tune your Home Theater components and you may need to hire an electrician, painter or drywall contractor as well. I have had great success finding pre screened contractors through the use of an online service called www.servicemagic.com/ Service magic is an on line contractor referral service that will get you three bids on anything you need to get done. Although Service Magic says all contractors are pre screened, please check references/licenses/insurance yourself and make sure all work is compliant with your local building code.
Here is a budget based on our example Home Theater project along with exact product specifications. As Home Theater components change constantly, you can download the most current version of this document at
http://buildyourowntheater.com/?page=Member%20Only%20Resources
Step Sixteen: Building Your Home Theater
Phase One; Order DIRECTV Service. It may take a few weeks to get DIRECTV out to your home so call now. Show the installer your plan so he will know where to install two coaxial cables. Have the DIRECTV installer give you your HDDVR and store it in a safe place until you are ready to have your theater components installed.
Phase Two; Construction: Here is where you have any sound proofing, painting, electrical or lighting work done. I recommend using Servicemagic and remember to check references and licenses.
Phase Three; Order and Install Furnishings: This includes seating, AV cabinet, rugs and carpet and black out curtains.
Phase Four; Purchase your Home Theater Components: Prices are continuously falling and products are generally in stock and so wait until the last minute to order your components.
Phase Five; Have your Components Professionally Installed and Fine Tuned: Find a qualified installer using Servicemagic.com in the process I described earlier.
Step Seventeen: Have Fun!!!
Blue Ray Discs: NetFlix.com is a great resource for renting Blue Ray discs without having to leave the house. Make sure you rent discs in the Blue Ray format when possible although standard CDs will play on your Blue Ray player as well. The one knock on Netflix is that it's hard to find new releases on the site so go to http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=sv_d_2/102-1868205-1795342?ie=UTF8&node=404332 to find out about new releases then go back and rent from Netflix or purchase outright on Amazon.com.
Event Planning: Having a Home Theater transforms movie night or watching a game into an event. You can purchase customized tickets to your event on http://www.ticketmaster.com/customtickets
How to be a Good Host: Before you screen a film, give a brief speech like this. "Welcome to the Smith family cinema. Tonight we will be showing "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" starring Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. Please turn off your cell phones, don't bug anyone and enjoy the show."
I hope you; your friends and family have years of fun with your Home Theater!
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