My newest Hometheater project

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Last Friday the last bit of construction(sans painting which will be done later) on my dedicated home theater in my bay area home was completed. So my kids presented me with a challenge that I just could not pass up.

Usually I would just go out and buy new equipment to outfit the room. However this time my kids challenged me to equip this room with equipment we already have in my studio warehouse. The only piece of equipment I am allowed to buy, is a projector because all of the projectors in the warehouse are tubed based, and this home theater has to be low maintenance. I also wanted 3D, and none of my tube based projectors can do that. Most of my systems are multipurpose system that handle multichannel music and movies. This room will be dedicated to just home theater only. I already have a dedicated room in the front of the house that has a dedicated 7.1 music system.

Yesterday early in the morning, my kids and I set out to the equipment warehouse to pick out some equipment. My choices will surprise some, but I have a very specific goals I am looking for for the first phase of this room.

Display:

Until I get my projector, I chose my old trusty custom 65" 1080p big screen television with 9" CRT's. There is no panel made as of yet that can equal the picture quality of this set, not even the famous Kuro's panel that I also own.

Speakers:

This is the shocker, but I chose them for a specific reason. I chose 3 realistic Mach One's that I had recapped, new drivers and crossovers installed. I chose them because they sounded really good after the upgrade, and it mimicks pretty closely the speakers installed behind the screen on the dubbing stage. For the left and right surrounds, I chose Klipsch RS-3II, For the rear surround speakers, I chose a pair of Klipsch RB-5. For subs, I chose two Velodyne 18" passive subs My reason for using these speakers are because they all sound darn good together(very cohesive for being different in design), has pretty darn good sound quality, can play very loud and cleanly, and has that big theater sound but sounds better than a movie theater system.

Amps and receiver:

I chose two Onkyo M-504 I recently had recapped to run the front channels, two Onkyo M-501 that I am going to have recapped to run the surrounds, and two mono-block California Audio Lab amps (500 watts a piece) to run the subs. Since I did not have anymore dedicated pre-amps, I chose a Onkyo TX-NR709 that I purchased for a home theater in another house that I never installed(decided to go separates with that system) as a pre-amp.

Acoustical treatment:

To work with the receivers Audyssey calibration system, I am also going to drag some RPG diffusiors, absorption panels, diffusor panels, and RPG Diffusor Systems Skyline panels.

While the challenge did not allow me to buy any new equipment except the projector, I can upgrade and improve anything in the system that I want to.

My boys challenge of not purchasing anything new was based on the fact that we have a nice size warehouse full of equipment that is in very good order, but has no place to go as we have pretty much upgraded all of the systems I own.

Once I decide on the projector I want(and my kids are setting the budget) then I will paint and decorate the room to look like a real movie theater. The room will sit six people without any seat being within six feet of any walls.

I cannot wait to take up the challenge of putting this together myself without the help of a professional installation crew.