Home Theater Systems- Pictures, articles, topics, installations and audio components information will be added regularly to this page. Built in cabinetry and custom millwork, home theaters and home audio systems are popular and there are many levels of quality in products on the market to choose from.

Projectors & Screen Buyers Guide for Home Theater Systems

Home theater systems are very popular today and have become a standard in most American households replacing the older console televisions and stereo components of the past. The home theater usually includes a larger size flat screen TV or projector type that projects the picture on a screen as in a movie theater. The combination of components can include – a DVD player, CD player, preamp receiver, satellite receiver, cable broadcast media, amplifiers and speakers. This collection of components make up a home theater system or media center. Commonly called the family room the home theater is the center of household entertainment and used by all family members for viewing programming, DVD movies and listening to music. The size of the viewing screen in home theater systems the center attraction followed the audio components, speakers and accessories.

Projectors provide the largest viewing area possible and the size can be adjusted by the distance from the projector to the screen surface. There are many choices of projector quality and range in price from $500 to $50,000, of course the higher price units are for video enthusiasts and audiophiles. I chose to install a projector for viewing in my pro home theater system because of its versatility, large picture and easy viewing. I also installed the projector screen in the soffit of the wall unit so it can be stored in place inconspicuously and not cover the wall unit furniture. The custom cherry wall unit fits well into the rooms décor and the home theater room appears to be normal family room with individual large leather recliners, until…. the lights are turned off, the screen is pulled down, projector is on and then it feels, looks and sounds like a cinema movie theater. The screen is 110” diagonal crisp & clear, the sound is true THX with thunderous bass delivered by 5000 watts of power out of five randomly placed 15” speakers in custom enclosures. The rest of the audio system speakers are powered by three 1200watt and one 1000watt audiophile quality power amplifiers.

Some of today’s popular projectors are

• Mitsubishi HC1500 $1,495
• Sony BRAVIA VPL-AW15 $1,299
• Panasonic PT-AX200U $1,999
• Sanyo PLV-Z2000 $2,495
• Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 UB $2,999
• Panasonic PT-AE2000U $3,499
• BenQ W5000 $4,999
• Mitsubishi HC5500 $4,995
• Sharp Notevision XR-10   
• NEC LT35 $1599

Projector screens are available in many sizes, quality and price range also. I choose to use the Da-Lite 73639 Video Spectra 1.5 Deluxe screen. To select a screen size choose the format or ratio, usually 16x9, for which your projector setup will be - HDTV, Multi, Square or widescreen format. View screens are available in electric retractable and manual retractable with mountings for ceiling, wall or floor mounted. If the screen space is going to fixed you can order custom or precut sizes for fixed application. Front projection screens are the most common but they cans be obstructed by objects between the projector and screen. Rear projection screens project the image from behind the screen to avoid obstruction and the mounting of the projector is out of sight. One other option is to use screen paint and paint the surface of a wall your self. For upscale home theater systems I would not recommend using the room’s wall surface as a screen. After you have invested a lot money in the other components of this home theater room, the screen is not the item to go inexpensive. Select a moderately priced view screen and the results will be worth your viewing.

Speaker Cables and Wire- Cheap, Expensive or Audiophile Grade, DIY Installation

Are those expensive speaker cables worth it? Can you really hear the difference? What are audiophile grade speaker cables? You may be asking yourself those questions as you are setting up your home theater system and hooking up your new speakers. So what’s the real story? For the average listener choosing the right type of speaker wire to use in their audio system can be very confusing because of the many controversial reviews, ratings, testimonials and opinions about the quality and cost of speaker cables. An audiophile may have a better understanding of the different grades of speaker cables and know what they want as they have handpicked every component in their high end audio system to reproduce the type of music they love. There is no standard wire quality specification for rating speaker wire or cables for home or auto use. Speaker wire basically falls into the same category as electrical AC wire or soft jacket power cable. Chances are you will be looking to purchase new speaker wire for your system whether you do it yourself or buy premade speaker and audio cables.

No doubt you have painstakingly taken some time to go to different audio dealers to listen to various types and brands of speakers before you reached a decision on the ones you want. Finally the day has come, you tell the salesperson you are ready to purchase your new speakers and can’t wait to take them home to set up and listen to them. Just when you thought the decision making was over, the salesperson has a smile on his face and says “you’ll need some audiophile quality speaker cables to match your speakers”. The salesperson starts to recommend some upgraded cables which he makes a hefty commission on. As he continues the memorized sales pitch “this hi tech expensive oxygen free copper pair of cables will time align and enhance the sound of your speakers, add brilliance to the highs and the special dynamic core subwoofer cable will deliver tighter bass” as you stand there speechless not knowing the difference.

At this point you are thinking to yourself how much will it cost to hook up and listen to the already expensive speakers you just bought? There are many opinions about “quality” of speaker wire and you should have some knowledge about the different types of cable so you can decide what’s best for you. This article contains some facts about speaker cables and wire that I have learned from my own experience and is not intended to be a review or comparison of brands of cable. There is no percentage cost per speaker or per system that relates to a budget price to spend for cables. Only you know what your ears hear and if there is a real difference in the level of sound quality that relates to the price of the cable and your listening pleasure. At minimum, use the recommended gauge of wire for the length of the cable run so the amplifier is able to deliver the full wattage to the speaker. Beyond this minimum requirement if you are not satisfied with the sound quality of less expensive cables then you should compare others and select what meets your expectations.

Audiophile Grade Speaker Cables- What is the difference of audiophile speaker cables and wire? In my search to find the definition of “audiophile quality “relating to cables and wire, I found there is no standard or specification that applies to the term. It is a hot marketing adjective keyword that is falsely used to describe, rate or imply that a product is a higher quality audio component or accessory. Here are some cable manufacturers product descriptions for audiophile speaker cable;  “high performance for connecting precision speakers”, “cable designed for audiophile music”, “audiophile grade high articulation audio cables”, “top materials and technology to reveal capabilities of high end systems”. A true audiophile knows the difference in the quality of cables, wire and interconnects and is usually willing to pay a higher price for better performance and listening pleasure.

When planning a home theater consider having built ins or custom wood cabinetry or furniture made to install all the components in to furnish and decorate the room.

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Wire Management and Power Distribution

Before installing your home theater entertainment unit or built in wall unit, plan for routing of speaker cables, wire and audio input output interconnects. Make a list of the type of cables needed and the cable lengths required to run between components. If you are planning a surround sound system plan where to route the cables to rear speakers and subwoofer. Install at least two 110v ac circuits- direct home runs to the component area of wall unit to distribute power to all components. If accessible run wires ins basement or crawl space across room to surround and rear speakers from underneath.

Build a new home theater in the family room with HD or HDTV built in. The custom wall units or entertainment center in your home stereo see the photos, pictures and photo picture when you are planning or draw plans of custom wall unit with a  projector and hidden projector screen with the other electronic components like amplifiers, speakers, audiophile, high end audio, surround sound, in wall speakers. Place the  subwoofers, subwoofer either powered subwoofer, speaker setup install the speaker wire, wiring, hook up, install, installations videos with LCD, Plasma, flat screen tv, receiver. Add sound system, audio, video, cables, connections, DVD player, satellite TV, remote control, power conditioner, surge protector, tuner, fm tuner, satellite radio, HD radio, music cd, storage, TV, audio video, HDMI cables, HDMI, electronics, components.