Patman's Home Theater Page
Welcome to the Home Theater of the Pat Cave
Creation Date: 10-26-1999
Last updated: 6-8-2003
Hi, thanks for checking out my home theater page. Home theater is a
disease that afflicts the upgrade bug in all of us in varying degrees.
I simply can't believe all the hardware that has flowed in and out of
my home theater setup this past year and a half. I've decided to make this
page a home theater diary of sorts. This will always be an ongoing project,
always under construction. But it's also a lot of fun to see if upgrades
can be made inexpensively and still improve either the video or audio
portions of the home theater experience. Therein lies the challenge.
As you can see below, I have a terrible room to enjoy home theater,
but I'm making the best out of it. Also, I have very little
flexibility where anything goes and still maintain some semblence
of 5.1 audio in this living room of mine. You'd think this setup would
sound bad, but it's okay.
These are pictures of my old home theater
setup. I call it my Beta version of the home theater setup.
The main problem was having the center channel too high
above the TV set. Note: the camera flash washed out the video
picture on the screen for the most part on all the photos, it looks
better than that in real life. Just click on any of the thumbnails
to get a better look from a few different angles:
Once you click on a thumbnail photo, leave that window open, the
rest of the thumbnail photos will show the larger photo in that window.
I was in the midst of deciding how to make a large flexi-rack to
house my home theater components and solve the problem for me:
Center channel speaker placement. Here's my
Flexi-Rack page on the now scrapped/defunct plans for a
flexi-rack (due to no easy way to prevent bowing in the middle
of a 44" span of MDF.
So what I decided to do was go with a black steel wire rack that I
found at Target for $80 (I'm sure it'll go on sale in a few months,
much to to my dismay, but the flexi-rack solution would cost me the same
in raw materials alone). The rack is called WireTech, made by
Sensible Solutions, Inc. The rack dimensions are: 74"x48"x18",
which was just perfect for my application. The rack was quite easy
to assemble, and for its purpose, very stable. What I like about
this solution is that it's light weight, and increases the amount of
air flow circulation for all the components. There's a slight bit
of wire sway when DVDs and LDs are popped in and out of their trays.
I may try to stabilize the legs on the bottom with some strips of
MDF painted black with strategically placed holes in the strips.
Note: I did have to solder in some add-on length to my speaker
wires. That took about an hour or so. Total time to break down
and hook up everything again took about an hour as well.
In-Progress-Mess:
Below is a picture of the mess in my living room as I convert over
to the new rack:
Date (10-26-1999) These are pictures of my brand new home theater setup, which I now
call: Revision 1.0.
Just click on any of the thumbnails to get a better look
from a few different angles:
Problem Resolution:
The main problem of having the center channel sit too high
above the TV set is now solved. When I play DVDs in DD 5.1,
the center channel audio information sounds better and closer
to the main action on the TV screen. Before, it was a little
distracting with the dialog coming from a speaker that was
sitting 1.5 feet above the TV. Now I have to somehow clean
up all the exposed wiring, but that's a project for another day... :)
Look Ma, less wires!!!
Updated (11-10-1999) That day has finally arrived. These are
additional pictures of my cleaned up home theater setup. I
wrapped up most the wires (speaker wires together in one bundle,
and the other wires in other bundles, using velcro tie-wraps).
Just click on any of the thumbnails to get a better look from
a few different angles:
Look Ma, I'm in debt!!!
Updated (3-12-2000) Wow, 5 months have passed, and let's see what's
changed in the home theater setup:
- 1. Swapped out my Pioneer CLD-406 LD player for a Pioneer DVL-909, which
is a combination DVD/LD player.
- 2. Added a Yamaha APD1 AC-3 RF Demodulator (adds LD Dolby Digital 5.1
playback capability).
- 3. Added a Harman Kardon PA5800 5-channel 80W/ch amp. I use 3 channels
to power my 3 front speakers, and 1 channel to power my new subwoofer.
- 4. Swapped out my Infinity BU2 100W Powered Subwoofer for a 12" Shiva
driver-based do-it-yourself subwoofer that was built by someone else.
- 5. The front speakers are toed in toward the sweet spot, and pulled out
from the walls. This improved my 2-channel music imaging, and also helped
a bit with the 5.1 audio from DVDs and dts LDs.
- 6. Changed the furniture around so I have the Throne, a recliner
that also swivels, for my sweet spot in my home theater setup.
- 7. Added over 60 dts LDs to my LD collection.
- 8. Added 2 barstools to use as rear speaker stands (4-28-00) which raised the
rear speakers to a more enjoyable level.
I went a little nuts and took quite a few photos of the new setup (I needed
to finish off a roll of 36 exposure film). Just click on any of the
thumbnails to get a better look from a few different angles:
Equipment and setup:
Speakers:
Furniture setup:
Look Ma, Huge Subwoofer!!!
Updated (8-6-2000) Wow, another 5 months have passed, and let's see what's
changed in the home theater setup:
- 1. I created a pretty big subwoofer, which I've dubbed the
Sunosub.
- 2. I am now using my Harman Kardon PA5800 5-channel 80W/ch amp. I use 2 channels
to power the 2 Shiva 12" drivers in the Sunosub.
- 3. Swapped out my other 12" Shiva
driver-based do-it-yourself subwoofer that was built by
Dan Marx just because
I wanted more low end extension.
- 4. Sold off about 15 dts LDs from my LD collection,
but finally picked up the Ronin dts LD. I think I added about 15 DVDs
to my DVD collection,
so it's a wash.
Since I now have a digital camera, I can go a little nuts and take
tons of photos of the new setup. Just click on any of the
thumbnails to get a better look from a few different angles:
Equipment and setup:
Speakers:
Furniture setup:
Software - DVDs and LDs:
Look Ma, new stuff!!!
Updated (6-8-2003) Wow, 3 years have passed, and I'm amazed at what's left of the
original home theater setup from last time (i.e. not much):
- 1. I have upgraded my reciever to an
Outlaw 950
Preamp/Processor (using the HK PA5800 5-channel 80W/ch amp to power my 5 speakers).
- 2. I created new front speakers and
stands (unfinished), and
new rear speakers, and
a new center channel speaker.
- 3. I created another big subwoofer a couple of years ago, which I've dubbed the
Sunosub II, and is
powered by a 250W plate amp.
- 4. In December, 2002, I upgraded the TV to a Panasonic PT-56HX41P, which is a
HDTV-ready TV with the 4x3 aspect ratio (since I tend to watch more TV, than
widescreen films, but that gap is rapidly closing).
- 5. With a HDTV ready TV, I also picked up a
Samsung SIR-T165 HDTV receiver, and it also has 480-to-1080i upconvert capabilities, which
allows me to watch anamorphic DVDs on my new TV since I can apply the 16x9 squeeze to the
T165's 1080i output. I also enjoy being able to watch HDTV programming now.
- 6. I replaced my DVD player with the Panasonic RP-91, known for it build quality, and for
its upscaling of non-anamorphic DVDs, plus it offers DVD-A playback capabilities, and progressive scan DVD playback.
- 7. I added another DVD player, the JVC XV-S65GD, which has been modded for all region play,
and it does PAL-to-NTSC video conversion as well. It also offers progressive scan DVD playback.
- 8. I also added 2 Panasonic Showstopper ReplayTV units (both upgraded to 120 GB hard drives).
The way you watch TV changes dramatically once you add a PVR to your system. You won't know how you lived
without one (or three) of them once you own one of them.
- 9. I upgraded my LD player to a Pioneer CLD-D704, its video quality is step up
from my previous unit.
- 10. With all the new hardware, I needed more space, so I created a tall rack to stack all
of HT gear out of 3 black steel wire racks (found at Target), taking pieces for the wire
shelving as needed.
- 11. The new HT rack meant that I had to move the Subwoofer over to the right side, and that
required me to do some wiring (for the speaker cables) inside the walls and up in the attic.
- 12. I bought over 100 LDs in a "going out of business" LD sale and add them to my
LD collection,
I think I have added about 200 DVDs to my
DVD collection in the past 3 years.
Just click on any of the thumbnails to get a better look from a few different angles:
Equipment and setup:
Speakers:
Added 8-18-2000: Just for kicks, I took a suggestion from the
HTF to create mattes
to block off the black top and bottom areas of letterboxed movies.
For most RPTVs, it's just not possible to keep this area really
black and dark, but with mattes, it is not only possible, but it
really enhanced my viewing pleasure from my old RPTV. It's a
very cheap upgrade. The black cardboard cost me around $4 and
the 3M Plastic Velcro strips cost about $4 from Target in the
hardware section. Here's some photos of the details and the
results:
Just click on any of the thumbnails to get a better look:
The view without mattes:
The view with mattes:
More screenshots with mattes installed:
Just click on any of the thumbnails to get a better look (Unfortunately, my
digital camera sort of washes out the center of the screen shots, so the photos
don't look as good as the actual video quality would suggest:
I needed to burn some camera film for the remainder of the roll,
so I took more screenshots then I intended to take, but here they are.
The photos still didn't come out quite the way I thought they should
have come out (too much brightness in the center of the photo, but they
are indicative of an average RPTV (the convergence on the bottom left
hand side has always been loose, and it shows, plus I do see line
structure). Maybe I'll upgrade my TV next year. FYI: I used a box
(as a tripod) on a table and took the screenshots with a timer with no flash.
Just click on any of the thumbnails to get a better look (added The Phantom
Menace shots 5-5-2000):
(Audio was calibrated using the Avia Guide to Home Theater DVD - highly recommended.
Video display was calibrated by Gregg Loewen, also high recommended!):
Retired equipment:
From 2002/2003 upgrade:
From March/August, 2000 upgrade:
- JVC RX-884 receiver (I wanted dts and more power)
- Pioneer CLD-D406 LD player (I wanted better video playback and freeze frames.)
- Infinity BU2 100W Powered Subwoofer (I wanted more low end oomph!)
- Subwoofer: Conventional ported Do-It-Yourself 12" Shiva Subwoofer.
(Added 5-5-2000: Video was calibrated using the Video Essential LD):
- A/V Receiver: Kenwood KR-V87R
- TV: Toshiba CZ27V51 (27")
- LD Player: Magnavox CDV-484
- VCR: Sanyo VHR-9433
- Tape Deck: Technics RS-B48R
- Turn Table: Technics SL-J2
- Front speakers: KLH
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This web page was a featured
home theater for October 1999 and August 2000!
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Ego-Meter:
So how many have visited this page since 10-17-99?
23146
Thanks for stopping by! Now go watch some DVDs!
