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Photex
Apr 6, 2009




modig posted:

Zip ties are the solution.

zip ties are not the solution, velcro is.

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Giblet
Jun 19, 2003

Smooth like whiskey

Photex posted:

zip ties are not the solution, velcro is.

Also voting Velcro. Zip ties are such a pain to redo.

I would assume if the slack in most of those components are coiled up they could fit nicely behind the little backbone. Another option is to buy some shorter cables.

Wonder_Bread
Dec 21, 2006
Fresh Baked Goodness!

Fatal posted:

That's what I did for mine, my center channel sits on top of my cabinet with my TV wall mounted above it just enough to let the center block the view of the cables. Ended up looking really nice, here's an over saturated iPhone pic:



This is bang-on what I plan on doing with my setup in my new place, although it is good to get a bit of a preview before I do it though.

I happen to luck out, the owner of the unit also had her TV wallmounted, and she had a cable channel installed inside the wall from the floor up to where the TV is mounted.

breasts own
Dec 2, 2006

Eyebrows!
http://i.imgur.com/fo71G.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/AbqZw.jpg

First pic is about 5 months old, added the htpc under the center speaker months ago as well. I'd like to ceiling mount the projector but my apartments won't let me :(

ShaneB
Oct 22, 2002


breasts own posted:

http://i.imgur.com/fo71G.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/AbqZw.jpg

First pic is about 5 months old, added the htpc under the center speaker months ago as well. I'd like to ceiling mount the projector but my apartments won't let me :(

Man I seriously can't imagine the visual and physical clutter of those 4 rears can possibly be worth it. Just go down to 5.1.

Additionally, did you run the wires around the doors like that, or did it come that way? You seriously HAVE to lift the carpet up on the edge, off the tacking strip, and put the wires under it, then press it back down onto the tacking strip. It looks TERRIBLE.

Just my 2 cents I mean....

Fatal
Jul 29, 2004

I'm gunna kill you BITCH!!!

breasts own posted:

I'd like to ceiling mount the projector but my apartments won't let me :(

Just do it and clean it up before you leave. Literally every place I've rented has had some clause about not mounting things on the wall. Literally every place I've rented I've mounted stuff, drilled holes, etc. As long as you leave it looking the same after you leave (putty in the holes, repaint with touchup paint you got color matched at the hardware store) no rental place will care.

I'd also rerun the speaker cables, looks like they're for the left rear and surround? Just run them to the right along the side with the window/door and then cross the gap to the couch and then under the couch to the left side. Much lower exposure without having to lift the carpet.

In fact, if it were me, I'd move everything to behind the couch and start from there, the point is to try and minimize the visual clutter, it's distracting. You have all of the parts, it just doesn't look like it's put together very well is all.

Fatal fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Apr 19, 2012

breasts own
Dec 2, 2006

Eyebrows!
ah, those are actually cat6 cables that run to switches in other rooms. the speaker wires actually run under the couch/ottoman to be out of the way. We may be resigning our lease for another year so I may revisit the ceiling mount idea. Also about the clutter, there is enough clearance around for it not to be an issue unless it's some morbidly obese person :V

breasts own fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Apr 19, 2012

deoju
Jul 11, 2004

All the pieces matter.
Nap Ghost
I just got a new tv! A samsung 55D7000.
Aside from the cables coming out at the bottom, I am really happy with my set up.

Downs Patrol
Dec 16, 2004

my reputation is built upon a solid foundation of bananas

Fatal posted:

Just do it and clean it up before you leave. Literally every place I've rented has had some clause about not mounting things on the wall. Literally every place I've rented I've mounted stuff, drilled holes, etc. As long as you leave it looking the same after you leave (putty in the holes, repaint with touchup paint you got color matched at the hardware store) no rental place will care.

I'd also rerun the speaker cables, looks like they're for the left rear and surround? Just run them to the right along the side with the window/door and then cross the gap to the couch and then under the couch to the left side. Much lower exposure without having to lift the carpet.

In fact, if it were me, I'd move everything to behind the couch and start from there, the point is to try and minimize the visual clutter, it's distracting. You have all of the parts, it just doesn't look like it's put together very well is all.

Aint that the truth.

So far on my rental, ive ran wires under the carpet (carpet was not installed properly so i didnt mess anything up), mounted tv on wall (requires 3/8 lag bolts), mounted FX speakers on wall in 4 diff locations. Never had any issue with them seeing anything when they come fix this broken place.

Shoota_McG
Sep 8, 2004


My setup is functionally great but aesthetically disgusting.

Sony Bravia 55" 1080p CCFL LCD 240Hz (KDL55HX701)
Pioneer VSX-1018 receiver
Energy Take Classic 5.1 speakers
Connected with some cheapo 16awg speaker wire from Princess Auto

Sources: X360 w/Optik TV, PS3, Wii and a late 2011 iMac on the other side of the room that is connected with 50ft of high speed HDMI (looks like a garden hose)

It all works fine, generally stream video files with the PS3 using PS3 Media Server but if that chokes on things I can always switch over to VLC on the iMac. Love playing Skyrim when in Bootcamp with a wireless Xbox controller in 1080p but unfortunately Apple didn't write an audio driver for this computer so I only get the 2.0 with a default MS driver.

Anyways, it's ugly and messy so what I want to do is wall mount the TV and move all the sources except the iMac into the room behind the TV. Also move the ugly DVD shelves into there as well so the only thing out in the TV area is the TV, speakers and couches. The speaker stands I have right now are awful Walmart stands that were $30/pair and aren't big enough for the speaker wire to hide inside (didn't need 16awg but that was what was cheap when I was building it, was on a pretty strict budget, pretty sure the entire audio setup was under $1k CAD).

Probably should wall mount the three front speakers and just use new stands for the surrounds. Could almost get away without using some kind of IR blaster but the receiver needs line of sight.

molotoveverything
Oct 18, 2010
The speakers are Ascend Sierra 1s


molotoveverything fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Jun 3, 2012

Fozaldo
Apr 18, 2004

Serenity Now. Serenity Now.
:respek::respek::respek::respek::respek:




Samsung 50" PS50Q7HDX TV
XBOX slim
Sky TV box
Marantz RC9200 remote control
Dual core HTPC
Yamaha DSPAX620 AV amp
B&W CDM7NT speakers

Apart from the TV and HTPC my setup is getting a bit long in the tooth now but it does what I need just fine. The amp is starting to suffer a little so will probably be replaced in the near future but Yamaha sure do make sturdy kit.

EC
Jul 10, 2001

The Legend
Every time I see a Kinect on top of a TV it reminds me of a very fat man with a very tiny top hat on. I can't help it.

Bigsteve
Dec 15, 2000

Cock It!

Fozaldo posted:

Stuff......

Hide those speaker cables you freak. Also get a new amp. That thing must be 100 years old now. And your ancient Marantz remote should go to.

And I bet you cant play a chord on that guitar as well.

And I bet you have a headache right now.

Fozaldo
Apr 18, 2004

Serenity Now. Serenity Now.
:respek::respek::respek::respek::respek:

Bigsteve posted:

Hide those speaker cables you freak.
Ah the joys of hard flooring, I'm not about to rip my skirting board off just for speaker cable.

quote:

Also get a new amp. That thing must be 100 years old now. And your ancient Marantz remote should go to.
101 actually. My remote is a work horse, she never lets me down and I have all my screens custom designed and laid out perfectly. The only problem is I have to use my inlaw's pc should I need to make any layout changes because it still needs a serial port (stop laughing), serial to usb adaptors don't work for some reason. At least new codes can be learned on the handset itself so it's rare to change layouts.

quote:

And I bet you cant play a chord on that guitar as well.
I can play anything as long as it's House of the Rising Sun

quote:

And I bet you have a headache right now.
Fully recovered now but was messy earlier. Good night.

MrEnigma
Aug 30, 2004

Moo!
Finally got my basement finished. Here are some photos of the home theater setup.

TV


Screen down


Projector


More of the room. Side/rear in-walls.

Stump Truck
Nov 26, 2007
Why? Yes
When would you NOT use the projector screen? Or do you move the chairs closer to watch TV?

MrEnigma
Aug 30, 2004

Moo!

Stump Truck posted:

When would you NOT use the projector screen? Or do you move the chairs closer to watch TV?
well, the tv gets almost no use. If I'm playing mw3 I use it since the projector lags a bit. It's mainly there If we are playing music via appletv/etc and the lights are on.

Edit: live tv comes through the boxee with tv tuner. Onkyo 709 splits it to both tv/projector.

MrEnigma fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Jun 18, 2012

cubicle gangster
Jun 26, 2005

magda, make the tea
It's not lined up properly :(

cubicle gangster fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Jun 24, 2012

Hippie Hedgehog
Feb 19, 2007

Ever cuddled a hedgehog?

cubicle gangster posted:

It's not lined up properly :(

What is not lined up? The screen? The projector? The center speaker? I think it looks fine - except that I hate when people take pictures with a slanting horizon. ;)

Hob_Gadling
Jul 6, 2007

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Grimey Drawer
Elmatic Caravelle 4994 mono FM radio straight from 1960s. Currently the only thing available for listening, and why would you even want something else?

Hob_Gadling fucked around with this message at 09:16 on Jul 3, 2012

trilobite terror
Oct 20, 2007
BUT MY LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON THE FORUMS!
I'm just about finished helping my parents set up their new family room system:



For scale: The plasma TV is 59". I'm sort of shocked that Samsung would make such a weird size, but it's 3D and looks wonderful. Also my dad got it for a grand total of $850 (about 50% off) since it was a recently discontinued floor model.

The console (consoles) is a pair of Ikea Besta cabinets side by side with a combined width of 94". The only reason I bring up all of these measurements is because the whole setup is a lot bigger than it first appears in the picture. The white walls and lovely lighting make it difficult to get a sense of scale, but it's all really quite massive in person.

The center speaker is an Infinity that's about a decade old at this point and the R/L fronts are the new Audioengine P4s. I think they look and sound fantastic for the price ($250/pair) and are probably the best alternative to more expensive speakers for somebody who's after sound quality and snazzy looks. Not pictured are the subwoofer, rear satellites, and a second set of speakers wired to the back patio.

In the lefthand side of the image you can see the TV that was just retired. After 12 years of unflagging service, our loyal Mitsubishi 55" rear-projection was finally put out to pasture (craigslist). It's full HD (1080i) and was purchased back in 1998, so you can imagine the beaucoup bucks my parents dropped on it at the time- which is why they waited so long to replace it. Frankly, there's nothing wrong with it as a television outside of the fact that it has no HDMI inputs and is absolutely enormous (about 4 feet deep and 5 feet tall).







Apologies about the gross carpet, mess, and bare walls. The room is still very much a work in progress and the plan is to have the couch refurbished/reupholstered, get the old TV out of there (obviously), redecorate, and eventually put in some hardwood floors.

Inside the console are an Apple TV, Modem/Airport Extreme, PS3, Xbox 360 (mine), Wii, Pioneer receiver, and DirecTV DVR box. Everything's hooked together via a Logitech Harmony remote and Harmony Link iOS app/receiver (both of which I kind of despise right now).

I'll see about posting my own setup when I move into my new place in a couple of weeks.

trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 08:28 on Jul 17, 2012

metachronos
Sep 11, 2001

When I roll, baby I roll DEEP
What kind of entertainment center is that? It looks nice.

trilobite terror
Oct 20, 2007
BUT MY LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON THE FORUMS!

metachronos posted:

What kind of entertainment center is that? It looks nice.

Really? It's in the post right above yours:

Electric Bugaloo posted:

The console (consoles) is a pair of Ikea Besta cabinets side by side with a combined width of 94".

I posted about the Besta line a few pages back. There are lots of different looks that you can get by mixing and matching different components (like tops, drawers, doors, etc) and the end result can range from basic veneers to glossy futuristic glam and looking sort of cheap to actually looking quite fancy and high end if you decide to go for a wall mounted built-in look.

The build quality's still around what you'd expect from a relatively inexpensive Ikea product but not bad- definitely much, much better than some of my previous experiences with their stuff (and I've always liked Ikea). The cabinets are designed to take a lot of weight and punishment and the showroom we picked them up in even had a display model that had been repurposed as a storage bench that felt sturdy.

We used a pair of ~25"x47" cabinets with Vara glass doors, glass countertops, and a set of metal legs.

More than anything, the big thing is just cost. When you're looking at TV consoles, the cheap ones (and even a lot of the more expensive ones) just look hideous. Anything even remotely approaching the look my parents wanted (very very long, not too countryish, none of that exposed metal girder bullshit, no looking like it came from Best Buy) started at over a grand and usually cost a lot more. This total piece of furniture cost less than $400 total and is 7 feet long. I'll probably go with a Besta thing in my apartment.

trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Jul 17, 2012

EC
Jul 10, 2001

The Legend
I can't tell from the pictures (I'm on on my phone and can't zoom in) but wouldn't those cabinets restrict airflow to your consoles? Even with a 360 slim and no back on my entertainment center, it would freeze sometimes. Since moving it to the top, no more freezes.

Stump Truck
Nov 26, 2007
Why? Yes
My girlfriend and I are doing a Besta when we move in a few months, and we're going with the 2x2 rather than 2x3, with sliding drawers on the bottom 2 shelves and leaving the top 2 open for exactly this reason.

trilobite terror
Oct 20, 2007
BUT MY LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON THE FORUMS!

EC posted:

I can't tell from the pictures (I'm on on my phone and can't zoom in) but wouldn't those cabinets restrict airflow to your consoles? Even with a 360 slim and no back on my entertainment center, it would freeze sometimes. Since moving it to the top, no more freezes.

To be honest, it has been a concern. Despite my protests to the contrary, my parents were very strict on covering the back of the cabinets as much as possible, so the three (out of four) sections that we allocated for holding electronics have paired ventilation/cable holes in every shelf behind the requisite devices- except for the shelf holding the receiver which has a whole panel cut out for easy connecting.

The Xbox doesn't worry me too much. Like I said, it's mine and I'll be moving to a new city after the summer. It also almost never gets used and the PS3 doesn't seem to be having any heat issues. In fact, my cousin played Fifa 12 for about 6 hours straight this afternoon without any problems.

It's been a very limited amount of time so I can't say anything for sure yet. If it becomes a problem, I'll probably see about mounting some computer case fans to the back of the enclosure, as that's helped friends of mine in the past.

Also, one note on putting holes in the Besta: Welp, for those of you who've complained about lovely flat-pack furniture quality in the past, Ikea finally went and did it. Gone are the days of cheap cardboard backs that you could easily punch a cable through if you needed it (much like the $20 Target bookcase I had in college). They have some serious loving paneling there now and you WILL need to use a drill (one with a hole cutting bit) and/or a tremendous amount of patience to get through it with any semblance of order. I also recommend you make your holes before putting the cabinet together or you will have a lot of sawdust to clean out of it.

Glottis
May 29, 2002

No. It's necessary.
Yam Slacker
I actually have that same cabinet setup. I use the frosted glass doors and completely removed the backing in the sections that have electronics, so it's totally vented in the back. I had tried to drill at one point and can verify that it's a bitch.

d0s
Jun 28, 2004


(click for huge)

NAD 3020 amp
Technics SL-1700 record player
Sony CDP-997 CD player
Sony MDS-JE520 MD player/recorder
Linn Index speakers

Sony MZ-R30 portable MD player/recorder

I'm one of those people who still likes MiniDiscs, it's fun to make "mixtapes" that sound way better than cassettes, and prerecorded MDs are awesome because they're tiny portable albums with art and liner notes and way less cumbersome than CDs and portable CD players.

I just found the CD player at a flea market for $15 (previously I was using an ancient Nakamichi POS that skipped if you breathed on it), it has a huge amount of features for a CD deck including stuff like DSP effects. It's from the early 90's when CD players were still novel and manufacturers were trying to cram them full of features and one up each other, check out the huge manual. It has optical out, which is connected to the MD player's optical in and since they are both Sonys, one button on the MD player's remote will sync recording and playback and perfectly copy a CD to MD with track breaks etc.

d0s fucked around with this message at 02:44 on Jul 23, 2012

Fozaldo
Apr 18, 2004

Serenity Now. Serenity Now.
:respek::respek::respek::respek::respek:

d0s posted:


(click for huge)

NAD 3020 amp
Technics SL-1700 record player
Sony CDP-997 CD player
Sony MDS-JE520 MD player/recorder
Linn Index speakers

Sony MZ-R30 portable MD player/recorder

I'm one of those people who still likes MiniDiscs, it's fun to make "mixtapes" that sound way better than cassettes, and prerecorded MDs are awesome because they're tiny portable albums with art and liner notes and way less cumbersome than CDs and portable CD players.

I just found the CD player at a flea market for $15 (previously I was using an ancient Nakamichi POS that skipped if you breathed on it), it has a huge amount of features for a CD deck including stuff like DSP effects. It's from the early 90's when CD players were still novel and manufacturers were trying to cram them full of features and one up each other, check out the huge manual. It has optical out, which is connected to the MD player's optical in and since they are both Sonys, one button on the MD player's remote will sync recording and playback and perfectly copy a CD to MD with track breaks etc.

I used to have one of those MD machines, great unit and a format way ahead of its time.

MMD3
May 16, 2006

Montmartre -> Portland
does anyone have (or have seen) an awesome record player stand/record cabinet?

I'm thinking of building a really simple open-front stand for my record player to sit next to my media center stand (because my tv sits on the stand and the shelves are too short to open the record player's dust cover). I'm trying to get an idea or two for a good simple stand. I'll probably just build it out of like a walnut veneered plywood and sand/oil it.

kind of thinking something like this but as a stand.
http://seantellis.com/c-i-g-shelf/

Not an Anthem
Apr 28, 2003

I'm a fucking pain machine and if you even touch my fucking car I WILL FUCKING DESTROY YOU.

MMD3 posted:

does anyone have (or have seen) an awesome record player stand/record cabinet?

This is a table I made just so the turntable was at my height and also off any shelves from amps/etc so there wouldn't be any noise on the table from the hum of speakers/amps/etc. Pretty simple and you could do it with veneered mdf/ply. I didn't use stringers and you probably wouldn't need them with mdf/ply.



The shelves below were just crap I threw together, and also full of junk equipment I don't use. I only use the marantz and TT.

MMD3
May 16, 2006

Montmartre -> Portland

Not an Anthem posted:

This is a table I made just so the turntable was at my height and also off any shelves from amps/etc so there wouldn't be any noise on the table from the hum of speakers/amps/etc. Pretty simple and you could do it with veneered mdf/ply. I didn't use stringers and you probably wouldn't need them with mdf/ply.



The shelves below were just crap I threw together, and also full of junk equipment I don't use. I only use the marantz and TT.

this might do the trick... will just have to decide if I want a shelf for my records or not. Thanks for sharing!

I'll post in the woodworking thread as well to ask about how to do the face like this guy's shelf.

Not an Anthem
Apr 28, 2003

I'm a fucking pain machine and if you even touch my fucking car I WILL FUCKING DESTROY YOU.
I used solid wood but if you're using veneered ply/mdf you can buy strips of veneer for ironing onto cut edges at most hardware or woodworking supply/lumber supply stores.

telarium4
Jul 23, 2010
Well, I set this up mostly as a proof of concept - and I like it. I still need to add some sort of furniture -- all suggestions welcome.

The equipment itself has been, piece-by-piece, put together over the years. But here's a fun and unbelievable story. A couple years ago I was driving around in a relatively wealthy area of my hometown when I noticed a projector lying on the ground by the trash/recycling. It appears that the owners attempted to recycle the projector, but I guess the recycling company couldn't accept it or something (lead?). Intrigued and under the assumption that this was clearly 'trash', I took it. Turned it on, no picture. On a risk - I ordered a new bulb for it. Yup, that was 'the problem'. The owners must have thought it was broken and junked it.



I suppose I'll start it off with the ugly stuff:

The NAS. A 9 TB FreeNAS box in a Raid-z configuration. I've probably had 60 days of up-time with this ultra-stable box and I'm very pleased with its performance. It is noisy, however, and is in a different room than the theater itself.


The HTPC is fairly unspectacular. It is an ugly beast - because it wasn't initially meant to be an HTPC - but it serves its purpose well. Eventually, it will be hidden.



Since the receiver and projector are probably circa 2004-2005, we're not looking at HDMI yet. This complicates things. The HTPC is sending the video via DVI to the projector and SPDIF to the receiver.

An Integra DTR 8.2. I just vacuumed - so I kicked up a bunch of dust.


B&W CM4 speakers and a Boston Acoustics PV500 subwoofer. The subwoofer is purely for show (although it works) as I live in an apartment and like my neighbors.


B&W CMC center speaker. I don't know if this warrants its own picture, but I like the yellow...


I have vaulted 20 foot ceilings, so mounting the projector feasibly is a no-go. I don't know if I'd mount it even if I could - it isn't a spectacular projector.


The HTPC is running, well, Windows...but XBMC. A wireless keyboard and mouse compliment it -- but the Android remote control for XBMC is pretty solid.


Overall, I'm pretty happy that it at least works.


My other toy. Also bitten by vacuum dust.

mythadile
Jun 19, 2005

telarium4
Jul 23, 2010

I know! So hard to mount a projector my brother from another...

SpaceRangerJoe
Dec 24, 2003

The little hand says it's time to rock and roll.
I live in an apartment with fairly high ceilings, but not 20ft high. I just wall mounted the projector in my bedroom. I got the mount at container store. It's attached to the wall with some toggle bolts and is very solid. The cables are a bit cleaner now. The picture is from right after I mounted it. It runs from a boxee in the corner, which attaches to an old receiver for sound. I just ran the speaker cables to the other wall so I don't have a bunch of stuff cluttering up the front.

Legdiian
Jul 14, 2004

SpaceRangerJoe posted:

I live in an apartment with fairly high ceilings, but not 20ft high. I just wall mounted the projector in my bedroom. I got the mount at container store. It's attached to the wall with some toggle bolts and is very solid. The cables are a bit cleaner now. The picture is from right after I mounted it. It runs from a boxee in the corner, which attaches to an old receiver for sound. I just ran the speaker cables to the other wall so I don't have a bunch of stuff cluttering up the front.

I was going to suggest mounting it to the wall behind his couch also, but then I thought he might have an issue with the throw distance and not being able to get the picture small enough.

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telarium4
Jul 23, 2010

Legdiian posted:

I was going to suggest mounting it to the wall behind his couch also, but then I thought he might have an issue with the throw distance and not being able to get the picture small enough.

I haven't done the math, but based on observation, I believe this is the issue -- not so much actually mounting the projector.

Even still, the projector isn't great - so I'm not going to make a full-fledged effort to get it up.

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