# Hello - new home/theater build



## Strumzilla (Feb 13, 2013)

Hi Folks,

I'm a relatively short term lurker posting for the first time. We're having a home built for completion later this summer that will include a dedicated home theater. The dimensions will be 10 ft high ceilings with a 2 feet perimeter that angles down to 8 ft high. Room is 15 ft wide by 25 ft long. The builder is including pre-wiring for 7.1 as well as additional support for the front projector (supports and outlet in ceiling). We are having them put an opening for the equipment closet on the left wall where it will open up into a guest bedroom closet and function as the AV/Home hub central closet. 

We have a home theater in the home we're renting now, so there won't need to be any major equipment additions or changes for awhile. My concern (and reason for posting) is ensuring we do all the advisable pre-wiring and other pre-construction tasks for future upgrades when the opportunity is there. We're still early in the process, the foundation stakes are in place and measured, but they're not going to pour concrete for another week or two. If it's something I can do just as easily after completion, I'll probably wait and go the DIY route as the builder places a premium on everything. 

My gear list is as follows:

Epson 9700 UB LCD Projector
Carada 120in 1.85 brilliant white screen
Golden Ear Triton 5.1 system with powered sub (cheap kenwoods for the rear surrounds, this will be an upgrade at some point)
Yamaha Aventage RX-A3020 Receiver
Sony BDP Blu Ray Player
DirecTV HD receiver
Apple TV3
Xbox360
PS3


Right now, I'm pretty satisfied with what my system can do, so I'm not looking to upgrade any of the gear until it breaks or there's a compelling reason (like when 4K content is available in abundance and at reasonable prices).

I just want to make sure I don't miss an opportunity to pre-wire or otherwise prepare during the construction phase. For what it's worth, I have doubts that I'll ever feel compelled to go much beyond 7.1 in the speaker department. I'm sure it would be cool to be enveloped in sound with 20+ speakers, but I feel like that is beyond overkill. I have a feeling that I really need to focus on the rest of the house, and not so much the theater. In that area, I am planning on running 12 gauge stereo wiring, cat5/6 cabling to at least 5 additional locations. I'm sure there's much more I should be considering in that department as well, I just don't know what it is at this point. 

My long term goal is probably whole house audio/video streaming, home automation for lights/hvac/security, and maybe some ' lasers too, cause they're cool.

If nothing else, I would appreciate a good resource to study this information on my own. I've found several sites via google, but I'm just having a hard time deciding on the best resource to guide the process. I know there's a lot of good knowledge and experience on this site as well. Thanks in advance!


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Just getting ready to head out the door to get the kids from school, but I wanted to subscribe now. I will respond a bit later with some thoughts on additional wiring.....


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

Acousitcs.

That ceiling taper you describe. Is there a reason the builder is putting that in. I would suggest a 90 degree boundry & put in a super chunck style bass trap. You would wind up with the same end result but with the benefit of better room acoustics. Also be aware that the electric for the projector will need its own surge protection since the other equipment will be in a closet.


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## Strumzilla (Feb 13, 2013)

Tonto said:


> Acousitcs.
> 
> That ceiling taper you describe. Is there a reason the builder is putting that in. I would suggest a 90 degree boundry & put in a super chunck style bass trap. You would wind up with the same end result but with the benefit of better room acoustics. Also be aware that the electric for the projector will need its own surge protection since the other equipment will be in a closet.


The taper is required because the room is on an outside wall and it's restricted by the slope of the roof, so I think they have to do it on the screen side although not necessarily the whole perimeter.


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## bamabum (Dec 7, 2012)

I think you have a good direction of the theater. I'm sure others will guide you well.

I would like to hear you thoughts on your setup for "whole house audio/video streaming, home automation for lights/hvac/security" My first thoughts on these are run 3 cat 5/6 to each tv/media drop. run cat 5 to future control panels. In ceiling speakers or wifi junk? Run speaker cable back to the closet. Run cat 5 to outside sofits before finishing for cameras. How big is the house? Run Wifi hot spot Cat5 now. Don't forget out side areas like a deck or garage depending on the need.

Have you considered all the equip to do a whole home? Have you planned the room and cooling needs such as ventilation? Add a vented door to the media closet opening to a room other than the theater... It takes 2 full server racks for a large home. not sure your size or intentions. please expand.

If in doubt, run cat 5 to anything you might plug in...


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## Strumzilla (Feb 13, 2013)

bamabum said:


> I think you have a good direction of the theater. I'm sure others will guide you well.
> 
> I would like to hear you thoughts on your setup for "whole house audio/video streaming, home automation for lights/hvac/security" My first thoughts on these are run 3 cat 5/6 to each tv/media drop. run cat 5 to future control panels. In ceiling speakers or wifi junk? Run speaker cable back to the closet. Run cat 5 to outside sofits before finishing for cameras. How big is the house? Run Wifi hot spot Cat5 now. Don't forget out side areas like a deck or garage depending on the need.
> 
> ...


Thanks Bamabum for these suggestions, this is the kind of stuff I'm looking for. The house is 3500 square feet and it's essentially one story with just a bonus room over the garage. I currently live in a two story and use an apple router that works pretty flawlessly. I intended to continue using it although I haven't decided where I'm going to place it, although I'm thinking over a kitchen cabinet at this point as that will be about the most centrally located considering open air/walls in between the devices. 

I intend to run cabling for audio/video streaming to at least 7 if not 8 or 9 additional locations (3 bedrooms, bonus room, living room, office, library, back patio). I imagine I would put a control panel in the front entryway and then a second one in the control closet or adjacent to that. That plan may change. I hope to be able to run most of my home automation/etc. through my ipad/iphone or whatever device I have by then.

I plan on running stereo 12 gauge cables to each of the 7-9 locations and back to the control closet. I will probably go with some sort of in wall/ceiling wired speaker if/when I get there. This will be done only when I get to the point that it's truly discretionary spending that I can afford. My HT speakers are free standing towers, but I'm willing to appease the wife with a cleaner look in the other rooms. 

I'll have to take a look at where I want to put cameras for outside security in the future. I'm guessing one per side of the house with maybe 1-2 extra to focus on main entry/exit points. 

As far as home automation/etc. equipment, this will all be future purchases if/when I can afford them. I will probably go with some system that will allow DIY programming and tweaking as I don't plan on paying someone to come out every time I want to add or change something. 

When you say cat 5/6 do you mean it as either/or or as both? I have seen other people talk about both, but I guess I don't fully understand the need for both. I was under the impression that Cat 6 was capable of higher data rates, but maybe that's overkill for some of the devices?

I'm willing to spend the money now just to get the cabling/wiring in place before drywall and I plan on slowly adding equipment & functionality as time passes and I accumulate the funds. 

I'm considering whether to have the builder put a vent in the equipment closet that can be remotely controlled and/or engage when I'm running the a/v gear in the theater.


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

subscribed...always enjoy watching a build come together.

As for electric consider seperate breakers for the following.
1. projector
2. AV Closet
3. HT lighting

Have them install a smurf tube or two from the location the projector will be mounted back to the AV Closet.
This will allow you to easily feed cables from the projector back to the AV Equipment (hdmi, Cat6, Component etc.)

Cat6 can transmit more date/faster. I would install all CAT6 connections. 

Like you said, you can buy and install equipment as you get the :spend: but running cables in the walls later can be problomatic at minimum.

Have CAT6 x2 at a minimum run to all locations you may need it ( automation and video/audio locations). Run speaker wire to all locations you may wish to install speakers later (whole home audio)

As for the HT you should plan to have them install at minimum two subwoofer hookups (RG6 sub cable) in the walls back to the AV room. There many discussions on where the subs in a room should be...and how room shape effects placement. Some do two in the front, others two in back, others one center of each side wall.

I would have them do the theater lighting now also...

Some ideas are 
1. 3 accent lights over the screen, 4 or more can lights around room
2. 3 accent lights over screen and can lights around the room border

Consider what type of swith you want them run too...and how many switches.
Dimmer for the accent lights
Dimmer for the main lights

Dimmers can be IR, RF, or manual.


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## bamabum (Dec 7, 2012)

A coax to the tv drops is nice as well. Until your ready to spend on hdmi baluns and mounts and matrix you can just use a dtv or dish box. 2 if you want record. 

I recommend a simple pen drawing of your ultimate setup and equip. 

Then people can give you real advice. Start with what u know and others will guide.


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## Strumzilla (Feb 13, 2013)

phillihp23 said:


> subscribed...always enjoy watching a build come together.
> 
> As for electric consider seperate breakers for the following.
> 1. projector
> ...


phillihp23 - I had to look up smurf tubing. This seems like a really good approach for any/all my cable runs. Is there a compelling reason not just to run smurf tubing or equivalent first and then worry about running cabling later if/when it's needed. I would probably still run some cabling at the onset for areas I know I will want it sooner, but I like the idea of future proofing with tubing that can accommodate new technologies. Does the cost get prohibitive?


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## Strumzilla (Feb 13, 2013)

bamabum said:


> A coax to the tv drops is nice as well. Until your ready to spend on hdmi baluns and mounts and matrix you can just use a dtv or dish box. 2 if you want record.
> 
> I recommend a simple pen drawing of your ultimate setup and equip.
> 
> Then people can give you real advice. Start with what u know and others will guide.


thanks bamabum, that sounds like a good project for this weekend. i'll upload my basic layout with future upgrade plans once i can photoshop something together.


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## bamabum (Dec 7, 2012)

Since u have 1 floor a simple PVC pipe up to the attic at each drop would be awesome. However. Running the wires will never be easy as it is now. Plus it will suck spending the whole weekend in the attic. 

You might need to check building codes with the electrician before you smurf it all up. They will want sealed headers for fire. 

Also before the walls are sealed. Take pics. It's always nice to know where blocking is in walls as well as things like double headers. 

Some of your harder runs later will be cat 5 to the soffit outside for cameras. Definitely do this now. 

The easiest will be ceiling speakers since you will have full attic access.


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## MrAngles (May 1, 2012)

Strumzilla said:


> phillihp23 - I had to look up smurf tubing. This seems like a really good approach for any/all my cable runs. Is there a compelling reason not just to run smurf tubing or equivalent first and then worry about running cabling later if/when it's needed. I would probably still run some cabling at the onset for areas I know I will want it sooner, but I like the idea of future proofing with tubing that can accommodate new technologies. Does the cost get prohibitive?


Conduit is great, I don't know how much smurf tube is, but standard gray pvc electrical conduit is reasonably cheap. Whatever kind of conduit you put in, make sure you run something through it before installing it, whether it's some cat6 or just some string, to use to pull wire through it later. I ran a double length of string through all of my conduit and secured it on both ends so I could easily run any wire through it at any point without any worries about accidentally pulling the string all the way out.


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

Strumzilla said:


> phillihp23 - I had to look up smurf tubing. This seems like a really good approach for any/all my cable runs. Is there a compelling reason not just to run smurf tubing or equivalent first and then worry about running cabling later if/when it's needed. I would probably still run some cabling at the onset for areas I know I will want it sooner, but I like the idea of future proofing with tubing that can accommodate new technologies. Does the cost get prohibitive?


Smurf Tube can get expensive. If your just running a speaker wire to a location like the center of the ceiling of a room for a speaker later...just run the speaker wire. Locations you will be running multiple audio video cables to like the projecter and back to the AV room run smurf tube. If you are going to do some type of home server and feed audio video to all tv locations....i would run smurf tube from the AV room to the tv location.

CAT6 and speaker cables and coax for video security are reasonable cheap and i would run them now as access later is way too much trouble. I know when my house was built (two stories) I had them run CAT6 CL2 (inwall rated) to all the rooms (4) and install 7.1 speaker wiring in the HT room and it only ran me about $300. It takes little to no time to install this stuff in a house that is only framed. You basically just pay slightly over the material cost. 

When i installed a second sub line in wall a few months ago it took me hours and was a real headache....would have taken 15 minutes when the house was being built.


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## phillihp23 (Mar 14, 2012)

bamabum said:


> Also before the walls are sealed. Take pics. It's always nice to know where blocking is in walls as well as things like double headers.
> 
> .


I second the take pictures before the sheat rock goes up. Comes in handy down the line.


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## Strumzilla (Feb 13, 2013)

All good points. I'm already looking at the bulk cat6 and 12 gauge speaker wire on amazon. I'll probably at least run smurf tubing as recommended to the areas where it's likely I might need to upgrade for a/v streaming etc. in the future. I'm not sweating future in ceiling speaker installs too much. I don't necessarily mind getting up in the attic to run speaker wire, I just don't want to need to run it down into the walls, etc.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Apologies - I promised to come back and give some thoughts and then lost track of the thread. However, the guys above have done a great job of covering all the bases.

I would only add a couple things - Phillips23's point about multiple sub locations is a great one. One sub in a room generally means you are going to end up with some seats that have to deal with room modes. Adding additional subs helps to smooth out your response. Also, even if you run one sub, on the front wall may not be your best location. Having multiple connection points makes it much easier to move around.

Also, for your AV closet, I would plan for at least 2 separate outlets tied back to separate breakers - it allows for dedicated breakers for amplifiers should you ever choose to go that route.

Last, take a look at Monoprice for your CAT6 and speaker wire - I am certain the prices will be lower.


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## Strumzilla (Feb 13, 2013)

Sorry about the poor quality pics. There are no windows or light fixtures (yet) in the home theater. Here's a couple in progress. The first shows the back end of the HT with the A/V closet on the right (left as your facing the screen). The second picture shows the front end of the theater. We had the builder run speaker wire for 7.1 as well as outlets to the required areas. There's a separate circuit for the A/V closet, which the projector also uses. I've been running all my current gear on a regular home circuit (not dedicated) in my current home with no problems, so I'm sure this will be adequate. 

We ran additional coax/cat6 to 4 other rooms (the builder ran to 3 locations standard). I skipped conduit because of a combination of factors. Cost, window of opportunity, my level of certainty (or lack thereof) that I will need to run additional cabling with all the development of wireless technologies, and lastly because my attic is very large (high roof) and easy to get around so if I have to run new cabling in the future, I'm not too concerned with the effort involved. 

Someone mentioned the slope of the ceiling. This was a necessity on 3 sides because of the location of the room, pitch of the roof and the fact we have 10 foot ceilings (it tapers to 8 on the edges). This may result in a need for additional acoustic treatments (bass traps, etc.) in the future, but I'm willing to make the adjustments as needed in the future. The overall room dimensions should be okay as it's 15x25. The builder is predicting a July finish so hopefully we'll have some more updates here shortly.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Looking good mate - thanks for the update and the pics!


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