A DIYers Multimedia Haven

By Bill Ramos • Posted: Feb 4, 2010

Let me start at the end...When you're a A/V enthusiast, you're never really done building a dedicated home theater room. The best you can strive for is, "this is where the room is as of today". Adding and replacing equipment goes hand in hand with the passion of the audiophile. Over the past 24 months, I've built a dedicated home theater/multimedia room in my house that includes a host of components from Sony.

When I first started this project I contacted Home Theater Magazine for advice. I believe it was Geoffrey Morrison that suggested I contact a local high-end A/V store to do the work. I wanted reasonable "high end" (as it pertains to the average working family) but wanted to complete the work myself. I actually did all the work myself, with the exception of hiring a drywall contractor to spray the wall with the "orange peel" effect and to repair the walls where I ran speaker and electrical wiring, which replaced the #18 gauge wire that had already been pre-installed. There's 200 feet of new electrical wire for lights, switches, and power in addition to 250 feet of speaker wire. The pre-wiring took up a good deal of my time before I could start the actual installation of equipment.

I constructed a raised floor for the seating in the rear, and installed lighting in the riser, which helps people move around without tripping in the dark. It's also a very professional-looking effect. I also had a custom countertop built for the two stools on the far side of the room. I removed french doors that were in the middle of the wall so I could place the screen in that location.

While some people like to hide their electronics, I prefer them in full view and believe it creates a level of excitement and anticipation for my guests when they first enter my theater. I used Sony equipment for most my major components as I am a die hard Sony fan. We use the room regularly for sports, movie nights, gaming, and surfing the web. I may be biased but the room turned out phenomenal. I couldn't be happier with the results and the system's performance. We are still in awe every time we go in, and we knock the socks off our friends and anyone new that comes over.

Equipment
Sony HCS-W80 ChromaView Screen
Sony VPL-HS51A Video Projector
Sony STR-DA7100ES/B Receiver
Sony Playstation3
Sony Viao VGN-N350E/B notebook
Sony LocationFree LFB-10
Sony AIRSA20PK S-AIR iPOD Dock and Wireless Speakers
PANAMAX M5400-PM voltage regulator
Nintendo Wii
Microsoft Xbox 360
(2) Definitive Technology BP7002 (tower speakers with built-in subs)
(1) Definitive Technology C/L/R 2500 (center)
(4) Definitive Technology BP2X (side and rear)
Belkin wireless Router
Harmony 720 (Logitech)
Lutron lighting controls

Comments

Submitted by Phillip Carlson on February 22, 2010 - 4:39pm.

Where did you get that giant WALL-E? I know this is a HT forum but my son LOVES that movie. Great HT by the way. Also, how do you find the wireless speakers with regards to audio reproduction? Any significant signal loss?

Submitted by Bill Ramos on February 22, 2010 - 8:42pm.

Thank you for your post. The WALL-E was a score at one of the local movie theaters that I go to (not very often). Believe it or not, most theater props are given to employees or just thrown away. I simply asked and gave the manager a copy of HT magazine. You can find WALL-E on Ebay, but this particular WALL-E is huge and had to be broken down into several sections to bring into the house. It comes apart, but I can't imagine what it would cost to ship because of its size. It's bigger than the seats! The Sony AIRSA20PK S-AIR iPOD Dock works well, but does have limitations. For example, multiple walls and distance will significantly reduce quality and possibly introduce complete signal loss. My master bedroom, furthest from my HT room, is a deadzone. Fortunately I use both base units well within the range and it works, and sounds great. As far as I know, Sony does not make a "bridge" to enhance or extend the signal. I believe this particular unit was probably meant for a small home or

Submitted by Bill Ramos on February 6, 2010 - 11:11am.

Yes there is a PS3. Couldn't be without it. I have two, one downstairs. Had problems at first but Sony seems to have fixed the problem with a patch and I did some reconfiguring in the network settings. Great for head to head combat!

Submitted by Rob Mayer on February 6, 2010 - 11:53am.

Fabulous installation! Kudos to you...you are living my dream!

Submitted by Sarah Ivaska on October 17, 2010 - 5:12pm.

I'm getting ready to build platforms for out theatre seating and I'm trying to figure out how high to make the back row. How many inches are between the floor and the floor of the riser?Thank you!

Submitted by Streamline Home Theaters on February 17, 2010 - 10:30am.

Great job! Looks very professional. -

AIRSA20PK S-AIR iPOD Dock

Submitted by DSMith on February 8, 2012 - 2:49am.

Hi,

Great setup by the way, looks really cool!

I also have the AIRSA20PK and was thinking about getting an S-AIR ready home cinema kit.. such as HT-IS100. The question I have is whether the home cinema would act as a satellite unit straight out the box or would I need the optional transmitter?? My thinking is the transmitter is just for wireless rear speakers and im not bothered about that, I just want to transmit music from my AIRSA20PK to the home cinema in the front room.

What do you think?

Thanks
Darren