What is the first step in installing a home theater?

Question

What is the first step in installing a home theater? I plan on including:

Seat risers

Projector

motorized projection screen

theater lighting

surround sound

media closet

Acoustics for sound (not sound proofing).

Put them in order if you can. Thanks

Answer 1

Budget.

Then a detailed floor plan showing seat locations, screen and speaker locations, equipment rack and electrical outlets.

Then you analyze/plan:

- The AV wiring (HDMI, Component)

- The AC power wiring (dont forget a phone line to the media rack and a Cat5 network cable for xBoxLive, VerizonFios, etc

Then I would run a test for the sound. Place the speakers, subwoofer and some folding chairs in the spots you think the final positions will be.

Now you do your own RTA to see if all the seats get similar volume at all frequencies.  Plan on moving things around if needed.  Use cargo-blankets on the walls and do the mirror-tile trick to decide where to place sound absorbers/diffusers.

Up to this point - you have not done any building, but you have locked down the speaker and seat positions (it may be very different from what you initially planned on).

Now you can lock down the projector position, riser positions and you can work on room lighting, cable runs to the projector, projector mounts, rack layout, etc.

My advice would be that you join either home theater fourm or AVS and read back through postings a few months. (These forums have sections on dedicated rooms.) Lots of guys there have done dedicated media rooms and you will discover problems you did not know existed.

Armed with their successes/mistakes, you will then have a better idea of how to proceed.

A favorite book: "Sound Studio Construction on a Budget" by F. Alton Everest.  A very readable book that includes chapters on acoustics for home theaters.  (Everest also wrote the "Master Acoustics Handbook" - one of the definitive works on acoustics theory.)

Also - "The Perfect Vision" magazine had a 2 year series of articles about a mythical couple  who spent tons of money on a 'professional' theater room which did not work very well and each month Hershealman points out mistakes and solutions.

While he has a smarmy tone - he does illustrate a lot of good things like how to label wires, that seat backs should be low so your ears are not blocked from rear speakers, etc.  Order some back issues or hit a good library.

Answer 2

Based on just your list, assuming you've already wired, the order doesn't make a lot of different. Here's a couple things to consider first, that aren't on your list:

Since you have a dedicated room to work with, you have some considerations before fixing your final design. The difference between a good theater and an amazing theater is 50% room and 50% equipment.

Decisions to make:

1. Sound proofing. If the room is big enough you can build a room within your room by staggering new studwalls, floor and ceiling and placing special material between the walls. Floors are suspended much like motor mounts in a car.

2. Splaying the side walls. If you build an inner-room you should make the side walls unparallel. A 20 foot deep room should be two feet wider at the back as a minimum.

3. Breaking up the ceiling. Whether you build an inner room or not, you should change the shape of the ceiling from flat to? I like to build a lattice framework that looks like the swells of a wave from below, and then have it drywalled, but there are endless possibilities here. My curved ceiling hangs from the actual ceiling and doesn't extend to the walls in any direction. This allows for stunning lighting designs.

4. Raised seating. If you are planning rows, you will want to pick your seat now so the proper wires can be installed for hardwire control from Crestron, AMX, etc... Best choice is to have your eyes even with the center of the screen vertically and horizontally. If you're married, you might want to split the difference and share the best seating position.

5. Before any construction begins, equipment should be chosen so the correct wiring cna be installed in the walls. I would not use 16/2 or 16/4 in a dedicated theater. That's surround family room wire. I would recommend 12 or 14 gauge non oxydizing high strand count speaker wire.

6. The most important components in any system are the speakers, the display and the remote control. Those are the items that we interface with and hence will show the best return for dollar spent. The rack full of boxes is far more forgiving than mediocre interface devices!

7. Projectors and screens are available now that will adjust to the full width of a 2.35:1 motion picture and the films can be displayed at 24 fps, just like at the theater. This is a substantial improvement over standard 16:9 fixed with 30 fps limitation. Several companies are making projectors like this now. I like Runco, Vidicron and JVC with anamorphic lenses.

8. Speakers can be hidden behind a faux front wall, even if you don't build an inner room. Side and rear speakers can be hidden in architectural detail walls. Picking speakers is far more complex than I can write about here.

9. Controlling a theater can be a nightmare or a breeze. It all depends on the control system and the programmer. Today, I would choose between Crestron, AMX or LifeWare. There are less costly, lower performance options such as RTI, Pronto, Nevo which work pretty well.

10. Separate processors and amplifiers are great but I've had good luck with high end receivers from Yamaha, Marantz and PioneerElite also, and they cost less money. Depending on the rest of your theater, you might even be able to use Marantz's lower end line, Denon.

11. Cables don't have to be the very best, but don't buy the bargain basement stuff either. I use Ethereal for lower cost installations and Tributaries in nicer rooms.

12. Regardless of the theater you design, hire a professional for room accoustics, sound calibration and display calibration to SMPTE standards. An ISF certified tech is adequate for display, HAA certifed tech is okay and afforable for accoustics and a THX level 2 tech will be qualified to calibrate the audio. NOTE: Room accoustics costs the most, and is the most valuable!

Hope this is some help. Good luck and have fun with your project!