Another custom HT, framing next week, please review

[lzk4]

Hello,
I have learnt a lot the last few days reading the posts on this forum, thanks to all who participate. I'm getting my basement finished and to my surprise, my wife really wants to get a HT (projector/screen etc). Of course, the regular constraints: speakers have to be small, on the wall, no floor-standing, wires have to be behind dry-wall etc etc. I have a small closet underneath the stairs that I plan to use as an equipment closet (with a recessed wall cabinet/rack of some sort). I'm getting it framed next week and dry-walled the week after, and I have some decisions to make about pre-wiring. (see attached picture)

1. 7.1 system wiring, electrician will run "standard" 16/2 speaker wire from closet to each point. Is regular speaker wire sufficient or do I need branded (e.g. monster) wire?

2. Some use 16/4 wire: why use 4 stranded wire? Is 16/2 sufficient?

3. Subwoofer: I would like to prewire for 3 corners as I dont know where I'm putting the sub yet. No regular 16/2 speaker wire, right? Do I need special subwoofer wire or regular RG6? What about brand-name speaker wire (monster etc)?

4. For overhead projector, I plan on running component video wires from closet to projector point, about 15'. Should I run a HDMI cable too?

5. The ceiling is 8' high, and all speakers will be wall-mounted about 6' from floor. The rear speakers on the back wall will be 4' away from corner, 8' apart. The other 2 rear speakers on the side-walls will be about 4 or 5' from corner. Are these distances sufficient?

6. The center channel needs to be on wall behind screen to keep it away from the kids, with a perforated screen. Will the picture quality be significantly degraded by using a perforated screen?

7. I want to pre-wire for the possibility of putting a plasma on the far wall instead of a screen, but component video/hdmi is too expensive for just a possibility. Can I run 3 regular RG6 wires for now and use them as component video?

8. Also running CAT5 wires put in for an Infrared repeater/extender system like Xantech or Niles Audio. I plan on putting a ceiling mounted infrared sensor just in front of the screen. Not going with RF system.

9. Finally for the cabinet itself, I plan on having the contractor build me 20"W X 20"D X 48"H closet with maybe 4-5 shelves. I can't find any inexpensive cabinets of that size. Should I look at audio racks with a plexiglass door instead... any info on where I can get one that not too expensive ($100-$200).

I have short-listed the equipment I plan on putting in. This is just a short-list, havent had time to go check out any of them yet.
Receiver: Denon 3805 or Yamaha 2400
Speakers: Sat/Sub system like Paradigm Cinema70, Energy Encore, DefTech Procinema 100
Projector: LCD Sanyo PLV-Z2 or Panasonic L500U
Screen: 106 or 110" tensioned, perforated Da-lite (gray HCC Perf)

Sorry for the long post, I've tried to be as thorough as possible. Thanks in advance for any advice/opinions.

Vasu

[David Meek]

Vasu, one quick comment (I'll come back to the others later), but on #1, you should go with 12-guage wire if at all possible. 16-guage could be an issue at some point. Generic Home Depot or Lowe's 12-gauge is excellent for this application - don't buy Monster as it's WAAAYYYYY overpriced.

[Burke Strickland]

...don't buy Monster as it's WAAAYYYYY overpriced.

... unless it is on a bulk spool at Home Depot or Lowe's on sale for the same (or nearly the same) price as their generic stuff. (I've seen it, although I didn't buy it, since I already had plenty of "generic" cable on hand at home. No need to have TWO unused spools of 12 gauge laying about.) :>) Monster cable will undoubtedly be WAAAYYYY overpriced at any boutique HT outlet or even Best Buy, Fry's, et al.

Burke

[lzk4]

HDMI cable

Thanks for the replies. I need a 30' run of HDMI and component video cables. I found a wide range of prices for HDMI: $85 at Pacific Cable, $94 for Lindy, $145 for RAM, $160 for Gefen, $400 fpr Monster. Does anyone have experience with these lower priced cables (Pacific Cable or Lindy)?

Also for component video, does it make a difference whether its 3 separate wires ($50 at pacific) or 3 wires in one sleeve ($96 at RAM)?

What about "gold" connectors? Is it worth the extra cost?

Thanks
Vasu

[Andrew Pratt]

1. 7.1 system wiring, electrician will run "standard" 16/2 speaker wire from closet to each point. Is regular speaker wire sufficient or do I need branded (e.g. monster) wire?

No and he should know better then to use regular wire if its being run in the walls. Code will dictate that you'll need to use in wall approved speaker wire for that purpose. Home Depot sells a nice 12/2 in a green jacket that's very affordable. Its what I used for all my speaker runs in the main HT and to the second zone.

2. Some use 16/4 wire: why use 4 stranded wire? Is 16/2 sufficient?

16/4 allows you to double up the wires to get a lower gauge but really I'd just go with 12/2 as outlined above.

3. Subwoofer: I would like to prewire for 3 corners as I dont know where I'm putting the sub yet. No regular 16/2 speaker wire, right? Do I need special subwoofer wire or regular RG6? What about brand-name speaker wire (monster etc)?

No regular RG6 will work just fine for the purpose.

4. For overhead projector, I plan on running component video wires from closet to projector point, about 15'. Should I run a HDMI cable too?

At the very least run the component cables for now. I'd recomend running them though a conduit and running a thin cable that you can later use to pull though a DVI or HDMI type cable when you need it...unless of course you need it now...still its a good idea to have a piece of wire/string to allow for future upgrades etc.

5. The ceiling is 8' high, and all speakers will be wall-mounted about 6' from floor. The rear speakers on the back wall will be 4' away from corner, 8' apart. The other 2 rear speakers on the side-walls will be about 4 or 5' from corner. Are these distances sufficient?

There's a good speaker set up diagram on the www.dolby.com site but what you're doing sounds about right depending on where the seats are.

6. The center channel needs to be on wall behind screen to keep it away from the kids, with a perforated screen. Will the picture quality be significantly degraded by using a perforated screen?

Slightly but not by that much...on the plus side things like Screen Door Effect (SDE) should be reduced a little with a perf screen.

7. I want to pre-wire for the possibility of putting a plasma on the far wall instead of a screen, but component video/hdmi is too expensive for just a possibility. Can I run 3 regular RG6 wires for now and use them as component video?

See my suggestion on the conduit for the ceiling mount. So long as its in place and there's a feeding wire you wouldn't actually have to run any cables just yet.

8. Also running CAT5 wires put in for an Infrared repeater/extender system like Xantech or Niles Audio. I plan on putting a ceiling mounted infrared sensor just in front of the screen. Not going with RF system.

Sounds logical. Check out www.smarthome.com for some great info and top notch service.

9. Finally for the cabinet itself, I plan on having the contractor build me 20"W X 20"D X 48"H closet with maybe 4-5 shelves. I can't find any inexpensive cabinets of that size. Should I look at audio racks with a plexiglass door instead... any info on where I can get one that not too expensive ($100-$200).

Do you have access to the back side of this closet? If not I'd suggest putting the shelves on rollers so that you can pull them out to work on the gear. You might also want to install a light near by.

[lzk4]

Which RG6 wire?

A question about RG6 wire. I went to Lowes and found 3 different kinds of RG6 wires: 60% Aluminum Braid, 90% Aluminum Braid, and Quad Shield . I assume the first 2 are dual shield. The price difference between the first 2 are not much, I think quad-shield is slighly more.

Any opinions on which one is best for sub-woofer and which one for component video?

Thanks
Vasu

[Lex]

Heavier shielding isn't necessarily a good thing for audio. Fine for video. That doesn't mean any of these coaxes are what I as a Master Cable Craftsman would consider for my products. For one thing, there are many different variables to what makes a great coax.

1. conductor material.
2. dielectric material, thickness.
3. shield type, coverage.
4. impedence.

Generally, at best, you will get coax of similar quality to the cable company at Home Depot or Lowes. Not exactly what we sell at CAT. Oh, it will carry a signal, and will be "ok". But not the best.

Lex