The GuidoPlex

The GuidoPlex is our home theater and this page describes (sometimes in pain-staking detail) the trials and tribulations I went through to get it working.

When we got married, my wife had a slightly old 45" Mitubishi TV. We bought a pretty nice "home-theater-in-a-box" surround sound system with some of our wedding money, and it made for a pretty decent home theater system. I installed it in the condo we used to live in and this is what got me hooked.

When we bought our house, I refused to have one of those "sitting rooms" with expensive furnature that nobody ever uses. So that's when I convinced my wife to turn the front living room into a real home theater. We used the same TV and surround sound system for about a year, then I bought the projector and made everything else. Here's a track record of some of the research I've done along with some trial and error projects to help others keep from making the same mistakes.

Total spent = $2400

Components

Sony HT-5100D (Home-Theater-in-a-Box)

I wanted a decent starter surround sound system that was affordable and upgradable. I liked this one because the DVD player was seperate from the receiver and it had a 5-disc changer (good for listening to CDs). I don't believe in buying components that combine things, like a TV with a DVD player in it. If one thing goes bad you have to replace the whole component. Anyways, the HT-5100D has been very good to us. When we used it in the condo, we couldn't turn it up very loud because of the neighbors on the other side of the wall. And now that it's installed in the house, we have sleeping babies to worry about. My point is that it's plenty loud for our needs and situation. The speaker wires and video cables are high quality and hidden in the walls, so I plan to upgrade the speakers and components throughout the coming years.

Sony STR-DE595 Receiver

When I got the projector and learned more about the quality of different types of video cables, I noticed that the receiver didn't support component video (the best type). But the DVD player had a component output, which was very strange because they were sold as a package. So I found this receiver with component video cababilities and it has A/B, A+B speaker control (the ability to play one thing in one room and something else in another room). At first I found it at Best Buy for $200 and at the Sony Outlet Store in Lake Elsinore, refurbished for $150. I went back to the Outlet store the following weekend and they were out. I went back to get the one at Best Buy and they marked it down to $150, so I grabbed it. It worked seemlessly with my current system, plus now I have component video from the receiver to the projector. Now I need to install some speakers on the back patio.

PARTS LIST

Sony HT-5100D Home Theater in-a-box - $700
Sony STR-DE595 Receiver - $150
(4) Vantage Point Satallite Speaker Mounts - $100
(1) Bose Cube Speaker Wall Bracket (center speaker) - $30
Total = $980

LINKS

Epinions :: Reviews

Projector

Boxlight Matinee 1HD

I was first torn between the Sony VPL-HS3, the Epson PowerLiteHome 10, and the Hitachi Home 1. These are all 16:9 widescreen projectors all around $1000 - $1200. I was leaning towards the Sony because of the lowest price, but never got a clear indication if it accepted component video or not. I saw something about how it uses an adapter, which didn't give me a good feeling about it at all. After asking about the differences on the Home Theater Forum, everyone was highly recommending the Panasonic L300U because it had higher resolution, DVI-D input and a nifty screendoor effect (SDE) minimizer, but it was about $500 more. After doing more research, I decided to look at the projectors with a little more resolution (arround 960x540).

I found that the Sanyo Z1 was very similar to the Panasonic as far as resolution goes, but didn't have the DVI-D input or the SDE feature. The Z1 had some complaints about SDE, but people said that with an ever-so-slight defocus, it was gone. I then found that the Studio Experience 1HD is an exact clone of the Z1, just a hundred bucks cheaper and with a 3 year warranty instead of 1 year. I found it at CinePros for $1089, which was about what I wanted to spend. The only problem I had was that it took a while for them to ship it to me.

After a very simple, plug in-and-play installation, I was overwhelmed with the quality of the image. I used the THX Optimizer tool found on the Ice Age DVD to make small tweaks to the brightness and contrast and I couldn't be happier. I was able to block out about 80% of the light during the day and it still looks good. We're going to get better curtains eventually, which will make it even better for daytime viewing. At night it looks awesome!

Total = $1,089

LINKS

Spec Sheet (pdf)
Projector Central - Studio Experience Matinee 1HD
Projector Central - Sanyo PLV Z1
Review 1 - Home Theater HiFi
Review 2 - Projector Central
Review 3 - Hardware Analysis

Projector Mount

Self Made - Steel Pipe and Plexiglass

I searched for a mount that looked good, one that was extendable because I have vaulted ceilings and one that would hide all the cables. Of course, they started at about $300, and they didn't even hide the cables. I was very disappointed. So I found a couple of good DIY mounts on the Home Theater Forum that were very simple to build. The problem was that these guys didn't take that extra step to make them look good OR hide the friggen cables. Why doesn't anyone think it's important to hide the cables? I don't understand.

So I took the different ideas, made some sketches, and enhanced them to create my own design. The trickiest part was dealing with the vaulted ceiling. So I cut a hole in the ceiling for the pipe to fit exactly through it, then mounted it to the beams above the ceiling with hanger bars. Hanger bars probably aren't the best idea since this thing is pretty heavy, but it works for now.

In the examples I've seen out there, I was surprised to see that the mounting base was left as a large clunky block of plywood or plexiglass. To me, It made the whole thing look horrible. Both plywood and plexiglass are so easy to cut and form, so I cut my plexiglass plate with a jigsaw to create a somewhat stylistic mounting base. This is what made the biggest difference in the appearance of the mount. This guy cut his plexiglass to look great, but he can't hide his cables because of his mount. This guy had the PERFECT opportunity to run his video cables up through the pipe, but didn't. I just don't get it.

I used a 1" pipe so I can feed the fat component video cable and power cord through it. I actually had to cut the power cord, feed it through the pipe, then splice the wires back together. It probably would've fit if I fed it through first. I also had to install an outlet in the crawl space above the projector. I could've run a long extension cord from the furnace on the other side of the house, but I wanted to do it right. I had an electrician friend help with the installation because I don't do electirical stuff. Now, all the cables and power cord are hidden and it looks totally professional.

PARTS LIST

(2) 1" Floor flange - $3.86 per = $7.72
(1) 1" X 18" Black steel pipe - This might be too long for normal ceilings - $3.96
(4) 1/4" X3/4" nut and bolt (machine) - $?
(1) 1/4" plexi glass 9x13" - cut to triangular shape around the mounting holes - $?
(3) M6 X 60mm bolts - 60mm was the longest I could find - $?
(9) M6 flange nuts - none available at HD or Ace. I used butterfly nuts and regular nuts with washers. - $?
(1) Matte White spray paint to paint the pipe and floor flanges to match the ceiling - $3.27
(2) Hanger Bars (came in a box of 2) - $2.48
Total = ~$20 - $25

LINKS

Here are different mounts that inspired me to create mine. Some of them took the extra step to make them look good, and some of them hid the cables, but to me, none of them hit the nail on the head:
Inspiration #1 - Monkey Man's DIY Mount :: Discussion
Inspiration #2 - BreakStuff's DIY Mount
Inspiration #3 :: Another View
Inspiration #4
Inspiration #5
Inspiration #6

"The Projector Mount Hall of Shame"

These mounts are just hideous and should give you an indication of what NOT to do.
Hall of Shame #1
Hall of Shame #2
Hall of Shame #3
Hall of Shame #4 :: Another View
Hall of Shame #5
Hall of Shame #6
Hall of Shame #7

More Projector Mount Web Sites

Screen

Self Made - 16:9 Widescreen, 110" (96" x 54")

I thought I would be able to get away with spending about $100-200 on a screen, but after some research, I found that I was way off. First of all, the screens that produce the best results aren't even white, they're either grey or silver. This ensures the blackest blacks and more vibrant colors. Secondly, the decent screens start around $700, and the really good ones start around $1500, which is more than what I paid for the projector. That just didn't make any sense, so I decided to make it myself. Participants of the Home Theater Forum and AVForum had pletty of good tips and examples to learn from.

Building the frame was pretty simple, even for someone like me who isn't very handy. I used 1x3" strips of wood, 4 corner brackets and 2 straight brackets. That's it. One really good tip I found on someone's website was to sand down the corners so that the material doesn't rip when you stretch it.

I found tons of recommendations for using blackout cloth and painting it either grey or silver. Blackout cloth is thick enough so light doesn't penetrate and it has a good texture to it. The hardest part of this project was stretching the blackout cloth over the frame. I've had pletty of art classes in college but I've never had to stretch a canvas. So here I am stretching one 8 feet wide. The problem is that my screen is 54" tall, and the the blackout cloth comes in 54" rolls. The good thing is that it is slightly stretchable. After about a billion staples and very sore hands, I was actually surprise it didn't have any wrinkles. I found the blackout cloth at Jo Ann Fabrics for $6/yard, which is perfect because I have a feeling that with kids around, it's going to get torn, ripped and finger painted on some day. I can easily manage to spend 18 bucks on a replacement (as opposed to $700.)

Painting the blackout cloth was a different story. I rolled on a pint of Rustoleum Aluminum (a suggestion I found on AVSForum.com) to find out that it wasn't enough for one coat. So I ended up with a few blotches before I can buy more paint for the second coat. And the areas near the frame absorbed the paint differently from the rest of the cloth. After it dried, the cloth tightened up, which produced some subtle wrinkles around the edges. It just looked absolutely horrible. When I finally got the projector up, I projected SpiderMan onto this piece of crap and it looked even worse. I immediately took down the screen and projected onto the wall for the first few weeks, which looked pretty damned good. The wall is kinda yellow, but you didn't notice it while you were watching a movie. I was considering just leaving it like that.

Later, I bought large swatches of more Blackout Cloth and Platinum Casa Satin (silver satin was another recommendation on HomeTheaterForum.com, platinum was the closest I could find) from Jo Ann Fabrics, each about 1x3 feet. I taped them onto the wall, paused a few scenes from The Matrix for analysis and that's when the yellowness of the wall really stood out and looked bad. The white blackout cloth was way too bright overall, especially in the black areas. In fact, the yellow wall looked better than the pure white blackout cloth. The platinum satin cloth looked incredible. It had just enough reflection to it for the whites to look bright, the silver color really made for some dark blacks and the overall colors were very vibrant. I decided that the platinum satin was definitely the way to go, especially since there was no painting involved.

The platinum satin happened to be on sale from $8/yard down to $6/yard. After removing the billion staples I used for the blackout cloth (you always use way too many staples the first time,) this material was rather easy to stretch over the frame. We immediately hung it and tried SpiderMan again. I can't even describe how incredibly awesome it looks. I was blown away at the vibrant colors, high contrast and dark blacks. Although my analysis wasn't all that extensive, I highly recommend the Platinum Casa Satin cloth.

PARTS LIST

Wood - (5) 1"x3"x8' strips - $1.99 per = $10
Hardware - (4) L brackets, (2) straight brackets, (2) heavy duty hangering brackets - ~$10
Platinum Casa Satin material - 3 yards @ $6/yd = $18
Total = $38

Blackout Cloth - 3 yards @ $6/yd = $18 :: Wasted
Paint - 2 pints of Rustoleum Aluminum - $7 per = $14 :: Wasted

LINKS

Your Screen: How big should it be?
Your Biggest Decision: 4:3 or 16:9?***
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) CRT Projection Screen
Do-It_Yourself Projection Screen
How to Stretch Artists' Canvas
How to Stretch Your Own Canvas
Screen Analysis 1 - White, Grey or Silver***
Screen Analysis 2 - A Screen Showcase

Interconnects

Audio Cables

Everyone says you should budget 10% of your total home theater costs to interconnects. That's pretty hard to do when you need about 50 foot runs for the surround speakers and projector. So for the surround speakers I bought 12 gauge wire from Home Depot at .36/ft, and since I had to buy 100', the guy was extra generous in his measurements. For the front speakers, I used the 14 gauge Monster speaker wire I bought from when I had it set up in the condo.

For the sub-woofer, I'm using a Monster 18' Subwoofer Cable, which is probably overkill, but I bought it a long time ago thinking I might want the subwoofer on the other side of the room. And for the digital audio (from DVD to Receiver), I'm using a 2' self-assembled coaxial cable, which works great. There's plenty of debate on using opticial digital vs. coaxial digital. My system is capable of both, but I choose coaxial mainly because it's more sturdy and much cheaper.

Video Cables

I'm running a 50' component video cable from the receiver to the projector for the highest possible video quality. When you're making 50 foot runs, it's hard to spend $200 on a single cable. I found a bunch of good suggestions on DIY cables on the Home Theater Forum, and again, decided to make it myself. There's a really cool wire striping tool involved, but it cost about $200 and I don't plan on ever doing this type of work again in the near future. So it was pretty difficult making the exact measurements and cuts without the right tools. I have to admit that quite a bit of time was spent striping the cables (with a few practice strips), but putting them together was rather simple. Now I have a long run of high quality video cable and spent only 75 bucks.

For the hell of it, I did a comparison between composite and component video cables. Of course, the component cable blew it away hands down. If you have the ability to use component cables, use em'!

PARTS LIST

Self-made 2' Digital Coaxial Cable (from DVD to Receiver) - $6.18
    (2') Canare RG6 75Ohm Solid Coax (.31/foot)
    (2) Canare RCA Connectors ($2.78 per)
Self-made 2' Component Video Cable (from DVD to Receiver) - $19.02
    (2') Canare Digi RG6 75Ohm Coax 3 Channel ($1.17/foot)
    (6) Canare RCA Connectors ($2.78 per)
Self-made 50' Component Video Cable (from Receiver to Projector) - $75.18
    (50') Canare Digi RG6 75Ohm Coax 3 Channel ($1.17/foot)
    (6) Canare RCA Connectors ($2.78 per)
MonsterBass 300 18' Subwoofer Cable - $50
Monster XP 100' High-Performance CL3-Rated (front speakers) - $80 (with a bunch left over)
Basic Home Depot 100' 12 Guage Speaker Wire (surround speakers), .36/foot = $36 (with a bunch left over)
Total = $266.38

TOOLS

Crimp Tool - $6
3-Way Coaxial Cable Stripping Tool - $14
Total = $20

LINKS

The Max Rochlin Memorial Cable
Difference Between Optical and Coax
Have Inc :: Where I bought my supplies, very nice folks. Need a $75 minimum order.
Canare :: Type of cables I bought

Fishing Wire Through Walls

Hiding the speaker wires and video cables in the walls was, ummm, an interesting project. If you've never done it before, you're probably better off hiring someone to do it. I found some really good tips online, but I can't find the links, so I'll try to reiterate them here.

Tip #1 - Use a *very* strong string tied to a thin metal chain (about 2' long) and send that down your wall. The person at the other end can use a little magnet (glued to the tip of a pencil) to easly find the chain. Remove the chain, tape your wire to the end of the string and pull it up. Sometimes fishing tape helps, but not always. I had to fish my wires through the tallest part of my room, with vaulted ceilings. I had a firewall (?) beam across the middle of the wall, so I had to cut a small hole in the wall and drill at an angle through the beam. This chain mechanism helped a lot because I had a really tall wall to deal with and my holes weren't perfectly lined up. So I definitely had to used the magnet to find the chain.

Tip #2 - If you need to run multiple wires up one path, such as from your receiver to your crawl space, use a string that's about 2.5 times the length of your run. Tie each end of the string to something so that it doesn't get pulled into the wall. This extra long length allows you to attach your wire around the middle of the string, pull it up, and it should remain fascened. This method only requires one "fishing" for multiple runs of wire. You can then leave the string there (hidden, of course) for any future runs.

Tip #3 - If you got the short straw and you have to go up to the crawl space, drink a lot of water. You'll probably be up there all day.

Tip #4 - Be prepared for the worst. It never goes as planned. And send your wife and kids away for the day because there's about to be a lot of "F" Bombs dropped.

Resources

Home Theater Forum*** :: Sample Theaters***
AVS Forum***
Home Theater People
HT Guide
Audioholics
AV Science
Home Theater Talk
Home Theater Spot
Home Theater 101
Smart Home
SMR Forum
Widescreen Review

***Extremely helpful in my research