New Home A/V install

[gclg2000]

A couple other threads I have started about parts and cabling.

This thread will be just for pictures if anyone wants to follow the progress or get ideas from it.

A quick set up:

The entertainment center is framed in. It will be dry wall all around. There will be 3 cabinets each with granite counter top about 36" off the ground. Above the L Front and R Front speakers will be two "floating" glass shelves with a small cam light at the top. The main center cabinet will house the entire houses video and audio systems from each room. Using IR extenders throughout the house all feeding back to this media cabinet. The media cabinet will be fitted with 2x Cat5e cables for networking and 1 phone line. It also has 8 RG6 Coax cables being fed into the box along with 8 pairs of RGBHV component + audio w/ a cat5e network cable per run for the remote IR extenders. 5.1 Surround for the living room and 2 channel audio going to the patio outside.

Component HiDef run to Guest Bedrooms 1 & 2, Kitchen, Office, Master Bedroom, Master Bath and the Patio. The master bedroom also has its own media cabinet but will only be home to a DVD player.

Any comments or suggestions are always welcome and appreciated!

[Stew4HD]

That's a nice looking frame out!!

[m_vanmeter]

the most problems I have had with "built-in" cabinets is access to the back of the electronic equipment. When you can't do a "false wall" and have access behind the equipment, the consider using heavy duty "drawer slides" on your shelving so you can pull it out for access to all the mass of wiring that will eventually be hooked up to all your component pieces. Leave some slack in the wiring to allow this.

There are some very nice a/v equipment rack frames that are made to allow pull out and rotation of the rack for access to the back of the equipment. Some examples of the fancier pull our/rotate racks are:
http://www.accuride.com/Woodworking/...tID=68&CatID=4
http://avrak.com/avrak.html
http://www.middleatlantic.com/enclosure/roll/axsr.htm
http://eholovision.com/index.php?opt...121&Itemid=121
http://www.middleatlantic.com/enclosure/roll/srsr.htm

good luck with a very nice installation.

[gclg2000]

Originally Posted by m_vanmeter

the most problems I have had with "built-in" cabinets is access to the back of the electronic equipment. When you can't do a "false wall" and have access behind the equipment, the consider using heavy duty "drawer slides" on your shelving so you can pull it out for access to all the mass of wiring that will eventually be hooked up to all your component pieces. Leave some slack in the wiring to allow this.

There are some very nice a/v equipment rack frames that are made to allow pull out and rotation of the rack for access to the back of the equipment. Some examples of the fancier pull our/rotate racks are:
http://www.accuride.com/Woodworking/...tID=68&CatID=4
http://avrak.com/avrak.html
http://www.middleatlantic.com/enclosure/roll/axsr.htm
http://eholovision.com/index.php?opt...121&Itemid=121
http://www.middleatlantic.com/enclosure/roll/srsr.htm

good luck with a very nice installation.

I know what you are saying, but the homeowner this is for is not an "extreme" technology-phile like we are.

Once it is set up for them, the equipment will not be touched again until something breaks or they upgrade. As long as they can push the eject button on a blu-ray or dvd player they will be stoked.

More or less, I don't think I would spend my own money on extra mounts and stuff for the electronics. Once it is setup even my stuff is not touched for a long time until I upgrade or get something new. Plenty of slack in all those cables coming out of the wall as well. Just put the components in my lap, plug them in, grab the slack and set the components into their "final resting spots" until they are called upon again!

[gclg2000]

Well, I added the rest of the cables and wiring before the insulation (yesterday and today) went in and the sheet rock folks are starting today as well in the garage.

This is a list of all the wires coming in:

7 x Extron MHR-5 RGBHV cables
7 x Cat5e for IR extenders
8 x RG6 feeds for DirectTV/Cable
8 x 16awg speaker wires (5.1, 2.0 Patio, 1 sub line)
1 x RG6 Digital Coax for Sub
1 x HDMI for Living Room TV
1 x 5 RGB Component Living Room TV
5 x Cat5e for home network

What do you guys think? Can you think of anything else?
Tallying up these wires I do need to add one Cat5e for the Living Room IR extender as well.