Home theater in the apartment

[Patman]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

I'm going to make a run at all this soon... seriously. What should I be looking at in regards to wires. I bought the TV stand I posted a link to below... looks pretty nice but its empty without a TV.

I probably should take some pictures but I've got some features that's going to make things interesting... my living room has an "enclosed patio" complete with glass sliding door and carpeting on both sides. I have two options... running speaker wire along the floor by the sliding door track or running speaker wire up and over the patio along the edges.

I'm also uncertain about where to put speakers on the couch side wall. My couch, for space reasons, is flush to the patio window. I'd like to see if I can put a desk and bookcase on the other side of the couches in here. I have some limited abilities to made adjustments (read as, putting nails into the wall) and I'd like to avoid screws as much as possible. I probably should take some pictures, I'm just a tad lazy right now.

Any thoughts? I'm certainly going to need extra length speaker wire and possibly some device to stealthfully hide the cord. I'm sure both exist, i just want to see what you guys know in case you guys can short-circuit the search.

[IronMonkee]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

Well, to be fair, millions of their happy customer beg to differ. I couldn't imagine a dumber thing to argue about than home theater products. I work in the industry and while I'm not a huge fan of Bose's stuff, the extreme anti-Bose sentiment is hilarious but tiring.

My beef is not the product, it's the price. Bose things do an amazing job of under performing their price point.

To the discussion at hand, you may be able to hide the speaker wires by stuffing them under the edge of the trim. It sounds stupid, but I found myself surprised at how often it worked when I was installing things during school.

In addition, don't buy monster cables and the like.
www.monoprice.com
Specifically, if you're doing speakers in an apartment, this should leave you with more than enough.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

Don't know if you've bought your equipment yet, but look at a klipsch qunitet system and a marantz AV unit, use the Xbox as a DVD player.
Such as:
http://us.marantz.com/Products/2926.asp
&
http://www.klipsch.com/na-en/product...-300-overview/


Those can both probably be found cheaper, and will be a much better value for your money than a Bose system. That said, it's not a great visual system. You're also going to want a sub, as baby speakers aren't good at bass.

If you insist on a DVD player, these are a good value.
http://www.oppodigital.com/dv980h/default.asp
Upconverts DVDs to a pretty passable 1080p, though it is not a Blue Ray player.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

Bose is expensive, but I bought a system and it has replaced my stereo. Those two little speakers and the woofer sound 20 times better than my stereo did with the two big speaker cabinets I had.

There's no question they sound pretty good.

[rufus]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

About cables, I can tell you there's absolutely nothing wrong with Monster Cable, although they do tend to be a bit pricey for what you get. But they're not low-tech crap posing as high end like Bose is.

A few years back, people had all sorts of good things to say about Acoustic Research cables; they were pretty inexpensive but were very well built and performed well. I bought a bunch on-line from this place, but the last time I checked them out, their selection of AR stuff was very limited.

I think I saw some of the entry level AR cables in Best Buy quite a while ago, but not sure if they still carry them. I don't think you really need super-expensive high end cables, but probably should look for something better than the black covered, red and white connector cables you can get at Rat Shack.

edit: checked out accessories4less, and looks like they have a pretty decent selection of AR cables at the moment, some in low stock levels though.

[IronMonkee]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

Bose is expensive, but I bought a system and it has replaced my stereo. Those two little speakers and the woofer sound 20 times better than my stereo did with the two big speaker cabinets I had.

That must have been a crappy stereo, you buy it out of the back of a van?

There's no question they sound pretty good.

I stand by what I said. You buy Bose, you'll pay too much for what you get. There are lots of better combinations of baby home theater speakers and real amplifiers that will give you what you're looking for sound wise and will cost you less.

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

That must have been a crappy stereo, you buy it out of the back of a van?



I stand by what I said. You buy Bose, you'll pay too much for what you get. There are lots of better combinations of baby home theater speakers and real amplifiers that will give you what you're looking for sound wise and will cost you less.

No, I bought it in the stereo section of some store. I forget where.

Fine, I wasted my money. Happy?

[walrus]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

How much home theater can you have when you live in an apartment anyway?

[rufus]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

How much home theater can you have when you live in an apartment anyway?

As much as you want as long as the neighbors don't complain.

[Patman]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

As much as you want as long as the neighbors don't complain.

and the walls seem to be pretty good

[walrus]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

As much as you want as long as the neighbors don't complain.

Thats my point,I'd POed if I was hearing somebodies surrond sound all the time. Which leads me back to how much of a home theater can you have in an apartment. Doesn't seem like you need much of a system to **** off a neighbor

[Patman]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

Thats my point,I'd POed if I was hearing somebodies surrond sound all the time. Which leads me back to how much of a home theater can you have in an apartment. Doesn't seem like you need much of a system to **** off a neighbor

I'm just looking for a quality surround sound effort... I'm not going to try to scare the neighborhood when watching a bomb blast in a movie. I know I won't be able to crank the volume to 11 and its likely I'll probably either kill or severely mute the effects of the subwoofer so that there's no complaints.

[rufus]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

Thats my point,I'd POed if I was hearing somebodies surrond sound all the time. Which leads me back to how much of a home theater can you have in an apartment. Doesn't seem like you need much of a system to **** off a neighbor

You'd be surprised. It's not quite the same but the same principle, but....... Earlier this summer, I put a decent stereo system into the new car, only an 8" subwoofer, and tuned so it doesn't go "whooooooomp whooooooomp whooooooomp" like all the kids like(Yes, I'm old )

The amp for the subwoofer turns on a second or two after the amp for the main speakers, and I don't have the volume cranked to obscenely loud levels, especially early in the morning when I'm heading off to work, but you'd be surprised the difference in the sound it makes when that little subwoofer kicks in. Just a fuller, richer character to the sound.

[hockeyplayer1015]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

Thats my point,I'd POed if I was hearing somebodies surrond sound all the time. Which leads me back to how much of a home theater can you have in an apartment. Doesn't seem like you need much of a system to **** off a neighbor

Well, I guess this leads me to say this:

I've got the Logitech Z-5500 5.1 surround system in my dorm room. A little over the top? Probably, but I've got **** good sound quality, and I also don't pump it all that often, especially this year since I've got a bunch of people I don't know near me, as opposed to last year where I was more or less secluded from the majority of people on my floor, and those around me didn't mind.

[Patman]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

argh! going through bits and parts... sorting out through televisions, speakers, and receivers I think I've gone nuts.

It looks like unless I get a lot of strength all of the sudden I'm going to have to get somebody to install the TV. I don't think its that complicated but rather it seems to be that heavy. Anybody have any advice or what i should be looking for in terms of services.

I'd really rather not pay the extra expense. All this audio crap is throwing me off enough. BLAH.

[IronMonkee]

Re: Home theater in the apartment

argh! going through bits and parts... sorting out through televisions, speakers, and receivers I think I've gone nuts.

It looks like unless I get a lot of strength all of the sudden I'm going to have to get somebody to install the TV. I don't think its that complicated but rather it seems to be that heavy. Anybody have any advice or what i should be looking for in terms of services.

I'd really rather not pay the extra expense. All this audio crap is throwing me off enough. BLAH.

Can you find studs in your wall? Can you convince one other person to help you lift up the TV? If the answer to both of those things is yes, you don't need to pay someone to install it.

Actually, your TV stand had the mount right? You don't even need a stud finder. They're not that heavy, unless you're going for something obscene like a 60" one. As long as you have one friend, you should be okay.