Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater WHAT Completion - Step 1 of 4...

The cable reached (with plenty spare!).
No need for a processor. I built one myself. it doesn't up upscaling, but it will do just fine!

Eric good job, but those labels really should also have French translations shouldn't they

Some are! Speakers ID are hard to associate immediately for me in French. Note that they're not even in Canadian English as I use "Center" and not "Centre" (which would have worked for both French and English!).

Well, back to work! Next steps are (neighbors are sleeping so noisy stuff later):
1. Cleanup the wraps at the back of the unit
2. Pass the power cables for the rest of the devices and try out their placement.
3. IR blaster distribution (changed from plan as I discovered my cable box has IT in-out which will spare me a port of my blaster)

When the neighbors are gone
4. "Rail" speaker cables and subwoofer to the back
5. lay out the mother of all cables and start sobbing if it is too short!
6. "guide" the cables inside each pigeon hole. The one I did last night turned into a complete mess (I started with the worst one).

The maybe tomorrow if I don't have time (or the energy) today
7. Clean up the back and the top of the unit
8. Move the unit back half-way
9. Add the heavier equipment (center channels, 400 disk changer...)
10. Take all the left over cables and neatly store them in my "cable armoire"
11. Move the furniture back into place
12. Add the layer of guizmos (chargers, adapters, lamps and so on).
13. Sit on the couch and start being grumpy that my BO problem has made me a social outcast.

I forgot to insert a few "post pictures", but we could call that "implicit"!

Eric,

Very impressive!

Here is a guy who knows how to score MAJOR points with the wife!

Great job, Eric!

I have to get someone in here to do that for me. Heck, you're not that far away; is beer and pretty ladies convincing?

This is going to kill me... Probably only one more day! And then the wait for BO jumps one notch higher!

Did a lot of stuff except nailing. I had not really put the "cable tie holders" (glued stuff with holes) and they work marvellously well. Good thing as the neighbors were there sick and there are few things worse then being sick in the middle of noise.

I finished all the "non HT stuff" like passing the HDMI cables between my office and my living room and some audio cables too (later I will detail all the applications I will have access to and from where as I have to build a checklist of things to test prior to "closing" the setup) and took care of IR blasters.

1-2. In last post, I mentionned I had created a mess in one of my pigeon holes. Using two cable tie holders, I cleanly separated the cables for the A30, the HDX1000 and the SB-Receiver. That way, the A30 was able to slide to the back without resistance and the component cables for the HDX1000 were no longer springing to the point of disconnecting the HDMI on the A30. Picture 2 is how the 3 look together.



3-8. Equipement that is finished: 3. Cable Box and Cable Modem; 4. Belkin + VHS (the door broke as I started the work); 5. Oppo 980h; 6. Panasonic BD-30 7. Can't remember the name of that one; 8. New TV (fricking great!)








9. On the side, I have temporarily put my headphones. I don't know yet if I will need my headphone amp or not. Cables have been passed in case, but I will have to try. If I need it, then the headphones will be back on the right-side of my couch.

Note the cable dangling next to the headphone. There is a USB hub on top of my big bookshelve. It connects notably a wireless keyboard and mouse allowing me to control my secondary computer (called "Harpo") and also a serial adapter to connect to RS232 equipment. Since that computer is also connected on HDMI2 of my TV, I could connect to a "bass correcting device" and see the results in HD. Charles, are you jealous?



10-11. The back "sides" of the entertainment unit. The cables are tied in a way to fold correctly when I push back the entertainment unit without putting any kind of pressure on any connector (one of my main guiding principle for all the hookups I did this week). Note the wireless acess point; I might will mount it to increase the wi-fi range, but I am not certain.




12-13. Two areas needing completion. The orange power cable (from the back of the unit) will serve one or two power bars for equipment needing a ground such as the subwoofer.

Now GRRRRR. The sub-woofer cable is JUST fitting. I will have to move the sub a bit to avoid straining the connectors, especially when I will have forgotten it is so tight! I will order a 3' XLR extension, but not before a little while.

And now GRRRRRCCRRRRAAAPPPPPPPPPP. The mother of all cables is 3' short!! (it was originally calculated using the OLD positions of all the equipment). If properly installed, that is. For a while I will have to live with it on the floor. In any case, I don't have a hole in the wall to pass it yet, so...

Monoprice will learn my address real good!




Now that doorway links my office and the living room. I had some more cable to pass (second HDMI + stereo audio)) so I redid it a bit more neatly than the nailed-guides that frequently missed to hit a stud....



The bottom line is that as I get closer to complete this (two days later than I had calculated), the frustration that I will not be able to enjoy for possibly another two weeks is getting me cranky...

Rest, lunch and then I start testing every single connection! Need a checklist!!

I am absolutely shocked that you don't already HAVE a checklist.

I'm going to bookmark this thread as a reference.

I'm going to go get a glass of rum for reference ... I think you need one as well Eric.

Damn you east coast happy hour people!

It's 5:39 ... in the p.m. Tom, y'all are probably in the a.m. or is it still Thursday yet?