Here is my HT upgrade. Decided to snap a few quick pics last night. Still putting the finishing touches on wiring and set-up so it is a little messy.






Everything below is an upgrade except the games and the CD changer.

Mitsubishi WS-55313 RPTV
Onkyo TS-XR601 A/V Receiver
Axiom Audio M22s fronts/VP100 center/QS4 quadpolar surrounds
HSU VTF-2 Sub
Pioneer DV-563A DVD/SACD/DVD-A Player
Onkyo DX-C370 5 Disc Changer
Phillips DSR704 DirecTv/TiVo receiver
XBOX via component and toslink
Gamecube via component
All new AR a/v cables.

Very nice!! I see you are using the same channeling to hide the wires for your Qs that I have. (Haven't installed it yet).

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhh....

Another awesome TV!

you're supposed to show a Gamecube game with you playing on your wavebird...

Ray3, where can I pick up some of the channeling to hide speaker wires?

I got mine at Home Depot. Saw it in a couple of other similar places. Lowe's and a local store. Just about any home improvement store will have it. It is also paintable if you want to blend it into the wall.

Ray

Very nice! It's funny how small the VP100 looks on a large TV. Mine looks pretty big on my 32" TV.

I really need to paint my wire channel. I didn't realize how white of a white it would be. I ordered mine from www.cableorganizer.com for about the same price it is at Home Depot. And this came with double sided tape already on it.

oldskoolboarder: I'll do that next time.

Looks awesome. I think that it should be required, before posting "I've got my new axioms" to show us all pics. They make my day...

Now that you've got some really engaging home theater, will you ever go out to the movies anymore? Just doesn't seem worth it, does it?

Never been much of a theater go'er in the first place so this won't change that much. Last year I saw LOTR and Finding Nemo. Besides my previous set-up wasn't too shabby either. Nothing compared to this though. I am really enjoying going back and rewatching movies that I have seen dozens of times already.

You've got to keep in touch about what new things you're now hearing that were previously lost.

I am an avid movie lover - but I rarely go to the theaters. I find that I have to show up 30 minutes early to get a good seat (not laced with sticky coke residue, bubble gum or other nastiness) that is reasonably in the middle of the theater. Then, then the movie starts, I have to sit through commercials - and stunt men I've never seen before tell me not to bootleg movies* (See below). Then, half the time, the print is old, dirty and poorly projected. I've also begun to notice little orange code markers on the film prints (I guess so that the film companies can track copied prints if they end up on a bootleg - they'll know where they came from). These orange code markers look like the old punch cards for computers. They only come on for one frame every now and then, and they are mostly subliminal - but if you notice them, or are thinking abotu them, they are imopssible to ignore. Very annoying. Then, half the time, the film is damaged and the sound drops off - or an A/C vent is audibly noisy. I could go on and on. Mostly, however, for my wife and I to go to a movie, we'll drop US$17. I can buy a stinking DVD for less than that on the day the movie is released on DVD, and you get extras (which I never really watch), a copy of your very own to watch over and over and over, and you can pause, rewind, all those good things.

It's just not worth getting out of the house for that. We're still young enough that we hang out at bars etc. on the weekend, so we aren't dying to get out of the house - in fact, mostly, when we want to watch movies, it is on nights that we want to stay in anyway.

Sorry about the gripes. Figured, if anything, considering present company, I'd have some like minded compatriots to agree with me...

*So, let me get this straight - we pay $8.50 to go see commercials!!!! WTF! And then, somebody tells me not to bootleg the movie. If I was going to bootleg it - I wouldn't be sittign itn he theater. Assanine, completely assanine. And infuriating.

Awesome set up.. just a few questions.. first, i always hear people on this board discussing the position of the speakers--in relation to your viewing area, distance from wall, distance apart, etc.. the speakers seem both, close together, and close to the wall.. has that made a big difference in your opinion.. second question, i see you have a wood floor. do you think that creates an echo, or create sounds that might bounce and be annoying to the ears?? i am asking cause i am contemplating setting up my HT in a garage conversion room that has had the floor re-done in clay tiles.. and am worried that i will get lots of bad sounds from this room.. any opinions??

i am fixing to take the plunge, and am looking for any/all input..

Call me crazy but i'm not seeing the pics.

and in reply to the capt..

i feel your pain 100%.. the price, the commercials, the kids crying or talking, cell phones going off, you name it. i have almost completely rebelled from the theater experience due to all those factors. factor in $10 bucks for a coke and popcorn, and it equals up to not being worth it. and what causes the most pain is that i like movies.. A LOT.. hence, why i want to build my own HT.. plus, i can get a six-pack, and a enough redenbachers to choke a goat for $10 bucks..

i can see 'em.. finding nemo is on the TV..(seems very popular)..

Crazy.

bigjohn: The fronts are actually further from the wall than they appear in the pic. They are about 2' out. My viewing area is about 8'. Obviously I can't get that much seperation betweent the front due to space constraints. To the right is a 2' high, wall to wall cobblestone hearth. To the left is a sliding glass door. So I really don't have a basis of comparison for their current placement.

As far as the hardwood floors I did notice a difference before I laid the carpet. The carpet is a wall-to-wall remnant that I had bound. After I laid that down I noticed that the sound softened up quite a bit.

Capn_Pickard: I hear ya. It has to be something spectacular for me to drag myself to the theater. And on the rare occassion that I do I have to get there about an hour early to ensure I am first in to get the seats that I want. In the last few years I have seen LOTR: TTT and ROTK, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., and Star Wars AOTC (4 times). That is it. This year the only one I want to see so far is Dawn of the Dead and I might see The Day After Tomorrow. I'd much rather wait, in most cases, to watch at home. Sometimes I don't even know why I bother at all with the theater because I almost always end up renting whatever I see to catch anything I might have missed.

Sweet! How do you like your widescreen TV? I came very close to buying the Mitsu 48313 last month, but the wife protested - something about it being irresponsible with my oldest daughther starting college in September.

Cap'n Pickard - I don't go to the movies much either for all the reasons you stated. At least we have one multiplex with stadium seating and great, LOUD sound, for when you just can't wait for the DVD (but it still doesn't sound as good as my HT system). Two tickets, and the popcorn that's ridiculously overpriced for a reasonable size - and for 50 cents more you get trash-can size - can almost pay for two DVD's.

Am i perhaps the only person NOT using the ever patched Internet Explorer for browsing?

Probably.

Nope. I'm using Safari and Mozilla Firebird.

I use a combo of Mozilla and IE myself

Twirly: Love the widescreen. Been wanting one since the first time I saw one. I'm sure once your wife saw one of her favorite movies on one the protesting would go away.

Work=IE and Firefox
Home= Firefox until I hit a site that won't work in it. Then IE.

hijack?

jr

I can see the pix with FireFox (based on Mozilla).

I use Mozilla 1.4.1 (a couple of builds behind i know).
I avoid IE and Outlook like the plague.

Cap'n - thank you. I didn't realize how much I hated going to the movies and what a lousy time I was having.

On a more serious note, I absolutely agree with everything you just described Adrien. EXCEPT - when I ask for senior citizen tickets, they rarely ask me for ID! My wife and I talked this over a few nights ago. For $3.99 at Blockbuster (or free from the library), you can get a bunch of people into the HT room for an evening's entertainment and it's a much more relaxed atmosphere. (I just have to be sure I get scrape my wife's gum off the leather chair before it hardens). The seating, ambience, eats/drinks and parking are all much better too. The only thing that is required is a bit of patience until the movie is available on DVD. Sitting that close to a big screen (sorry spiff!) and having an adequate surround sound/sub setup is just a little slice of heaven.

As an added bene (?), the HT comes in very handy here in Rochester, NY. We completely eliminate the need to brave the travel to/from the theater during the long winter chill by using the in-home HT approach. Flip on the gas fireplace, pop the DVD in and drink a little red wine. This works. It is especially nice based on our 4 season climate of June, July, August and Winter.

Ahhhh, the thrill of another successfully hijacked thread!

I apologize for contributing the the highjacking... It was all initiated by Monstermile's great HT set-up is all...

But let's not fool ourselves - aside from some of the conveniences, movie theaters are pretty great - that's kind of what we're all striving for. In that same vein, money (the cost of a movie vs. the cost of renting DVD's) can't really drive our decisions, considering we'd have to see close to 625 movies (based on a $5000 home theater system and a $8 movie ticket) to begin saving money on your theater (and that doesn't include rental fees or DVD purchase prices). Just some food for thought about how much we are spending to avoid going to the movies...

On another side note - as a DVD watcher - my calendar is just shifted back six months or so. I no longer look in the paper to see what movies are currently playing. I go to dvd.ign.com and find out when a movie that I am interested in is going to be released on DVD. I guess it's all relative.

p.s. No more highjacky-jacky.

p.p.s. - Love your system - very jealous. Hope you love it (Sure you will.)

thats funny you should say that.. we have the same 4 season deal down here in west texas.. except with us, its december, january, february, summer.. we have already had highs in the 80's.. although it is raining today..

geez, i am talkin' about the weather.. i must be getting old.

great setup and a nice tv. VP100 looks like one of nemo's buddies . I have M22 too, and love them.

How do you like the Dvd player, am planning to buy one. I would really appreciate your thoughts!

Raj

Raj,
I like the Pioneer. It has a decent pq which is all I was after. I spent too much time reading and researching before buying. It seems like every time I found a player I liked I would find a bad review or comment. No different with this one. Everyone kept saying you HAVE to have the Faroudja de-interlacer. I don't because I am perfectly happy with this one. I don't plan on venturing into SACD or DVD-A, but if I do decide to the option is there. The player is very easy to set up as well. Reminds me alot of my first player back in 97. A Sony DVP-S500D. Yeah I got into DVD early. My second one, a Panny RA-60 I hated since day one. But I needed one quick with a built in decoder and at the time it was my only option. Anyhoo this is the review that solidified my decision. Link