Powerhouse Theatre

P

Powerhouse2k

Gawd
Joined
Oct 21, 2000
Messages
687
Finally got around to updating my Home Theatre. I wont go into all the old items I replaced (everything but the DVD Jukebox), I'm just glad that Ebay and Craig's List allowed me to recoop a lot of my costs. :D

Side View:
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The Components:
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So what's in the PC (which btw is at the lower right in the above Picture)...

HTPC Parts:
Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H Motherboard (great thread from the [H]ard http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1216020 and more from AVS Forums http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=924348
AMD X2 4600+ (Overclocked to 4.65GHz) cooled with a Mini-Ninja
Radeon HD2600XT (using the HDMI output for Video and 5.1 Sound)
2 GIgs of DDR2 memory
20X SATA DVD Writable Drive
2 Seagate 500Gig Drives (Movie Storage)
1 Seagate 350Gig Drive (Vista 32bit OS)
D-Link Wireless N network card
IMON VFD IR Receiver w/remote
Silverstone Case

The Rest of the Stuff:
Toshiba 65" (65HM167) DLP TV (has 3 HDMI connectors)
Sony STR-DG810 Receiver - Top Left
Sony 400 Disc DVD Jukebox (CX995V) - Top Right
Dish VIP622 HD-DVR - Lower Middle
HSU Ventriloquist VT12 Speakers with STF-2 Subwoofer. http://hsuresearch.com/
300 Watt Amp used to drive the speakers below - Lower Left
Aura BaseShaker Pro's (4 of them in the couch, for that extra realism during explosions, earthquakes and stuff)

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I hate having a ton of remotes:
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So I got one to Rule them All...
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Wow, need to clean off the fingerprints on this sucker. For everyone not aware what this remote is, its a Pronto TSU9400 (new remote, been out since Nov). I had the old black and white Pronto TSU3000 and had to retire it, as it couldn't do the things I wanted it to do. If your into programmable remotes, visit Remote Central, its a great site. http://www.remotecentral.com/index.html

Here's some shots of the HTPC in action:
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Gotta plug My Movies add-on for Media Center. http://www.mymovies.dk/home.aspx
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One more gaget for your Home Theatre:
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It's a Lutron Maestro IR Dimmer. It allows for scenes, so you can set it to dim the lights to a specific setting, all with the touch of a single button. Very cool, and it cost a whole $20 at Home Depot and took about 15 minutes to install.


My advice to anyone who like's my setup (or any of the other setups you see here or come across), is to do your homework on the parts, and make sure they do what you need them to do. Also, don't worry about spending the big bucks on everything at once. Take your time and do it right the first time, and you wont have a lot of headaches getting things to play nice with each other.

Oh, and don't ever think you are done...hehehe, couple of items on my Xmas list...

HSU MBM-12 Mid-Bass Module http://hsuresearch.com/products/mbm-12.html

Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse Combo (I really like the MS Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000 http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=080
 
Very nice! 65"!!!! :eek:

Tell me more about that Pronto. I have one of the older ones that I like OK but yours doubles up for mouse duty?
 
Which Pronto do you have? This one does quite a bit more than the older versions, including WiFi support. There is a project going on in the Remote Central forums that allows the Pronto to play your music in Media Center, without having to use the TV. Everything is displayed on the Pronto (including Album Cover Art).

It's an expensive piece of equipment (at about $500):eek:, but no more than paying for a decent Receiver or HD-DVD player. Plus the Wife loves it, and could never go back to using anything else. Heck, I had my in-laws over for Thanksgiving, and my father-in-law loved it so much, he bought one on the spot (which I'm currently programming for him for X-mas).:D

I was able to program the functions of the iMon VFD IR into the Pronto, the iMon remote has a joypad type mouse control, which the Pronto can learn (although it took lots of learning and relearning to get it to work properly).
 
Awesome TV. Also like the idea of the subs under the seats. But from an aesthetic point of view the curtains around the TV is not appealing at all, not to mention you can see the light reflecting off of it even after you've dimmed the lights. Other then that I'm hella envious:p
 
BEGONE said:
Awesome TV. Also like the idea of the subs under the seats. But from an aesthetic point of view the curtains around the TV is not appealing at all, not to mention you can see the light reflecting off of it even after you've dimmed the lights. Other then that I'm hella envious:p
Click to expand...

its all about personal preference to me it adds the movie theater feel
 
great job, did you make the comp yourself? DO you have a worklog for thaT? Curious . Looks good otherwise.
 
Wow, sorry for the late response, haven't been looking in here for awhile.

To answer your question, yes I put the computer together myself (been a tech for nearly 20 years now). Nothing too crazy, just parts that I read about that would do what a HT should do.

Now if I could just use Vista Media Center with my Dish VIP622 DVR, that would be wonderful. To bad Dish is using some kind of encryption on their recorded shows, that Vista can't decipher. Maybe in the future Dish and Windows will work together for something really cool (or at least I can hope).:D

Oh, and for the comment about the curtains around the TV, actually when the lights are dim, there is no reflection off them (or at least non that interfer with watching a movie or TV show). They were from our old house before moving to this new one (and matched our curtains in the old house), but I am in the process of convincing my Wife that some nice looking Chocolate colored curtains would be more appropriate. ;)
 
Powerhouse2k said:
Wow, sorry for the late response, haven't been looking in here for awhile.

To answer your question, yes I put the computer together myself (been a tech for nearly 20 years now). Nothing too crazy, just parts that I read about that would do what a HT should do.
Click to expand...

Do you have a list of the specs. Just curious thats all. Thanks!
 
Did you mount your bass shakers or just put them in between the cushoins?

MyMovies? Do you have the movies ripped to your harddrive or is that just info for the movies and you have to still put the movie in the player?

Nice setup.
 
dlaxman31 said:
Do you have a list of the specs. Just curious thats all. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Specs are at the top of the thread, but here is a recap...

HTPC Parts:
Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H Motherboard (great thread from the [H]ard http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1216020 and more from AVS Forums http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=924348
AMD X2 4600+ (Overclocked to 4.65GHz) cooled with a Mini-Ninja
Radeon HD2600XT (using the HDMI output for Video and 5.1 Sound)
2 GIgs of DDR2 memory
20X SATA DVD Writable Drive
2 Seagate 500Gig Drives (Movie Storage)
1 Seagate 350Gig Drive (Vista 32bit OS)
D-Link Wireless N network card
IMON VFD IR Receiver w/remote
Silverstone Case
 
Shoop said:
Did you mount your bass shakers or just put them in between the cushoins?

MyMovies? Do you have the movies ripped to your harddrive or is that just info for the movies and you have to still put the movie in the player?

Nice setup.
Click to expand...

I thought about mounting them, but the hastle of taking apart each couch section, and mounting them, would be too much of a pain. Plus they work great just stuck between the cushions.

I have about 220 movies ripped to the hard drives. This is in addition to the 350+ movies that I have in the DVD changer. My Pronto remote has the covers of each of the 350+ movies, so it's a touch the movie cover on the Pronto, and it will load the correct DVD movie from the jukebox and start playing.

The thing I really love about the ripped movies, is the fact that they start up nearly instantaneously when you click on them, vs. the 1 minute+ wait for the DVD to unload the current movie, find and load the selected movie, and start playing it. Plus MyMovies has so many options for searching, setting up multiple discs, etc, that it simply blows away any DVD player out there.
 
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