typicaltronname Wrote:You guys are making me way too jealous. I watch Tron on 26" Sharp Aquos TV connected to my 2.1 speaker system. Want to upgrade to a 40" with at least 120hz, but nearly impossible to find within a $500 range. I've got my eye on the Samsung UN40D5003.

If you want to go DLP like "Disc-of-tron" suggested. You could find 60" DLP sets for around $600 dollars. This allows for a relatively large screen for a modest price. The only downside is that you can't mount it on a wall.

After some listening with the new cable I was so impressed by the improvement in quality that I decided to make another pair to connect my preamp to my Oppo CD player. This one was a shorter 2 ft cable.

Kaisergrendel Wrote: Nice cables DrP, how much did they cost to make?

It's hard to make an estimate as I had to "tool up" for the project before I could start. The cable was under 2 bucks per foot, the plugs were about $20 per set, the techflex I bought a 25 ft section for about 10 bucks, I had a heat shrink set with numerous sizes and additional techlfex which cost 10 bucks. I had to buy a multimeter (3 bucks off ebay), cable stripper (3 bucks on ebay) solder gun 20 bucks, solder 10 bucks, and little "exta hand" solder kit holder for another 10 bucks. I'm guessing about 50 bucks per cable set but clearly it was a little up front cost as I had to buy the tools needed to make this. I still have tons of techflex, solder, etc... so I won't need to buy that for future cables. It was a really fun project and I really like the sound of my system with these upgrades. Overall this was very cheap as cables like these usually go for hundreds of dollars.

Boba Fettuccini Wrote:Crappy 90s Magnavox CRT television Denon stereo reciever Cheapass Sony DVD player @ bigass speakers I got at a yardsale for $5 that no longer have logos on them Boom.

Feel your pain, man. Until not long ago I had they same. But upgrading isn't "that" necessary if you can see a picture and hear sound. But then who does it for that? Like if we did it for just that I would still have a Black and White tube from 1950! Just save your shekels and get a used one some day. It will be worth it to see Tron on a good screen! (sound doesn't matter since I still have 4.0 surround and the HUGE Sony speakers which do have logos and it works)
But those Sony DVD players can be good! I have one from around 2001-2002 and it has almost just as good a picture as a HD (not Blu-Ray) one!

Kaisergrendel Wrote: DrP Wrote:DIY is a great money saver. Yes it takes time, effort, and a little practice but in the end it's a great way to have a truly unique setup. Also, it's a great feeling to look at something that looks great and functions well (AND know that it was you who made it). How is your room coming along by the way? I know you had made the super awesome mantle and sliding cabinet. Last time I heard you had some issues with the cables but had some stuff on order. Hope all is going well in the "never-ending" project! Every time I think I'm finished I come up with something new. Not necessarily big things but always trying new stuff. I recently ordered some cable management supplies as I had wires running underneath a heating baseboard that I wanted to "clean up the look" as they would "peak" out a bit even though I tried to push them in deep underneath. I bought 4 pieces of 1.5 meter lengths so I have about 3 1/2 of them left. http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=105&cp_id=10520&cs_id=1052005&p_id=7028&seq=1&format=2 I may try to put some more to cover the cables running to my speakers. I'll have to see. I had a falling out with my dad over the projector and screen. I won't go into details but he was really upset about the "symbolism" of having them there. Didn't want to rub salt into the wound by photographing the setup - the implication being I was going to show it off to someone. Still not sure if it's appropriate to do so now, but I'll see. Currently we're in an arrangement that forces me to take them down if the family can't get accustomed to it in 6 months. Not something I agreed to lightly, but what can you do. I had a number of things planned for the theater but they will have to be shelved indefinitely - possibly until I move into my own place. I love those zip cable sleeves. I use one for my computer and one in the theatre as the "artery" to the sliding cabinet - HDMI cable, power, remote extender, centre channel speaker all routed though it to the one element. The flexibility makes it perfect as the cabinet isn't stationary. In hindsight, I'm pretty happy with the way the theatre is now as I made sure I planned it down to the last detail before starting.

Hey, listen I hear ya. Working on project when you share a home is always going to be a give and take scenario. It doesn't matter whether it's your dad, roommate, landlord, significant other, etc. I went through the same growing pains. I remember when I was in school and renting an apartment, I had to watch how loud I played stuff or they would come up and bang on my door. Then later even when I had my own home, we first had the setup in our sun room and I had to make sure cables were out of sight and speakers not protruding into the room to much. It's not just the equipment that is in a state of transition but our living situations as well. It wasn't until I was able to build an entire dedicated room for the home theater that I was really able to have complete control. Even now I sometimes get the "don't you think we should put some couches in there so everybody can sit." Luckily, it's "my room" and this was agreed upon when I built it, but I think you should definitely respect the views of other household members first and foremost. And like you said, you'll probably move into your own place at some point and you can set up the system the way you want (In the meantime keep designing stuff! I can't believe how crazy accurate that 3D render of your room was, I first thought it was a photograph).

I have to admit that i'm a little surprised they would give you grief as you did such an excellent job with all the wood work and design in that room. I figured they would be like, damn you really made this room look nice, go ahead and keep going. If I had somebody living here with me that was so inclined and skilled, I would be like, yeah keep designing stuff and we'll keep building!

P.S.- Just of curiosity, what kind of "symbolism" is a home theater anyway? I like to think that mine symbolizes the fact that I like things of high quality and I'm willing to invest time and money into my home. Just my humble opinion.

Any improvement in sound DrP?

Kaisergrendel-

After installing the new front base panels I did notice a slightly less "boomy" base with high volume listening. I have to admit that the principle reason I bought these is for their cosmetic design. I really wanted to hide the front white heating baseboard and I figured if it gives a little extra sound improvement, it will be worth it. I have well over 150 sound proofing panels (not to mention cloth shades mounted on the walls) in the room so in relative terms this was a minor increase in sound dampening. Overall, I am very satisfied with the outcome so mission accomplished.


Rectify-

I'm glad to hear your having fun with your setup. That's what it's all about. It sounds like you really like headphone setups. There is a big audiophile community out there that does their listening through headphones. A couple of months ago I was thinking of buying a headphone listening setup. There are some really nice tube headphone amps for less than $1,000. I was thinking of buying a pair of the higher end Grado's as well. At the end I decided not to invest $2k in headphones when I have a dedicated room with large speakers. If I was living in an apartment or smaller house, a good headphone setup may have been the way I would have gone. Keep up the good work, and post some pics of your system including the headphones your using. They seem to be giving you a good experience and perhaps other tron-sector members may decide to use a similar setup.