The wife and I are soon to be movng into our new house.  One project that I would reeally ike to undertake in the next few months is a quality DIY Home Theatre/Living Room.  

Currently, I have a tiered 3 level glass shelf, similar to this, just a little wider



My problem with he stand is with the peripherals, there is really no good way to cut down on wire clutter, and with the setup of the stand I hate the way the wires look.  

In the new place, I might be hanging the TV on the wall, which leaves me with an even bigger issue of hiding reciever inputs and power cables into the TV, into the wall.  I have seen many clean setups, but havn't really found any good DIY guides to doing clean LCD on the wall installs.

Also, probably putting in a nice 5.1 or 7.1 sound system, with wall to wall carpeting, is the best way to run wires under the carpet, along the baseboard or through the drywall somehow.  

And lastly, as far as getting a clean look for all the peripherals (Recievers, Game Systems, Satellite Box, Blu Ray) I don't necessarily want them to be in the room, possibly wired in from a nearby closet, which Im assuming I need a IR remote/relay system to control them...but im not really smart on all that, I might just end up putting them on the old TV stand, but I ould like to hear options if anyone has them.

Any guides or tips for installs, are greatly appreciated.










Thanks guys, look forward to any and all advice!

In the wall.  Have ac power placed behind flat screen, other lines in wall then under carpet, very clean.

What do you mean, have AC power placed behind the TV in wall.  Actually putting an outlet inside the wall, or splicing into existing conduit.  Imgaine, for the sake of argument that I know very little aout wiring.

I definitely suggest hanging the TV and fishing the cables from behind the TV to the power outlet where it will connect to your receiver and cable box.  Check out youtube for "hanging flat screen tv" and you will find some decent help.

I'll check out youtube, looked around a little bit.  As far as cable fishing, whats the most effective method/tools to use?

Here's my two cents as a Home Theater Installer.





Dont fucking get the crazy idea of putting the tv over the fireplace!  I hate this request more than any thing.  How many homes have an AC outlet above their fireplaces? Very Few and for a clean install, you want an outlet behind the tv.  Having to run conduit or going thru the crawlspace/attic is a pain in the ass for all those AV Cables.  If you mount the tv on a exterior wall, you'll want something called a flexrod or glowrod.  it's about 4.5 to 5 feet long,made of glow in the dark fiberglass and has attachments on the end for more rods(daisy chaining). We also attach a small metal chain with electrical tape and use a magnet to help us with pulling the rod out of the wall. This will help you run the cables thru all the insulation in the wall.  Cut a hole behind the tv and one behind your stand.  Throw the glow rod in and pull it out the other end.  Tape your cables on and fish them back up.  Make sure that the wall doesn't have any funny fireblocks or other obstacles. Buy the right length of cables (just buy them from monoprice and splurge for long cables).   Mounting the tv is easy. just buy the right mounting kit. MEASURE YOUR STUD SPACING!! Some kits are designed for 16" spacing and based on how you center the television, you might need a wall plate that expands.  





For the Speakers, you could do as others have said and carpet fish(good luck with that, you'll hate it), or baseboard tuck.  If you plan on putting them on stands and having the speakers hidden by furniture, it's okay but you'll still have exposed wire somewhere.


The best way would be to hop in the crawlspace or attic and fish the speaker wire to where the speakers are being mounted. you just need to mark the spots they being mounted plus the home run(where all your speaker wire meets your receiver and other equipment).  We use insulation rods that we drill into the attic or crawlspace.  You get someone to tap these while you are in the crawl/attic and drill out the wall cap.  Insert your glow rod and push it up the wall.  The other person opens up a large enough hole to fish out the rod( this is why we use the chain/magnet combo-smaller hole for you to cover and you don't have to use a plate to cover the hole ).  They attach the speaker wire and you pull it to where you are.  Make sure they tie off the wire or it might fall down the hole.  Repeat this for all you speakers and you just push all of your wires up the Home Run hole to your partner. you can buy all kinds of plates from home depot like binding posts or just simple spouts for your home run(which should be the same spot you used to run the cables up to the tv)  There's more to it but most of it's just simply taking your time and thinking it out completely.  
Good Luck



Edit *** I just saw that you wanted to put an RF system in and locate the items in a closet or somewhere else.  Just the same as above.  Just make sure that the cable you buy to link the TV to your receiver is long enough to reach(including any length needed to reach the crawlspace or attic and run to where it drops down/up the wall to the tv)  Plus, closets tend to be framed in a little better than walls(like with supports for stairs,pipes,etc) so doing the home run for all your cables needs to be a little more carefully planned. It can be DIY work but just hire professionals to do it.  It never turns out the way you planned it with this level of complexity unless you have some experience in doing this type of work or are just the type that enjoys doing complex DIY(which this not but can turn into).  New House and wanting a clean look, i would just ask your real estate agent for any specialty companies that do this type of work or break out the phone book. ONCE YOU FIND SOMEONE, ASK TO SEE THEIR COMPANIES PORTFOLIO OF PREVIOUS WORK AND FOR REFERENCES. A QUALITY COMPANY WILL HAVE 0 PROBLEMS DOING THIS.





 

First up, I am HAPPY to see a HT installer recommend against putting the TV over the fireplace. I think the home designers started that crap and it's just an awful trend. I can't imagine sitting on a couch craning my neck to look up at the television like that. But golly gumbucks does the wall look symmetrical!

Second, I recommend looking at the home theater install forums on AVS forums. Click Yeah you're going to have the guys who spend $50k to have a true HT experience in their home, but once you decide on your space and what you want it to do, you can figure out just how far you want to take it.

It's a great idea-starter, anyway, and even though my home theater is just a small one in my basement, I have some inexpensive (ok, except for that whole "sweat equity" part ) ideas to make it really cool thanks to looking at what the big boys do.