DIY - Building a Home Theater in Your Basement

I can never understand how a date at the movies or hanging with friends at the movies really translates to fun. First of all, there can be no talking, they will not pause or rewind the movie and without a doubt, someone sitting behind you will get a phone call that they simply must take. Cell phones, as we all know are definite spoilers for a good movie. Also, at the movie theater, there are people you do not know sitting in the seats beside you with their jumbo-size popcorn and ice-shaking, slurping of the super-sized coke. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the darkness of the movie theater; the sound effects that make the entire room vibrate and let us not forget the full 30 minutes of the coming attractions. But what if you could bring this setup into your home? Just imagine, you would be able to invite over friends to watch a movie or a game and serve just about any kind of food you wish. What a great way to entertain! Building a home theater in your basement can be an arduous task but if you keep the end goal in mind, it can be a rewarding experience that will invoke the envy of friends and place you in a category comparable with the Joneses.

First things first!

The first thing you need to do when thinking of this system is to try to arrange the room in your mind. Select a focal wall and visualize how you will arrange the seats around the room.

Next, think if you want the space to be a transition sitting room or always a movie theater. If it is to be a transition room, you may want to select a piece of art to hang on the wall when the screen is not hanging down.

Decisions, decisions, decisions!

You need to decide whether to hire a contractor or do it yourself. If you decide to hire a contractor, you must ensure that it is someone licensed to do this kind of work. This is important because you need to check the necessary agencies to ensure that your contractor is trustworthy and has a good record. Also, remember that this person will need to do knowledge transfer so you will know how to operate the system after it is installed .

You need to think about where to store your equipment. Will the equipment be stored in an entertainment cabinet or will you place them on a glass or wooden shelf?

If you have windows in your basement, you will need to hang blackout curtains and blinds to get the real movie theater effect.

From an energy perspective, there should be enough service on your circuit breakers to handle all this extra audio visual equipment.

What you will need and how to set up

1. Amplifiers

Make sure to purchase a minimum of 100 Watts amplifier. Speakers should match the wattage on the amplifier or you will not get good sound quality. Also, if you install a very high wattage amplifier, it might be too aggressive and blow your speakers.

2. Speakers

If your speakers will be wall mounted, you could use a 5:1 setup so there would be a speaker in each corner of the room and one in the center with a powered sub-woofer. Remember to take into consideration the ratio of the wattage so the amplifier can drive the speakers. Another option would be a 6:1 setup with a speaker in each corner and a front center and rear center speaker with a powered sub-woofer.

3. Video

Do you want a HD DVD Player? Most definitely! You will also need a HD DVR Cable box. These components will be connected to the DLP HD Projector that will be ceiling mounted in your home theater. It is important to determine the throw distance from your projector to the screen. To calculate the throw distance, go to http://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calculator.cfm.

4. Cabling

You will need High Definition Multimedia Interface (HMDI) cabling that will run from the DVD player and cable box to the projector. You will also need digital audio cable to run to the amplifier from those two components. All cable should be run behind the walls and should not be openly displayed.

5. Screen

An 80' screen should be mounted in the ceiling and be about 1 ½ feet from the wall. A good brand for the screen is Da-lite.

6. Track Lighting

To capture the real movie theater effect, install 3 halogen track lighting bulbs in front of the screen and 3 in front of the projector. Each set of 3 should be on independent switches with independent dimmers. The screen and lights should run on separate 120-line circuits.

7. Remote Control

Purchase a Harmony Smart remote control so that all your equipment can be programmed to work at the click of a button.

Now, get the popcorn and relax!