Home Theater Installation Blog

Home Theater In Wall Surround Sound Speakers

2010-02-25T12:37:00.001-05:00

Elan MP-650W
Elan Home Systems is a major supplier of distributed audio and home automation components for custom installation. They also manufacture a line of in-wall loudspeakers; featured here is the MP-650W, with a 6.5-inch woven-glass-fiber woofer and 0.75-inch aluminum-magnesium composite dome tweeter. The speaker frame, or basket, is made of the same glass-fiber compound.

The mounting system uses six clamps to secure the mounting bracket and speaker baffle to the wall, or you can attach the mounting bracket directly to wall studs using drywall screws. The baffle is contoured around the woofer and tweeter to minimize edge diffraction. The speaker baffle also has a knock-out plug for an IR receiver. Tone controls permit bass and treble adjustment of +/–3 dB, and the MP-650W has a pivoting tweeter to direct high frequencies toward the listening area.

Aesthetically, the MP-650W has a tall, narrow shape with a slim profile when installed in the wall. You can paint the grille and frame to match your interior décor.

The Elan has a balanced sound quality, with excellent midrange presence and very detailed high-end response. My newly acquired DVD-Audio version of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours revealed a rather punchy-sounding midbass with good dynamic range, and the speaker reproduced all of the detail in Acoustic Alchemy's "One for the Road" with excellent clarity. I especially enjoyed Jane Monheit's vocals in the Session #55 DVD-Audio, which demonstrated the MP-650W's exceptional imaging and soundstaging capabilities, most likely due in part to the pivoting tweeter.

At A Glance: Elan MP-650W In Wall Speaker

Features:
Tweeter (size in inches, type): 0.75, aluminum-magnesium dome
Woofer (size in inches, type): 6.5, woven glass fiber
Cutout Dimensions (inches): 7.125 wide by 12.25 high
Mounting Depth (inches): 3.813
Available Finishes: white (paintable)
Price: $550/pair

Ratings: Elan MP-650W
Build Quality: 92
Value: 93
Features: 93
Performance: 92
Ergonomics: 94
Overall Rating: 93

General information
MP-650W In-Wall Speaker, $550/pair
Elan Home Systems
(859) 269-7760
www.elanhomesystems.com
Dealer Locator Code ELA

Parasound C 265
In addition to manufacturing high-end audio components, Parasound offers in-wall and in-ceiling speakers for the custom-install market. The C 265 falls in the middle of their product assortment and has a 6.5-inch Kevlar cone woofer and a 1-inch aluminum dome tweeter.

Kevlar is an ultra-strong material (also used in bulletproof vests) that provides two important advantages in woofer design: It's rigid and lightweight. The dome tweeter uses Ferrofluid, a combination of iron particles and lubricant that enhances voice-coil heat conduction and dampens peaks in the tweeter's impedance.

The C-265 uses a mounting system with six dogleg clamps to secure the speaker to the wall, and the baffle has a knock-out plug for an IR receiver. There's also a three-position treble control that lets you adjust the treble +/–3 dB. The speaker terminal is a spring-loaded push-type terminal that accepts up to 10-gauge wire. As with the other speakers featured here, you can paint the speaker baffle and grille.

The Parasound had a smooth, natural, and well-balanced sound quality with a very detailed and delicate high end. Vocals, such as those of Clydene Jackson Edwards in "Come on In," were liquid and lush. The speaker's midrange qualities were excellent, especially the piano in Adam Makowicz's "Ab Elegy." There was plenty of mid- and low-bass response in Steely Dan's Everything Must Go DVD-Audio, even without a subwoofer.

Overall, the C 265 was pleasant to listen to. It also handled a lot of power without being overdriven. This is a great-sounding speaker and a real value at its price point.

At A Glance: Parasound C 265

Features:
Tweeter (size in inches, type): 1, aluminum dome
Woofer (size in inches, type): 6.5, Kevlar cone
Cutout Dimensions (inches): 7.375 wide by 10.75 high
Mounting Depth (inches): 3.25
Available Finishes: white (paintable)
Price: $435/pair

Ratings: Parasound C 265
Build Quality: 92
Value: 96
Features: 93
Performance: 95
Ergonomics: 92
Overall Rating: 94

General information
C 265 In-Wall Speaker, $435/pair
Parasound Products
(415) 397-7100
www.parasound.com
Dealer Locator Code PAR

Phase Technology CI-60
The Phase Technology brand was started in 1978 after the company spent many years building loudspeakers for other manufacturers. They now build floorstanding, bookshelf, in-wall, and in-ceiling speakers, as well as in-wall and floorstanding subs. The CI-60 comes from their Custom Installation Series of in-wall speakers.

The CI-60 features a 6.5-inch woofer and 1-inch tweeter that have some unusual features. Phase Tech calls the woofer design a Solid Piston Driver with RPF (which stands for Rigid Polymer Foam); the driver has a flat surface that outputs all frequencies from the same plane simultaneously. The woofer also uses a large 1.5-inch voice coil to increase power-handling capability. The soft-dome pivoting tweeter is adjustable to enable the listener to aim it right at the listening area. Phase Tech employs a crossover technology that they call Absolute Phase, which ensures that the drivers are acoustically and electrically in-phase. The company also strives to create in-walls with good vertical dispersion.

The two-piece installation system consists of a separate mounting bracket and speaker assembly, which makes installation a little easier. According to Phase Tech, it also permits upgrading to a better model in the future because all of the speakers in their line use the same mounting bracket. You can also attach the speakers directly to studs with a slotted post on the mounting frame. The back of the woofer is covered with cloth to prevent drywall dust from entering the speaker's voice coil, and the baffle features a knock-out plug for an IR receiver.

I would describe the CI-60's sound as dynamic and musical. Pat Coil's "Sierra Highways" sounded rich and full at all volume levels. The piano in Airto Moreira and the Gods of Jazz's "Nevermind" jumped out of the speaker and into the room. Bass was full enough without a subwoofer, and mids and highs were pleasing and well balanced. Overall, this is a great speaker with a pleasing sound quality that was easy to listen to.

At A Glance: Phase Technology CI-60

Features:
Tweeter (size in inches, type): 1, soft dome
Woofer (size in inches, type): 6.5, Solid Piston Driver with RPF
Cutout Dimensions (inches): 7.5 wide by 10.75 high
Mounting Depth (inches): 3.5
Available Finishes: white (paintable)
Price: $600/pair

Ratings: Phase Technology CI-60
Build Quality: 90
Value: 95
Features: 93
Performance: 95
Ergonomics: 94
Overall Rating: 94

General information
CI-60 In-Wall Speaker, $600/pair
Phase Technology
(888) 742-7385
www.phasetech.com
Dealer Locator Code PHA

For Professional TV & Surround Sound Installation in Connecticut Contact:

Streamline Home Theaters

93 Whiting St.

Plainville, CT 06062

1-888-841-2815

Home Theater Man Cave In Connecticut

2010-02-20T10:21:00.006-05:00

The Southington Connecticut Man Cave Home Theater!

This basement home theater is a sight to see! Imagine watching a movie on the big screen at your local movie theater, then multiply that experience by at least 500% and that's what this personal home theater produces. The crystal clear 103 inch 1080P picture combined with a 910 Watt 7.1 surround sound system fine tuned for this room with seven large leather automatic reclining seats and theater style dimming lights should say it all but words and pictures don't do this room justice. This theater can comfortably seat up to seven guests all with a perfect non-obstructive view of the entire screen. This theater room is acoustically perfect in every way; the sound produced by seven premium KEF speakers delivers a full crisp spectrum of sound throughout the entire room that doesn't bounce around. Every detail throughout the overall design of this room, including the carpet and sheetrock used was designed to maintain optimal sound quality. Whether it's being used for viewing a movie with the family or entertaining friends during a sporting event, this custom home theater system is amazing in every way!

About the equipment

JVC D-ILA Front Projector - The DLA-HD100 brings Full HD to your home with the industry's highest native contrast ratio. The "native" means that it does not rely on an iris mechanism to maximize contrast depending on the average brightness of one scene. This technical sleight of hand employed on other projectors, effectively changes overall luminosity, so that blacks are slightly bleached in bright scenes, while light colors appear duller in dark scenes.

1080P Video Output

30,000:1 Contrast Ratio

Projection Size 60" - 200"

KEF KHT5000 Surround Sound Speakers - The cool minimalism of these slender cast aluminum column speakers belies the sophistication of the technology that makes them sound so authoritative. Whether you’re watching a film or chilling out to a few tracks, they sound as clean as they look. 100W X 7 Total Speaker Power = 700W

KEF HTB2BL - The HTB2BL is the first subwoofer at this price level that you won't want to hide away out of sight. A stylish, small and inert enclosure is shaped to eliminate internal standing waves and surrounds a 250 millimeter (10 inch) bass driver and matching passive bass radiator. The HTB2BL also features an ultra-reliable high efficiency 250 watt class D amplifier which can play very loud and very clean.

250W x 2 Total Sub Power = 500W

Total Home Theater Cost = $50,000

About Plasma burn in And How To Avoid It

2010-02-04T14:28:00.003-05:00

So you've got your eye on that new plasma television. But you occasionally hear talk of this thing called "burn in". You've got a friend who's telling you how he'd never buy a plasma because it can get burnt in in just a few hours. But how can that be? Everybody's talking about them, and they're selling like crazy. So what's going on?

Before I explain what plasma burn in really is, lets take a look at what makes plasma televisions tick.

How Do Plasma Televisions Work?

Plasma screens are made up of hundreds of thousands of tiny cells called pixels. Each pixel is composed of a red, blue, and green subpixel that's coated with a special phosphor material.

Each pixel is also filled with a mixture of neon and xenon gas. When an electrical current is applied to each pixel, the gas glows and emits ultraviolet light. You and I can't see the UV light but it reacts with the phosphor, and the phosphor emits a particular color; red, blue, or green. The image displayed on the screen is a combination of all those pixels glowing in a particular pattern.

How Does Burn In Happen?

The problem with plasma screens is that the phosphors used in each pixel don't last forever. When they're excited to emit light, they actually get dimmer. The more a plasma screen operates, the dimmer it gets because the phosphors are slowly burning away. Sounds like quite the grim end for such an expensive television but don't worry; it generally takes somewhere around 50,000 hours of operation or more for the screen to drop to half its original brightness.

Plasma burn in happens when the phosphors burn at a particular intensity for too long. The random nature of TV and movie content causes the phosphors across the entire screen to burn at the same rate. But if the screen is displaying a static image for an extended period of time, those particular phosphors will wear out faster than the phosphors in neighboring pixels and a faint image will remain behind.

This is a serious problem for plasma owners who are avid video gamers. The head up display (score indicators, etc.) of many games simply doesn't move and the danger of burn in here is quite real. Others have reported that those annoying network logos you're forced to endure while watching your favorite TV show can get burned into the screen as well.

There have been a few lawsuits against television networks and even Sony to try and eliminate the network logos. So far, these lawsuits seem to be working as more and more networks are using semi-transparent network logos. They're also starting to move them around to different corners of the screen.

How Can I Prevent It?

Now there are two camps in the plasma burn in debate. Those who believe that plasma screen's can develop burn in after just a few short hours of TV viewing. The other camp believe burn in just no longer happens in high-quality plasma's that have been maintained properly.

Maintained properly? Say that again? Most plasma manufacturers recommend you "break in" a new plasma television by keeping its brightness and contrast below a certain level for the first 100 hours or so of TV viewing. They also recommend you set the aspect ratio so it completely fills the screen for those first 100 hours.

The first 100 hours or so are indeed the most critical for any plasma screen. During this period, you should set your television to stretch the video image to fill the entire screen. Avoid playing video games for more than an hour or so.

The brightness and contrast of any plasma also has a big impact on the risk of burn-in. Most sets come from the factory with these settings set way too high, an attempt to get them to look better than the competition in the showroom no doubt.

When you setup your new plasma, always turn down these settings. Better yet, use a video calibration disk like Video Essentials or Avia to configure your screen's colors. You'll have to lower your brightness and contrast to get your screen colors just right anyway.

Many plasmas sold today use anti-burn technologies like pixel-shifting, orbiting, screen/white wash, and screensavers.

These are good suggestions to follow and it appears that many people who've reported plasma burn in problems didn't follow these common sense precautions.

It has been reported by several manufacturers and analysts that sales of plasma's have been surging throughout 2006. With sizes increasing and prices dropping, how bad can the burn in problem really be when so many people are enjoying them?

Exactly.

For Plasma TV Installation Service in Connecticut click the link and a specialist can help properly install your TV at a great price.

Connecticut TV Installation & Surround Sound Installation

2010-01-31T18:00:00.003-05:00

Let's face it, buying a new TV now a days isn't a simple decision. The first thing you think about is that you have to decide what size will be good enough? Shortly after giving it some thought you quickly come back down to earth and realize a 120" TV isn't going to work in the family room and will probably not fit in your budget either. After you rationalize with yourself you might decide on lets say a 50" TV. Well, even though that may have hurt a bit, it's not even close to over yet. You still have plenty more decisions to make such as what brand to buy? Plasma, LCD or L.E.D? 720P, 1080I or 1080P? 60HZ, 120HZ, or 240HZ? What the heck does all this mean? How much is this going to cost? After giving everything a tremendous amount of thought, you finally make a decision and head out to the store to get your prize. By the way, when you get to the store you wonder why do they have these sales people anyway? At this point, there isn't a single person on this planet who knows more about that TV then you. Finally, you check out and drive home as fast as you can to fire up your new toy!

When you get home you rip that box apart like it's Christmas morning and quickly start to realize you can't just put this thing on the floor and start watching it. As a matter of fact you always in visioned putting this thing on the wall but how's it going to get there? Should I install it myself? What if it falls? How do I hide the wires? Oh great... here we go again. Just when you thought it was all over.

Well, it doesn't have to be that difficult. You did enough work all ready and I'm sure the last thing you want is to have this thing fall off the wall and now you're out lots of waisted time and money. The best thing to do is contact a local company that specializes in TV Installation services. The cost for this type of service is usually very affordable and believe me it's definitely worth it. Trying to do this yourself will surely eat up your entire weekend and you will probably end up hiring someone in the end anyway. These TVs are expected to eventually be in every house in the US, so you can imagine the amount of work these installation companies have and you can almost always expect the average technician to have installed thousands of TVs over the last 2 or 3-years. That being said, you can literally expect service within a week and the installers will probably have everything up and running within 2-3 hours from when they get there. That's a heck of a lot faster then you can do it yourself and it will end up looking like a professional did the work instead of a the average DIY person who might have to drill 10 holes before getting the TV level. If you need a TV Installation Service In Connecticut, please click the link and check out some of this companies work. They maintain a perfect customer satisfaction rating with the Connecticut BBB and provides top notch customer service. They also guarantee the work with a 100% customer satisfaction 1-Year warranty.

In conclusion I would say you should leave TV installation to the pros and please support your local businesses. Hiring a trusted local company over national companies has many pros such as faster service, usually owner operated so you always deal with the president of the company, and as I said you will be supporting your local economy which we all know is very important especially in today's economy. Thanks for reading my post and good luck in your endeavors.

I will be discussing In Wall Surround Sound Installation services in my next post so stay tuned!

Do I need a digital converter box?

2009-01-27T20:21:00.004-05:00

There has been much confusion as to whether or not a digital converter box is needed for the signal change in February 2009. Post your questions and comments on this discussion here.

What components are needed for HD programming?

2009-01-27T19:26:00.003-05:00

We've received many questions on this subject such as. Will my old DVD player work with a new plasma or LCD TV? Can I connect my existing surround sound receiver to a flat panel TV if it doesn't have HDMI outputs? What type of cable should I use to connect my new HDTV to the cable box? Post your comments and questions on this subject.

How to mount a flat panel TV on wall?

2009-01-27T09:46:00.009-05:00

They look great in any room, save space, and what better way to watch sports or any other HD programming at home? Chances are, if you haven't already purchased a plasma or LCD TV you're most likely thinking about putting one on the wall in the living room or above the fireplace in the family room in the near future. The only problem is, you either have to be handy with a stud finder, drill, and Sheetrock saw or need to have the TV professionally installed. Feel free to post your questions or comments on this subject.