Building a Home Theater PC

from WinCustomize Forums
Alot of you know what I do for a living,for those who don,t I build and install Home theater systems.
More and more are becoming PC based.The current Project is pretty interesting and kinda goes hand in hand with the skinning as Windowblinds will of course be the front end you see when not in media mode.

So I thought it might be interesting for some of you to watch the build up! :) I will post as often as possible.

To start lets take a look at the parts.........

I will put up specs ASAP
2,336 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
This could turn out to be a very interesting project. Could you post the estimated costs of parts (I'm sure cost of parts will vary where you get them)?

In this type of project can you go low or high end?  :NOTSURE: 
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Going to use DX as an interface?   ;)
I wish DX Enterpise were more out there in the wild.  It hasn't gotten much love recently but I still think it's a phenomenal platform for this type of implementation.
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I wish DX Enterpise were more out there in the wild. It hasn't gotten much love recently but I still think it's a phenomenal platform for this type of implementation.
End of quote


Very interesting I will definately look into this option!Thank you sir! :) 
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Looks for interesting.

Going to use DX as an interface?
End of quote


Funny, you should mention that. Though I don't think it's possible, I was thinking of dusting off my dvd burner and making some family picture DVD's and pondering how great it would be if I could build a custom menu using DX.

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Funny, you should mention that. Though I don't think it's possible, I was thinking of dusting off my dvd burner and making some family picture DVD's and pondering how great it would be if I could build a custom menu using DX.
End of quote
I use Picasa for that.  Nice slideshow with app included if you want.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Component Details:

Ultra 2048MB Dual Channel PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) qty.1

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB Hard Drive - 7200, 16MB, Serial ATA-300, OEM qty.2

Lite-On Super-Multi LH20A1H Lightscribe DVD Burner - 20x DVD±R Burn, 16x DVD±R Read, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD±R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, Internal, Black-Beige qty.1

Ultra / X-Finity / 600-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm Fan / SATA-Ready / SLI Ready / Titanium / Power Supply qty.2

Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 MCE Kit with NTSC TV Tuner, Hardware MPEG Encoder and Media Center Remote Control qty.1

XFX GeForce 8600 GT / 256MB DDR3 / SLI Ready / PCI Express / DL Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card qty.1

Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit DSP OEM DVD qty.1

Logitech diNovo Edge Keyboard qty.1

Thermaltake Mozart HTPC Home Entertainment Case with front USB, Firewire and Audio Ports qty.1

XFX GeForce 680i LT SLI Motherboard CPU Bundle - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor 2.40GHz OEM qty.1

Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
This could turn out to be a very interesting project. Could you post the estimated costs of parts
End of quote


There are a lot of mt customers that frequent this sight so as not offend anyone lets say
$2200.00 gets the customer a slightly overclocked quad core machine with 2 gb of ram ddr2 ,! terabyte of hard drive space ,Vista or XP,custom cooling brushed aluminum case,key board,lite scribe DVD,Bad boy video card,tv tuner all mated to work well together!
(FOR EVEYONE)
But everyone here is like family so PM with any questions ;)
AV
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Install power supply and plug it in .This part is simple 4 screws and it only fits 1 way.This is important because it grounds the chassis and for those of us w/out a $100,000 clean room this also keep down risk of static electricity coming from you that can hurt processors and ram.

Next check fit and clearence on the motherboard then install your risers that hold the board off the bottom of the case!
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I haven't had time to update this step by step.I will come back to the build later.Here is an update as to current state of the job.

Speakers

The Black plates you see are custom fiberglass enclosures.A left a right and a center. I spent about 250hrs designing and building the prototype and mold so they could be reroduced.Currently (that I Know of)it is the only Quadpolar plate on the market.



The diagram below shows how the focal points work(from 1 view).
In the pic above you can see the 6.5" drivers also angle inward creating a virtual center channel even when run in stereo.



As sexy(thats how I describe them) as the plates look and for optimal sound they should be shown.The current customer wanted them hidden.(update that he now wants to see them ;) )



These plates are being used in cabinets,however they were designed to be used in inwall and drop ceiling installations as well!

What are the benefits? Well in a 5.1 surround you have 2 front 2 rear 1 center 1 subwoofer
Each speaker has 1 polar direction of sound(that is it directs sound 1 way)except for the sub because sub-bass is non directional.With that understood a 5.1 system has 5 polar directions of sound.
Replace the 5 surrounds with 5 of the Quadplate(4poles of sound per plate)and now your 5 pole system is 20 poles!!!!In doing this the angles are crucial for proper sound reproduction,thus the time it took to design was worth it! :)