eg1 drags himself kicking and screaming into the 21st century ...

eg1 · « **on:** 12 Jan 2010, 12:06 am »

OK, so here is the first step in joining the modern world of TV ...

Apologies for the shoddy photog-work

Somebody said there ought to be a picture of a truck (the delivery guys thought this a little weird):

Here's the old RCA F35755MB (not sure how I am going to dispose of this sucker), and the fireplace column where this TV will eventually be bracketed. You can see the small stone samples at the base of the column from which we have yet to choose:

Here's the old stand, which will serve as a temporary location while I deal with fireplace surround, bracket, and wiring issues:

Here's the box:

Here is the tv in the temporary set-up:

Thanks to mcgsxr for the help with set-up -- more to come!

mcgsxr · « **Reply #1 on:** 12 Jan 2010, 01:38 am »

Good to see the progress eg1.

Better to see the pics!

A great start to what I know will be an awesome setup in time.

My pleasure with the initial setup, let me know when the really fun stuff starts to happen...

eg1 · « **Reply #2 on:** 12 Jan 2010, 11:45 pm »

I have been struggling with center-channel mounting possibilities, wanting something that will affix to the TV or TV bracket so that if I move the TV, the center-channel will move with it.

I have ordered a Sanus XF228-B1, and was searching their site to see if there was something like the VMCC1 Universal Center-Channel Speaker Mount which fits their other large TV brackets -- no dice. I put a call into Sanus this afternoon and the fellow on the phone had to leave his desk to see what was up. The answer for now is that the XF228-B1 is too new to have had any accessories made for it yet. Bad news is, no solution yet -- good news is, I did not buy (I hope) an orphan and that things are in the pipeline.

So, depending upon how much of a hurry I might be in, I'll either wait to install a center-channel when a bracket comes available or, gulp, have something custom-fabricated ...

mcgsxr · « **Reply #3 on:** 13 Jan 2010, 08:37 pm »

Always fun to be on the bleeding edge!

I doubt that the custom fabbing would be that tough - once you land on a center channel, the specs of that unit can be used to sort out what type of mount needs to be generated. My brother in law is a welder, and can build just about anything FYI...

eg1 · « **Reply #4 on:** 14 Jan 2010, 11:13 pm »

Quote from: mcgsxr on 13 Jan 2010, 08:37 pm

Always fun to be on the bleeding edge!

I doubt that the custom fabbing would be that tough - once you land on a center channel, the specs of that unit can be used to sort out what type of mount needs to be generated. My brother in law is a welder, and can build just about anything FYI...

Yes, I suppose he could, now that you mention it, and probably solely from stuff he can find lying about your father-in-law's house at that, eh?

eg1 · « **Reply #5 on:** 18 Jan 2010, 01:27 pm »

OK, with a LOT of help from mcgsxr got the first semblance of actual sound production to go with the LG55LH40:

Onkyo TX-SR707
two old Cerwin-Vega HEDs as L+R
Cerwin Vega LS-6C center channel
Motorola HD-PVR cable-box
PS3
SB3

Everything is still in the corner until infrastructure issues around the fireplace are resolved.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #6 on:** 19 Jan 2010, 02:47 am »

A pleasure helping out, glad we were able to get it all up and running.

Good luck with the design decisions around finishing off the space, and let me know when you want to discuss in detail how best to run conduit etc when you are closing in on signing up for that install.

eg1 · « **Reply #7 on:** 22 Jan 2010, 01:50 pm »

Last night I connected the SB3 with a digital connector -- there is a dedicated input for it on the back of the ONKYO labeled "CD", so I didn't even have to reconfig my Harmony remote, which was a bonus. I found actually plugging the connector in a little fiddly, since I had never used one before and wasn't sure about exactly how to orient it. It's cool, though -- reminds me of medical tubing. I cannot say that I notice a difference in sound, but I assume it is better than crappy old RCAs ...

I also tried something else new last night -- connecting my laptop to the avr's front hdmi port. I figured out how to use the tv as an extension of my monitor, and the picture is great! This will really improve watching things like ESPN360 and other streaming video sites. Just one problem -- I could not get sound out of the speakers except when I ran a "test" of the digital output device ("spdif"?). So I only got the sound out of the laptop. I am sure there is some setting or other that I am missing. Anybody have any ideas?

srb · « **Reply #8 on:** 22 Jan 2010, 03:52 pm »

Your audio default setting is for the internal soundcard in the laptop. Assuming the laptop is a Windows machine, go into Control Panel > Sound, and set the Playback Default Device to HDMI.

It's not possible to have both set as default, so you will have to make this change each time you want internal sound vs. HDMI sound.

Steve

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #9 on:** 23 Jan 2010, 03:19 am »

Yea, what he said.........

Bob

eg1 · « **Reply #10 on:** 24 Jan 2010, 01:33 am »

Thanks, guys -- I will try this.

eg1 · « **Reply #11 on:** 4 Feb 2010, 06:22 pm »

I finally got this "connecting my laptop to my avr and tv thing" to work -- the trick was to switch my audio out from the laptop (from the internal speakers to the hdmi out) before attaching the hdmi cable to the computer and the avr. Not sure why the order of operations should matter, but there you have it!

Thanks to all for your assistance.

Final installation of tv will proceed on February 16th -- I will see what I can do with respect to pictures before/during/after the process.

eg1 · « **Reply #12 on:** 17 Feb 2010, 11:55 am »

OK, so the installation work began yesterday (sorry for some crummy photos) ...

What the fireplace used to look like (including my wife's lame Technics speaker)

Picture removed and stuff (mostly) cleared away for work to begin

End of day 1 – fireplace faceplates removed; wiring mostly completed, drywall extensions added

This is where the bracket will go – reinforced with 2x6s behind that drywall

Speaker wire and RCA passthrough aperture – note that they are using built-in-vacuum tubing as conduit

Junction box and other side of speaker wire/RCA passthrough

Photo of random faceplates ...

Detail of Firefold Powerbridge outlet at TV bracket

For those of you who like boxes, the Sanus XF228-B1

Today wiring gets completed and stone goes up!

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #13 on:** 17 Feb 2010, 04:32 pm »

Cool, thanks for the pics.
Looks like you're making great progress.
You'll never regret using the conduit.

Bob

hometheaterdoc · « **Reply #14 on:** 17 Feb 2010, 04:51 pm »

I'm not sure what you will eventually be using for center channel speaker... but you may want to look at something like these:

http://www.leonspeakers.com/hz_mounting.html

I use them with the Leon soundbars I install and they work like a champ if you have a square like box for a center channel. They work really well with retractable swing arm mounts especially.

eg1 · « **Reply #15 on:** 17 Feb 2010, 09:45 pm »

Quote from: hometheaterdoc on 17 Feb 2010, 04:51 pm

I'm not sure what you will eventually be using for center channel speaker... but you may want to look at something like these:

http://www.leonspeakers.com/hz_mounting.html

I use them with the Leon soundbars I install and they work like a champ if you have a square like box for a center channel. They work really well with retractable swing arm mounts especially.

Thanks for the suggestion -- I am not sure what I am going to do for a center, so this may prove very helpful.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #16 on:** 18 Feb 2010, 02:38 pm »

I was over at eg1's place last night, the work has been completed, and looks great. We hoisted the tv into place and I think it looks fantastic.

I am sure he will post pics in time, what a transformation!

eg1 · « **Reply #17 on:** 22 Mar 2010, 01:37 am »

Have new camera -- once I figure it out, will post pics.

Bob in St. Louis · « **Reply #18 on:** 22 Mar 2010, 02:15 pm »

Quote from: eg1 on 22 Mar 2010, 01:37 am

Have new camera -- once I figure it out, will post pics.

It's the silvery button on the top right.
Push that.

Bob

eg1 · « **Reply #19 on:** 8 Feb 2013, 09:48 pm »

Quote from: Bob in St. Louis on 22 Mar 2010, 02:15 pm

It's the silvery button on the top right.
Push that.

Bob

Heh -- the shutter button on a Canon EOS turns out to be black, so this has taken me a while ...

The sub sits like a squat old troll behind the couch in a corner ...

shout out to mcgxsr who helped me with the centre-channel bracket/speaker installation between Christmas and New Years!