Avoid these Builder Home Theater Package Mistakes

If you're building a new home and at the mercy of the builder for doing the prewire "home theater" package, you'll want to watch this video to avoid some of the common mistakes they make. We also discuss alternatives to an all in-ceiling surround system including: box speakers, in-walls, on-walls, and passive LCR soundbars. We also discuss the best type of speaker cable to use behind dry wall.

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[Edwardi]

I'm a custom home builder, and I'm building a home theater for one of my customers currently. but I've been watching and reading Audioholics for years now, it's going to be a incredible 9.2.4 system with a 150in screen in a acoustically treated room, I can't wait to get started on it.

[cmsgtgoose]

Dude, I knew this about the front 3 speakers. Remodeling my basement and watching all these videos of people with them all in the ceiling and was beginning to think I was crazy. Thank you for taking the time to tell people the right way.

[annespellberg]

Thank you. No builder but I am buying a home built in the 70's and while some remodeling is going on, and walls are open, I wanted to wire it so that my vintage monster receiver, turntable and more modern cd player and amp can be heard throughout the house, rather than limit my listening to one room, as well as a nice surround setup for the television. Not sure yet if I will do in wall ( I think I will for peripheral rooms, i.e., bathrooms, bedrooms) but I don't want to compromise too much on sound. I feel some quality may be lost but not enough to bother me. I knew nothing before watching this. So thank you for the education. In particular the cable guage, 14-4, monoprice. So good to know. I'm planning on using a specialist, I'm sure my architect will know of a good one, but it is nice to understand what they are talking about and what my baseline requirements are before they start running me over with THEIR choices.

[josephfranzen]

I’ve always had to make due with my home theater’s room due to budget constraints but recently purchased my first home. It’s a slow process but having prior knowledge due to this community and my own experiences was a huge help in finding an installer who understood and was capable of what I wanted. The first two companies I went to were hell bent on selling me an entire in ceiling system, my response always was “How is this going to work spatially with object based audio like Atmos, ” and I kid you not one of them told me my “Room EQ system” would calibrate it properly. Apparently EQ-X is exponentially more powerful than any of us knew!!!

[Jimsathome]

Well done Gene. During our reno, I didn't give the contractor the option. Before they were hired I told them I was going to pre-wire the Atmos System 7.2.4 in the Games Room and the Home Theater 5.1 set-up in the family room. I also installed a lot of LAN cables when the ceilings and walls were exposed.

[darieng]

I bought a new home from KB back in 2010. They had a home theater package that thankfully wasn't in-ceiling speakers but I wanted to put my TV and speakers on the opposite wall that KB wanted to put them, (they had the system going across the room and I wanted to go lenghtwise). Luckily they allowed me to do what I wanted and even had me work directly with their electrician to set up my 7.2 system exactly how I wanted it. The guy even did a bunch of other stuff for me, (alarm and can lights in upstairs bedrooms), under the table. Worked out great.

[mrhasfun]

The timing of this video is impeccable. My cousin is doing a total renovation of his house and he was driving me crazy about getting a home theatre setup. After like 2 hours of trying to explain to him why he shouldn't cheap out, I eventually gave up and recommended an Atmos sound bar. He's been happy with his modest 2.1 soundbar and I think a updated mid-range model would satisfy him.

[chrishewitt]

Our builder was great. They work through a low voltage company who specializes in audio video installs. We got 4 in ceiling speakers (rear surround and atmos) plus. Rear wall sub LFE for only $300. It was great. Use standard LCRs on the front wall with subs front and back. Keeping everything but the front sound stage in the ceiling was a huge help in the wife acceptance factor!

[danielwander]

As a builder and an enthusiast I’m all over the place on this issue. First off the reason I don’t let customers use their own installers has nothing to do with wanting to sell a package. There are a number of legit reasons why I don’t allow this. Now, on the flip side I get so sad when I see what gets sold to my customers as “home theater” packages. Horrible speaker placement, poorly thought out wiring locations, and generic quality cabling and components are hard for me to swallow. The only good side is that all my homes have unfinished basements so it can easily be done right later. However, 90% of customers do not care at all. They ask for a home theater because it sounds cool but have no idea what a real home theater is. And if they knew what was involved and the cost they would say no way. These days most just say I’ll get Sonos or a sound bar and be done with it. As long as the tv locations have outlets and coax or hdmi they are happy. My guy can’t even convince them to hard wire for Ethernet and security beyond the basics provided. Anyway, I could go on and on about this, but interesting video.

[tc]

I installed the klipsch heritage bar in my livingroom 5.1.2 system. It sounds great and in my opinion looks better than 3 separate speakers surrounding the TV.

[CoastalEddieUSA]

In our family room we have a simple 5.1 system using five 8" three way Jamo ceiling speakers and for the sub a 12" Klipsch. Our audio system is a combination of newish and vintage. One Yamaha RXA 2030 receiver and three vintage Panasonic Ramsa WP-9210 amplifiers that came straight out of the Los Angeles Sports Arena (before it was demolished) are in another room and the sub is tucked away from sight. We (I mean my wife) prefer seeing only our 65" TV and none of the other gear. This setup works for us 🙂.

[brigiddoherty]

This video is spot on! I wish I had watched this video back in spring. My husband and his boy friend hired a local builder to instal an 11 channel system in our living room and not only did they install the entire front stage in the ceiling but they worked completely nude through the entire project and they had my husband in tears on the last day.

[joolzhud]

Glad I watched this I was going to fit my tv surround sound speakers into the ceiling, thanks for your video 😊

[AKrumenacher]

I just built a house with a production builder. I lucked out and had a construction superintendent who was totally cool with me going in and running whatever wires I wanted after his low voltage company was done. We paid them to run a lot of wires and conduits, but in the end they didn’t put a lot of things in the correct locations and I had to fix a lot of their mistakes. I have 2 rooms wired for 5.2.4 and a living room with 5.2. I pulled out all of their 18 gauge wire and replaced it with Monoprice 12 gauge and placed all the wires in the perfect speaker locations and kept them away from electrical wires. I ran several Monoprice active fiber optic HDMI cables from tv locations back to a central location for an av rack. I also have 8 zones of distributed audio including the master bath and garage🤘🏻. Have about a million Cat 6 wires run all over the place for a future Control4 system. I also went in and insulted all of the interior walls and some ceilings with Safe N Sound insulation. I definitely learned a lot from watching your videos with Don. Now I’m just looking forward accumulating all of the equipment and getting it all set up!

[ChrisWilliams-vmdo]

My house was pre wired with all ceiling speakers. So I just went with it. I have a Sonance (I think I spelled that right) 5.1 box set plugged into $500 Yamaha AV receiver. The flush mounted round ceiling speakers pivot inside the speaker cup. The speakers are aimed directly at the audience sitting on the couch. The T.V. is hanging on the wall with all cables hidden in the wall. Very clean setup. I think, for a smaller size living room like mine, this setup works for basic 5.1. Although the Yamaha receiver isn’t top of the line, it delivers. No Atmos, but still sounds great for 5.1.

[jeffjefferson]

I love in-ceiling speakers. I just lie on the floor and stare upwards. Of course the TV is on the ceiling as well, but hey, the sacrifice is worth it.

[Packer]

5:47 yikes! that TV seems really high. That's a big peeve that I have.

[scottwajcman]

Great information for any HT, especially new construction. I built my house back in 2004/5 when 7.1 was the newest thing. The builder then actually gave me the option of 16 or 14 gauge. Easy choice. I had to stay on top of the build to make sure that they put the 2 ceiling surround back wires in the correct spots and the side wall rear channels at the correct height by visiting a few times before the dry wall went up. Turned out great, but as you have voiced in the recent past, 14/4 instead of the 14/2 that I currently have would have allowed me to add the ATMOS channels that I would like to do without cutting into drywall and more. Preparing for the future is a great idea. You never know what is around the next corner. Thanks.

[drewchewning]

Ty Gene for another awesome video! Built a home in 2017 and had the builders AV crew pre-wire several locations with ear level LCRs (7.2.4 living room, 5.1 master bed/bath and outdoor stereo zone) to an AV closet similar to your home. Just before we moved in the AV crew cut all speaker wire in the media closet and left me with only 3' coming out of the wall. Had to butt splice everything to extend to the av rack. #fail

[dlloyd]

One thing to remember if you can only do in ceiling because of limitations, most all manufacturers make in ceiling LCR specifically which will add a degree of directionality as opposed to strait down firing. It's not a perfect solution, but sometimes 15-20 degrees can make a significant difference. They often use the same cut-in dimensions so retrofit is also an easy option.