Building a Moderately Priced HT - The Build-Out

OK, let's start with the first, and most involved, part of the process… wiring. In order to get all of the wiring from one side of the room to another you'll need to either go through the attic (if you have attic access above the room), through the crawl-space (if your home has that type of access), or run the cabling through baseboard or crown molding. This is one of my favorite tricks, and while there are products available like Wiretrax which make this a simply process, others may want a more custom solution made possible by utilizing standard crown molding and furring strips. As I needed more space than normal, this latter method is the one I utilized in Reference System 2.

The basic premise is simple:

• Purchase crown molding and furring strips
• Cut to fit
• Run cabling around the top of the room and drop down into the wall (behind the crown molding) where you need to get the cable to the floor
• Add wall plates to dress up your cable drop points
• Cover and secure with crown molding, caulk, and paint

Editor's Note on Crown Molding
Anyone who thinks cutting crown molding is a straightforward and easy task is either a professional trim carpenter or a fool. Do yourself a favor and purchase a crown molding measurement kit that includes the necessary protractors and calculators to get you the correct compound angles needed to make the complex cuts. In addition, this is the perfect time to purchase that electric compound miter saw from Sears or Amazon.com.

To begin, measure the room and purchase the required amount of crown molding as well as an equal amount of 1x2 furring strips which you will nail to the wall. This provides an alcove in which to store cables and is the rigid structure to which you will secure your crown molding. There are several programs online which can help you find the compound miter cuts required for crown molding or you can get a coping saw and utilize a different method which cuts the shape of one of the pieces into the other. I can't really teach a carpentry class in this article, so I'll leave it to you to educate yourself on the finer parts of woodworking - just don't underestimate the difficulty of this job.

Once you tack up the furring strips, then running the first wire is the trickiest part of the process. This will be your "anchor" wire from which everything else will attach. Run this wire carefully and secure it every couple of feet to ensure a solid connection to the furring strips. Be sure to keep the cables high, so that there is no chance you will accidentally nail into them when you secure the crown molding to the wood. Leave spaces, or gaps in the furring strips where you need to drill holes to go down inside the wall for your cable drops. Notice that these holes will allow your cables to enter the wall from behind the crown molding, thus creating a nice, neat look that will have many wondering how on earth you ran wires without going under the carpet or without ripping up the room.

I found that pulling cables from a pull box or spool is easiest and you'll want your starting point to be at the cable termination side as you move towards the equipment closet. Basically pull out a bunch of cable and then move the pull box or spool towards the equipment room. Insert the cable into the hole and fish it down the wall (use fish tape in walls that have insulation - this is, on occasion, only slightly harder than pulling a Volkswagen Beetle through your left nostril). For those of you working on interior walls, count your blessings. As the cables pile up, secure each to the previous bundle with tie wraps and secure individual cables to the furring strips as you go. When I got to the equipment closet the cables were a pretty large mass (they accumulate as you go due to the mains meeting up with the surrounds, etc). I found that splitting up the feed into two or more cable bunches was far easier than trying to jam the entire mass through a single hole cut through the wall.

Terminating the cables at the wall can be easily done through the use of wall plates such as those available from Impact Acoustics. Low voltage boxes are available from Home Depot, Lowes, or your local hardware store and enable you to install them into existing construction, providing a clean place for you to attach Decora-style covers to go over your Impact Acoustics wall plate connectors. Here I utilized a triple-gang box where I terminated the front loudspeaker channels, three subwoofer lines, an RJ45 connection, a phone line and cableTV line. I attempted to keep the setup simple and fixed to my current intended use rather than wire for every possible format and connection; however you may wish to add additional lines for 12VDC triggers, component and HDMI video, IR repeaters and RS232 cables. The Impact Acoustics cables we utilized were well built and provided ample shielding for the RG6 lines. Impact Acoustics also provides a nice pull box for the RJ45 (Cat5e) cables as well as their 12/2 speaker cables when purchased in sufficient quantities (when you add up all of your runs it is likely that you'll need enough to warrant a pull box.) For the coax cableTV run I opted for a terminated Velocity cable from Impact Acoustics which I was able to run from the termination point all the way to the equipment closet.

For the ceiling terminations near the projector mount I installed a combination HDMI/component video wall plate from DVIGear and a commercial grade power receptacle from the local hardware store. The DVIGear wall plate is a lifesaver as it has twin male HDMI connectors on it so that a standard cable can be run directly up to the wall plate (field terminations for HDMI cables are not possible at this time). The component video side of the wall plate works in exactly the same way and I was able to quickly connect the plate to the ceiling for use. In a subsequent article we'll talk about the custom wall plates that are available from DVIGear to cover all of your other wiring termination needs.

We advise contacting an electrician for the power receptacle connection as you want to ensure your home is up to code. It does no good to have a great home theater system if you are putting your home in danger due to an incorrectly wired outlet.

If you were to simply run all of the cables into the equipment closet you would quickly formulate a substantial mess. I minimized the clutter in a couple of helpful ways. First, I opted to use a few sections of 3" Schedule 40 PVC pipe to route the cables down the inside corner of the equipment closet. I then took this piping and made a right angle on the floor, feeding it to the back of the closet and turning it once again to output the cables at the rear of the equipment rack. The net result was a cleaner run of cables - at least to the bottom of the closet. From there you'll need to utilize tie wraps and careful wire management in order to maintain the clutter-free effect. To preserve my sanity I decided to carefully wrap and organize the cables after they were run into the equipment closet. I highly recommend this, especially if you are attempting to impress your significant other with the job you are doing. You can use a simple voltmeter or continuity tester afterwards to determine which cable routes to each location in the room (or if you are ambitious you can label the cables as you go).