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Well, as of last night, my temporary home theatre has been dismantled and the components have now been carefully stored. Tonight begins the first stage of the home theatre install which is going to coincide with the final painting of the rest of the condo. After painting two swatches of paint.. we’re still not happy with the colours.. so will check out Benjamin Moore tomorrow and try to find that in between grey colour. Currently, one patch is a bit too green and saturated, the other is too neutral and grey. Looking for something grey and warm.

Anyway, back to the theatre. The powerbridge that I ordered hasn’t arrived yet, but I’ve decided to go ahead and install the actual TV onto the wall and then deal with putting the cables in the wall after that. Here is what I’ve planned and how it’ll break down, barring any other things which come up.

Equipment I have lined up:

Components
Samsung PN42A450 42″ Plasma Television
Onkyo HT-R550 A/V Reciever
3 x Paradigm Cinema 220 Monitor Series L/C/R
Onkyo random subwoofer.
Microsoft Xbox 360
Harmony 550 Remote
Apple Airport Express

Hardware
CL2 rated HDMI, Component and 16ga speaker cable (50ft) all suitable for in-wall installation.
A bunch of 3-6ft HDMI, Component and Optical cables for connecting AVR to the wall/components etc.
7 pairs of banana plugs for speaker cable so it’ll be easy to plug/unplug.
Component, HDMI and speaker wallplates.
For each wallplate, a single gang, existing installation, Carlon wall bracket for low-voltage communication/media
24-pack of Toggler brand 3/8″-16 hollow wall anchor toggle bolts, UL rated at 576lb per.
Power bridge recessed outlet pair, w/existing installation J-boxes.

As it stands, this is where I’m at:

– the wall studs have been identified and marked using a stud sensor, they appear to be 2 1/2″ wide, 16″ apart on center.
– the horizontal and vertical markings have been made for the mount and tv location, however, it will most likely shift about 2″ horizontally to accommodate hitting two studs, as well as shifting up an inch or two.

Tonight I plan to:

– finalize the measurements of where the tv goes, in an attempt to hit 2 studs but if not, at least one.
– drill pilot holes to locate the exact center of the stud(s).
– drill lots of holes and install 6 togglers to hold the wall mount mounting plate to the wall.
– mark out the location of the wallplate locations for the HDMI, RCA, Speaker and Power along the baseboard.
– mark out the location of the upper conduit hole for the media connections to the TV.
– mark out two locations for the upper and lower power outlets.
– cut out all the A/V wallplate locations, install the Carlons, and pull the media cable through.
– mount the TV! power cable will most likely just dangle for now since I don’t have the powerbridge.

If I have time:

– measure out the speaker placement horizontally away from TV (vertical measurement will be centered on the tv)
– cut holes and fish the speaker wire for the speakers. this might include routing a pathway in the surface of the drywall to move the speaker wire horizontally across a stud or two. This will also mean patching up the drywall afterwards, sanding and painting.

I don’t plan to install the speakers today.. as I still need more information about the actual speaker mounts from Paradigm. The screws don’t seem to fit.. I promise to add photos 🙂