My NEC HT1000 Home Theater - Updated
by Cody Laird

Update:

Attached are some pictures showing the completed home theater. As all projects progress one or two changes were made to the plan:

  1. The closet behind the screen is now a wine cellar
  2. The walls are padded for sound proofing
  3. Added a Zektor Component Video switch to handle multiple component sources to the single component input on the projector
  4. Swapped out the DVD/Laser Disc combo player for a Denon DVD 2910
  5. Swapped the turntable for an Xbox gaming console with component video and digital output option
  6. Added a Harmony 659 remote - one of the few remotes that can handle the extended button hold required to turn on/off the projector.





Previous submission:

We recently moved and really missed our old home theater. To help ease the anxiety, I've started the project of rebuilding it in our new home using much of the equipment from the old house as possible, with the exception of the screen and projector which remained behind. The new owners of our old house have thoroughly enjoyed putting them to good use with their new equipment!

Old HT System with Ampro CRT

But I digress....

The new house has a basement room very similar in layout to our old house and we, excuse me, I, couldn't wait to have a home theater again. As you can see from the photos the room is not finished, but it is functional. As I like to tell my wife, I only hooked it all up to verify that it worked before we covered up all the wires. She of course doesn't believe we'll ever get around to finishing the room now that the system is working. So what's a little sheetrock, paint, wet bar, the book cases, the molding, the... who needs that stuff anyway ?

Front of Room

Like the old setup, the screen is motorized and disappears when not needed. Eventually there will be bookcases along the wall behind the front speakers and a hidden door ("Put The Candle Back!") accessing the closet in the middle of the back wall.

Front of Room with Screen Retracted

The projector is mounted on the ceiling and is not very noticeable at any time. The main differences from the old setup are the rack system, the screen and the projector. The component rack is a slide out unit from Mid Atlantic. The screen is a 100" Luxas A (4:3) Stewart Filmscreen FireHawk and the projector is a NEC HT1000.

Left Rear of Room

This projector and screen combination was selected after much research and recommendation from your site. The picture is outstanding! It is far better than my old Ampro CRT and Da-Lite matt white screen of similar size.

Right Rear of Room

The NEC HT1000 is used in eco-mode and is very quite. I have noticed that the seating position plays a very important role in how quite this projector is; if you sit behind it, like our setup allows, you do not hear it at all, however, if you sit in front of the projector the noise rises to a noticeable level, although not disturbing except during the quietest scenes in a movie.

Seating Arrangement

The room is laid out more like a family room than a dedicated home theater. It performs equally well for music, television, and movies, or just enjoying a glass of wine by the fire. The kids enjoy playing the X-box or Nintendo on the large screen; I must say, a very large screen is a must for playing video games.

The wife acceptance factor, or WAF, is excellent; the equipment is hidden in a closet, the screen disappears when not in use and the projector is so small you never see it. You'd never know that it was a home theater. My wife can't wait till the room is finished; she'll just have to kick me out of the room first!

The equipment includes:

Speakers: (The Fuselier's are perhaps the best speakers I've ever heard for under $8k)

  • Front Left/Right Fuselier 3.8D's
  • Center (Pair) Fuselier 3.8s
  • Rear Surrounds: Fuselier Basic 8's
  • Sub Woofer: a/d/s SW-500
(Component rack at right from top to bottom)

HDTV Satellite Receiver - (not shown) will sit on top of rack

Panamax Max 1000+ power conditioners/surge protectors

CD - Denon DCD-1500 II

VCR - Samsung SV-5000W (Plays both NTSC & PAL & converts between formats)

DVD/LD - Pioneer Elite DVL-90

Surround A/V Processor - Denon AVP-8000

Turntable - Denon w/ Grado cartridge and a Parasound P/PH-100 Phone Pre-Amplifier

Panamax Max 1000+ power conditioners/surge protectors

Front Amplifier - Denon POA-2800

Center Amplifier - Belles 150

Surrounds Amplifier - Belles II

For more detailed specifications and connections, check out our NEC HT1000 projector page.