I am setting it up in my bedroom and I have a few logistical questions about wiring, placement, and setup. Below I have the layout of my room and equipment. (The red squares are the speakers).



Equipment
42" Panny Plasma
Onkyo HT-S5100 7.1
PS3
PC / Media Server

Here are my questions:

1. Speaker Stands & Speaker Brackets. I figure I can buy speaker stands for the L/R speakers, but I'm up in the air about stands or brackets for the back ones. Suggestions for the setup and also where I can pick up the hardware?

2. Wallmount my plasma or leave on the stand? I have to figure out what to do with my center channel too.

3. Wiring. The room isn't big, but I have a challenge with the speaker wire and the doorway. I can't get under the carpet, so I'm thinking about running everything around the bottom of the room. I also need some suggestions for wiring...I assume from monoprice, though should I go with flat, in-wall style, or the regular spool kind? I'd like to tac it around the floorboard and be relatively out of sight.

4. PC MP3 Mangement. I know the PS3 can detect a media server, so I wanted to setup my MP3's to be accessible. I can drop whatever onto my system, I just don't know what works the best. I currently am running XP home, iTunes. Can that work...of do I need a diff. setup?

You can get stands, mounts and wiring needs here

http://www.partsexpress.com/home-audio-video.cfm

Thanks!

I'll check it out. Any help with #2 andte #4? ITwould be appreciated.

#2 Leave it in the stand. If you have perfect or good view from there I don't see how mounting it can help. Also the stand will help you hide the cables easily.

#4 I've never tried it but Windows Media Player has media sharing capabilities.
http://www.tomkiss.net/games/playsta...playstation-3/
The only issue with Windows as a media server is that if it doesn't work then it'll be really hard to make it work.
The instructions in the link look pretty simple and they work most of the time but sometime they don't work and that's when trouble starts...

Tjanks@. I appreciate it.

#4) Use TVersity Media Server. You can setup video and audio feeds from the internet as well, it's a sweet bit of software.

My buddy was just talking about TVersity. He had some issues with his fluctuating bandwidth, but hopefully I can make it work.

Any idea if I could I have a 2nd cable modem setup (using Comcast), or is it only 1 cable modem per account? I'm thinking the wireless may slow things down a bit.

For the speaker wiring, if you have baseboards, you may consider running the speaker wiring behind the bottom of those to hide them a bit more.

I use the PS3 and with Media Player (also have iTunes) with no problems, it was easy to setup. The only complaint I have is that it puts songs in alphabetical order (doesn't look at the track tag info in the file). You can obviously rename stuff, but it is annoying.

Thanks Cow. Odd about the alphabetical order thing...I think have 18-20k songs, so I won't be renaming them.

Media PLayer never worked for me. I use SimpleCenter and it has worked flawlessly.

Suggestions for brackets and stands? Since I'm ordering them only, I'd really like to avoid having to avoid returns. What does everyone use?

It may be easier to get a small area rug and put it between the dresser and bed with all rear speaker wire running under it.

I wouldn't bother going with extra mounts and stands, especially if it's a bedroom. When I was in a similar setup I used a bookshelf on one side and the windowsil on the other for the rears.

Also, depending on size you could put the center behind the tv. I have done this before and increased the gain/volume to account for blockage by the tv.

Finally, I'd echo the comment about leaving the TV on the stand it came with.

What do you keep in the beareau

Cool drawing

Ok...another wire question:

I have the Onkyo HT-S5100 7.1 which has pass-through HDMI. I have been trying to figure out what cables I need for it. Currently i have an HDMI cable running from my PS3 to my plasma, and I believe an optical cable from my PS3 to my plasma. I'd like to have surround sound for my TV and PS3, so I need to figure out what cables I'd need to facilitate that.

monoprice has 3' HDMI cables for $2.43 ea. , which I think would work in the event I need more.

Not sure I understand the question, but I'd guess another HDMI cable to run from your cable/Sat box to the receiver?

Speaker stands waste space, wall mount them if you can.

I wouldnt wall mount the TV though, its easier to hide wires if its on a stand.

Sorry, I also have an HD box....so yes.

The "pass through HDMI" is what is screwing me up.

I have to connect: an HD box, PS3, receiver, and tv together.

I'm not sure if I need to run HDMI cables from the HD box and PS3 to my receiver, and then my receiver out to my TV, or if I have to connect the HDMI cables directly to the tv, and then run seperate audible cables from the HD box and PS3 to my receiver, and then to the TV, etc.

Yes.

1. That's a small space. I'm assuming you're in an apartment. I would suggest any front speakers are not mounted on the wall as long as you have enough room for the speaker stands. Depending on the construction of where you live, you wouldn't want your heavy hitters to be travelling up through the walls. They'll do that fine enough as it is already I'm sure The back ones since they aren't as much in use, wall mount them, especially the ones directly behind you.

2. The plasma is fine on the stand. If it works, don't fix it. And as others said, using the stand on a flat surface will help you hide the wires better. You COULD buy a wire track that you could paint the color of the wall so that it's not very distracting, but I wouldn't trust certain apartments construction (or much of any other construction for that matter) to hold up my expensive ass TV. That's just me though. Better safe than sorry.

3. In an apartment, you can probably push the speaker wire against where the carpet and the baseboard meet, so you can probably even get the speaker wire to hide under the baseboard itself that way. That's what I did in my apartment. It works fairly well. Definitely run it around the bottom of the baseboard this way without tacking it above the baseboard where it's noticable. This works if you have carpet, which I'm assuming you do. Personally, I used regular spool kind. But make sure you buy something like 10 or 12 gauge wiring. Something heavy duty and thick for your front speakers, and I use 16 for my rears.

4. TVersity, another vote for that here. I stumbled across it based on recommendations online of users liking it, and it works pretty flawlessly. I'm able to stream xvid content to my PS3 no problem, and I can stream all my mp3's as well. All you do is install, and on your library screen you add whatever folders you want, and then populate your library by letting the program find all the files in your selected folders, and then select 'start sharing'. That simple.

If you do go with speaker mounts, wall mounts from Omnimount are the best. With an HTIB like that, you can probably get their smallest & cheapest models. They should be no more than off brands and well worth it.

Thanks!!

I'm going to mount the back 4 speakers with stuff I got from monoprice. I got 14 gauge wrapped (in wall) wire to lay around the carpet. I've cut and put the banana clips on most of them, but I still have one or two to go. I just need to get something for my components and tv.

Any suggestions about a wall mount....tilt/swivel, just tilt, stationary?

I've never use a wall mount, nor have I investigated them. As I said, as safe as I know they are, I wouldn't trust putting a two thousand dollar TV on the wall.

Why not? What's so special about a $2000 TV? Plasmas and LCDs barely weigh anything, hanging them is no big deal.

Oh, and...tilt should be enough.

Thanks.

I'm going to order my stuff today. wall mount from monoprice, and probably a component rack / system from amazon.