organizing the tv wall

[fuzzysig]

so we got a nicer tv and its a smart tv that doesn't need any dangle attachments. I would like to keep it simple and clean. no wires no accessories around it.

but the house is from 1980 so the outlets are on each side of the tv on the bottom.

I have a friend electrician who will help me wire it up but I need to come up with a plan where everything would be


1 tv is flat on the wall...
2 antenna is outside right behind the tv
internet cable Is also right behind the tv outside
theres a fireplace behind the canvas just like Pinocchio
3 I have a mode/router that needs to be moved to the around tv area and hidden also so I can have a wired connection to tv instead of wireless

the bottom of the fireplace where tiles are will be torn out and made into a home theater rack.
I have a Marantz slim series receiver that will fit perfect there



what im trying to figure out.
where to find space for all the accessories and cables.

should I cut into the wall behind tv( the chimney goes right behind it and theres space inside the chimney outside cover its about 5 feet wide and 3 feet out but I don't know how hot it gets inside there


my other idea was to cut into the floor inder the tiles and have everything packed in there on the bottom but that means I need a longer cable for internet and other things and I would still have to have an outlet behind tv big enough to fit a surge protector.


as far as styling im thinking the tile around the actual fire place and the front panel will be glass black to match tv. but I don't know if 2 big black rectangles wil look good

and I can rip out and hollow one of the side panels to route the wires up to the tv and down to receiver

[bmxeroh]

Hi fuzzysig, is that room sitting on a basement? Typically what we do is run everything vertically from the basement, parallel with the chimney, and then go horizontal to behind the TV. So your wire run looks like an upside down L in the wall. You can do the same with some romex coming from the other side (you want to keep low and high voltage wires separate) and put an outlet behind the TV. All of your equipment goes into the basement, and it's controlled using an IR repeater to route the IR signal from your remote to the equipment. Use a low voltage mud ring and a entrance plate to get the low voltage stuff back out of the wall. Also, leave a pull string or two in the wall or run extra HDMI's in case you ever want to add anything else.

[fuzzysig]

im actually doing another idea

after some research I found all the components in much smaller size than I have
switching to all digital means 10x less space

I have a Marantz receiver and floor standing speakers

which I can replace with a 2 channel USB amplifier with a great quality onboard dac.
that will fit vertically on the wall behind the tv
and have 2 lines of in wall speakers extending from the sides of the tv covered with matching speaker cloth. to make it clean.
I will just redo the fireplace ugliness.


I would be grateful if any designers here can suggest a good style of the fire place to match that tv.

[jeff5may]

What kind of signals are you going to be dealing with here?

You need a power receptacle to plug the tv into.
From what I gather, you want a coax to run to your over-the-air antenna.
You are also considering your options with audio upgrades.
I haven't read anything about auxilliary sources such as dvd or blu-ray players...
Nor anything about satellite or cable receivers...

Something to consider here is that with the new ATSC and HDMI standards that (some) smartv's conform to, lots of devices can transport mega-bandwidth signals through a single cable. HDMI and ethernet are very similar and can be converted back and forth between each other with cheap black boxes. Coax cable is the same way. The main limiting factor is how much your smartv is able to assume mastery of connected devices or assume slavery at the mercy of a connected device.

You've seen the directv commercials that promote the "no ugly wires" theme, haven't you? The one with the mannequin wife and such? I have personally installed flat panel tv's in places like yours which only need a power connection. The smartv acts as a "virtual receiver" that slaves off of a genie box or HD DVR using a wifi dongle. Using your tv remote, the smartv acts just like another directv receiver. The wifi host is inside (or attached to) a remotely installed directv receiver, so you don't even need a router. All you do is pair up the devices by pushing "find me" buttons on each.

Of course, a hard-wired connection is more reliable. Directv uses a standard known as DECA to piggyback streams onto the coax cable along with the satellite signals. I have enabled users to run lan-connected computers in rooms where they have no ethernet cables, but have a coax running a tv in that room. The signals just shove down the cable with ease. There are many adapters that can be installed to convert one standard to the other. These are known as "connected home" adapters.

The generic version of DECA is MOCA. Same type of functionality, different inventors. Directv invented deca, motorola invented moca. The main goal of both is to seamlessly transfer what the eyes see and the walking the fingers do to fast, transparent response. Along with the HDMI, WiFi, and ethernet standards, the possibilities are endless. In the last few years (since blu-ray players and smartvs have become inexpensive to purchase), manufacturers have been packing more and more performance into the units with every new model.

The time is upon us where there is no need to connect separate devices with a confusing network of wires and cables. If you want to, that's OK too. Each method has its own advantages.

[fuzzysig]

there are usb amps with onboard dac of high quality that are size of an external hard drive

it also has an rca input and optical input which is enough to have a music drive tv and another accessory plugged into the amp

they might have an hdmi multichannel amp that is small I haven't checked that

[jeff5may]

For your fireplace shelf location, I would recommend a bluetooth soundbar. The audio can be routed with a single toslink (optical=$$$$) or rca (coaxial=$) cable in raw digital format. This gives you 3-channel surround for your front stage. The bluetooth sends rear channel and low frequency signals to a wireless subwoofer module. If desired, the rear speakers can be hardwired to the subwoofer module for full 5.1 surround. If not, the subwoofer can be run solo for 3.1 surround. The bluetooth also lets you connect virtually any "smart" device as an audio source without wires.

I recommend 2 of these soundbars:

Vizio S4251w-B4 review - CNET
Less expensive, works like magic, loud and clear. Full 5.1 surround.

HT-SB40 | Speakers | Home Theater | Surround Sound | SHARP
Sacrifices rear speakers for sound quality. Sounds better than lots of $800 systems.

Below this level, sound quality drops off rapidly. You might as well buy a beats pill or any similar compact device that runs off a headphone jack.

[fuzzysig]

no soundbars

the tiny speakers are stretching their little a holes out trying to reproduce the midbass and lower midrange.

they cant compare to real 6.5 or 7 inch extended range drivers or even coax.component in wall setup

the soundbar is like bose. uses a lot of processing and like bose they use harmonics to fake produce lower bass than they can handle. I can hear all that and I hate it.
all the new cars have it and a lot of new systems with tiny speakers have it.

it might sound ok for a regular person but once you actually listen to it side by side you will see.

which is why bose still separate their display room from the rest of the audio equipment in the store

they use preprocessed audio samples to make their system sound better.
I have one of their sd cards with sound samples and it makes my 5 dollar pc speakers sound like an 800 dollar system

[ecomodded]

I assume the fireplace is not being employed , giving that, mounting the tv on a wall mount in the fireplaces outer surround could look nice and function well. I find it comfortable to watch a tv with my head and eyes looking forward , Me and others get a stiff neck from tilting the head for a few hours at a time so my tv is set on top of a coffee table at eye level.

I would frame in the fireplaces bottom and opening then use rigid insulation and a can of spray foam to fit it tight and install a piece of plywood over it set flush , drywall to finish. Having it a flat smooth surface from edge to edge would look tight / clean.

It would be a trick getting it wired inconspicuously though , I imagine the electrician would have suggestions.

Or just cover the opening and mount a wall mount on it.