Difference between revisions of "Alx9r's Materials"

Revision as of 16:56, 14 June 2008

Alx9r's Sample Setup

System Diagram

I did my best to keep track of all the materials I purchased in putting my system together. Note that prices are in Canadian dollars before taxes, duties, brokerage, shipping, etc unless otherwise stated.

Network Gear

I found that a reliable, configurable wireless broadband router is necessary for the network configuration that I chose to use. Gladly, such a router is cheap and readily available: The Linksys WRT54GL running OpenWrt/X-WRT. The firmware that ships with the WRT54GL is fairly limited. I flashed my router to OpenWrt/X-WRT (White Russian 0.9).

Hybrid Core Kit

I started with a core/hybrid topology to keep my costs down. The original plan was that this hybrid box would become my core server that lives in a closet, and I would go to a smaller dedicated media director in my living room.

In addition to the criteria I already mentioned here, the design of my hybrid was also guided by the following:

1. Only components available through ncix.com, preferably in stock.
2. Tend toward components that lend themselves to eventual use as a dedicated core serving 2 or 3 media directors.

I opted to put two HDD in the system to allow for easy software upgrading and re-installation without losing media. I have read that installing LinuxMCE on a partitioned HDD is not well supported. Having a separate system HDD should allow me to install LinuxMCE from bare metal without losing media or spending time tranferring it.

Below is a table of all of the items in the kit I used to build the Hybrid Core.

Living Room AV Gear

TV

A 42" wall-mounted LCD seemed like the right thing for my condominium's living room. The Video showed a Sharp Aquos LC-26D6U in the bedroom. Sharp seems to have good RS-232 control support -- as long as the control port is actually there.

I settled on the Sharp Aquos LCD LC42D64U because it met the following criteria:

• Has RS-232 control.
• Very close to the TV used in the Video.
• Countless positive reviews, only a few reported issues.
• 1080p
• Got it for a decent price ($1499) and in my neighborhood. No shipping, brokerage, or duty.

Receiver

I set out looking for a receiver that met the following criteria:

• Has RS-232 control.
• Similar to models that other users have gotten working with LinuxMCE.
• Decent sounding.
• 5.1 and 7.1 capable.
• Modern surround-sound decoding capabilities.

Something from the Marantz line seemed like a good fit. I settled on a Marantz SR7500 that was available for $500 USD. It seemed to have all the features of the latest-greatest same-category SR7002 except for some video switching and conversion features that I probably wouldn't use anyway. The great thing is that I got the SR7500 for 1/3 the price: $499 USD.

Speakers

The Definitive ProCinema 600 speakers I selected are small. The space that I have set aside for home theatre is only a part of my already small living space. I didn't want it to be dominated by speakers - especially since there would be six of them in a relatively small space. The wood-framed condominium where this will be used doesn't have enough sound insulation to crank the volume without disturbing the neighbors, so a modest speaker set is a good fit.

I managed to get the ProCinema 600 set for $520 USD.

Glue

There were a variety of miscellaneous items I ended up needing to put this system together.