Friday, August 20, 2004
I Just Couldn't Wait
Well, it's been raining steadily yesterday and looks like more today, so the antenna/dish installers are going to re-schedule. I just couldn't wait though so the Tweeter guy came over and we unpacked the 56"er and connected it to the existing antenna and to the XBox. Hopefully we will get the antenna/dish work done early next week.
I'm getting most all of the local channels both SD and HD through the existing antenna. SD is ok, but HD is absolutely awesome. Unbelievable and it will be much better with the new dish and antenna.
XBox, though I've only looked briefly at Links at 420P is also awesome in widescreen. Almost makes it a different game altogether.
Still gotta get all the audio set up and re-installed, but that will come later. Right now, I'm taking the antenna signal and XBox audio directly into the TV and using that temporarily. Also, got a lot of tweaking yet to do, but initially it's usable and absolutely gorgeous picture.
Here's the new cabinet with the TV in it:
I'm getting most all of the local channels both SD and HD through the existing antenna. SD is ok, but HD is absolutely awesome. Unbelievable and it will be much better with the new dish and antenna.
XBox, though I've only looked briefly at Links at 420P is also awesome in widescreen. Almost makes it a different game altogether.
Still gotta get all the audio set up and re-installed, but that will come later. Right now, I'm taking the antenna signal and XBox audio directly into the TV and using that temporarily. Also, got a lot of tweaking yet to do, but initially it's usable and absolutely gorgeous picture.
Here's the new cabinet with the TV in it:
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
And Here's the New Cabinet
The new cabinet is in place and we're really happy with it. It's a little lighter than we expected, but it will darken some over time.
The dish and antenna installers will be here Friday morning at 9 AM and we'll get that work done. At thattim, we will also get the TV in the cabinet and connected to the Sat/OTA receiver. By Friday night, we should be viewing HD content. At that time, audio will be thorough the TV as the whole audio system (at least the amps) are in for an upgrade and won't be back until next Tuesday.
Sometime next week, we should have the whole thing back together. I'll post another picture at that time of the finished setup.
In the meantime, here's a pic of the new cab (empty of course)
Oh yeah, that fuzzy red thing at the lower left of the cabinet is Toby - he thought the picture could use some class!
The dish and antenna installers will be here Friday morning at 9 AM and we'll get that work done. At thattim, we will also get the TV in the cabinet and connected to the Sat/OTA receiver. By Friday night, we should be viewing HD content. At that time, audio will be thorough the TV as the whole audio system (at least the amps) are in for an upgrade and won't be back until next Tuesday.
Sometime next week, we should have the whole thing back together. I'll post another picture at that time of the finished setup.
In the meantime, here's a pic of the new cab (empty of course)
Oh yeah, that fuzzy red thing at the lower left of the cabinet is Toby - he thought the picture could use some class!
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Update of Prior Post & Show You Before!
About when you think everything is settled, something changes - In this case, it's not a bad thing.
The Samsung 56" will be here today between 10AM (40 min ago) and Noon. *They just pulled up with it and "Man" is it big!! At least the box is big!!
B.J. , the guy building the cabinet, called yesterday and said he was ahead of schedule and would be ready to deliver the cabinet on Monday instead of a week from Monday.
The only downside (and it's not much of one) is that Kay and I have to really scramble this weekend to get the existing cabinet emptied and ready to be moved out.
The only real drag on the whole thing is: the antenna guys haven't showed themselves yet, and their work is required before I can see anything in HD.
Just before beginning to tear everything down, I thought I would get a couple of pics of the current cabinet and arrangement. They are included below as a "Before" look. I'll take a couple of more of the new setup when it's done.
The Samsung 56" will be here today between 10AM (40 min ago) and Noon. *They just pulled up with it and "Man" is it big!! At least the box is big!!
B.J. , the guy building the cabinet, called yesterday and said he was ahead of schedule and would be ready to deliver the cabinet on Monday instead of a week from Monday.
The only downside (and it's not much of one) is that Kay and I have to really scramble this weekend to get the existing cabinet emptied and ready to be moved out.
The only real drag on the whole thing is: the antenna guys haven't showed themselves yet, and their work is required before I can see anything in HD.
Just before beginning to tear everything down, I thought I would get a couple of pics of the current cabinet and arrangement. They are included below as a "Before" look. I'll take a couple of more of the new setup when it's done.
Friday, August 13, 2004
No, I Didn't Fall Off The Face of the Earth
Really, I didn't!
A few significant occurances on the project this week. After a couple of shipment delays, the Samsung HLP5663W(that's the big honker 56" TV) is in the Tweeter warehouse and should be delivered in the next couple of days.
B.J. with "A Wooden Masterpiece" called early in the week and the cabinet build is complete, and it's going into the stain/finish stage. It should be complete and ready for delivery near the end of next week.
The Tweeter antenna guys should show up in the next couple of days to install the new dish and the HD OTA (over-the-air) antenna.
I talked to Mark at Audio Concepts on Tuesday and have made arrangements to take the Linn Power Amps in to his shop for the upgrade next Saturday. He will upgrade them and deliver them back on Tuesday (8/24) and help me hook up all of the audio stuff. I didn't know until I talked to him, but the sub-woofer is part of the updgrade also, so I'll have to load that monster and take it in also.
Timing wise, it's coming together pretty nicely. We will likey miss the first week of the Olympics in HD, but will hopefully catch the last week in full HD.
Once all of that is complete to my satisfaction, I can return to the original purpose of this BLOG -- Don's HTPC
A few significant occurances on the project this week. After a couple of shipment delays, the Samsung HLP5663W(that's the big honker 56" TV) is in the Tweeter warehouse and should be delivered in the next couple of days.
B.J. with "A Wooden Masterpiece" called early in the week and the cabinet build is complete, and it's going into the stain/finish stage. It should be complete and ready for delivery near the end of next week.
The Tweeter antenna guys should show up in the next couple of days to install the new dish and the HD OTA (over-the-air) antenna.
I talked to Mark at Audio Concepts on Tuesday and have made arrangements to take the Linn Power Amps in to his shop for the upgrade next Saturday. He will upgrade them and deliver them back on Tuesday (8/24) and help me hook up all of the audio stuff. I didn't know until I talked to him, but the sub-woofer is part of the updgrade also, so I'll have to load that monster and take it in also.
Timing wise, it's coming together pretty nicely. We will likey miss the first week of the Olympics in HD, but will hopefully catch the last week in full HD.
Once all of that is complete to my satisfaction, I can return to the original purpose of this BLOG -- Don's HTPC
