How do you afford HT... what's your profession?

Re: What do you guys do for a living?

A lot of guys have turned to DIY, through the guidance of this site and others, in order to afford more home theater than they could buy at the retail stores. By doing it yourself, you also gain a sense of pride and satisfaction along with a greater understanding of the things you enjoy.

If you're reasonably handy and motivated to do so, you can build your own speakers, sub, PJ screen and entire home theater room. That's not to say it's easy! Just possible. Get to know some other DFW enthusiasts or come down to Houston for our Home Theater DIY meets. I think you'll find that this community is very willing to help.

Regarding the expensive hobby we've chosen, unfortunately that's the name of the game. There will always be more out there that I want and can't afford. Though deal hunting on audiogon.com, videogon.com, ebay.com and craigslist.org, you can find some real gems over time.

I'm a cardiology fellow (read: long hours for little money) and a medical officer in the Texas Army National Guard.

Re: What do you guys do for a living?

I am a Scientist. I work for Sherwin-Williams and I research and develop the worlds most advanced coating technologies. Currently, my role is long term development for our Chemical Coatings Division, where we market coatings to the electronics industry( exterior of components, tv's, dvd players, computer housgins, etc...), military coatings, wood and furniture products(both commercial and residential), heavy equipment(John Deere, Cat, etc...), Aluminum Extrusion coatings(Pella and Anderson windows), metal building products, and many other types of coatings. Prior to my current role, I worked for the Automotive Division where I developed paint for the Vehicle Refinsh market and the Aerospace market.

One exciting project that we are working on is a tricked out paint for the Apple iPhone. I'm not personally responsible for this project, but I consult a bit. The coatings engineer for Apple that we deal with was my boss for a while at Sherwin-Williams, so we've got a pretty close business relationship.

I'm in Higher Ed, low-level. How I afford home theater is by learning, shopping smart, and not getting wrapped up on having the best, but rather, the best bang for the buck.

I have a buddy who spent what I paid for my entire system on an LED backlight DLP RPTV. It's a nice TV for sure, but he has underperforming speakers, a cheap DVD plaer, and no room treatments because he spent al his money on the Best TV he could afford.

Buying HT is just like anything else in your life, you have to budget. A portion goes to paying your rent, a portion to food, a portion to clothes, a portion to cars. In HT, a portion to audio, a portion to display, a portion to source components, and a portion TO YOUR ROOM.

Even if you have $35K speakers, there will always be someone with a nicer pair, so instead, focus on putting together the best total system that you can for your budget.

Be smart about your upgrade path. You will want to spend money along the way, but if you have $500 now, it might not be a good idea to buy $500 speakers if what you really want is $1000 speakers. If you buy the $500 now, and the $1000 later, you just spent $1500. If you buy $250 now, and $1000 later, not only will you have only spent $1250, but you'll have saved up for your $1000 faster because you already had $250 in your pocket.

Stay away from snakeoil. Don't buy expensive cables, not even on a whim.

Don't fall for 7.1 unless your room and setup can handle it. For most, 5.1 will sound indistinguishable, and you just save $200 on speakers.

720p looks just the same as 1080p when your sitting farther away from a small screen and costs less $$.

Rent movies, don't buy unless you know you will watch it more than 4 times.

Cancel your cable during the summer. No I'm not kidding, it's all trash and re-runs and you should be playing outside. Not only will the company give you a promotional price to come back, but you'll probably save enough money to DIY treat your entire room.

Properly setting up your room is free and sounds better than new speakers.

There is no such thing a futureproof. Repeat: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FUTUREPROOF (but speakers come a **** of a lot closer than displays or sources).

Read The Home Theater Shack, and listen to The Real HT Info Podcast

Wow, lots of interesting professions in here.
I've been building my system the only way I can, saving up and building once piece at a time. I remember when I bought my preamp, and didn't have an actual amp till about 6 months later. That was torture!

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Here is what I've built so far...

Phillips 42PF9630A Plasma
Sherwood P-965
ATI 1505 amp
Toshiba HD A1
PS3-Blu Ray
Sherwood HDMI switcher
Monster MKII power conditioner
HTD level 3 front towers and center channel
HTD HD80 in wall rear speakers
3 subs, HSU VTF3 HO w/Turbo, VTF3 MKII, MB-12
And I've recently added the Behringer DSP1124P

All of these are connected with Monoprice or Blue Jeans Cable. Very soon, I hope to add a decent 720P projector, and an electric screen. But, these are the 2 pieces that are taking me the longest to add to my system.


Nick