prewire

Home Theater PreWire: How to Plan and Prepare for It, Frisco TX

You are building a home. You know that you will want speakers and other various exciting a/v features in your home. You are making one important decision after another in the building process. Some of these important decisions will be related to how you want to prepare your home for entertainment down the road, by doing home theater prewire. Frisco, TX

We have composed some helpful tips and important considerations for your home theater pre-wire. While reading through this, keep in mind to have some fun in this process. Home entertainment is precisely that – entertainment – it is meant to be fun and enjoyable. So, make the home theater prewire process enjoyable. Dream of the entertainment possibilities!

Let’s get started…

Tip #1:

Plan, plan, plan!

• Grab a notebook and a pen. Jot down a list of all the ways you would want to entertain in your new home. Examples include backyard parties, movie nights with the family, holiday gatherings, where you want to watch TV, watching sports with friends, etc.
• Now that you know how you want to entertain, jot down a list of the various rooms (inside and outside) in the house where you will be entertaining. For example, for backyard parties, you will want to ensure you have outdoor speakers, a mounted TV, etc. on your back patio (and around the pool). Below some ideas to ensure you have a complete list for your home theater prewire:
  • Media room (5.1 or 7.1 or Dolby Atmos system)
  • Whole House Audio – What rooms do you want to have speakers in the ceiling to play music throughout the house?

    

    Suggestions: Family room, formal dining, kitchen, master bedroom, upstairs hallway, etc.)

  • Surround Sound in the family room
  • Outdoor speakers. Back patio, pool area, driveway, garage, etc.
  • TV Mounting. What rooms do you want to have TVs?
  • Volume Controls (for whole house audio)
  • Visit this list of home theater options to more ideas

Tip #2:

Think ahead…way ahead. You have a pretty awesome list now. Revisit that list. Think ahead. What else could be missing? Is your family growing? How long do you plan to be in this house? If it’s a long term move, consider 5 years down the road, 10 years down the road.

It is always best to install the home theater prewire in the building process, even if you have it installed in a room where you aren’t positive you will need it. Our advice: Install it anyway. Invest now. Why? Two reasons. 1) It will save you big bucks down the road. Installing home theater pre-wire once drywall is installed can be very costly. The drywall would need to be cut, and patched, which can add up quickly.  2) Some areas of the house can’t be reached to install home theater prewire if there isn’t attic access.

Tip #3:

Consider the end result. Where will you store your a/v components (Receiver, Blue Ray Player, etc.) in your media room? Will you place them in an a/v component rack? Will they be in an entertainment console?  It’s a good idea to determine in advance where the cables will need to be run for the storage of the various components. That will dictate where those home theater prewire cables will end.

We hope you find these tips helpful!

Specializing in the northern Collin County area: Frisco, Prosper, Celina, McKinney, Plano, Little Elm, Lucas, Allen. Contact CSAV!

Center Stage A/V

2831 Eldorado Pkwy.
Ste. 103-172
Frisco, TX 75033
214-498-9996