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Also double drywall and the _right_ amount of acoustic absorbing material on the walls and in the corners.

I wonder if you could just use the double drywall plus something like this: acoustic foam on all the walls plus the ceiling, save where a few can lights are. Speakers should likely be heavy yet freestanding, to avoid resonating the walls, though it probably doesn't matter that much if they are done right. Making the room irregular, such as having one wall smaller than its opposite should probably help, including having that ceiling taller or shorter and sloped to the rest. Plush carpet with thick padding can't hurt, though perhaps adding another layer of plywood to dampen sound would also help. Hardibacker might work as well, as it would add mass, but it would also reflect sound like crazy, though that might be okay by the time you add carpet.

At any rate, I'm curious why the parent said the right amount of acoustic material. Certainly there are places and amounts that help more than others, but it is not as if adding a bit more volume is difficult in any event.

Overall though, paying 400k is just crazy talk. Even if I had the money, I'd likely, at most just buy a big 4k possibly curved TV and a ~2k sound setup. Then again, at one time I cared about surround sound. I haven't bothered beyond 2 channel audio in probably ten years or so. I have a couple of Thunder Pro Parts Express PA speakers at the moment for the computer/4k tv as monitor, but the normal TV just uses its own speakers.

Lots of people do equalization, but mostly just by ear. Tools to use SCIENCE to do it are now cheaply available.

1) play music out of your computer with an equalizer. I use Foobar2000. There is a free 31-band stereo equalizer plug in available for it. http://www.foobar2000.org/comp...

2) play some Pink Noise through it. Pink Noise is equal energy per octave, so on a log frequency graph of SPL it should be flat. Of course, it won't be b/c speakers and rooms are imperfect, but now you have a goal. Download a pink noise sample, or make one with something like Audacity. Probably use a non-lossy file format.

3) get a smartphone app with a Real Time Equalizer. iphones have consistent mic performance, so the software can usually correct for it well, but I have had some bits of software behave oddly. I paid a few bucks for this one ( http://www.studiosixdigital.co... ) I understand there are android apps also. You can buy a measurement mic for your phone cheaply ( http://www.parts-express.com/d... ) if you want.

4) The RTA will measure your SPL vs Frequency, and your pink noise sample is sound that should have flat response. So use your equalizer software to twiddle the sliders until things are flat. Microphone location makes a difference!

So if you have a smartphone and a computer this can be done for somewhere between free and $50. Some people are good at equalizing by ear, but bringing some tech to the table will help most people get better results.

Harbor Freight sells 3' flex drills for pretty cheap,

Parts Express sells 16' USB cable + repeater for pretty cheap (and you can chain up to 5 of them)
http://www.parts-express.com/u...

and HDMI cables go up to 50' (VGA is cheaper, if that's an option for you)

This is what I did to connect the projector in my livingroom to my computer in my office. But actually after doing that a while I got tired of always needing my personal PC to be ready for use as an entertainment center, and just got a second computer for the livingroom and put Windows on it so my friends could figure it out. That way I also don't care if it gets full of malware as people download things; I just wipe it if anything doesn't look right.

I already had most of the components laying around, but I did buy power supplies for the Pi's. I also have one in the attic running dump1090 and the upload client for flightradar24 - it has no case either, and I'm using a <$15 RTL tuner from nooelec.com.

Flash Card: $6
Case: None - taped naked to the back of the TV
Power: About $7
HDMI Cable: $3
Ethernet cable: already had tons laying around, or could make one for $1

Grand total: $17

Just how many control placements are there for multimeters? 3 1/2 digit display at the top, rotary switch in the middle, plugs at the bottom for ground, normal, and high-amp/volt. Also, the Fluke image you linked to has buttons below the display, which most cheap multimeters with rotary selector switches don't have.

Compare with this one: http://www.parts-express.com/D... and other than green vs orange vs yellow, it's basically the same layout that's been used since at least the '80s.

Combination XLR and 1/4 mic jack on nearly all PA speakers http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=092-045

Don't forget to plug in your audiophile IEC power cable into an audiophile grade outlet. Or if you can't find a good enough cable you can just make your own.

Don't forget to plug in your audiophile IEC power cable into an audiophile grade outlet. Or if you can't find a good enough cable you can just make your own.

Every issue of the Parts Express catalog has a homebrew speaker build featured. Some theory is included with each one. All you have to do to get this catalog sent to you is buy something. You might even be able to do it by request without buying anything. You'll also find them a good source for odds and ends like connectors, cables, crimp tools, velcro cable wraps, and the other things that make life easier.

Mal-2

> To buy a pair of equally useful magnets from hardware stores costs nearly as much as a drive.

Have you tried Parts Express? Unless you're paying two bucks a drive and consider your teardown time to be free, it's awful hard to beat these prices.

Mal-2

My MacBook Pro's DVI port works great at 1920x1080 with my 52" LCD TV. I bought a $5 DVI-M to HDMI-F converter from Parts Express and used one of their cheap 10m cables. It looks great. I'm a very satisfied customer of theirs - their prices are great, and the products do what they claim.

You want a real speaker system for your iPod?

Build this portable ipod speaker

Not including MDF for the enclosure and some of the misc electronics(who doesn't have a pile of spare LEDs), it cost about $200 to build.

It's only a bit heavier than a boombox, lasts ~4 hours on full volume(deafening) with the specced battery, over 8 hours at a normal volume, and can charge your ipod(or anything else with a cigarette lighter charger). Unsuprisingly, it also uses a Sonic Impact t-amp, they kick ass for their size/cost.

OK, this is redundant, but this is a better comment to reply to. Try Parts Express. You can also get a lot of their stuff through Amazon. For audio parts (speakers in particular) their selection is far better than Radio Shack's ever was. Oddly enough, I've gotten Radio Shack branded cables from them.

They make those, although they can be pricey.

For example, Tactile Sound makes them.(I'm reading from work, so I have to yank the company chain)

LCDs for car installation usually have standard composite or RCA connectors on the back side so they can be flush with seatbacks or on the side for ceiling/dash installations.

Since you have a tv out, these two are about the right size.

(note, I'm biased. Feel free to check out someplace else)