apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We brought out the trusty drill kit with drill bit attachments with the plans to drill through the living room wall near the ceiling mount and run the wire through the dividing wall into our closet where we'd hide our DVD player. Our 1917 old limestone walls required using a 1 1/4 wood bit at a high speed to prevent the wall structure from crumbling, but we'd imagine with most modern homes drilling through walls would be easier. We also used a stud sensor in the hopes of avoiding running into any internal structural supports, but we've found our sensor isn't as accurate as we'd hope, so we were off about a 1/4" upon drilling into the wall. We had to create a slightly larger hole (all this took awhile because our battery charged drill ran out of juice half way into the project) and after a couple of attempts, we were able to snake through our HDMI to DVI cable, alongside the DLP projector's power cord.

The finishing touch was to cover the hole with a metal faceplate; fortunately the hole is mostly invisible from view thanks to the projector blocking it.

We did run into one last problem that has yet to be solved; our digital coaxial cable is just a little short from reaching all the way into the closet to the hidden DVD player; also, its black coloured cabling is highly visible even when snaked around the wall moulding from the Yamaha YSP-800 speaker (we've been happy with our virtual surround speaker solution, but we're considering upgrading to a true surround system this next year). Currently, we've placed the DVD player underneath our couch with the speaker wiring running in temporary fashion until we install some Wiretracks and Wiremold Cord Protectors (for when the wiring has to jump across a doorway). We'll also have to order another coaxial audio cable from Monoprice. Remember not to under-compensate for cable or wire length...it's better to have too much than too little.

When everything we could do was finished (angling and positioning the projector seemed to take as long as all the installation, since we wanted it perfectly aimed at the screen), we fired up a Flight of the Conchords DVD set a friend recently lent us and enjoyed the system for the first time at a fully operation level. Let me tell you, watching the LCD screen is going to be painful from now on (we're using that for broadcast/dish programming) after enjoying a 92" picture.