When we left off in Another Full Week, I mentioned that Mike Haas with Digital Plus LLC would be out the following week for the tech install. Mike and I chatted earlier on in the remodel and he gave me some advice while the electrician was out so that we could have the room prepped as much as possible for when Digital Plus LLC came to do their part.

The Electrician Does SOME of the Requested Work

We pre-wired for the possibility of rear speakers to be installed. This worked out exactly as I hoped.

We had an outlet installed for where the TV would be mounted.

What didn't happen that was requested was leaving a pass through to run CAT6 down to the furnace room where I'll be building a network rack. Foreshadowing, that will be a future installment that was prompted by this remodel. It wasn't originally planned as part of the remodel. You can even see where an old antenna outlet was removed and we suggested running network cabling (if not too close to the electrical run).

Before the Tech Install - TV Delivery Drama

You'll notice a recurring theme and complaint of mine in these posts, the schedule of the project. We were originally told it would be a 3-4 week project once demo started. We started on 8/14. This post refers to the week beginning 10/21. I originally scheduled the TV delivery for September 27th, figuring that would provide enough buffer between the target end date and delivery that we'd be close. Due to project delays, I rescheduled the delivery twice, once for September 30th and then again for October 14th.

On Saturday October 12th, Best Buy's third-party installer called to confirm our appointment for the morning of October 14th, arrival between 8:30 and 11:30 in the morning. At 8:26 on the 14th, I received a text that our appointment was now on the 18th - a day none of us would be available for the delivery. After numerous unpleasant calls and chat sessions, it turns out they determined the TV was on back order. I'm still not entirely sure how Best Buy screwed this up, but they did eventually deliver the TV on October 21st.

What Did We Replace?

This probably matters only to me, but I love technology. Home Theater has been a hobby of mine since I graduated college and built my first home theater in my apartment. I started with the beast of a Mitsubishi 55" CRT Rear Projection TV and an Onkyo Home Theater in a Box (HTiB) that included the HT-R500 receiver and SKS-HT500 speakers.

I did a fair amount of research before we bought the last living room TV, a LG 55LM7600, and it served us well for over 12 years. We paired that with a LG NB3520 Soundbar and Subwoofer that left me thinking I'd never buy a soundbar again.

What Did We Go With?

I did my usual deep dive into research. I read reviews, watched videos, and even checked out some TVs at Best Buy in-person before making a decision. I was leaning toward the 2024 Samsung 65" Class OLED S95D, but there was enough feedback online about the "panel lottery" and the lack of a guarantee that you'd get the QD-OLED panel. That steered me in the direction of the 2023 model, the highly rated Samsung 65" Class OLED S95C.

For audio, Wife Acceptance Factor influence and not wanting to disrupt the flow between the kitchen and living room spaces, I walked back my "never buying another soundbar" to simplify the install. Since we already had a number of Sonos devices in the house, I decided we were outfitting our living room with Sonos. Yes, I knew about the app disaster, but there isn't a better soundbar or wireless speaker in the space.

I decided on the Sonos Arc Soundbar, Sub 3, and went ahead and included a pair of Era 300s for surrounds, since the electrical was already completed to support them. Of course days before install, Sonos announced the Arc Ultra and Sub 4. After the back and forth on the TV delivery, I didn't feel like delaying things yet again to preorder the new models.

Tech Install with Digital Plus LLC

Mike Haas and his crew of one showed up at 8:00 as expected and got right to work. I've worked with Mike on a few previous projects. He installed the previous TV and audio setup in our Living Room. He also mounted the TV in our basement rec room. He does great work. This go 'round, we brought in Mike to mount the TV, soundbar, and the two rear speakers. We also had him run CAT6 to the furnace room for the aforementioned network rack build out.

Mike started unboxing all the Sonos equipment and got me started on pairing the new hardware with the Sonos app. He and his crew made quick work of running in-wall cable management, mounting the TV, soundbar, and rear speakers, and running CAT6 to what I will now call the server room. They were done by about noon. I asked Mike if he would leave the setup of the tech to me, and he did. I didn't expect that to come with a discount, but it did.

While our living room furnishings (media console, sectional, and bookshelf) are on order, the room is a usable entertainment space while wait. The old TV stand and sectional are in place to tide us over until the new furnishings arrive.

On to Tech Install Phase 2

Mike ran CAT6 down to the furnace, ahem, server room. His work was nice and tidy, as was the space when he hung a TV for us downstairs in the workout space. There's a shelf he installed to hold the few pieces of equipment we had down there; an XBOX 360 that doubled as a DVD player and an Apple TV. When we switched ISPs from AT&T to i3 Broadband, the equipment provided changed significantly. I also recently moved one of our smart home hubs into the same space.

The only thing that wasn't tested is where the CAT6 was run to. The i3 ONT gets connected to one of their Wireless Access Points. I ran out and bought a network switch so that I could connect the devices that required a wired connection, and without spending any time on cable management, the result is the mess you see in the previous photo.

Phase 2, which will be covered in a follow up post, will be the build out of a network rack to act as the brain of our smart home. I may even replace the access points with something not rented from the ISP. More to come on that adventure soon.