Doing some research... what are your favorite home theater tools?

Lots of good suggestions here.

I'd also recommend:

• If you're going to run your own wiring or making your own cables:
  • A good quality wire stripper. Buy a nice one and it will be with you forever
  • Various crimpers: Cat 6, coaxial (highly recommend RG6 compression connectors)
  • Cat 6 cable tester
  • Needle nose pilers for working with wires of various kinds
  • Good banana plugs or spades for speaker connections
  • Black, expandable wire loom and shrink tube for making your own custom-length speaker cables
  • Small, thin, sharply pointed scissors, really good for cutting down the length of a cable jacket
  • A tool or tackle box to keep all of this stuff organized
• Color-coded XLR or interconnect cables. This is of great help since we've gone from 5.1 to 7.1.4 or beyond
• Cable raceway kits: great way to organize and manage cables for shelved equipment
• Velcro; either on a roll or pre-cut cable organizers. Makes tidying up those cables fast and easy to reposition without having to cut them
• Magnetic wristband - vital for anytime you need to screw stuff to a wall or ceiling, especially if you don't have a helper to wrangle those pesky screws, nuts, or bolts
• LED nightlights that only go on with motion, or when the power goes out (important if your theater is a bat cave)

Todd Anderson said:

These are all great setup tools!

Anyone have a drywall cutting tool they’d recommend? Or any creative tools/devices that help collect drywall dust ?

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Dremel.
Throw some visqueen or other covering over your electronics beforehand. A vacuum with a HEPA filter would be nice to have for the rest of the mess.

For collecting small amounts of drywall dust when drilling, for example, you can bend a Post It Note upward and stick it right below the hole. It won't catch all of the dust but will catch most of it without marking your walls.

For ceiling work, you can drill a hole in middle of a plastic jar lid and then push it down the shaft of the drill bit. That will also catch most of the dust and keep it out of your eyes.

I've got two more items to recommend.

As an alternative to the laser labels that Mike posted earlier, I've had great luck with the P-Touch style tape printers. They're highly portable, offer different size and color tapes for easy identification, and both scratch and tear resistant. the stuff I've labeled years ago is still firmly attached and easy to read. And some models have Bluetooth now, so you can connect to their Android app.

The second item may be of more use to you the older you are. It's a convertible automotive creeper. These can be knee-savers for any kind of work that's close to the floor like outlets or amp wiring. Not only is the rolling stool configuration great for getting to those hard-to-reach areas, it also provides a flat area to rest your tools. And it's nice to be able to scoot around from spot to spot without having to get up.

For tightening speaker wires on amps and receivers I use the handle that comes with those small screwdriver sets. It grabs on to the speaker binding posts perfectly and allows you to easily secure your speaker wire without overtightening.

Todd Anderson said:

Can you provide more details on this? What size is the hex? Maybe a link?

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The hex opening is 9/16. I don't have a link yet

Sonnie said:

There is one on Amazon that offers 1/2" and 9/16"... not sure, but I would think all speaker lugs are created equal.

Amazon.com : AudioQuest binding post wrench

Fairly reasonable considering it's made by AudioQuest.

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This should be the ticket...great find Sonnie. This site has it on sale for $15.95...

Todd Anderson said:

I like these... do you have a creeper that you like (LOL... sounds kind of funny)... but if you have one to recommend...?

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Todd,

I can't find the receipt, but I believe this is the model that I bought:



Hmm, the Amazon link doesn't show up, but it's item# B00826OVWW

And right after posting this, I see that it's on sale at Woot (an Amazon affiliate) right now for just $42.99. Shipping is free for Prime members. https://tools.woot.com/offers/pro-lift-mechanic-2-in-1-foldable-creeper-seat?ref=w_cnt_wp_0_2

I originally bought it do all of the baseboard caulking for our new house, and it worked great for that - I could lay a bead of calk while scooting along the length of the wall and then smooth it out while scooting back. Really saved my knees and back.

Later, it was a big help for general low-height work in the theater room. The thing is built like a tank and should last a lifetime. Well worth the money. If working on vinyl or any flooring that can dent, I recommend putting a carpet runner or long piece of cardboard under it to prevent the wheels from leaving an imprint. And you do have to be a little careful when leaning or scooting so that you don't tip over. On the plus side, it would be a very short fall.

Scott

I happened to be hanging some acoustic panels this weekend, and it was a good chance to take a picture of the Post-it dust capture trick. This is what it looks like and just how much you can catch using this method.



Please note that if you're clumsy, you may end up bumping the Post-it and dumping its contents all over the carpet you were trying to protect. Not that I would know anything about that.