I Want To Become A Professional Home Theater Installer!!

the only thing I could add is make sure you do this in a strong market like cali or miami, where people have the money for these types of systems, also as AD said try ISF training.

Might not be a bad idea to work part time at an electronics store like BB, CC, or Ultimate, you might not learn alot but you will learn about diffrent markets and comp companys.

good luck.

A lot of installations may involve homes where you need to know your way around the structure of a house (walls, flooring, where support walls are, studs, drywall, re-texturing, etc.). Either learn how to do this stuff yourself or work with a really good contractor. Doing home theater installation isn't limited to simply draping cables along the floor. You'll probably be ripping walls apart, pulling up flooring, installing in-wall and in-ceiling speakers and you will need to leave the house looking exactly how it did before you used the saws-all.

I do Have a little experiance in the contracting area I worked with a budy and his dad for 4 years building houses and we did every thing from pouring concrete to painting so i have a little knowledge of that.
So Iv gotten out of this disccussion is that, computer programming and networking is must, along with architecture and building design. And with that it wouldnt hurt to learn about Acoustic design.
These things have been very help full because like new buisness owners you always start out doing all the work your self. When I start to decide what classes im gonna take for school Ill be looking for those areas to help me to succeed.

since you built houses for about 4 years....you probably know that reading about things for your whole life is nothing compared to actually getting hands on experience.

there are a lot of big box stores (bby, circuit city, abt electronics, etc) that will hire parttime installers too. they will be helpers going around helping out fulltime installers. you can learn ways to do things that you can't read in a book. you can actually see how they interact with customers that they dont teach you in a book. it'll teach you the basics, and schooling will teach you everything else.

i'm in sales at best buy (no bashing please ). every new full-timer we get in HT, we let them tag along with an installer for a whole day. it shows them how everything is done, and will give you confidence when talking about it. imagine you're the owner of a HT installation business....if someone comes in wanting 10 tv's mounted in a bar and 5 speakers in each of the 4 VIP rooms. its a lot easier to get them the right stuff if you know what the installer needs. you wont look like a fool either. customers love it when you say "hi, my name is BLAH and i'm the owner of blah blah blah. let me help you get everything you need and i'll give you a good price" instead of "hi, my name is blah. i own this place but i have no idea how help you. let me make a phone call to someone who can"

Yeah i would love to work in one of those stores just the crappy thing is that there are none of those stores in my area and the closet one is about 1 1/2 hours away. Right now im just starting to go to school and I get to go really cheap both my parents work at the college so I really cant give it up lol. We have one home and mobile store and they suck *** to be honest. We have had them come and wire up some theaters for a few houses of ours and they did such a crappy job that I had to go back and fix it. The funny thing is that I would go in to ask if they have such and such speakers for a home owner and like you said a store that dont know crap they were like uuuhhhhh.... let me look in a book or call some one its redicules.

Nice to see I'm not the only one from this area posting here....
You reminded me of another thing, CAD. If you plan on designing home theatres, CAD drawing and being able to do renderings can be a great asset.
As for THX, yes there are courses offered in California at the Lucas Ranch I believe, once again very few clients are willing to part with the money it takes to put together a real theatre that would follow the THX standards.
Our poster should also remember, these are all elements that make up a high end custom firm and obviously one person isn't likely to be an expert in all these disiplines, thats what we have a staff for.
I am sure out of all these choices, he will be able to find something to dig into and learn.

Mindmelt, what are you doing now that you have finished school?

yah i cant find the job that specifically relates to my field. i did have a few chances at becoming a service technician for a broadband cable company, and an ISP, but i didnt want to be a technician, many companies are asking for several years of experience in the field, which i do not have, but being a technician is not something i am interested in to gain that experience

other than that i still have my old job right now, i am a corporate team trainer for Cineplex enertainment LP. its a movie theatre chain across Canada they own about 60-65% of the business in this country, i train new employees and promoted supervisors

i know it sucks, but i am hoping to get a good job soon