home theater

Im thinking about turning one of the rooms in my house into a home theater....

Here is what i want...

50 - 60" Flat HDLCD TV

Nice Surrond sound system (not the $300.00 sony type & not the 10K type either!!) I do have attic space for mounting the smaller speakers in ceiling...i know i want the larger speakers in cabinet by T.V.

I want a all one remote with LCD display

I want to be able to hook up kids's Playstation and sound come thru speakers etc..

I dont want wires on ANYTHING exposed

Also want those cushy...type theater seats about 6 of them..


What do you guys reccomend? NOTE>>>> I dont want to spend $25K!!!

What am i in for $$$$

 

Can't comment on most of it, but make sure you get one of those 120hz LCD's. They look amazing. Check them out at least

They got the new Samsung at Best Buy

http://pages.samsung.com/us/hd/

 

A couple issues (this list isn't even getting into what you want out of your HT, those 300000 questions can come later once we get some basic ones out of the way):

1) How much ambient light is there in the room?

2) What are the dimensions of the room?

3) What type of the material are the walls?

4) Are the cabinets already built in, or would you be adding those later?

5) Do you want a 5.1, 5.2, 7.1 or 7.2 surround system?

6) Do you have the ability to remove your walls for running the needed wires to keep them hidden?

7) How many/where are the windows relative to the possible locations for the TV?

8) I'm assuming this room is carpeted... so do you have any other soft surfaces, such as drapes or blinds in the room?



The biggest issue of all... what is your budget? There is no way to give you any kind of a real answer without knowing how much you are comfortable spending... but you need to be prepared to spend several $1,000 to really do it right after all the work is done. By no means will you need to go anywhere close to $25,000, but $5,000 to $10,000 once everything is said and done is well within the realm of a "budget" HT...

 

Wow...ok here we go

1) there is ambient light, 2 windows and 2 french doors....windows and french door have wooden blinds

2) room is fairly large...23' x 18'

3) walls are finished like the rest of the house normal dry wall

4) cabinets not built yet!!

5) Dont know on the surrond sound what do i want??? what should i want?? within budget

6) no need to remove walls this is on 2nd story there is attic space above room so wires can be run thru attic and into walls.

7) No windows on wall where T.V will hang

8) Room is carpeted...and wood blinds on 2 window and french doors...windows doors all on same wall.

Budget as you said...I know it will be more that 5k...TV alone i believe is $2500.00

There you go....point me in the right direction/components $$$

 

This is what I have and I really enjoy it.
61 in HD Samsung DLP (I think it has better blacks than LCD, but you can't mount it to the wall)
1100 Watt 7.1 surround (I can't think of the brand but I will find out when I get home tonight)

I wouldn't go less than 1000 Watt's of sound and if you can go with a 7.1 surround. 7.1 means 7 speakers (Center, Left, Right, Mid Left, Mid Right, Rear Left, and Rear Right) and 1 Sub.

Key to setting it up, don't ever hang speakers from the ceiling. Your left and rights need to be at ear level when you sit down just a couple of feet from your ears.

You'll want to get Digital cables as well, HDMI for Video and Optical for sound. If your kids have a PS2/3 or Xbox 360 you'll need more optical for audio.
What you will pay for is input in/out for the TV and Receiver, all in all I'd say your looking at 4-5k for the whole package (pending on quality of leather seats)
Surround sound 700-1,000
TV 2,000 - 3,000
Remote 300 - 600
Cables 200 - 300 (pending on how many you need)
I'm not sure about the seats... Sorry
oh and this doesn't include installation except for the remote control.

I happen to run sound for my church, call me and I can walk you through the technical crap. I'll PM you with my number.
Oh and I think I spent 700 on my sound system, and everyone comes to my house to watch movies.

 

If this is going to be a dedicated room and you won't be using it constantly, a projector might be a good idea.

http://www.projectorreviews.com/panasonic/pt-ae2000u/PT-AE2000U_update.php

 

Why LCD? Plasma has a better picture.


Antony

 

The room is definitely large enough, I would consider a projector. They are shooting out the same quality video as the TV's now. They can get pricey too, though.

Oh, don't forget a blu-ray DVD player. I didn't see that in the list above, and I assume you will watch movies. That is another few hundred $$.

 

I have 1 of each mentioned about.

I have a 50" RCA Scenium DLP HDTV. Brilliant color, but no wall hanger. A+

I have a 50" Panasonic Plasma. Heavy as hell. Good picture, but DLP is better IMHO.

Also, I have a projector. I just got a new one yesterday and will be installing it soon. As long as you have a decent screen, above is absolutely correct. They are absolutely keeping up on color and pic quality.

If you want, Ill post some pics of my projector and my others just to give you an idea, but once youve seen one youve seen em all.

Best of luck though!

 

I just got my room up and running two days ago. Furniture & curtains are on order. Here's a few of the things the room has.

Stewart 123" G3 Silverhawk Screen
Panasonic S2000u 1080p Projector
2-12" Subs DLS 4000
1-Center Channel Monitor Audio Silver RS6
2-B&W in-ceiling rears
2-Monitor Audio Towers Silver RS6
Onkyo Surround Receiver
Panasonic Blu-Ray
Directv DVR

Oh yeah, how about those hefty trash bags.
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Nice setup. I would have skimped on the curtains too!!! It means you get monitor audio speakers which are fantastic!!! Wilson sophias are my fav.

 

I did a lot of research before investing in my current setup. Cnet.com is great resource if you want to find out best bang for buck. I have a Pioneer plasma that I love. In my eyes, LCD will not approach the bright colors and black levels of plasma -read about the new Pioneer 1080p plasma... it's broken all the records. Pricey though, for sure. So, I purchased a 720p Pioneer and for movies we have an Optoma HD projector. There is no match for a projector when it comes to a theater-like experience. A friend purchased a kickass D-ILA 1080p projector for $4k and he loves it. In any case, it will certainly suffer from even the smallest amount of ambient light during the day. As far as amps and speakers go, I bet that you can get great sound with some minimal research. A note about speaker placement: don't put them in the ceiling unless your picture is gonna be on the ceiling too. I have heard even expensive setups like this and they just don't sound as realistic as speakers that are placed at screen level. 100 watts per speaker minmum. And all that Velodyne does is make great subwoofers (12" for your room size) at a reasonable price. I prefer carousel DVD players. It can be very convenient to have access to five DVD's without opening a case or leaving a DVD lying around waiting to be scratched. Although I do have a friend who swears by his new data storage setup. He has downloaded all of his movies to a server for instant access. Hard disc space is cheap nowadays. I haven't purchased a dedicated Bluray player yet (we have a PS3 though). You'll need a universal remote for sure. I really like my Harmony remote. Got it at Costco for $120 (along with soda, popcorn, and a big bag of peanut M&M's). It's programmable and updateable through USB hook-up, and it controls everything seemlessly. Good luck. You will love your home theater as much as we and our guests do =^)

 

Front projection-absolutely; DLP and even the JVC Dila formats are pretty cheap and fantastic.
High quality screen- a must;
Audio to support video- all in one receiver, with built-in SS processing, line stage and amplification is way cheaper than separates, but if you did go separates, you can build a marvelous system using used higher quality audio equipment;
I would run a blu-ray player; considerable improvement on well-mastered discs, even over high quality up-conversion of standard dvd;
speakers- these are not used for critical music listening, but must be able to take a pounding, and you must have enough amplifier power if the speakers are inefficient; real subwoofers are a must. These can also be found used.
Here are a few pics of my set-up, which has been in a continual state of evolution since the mid-nineties:
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Modena fan, that is a really nice setup! For your projector, did you mean Panasonic PT-AE2000U-EC? I looked for the model # you listed, and came up empty.

 

Yes, PT-AE2000U.

Oh yeah and the screen is a Stewart G3 Firehawk. (I was tired last night)

 

I don't know how much of a budget you are looking for but I have Used JVC RX8VBK THX ultra certified amplifier sitting in my basement the thing was about 2k new would be willing to part with it for a couple hundred would include all factory manuals, original remote and a Marantz RC2000 MK II Learning remote as well...The only thing it cant do is HDMI switching

 

OK...here is an update. Per the advice of a GOOD friend, he directed me to a place called "Magnolia" which is in a few "Best Buy" stores. They are the highend stuff (not crazy high end...just basic consumer high end)

Here is what i came up with so far....NOTE>>>>>>i signed up for the $100.00 consultation, where they come out to your house to discuss placement etc... next week


Samsung 52" LCD the 120hz kind $2750.00

Denon amp 750 watt w/7.1 surround sound $990.00

Speakers (here is where im still a bit unsure)

Klipsch Center speaker $299.00

2 Large Speakers forfront 8" $499.00 each

2 Wall speakers $225.00 each

2 back surround sound speakers $250.00 each

1 sub woofer 350 watt $499.00

Harmony Remote $250.00

Blue ray player---sony playstation 3 $400.00

Installation........5-20% of above total $1500.00

Total Approx....$8600.00 So Far!

We will know more next week...if anyone as suggestions please feel free to comment!! Thanx

PS...furniture NOT included!!! Wifes departmet!

 

Sounds like you have a good start.

I would say look into Onkyo also. Ive had two different setups derived from their products and they were great.


Best of luck,

PerryC

 

Check these out.

http://www.universalremote.com/whats_new/

I have the MX-900 & it is awesome. You might want the new MX-980 (a buddy of mine in the industry has one & raves about it).

 

I'm using the Onkyo TX-SR875.

 

Well we have both seen the quality. For me it was between the 875 and 895. A small price gap but both well equipped. I ultimately decided on the 875 also.

Good buy!

Best,


PerryC

 

$990 for a 750 watt 7.1 surround seems high especially for just the amp. I'd like to know what inputs it has on the back.
What's wrong with the surround in a box? Everything included packages? It seems like you're spending alot of money on speakers

 

Which Harmony model?

Whart what horn array is that in your listening room?

 

horns are avantgarde duo, latest version without omega upgrade. the comment about 900 bucks for 750 watts being expensive made me laugh. the Lamms have 18 watts. I would be embarassed to mention the price.

 

A beautiful and amazing sounding set there Sir!

Can you provide any input on the Gallo Acoustics Reference 3.1 speakers? I found a rather good deal on a pair and feel they would look nice in my bedroom

People need to learn that watts per dollar is not the best way to buy a system.