Home Theater AV Suggestions

[MRM]

We're finally finishing our out basement. It's probably about 1,200 sf of space when all is said and done. It is going to be modest but very nice for us.

We are planning two rooms that need AV. The larger room will be a game room with about a 46 inch TV and a 5.1 sound system. It is about 25 feet long by about 13 feet wide. Yes, there is a pool table at one end and a bar at the other. The second room will be smaller and is dedicated to a real home theater with a 7.1 surround system. That room is about 12 feet wide by 16 feet deep. I know we should put the theater in the larger room, but the pool table takes priority.

For the theater room, our AV vendor has specced Boston Acoustics 6.5 inch speakers in the ceiling, an entry-level Artison sound bar, Current 10" subwoofer, a Samsung 60 inch 1080 Smart TV SAMF6300, and Denon X2000 7.1 receiver with Air Play.

For the game room he specced the same receiver, subwoofer, sound bar (front/center speakers) and rear speakers, but with fewer total speakers. The TV was a 46 inch Samsung 1080 SAM6300.

We're not real high level A/V geeks, but my impression was that this might be more of an entry level setup than we will want a few years from now. I would prefer to over-buy for now, anticipating some growth in the future. But when I asked about upgrading to the next level, I got vague responses that every component would cost another $1,000 to upgrade to the next level. A few thousand here, a few thousand there, and after a while you're talking about real money.

Anyway, I'm more into value that cost, and I'm willing to pay more if it gets me more value in the long run. I'm afraid I'm so stuck in 1980's-era technology that I don't even know the right questions to ask. I know there are some A/V professionals and serious aficionados on the Board, and I was wondering if anyone could offer me some suggestions or guidance.

[stomachmonkey]

I did my room for a fraction of what my neighbors spent and it come out better than most.

You don't need to spend crazy money.

For the components I shopped closeouts. Got quality gear at a great savings because it was last years model. Keep in mind if you buy this years, by next year, it will be last years.

For my projector I went with an Optomo HD20 1080p. The only 1080p projector under $1,000.00 at the time but was on projectorcentral.coms 10 best list. These days there are plenty to chose from sub $1k.

I went with speakers in cabinets. The concern with in wall / ceiling is if not done correctly they sound off and I like the ability to fine tune by adjusting their position. IMHO the only real advantage for in wall is aesthetics.

For a real theatre experience I personally think 60 is too small. The price of big screens is stupid low these days so why not go for 70".

Again I like a projector, the image for me is like the difference between vinyl and mp3's. The new tv's are too crisp.

I built my projector screen, $50 in materials and 2 hours labor. If you have a miter box and staple gun you are good to go. The material I used you can find on ebay for a couple hundred or go to your local big fabric store and buy 3 yards of blackout curtain for $25.00 Most of the guys on line are selling you the same thing.

3 yards will get you 108" screen when all done.

Including painting the room, curtains, media room recliners and all equipment I'm in under $5k.

We use the room at least once a week. Money well spent.

Ignore the speakers on floor, pics were taken before final placement, mounting.

[908/930]

Projector is a good way to go, if there are no windows in that wall you can just paint it. I had 106" for my last setup, looked great. Room needs to be fairly dark to work really well, ideally side walls painted flat darker colour (less reflection), and figure out projector location and pick one that works there(different focal ranges).

I would consider floor standing speakers and no sound bar for the front.

[908/930]

And add a 2nd sub, possibly find a matching used one, they work better in pairs.

[dewolf]

My company does home theartre installs. DO NOT put speakers in the ceilings. It's not a freakin Dr's surgery. Get some tall cabinet fronts and the same for the rears. If you can, go for a projector. You need to be sitting at least 4mtrs from a 100+ inch screen. Projectors with things like Playstations attached are quite something. Get the best quality projector for the money you want to spend. The other thing about a projector is, if you get a quick release mount for it you can take it outside and set it up with a cheap audio system on a nice night and invite some friends around.

Forgot to add that for outside you can project up against a wall or hang a sheet between a couple of trees.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by 908/930

Projector is a good way to go, if there are no windows in that wall you can just paint it. I had 106" for my last setup, looked great. Room needs to be fairly dark to work really well, ideally side walls painted flat darker colour (less reflection), and figure out projector location and pick one that works there(different focal ranges).

I would consider floor standing speakers and no sound bar for the front.

Yes, dark room but projectors have gotten much better last couple of years. Lumen value today is much higher on sub $1k projectors than it used to be on $3-4k projectors from a few years back.

The only in wall speaker I would consider is for the center channel so you can put it directly behind the screen but then you need to use a permeable screen material which is $$$$ so the trade off, for me, was not worth it by a long shot.

[stomachmonkey]

Oh, and don't get sold on HDMI. A component signal is just as good plus it does not pass DRM/copy protection so you can toss a pc into the mix and record your video stream as copy freely tagged.

HDMI vs component is more dependent on your mix of devices.

You can run component over coax.

Can make a diff in cost if your cable run from theatre receiver to display device exceeds 25 feet, the longest HDMI you are likely to find mass manufactured. But then you can also run HDMI over cat 5 or even fiber.

You can get really silly with all of it so KISS, keep it simple stupid, applies.

[MRM]

Good responses so far, thanks. Any suggestions for the brand and model of the components. I know that there are specific units that people who know about these things recommend highly but are completely unknown to people like me.

I'm not sure we have the space for a projector but I will look into it.

What about integrating Internet with the TV and using an iPad or iPhone instead of a remote. Too gimmicky or the wave of the future?

[LWJ]

My theater room is similar to Stomachmonkey. Big screen, projector, big sub, nice receiver, on thw wall speakers. Pm me to talk. I spent about $5 for everything about 5 years ago. Use it once a week or so. Absolutely love it. People think i am wealthy when they see it. It rocks.
Larr

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by MRM

Good responses so far, thanks. Any suggestions for the brand and model of the components. I know that there are specific units that people who know about these things recommend highly but are completely unknown to people like me.

I'm not sure we have the space for a projector but I will look into it.

What about integrating Internet with the TV and using an iPad or iPhone instead of a remote. Too gimmicky or the wave of the future?

Meh, using tablets and smartphones as remotes is not as cool as you would initially think. They time out when not used so you need to pick it up, swipe to unlock it then hit the remote app before you can use it.

Your primary receiver will most likely come with a big ass remote designed to be programmed for most if not all of your peripherals.

I have in my mix one of my cable boxes, a Blu-Ray and an Apple TV. Blue-Ray and Apple TV give you access to Netflix, Hulu, Amazons service plus a bunch of other net streaming service. You really don't need a smart TV.

My Blu-Ray sees less and less use every day as I'm ripping all my content to a hard drive and streaming via iTunes sharing / the Apple TV.

You may want to rethink the smart TV, at least avoid LG.

Is your TV spying on YOU? | Mail Online

As far as specific components my only advice is look for as many signal/input/output options as you can get.

[stealthn]

In my opinion it's not a good idea to go cheap. You will use the system a lot so spend appropriately, you can get good amps and speakers for reasonable prices, DVD players are just a commodity , and get a big screen TV as it will be better than a projector in the long run unless you are buying a Runco

[imcarthur]

In wall speakers suck. And in ceiling speakers usually suck even more. Concealed speakers are typically 2 cheap-ass drivers stuck on a cheap-ass plastic baffle board with a cheap-ass crossover & installers jam it into an unknown air cavity without care for acoustical performance. No cabinet. No damping. So forget balanced & full frequency response. They make noise so it is good enough. The custom install industry thrives on them. Cheap to buy & the biggest profit margin in the audio/video industry.

So, my advice is to buy at least 3 box speakers for the front (L-C-R) + 2 subs (I agree that 2 are better than 1 for bass coherency/phasing & SLAM). Side & rear effects speakers ideally are identical to the fronts but they can be on wall or BOXED in wall for room fit. In ceiling speakers should have no place in a home theater imho.

Flat panel vs projector is mainly a space/convenience/cost decision. I ran a projector off of a PC for years but I finally killed it & went to a more simplified 55" plasma. I don't miss it. People tend to buy huge screens that overpower the room & they seldom sit far enough away (think head-panning as things move across the screen).

Buy better electronics than you really want to. It does make a difference. Figure out your feature set & shop accordingly.

Ian

[billybek]

I listened to Ian's advice when setting up our home theater
On his recommendation I went with some small size (big sound) Focal speakers.
I went with a Denon 7.1 receiver and a Panasonic plasma smart tv.
It sounds great but I think the receiver (my choice) wasn't the best selection but does a pretty good job.
Thanks Ian!

[Scott R]

I posted this the other day, but I do use touch panels to control my entire home. They don't time out, they sleep until you touch it and it's instantly on. The brand is Crestron and I have Adagio components branded by Crestron and the rest is Denon and Pioneer and Marantz.

Every room that has a TV, speakers, computer, etc are all controlled off the central stack. I can undock a panel from the wall and walk from room to room with it. The panel also has video feedback, my stock reports, and nice little things like weather and climate control.

It just depends on how far you want to go.




Sadly I've been through three Marantz projectors in the last several years so I can safely say stay away from them.

[Scott Douglas]

My son did a projector in his family room.
I saw it a couple of weekends ago for the first time.
Blew me away.
I know he didn't spend more than @$3k on it, less the sound system.
We watched RUSH on it and I was impressed with how well it worked, even at 3pm in the afternoon with one wall all windows/sliding glass doors.
Let me know if you'd like me to ping him for the specs of his system as he did a lot of research on it before purchase. [Young, mechancial engineers are like that I guess.]

[RWebb]

I would give some thought to installation and revisions of it later on. Maybe wireless will be up to the task of carrying information for high quality audio in the future (or maybe it is now). But you still need to power any wireless rear speakers. That means some AC outlets in the rear. Or cable runs to passive speakers.

For the front you will likely have the screen higher than the electronics. That means more cable runs to hide. In my current home I cut into the wall, and ran a tube or 'duct' from high to low for various cabling. In one place I lived before, i cut a hole in the wall into the closet and stacked the e there. It was the easiest installation to alter I ever had. You could also use a false front.

Maybe post a diagram with descriptions of what you are dealing with (i.e. concrete blocks, slab floors, etc.) for installation advice.

I would integrate Internet with the TV, unless you think the temptation to surf PARF while listening to Handel is too great...

I also advocate room treatments.

Then there is the whole question of how many speakers you need - maybe 7 but maybe not, depending on budget...

Ian is too humble (or too Canadian) to say so but he reps very high quality for somewhat reasonable cost manfs., if you didn't already know. Why not invite him down south to the Mini-soda banana belt and wine him up while he tells you what to buy?

Finally - how tall is the ceiling since this is in the basement?

[Les Paul]

I've had a 20x20 dedicated media center for 7 years on 3rd projector. Full 3d 1080p Amazon.com: ViewSonic PJD7820HD Full HD 1080p 3D-Ready Projector with HDMI, Dual VGA, Composite and S-video: Electronics

Skeptic friends totally impressed. Just another option

[908/930]

MRM

Do you plan to use the 12' wall or the 16' wall to mount screen or tv?
What ceiling height do you have?

A good pair front speakers goes a long way, mine was a dedicated (high end) 2 channel system with 2 subs and no surround and worked great, next house I will add something to the back.

I have a JVC HD250 projector and quite pleased with picture quality, it was set up 20' from the 106" 16:9 screen. Something to keep in mind, projectors need air and some space around them for cooling.