Basement Theater
 

Redoing the HT in the basement.

Going with a 60-65" Plasma. Going with Plasma to keep down costs, get nice smooth sports and hopefully light glare will not be an issue.

For the front channels, I will be pulling out my dusty old Polk LS-90's powered by my Adcom 555II.

I will most likely pick up another Pioneer Elite HDMI receiver to power the center and rears.

For the center I am leaning towards a Polk CSi - A6 with FXi -A4's for the surrounds. Staying away from the A6's in the rear due to the physical size. The A4's are big enough as it is.

For the sub I am thinking an in-wall JBL double 8" unit powered by an Adcom 535II or possibly the receiver.

Please comment.

My main concern right now is the in-wall sub. Anyone use one?

Source will be Blu-ray and OTA antenna fed through a Tivo HD box.

60-65" in a basement I would consider a projector.....

Is the wall you want to put the sub in connected to the floor above? Might transmit too much to the upper level. Why not a box on the floor?

My ceilings are too low for a projector in my opinion - about 7'3". Too many opportunities for someone to touch it.

The in-wall sub will be in a furred out wall over a poured foundation. Of course, sound transfer is definitely a concern. The master bedroom is above the wall with the sub. My wife is really the one wanting to eliminate the sub from the space.

Women hate subs. But imho all in-wall subs are a big compromise. A free-standing box does a better job & you can move it around for best room pressurization.

Ian

I've got a basement setup for my kids and gaming, but I use it occasionally to watch HD movies. I am using a 65 Toshiba DLP TV with Onkyo receiver, Polk speakers, and a 10"300wt JBL sub. The room has low ceilings and not large so it has plenty of sound. I have a larger much more expensive system upstairs, but it actually doesn't have the same effects because it is such are large open room. I am constantly impressed be the cheaper system because of the optimal room size. Get yourself a nice TV, good speakers and a powerful subwoofer and you will meet 95% of your needs.

I'm using a projector. Zero-light room with a scaled curve screen. Only problem is that if you want to use it for tv viewing you're eating up light time and some of those puppies are just as expensive as a new projector.

Big & cheap
 

I just completed a basement setup for sports, movies and gaming using a Mitsubishi 73" DLP (they have a 60", 65" and 82") and a Panasonic HTIB Blue-ray 5.1 surround sound unit. This can be duplicated for about $2k.

I LOVE my Pioneer Elite HDMI 7.1, sound is a little on the tinny side but but that could be EQ'ed out.

Plasma sucks a lot of power so over the long run you might break even on a LCD.

Also love my CV 250 watt sub, IMHO if you build in the sub it will be heard upstairs. I hung my Altec Lansing A7's from the ceiling in the garage and they come in loud and clear upstairs.

Why don't you take some inspiration from this guy:

http://aamserver.dnsalias.com/basspig/photos2009.htm

:D