Home theater....

[JohnnyB]

Ok....finishing lower level of the house. Framed in for zero clearance fireplace Saturday. Moving on to frame the rest, then hvac and electrical.

Want to do 7.1 surround and considering in wall/in ceiling speakers. Looking for experiences and thoughts on the A/V system.

Think i am doing TV over projector but opinions there too??



Sent from my Motorola RAZR MAXX using Tapatalk 2


Sent from my Motorola RAZR MAXX using Tapatalk 2

[scott023]

I personally don't think the projectors are as versatile as TVs. I haven't cheeked the technology out in a couple years though.

[Kweisner]

We have a full on home theater with a projector and 110" screen. At the time we put ours in, projector tech was moving really fast and that meant the second-hand market had some great deals. We picked up a Sony "Ruby" (originally a $10K projector) for two grand. Yes, we took a chance buying used, but in our case it's worked out great. Provides a full HD picture with really terrific color, tone and does blacks well (one of the hardest things, BTW). To get optimal performance, most projectors/screens require a dark room, and even the paint color should be a medium to dark tone, otherwise it reflects too much light from the screen. In our case, we have a bit of a high-gain screen which dictates a fully darkened room. If you will have (or want) some ambient light, you can get a lower gain screen. Regular TV is certainly a fine option, but a projector / big screen really does make it a theater for strictly viewing, vs. a TV room where you can do other stuff besides viewing.

[Ben]

Projectors are certainly not as versatile. Need pretty dark room. Kinda large picture. But they sure are nice. A friend has a massive one in his basement with 7.1+ 3 or 4 subs. Very cool.

TVs are cheap now. I saw a 55" at Walmart for like $400. How about a 55 for watching tv Andries usage, then lower the screen in front of it for movies and football?

[east tx skier]

Go give the 4K TVs a look. We have a 7.1 system. We are using 8" ceiling speakers for the surrounds and rear surrounds. We are using bookshelf Klipsch speakers for the center and front speakers (since the TV and components are installed in a built-in built for the TV. The center speaker is obscured behind a hinged panel with a nice tweed grill cloth we found (old Fender Amp grill cloth). The fronts are visible, but discrete. We have an attic with easy access to the side of the built in from above. So running wiring for the surrounds and the sub was very easy.

[JimN]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Ok....finishing lower level of the house. Framed in for zero clearance fireplace Saturday. Moving on to frame the rest, then hvac and electrical.

Want to do 7.1 surround and considering in wall/in ceiling speakers. Looking for experiences and thoughts on the A/V system.

Think i am doing TV over projector but opinions there too??

Can you post a floor plan?

What is the viewing distance? Drywall/insulated walls with drywall or suspended ceiling? If you're willing to use floor-standing speakers, you'll definitely have better sound than using in-wall for the front. If possible, use front speakers that are all the same- L, C and R. Don'r expect a sound bar to be adequate for high SPL use. How much automation will you need? If you do use a projector, you'll need some kind of trigger to turn it on and IR is far less reliable than a 12VDC trigger. Some receivers have it, most don't. You'll also need to let it cool down before shutting it off, so the bulb can cool without re-tempering the glass and making it brittle. These are expensive to replace and using a UPS on the system is a good idea (UPS is often used to mean surge suppressor, but I mean battery backup). I installed one for someone's office and during a strong storm last week, their power went out and came back on while he was using the computer. When the computer wasn't affected at all, he looked at his wife and said "Well, that just paid for itself".

Install 2" orange Smurf tube from the equipment location to the projector or TV, if it's not next to the equipment. HDMI sucks and it's likely that the cable will have to be replaced at some point or something added in the future.

[wakeX2wake]

I can't say enough good things about my Bose home theatre. i got mine about 6 yrs ago and they've developed some new stuf since then. Its expensive but it is that for good reason. i've heard louder and i've seen bigger but nothing is as clear and high quality sound as Bose.

[Greenster]

Are you going to get a drop down screen? If not, the area you are going to be putting your TV is not that big. Go with the TV. A good projector will cost you $2500. Panasonic and Sony make great units for the money if you decide to go that route.

As far as speakers go. ARX makes an amazing speaker for the money and just won the $1000 shoot out on the Home Theater Shack. SVS, HSU or Powersound Audio will be the Subs you will want to look at.

If you want to go the extra mile and make your room sound tons better, then look at acoustically treating your room. Before you Sheetrock would be the time to start addressing this.

[David Analog]

I just finished a small upstairs media room that tightly fits four wide in an arc and is single depth. Based on the size of the room, the nook and cabinet, I have a Sharp 80" LED. It's good in any light and okay for movies but not the same as a good projector. If the room is large enough to support a projector and larger screen then I would go that route. I have recently watched a Panasonic and JVC projector. Both knocked me out.
I'm running a 5.2 audio. I went for a system that would also sound great on music, which is a major challenge for many AV systems. The front uses small floor-standing towers and this makes a giant difference. Free-standing sounds better. Great fullrange and musical bookshelf speakers (like a dual 6" & tweeter, or single 8" & tweeter) on stands can also sound great in the front. Substantial in-cabinet (different from standard in-wall) front speakers can sound good if you fill the surrounding void in the cabinet. Smallish front satellites never sound natural to me and certainly don't play music well.

[jafo9]

all the advice above is great. while i am a big fan of internet buying, in this case it may be better to explore local options for support and service down the road. several years ago i bought a 5.1 definitive technology system from the local dealer. besides the advantage of being able to hear the system personally i was able to get them repaired under warranty without any hassle after i smoked the fronts demo-ing apollo 13.