Looking to Put together a "Nice" Home Theater

[xanadufl]

I am in the process of having a home theater created in my home. My dilema is in learning about the different components and the current technology: IE: the 3 chip projector , the lumens vs. the contrast ratio, the type of DVD player, should I get an integrated surround sound/amp/speaker combo or should I get separate components. Best Buy has a projector for $3000 and a Bose surround sound combo for about $4000 for a total of $7000. Then there are the theater companies who say I should get a projector that ranges between $7000 and $11000. Like the $8000 JVC DLA-HX2U that has the 3 chip (16 Million color) configuration. Where does one begin? Bottom line is I want a fairly decent theater, but, do I really need to spend into the 10's of thousands????

[focker]

Decide what your budget is and then pick your components. There are plenty of options at all different price levels. You don't need to spend that kind of money to have a great theater that you will enjoy.

Here's a couple of tips. Stay away from Bose, it's overpriced junk. You could put together a system for less than half the price of that Bose system that would simply blow it out of the water. You're not likely to find the best quality home theater equipment at Best Buy. If you really really want to get into reading in depth about different equipment, I would start at the AVS forum. It's a great place for hardware information and discussion of all sorts of home theater related issues.

[DVD Josh]

You can get a quality projector for $1200 in the Infocus 4805. Honestly, I'd prefer the Onkyo home theater in a box for $400 over the $4000 Bose. i think you would too.

[Deftones]

Yeah, Bose is overpriced. Stay away. You can get more bang for your buck if you stay away from them. There are other forums that would be more suited to this kind of question. AVS Forum would be a good place to start.

[Dead]

... Where does one begin? Bottom line is I want a fairly decent theater, but, do I really need to spend into the 10's of thousands????

Where does one begin? - I'd say by either setting a budget or a deciding on "performance" requirements. Working from the first is probably easier than the second. Either way, your overall goal will be to determine how to best achieve your first requirement while minimizing (or maximizing as applicable) the second.

Working from a budget, this means decide how much you can spend and attempt to maximize the performance for that amount. This is essentially what I've been doing during my recent upgrades. I decided I could spend $xxxx, then researched the equipment that was available in that price range and would be an improvement over what I already had.

do I really need to spend into the 10's of thousands???? - IMO, no... others might disagree though. Deciding what performance requirements are needed is a very personal thing. I wanted a projected image of at least 80" in 4:3 mode and wasn't worried too much about the rainbow effect. Someone else might demand an image of 120" or more and might be susceptible to rainbows, which would mean my projector would not be a good choice for them. Another person might be fine with a very lowend projector that would leave me complaining about the screendoor effect.

Similarly, some people can hear distortion or harmonic anomalies that I might not... and I can hear some that others might not. So, there is a degree of subjectiveness when discussing what someone "needs" for a good home theater.

Go visit some of your local home theater stores and some of the big box stores (Best Buy, Costco, etc.) and try out the equipment that you think meets your needs and work from there.

[Spiky]

That's a good solid methodology. Mine was a bit different. I decided about 4 years ago that it was time. Since then I've slowly been adding/replacing equipment. Just finished with a projector. By taking time, I've been able to get better equipment than I would have been able to afford all at once. Of course, I was stuck with awesome sound and a 27" dying analog screen for 2 years. But if I'd gotten it all 4 years ago, I wouldn't have a killer sub or a 90" screen. And I'd be stuck with a cheaper 5.1 setup and lesser options.

I shopped at stores, both big box and high-end. Always funny at the Sony Store watching the 5'8" guy trying to look down his nose at me, 6'4". Ended up getting most of my advice from AV Science and Home Theater Spot.

[xanadufl]

I appreciate all your advice. For me the picture has to be GREAT! The sound very good. I would love some advice on a higher end projector. Thanks for the warning about Bose. I will try to find the AVS group. All the best to everybody!!

[Spiky]

Well, projectors. There's a lot out there. If you can handle it, the best is CRT. Not exactly cheap, not small, not easy. But the best. Next best is 3-chip digital technologies like LCOS, DLP, etc. Not cheap. Single-chip DLP and LCD come after that.

Then there's the screen. The world's best PJ can look like crap if the screen really doesn't match. And light control. The sun wins, every single time. You need to stop it.

I learned most of what I know about PJs from AVS Forum. They have 4 dedicated forums for different price levels of PJs. Nobody can tell you everything in one post. If you go this route, do NOT just jump in with a purchase. Read or talk to people with experience, it is not the same as other displays.

[JoshUnt]

I just put together a Home Theater room. It has been finished for about 3 weeks now and I love everything I purchased. I went with the Sharp XVZ2000. I the Z2000 for the price mainly. It is hard to find a DLP at this price (about $3200) and it is really new only out 6 months at max. I went through Tweeter and was able to get everything for $10,000. Here is what I decided:

1. Projector - Sharp XVZ 2000
2. Receiver - Denon 2105
3. Screen - Stewart Firehawk
4. Power Center - Monster HTS2600
5. Audio rack - Salamander Synergy triple
6. Speakers - Sapphire ST2B
7. Sub - Velodyne DLS3750R
8. HD Reciever - DirectTV brand I believe for
9. Installation - They installed Screen and the projector
10. Mount - Chief Mount
11. Then I got a set of 3 Berkline auto reclining chairs from Billiards and Barstools

The speakers are really Tweeter exclusive and are great for Movies and XBOX :) Music is still good, but these speakers were really made for movies I think.

[Brian Shannon]

Dead's advice is right on target.

Set a budget and stick to it. Go and see projectors and listen to speakers. Look for package deals and possibly closeouts when new models get introduced. Don't get hung up on terms and specs at first, trust your own eyes and ears and lastly do not judge anything solely on the price alone. There are many great items that are real values.

[xanadufl]

I might need to take a sabatical to devote the time to this. It seems like the research will take some work. I started today as a walked by the BOSE store...was dragged into the theater demo room....Don't worry, their best system, the $3999 sound system falls under the BOSE warning that seems to be posted in a few places. Thank you all for your input

[Sdallnct]

I've been working on my Theater room. I made a self imposed budget of $2,000 (not including furniture), and I should be right in there. I did all the labor myself (lots of Home Depot and Lowes visits), and read all I could. I'm still working on as I just ordered seats, but I'm very happy with it. My major pieces include;

Infocus X1 FP
Homemade ceiling mount made out of plumbing pipe
Homemade screen
Sony Receiver (soon to be replaced with H/K or Onkyo)
Celestion Speakers including sub
Toshiba TiVo/Progressive Scan DVD player
14g speaker wire from Home Depot
RGB6 cables used for video
Heavy drapes from Bed Bath and Beyond
Rope lighting on sale from various places
GE Smarthome wireless light control
Track lighting from Home Depot
Poster frames from Hobby Lobby
DTS/Digital signs down loaded on line and printed at Target

[Slayer2005]

Absolutely not. My X1 cost $1,000 and it was fairly impressive for a while, until I saw a CRT and it blew me away. The dark scenes even beat the cinema easily. No technology will give you deep black like CRT can. The colors are incredibly rich and the picture has that 3D like depth.

You can have an incredible theater set up for under $1,000 by going CRT. Without going CRT you can still have a pretty great theater setup using a DLP like the 4805 at a decent price.

ECP 4500+ CRT Projector: $600 (beats LCDs and DLPS costing several thousands of dollars. It walks all over my $1,000 X1. The ECP has a 15,000:1 on/off contrast ratio btw)
Do-It-Yourself Silver Screen: $50
VGA to RGBHV cables: $20
10ft diagonal @ 16:9

Total cost: $670

I'm running it with a Home Theater PC (HTPC) with FFDShow filter. The picture is absolutely stunning.

If I were you I wouldn't waste tons of money on Bose. A $300-$400 surround sound system is MORE than enough IMO. Infact, I use a $50 cheapie Wal-Mart surround sound system at the moment and have never decided to upgrade from it. I bought it as a joke (expecting to take it back, but I wanted to see what I would get for so cheap) and expected pure crap, but I got quite a surprise. It actually sounds pretty good for such a cheap device and since I'm a videophile and not an audiophile I never decided to upgrade to a "real" surround sound system (I may someday though). Although, I once had a $400 surround sound system (but it broke, so I returned it) and it did sound better. I really can't imagine needing much more than a $400 surround sound system for a home theater. It just seems like overkill to me. Or like someone trying to impress others with how much something cost. Only get a surround sound system over $400 if you are like the pickiest person in the world about audio (and I mean extremely PICKY).

I'd put my theater's picture up against most other costing thousands more (ones with digitals, not CRTs. -smile-).

My $600 CRT wipes the floor with my $1,000 DLP (and it's pretty good too, except in really dark scenes, which is when the CRT really owns other technologies).

[Sdallnct]

To the OP, are you noticing anything? Everyone has told you what is important to them. What they like. See there really is no perfect system regardless of $$. All have their good points and all have there negatives.

You need to decide what is important to you. No one can really disagree with someone else, if their system is what they enjoy. And that is the key you should enjoy it. An obvious example is Slayer2005 post. To me, audio is what brings you into the movie. IMO a bad sound system is very, very hard to overcome. If the highs are strained, if the bass is not tight, if there is no depth to the sound, I'd just as soon not listen (or watch). However, he is evidently very happy with a cheapy wal-mart audio system. (while I agree you can get a nice system in the $400 range, I feel a carefully choosen $600 system can sound much better, and so on). Even just getting matching speakers can make a significant improvement in sound.

Anyway, you need to decide what is important to you. Screen size? PQ? Sound? Ease of use? Works in a bright room? Cost? Ease of upgrade? Portability? Then work on a system that meets you top three or so wants.

[xanadufl]

I'm learning more and more with every post. I am sure new readers are also getting the benefit of this input.

The CRT is a new piece of information for me. I must assume it does not stand for Cathoid Ray Tube. So, if CRT is the best picture and it's a fraction of the cost..then it's a no brainer. The sound has to be very good...I'm sure great sound won't cost a mint. As for the screen I will spend a few bucks there also. Even though I can afford to spend $10, $15 or even $20m, I'm not willing to part with that much cash if I don't have to.

I would love more feedback on CRT.

Thank you all!

[chipmac]

Yes CRT does stand for Cathode Ray Tube. A direct view TV has a single CRT where as a front or rear projector uses 3; one each for Red, Green and Blue. CRT is still considered to have the best PQ because it provides the deepest blacks and is also a long proven technology that doesn't have issues with stuck pixels, rainbows, screen door effect, etc. But since no technology is 100% perfect CRT based front and rear projectors do have convergence and burn in issues.

[Slayer2005]

I'm learning more and more with every post. I am sure new readers are also getting the benefit of this input.

The CRT is a new piece of information for me. I must assume it does not stand for Cathoid Ray Tube. So, if CRT is the best picture and it's a fraction of the cost..then it's a no brainer. The sound has to be very good...I'm sure great sound won't cost a mint. As for the screen I will spend a few bucks there also. Even though I can afford to spend $10, $15 or even $20m, I'm not willing to part with that much cash if I don't have to.

I would love more feedback on CRT.

Thank you all!

Yep, it does stand for Cathode Ray Tube. CRT projector use 3 of them. Red, Green & Blue.

You can get a lot more information at AVSForum. They have a CRT section there.

[Spiky]

But since no technology is 100% perfect CRT based front and rear projectors do have convergence and burn in issues.
That and they are friggin' huge! If looking at front projection, this is an issue.