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Folks,
Getting a home theatre set-up for a new room in the basement. The room is 14x20, and I need to get the specifics for wiring in within a week.
Any thoughts on the ideal set-up? Mainly to watch hockey in hd...
Anyone?
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May 9th, 2006 02:18 PM #1
Home Theatre for hockey (plasma tv, receiver, etc...)
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May 9th, 2006 02:40 PM #2Well, in a few days you won't have to worry to much about watching hockey so you'll have all summer to do some research
Originally Posted by skanji
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May 9th, 2006 02:46 PM #3 Originally Posted by SergesPlace
Well, in a few days you won't have to worry to much about watching hockey so you'll have all summer to do some research
not to defend Skanji...but he does claim to watch a lot of hockey...not just his beloved Sens.
Wonder if the Jays sound good on 7.1 channels
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May 9th, 2006 03:14 PM #4Newbie
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Guess it depends what you are looking for.
I'd be getting a projector, since it's in the basement and you should be able to control the light pretty well. Panasonic PT-AE900U handles 720p native and is a pretty good bang for your buck. Sanyo Z4 is going to be of similar quality. Both should be under $3000 Cdn. An Infocus ScreenPlay 5000 will be quite a lot cheaper but still handles 720p native. Image quality is still excellent, however it doesn't do blacks quite as well as the other two, but is a light cannon so you can have the lights on a bit (if you are worried about having to watch in total darkness).
As far as sound, that really depends on what you are looking for. If you aren't going to be using it for movies or anything else, you don't need much in the way of speakers/receiver. If you are interested in setting up a real home theater, speakers are one of the best investments. Need more info on what you are looking for. Reply With Quote
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May 9th, 2006 06:37 PM #5 Originally Posted by tjl
Absolutely awesome that I can get this information from a n00b, and yet vetran posters contribute little to nothing...
Thanks tjl...
What I am specifically looking for is a home theatre set-up. Audio is as important as video, but not ridiculously (sound proofing, etc...)
Ideally, i'd like to hide the speaker wire, and unfortunately, that's a call i have to make now (early in the housing process).
What are the advantages of a media center set-up? What about the differences between projectors and plasmas...specifically for HDTV? Reply With Quote
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May 10th, 2006 09:33 AM #6Newbie
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No problem. I've found as I've built my theater that this is an addictive hobby, and love talking about it.
Do you have a budget or max that you are looking to spend?
As for the pros and cons of projectors/plasma. Projectors are usually for dedicated spaces. Light has a huge impact on them. Generally you need complete darkness or minimum room lighting for them to display accurately. The more light, the more washed out they look. Of course, casual viewing is different from sitting down to watch a movie, so there may be times that a little extra light is no big deal. As well, you have to replace the bulb every so often. That could be 2000 to 3000 hours. Depending on the projector. They start to get dimmer as they get closer to the end of the bulb life. The bulbs are usually $300-$500. A huge pro is screen size. Nothing like watching on a 90"-120" screen. Another con of projectors is getting cables to them. If you have a room you are building this is a plus because you can put them in the walls. If not, you have cables running up to it, which doesnt look all that nice. It's a good idea to put an extra cable run in the wall, incase one quits working or you add equipment. You can project onto a white wall, a sheet, a wall painted with screen paint (screen goo I believe is the product name) or you can buy a fixed screen or roll up screen. A quality screen will improve the contrast and brightness of the image.
I'm not a big fan of plasmas, however this is just because I think they are overrated. Yes, they have a great picture, but it's not the be all and end all of displays. Other technologies do just as good a job. That said, you are going to get great colour, contrast etc with a plasma. Image quality should be just as nice between a projector and a plasma. There is a risk of burn in, but it's very low provided you take appropriate steps to minimize it. The biggest thing to prevent it is turning down contrast and brightness. This should be done anyway, as they would probably need a little tweaking from their out of the box condition. You can do this with a calibration DVD (Avia and DVD Essentials are the most popular - I use DVD essentials since it's a lot cheaper). You can also have the display ISF calibrated by a professional, which is going to be a lot more detailed calibration and produce a way better picture than self tweaking. It's expensive ($500 or more). These calibrations can be done on both a projector and a plasma. Chances are, out of the box picture can be greatly improved on with a little work. Plasma will fit nicely in a room, and give you a great picture, but you won't be that giant screen, and there is a risk of burn in.
As far as audio, this really is budget dependant. You can start with a theater in a box that includes everything you need. This will generally be lower quality stuff. A receiver that doesn't have a lot of power, and small satellite speakers that won't accurately reproduce all frequencies.
You can move up to a home theater receiver, and speakers. I'd recommend sticking to one of the better known brands. Denon (my personal favorite), Onkyo, Harmon Kardon, Yamaha. They will all have decent equipment, with generally good specs. You can get decent stuff from Panasonic, Sony etc, however you really have to look at their specs, especially related to power. A low end 200 Watt Sony amp might seem like a good deal, but it might only be able to produce 200 Watts at a narrow frequency range. Where as a Denon rated at 90 Watts is going to be able to push 90 across the entire range.
You can also go separates. A power source, and a decoder. This is generally a for very high end systems.
Speakers are really a personal thing, and also can vary greatly depending on what you plan to spend. Some people like the way some sound, while others don't. There's tons of decent ones to listen to, and again it all depends on your budget. Paradigm, Energy, PSB, Axiom (what I plan to upgrade to), B&W...I could go on.
Anyway, hope this helps. Reply With Quote
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May 10th, 2006 09:52 AM #7
well since you don't want to do any work and let other ppl do it for you....
read Jon Lai's (first home theater setup for under 1k)
http://emvee.net/portal/
AVR 235 + Athena Micro 6
...I want the same setup...and prob pick up something similar around boxing day in December...i have no budget for it right now_______________
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May 10th, 2006 02:28 PM #8i'm seeking opinions, resources online, places to start...etc... Originally Posted by thelefteyeguy
Thanks for your resource - i'll definitely check out the site. Reply With Quote
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May 10th, 2006 02:38 PM #9Here's my current set-up in the house I will be moving from: Originally Posted by tjl
o Sony Trinitron Wega 36" TV (4 years old)
o Marantz 5200 receiver
o 4 Athena B1's
0 1 Athena Center channel
Now the question is, do I move this to the new place or sell it to build something new?? Reply With Quote
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May 11th, 2006 01:08 PM #10Newbie
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Sounds like you have a decent start. The Marantz receiver seems pretty decent, based on the specs, so as long as it's not giving you any problems, there's probably no reason to replace it.
So that leaves video or speakers as a starting point. Since I don't think that Sony is an HDTV (I could be wrong), that's probably the first thing I'd replace.
That's how I've been building my theater. I have some decent equipment that I'm slowly upgrading as I can afford it. Reply With Quote
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