Home Theatre Question

[lancelin]

I am planning to setup a mini "home theatre" for my living room.

I have about $US 5,000 bucks budget.

I was wondering what is you guys' recommendations?
The room is 14 x 20 ft.

I was thinking

$2500 50" SHARP LCD (older model 1080p)
$1000 Denon 2807
$1500 B&W MT-20

I have all the cables and others things already.

Please advice!!

Thanks guys!

Lance

[Aaron]

What you have picked out now sounds great.

[jermwhl]

Nope! Not gonna work, you'll just have to send all that stuff to me, and we'll work out a different list for ya!

[theknub]

Originally Posted by lancelin

I am planning to setup a mini "home theatre" for my living room.

I have about $US 5,000 bucks budget.

I was wondering what is you guys' recommendations?
The room is 14 x 20 ft.

I was thinking

$2500 50" SHARP LCD (older model 1080p)
$1000 Denon 2807
$1500 B&W MT-20

I have all the cables and others things already.

Please advice!!

Thanks guys!

Lance

i'll be honest. i love b&w. i own them and will have them for my next go around. however, the mt series in general is crap. it's basically a htib without a receiver. yes, a lot better than anything but i think in general you will prob be disappointed. what i may consider is getting just the front stage of the 602's and the center lcr600. if not that, look at the 600 s3 or even the 300 series. you will be much more satisfied IMO and you can prob come close to the 1500 mark for a full setup of 300 series equipment or with some of the smaller 600 series stuff.

[Greenmatiz2]

You really should give Paradigm speakers a listen. My Mini-monitors and PDR-12 sub sound awesome for the money. Nothing else came close at the time, except maybe Energy.

If you live in Canada (or can drive there) you can get them MUCH cheaper. Don't try to ship from Canada, though, because customs knows this, and will make you pay dearly.

[scpetit]

Originally Posted by lancelin

I am planning to setup a mini "home theatre" for my living room.

I have about $US 5,000 bucks budget.

I was wondering what is you guys' recommendations?
The room is 14 x 20 ft.

I was thinking

$2500 50" SHARP LCD (older model 1080p)
$1000 Denon 2807
$1500 B&W MT-20

I have all the cables and others things already.

Please advice!!

Thanks guys!

Lance

Well first off you dont have a screen picked out and honestly thats where you need to invest the most in. I have a Hitachi PJTX-1000 rojector I picked up from Projector People for $687 bucks.. SPent $2500 on a screen. and It looks next to flawless. I would also not go higher than a 92" screen also because the drop off in resolution is dramatic as you move up from there.

On The Projector...
I fought myself over 720p , 1080p for months and for me it came down to this. We wont see TV broadcast anything that close for at least 5-10 years. 720p/1080i is their realm and they sure are taking their sweet time to get us channels. Regular TV blown up to 720p looks avg to ok..you've have seen it. SO imagine the same tv feed blown up to 1080p! Even worse. I dont see a dramatic difference between a true 1080i source and a 1080p source at this moment. Maybe this will change in the future. So looking at it this way I bought the HItachi for price/quality of picture to take me thru the next 4-5 years for when they FINALLY get enough HD content on television, games and Blu-Ray. Right now I just dont feel like it is worth the investment for such little return on viewing. In 4-5 years a 1080p projector will be dirt cheap and you can swap them out easily

On The Reciever
I purchased a Marantz SR7001 for $1200.00 which has 4 HDMI IN/OUT and 4 Component In/ 2 Out. Input wise nothing touches it in this range you have to spend $3-4000 in Yamaha, Denon etc to get something caparable.. Look into them you may like Marantz.

Speakers
I used to sell B&W and I was never a fan. They are IMO a status piece like Martin Logan. While they do sound good. You can do better for your money. Look into Energy Loudspeakers And Mirage (My Favs). I will put my Energy 28ps up against a lot of speakers. For home theater and the music I listen to (Rock and Metal) they were a better choice for me. But speakers are in the ear of the beholder.

In Conclusion
Get a 720p projector
Take the other $1000-1500 you saved and get a good screen
Look into Marantz recievers
Speakers go with what sounds good to you. If you like B&W sound get em. If youve never heard them you need to go listen and make sure they are worth it.

[theknub]

scpetit - he does have a set, a sharp (i'm assuming aquos) lcd (panel i assume) display.

good analysis though. i find mirage a bit too shrill (not sure if that's the word i want to use) and tin sounding but it has also been 7 years since i demoed so my thoughts on them are a bit old and distorted. i like a yamaha receiver with my b&w's. i know b&w can be bright so the yammy tends to even them out a bit. i do prefer a good treble over bass anyway, so that helps.

[ra1024]

If you're planning to spend $2500 on an LCD, you might want to consider the Panasonic PT-AE1000U projector (1080P at up to 200"). I just got one and I love it. You can get it for about $2900 after rebate and projectorpeople.com will throw in a nice upscaling dvd player. If you don't have control over ambient lighting, the lcd is probably a better choice.

scpetit makes a good point about tv broadcasts being limited but if you plan to watch a lot of BR movies ( which most people here do ) then you'll want to consider going 1080P over a set that has 768 or lower resolution.

[lancelin]

I just found out my room is 15 ft x 20 ft.

I have been having dilema on the projector too.

I will use it as a primary TV. I don't watch TV much (only during some news and ball games)... But I am really afraid that with projector, it is not practical since I have to dim all the lights to see the screen clearly.

The 50" looks so tiny with 15ft+ watching distance.

Any light on this?

Lance

[WriteSimply]

You can get screens that can work even with some lights on. Not sunlight though 'cuz nothing can beat THAT. Those screens will cost extra but it will give you a better satisfaction when you watch your HDTV on a really big screen.

Or you could DIY one yourself but I don't know the recipe of making that coating...


fuad

[tscott159]

Originally Posted by Greenmatiz2

You really should give Paradigm speakers a listen. My Mini-monitors and PDR-12 sub sound awesome for the money. Nothing else came close at the time, except maybe Energy.

If you live in Canada (or can drive there) you can get them MUCH cheaper. Don't try to ship from Canada, though, because customs knows this, and will make you pay dearly.

I completely agree with your recommendation of Paradigm, they are excellent speakers. I wouldn't even compare them to Energy, I think energy are crap. I had the Mini-Monitors and the CC-390 center channel and recently steped up to the Studio 20s and CC-570. At the $1500 pricepoint though I would go with the following.

PDR 10(subwoofer) $400
Mini Monitor (front) $400 pr
CC-290 (center) $400
Canema ADP (surrounds) 3 @ $109 ea. $327
Total $1527

Sorry I went $27 over.

[dave4]

Originally Posted by lancelin

I just found out my room is 15 ft x 20 ft.

I have been having dilema on the projector too.

I will use it as a primary TV. I don't watch TV much (only during some news and ball games)... But I am really afraid that with projector, it is not practical since I have to dim all the lights to see the screen clearly.

The 50" looks so tiny with 15ft+ watching distance.

Any light on this?

Lance

If you opt for 65" (http://www.smartratings.com/review/e..._and_lcds/1063) you would go over your budget. I think this (http://www.smartratings.com/review/e...ma_and_lcds/61) could be the just enough without going over too much. Hope this helps.