Front Projection or Front Projection/Plasma HT?

[naturephoto1]

I have already posed part of this question with no response, so I decided to break this up into smaller bites.

At this point I am trying to design my home theater for my new home that I hope will be built later in the year and possibly into next. The room will be 19' 4" X 14' 7" and 9' high.

I am trying to decide if I should just have a front projection/screen system or if I should also have my Pioneer Elite Kuro Pro-111FD Plasma screen TV in the room.

Any comments and suggestions will be most helpful. I will add additional questions to the thread as things progress.

Thanks for your assistance.

Rich

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

I have already posed part of this question with no response, so I decided to break this up into smaller bites.

At this point I am trying to design my home theater for my new home that I hope will be built later in the year and possibly into next. The room will be 19' 4" X 14' 7".

I am trying to decide if I should just have a front projection/screen system or if I should also have my Pioneer Elite Kuro Pro-111FD Plasma screen TV in the room.

Any comments and suggestions will be most helpful. I will add additional questions to the thread as things progress.

Thanks for your assistance.

Rich

Will it be pure home theater for movies? If not, I'd incorporate a television of some kind.

Go for the 151 instead of the 111 if you can. The room isn't that large - a 151 would dominate it for regular viewing, with the "ne plus ultra" being the projection system.

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by Blu-Dog

Will it be pure home theater for movies? If not, I'd incorporate a television of some kind.

Go for the 151 instead of the 111 if you can. The room isn't that large - a 151 would dominate it for regular viewing, with the "ne plus ultra" being the projection system.

I already have the 111 at this point. But, I could move that to the bedroom. I could wall mount either TV. The room will be used for TV, movies, and listening with my 2 channel and multichannel audio for my Turntable, CD, SACD, etc.

Part of the problem is the fact of the height of and the number of components, racks of components, and the size of the anticipated front main speakers. The turntable is sitting on a rack so that the top is about 43" off of the floor. The main line stage tower L & R speakers will probably be a mirrored pair consisting of 32 drivers per tower that is about 26" wide and about 6 1/2' tall.

Rich

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

I already have the 111 at this point. But, I could move that to the bedroom. I could wall mount either TV. The room will be used for TV, movies, and listening with my 2 channel and multichannel audio for my Turntable, CD, SACD, etc.

Part of the problem is the fact of the height of and the number of components, racks of components, and the size of the anticipated front main speakers. The turntable is sitting on a rack so that the top is about 43" off of the floor. The main line stage tower L & R speakers will probably be a mirrored pair consisting of 32 drivers per tower that is about 26" wide and about 6 1/2' tall.

Rich

I just can't see front projection for TV watching. The need to control light levels is too tight for casual viewing. On the other hand, if you have a great projection system, it's definitely the best for movies.

If it was me, I'd go for the hybrid screen/111FD combo.

I'm pretty much stuck with using TV only, as I've set up my main home theater in the living room with no light control. I also use a home theater PC, which needs a monitor, and the 151FD fits the bill (all lossless audio). Speakers all do double duty as fashion furniture.

The equipment sits in a granite credenza below the TV, with the top 33" from the floor, raising the base of the 151FD to about 42" - leaving room for the center speaker. That's definitely the upper limit for height on the TV, but it's very comfortable to watch.

Using those massive tower speakers, as big as they are, shouldn't cramp screen space for the projection screen - but will it lower and retract in front of the rack, or be in a fixed position placed above it? You won't be using it for pure audio. It would be great if it could roll up and down.

[naturephoto1]

Originally Posted by Blu-Dog

I just can't see front projection for TV watching. The need to control light levels is too tight for casual viewing. On the other hand, if you have a great projection system, it's definitely the best for movies.

If it was me, I'd go for the hybrid screen/111FD combo.

I'm pretty much stuck with using TV only, as I've set up my main home theater in the living room with no light control. I also use a home theater PC, which needs a monitor, and the 151FD fits the bill (all lossless audio). Speakers all do double duty as fashion furniture.

The equipment sits in a granite credenza below the TV, with the top 33" from the floor, raising the base of the 151FD to about 42" - leaving room for the center speaker. That's definitely the upper limit for height on the TV, but it's very comfortable to watch.

Using those massive tower speakers, as big as they are, shouldn't cramp screen space for the projection screen - but will it lower and retract in front of the rack, or be in a fixed position placed above it? You won't be using it for pure audio. It would be great if it could roll up and down.

If I used the 111 on the granite/mdf rack system that I have now, the rack is about 31" high. If I purchased a 60" plasma it would be too large for the rack since it is 48" wide. So, a 60" TV would need to be wall mounted.

The 50" TV could either be on the granite/mdf rack system or wall mounted. If I purchased a screen to roll down, it would probably be an electric one. But, then the question would be how close or far away from the rear wall. If the TV were wall mounted then I could have the screen drop so that it would either be behind the rack but in front of the TV or over the rack system. If I had the screen drop down on the side of the rack closer to the seating that could limit the seating distance and the number of seating rows from 2 to 1.

The center channel speaker system is yet to be designed, but will undoubtedly be based upon the 2 towers. It will sit on a stand in front of the 48" long rack system.

I also have to think in terms of where to move the turntable rack system because of its height unless I rebuild the height of the rack so that it is lower (but it will make it more difficult to place and remove the records and tonearm).

Ultimately, there will be a total probably of 6 rack systems/amp stand systems that will have to moved around at the far end of the room because there will be a total of 5 amps, 3 power units..... You get the idea. So, this will not be a "pretty" set-up like some of the favorite Home Theaters on the forum, but will sound great and will be more of and audiophile Home Theater.

Rich

[Grevlin]

I'm working out screen placement at moment as well. Since you have a fairly long room, maybe you put up a ceiling mounted electric screen. You can put it about 2-3 feet away from the main wall so it will come down in front of all your racks and equipment.

When it's up, the room will look much more like a music room. But when dark and lowered, you can enjoy a huge screen. By having it acoustically transparent it can be in front of the whole front sound stage and low enough to the ground to be comfortable.

You could easily get a 120" screen or more! - It will probably need a good amount of black masking on top to bring it into range. (depends on ceiling height)

This method allows mounting any kind of lcd on the wall as well.

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

If I used the 111 on the granite/mdf rack system that I have now, the rack is about 31" high. If I purchased a 60" plasma it would be too large for the rack since it is 48" wide. So, a 60" TV would need to be wall mounted.

Either way, the projection screen needs to come down in front of the plasma...I see your dilemma here.

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

The 50" TV could either be on the granite/mdf rack system or wall mounted. If I purchased a screen to roll down, it would probably be an electric one. But, then the question would be how close or far away from the rear wall. If the TV were wall mounted then I could have the screen drop so that it would either be behind the rack but in front of the TV or over the rack system. If I had the screen drop down on the side of the rack closer to the seating that could limit the seating distance and the number of seating rows from 2 to 1.

The bottom of the projection screen has to stop at about 34 inches. This prevents placement of an on the side center channel on top of the rack (probably not your preference anyway). It's not too high, I don't think.

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

The center channel speaker system is yet to be designed, but will undoubtedly be based upon the 2 towers. It will sit on a stand in front of the 48" long rack system.

Going horizontal or vertical for that center channel? Just curious.

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

I also have to think in terms of where to move the turntable rack system because of its height unless I rebuild the height of the rack so that it is lower (but it will make it more difficult to place and remove the records and tonearm).

Nothing is too low when you use a nice piano bench to sit on when you're working with it. Using kneepads lacks elegance...

Originally Posted by naturephoto1

Ultimately, there will be a total probably of 6 rack systems/amp stand systems that will have to moved around at the far end of the room because there will be a total of 5 amps, 3 power units..... You get the idea. So, this will not be a "pretty" set-up like some of the favorite Home Theaters on the forum, but will sound great and will be more of and audiophile Home Theater.

Rich

I think "ultimately" is going to evolve into "day one", because you'll want short data runs everywhere - including to your projector. You'll also get optimum placement both for the plasma, and the base height of your projection screen - throw in easier placement and orientation options for your center channel as a bonus.

You need to nail this down so you can get some clean cabling done up front. Even if it's aesthetically rough at first, clean cabling means good sound. I'm voting the racks go in back.