Home Theater Overhaul

[Propellarhead9]

I'm in the planning phases of my overhaul and was curious if anyone had input on the order of which I should buy stuff and if anyone has input on things to add to the stuff.

Mainly I'm looking for:
At least a 65" TV or if I can find an affordable 1080p projector I am looking into getting at least a 120" motorized pulldown screen. I have a 12 foot wall to work with.

In audio I want a 7.1 system and I want the receiver to have 2 HDMI outputs So i could have one running to a TV and one running to a projector if I go that route so I can use the TV for normal TV viewing and only use the Projector for movies and special occassions.

If any wants to see pics of what I'm working with I can provide if it would make it easier for ideas.

The space I'm using is in a semi finished basement. I am considering putting in an extra wall for acoustic reasons so I'm not using the entire thing. But yeah any input would be appreciated.

I'm not really on a budget but I don't want to go too crazy with it right now. It's going to be an ongoing project buying bit by bit.

[CollinViegas]

A udget would really help, any idea of what you are willing to spend will let people help you much easier.

I could recommend a system that fits your criteria for 20K or 100K, both of those might be too high to begin with.

[Propellarhead9]

Realisticly i'm probably looking at around 10K for the electronic portion of it. That would probably be a decent budget, but as always the cheaper the better.

[Beta Man]

If you want at least a 65" T.V., getting anything other than a 1080p projector would probably be a bad idea for a dedicated space..... you'll just regret not buying it the first time around.

I'd audition a lot of speakers, and if doing it bit-by-bit is what you're willing to do, you should be able to start with a very nice front sound-stage.

Monitor Audio
B&W
Totem
Vienna's
Paradigm
etc etc etc.

I'd probably get a cheaper AVR with outputs to connect a multi-channel AMP to also. Just get a lower powered Denon, Marantz, Rotel, etc.... and run it with an AMP.

[Propellarhead9]

Any suggestions on a screen to use. I want to get a motorized screen that can be lowered in front of my normal TV. By looking online I couldn't really tell which if any had things to keep the screen tense.

[CollinViegas]

Check out DaLite and Draper, they make good screens at an affordable price. You could also check out Carada but I am not sure if they have a motorized option since I havent dealt with them yet.

[Propellarhead9]

DaLite stuff looked nice when I had looked at them in the past when I had considered making a permanent screen. They seemed to have a wide selection of gains. Which brings me to another question of what gain level would be good for about a 130" screen or so since that's about the size I can realisticly fit and still have room for speakers on the side and what not.

[CollinViegas]

As for gain that is something you should decide after viewing. I personally would never go above a gain of 1.3 which will give everyone pretty much the same viewing cone.

Some people like high power screens but to me there are way to many trade offs for the brightness boost.

If you stay at about 120" with a gain of 1.1 - 1.3 your picture will be plenty bright with todays $3-5K projectors. Anything larger and you will not be that happy with the picture after the bulb ages a bit.

[CollinViegas]

Also for your audio in your budget I would suggest a mid level receiver, you do not really need an external amp to run most speakers within the price range you are looking at.

Check out Pioneer Elite or Denon. Yamaha aswell if you are a 2 channel music buff.

speakers are too personal for me to comment on. Simply set your budget and find the best prices you can.

For 10K I would break it up as follows.

3.5K Projector
1.5K screen {motorized screens aren't cheap}
1K Receiver
4K Speakers

Dont be afraid to check out used auction sites like Audiogon and AVSForum, Building a good system on a 10K budget is tight but can be done well if you do research and aren't afraid to buy used.

I personally would buy the speakers and sub on the used market as they dont have many electronics to break and are easy to ship. 4k in a store doesnt go that far but this way you can get a great 5.1 system and add the other 2 speakers later as funds come.

Also the projector can be found on AVSForums market place, many people there are always upgrading every couple of months and there are many extremely good deals for projectors with as little as 100 hours on the bulb.

Hope this helps.

[Propellarhead9]

Yeah I have been noticing a lot of the audio companies sell their refurbs for a lot cheaper on like ebay and stuff too.

As for the projector, could you give me a few examples of some of the one's you'd considered. I have been looking at the inFocus X10, the Panasonic AE3000U and a couple others.

[CollinViegas]

The Panasonic is an excellent choice, You can also look at the lower sony model, JVC has some excellent projectors that you could pick up second hand within your price range.

Instead of ebay I would stick to audiogon and the AVSForums market place. I have had nothing but excellent experiences at both being both the buyer and seller. Ebay is a little more open to scams and what not.

Just make sure to do your research on the seller first and ask them for a home number and address that they can be reached at. Then reverse search the number online and see if the 2 match up. If they do then your usually good to go.

[Propellarhead9]

Most of the sellers I was looking at are the actual companies that make the products. Like Polk Audio has their own ebay store.