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Home Theatre Advice Please

B

Brent J. Craig

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Hi guys,

My basement reno is almost finished and I am ready to start buying toys (Oops, I mean important tools for my work!).

I have designed one room to be a home theatre, complete with a reinforced wall to hang a big TV and in-wall wiring for 7.1 sound, cable, ethernet, satellite, etc. The TV wall has inset shelving for video gear and a room behind it for easy hookups and a complete wire-free appearance from the viewing side.

Now here is where Reduser comes in. I have come to value everyone's advice and opinions. What should I get and why? I can spend around $5000-6000.

I am almost completely sold on the Panasonic Plasmas, specifically a TH-50PZ850 or TH-50PZ800. 1 Million to 1 dynamic contrast (30,000 to 1 normal contrast) over 900 lines of in-motion resolution, and 480Hz updates on each pixel. Do you think THX certification is important or not? Anyone know if "Studio Reference Mode Pro" is comparable? The Pioneer Kuro's look slightly better but are out of my price range.

I am looking into mid-range 7.1 or 7.2 HDMI receivers. I like the Marantz's, but I need 4 HDMI inputs. Onkyo's have lots of bang for the buck but many reports of repair nightmares online. Some of the Pioneers seem nice. Any advice?

How about speakers? Kromer Radio in Toronto has some good deals on Mordaunt-Short and Paradigm. THX recommends bi-polar speakers for the sides - is that a good idea for a smallish room?

I'm considering a PS3 for BluRay, but maybe a Panasonic BluRay player would be better so the TV remote can talk to it.

Anyone using the Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD DVR with their cable company? Will I like it? Do the Esata ports work for extended storage?

Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks!

BJC
 
noise

noise

this is absolutely not my area of expertise.
however though - my flatmate bought a 50" plus plasma recently. what you probably won't find in the manufacturars manual and/or website, is the noise levels of the power suply unit
...and let me say this - ours is realy noisy.

tanner
 
We bought a Panasonic plasma last Christmas and love it. Looks great.

Also, I don't know about you, but I'd get the PS3 since it can play games, be networked to your computers and ummm... well it's cooler. And I'm sure you can buy some type of remote control adapter thingie for it.
________
Marijuana Test
 
Peter McCully said:
Front projection is so good now and it's far more cinematic. Why not watch a 120 inch image in 1080p?
Click to expand...

I would have to agree! However, the tradeoff is your going to spend around $2,500-$5,000 on a good 1080p projector, projection screen. But, if you have the budget and the space do it its the best option. I was going to do this for my office and have 80 inches of projection from my computer to the wall in front of my desk for a FCP viewing monitor but then I realized it would be like sitting front row in a normal theatre, my office is too small.

Otherwise, the plasmas are good but will be really expensive over 52'. I vote for PS3 since its an all in one and they do sell a remote for it. I hear they make some decent wireless sound systems these days but I'm not sure which direction to point you for consumer level stuff. I guess the local fry's, bestbuy, etc.
Don't forget the RED carpet and the popcorn machine!
 
What is your goal? Are yo udoing color correction in here, or watching movies/sports/TV, etc...

I second projection... your budget would allow for a spectacualr projector/screen combo. Nothing like movies on a big(ger) screen if you rroom allows for it.

I have a 133" projector setup in my basement, and compared to 50-60" flat screens, the difference is huge.

IMG_2123.jpg
 
I went with both the projector and the plasma. Direct view on a smaller (50") screen for less than perfect sources, and a nice big 100" screen for movies, that pulls down in front of the plasma. I'm actually enjoying the Panasonic plasma a lot - nice image, good blacks, and working great with an Apple TV (running XBMC).

Graeme
 
I am with Graeme,

You will want both.

I am just finishing up new studio build. (Taping and Texturing now)

Spent a lot of sleepless nights on perfect wiring. finally went with a lot of CAT6 from A/V rack and will use baluns for transferring different signals. I alos put in a large conduit between the tv wall and A/V area to pull additional/new technology circuits as they become available.

I am going to use my Fujitsu 42 plasma for now and am installing a projector and screen. I also am installing a pull down green chroma screen for keying work.

Bose makes really nice speakers for the room. They have some really nice flush mounts that will install into 2x4 walls between the studs. Good for retro fitting into existing walls.

I also went with PS3 and they do have a remote you can get. The new Blu-Ray 2.0 standard requires Internet connection and hard drive for full use of all new features so you do not want to buy any set top that is not capable of the new BDLive 2.0 standards. The PS3 is ready for BDLive.

Good luck on your choices.

I will post pics when I get done.



Graeme Nattress said:
I went with both the projector and the plasma. Direct view on a smaller (50") screen for less than perfect sources, and a nice big 100" screen for movies, that pulls down in front of the plasma. I'm actually enjoying the Panasonic plasma a lot - nice image, good blacks, and working great with an Apple TV (running XBMC).

Graeme
Click to expand...
 
Whatever solution you do choose to go with, I think a question that is just as important as the technicalities is this....

What will be the first movie you watch on this awesome setup, and if I agree to bring the popcorn, can I come and watch it with you???
 
Hah, come on RED users! Let's see everyone's "man cave" :)

Crewpix, I'd say lean towards a PS3 for blu-ray, the network connectivity will continually update to the latest blu-ray firmwires, unlike *most* blu-ray players which will always be at whatever spec they are released at. So when 100GB blu-ray disc's come out, bam, no problem for PS3 owners.
 
top 3 1080p projectors list ???

top 3 1080p projectors list ???

So what are the top 3 choices for a good 1080p projector (taking input from a PS3) ?

Cheers
 
firmware update

firmware update

Crewpix,

That is not necessarily true. My Sony BluRay BD-301 updated firmware by downloading an iso image of a CDRom from website and placing it into the machine. Machine recognized the disk as firmware update disk and updated to latest version.

CrossProcessed said:
Hah, come on RED users! Let's see everyone's "man cave" :)

Crewpix, I'd say lean towards a PS3 for blu-ray, the network connectivity will continually update to the latest blu-ray firmwires, unlike *most* blu-ray players which will always be at whatever spec they are released at. So when 100GB blu-ray disc's come out, bam, no problem for PS3 owners.
Click to expand...
 
projector

projector

PS3 has HDMI out so that might be a good way to go to projector.

Dell has some good deals and you can PM me for my Dell rep's email. He makes great deals! At least as good as you can get from the framework he has to operate in. I have an HD Dell projector in my classroom at the college and it is very bright and works flawlessly. I will be getting one for my "Man-Room" when it is done. (I only have SD projector right now) :(


h2opixels said:
So what are the top 3 choices for a good 1080p projector (taking input from a PS3) ?

Cheers
Click to expand...
 
for a budget setup which i just got after my fujitsu super plasma died...

I got a denon avr 380-8A surround receiver. It has 4 hdmi ports so everything goes through the receiver. DVD, blueray,xbox, sattelite. only one hdmi to the projector.
Also it has a image processor specific for deinterlacing and scaling that supposedly makes the image even better (took the guys word for it:)) - It sounds fantastic! - remember bad sound kills great movies.

I bought an infocus x10 - projector. its cheap (around 2k usd.) it looks really good - or really good for the money.

Ofcourse a really good plasma will look better but seriously having a 100" screen beats any 50" screen, for the sheer experience of having your own mini cinema. best toy i ever bought - And I had a fantastic 8000dollars fujitsu plasma - but size does matter!
 
While we're at it, what are the opinions of the best 1080p/2K projector out there right now.

I just spent a bunch of time demoing the new PLANAR 8150 projector (MSRP about $16K) and it's getting rave reviews. However, I have to say that I was not impressed. The brightness and contrast and color were excellent. However, the internal image processor needs some serious work or something. I was getting some occasional sheering and image flicker that was produced within the projector. I questioned them about it and they insisted it was my setup and/ or a faulty demo unit. They proceeded to try and show me that it works fine with another of the same unit they just installed in their showroom and about 2 minutes into the guys playing a BD for me, some sheering happened and the sales rep had to eat his words. IMO, the JVC 3xDLP is a better unit for a lot less money even though it doesn't quite have the color that the PLANAR does.

For Blu-Ray player, I actually recommend the Sony BDP-S350. It's a lot cheaper than the PS3 and has superior audio abilities and better image processing than the PS3's BD software. It's $265 w/ free shipping from Amazon.com right now. Fully Profile 2.x compliant and upgradable via ethernet and with full BD Live support.

CrossProcessed, don't get too excited about 100GB Blu-Ray discs. They *WILL NOT* play in the PS3. Quad-layer BDs or 4 layers on a single side for 100GB capacity actually requires a more powerful laser diode and additional focusing abilities not available in any current players. A firmware / software upgrade will not fix this. Sony is not planning to introduce quad-layer to the home video market anytime soon anyway... They're saying possibly in 2010 once players are commonly below the $100 price point and BD media is beginning to out-sell DVD.

Sony will also start shipping the BDP-S550 next month and it is the same as the 350, but with additional audio options such as discreet analog multichannel output (up to 7.1) and an RS-232 port.
 
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