Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Finally! Home theater!

I did a lot of research and testing before I bought my Samsung 42" DLP. I love it. If your room is overly bright and you can't close the blinds I would suggest the LCD. I never understand why people mount a LCD or Plasma on the wall then have a console underneath to house all their DVD and stereo stuff. The only way I'd mount a TV to a wall is if I had all of the DVD and stereo equipment hidden somewhere. Just my 2 cents.

HDMI has the video and audio and Optical is only for the audio. If you have HDMI to HDMI then you don't need or really want to use the Optical or Coaxial.

Tom

Dang! We have A LOT of techo-geeks here...

Id suggest spending the money on gas and take a bike trip.

After the last year or so of research, I plan to go with an LCD - probably Sony's top of the line. Obviously, TV is real important to me and I don't mind spending the bucks. I hate glare from lamps, windows, etc. and the LCD outdoes all the others on this aspect. It's also more efficient, less heat, and the new models are extremely close to Plasma in contrast/blacks now.

My only suggestion is that if you are buying a 1080i TV, be sure to buy an upconverting DVD player even if you decide to wait on a BlueRay or HD-DVD player. AND, make sure the TV has 2 or more HDMI connectors as this is the direction everything is going (DVRs, TV sound systems, cable boxes, HD players, etc.)

If it's feasible to get the room almost completely dark, go projection - there's no other option. I finished my basement last year and used the following equipment. Everyone who's ever come over is completely amazed at the size and quality of the picture:

- Panasonic AE-900U 720p LCD projector (~$1,500 at the time, but you can get good 1080p projectors under $3K now) - w/ a 15' throw I've got ~130" of screen - you really can't imagine that big of a screen until you're sitting 10 feet from it watching the Cowboys stomp the Redskins in HD.
- Hsu Research "Ventriloquist" surround speaker system (center channel + 8 satellites)
- Hsu Research VTF-2 sub.
- Yamaha receiver that has two front "effects" channels (that's where the 8 satellites come from - 7.1 + the 2 effects speakers)
- Oppo (model=?) DVD player w/ DVI output which is basically HDMI less the audio.
- Verizon FIOS HD
- Screen = drywall painted w/ a couple coats of Behr "Silverscreen" color

I used to be an A/V purist (I still have Adcom seperates and old Klipsch horns running in the study), but have since leaned toward a "bang-for-the-buck" attitude because you can spend a heck of a lot of money on very marginal gains. All tolled I think I spent about $3,800 on my current setup and that includes 10 guage wiring to all speakers, ~40' worth of HDMI, optical cables, banana plugs, etc.

Here are some general recommendations and resources:

avsforum - the BA.com of A/V - you can spend more time at this site than you do here.

Hsu Research (speaker systems) - very highly-acclaimed yet economical subwoofers (when "Audio Critic" says "On a per-dollar basis, direct from the factory, the VTF-2 is the best subwoofer known to me." trust me it's worth the money), plus great satellites.

Blue Jeans Cable - NEVER, and I mean NEVER, pay retail for interconnects. Compare their prices for HDMI to bigbox or speciality AV shops, and trust me when I say that wire is wire and the rest of the hype is just that.

OK I need to get back to work now

Phil,

If you are going to be getting a lot of new cables then you need to checkout MonoPrice.com. You could save hundreds of dollars just by getting the cables from them. They have HDMI to HDMI cables for less than $10.00.

Tom

I got me one of them there fancy TVs that can pick up a digital signal on my antenna.

Personally I think the multi disc players are a waste of dollars.

The entire buying a new DVD player sceanario is a muddied ocean of uncertainty at this point.

There are many good inexpensive single disc players around.

I use a Toshiba HD player at this point. In addition to being able to handle HD DVD it is the best at playing standard def DVD.

I will not under any circumstances be buying any more players until the format war is decided on the field of battle between the backers of blu-ray and those of HD DVD.

I tend to see the edge going towards blu-ray IMHO at this time.

Blockbuster even has a selection of blu-ray discs available for rental.

They ARE a waste if you're only going to be using them to watch DVDs. BUT, if you're on a budget, might as well spend the extra $30 and get a 5-DVD changer so you won't need to get a CD changer.

This was Phil EARLIER

This is Phil NOW

CD's have lyrics and PICTURES , iPod has .......a gig ?

I would also look at the Sony Bravia LCD XBR. It is pricey but awesome. I also prefer LCD in general to plasma.

---

Couldn't agree more on the XBR gear. I've always had tremedous success with it. The last XBR I bought I got 20 years out of and now my son is still using it. Now the XBR 4's and 5's are out. Nice gear.

Yes, but 1500 channels with nothing on!

no way man. maybe 30? I'm not big on TV. I'd rather download ummm....videos

All this audiophile afficionado perfectionism is useless IF you blow out you tympannic audio recepter units . Wear EAR PLUGS when you ride or work on aircraft , run equipment , shoot at folks or jam out with TED or JIMI . The PRIVILEDGE to HEAR is as priceless as SIGHT . I wear earplugs all the time working , riding , shooting at folks , ect . and I can even HEAR the JAFFA cakes downstairs baking .

Helmholtz could not have RESONATED if he had diminished hearing .

Well, the furniture issue is almost solved. One more friggin store tomorrow evening and decisions will be made, dang it! (can you tell how much I love this part?)

The electronics ARE decided, just not purchased. We have to finish stripping the room, make repairs, paint, get the carpet laid, and then I get to do some magic!!

I will take pics of the effort and be reporting back within two weeks.

Please refrain from sending pics of you "laying carpet"

I gotta see that pic.

I have purchased many things on line, from Newegg, Tigerdirect, Buy.com, etc. The one thing I learned is not to buy monitors or tvs online. It's VERY expensive to send back a defective 50" tv. I would rather just spend a little extra at Best Buy. Watch out for those 90 day warranties, too.

It’s almost there folks!!! Short of some blinds, a bit of tweaking on the speakers, and a few pictures/paintings hung, this room is DONE!! Today marks three weeks to the day that we took this project on. Thought I would share some photos.

Here’s is what we started with. Crappy furniture, antiquated entertainment center, ugly paint and really fugly carpet. Been living with this for a LONG time



Looking the other way, same crappy stuff!



Scraping a popcorn ceiling! Not as bad as I thought it would be but what a mess! We tried the bag on the bottom of the scraper. It became very heavy within a couple of passes. Note the plastic covering the opening.



Ceiling painted, walls painted, crown molding ready



First piece up! Note speaker wire run behind crown molding.



All molding up, new carpet installed, speaker wires all run to mid back wall



Now that’s a nice fit!



WTF??? Measuring 43 times still didn’t help! Thank God for caulk!



Ready for baseboards. That’s the new TV stand. Industrial, eh?



Here’s that same corner from above. Caulk rules!!!



Here’s the 7.1 components. Where’s the friggin TV???



Here’s the caulk method. Bucket of water and a wet rag makes all screw-ups, and wall and board warps go away. My FIL taught me this method. My cousin came over after I was done and asked where I got the one piece baseboard!



Awwww, ain’t she cute? And yes, she pulls that rug over herself.



YEAH!! TV arrived. This shot is for Dwight! How about that round ‘chair’? Janet loves it!



That’s part of my rocks, minerals, and crystal collection and the left rear speaker.



View from left of the master couch (loveseat).



The master’s seat! Perfect viewing/listening angle! Like the window ‘treatment’?

Nice job, Phil!!!! When is the first movie night... I will mark my calendar... ride safe...Gordon

NOPE! I'm NOT gonna say a word here, EXCEPT to say that the guy pictured on the right of your very nice lookin' spankin' new TV set is still pretty funny in my book! The guy on the left(ironically)...well........



ANYWAY...nice goin' Phil! It looks great!

I didn't hit him THAT hard! It was only an iron pipe for cripes sake!

What a baby.....

but I'm fragile

Yeah! And Wojo...I understand they're ONLY 300 bucks(CANADIAN even) a NIGHT!

(Ooooh...you ARE lonely up there, aren't cha?!)