Hi all,

I'm sure there are some audio/video-philes on here, and I respect everybody's opinion here, so I figured I'd ask.

I'm looking to set up a home theatre system in my basement. It's going to be a pretty large room (around 600 sq ft). I'm planning to get a projector, 5.1 surround speakers, and a decent receiver.

So far, I've been thinking about a InFocus X1 projector, a Yamaha RX-V750 receiver, and B&W VM1 speakers, with a sub.

Does anybody have any thoughts on this? Suggestions for other things I should look at? I'm not looking to spend too much, maybe $2500 - $3000.

Thanks,

Send a PM or message to Miles (Redshift). He used to install all that crap.

PM me for his e-mail if you want his e-mail.

Karl

err...

Qarl

I suggest you go to the forums (just like this one) for hometheater experts. I went through this about a year ago and Hometheatermagazine.com (or something like that) had tons of usefull info. As syked as I was about the prospect of buying all this equiptment, I was thoroughly sick of the whole subject once all was said and done. In other words, be prepared..everyone has an opinion and you can overdose on it. Oh, and another suggestion is to research one piece at a time. Make sure you find out the best piece and the best price and it's usually cheaper to buy over the net than you're local BestBuy or whatever. HTH.

Doug C

Forget the Infocus x1 projector cheap but outdated, I have been researching for one my self for quite awhile, the new infocus 4805 is way better but needs room darkening to get the most out of it, the new Panasonic ae 700u looks to be the best for the money right now it has native hdtv resolution and has eliminated the screen door effect. I am looking at the 4805 at Costco right now it is bundled with the screen for 1,300. go here to read the latest reviews.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/home-theat...-projectors.htm

Isn't surround sound up to 7.1 now?

Specially about getting sick of it all. This is one of the subjects that if you ask 10 people you will get 15 opinions. You might want to visit some of the high end video places that have little theaters set up so you can get a feel for what you like.

This sounds like a great project. Preparing for the Winter up there?

-Jeff

That Panasonic looks pretty nice, but a little more than I want to spend right now. All of the reviews of the X1 that I've read seem to be pretty good, and it's cheap. I've seen it for as low as $700USD. The 4805 also looks pretty good. A couple others that I've been thinking about are the BenQ 6100 or 6200, and the Optoma H30. The reason why I like the X1 is the price, and it has the Faroudja (sp?) chip for de-interlacing, which is supposed to work very well.

DougC, I know what you mean. I've been to a few forums, and everybody seems to have a different opinion. It can be very confusing. I'm just trying to get a few more opinions here, as I think this board is a wealth of info, on not just cars.

scruz, Surround is up to 7.1, and the Yamaha receiver that I'm looking at will do 7.1, but not many DVDs actaully have 7.1 yet, and it's more money to buy 2 more speakers, so for now, 5.1 will have to do.

Keep the opinions coming!

cheap projectors look like cheap projectors

All you have to do is wait a few months and the latest and greatest will be cheap also,
the x2 is only a few months old and now there 800 bucks, the 4000s are getting cheap now that the 4005 is out. If your not in a hurry wait and watch the prices drop, I would like to get one that can project a native hdtv resolution for cheap.

Mike, I understand where you're coming from. So here's a suggestion for an excellent cheap Subwoofer - Get yourself a Dayton, it's usually like $100.

Doug C

Hi Mike, I'm just finishing up a room now. What the guys have said is true about opinions, way too many. Front projection requires a very dark room and much$$$$$ to look good. Take a look at the DLP rear projection TV's. I just bought the Sony 60" DLP TV, compared to every thing else it has the best picture (cost $5000.00) Yes Surround is up to 7.1, but your budget is too small for the extra two speakers. Best advice I got was to spend $$$ on the TV and the speakers. These are what you see and hear. Just like get good tires first if your going to start A/Xing. The rest can be piece mealed in later, although this does result in a crop of remotes.......another topic altogether. Good luck, you will run over budget..........Gary

I have an older Boxlight CD-555M DLP Unit hooked up to a Kenwood Home Theater system (Dolby 5.1 and DTS support). The Boxlight unit works great and I have a 120" diagonal picture.

Note: If you have a Boxlight unit and an InFocus unit right next to each other, you will notice that they are mysteriously identical.....except the Boxlight unit is cheaper.

I found a rear projection CRT-type Sony TV sitting on the curb one day. I went up and asked the people in the house if they were getting rid of it and they were. Said that the picture became narrow and they thought it needed a new tube. Turns out it was a few bad solder joints. I bought the service manual for $35 off the net and fixed it myself. Would have been $400 to have someone come and fix it!

Anyway, the point is that while there are a lot of reasons to dislike rear projection CRT sets they are actaully pretty cool and currently pretty cheap since no one wants them. Unless you want to spend megabucks, a modest rear projection CRT set is one of the only options for 1080i HDTV. They also have excellent contrast and color. Like a 914 though they require some effort. For one thing you have to be careful about not leaving static images on the screen, they don't last forever (ten years or so) and they sometimes need a convergence calibration after they are moved. Oh and they are heavy too.

-Tony

do not buy any high $$$ boutique speakers. get a set of axiom audio. trust me on this one. I just bought their speakers and had done a lot of research. the axiom were getting incredible reviews so I tried some. unbelievable sound!! I can see why they are compared to (and often review better) than speakers 5-10x the price. you buy them directly from the company in canada. they have amazing customer service.

www.axiomaudio.com

Hey, how much are replacement bulbs for those projectors?

my home theater system is aiwa and sony.(same company) Cerwin Vega is my speaker of choice. i need to update my tv.imo a projector is not very clear.ive been looking around for a much bigger screen for my set up.for the size mitsubishi has a real nice picture,but every time im in a friends repair shop there is allways one sitting there getting fixed. but this is only my opinion i like what im watching in my living room.

I think the bulbs are about $75 each. if i'm wrong, i'm sure someone here will tell me.

Don't know about the X1, but I recommend looking at a projector that is 16:9 native aspect ratio. We have a Sanyo PLV-60HT, which we like very much.

I would also look at the Onkyo recievers... They give you a lot of bang for the buck and are regarded as a best budget buy by the Stereophile guide to home theatre (worth a look). We have a DS-797 which we are very happy with.

your wrong...

The bulbs for these projectors start at over $300. Most are even more.

Crazy but true.

Outlaw sales stuff on line check them out. Dont have a web site do Google search
John

I haven't listened to them myself, but I've seen nothing but positive reviews of Dr. Hsu's Ventriloquist 6.1 speaker system. There's actually a forum/BBS at http://hsuresearch.com/forum for opinions, test results, setup help, etc. They apparently were the cheapest setup to ever receive the Stand Out award at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show.


Home Theatre Sound review


By contrast, I've listened to some "high end" B&W systems and was less than impressed. I havent heard the system you mentioned, so maybe its better. I dunno . It seems like with B&W, you pay three times the price of a comparable speaker to get the B&W name. IMHO of course.

The bulbs are expensive.

Having said that - the age related failure mode for a bulb is that it gets dimmer. The stated lifespan for the bulb is the age at which it falls below the specified brightness.

The stated agespan is usually around 2000 hours. 2000 hours is about a month solid. I.e. if you watch TV 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you will get a month. If, however, you watch say 2 hours a day on average - you are looking at about 1000 days, which is about 2-3 years.

I would also audition NHT speakers - they use audiophile grade materials where it makes sense - but use cheaper materials for things like the terminal posts, etc. I have a set which I use for my rears, and they produce a really crisp, clear sound.

For projectors, I would check out http://www.projectorpeople.com and http://www.projectorcentral.com

Projector People - is a reseller of projectors and has pricing info.
Projector Central - is a repository of information about various projectors.

You should also (if you go with front projection) pay attention to the quality of the cabling you use between your components and your projector. I recommend using the higest quality stuff you can lay your hands on. I am actually using these baluns and two runs of Cat-5: http://www.hometech.com/video/muxlab.html

There are some peculiaritys to my house which make this a much easier solution that running monster cable, for instance.

My maching has an hour meter and I imagine most others do as well. We only use our system to watch a movie (or F1) once in a while, so I am not really worried about lamp usage.

If you use your theatre every day however, it could be an issue that might steer you toward an LCD or plasma panel display.

A sound engineer friend likes Yamaha (and Onkyo) recievers. He says they're the only units that sound equally well with 2 channel music and multichannel surround.

Good to stick with 5.1. 7.1 isn't needed unless you have a big, big room.

Wow, lots of opinions. This is what I was looking for. As far as projectors go, I'm pretty much sold on getting one. Light control isn't an issue, as the theatre will be in my basement, with no windows. Also, picture quality for projectors seem to be getting better and better. You can get a good size picture, with decent quality, for around $1000 - $1500. Big screen tvs seem to be quite a bit more.

The Yamaha receiver seems to be a really good value for the price. Lots of options, and a pretty low price.

Speakers I'm still unsure of. I really like the B&Ws when I listened to them, but I'm still looking. I like the look of the Axioms, and the prices are comparable to the B&Ws that I'm looking at. I'd like to hear them.

Thanks everybody,

I bought the 50" Panasonic LCD Tv about a year ago and absolutely love it, though there is now a 60" version of it. Everyone that comes over is always saying "oh, you have a plasm Tv"...I've stopped explained the difference. I also got a Pioneer DVD player w/ super Audio, no Faroudja chip but it is flawless and cheap at around $180...wish I could remember the model number. Onkyo has great receivers at reasonable prices. By the time I got around to buying speakers I was running out of money but someone suggested that I try JBL's small NSP-1 Northridge series speaker system, again cheap price and they far exceed anything else in their price range. The JBLs are a complete 5 piece set-up but doesn't include a bass unit, which is why I got the Dayton 10" subwoofer (from Partsexpress.com) best money I spent. I'm happy with these pieces and would recommend them to you.

Doug C

BTW, this is the Sub I'm telling you about and it's only $125. It's a keeper!


http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.c...r=300-632&DID=7


Doug C

Hsu makes great subs, I have the STF-1 with my axioms. I think you will be disappointed with the Ventriloquist though if you're looking for big sound.