Home cinema set-up

[bxlbaz]

Hi all, I wonder if some of you folks can help. After saving up I am now able to set up mt cinema room. I've probably got @ 3.5 - 4k to spend at a push. And I'm looking for

A projector
An AV amp
A set of speakers 5.1 or 7.2
Bluray player

It's mainly for movies and watching F1, I'm not into games but the idea of getting a ps or Xbox might be fun

Ok folks please let me have any thoughts and advice

Br
Barrie

[garycat]

I think with that budget I would go for

Denon AVRX4000 - http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-13110-denon-avrx4000-ne...

Denon blu-ray
http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-11099-denon-dbt3313-net...

( I like Denon kit but I'm sure Onkyo, Yamaha, Sony etc all have decent stuff too )

Optoma HD30 - http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-13746-optoma-hd30-3d-re...

Monitor Audio speakers - old school massive stuff

http://www.richersounds.com/package/speakers/speak...


Having said that, I use a PS3 as my main blu-ray source and the picture/sound quality is pretty good.

[bxlbaz]

Thanks all, the room I have is about 6x5 meters and will only function as a cinema room so I don't need to compromise regarding speaker size etc

The videos on nas is definitely something I want and I wasn't sure as to the dvd bluray quality if the ps/xbox

Please keep the thoughts going they really help

BR

Barrie

[rex]

Screen?

[rex]

Screen?

[rex]

Screen?

Edit to add I did not mean to post 3 times

[ASK1974]

Hmmm....

Can't comment on cheaper projectors as the cheapest we employ is the JVC X35 at around £2.2k, a bit too much for your budget. Go get a demo but I'd focus on audio first, the cost of getting a good image from a projector has been tumbling recently and what cost £££££ a few years ago is ££££ today so no point blowing cash on this element. You obviously need a screen as well, as it's a dedicated room get yourself a fixed frame screen from someone like Screen International, cheap and perfectly good. Again no point wasting money on electrics if you can help it. Someone mentioned a remote control system and whilst I'd be the first to advocate this I'd probably suggest adding later once you can be clear on what you need - the system will work without it and as long as other members of the family are unlikely to be lost with manual operation it can wait. When you do my favourite solution is the Control4 HC250 processor and SR250 handset but this will set you back a grand.

Audio equipment? The sub will be key and for a room of that size you should be thinking £500-£1000 so something like the Sunfire HRS range. Denon AV receivers are very good, buy the one that meets the specifications of your speaker system. Speakers; I'd start with B&W and Monitor Audio - B&W CT700 might be a little too expensive but by golly it's fun!

Definitely need to go shopping and get some demonstrations. We can all offer advise but ultimately you'll have your own perception of what's good or not. I'd try to keep the video system under £1500 and spend as much as possible on speakers and amp. Playstation for Blu-Ray or just a cheap player - everything is going clouded so much more than £200 with your budget is too much.

Have fun and bounce any ideas of us here.

[anonymous-user]

The suggestions for AVR's, Blu spinners and speakers are all good ones (I'd agree about the Sony 790, the Dali's, though possibly spend a bit more and get a B&W 5.1 system). BenQ are also a good bet with PJ's, especially on the 2D front (is 3D of interest to you?).

Something worth asking; your room itself, what's the decor like, how much light control do you have and how many windows are there? This will affect the suitability of screens. Screens are a topic all by themself, but to get the best out of your kit, a screen that can compensate for any special room conditions, will help.

In a batcave, white screens are king; in a lounge that serves dual purposes or has windows, light walls, light ceilings etc, an ambient light screen such as a Draper ReAct 2.1 would work.

p.s. welcome to the eternal money pit of home cinema building...

[Bebee]

I'm looking to sell my projector if you're interested, its seen such little use, on the account that it was part of a dedicated home cinema but I spent more time in the living room with OH and the TV.

Details:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/Panasonic-PT-AE2000E...

[bxlbaz]

The screen and cabling are seperate, I've budgeted for them, but thanks for checking

[bxlbaz]

I've done some man maths and could raid the piggy bank, I'd rather pay more money once and be happier than pay less and spend oodles more tinkering

Budget now 5k ish

Have visited a local av place this morning and saw

Focal speakers 716 f, 706 r, cc700, sw800

Nad 758 amp

Jvc probeamer rs46

Didn't get to the bluray, but the advice was a dedicated player will outperform movies ripped to a macmini

The room is a bat cave, with no windows so it suits the task pretty well. I won't know about acoustics until I hear stuff in situ

Thanks for all the helpful comments

Barrie

[anonymous-user]

bxlbaz said:

I've done some man maths and could raid the piggy bank, I'd rather pay more money once and be happier than pay less and spend oodles more tinkering

Budget now 5k ish

Have visited a local av place this morning and saw

Focal speakers 716 f, 706 r, cc700, sw800

Nad 758 amp

Jvc probeamer rs46

Didn't get to the bluray, but the advice was a dedicated player will outperform movies ripped to a macmini

The room is a bat cave, with no windows so it suits the task pretty well. I won't know about acoustics until I hear stuff in situ

Thanks for all the helpful comments

Barrie

The Sony 790 mentioned earlier is the sure thing bet for a Blu spinner, and they're cheap as chips at the moment.

Something to note, JVC PJ's are hopeless for online gaming, or anything that needs low input lag. My HD33 I used was ok for CoD etc, but my X55 with its 80ms lag made it un-usable. If online gaming factors into this, it's something to bear in mind. Ironically, the cheaper PJ's are more suited to gaming as they often lack the frame interpolation / creation / e-shift etc.

I wouldn't worry too much about room acoustics, many AVR's now have built-in room correction via a calibration mic. Onkyo's are good for this, especially their XT32 system, but that's only built-in to the more weapons grade stuff.

Given that it's a batcave, you can get away with a white screen no problem. If you're using a drop down screen, try and go for a tab tensioned one, as the non tensioned (unless you spend mega bucks), will develop edge curl and ripples over time.

[tdm34]

One small point, but it's an important one! The Optoma PJ mentioned is a belter but it might have a flaw for anyone who wears spectacles
Being a DLP design in my experience about 35% of Specs wearers see the dreaded "rainbow effect" and about 10-15% of non specs wearers
suffer this issue as well.

My advise would be to get a demo along with anyone else who might be a regular watcher, as for the unlucky few it can render it unwatchable.

[bxlbaz]

Thanks, I do wear glasses as does my OH. Is the difference in projector types that marked, I didn't realise

[anonymous-user]

bxlbaz said:

Thanks, I do wear glasses as does my OH. Is the difference in projector types that marked, I didn't realise

RBE is only an issue with DLP PJ's, so BenQ / Optoma mostly. The pricey 3 chip DLP's don't suffer from that issue, but they're in a different price point.

The Epson PJ's listed above would be OK as IIRC, they're LCD based.

As noted above, getting a demo of a DLP PJ, both both you and the OH is a must to see if you're affected by rainbows at all.

[OldSkoolRS]

Another small point is that the room isn't a 'bat cave' if it's decorated with typically light coloured walls and white ceiling like many UK rooms. Just getting rid of ambient light is of course also important, but only half the problem. If the room is decorated in light colours then a standard white screen isn't the best choice due to the light reflecting back to the screen from the light walls/ceiling. This will weaken the blacks and wash out the image, so you then have two choices (well three if you include not having a great picture, just a big one):

1. Buy a screen designed to work well in such a room, like the Draper ReAct 2.1 or similar (maybe even just a grey screen would be better in such a room compared to a plain white one).

2. Redecorate the immediate area near the screen a darker colour (in particular the ceiling). The absolute ultimate 'bat cave' room would have black walls/ceiling and floors (I've seen one at Gecko near Newbury where I bought my speakers from), but even just improving the first meter or so near the screen makes a surprising (and easily measured) difference in contrast.

[bxlbaz]

thanks, it's not a bat cave but the walls are a dark blue, I didn't want it looking like it belonged to a Goth, especially as a small bar is going I want it to be a cosy place, film posters on the wall etc

But I appreciate the comments

[anonymous-user]

OldSkoolRS said:

1. Buy a screen designed to work well in such a room, like the Draper ReAct 2.1 or similar (maybe even just a grey screen would be better in such a room compared to a plain white one).

+1 on this screen, even if it means sacrificing both thumbs to fit it

Here's one I made earlier


Merry Christmas, Kelvin, by the way

[OldSkoolRS]

Dark blue will certainly help, some times people build a kind of stage near the screen which is in a dark material as well so it's not making the whole room dark. It also makes a big difference how close to the side walls and ceiling the screen is, so a bit of thought on that score can help maximise picture quality too. Not going too large for the projector also helps keep the image punchy which also gives an impression of better sharpness/contrast.

Happy Christmas to you too Jon: I'm hoping to go for a demo at Kalibrate early in the New Year to see a ReAct in person. I might go for a 3 metre wide 2.40:1 one rather than add too much dark material to my set up (bar a couple of black side curtains hidden when PJ not in use). Although it will be around 3k I think that in some ways it's cheaper than building a dedicated room which would likely end up with a smaller screen than I have now, so the best option for me bar a lottery win. Then I could justify a future upgrade to a Sony VW500ES as it wouldn't be worth it with my room as it currently stands.

Edited by OldSkoolRS on Thursday 26th December 16:21

[bxlbaz]

Thanks all,

It's difficult over here to find a place that can demo more than one set up at each visit so doing back to back testing is difficult. If I can get a couple of ideas of set-up it will minimize the time this is going to take.

We have had 1 demo, I thought the projector was ok but the quality tumbles with an HD cable tv feed, which was to be expected, the amp was pretty good, but weak with music videos, the speakers again seemed ok

I appreciate all your feedback

Barrie