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Perfect home threater setup

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    Perfect home threater setup

    Since I am a computer/network geek, I know nothing about hi-fi and home video, audio gears.

    What would be the perfect setup? Describe _your_ dream home theater.

    I've love to learn!

    #2
    Re: Perfect home threater setup

    Don't skimp on the audio. You should budget as much $, if not more, for the sound system. Too many people put in a great screen and don't match it with an appropriate sound system. At a minimum, put in a 5.1 system (ideal for our Vudu's), and make sure you can "feel" the subwoofer.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Perfect home threater setup

      I agree with Ed that the audio is a very important aspect of the home theater. But don't forget the layout of the furniture for a comfortable movie experience.

      I would suggest that you pick up a copy of home theater magazine and drool over some of the most expensive home theaters you will never step into. After your heart rate drops then start looking at the aspects of the home theater you really want based on the room you are going to convert into that theater.

      I don't know about you but my wife would never allow one room to be dedicated so that kind of limits how far you can take the concept. We settled on a 37" LCD panel for the TV that is along one wall. The sound system is a 700 watt Pioneer Elite AV receiver along with a 200 watt sub-woofer. I am not going to bring up the speakers since this usually starts "Speaker Wars" on the other AV forums. But I can tell you I am setup with 5.1 vs. 7.1 cause my receiver is about 10 years old now and doesn't support that standard.

      On the furniture we went with overstuffed couch and two overstuffed chairs. If we want we can move the chairs to the center of the room just like a movie theater but most of the time they sit just to the side of the couch. We can accommodate about 7 in the room the way we currently have it configured and two of the side seats are a bit out of the line of site of the TV but hey its for the kids....

      Good luck coming up with "Your" perfect home theater. If you have any other questions just post them here...

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Perfect home threater setup

        Boy, how much money do you have to spend? Perfect at $1000? Perfect at $50,000?

        Don't skimp on speakers. They are generally the item people spend the least on but are one of the most important aspects. For really high end, I prefer B&W speakers. Good mid range speakers can be had by Bose (what I have). I don't like the tiny Bose speakers - I have their bookshelf ones. Personally, I feel that bigger is better. Sound is made by moving air. The bigger the speakers, the more air you can move - particularly bass frequencies. The tiny speakers have powered sub-woofers and good high-frequency speakers, but they lack a lot in midrange. This gives you a very bright sound that apparently appeals to people, but you miss a lot of audio content this way.

        I agree that you should look in a stereo magazine and also talk to the sales guys at high end AV stores...

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Perfect home threater setup

          Stay away from the guys at Best Buy's Magnolia Home Theator and Circuit City when looking at equpment. I agree with Jon that you need to go to the real experts when shopping around...

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Perfect home threater setup

            Originally posted by RonV View Post
            Stay away from the guys at Best Buy's Magnolia Home Theator and Circuit City when looking at equpment. I agree with Jon that you need to go to the real experts when shopping around...

            That's why I am asking you guys!

            I'll do my home work. I usually spend a lot of time researching and agonizing over my next purchase for a long time before plunking down my money.

            Thanks.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Perfect home threater setup

              Just to recap what I've learned so far.

              1. Quality equipment - make sure to get quality equipment. Stay away from mass consumer electronics stores when looking for good advice.


              2. Audio is important - do not forget good sound system.
              • Good speakers is a part of a good sound system.

              3. Room layout, the furniture, the audio (acoustic?) all have an affect on the quality of the experience.

              Did I miss anything or got something not quite right?

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Perfect home threater setup

                A lot really depends on the space you have available. At the center of your system is the receiver or preamp. The most recent lineups have HDMI switching, auto-EQ and the ability to handle all of the current and near future video and audio formats. There is some benefit to using separates (pre-amp and amp) in that heat production is spaced out more and noise may be slightly reduced. I don't think its too big a deal, but if you go with separate amplifiers, pro equipment provides the best price to quality ratio.

                Speakers are a personal thing. Its better if you can test drive them at home, but at the very least listen to your favorite music or movies on them. Good subwoofers are less subjective. A sub from a dedicated subwoofer company like Hsu, SVS or Velodyne won't let you down and will allow you to cut back a little on the size of speakers. By a little, I mean you don't need a 12-inch woofer, not that you can go with tiny cubes. Its critical to focus on how the midrange and mid-bass sounds since this is where a lot of speakers don't deliver.

                Displays are dependent on tons of factors including budget, space and source material. www.avsforum.com is a good source for research on the different brands and formats.

                Finally, it shouldn't need to be said but, don't buy expensive cables. From an engineering perspective shifting half an inch in your seat will have a greater effect.

                Of what's on the market now the following is what I would consider to be a pretty decent home theater setup.
                Preamp Integra 9.8 (has all the latest features, pro equipment quality)
                Amps any decent pro brand
                TV I like Samsung's latest DLP line with LED backlighting
                Speakers Personally, I like the KEF line of speakers YMMV.
                Subwoofer Velodynes DD series is very good and has room equalization built in.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Perfect home threater setup

                  Tin,

                  Very good summary. Again everyone will have suggestions but its you that has to live with it. Make sure where you purchase the equipment has a return policy since what you will see at the store will not match what you have at home.


                  Originally posted by TinL View Post
                  Just to recap what I've learned so far.

                  1. Quality equipment - make sure to get quality equipment. Stay away from mass consumer electronics stores when looking for good advice.


                  2. Audio is important - do not forget good sound system.
                  • Good speakers is a part of a good sound system.
                  3. Room layout, the furniture, the audio (acoustic?) all have an affect on the quality of the experience.

                  Did I miss anything or got something not quite right?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Perfect home threater setup

                    Originally posted by mhausig View Post
                    A sub from a dedicated subwoofer company like Hsu, SVS or Velodyne won't let you down and will allow you to cut back a little on the size of speakers. By a little, I mean you don't need a 12-inch woofer, not that you can go with tiny cubes. Its critical to focus on how the midrange and mid-bass sounds since this is where a lot of speakers don't deliver.
                    Agreed 100%. Very good point.


                    Finally, it shouldn't need to be said but, don't buy expensive cables. From an engineering perspective shifting half an inch in your seat will have a greater effect.
                    Again, great point. BestBuy and Circuit City make all their profit on HDMI and component video cables. I prefer Monoprice.com for their HDMI cables. At $5.00 they are a good price. RonV has stated he doesn't like them as they aren't certified to HDMI bit rates. That's a good point. If you want a certified cable go with ones from XtremeMac: http://www.xtrememac.com/audio/av_cables/index.php

                    These cables are outstanding in quality and only about $20 - you'd pay $100 for the same cable with the name "Monster" on it at BestBuy.

                    Personally, I like the KEF line of speakers YMMV.
                    Subwoofer Velodynes DD series is very good and has room equalization built in.
                    The Kef's are nice. I have a set of DCM's that I really liked as well. They are in storage cause we don't have room for them right now and the wife wanted bookshelf speakers which is why I got the 301 series from Bose http://www.bose.com/controller?event...ookshelf_index along with the VCS-10 center speaker: http://www.bose.com/controller?event...0_center_index. The work very well. Oh yeah, and I have a DCM TB2 powered subwoofer: http://www.dcmspeakers.com/products/psubs/tb2.htm

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Perfect home threater setup

                      You had to get the word Mac in there somewhere eh Jon

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Perfect home threater setup

                        Originally posted by RonV View Post
                        You had to get the word Mac in there somewhere eh Jon
                        He does tend to respond to Steve's offerings like a well trained monkey, butt we won't hold that against him. After all, he's spending his money and not yours or mine.

                        Kaching.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Perfect home threater setup

                          Originally posted by Nded View Post
                          He does tend to respond to Steve's offerings like a well trained monkey, butt we won't hold that against him. After all, he's spending his money and not yours or mine.

                          Kaching.
                          I may be a well trained Apple monkey butt the XtremeMac products are not produced by Apple. They are an independent company that has just supported the iPod and now AppleTV market, but the cables are the nicest out there for the money.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Perfect home threater setup

                            Let's say I don't want to spend a lot of money up front to build that perfect audio system.

                            So, how many and what type of speakers should I get?

                            One "large" bass, two left+right speakers, two rear and a center?

                            That's 6 speakers.

                            Can I start with less speakers and add later? What are the must have speakers (base, center, etc. - not talking about brand).

                            Thanks.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Perfect home threater setup

                              Can you be more specific about what "a lot of money" is in your philosophy? If you can say how much your willing to spend, we can probably give you some good advise on how to get the best bang for your bucks. I've worked with all types of budgets - once you set the budget, the other pieces will fall together fairly easily.

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