School me on a home theater projector please

[Rimbo 27027]

On 5/17/2019 at 7:15 AM, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

Screen size and seating distance from the screen? Are you going to game on it?

Blacklab and I both have Sony VPL-HW??ES models and love them. Mine is pre 4K and I think his is too.

Processing speed is important if you want to game on it.

Read up a bit here-  https://www.avforums.com/forums/projectors-screens-video-processors.43/

Projector People is going to give you more more details than a big box store- https://www.projectorpeople.com/default.asp

Are you in a major city? HT installers are fading away due to 85" TVs with no light controlled room needed

you can't roll up a TV back into the ceiling when you're done, though

[Ignatius 4142]

3 hours ago, ChickenSandwich said:

budget? will determine everything else  (speakers most important besides tv)

Expensive: Klipsch THX in walls are great for home theater but run a grand a piece.  You only really need to spend real money on the front three speakers (L/C/R).  All of the Atmos and surround can be filled with cheap in wall speakers (monoprice 6.5in or 5.25 aprx $80 each).  All of the speakers do not need to be the same brand, but most prefer the L/C/Rs to be timbre matched

Cheap: Monoprice, polk, and some better brands lower lines like Revel etc

https://www.klipsch.com/custom-install/in-wall/thx-cinema-series

7.2.4 is the basic standard on most new AVRs regardless of brand.  Denon and Marantz are both nice.  Look for a 9 channel set up or a 7 channel with pre-out capability to upgrade to 9 or 11 channels with external amp.

you can also find the non-THX version of the Klipsch on Amazon for about half price each.

Don't forget the subwoofer or 2. 

You will get the most out of your budget and experience in order:

1. TV/Projector (if projector, screen just as important)

2. Speakers (tires on the Road)

3. Subwoofer (with no floor standing, will be a requirement and will make a huge home theater experience ie pressurize the room)

Thanks; great info. Given that I’m looking at around $3,200 for the projector and 1,700 for the receiver, I’d like to stay in the 2K range for speakers, though if there’s a noticeable bump up going somewhat higher I’d be OK. This excludes the subs as I already have two Hsu Research subs that I freaking love....

Edited October 29, 2020 by Ignatius

[ChickenSandwich 9959]

HSUs are awesome. Great call.

1700 is more than enough for a top of the line receiver. Black Friday will have deals and this years top of the line models usually run on sale in January after the new models are released, some times at half price. 
 

That is a good speaker budget so you should stick to in wall speakers that are enclosed in their own box (NOT open baffle). They will sound light years better and the sound won’t leak through the walls (L/C/R). These three should make up the majority of your speaker budget. Up to 80% of all material during movie playback comes from the center channel speaker. 

You can probably steal 700 from your AVR budget if need be to cover the main three speakers. Fill in the rest with the cheaper options. 
 

*plus installation, general rule on AVR, speakers should be double the price of receiver. The higher end receives usually just offer a better quality amplifier to run the speakers. This is actually not needed on efficient speakers and unless you get some floor standers or 4ohm is a waste of money. 1000 is you AVR sweet spot. It’s also the most likely piece of equipment to be changed due to new technologies, licensing and formats etc. 

Edited October 29, 2020 by ChickenSandwich

[ChickenSandwich 9959]

Last thing, if your chosen screen is acoustically transparent but three identical speakers for the L/C/R front stage and mount all at ear level straight across

If not acoustically transparent then as high up under the screen as possible 

[Spur08 384]

Does anyone know what the yellow wire is? I assume blue is internet from central home wiring cabinet and large grey is obviously hdmi.

And in other picture, coax is? Sub? General coax from central home wiring cabinet?

Well things got interesting. Anyone know what the black thing is? And why it would be tied to a cat5 cable that is unconnected?