Ultimate Home Theatre Setup

[XtraSweat]

Hi,

We would like to setup a cinema room in our house but aren't experienced in the home theatre area. It's an average sized bedroom that's being emptied, walls painted black, dark floor and only has one window in the ceiling with a blind over it so the room will be very dark. The screen will go on one large wall.

What are people's thoughts on projectors? We would like a very large screen since we have the room.
Sound system?
Extras?

There's no budget but don't want to spend more than necessary to get the best experience.

Thanks in advance,
Louis.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

I have a home cinema in our loft upstairs and it is fantastic. Projectors are great but they are a pain to setup. Since you dont have a budget, I suggest you get someone to set it all up. I live in the US and I think it cost me around $500 to have the screen, projector, and speakers all setup and the have all the wires running through the walls.

I suggest you get a fixed frame screen. They are permanently on the wall, but look really nice. Your choice of projector should depend on the size of the room and lighting. Projectors have different throw distances. So if it is a smaller room, you need a projector with a short throw distance. For a larger room, the throw distance is not as important. The difference in price for most projectors are lumens. If you have a bright room, you need a projector with a lot of lumens or you wont be able to see it very well. But if it is a very dim room, then you dont need as much lumens.

I used to have an optima projector and never had issue. I moved up to a Epson a few years ago and I have not had any trouble. I used a company called Visual Apex who will have projector packages that will come with the projector, mounts, and screens. I would talk to a professional first, let them size your room and see what size screen and which projector will work best.

Lastly, having a 300" projection sounds great, but you also have to think about how close you are sitting to the screen. You dont want the image to be so big that you have to turn your head to see the edges of the image. So if it is a small bedroom, a 70" TV may not be a bad choice.

 

[americanaudiophile]

If you want a real cinema experience a projector is the way to go and your room sounds perfect. You don't need a big room unless you have to accommodate a lot of seating.
You say there is no budget but just the AV gear for a home theater room could be $3000 to $250,000. It will save you some time if you have at least some idea of where you are comfortable.
Screen size is determined by how far from it you will sit. Even in bedroom that could be 12 feet which would easily work with a 100-120 inch screen. Speakers can be free standing, on wall or in wall/ceiling. If you want to do an Atmos system that requires a different arrangement of speakers as well as at least two height speakers than should be in the ceiling.
If there is an AV custom installer in your area give them a call. They can set you up with a turn key system with unified remote to make using the system easy. You may not get the absolute best deal on all the gear but they will be responsible for the compatibility, wiring, installation, set up, calibration, and programming.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500 setting up my home theater some years ago. I have a 135" 1080p screen and 5.1 surround in my one-bedroom apartment. By the way, it's AWESOME! However, that was some years ago and you could probably get a similar set up for a little over $1000 today. I have:

An HTPC with an old Intel Core2Quad and a Blu-Ray player installed.
An Onkyo HT-S3200 5.1 surround sound.
An Optoma HD20 1080p Projector
An EliteScreens manual pull down screen

I have about a 22 foot throw (sitting about 16' away) which gives me around a 135" diagonal screen. I'd recommend looking at Projector Central and taking a look around for projectors in your price range/room dimensions.

-Wolf sends