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The Home Theater Thread

here is a quick shot of the screen size i am throwing from the projector.

this is using my Xbox One, starting up Rory McIlroy PGA tour video game.
the motorized screen is not installed currently. my wife and i are moving soon and i did not want to hang it just to take it all back down again. so i am sure the picture will be better with a screen behind it.
currently the projector is about 20 feet away, so i am throwing over a 110" screen size currently. i am pretty happy with it so far! :banana:
 
Vdub GLI said:
here is a quick shot of the screen size i am throwing from the projector.

this is using my Xbox One, starting up Rory McIlroy PGA tour video game.
the motorized screen is not installed currently. my wife and i are moving soon and i did not want to hang it just to take it all back down again. so i am sure the picture will be better with a screen behind it.
currently the projector is about 20 feet away, so i am throwing over a 110" screen size currently. i am pretty happy with it so far! :banana:
Click to expand...

I am so jealous. Great pic!


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thanks!
it is a lot of fun. actually first thing i did when i set everything up was i watched all of the Star Wars movies back to back to back! (episodes 4,5,6 obviously)

my wife didnt like that too much, but i enjoyed it hahaha
 
Vdub GLI said:
here is a quick shot of the screen size i am throwing from the projector.

this is using my Xbox One, starting up Rory McIlroy PGA tour video game.
the motorized screen is not installed currently. my wife and i are moving soon and i did not want to hang it just to take it all back down again. so i am sure the picture will be better with a screen behind it.
currently the projector is about 20 feet away, so i am throwing over a 110" screen size currently. i am pretty happy with it so far! :banana:
Click to expand...

Nice!!! Mine is an unfinished mess so I refer to it as "The Ghetto Theatre". But it works rather well.
 
Vdub GLI said:
here is a quick shot of the screen size i am throwing from the projector.

this is using my Xbox One, starting up Rory McIlroy PGA tour video game.
the motorized screen is not installed currently. my wife and i are moving soon and i did not want to hang it just to take it all back down again. so i am sure the picture will be better with a screen behind it.
currently the projector is about 20 feet away, so i am throwing over a 110" screen size currently. i am pretty happy with it so far! :banana:
Click to expand...

That's sweet Vdub! That's sort of what I have in mind with my basement, but I'm going to have to do some minor re-figuring of the layout before I can get to that.

Where in KS are you at, if you don't mind me asking?
 
thanks everyone.
with the house hunting my wife and i are doing i am keeping an eye out for a good basement so i can set everything up.
but i really need to figure out the seating and i desperately need a new surround sound setup. my current samsung setup is around 8 years old, it worked great when i was single and in my own apartment, lol not anymore though.

Agent Jay said:
That's sweet Vdub! That's sort of what I have in mind with my basement, but I'm going to have to do some minor re-figuring of the layout before I can get to that.

Where in KS are you at, if you don't mind me asking?
Click to expand...

i am located in Wichita. have been in Wichita for about 20 years now. originally from FL.
 
Cool thread. I just got mine setup in the basement. I wouldn't call it a dedicated theater as the basement doubles as a play/cushion fort building area for the little guys.

I have a fixed 135" inch screen on the wall. My biggest issue was throw distance so I ended up with the BenQ 1085ST, throwing about 8 ft or so. Seating is at about 13 feet. I LOVE it so far. Had a good Super Bowl party and fun movie nights with the family. Best use of space I have done in my house.
 
Sounds like a fun room. Throw up a pic.
 
two part question here.

1. what is everyone's speaker/surround sound setup?
i am currently running a Samsung HT-TZ512T surround sound. it was good when i was living in an apartment, has decent power (1200w) 5.1 with a 6 disc changer and wireless rear speakers. however i am looking for better audio clarity. also wouldnt mind having a receiver that has multiple input/outputs. currently i only have one HDMI and one optical audio port. so i have to pick and choose what gets to be in surround sound.

2. what is the best setup for seating?
i have been debating this a lot. havent been able to decide if i should go for individual recliners or one big massive over sized couch. i guess if you were coming over to watch a movie, what would you prefer to sit in if you had the choice?
 
Ours is pictured earlier in the thread.
 
Vdub GLI said:
two part question here.

1. what is everyone's speaker/surround sound setup?
i am currently running a Samsung HT-TZ512T surround sound. it was good when i was living in an apartment, has decent power (1200w) 5.1 with a 6 disc changer and wireless rear speakers. however i am looking for better audio clarity. also wouldnt mind having a receiver that has multiple input/outputs. currently i only have one HDMI and one optical audio port. so i have to pick and choose what gets to be in surround sound.

2. what is the best setup for seating?
i have been debating this a lot. havent been able to decide if i should go for individual recliners or one big massive over sized couch. i guess if you were coming over to watch a movie, what would you prefer to sit in if you had the choice?
Click to expand...

Presently have a 7.2 active speaker system but will most likely add 4 voice of god speakers and get a 7.2.4 Dolby Atmos pre/pro. Since the dedicated theatre room is technically still under construction, adding the additional speaks shouldn't be too much of problem.

With respect to seating I think it will depend on how many people you want to seat and somewhat upon how your room is going to be used. If it's a dedicated theatre room, individual recliners work well and if you have the height, risers would be a good option if a second row is required. A large stuff couch can still work in a dedicated room and it probably makes the room more friendly during things like Super Bowl parties and alike. How many people you want to seat is probably you key question here.

If it's a shared facility room like a family room I would lean towards the large couch or two.

I've used these inexpensive Ikea chairs below for about 4 years now and they have worked out very well. But once the room is completed they will be replaced by some comfortable recliners.

Hope that helps with your decision.

D7K_6619_zpsrdutllsh.jpg
 
some good points made, thank you.
my wife and i are in the process of moving homes, so honestly i have no idea what the room will look like.
i would love to have a dedicated room for movies and what not, hopefully we can find something like that here in KS. definitately going to be getting a home with a basement, so i have been thinking about converting a bedroom in the basement into a dedicated theater room. then the large area can be for gatherings, or family.

i will weigh the options, but thank you for the feed back. much appreciated.
 
It's very common for people to struggle when making a decision on their seating. Use of the room is the key question to always keep in mind.

Glad to have helped.
 
Here is my HT room. It was a small space but I think I made the best off it. The in-wall rack I did turned out pretty good. It backs the laundry room so it's totally open to fiddle with cables and also no heat issues.

The Gear:

EluneVision Reference Studio Screen 100"
Epson 8350 Projector
Darbee Darblet DVP-5000

Denon AVR 1713
Focal Chorus 726 Towers
Focal Chorus CC 700 Center Channel
Definitive Technologies SR-8040BP Surrounds
Jamo Sub 650

PS4
Panasonic DMP-BDT220
Logitech Harmony Ultimate Home Remote
Lutron Caseta Wifi Lighting
Palliser Hifi Seating

You can view the rest of the pics here: https://goo.gl/photos/cPQRVCxabB9yx8t67


 
Nice. Is that a Rick Grimes bobble head?


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Freddy said:
Here is my HT room. It was a small space but I think I made the best off it. The in-wall rack I did turned out pretty good. It backs the laundry room so it's totally open to fiddle with cables and also no heat issues.

The Gear:

EluneVision Reference Studio Screen 100"
Epson 8350 Projector
Darbee Darblet DVP-5000

Denon AVR 1713
Focal Chorus 726 Towers
Focal Chorus CC 700 Center Channel
Definitive Technologies SR-8040BP Surrounds
Jamo Sub 650

PS4
Panasonic DMP-BDT220
Logitech Harmony Ultimate Home Remote
Lutron Caseta Wifi Lighting
Palliser Hifi Seating

You can view the rest of the pics here: https://goo.gl/photos/cPQRVCxabB9yx8t67
Click to expand...

What are those room dimensions?


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Sweet setup there Freddy. How's the setup with respect to music?
 
wubears71 said:
Nice. Is that a Rick Grimes bobble head?
Click to expand...
It sure is. Xmas present from my wife. I actually have an authentic autographed picture of darryl and his crossbow in the hallway leading into the room.

Ag2979 said:
What are those room dimensions?
Click to expand...
17' x 10'8"

2Bad4u said:
Sweet setup there Freddy. How's the setup with respect to music?
Click to expand...
I've only recently started using it for music since I upgraded my 3 fronts a couple months ago. It's pretty decent. I don't listen to a ton of music down there though. Mainly movies, sports and gaming. The room holds sound pretty well even though it's not totally closed off. Overall I'm pretty happy with how music sounds so far.
 
The house we are building has a room almost exactly that size. The problem I am running into is I have to let the wife out her desks and computer in there as well. This will leave me more like 11x11. Not sure I am going to be able to make it work.


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Ag2979 said:
The house we are building has a room almost exactly that size. The problem I am running into is I have to let the wife out her desks and computer in there as well. This will leave me more like 11x11. Not sure I am going to be able to make it work.
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Here are my thoughts. My PJ lens is roughly 14' from the screen. I could move it up to 11' so the lens is 11' from the screen without any issues. Your PJ would basically be over your seating area like mine is. The closer you have your PJ to the screen the more you have to open up the lens which means you lose more light. If your room doesn't have a lot of natural light than you don't have to worry about needing a super bright PJ. If your room has lots of windows you will need a super bright PJ regardless. Super bright projectors are plentiful nowadays anyways.

Your seating distance would still be fine at that 10' range. When I game on mine I actually don't sit on my couch seats. I have a chair I put down right in front of my seating, so I'm probably only 9-10ft from my screen and have no viewing issues with that.

If your wife is not planning on working in her work space that often then you could just mount the PJ over top of that area. There will be a little fan noise from it, but if she's not going to be sitting there a lot while you are using your room then it won't matter I guess. My basement ceiling is quite low on the back half where my PJ is mounted and I don't notice the fan noise at all which is right over my head. There was a lot of ducting on the back half of that room so I had to box in and drywall that back half which makes it quite a bit lower the the front half which has a suspended ceiling.

Or if you just have your wife's desk in the corner instead of in the middle then you could mount your PJ there without any issues for her.

There is also the option of short throw projectors which are designed to be really close to the screen, so you could mount it a lot closer if you needed to. There aren't nearly as many short throw projectors as standard ones though. I don't think you would need it though.

Just use the projector central calculator to make sure how far you can mount a specific projector for a specific screen size.
 
Freddy said:
Here are my thoughts. My PJ lens is roughly 14' from the screen. I could move it up to 11' so the lens is 11' from the screen without any issues. Your PJ would basically be over your seating area like mine is. The closer you have your PJ to the screen the more you have to open up the lens which means you lose more light. If your room doesn't have a lot of natural light than you don't have to worry about needing a super bright PJ. If your room has lots of windows you will need a super bright PJ regardless. Super bright projectors are plentiful nowadays anyways.

Your seating distance would still be fine at that 10' range. When I game on mine I actually don't sit on my couch seats. I have a chair I put down right in front of my seating, so I'm probably only 9-10ft from my screen and have no viewing issues with that.

If your wife is not planning on working in her work space that often then you could just mount the PJ over top of that area. There will be a little fan noise from it, but if she's not going to be sitting there a lot while you are using your room then it won't matter I guess. My basement ceiling is quite low on the back half where my PJ is mounted and I don't notice the fan noise at all which is right over my head. There was a lot of ducting on the back half of that room so I had to box in and drywall that back half which makes it quite a bit lower the the front half which has a suspended ceiling.

Or if you just have your wife's desk in the corner instead of in the middle then you could mount your PJ there without any issues for her.

There is also the option of short throw projectors which are designed to be really close to the screen, so you could mount it a lot closer if you needed to. There aren't nearly as many short throw projectors as standard ones though. I don't think you would need it though.

Just use the projector central calculator to make sure how far you can mount a specific projector for a specific screen size.
Click to expand...

Great advice, thank you. I may still go with the short throw because I would like to be able to use a simulator in there as well, maybe move the seating back and swing away. Ceilings are 9'4. Here is the room on the plans. One window in the back of the room and French doors. We didn't take the optional Window. The screen would be at the opposit end and hopefully be able to use the closet as a rack
8eb5dc1972752272c2c82ab2e9649493.jpg



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Any Logitech universal remote users in here? I've got the Harmony One, but I'm considering upgrading. I'm interested to hear thoughts on some of the newer options!
 
mr.hicksta said:
Any Logitech universal remote users in here? I've got the Harmony One, but I'm considering upgrading. I'm interested to hear thoughts on some of the newer options!
Click to expand...

I've got a Harmony 650 and one of their higher end ones but the model escapes me. They both work great, I would highly recommend them. it doesn't work all the functions on my Emotive XMC-1 which is understandable because it's a fairly uncommon preamp with a crazy number of adjustments. It does do a great job of running all the main functions on all my other equipment.
 
mr.hicksta said:
Any Logitech universal remote users in here? I've got the Harmony One, but I'm considering upgrading. I'm interested to hear thoughts on some of the newer options!
Click to expand...
I have the Logitech Harmony Ultimate Home. I love it. The touch screen is great. I have it programmed to start up the pj, cable box and receiver at start up. It was very easy to setup and program. No complaints at all thus far.
 
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