Perfect Season

[16-0]

The only problem I had with the Pats finishing out the regular season undefeated is that I wasn't able to watch it in my home theater room. At my pace I should be ready for the Super Bowl....in 2009.

Hello, my name is Jim. As you can tell I am a die-hard Pats fan. Sox too. You won't, however, find me on the Celtics bandwagon though. I am not a fan of the NBA. I live in Boston with two very small kids and a patient wife.

I am no HT guru but have a real interest in it. My home had a small finished room in the basement and I decided to convert it into a HT.

I am thrilled to have found this site and am hopeful one or two kind souls will provide some advice to a newbie. I have spent countless hours (the inefficient kind) on the web researching all of this stuff and am completely overwhelmed with all of the "stuff" and choices one needs to consider. It is tough. I am thoroughly infected with analysis paralysis

I've attached a couple of pics of the room which is 16L x 14w with 8' ceilings.

I haven't purchased anything YET but have narrowed things down a bit. I am still very uncertain about what to do. Any help is GREATLY Appreciated..

Here is where I am at the moment:

Projector: Either the new Epson 1080p or the Panny AE2000U. The thought is to have a machine with good brightness as I expect to spend 50% of my time watching sports and will want some ambient light when I do.
Screen: Carada Criterion 16:9 100". The carpenter actually gave me the best advice ever. He said to expect my 2 year old to use the screen as a canvas at some point. Between that little tip and not being able to come to terms with $2K screens I went with Carada. Seems like a real good product and a great value.
Audio: Clueless. The room is pretty small and my thought is that I probably don't need to spend a ton of money for a big system. I was thinking a real good receiver to be prepared for upgrades down the road and a real good sub.
DVD: HD? Blue? I haven't even looked into this yet.
Chairs: How can one be expected to buy chairs online? Don't you need to sit in it first to see if it's comfortable? I was at Leather Creations today. Real comfy seats but $1100 a piece. Ouch. I am clueless here.
Acoustics: Even more clueless. I'd like to cover the walls and ceiling with very cheap non acoustic panels (the plushy type for pure aesthetics) to enhance the effect of a theater room and then place the proper acoustical panels wherever they need to be placed.
If I missed anything please let me know.
I appreciate you reading this and want to say thank you in advance for any advice.
Happy New Year,
Jim
Go Pats.

correction: No pics attached. The dimensions are too big and I haven't a clue how to adjust them manually.

[Sonnie]

Hello Max and welcome to the Shack!

I suppose we can let a Pats fan in here...

Since this is only an introduction forum, I would suggest posting your info on your desired system in the General Discussion forum and we can go from there.... or ... you may want to take a step or two at a time and post in the various forums that will pertain to each area you need help in. Either way, I'm sure we can give you some excellent advice.

Don't be too upset if you don't get a lot of response tonight with it being the eve of New Years.

[boot275]

Jim,
Live in San Antonio now but grew up in Norwood, Mass. My family has season tickets to the Pats...purchased in '92 when they couldn't really give them away...now it's a different story. Do your research on projectors, because you'll have to live with it. 720Ps are real cheap because of the influx of 1080Ps. A 720P with a good video processor can be as good as some of the entry level 1080Ps. I own a Marantz VP4001 (720P) and the PQ is exceptional. Be patient...a good projector, bed sheet/blackout drop cloth, space heater and plenty of beer wil go a long way. Boot

[nova]

Hello Jim,... we're thrilled you found us as well. Welcome to the Shack.

Looking forward to your post. I'll also agree with Sony, most of this discussion should go off to a specific forum. I will say I disagree with your thoughts on the audio side of things. I'd add up what you spent on everything else,...then double it and you will have a fair budget for the audio side of your HT. Also, a real good receiver is not a necessity,..... you'll enjoy your system much more if you have really, really good speakers and a so, so receiver.

Of course, those are just my opinions

[16-0]

Will do. Thanks pal. Happy New Year.

[mechman]

Welcome to the Shack Jim! Did you go with the Brilliant White screen material then?

mech

[16-0]

mechman wrote:

Welcome to the Shack Jim! Did you go with the Brilliant White screen material then?

mech

Yes, I expect to have full control of all ambient light and have decided to go with the Carada brilliant white. Unless, of course, you have an opinion?

[mechman]

16-0 wrote:

Yes, I expect to have full control of all ambient light and have decided to go with the Carada brilliant white. Unless, of course, you have an opinion?

Brilliant White is the best material from Carada! I think you made an excellent choice!

mech

[16-0]

mechman wrote:

Brilliant White is the best material from Carada! I think you made an excellent choice!

mech

Yes, but I just learned that they do not have acoustically traansparent screens. Isn't it better to have the center right behind the screen if possible?

Thanks

[mechman]

16-0 wrote:

Yes, but I just learned that they do not have acoustically traansparent screens. Isn't it better to have the center right behind the screen if possible?

Thanks

Hey I'm just a screen guy! Check with one of these audio guys! FWIW, I have mine mounted above.

mech

[DS-21]

That was a great season to be sure, but I hope BB doesn't win coach of the year honors. That obviously should go to the peerless Joe Gibbs, who coached his way out of Sean Taylor's death and a squad full of replacements (including a QB who barely played a snap in a decade) to win their last four and secure probably the most unlikely playoff spot in NFL history. And, dare I mention, the Redskins play in a real division, the NFC East, which is sending three team to the playoffs and where the bottom-dweller was still a respectable (inasmuch as Iggles are ever respectable, at least) 8-8.

Of course, the Pats did beat all of 'em this year, some of them (ahem) quite badly, so maybe that argument doesn't quite resonate...

Still, hail the Redskins!