$5000 budget for home theater

Nezzer said:

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum, but I've been lurking for a little while, trying to learn more.

I am moving into a house and want to put a media room for mostly movies and sports into a room in the basement.

The room is 88" tall, 11.5' wide, and 30.5' long. It doesn't have any windows. It's basically a long room with an entry about 16' back from the front wall.

I want a projector, a 110-120" screen, and 5.1. 3D is not a priority. Later, I would like to add a zone for music upstairs, but that will be in another budget. I don't have any components and don't mind buying used or refurbished equipment.

I appreciate any feedback and suggestions.

Thank you

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Hello,
Welcome to HTS. You have set aside a very prudent amount of funds to facilitate building an excellent HT.
For a Front Projector I would recommend the BenQ W7000. It has won a number of awards and is available for around $1800.
Here is a review:http://www.hometheater.com/content/benq-w7000-3d-dlp-projector-0
And another http://www.projectorreviews.com/benq/w7000/index.php
For a Screen I would go with a Stewart GreyHawk RS G3

For speakers I would recommend going to listen to some to establish what appeals to you. Unfortunately Newegg has sold out of some Klipsch floorstanding speakers that were literally available for $1000 off down to around $550 a pair and they still have the matching Center Channel and Surrounds. I would check out Audiogon for used speakers and do Zip Code search to ideally find something relatively close. Infinity, Paradigm, Klipsch, PSB, and Definitive Technology are just a few brands to look at for high value to performance speakers.
The best current deal on a speaker I can currently think of is the SVS SBS-02. We long recommended it here when it retailed for $300 and it is currently available for $149 a pair which is awesome. Using a Screen, you could order 3 pairs and use one for the Center Channel and have perfect timbre matching.
Here is the link:https://www.svsound.com/sbs-02

For a subwoofer, I would go with dual HSU Research VTF-2 MKiV given the size of the space. They sell for $559 plus shipping and are simply a fantastic value. Here is a link:http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-2mk4.html
For quite some time it was available for $519, but it has gone back to $559.

For an AVR, I would go with an Onkyo TX-NR809 especially as having a quality Video Processor takes on even more importance when using a front projector/screen setup. The HQV Vida is perhaps the best on the market and the 809 offers Audyssey MultEQ XT and THX Certification and Post Processing. It is a steal at $599 as it retailed for $1100.
Here is a link:http://www.accessories4less.com/mak...NR809-7.2-Channel-Network-A/V-Receiver/1.html

That just leaves cabling. Go to Monoprice and save a fortune. The SVS's are quite good, but do check out what is available on the used market.
Best,
J

Another option on projectors - Sonnie recently posted a topic in the announcement forum about AGI selling the Panasonic AE-8000U for $2300. Here is that announcement:

http://www.hometheatershack.com/for...anasonic-pt-ea8000u-projector.html#post599923

I realize you stated you did not care much about 3D, but this is an excellent value - this is what I paid for my AE-7000 and I did not get glasses or a three year warranty. I love my 7000 - one of the major selling points for me was the auto switching between formats - very handy. And, the picture is fantastic - I took a few screen shots recently in my video calibration thread which is linked in my signature.

Edit - oops, I had to remove that link. You can find it in the video calibration forum.

I am not an expert by any means but I am in the same boat as you as far as my budget goals. I have been in several custom built theater room ranging from $25000 to over $500,000. One thing that I have learned is that $$$ does buy you unbelievable sound and picture BUT AND I MEAN A BIG BUT. An acoustically untreated room sounds like my kids schools gym no matter how expensive the equipment. You need to acoustically treat the room first! You can do for under $1000 if you do some work yourself. As far as projectors go the Panasonics are flat out awesome but it would not be in your budge goals. Look at the $1000ish projectors people here recommend. Jamestown makes home theater screens for under $300. Not the greatest but good enough and in your budget. Then I would spend the remaining $$$ you have left on your av and speakers. Again go will what others can recommend within your remaining budget. As far as DVD and blue ray players. Do you have a ps3? I think if you went this route you would have an amazing sounding room with 1080p that would be in your budget. Just my 2 cents. Post pictures of your build. We love pictures.

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

I'm terrible with woodworking so DIY speakers is out for me.

As far as the budget I'm thinking about rising it to $7500 now and that's just the upfront budget. I would still be adding small things over the next few months. How would that change recommendations?

Acoustically treating the room is something I've been planning and is outside of my budget. I don't know much about it, but I have been talking to a few theater places in the area.

I do have furniture. I picked up some chairs on clearance last week. I'll take some pictures of the room next time I go over to the house and post them. (I don't move in until about a week or so).

Thanks again for the great info.

Is the room prewired or are you planning on opening up the walls and ceiling for wires?

You may be able to get a few more $$$ out of the spouse for an AV stand and remote as your equipment will be spread out over at least 2 locations. More if you plan to have all equipment in a closet and your blu-ray/x box in the room.

Projector Central and Screen Innovations websites have projector throw calculators so you can be sure that you pre-wire in the proper locations.

Remember the measurements are from the front of the projector lens to the screen and you'll want to keep the lens with in the screen's area centered horizontally and at the top of the screen vertically.

---that is to say if the screen is 10' across the projector lens will be at the 5' mark and if the screen is 2' off the ceiling then the top of the projector lens needs to be 2' off the ceiling as well... In other words avoid using keystone adjustments they are not good.

You may want to start another thread about pre-wire.

Thanks again everyone.

Here's what I'm looking at right now:

Epson 5020
Vutec 110"
Onkyo 809
Klipsch RF52, RC52, RB51
Klipsch sw110

If I do that I can stay fairly close to my original budget for the components. Is there a big difference between that Klipsch sub and the HSU one?

I'll post a thread on my pre-wire soon. Thank you for the suggestion?

So for what i have here any thoughts? Options? Suggestions?

Thanks again.