Home Cinema setup advice?

dglancy

Howday,

The girlfriend and I are buying an apartment and after much persuasion, I’ve managed to convince her to install a simple home cinema as the center point of the living room.

If any of you have opinions / advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

It’s a fairly typical two bed apartment with a fairly large sitting room. As you can imagine money isn’t the easiest to find at the moment so the budget wouldn’t be hugh.

Basically, from the perspective of the AV equipment, I was thinking,

1. 42-inch Plasma Screen - €4000
2. Dolby Digital Amp - €450
3. Speakers (2 front, 1 center, 2 rear + stands) - €500

I am not really fussy on the audio front, because living in an apartment means you can’t have the setup blaring due to consideration of neighbours.

My first question is can anybody recommend suitable equipment which fits this budget?

I think I’ve made up my mind on the plasma and am considering the Samsung model you see all over Dublin retailing for €3999. In particular I don’t want a plasma which includes audio speakers – as that seems to be a waste.

I’ve no idea of which amp/speaker package I should consider.

My main concern is around the furniture aspect of the setup. To get this past the girlfriend, I really need a tidy looking setup. I’m going to get the developer of the apartment to not install the standard tacky fireplace and instead intend to fit the plasma/av setup in it’s place.

Does anybody know what my options here would be? Is there anywhere around town where I could view sample showrooms for this sort of thing?

I have a furniture/setup/advice budget of around €350 – any recommendations?

The only thing I’ve decided so far is,
1. Going to lay rear speaker cables before wooden floor is layed.
2. Going to use those tall, thin speaker stands with small speakers (often see them in Sony centers) as the rear channel speakers.

I guess my choices are,
1. Hang plasma on wall and buy a low, floor standing shelf/cabinet for the DVD/AV equipment, or
2. Build a custom unit, which would mimic the fireplace – but would contain the plasma and AV equipment – you sometimes see these in brochures.

Sorry for the long post and thank you in advance for any advice given. If anybody feels that they would like to help me with installation and building of custom unit then some/all of my €350 budget would be yours.

-Damo

dglancy

BTW, I should mention that I am intending to stay in the apartment for about 4 years and then sell it on.

Because there will be no fireplace I will be leaving the plasma/sound system in place as part of the apartment purchase price - so I'm hoping that should offset the shock of not having a €300 plastic electric fireplace!

robbie1876

Hi Damo,

Thanks for posting up so much info, and good luck with your project! I work at installing home cinema systems like the one you describe. If there is any advice/help you need along the way I would be more than happy to help you.

Ok, plasma first. I am very familiar with the Samsung model you describe. And unfortunately, I have to say, it is my least favourite plasma on the market at the moment! Sorry!! The main problems I had with the Samsung model was the colour performance. Colours did not seem lifelike, particularly skin tones. Adjusting the various colour relating settings on the plasma such as hue and saturation had little effect to sort out the problems. This may not bother you, but to my eye it was annoying, particualrly as I know how good the picture on a plasma should be. A few months ago, I installed 3 of these screens into a client's home and ended up removing all of them and replacing them with different brands. Two of the 3 Samsungs had faults relating to video inputs, which meant they would not accept the component video signal I was feeding to them. In fairness, the faulty screens were replaced by Samsung on the same day I reported the fault, which was impressive.

If I were in your position, I would spend an extra €200 or so to purchase the LG 42" screen, which is a far superior screen, in my opinion. The LG plasma is much more suited to home cinema use, and has received very favourable reviews in the home cinema press. Sorry for throwing a spanner in the works, but you only get one chance to get the plasma right!

You mentioned you have an overall budget for the audio of about €950. Also, you are looking for those tall thin speakers on the rear channels. I would suggest one of the higher end all-in-one cinema systems. There are only 2 of these systems that I have heard that have really impressed me. The best one to date is the Jamo DVR50. The Sony DAVS-1000 is excellent too, but is more expensive than the Jamo unit. It does have those slim speakers you mentioned. If you wanted to go down the route of buying a seperate amp and speaker package, there are many options available to you, but €950 is not a lot to spend on seperates unfortunately.

For a seperate amplifier, I would recommend the Pioneer VSX-D512 which retails for about €350. Speakers are a bit trickier, particularly if you want to keep the whole system neat and tidy, and "girlfriend compatible." The best value in speakers in my opinion are Monitor Audio - a system based on Bronze1 speakers as front and rears, the Bronze centre and the ASW100 subwoofer would work out at about €850, which puts you over your budget, doesn't get you the tall, thin rear speakers, but will definitely give you 'real' home cinema sound which will be far superior than any all-in-one cinema system. But if you are not bothered about the sound that much as you said, then just opt for one of those all-in-one systems, it will be neater and possibly easier to operate.

The Pioneer amp and Monitor Audio speakers are just examples, there are tons of other similar choices availabe from other excellent manufacturers.

More important than the audio equipment is picking the right DVD player. It is critical that the DVD player is capbable of sending the best possible video signal that the plasma can accept. DVD disks are recorded in a native component video format, which is the best type of signal you can send to your plasma. So make sure your DVD has component video output terminals. Also, it would be worth going for a DVD player with progressive scan output. The Jamo system I mentioned above meets these specifications, and as far as I know it is the only all-in-one system that has these video specs.

When you are planning the installation of the screen with a view to keeping things neat and hidden, the most important consideration is the cables. I'm glad to hear you are running the rear cables before the floor goes down, but don't forget about the locations of the front speakers, and make sure you get the right cables in place for your plasma TV. Which cables to run for the plasma depends on what plasma you decide to go for, and what sources you will be connecting (TV, VCR, DVD, Sky, Playstation, PC etc)

The models of plasma I mentioned above do not have built-in TV tuners, so that also needs to be planned for. The TV tuner is needed only if you are planning to have basic analogue NTL cable. If you are getting digital NTL or are not planning to get any cable TV, don't worry about the TV tuner. Using a VCR as a TV tuner will work fine.

Regarding a discreet installation, the key to success here is once again planning it properly in advance. So it is great to see you thinking about it this far ahead! Too many times have I been called into a house where the room for the plasma is completely finished and plastered, and there is no chance of hiding any cables.

One of the most popular ways to hide the screen is to get the builder to build a 'false chimney' out from the existing chimney area. This allows you to recess the plasma into the false chimney, and it really looks well. The false wall has to come out enough for the plasma to be flush into the wall, approx 150mm for a plasma including bracket. So you will lose 150mm of floorspace at the fireplace, but it looks better than the plasma just hanging on the wall with cables dangling out of it. You can still have a fire below the plasma if you want, it will just be out 150mm from the chimney breast, which isn't a problem if it is a gas or electric fire.

I'm working in an apartment at the moment where the plasma is being recessed as I described, so I'll try to take some photos of it over the next few days to show you how it looks. You should be able to get the builder to build that wall at very little cost, it's basically only plasterboard!

It's a bit trickier to hide the rest of the AV equipment such as the amp, Sky box etc. The problem is the depth of the amp, plus you need to leave room at the back for cables and ventilation. There will be alot of messy cables at the back of the amp and other equipment. Your best bet would be to purchase a standard cabinet/small press from a furniture shop. Once the unit has a few shelves that are wide enough and deep enough to house your equipment, you will be fine. A cabinet with a door will work well, if its a glass door you can keep it closed while using the remotes, if its a solid door you can install a basic IR repeater system so you can work the equipment with the door still closed.

If you are planning to get some sort of cabinet, obviously you have to decide where in the room it will be going so that you can run your cables to that location. The signal you will be sending to your plasma screen will be either VGA or component video, both of which travel very well over long cable lenghts, so you can position the AV equipment anywhere in the room, it doesn't have to be directly below the plasma.

Another consideration is the centre speaker. This can be a bit tricky to position with a plasma TV. On a normal TV, you just plonk your centre speaker on top of the TV, but you can't do this with a slim plasma. The speaker either needs to be mounted above or below the screen, or else sitting on a piece of furniture immediately below the screen.

Phew! Sorry for the long reply, please feel free to ask for clarification or more info on any of these points! If there is anything else you need advice on, I will try my best to help you out.

Robbie

BattlingCheese

Hi dglancy,

Not much that I can add regarding equipment however I was in the same boat. Bought 2 Bed apt just over a year ago and from day 1 had an AV setup in mind for the living room.

Before laying down the floor (wooded click sytem) I put down white PVC trunking around the room out to where I planned the surround speakers. The speaker cable then runs inside this trunking. A great tip for getting the cable through is get a ball bearing and stick a length of thread to it. Run the ball bearing through the trunking either rolling it or dragging with a magnet. Pull cable through with thread. Easy.

I have a normal 28" TV for day to day use but use a Panasonic AE100 LCD projector for films, sporting events etc. Currently using a mobile screen but planning on getting a fixed one soon.

See here http://members.boards.ie/battlingcheese/DSC00004.JPG
http://members.boards.ie/battlingcheese/DSC00010.JPG
for the pics of my living room so you can show your gf that an AV room doesn't really need to be all techy looking.

Speakers are Eltax Silverado range with the 2 surround speakers on €20 argos stands.
Amp is a SONY STRDE995B which is over 2yrs old and cost 250IEP. Works fine for my needs with DD5.1 and DTS support.


If i think of anything else I will add it.

Good look and a bit of planning works wonders.

dglancy

Wow!!

Thanks to the both of you for your detailed replies and photos. Wow again!

Thanks Robbie for the advice regarding the Plasma - that is the sort of thing I really DID want to hear. I'd prefer to get the right plasma now and hold off on an amp or all the speakers then get the wrong plasma because I was in a rush to get everything up and running at the same time.

Do you know anywhere in Dublin that stocks the LG you mention?

I haven't spoken to the builder (Dorville Homes) yet about the requirements - and because they are building around 100 apartments at the same time I don't know how receptive they will be. Buy heck, they are taking 300k off of me so they can at least listen - and they get to keep their stupid fireplace thingy!

BTW, the apartment is due to be finished in September, so I have around 2 months to do some scouting for info.

If they won't co-operate, then I'll get my hammer (yet to be purchased!) and start ripping out the fireplace myself and build from scratch.

Robbie, I would really, really appreciate it if you could take photos of that apartment you are working on at the moment.

BattlingCheese, I've shown the gf your photos - she likes your couch!

Thanks again,

Damo

towbar

Sorry to butt in with another question but seems there are some real experts here!!

Where should the front left and right speakers go in the traditional Irish Living room with fire place in the middle and TV at either left or right alcove?

Rear speakers are at each corner on back wall just beloew roof level.
Centre speaker mounted over TV unit.

Say TV is left of fireplace must right speaker remain equal distance from centre as left speaker or should right speaker be placed on right hand side of room?

Thanks.

robbie1876

You are very welcome Damo, and I apologise again for writing such a long reply! I don't know of any specific retailers in Dublin that sell that LG model. Richer Sounds used to do it. Maybe Brown Thomas might have it on display, or Harvey Normans. Our company sells it obviously, but we don't have it on display as we don't have showrooms.

Your best bet for getting anything like a false wall etc done onsite is to try to nab the plasterer onsite as a nixer. Or if you are handy with a hammer, have a crack at it yourself. In the past I've asked builders onsite to do little jobs to help me with installs and I have yet to be obliged by one of them! Always better to deal with the trades directly.

I'll definitely get some photos of that apartment, but I'm not back there until early next week at the earliest. At the moment, the false wall has been built, but the plasma has not been installed, so I can get photos of the construction now, and of the finished install in about 4 weeks time.

robbie1876

Hi towbar,

Thats a good point you raised, and a common problem I face. The thing to remember is that when you are watching a DVD, the 5.1 digital soundtrack is basically the same mix as you would hear in the cinema. If you think about where the front left and right speakers are in a commercial cinema, they are actually behind the screen!

So when you are setting up your cinema system, you should try to replicate this by having the front left and right speakers immediately beside the TV. Initially this might seem strange, because you basically have 3 speakers almost beside each other. But in the interests of recreating the sound of a cinema as best you can, this is what you should do.

If you think about it, when you are at the flicks, nearly all the sound comes from the screen area. There are surround effects, but the main dialogue and music comes from the screen. At home, the aim should not be to spread the sound around the room as much as possible by spacing out the front speakers, but to position all speakers in roughly the same position as the cinema.

The big problem with this approach is when you want to listen to stero music. The speakers will be too close to each other if they are either side of your TV, stuck in a corner. So hopefully either you have another hi-fi system elsewhere that you use for music, or you don't plan to listen to music on the cinema setup.

Hope this helps!

Robbie

loyatemu

can't really comment on the proposed setup, but I would suggest that your plan to sell the kit on with the apartment will probably lose you money - you're unlikely to get a higher price for the place because of the AV gear.

You'd be better off taking it with you and selling it seperately (unless of course it is totally obsolete by the time you are selling).

dglancy

I agree - in four years time I'm sure the gear will look old fashioned in comparison to what your money will buy.

It would be more of a sweetener to get a quick deal if the market goes a little topsy turvey by then.

MoosemaN

Hi,

Have a look at the following .PDF

It will give you information on speaker placement

http://www.dolby.com/ht/Guide.HomeTheater.0110.pdf

Speaker placement is very important, and it is a science by itself

Superman

you could also just buy a nice tv & dvd & video for about 1000

and give the rest to a charity, or develope a hobby.

it could help buy med equiptment for someone who needs it, or get you out of the house, and you would still have a shiny tv and all the bits.

cause at the end of a day a good tv won't make crap tv (kirsties home vid's, star trek, and dear i say.... babylon 5) look better or have a better story.

big tv setups always seem like a real show off thing, a bit like cigars

this is excessive, wasteful:

1. 42-inch Plasma Screen - €4000
2. Dolby Digital Amp - €450
3. Speakers (2 front, 1 center, 2 rear + stands) - €500

not as bad, pretty good as it means you life is centred arround the tv:

have a normal 28" TV for day to day use but use a Panasonic AE100 LCD projector for films, sporting events etc. Currently using a mobile screen but planning on getting a fixed one soon.


personally i would buy a Canon 300D digital SLR cause photography is good for you and doesnot make you a couch POTATO!!!

dglancy

I know what you are getting at. Seeing as you seem to be requesting my CV,

My hobbies are rock climbing, which I most enjoy - nice sociable pastime I find - hard to do from the couch!

As for charities, well I think that is a very good idea. Can you give me your address so that I may forward a statement of my extensive contributions to the Life Boat Service - a charity (while not dealing with the poor), is one which strikes a cord with me - maybe because I grew up so near the coast and see all the good work they do. Some of my contributions go to Cliff Rescue - I hope this is ok as well.

Having spent a few short weeks in Cambodia, I must say I was very effected my the appalling poverty and misery I witnessed there - but also inspired by peoples wiliness to better themselves.

I don't have them to hand at the moment, but tomorrow, I'll post you pictures of a school I support near Kampong Thom.

My support is direct to the school, not via any particular charity. I'll happily give you bank details that you can forward any donation to - I guarantee it will make a difference.

Please don't accuse me of being greedy. I don't drive, have a car, smoke, drink too much, spend much money on clothes or myself. The apartment purchase didn't come easy - prices are crazy. I work hard (many 6 day weeks). I want to spend some of my money on this.

Please don't accuse me of being a show off. Firstly, I wouldn't tell any of my friends about this damn plasma thingy - why would they be interested? I doubt many of (any) my friends will visit me at the new apartment, because it's so far away from the city centre and is all I could (was willing to) afford.

- Damo

dglancy

Superman,

I just read back my previous post and now you made me sound like an arrogant arsehole.

**** you.

Damo

The Ritz

Dglancy,

Your response to Superman (now there's an interesting tag........ ) did not sound anything like arrogance to me - I'll give you credit for having the honesty to show that you have a social conscience, but you don't have to justify yourself to him/her or anyone else. I have a dedicated movie room, full-on sound system, 7.5 ft screen with variable masking and a projector driven by a hcpc and I don't give a flying f**k what the likes of Superman think I should do with my time or money - nor should you. My nine year old had her birthday party here this week - you haven't lived until you've seen the expression on the faces of kids that age watching SpyKids 3D on a really big screen - classic !!!!!

You're doing your planning well in advance, got some deadly advice from Robbie - you'll have a smashing system.

Good luck................



Robbie - would like to see those pics myself.................... sounds like an interesting job. Kudos on your posting, btw, unbiased advice and well put together.



Edit: If you recess the plasma into a "cut-out" in a false chimney-breast so that it's flush, how do you actually bolt it into place, connect cables etc...... Mrs Ritz making "Ooooh lovely plasma " type noises lately..................



The Ritz.

MoosemaN

Superman,

What is your problem? You sound like a 80-year old person that needs to complaint on other because him/her have it miserable.

dglancy,
You do not sound like an arrogant arsehole, you should not even have taken the time to answer to his mail.

Back to the fun hobby of Home Cinema

Have you concidered buying a Projector, or are you in love with the look and feel of a plasma?

Something that you can do as well to save some money is to build the cable to the speakers and TV( Try to get them into the deal when you buy your stuff). Otherwise it is a fun and nice side project. It is not very hard and it gives you a great picture and sound. I have built all my cables including the component cable for my projector.

Good luck,

Moose

robbie1876

I'm with The Ritz and Mooseman on this, you don't have to justify to anybody what you spend your well earned money on. Superman is out of order. Besides, he has a home cinema projector and he thinks your plasma is excessive???

The Ritz, that sounds like a fantastic room you have, any pics? I know what you mean about the joy on kids faces when they watch their favourite movies on the big screen. I completed a system recently just in time for a kids party also, and the joy on their faces watching Finding Nemo on the 10' screen was totally fulfilling.

Regarding mounting the screen flush into the wall, there is a little trick I use to do this neatly. On a normal wall, you just mount the bracket and then lift the plasma onto the bracket, no problems. In the case of a flush mounted job, the problem is that there will already be a hole the size of the plasma cut out into the false wall. To be able to lift the screen onto the bracket, you would have to cut the hole in the false wall extra big to leave enough room to get your hands in when lifitng the screen onto the bracket. This doesn't look that good once its up on the wall, because there is a large void all around the edges of the plasma, which has to be up 150mm to be able to get access sufficiently.

The way I get around this is as follows. When the false wall is being constructed, ensure that there is a large thick piece of MDF which is secured onto the chimeny breast right where the plasma will be mounted. When cutting the hole in the false wall, allow only 10mm of clearance on all sides of the plasma. The next step is to take a second piece of good MDF and cut it to the size of the plasma plus 10mm all round, the exact size of the hole in the false wall. Bolt the bracket to this MDF then mount the plasma on the bracket. Lift the plasma on the MDF up into the gap. You can then use a long thin screwdriver or screwdriver gun to screw the MDF into the other piece of MDF which was already on the wall.

Doing it this way ensures that the plasma remains as flush as can be, with a minimum gap around the edges. This is the way we are doing that other apartment I was talking about, so I'll take pictures of the finished product once its up. I'll be back there late next week to take pictures of the wall as it stands now.

Alternatively, if you have a spare €1500 knocking about, here's another way cool way to hide your plasma on the wall: Link

Robbie

The Ritz

Robbie,

The room is small, abot the size of a garage conversion, 13' x 8', with two La-z-boys (comfy pressie from Mrs Ritz...) 4 is a crowd, but my 16 year-old and her friends don't mind, they slob about on cushions.

The amp, L C & R speakers, sub (REL Storm on long-term "loan" from a very good friend../blush) and hcpc are all behind a false black velvet screenwall, which has constant width variable masking. The screen is a homemade job using blackout lining..... most consider this to be about 1 gain - it's about 18 months old now and could probably do with being re-tensioned/replaced but its fine....

I'd dearly love to have a micro-perf screen and place the speakers behind the screen, and would also like to recover some seating distance - I'm losing about a foot as it is, but tbh it's still impressive, especially with superbit or hi-def material. Plans include some acoustic treatment, but all in good time - I'm reluctant to start dismantling - work etc. demands lots of time, and we enjoy it lots as it is......

I don't have any pictures to upload, I'm afraid, you're welcome to PM me if you want a chat.

The Ritzzzzz.

dglancy

Thanks again for all your help/advice .. perhaps I got a bit hot-headed regarding superman's post.

I've seen an offer in Currys (of all places) which does fit the bill.

It's a Philips 42-inch plasma (can't remember exact model no) and an integrated, DVD-recorder, home cinema, tall speakers unit (model no Philips LX-9000R) for €5000 inclusive.

Price is just about right and it does seem to be a nicely integrated unit. Any comments?

I do have one question though. Is their a big noticeable difference between a 'component' connection and a 'SCART RGB' connection between DVD and Plasma?

Regards,
Damo

robbie1876

Hi Damo,

Can you get the exact model of that Philips 42"? If its the brand new model, personally I would avoid it, I didn't like it. But if its the slightly older one (6 months or so), then it is ok. Philip's new range is a bit funny. I don't like the 42" or the 50" for the same reasons as I didn't like the Samsung earlier, but the 46" is a stunning machine, one of the best on the market imo.

Damo, check what the output from the DVD recorder is. Make sure it's got component, or progressive scan. RGB is a very close second to component, there's very little noticible difference really, but if you're spending this sort of money you may as well do it 100% right and get a machine with component.

Again, I hate to say this but you did ask!! I don't like Philips home cinema stuff at all tbh. I've never heard a good intergrated surround package from them, they have to my ear been below par, based on the ones I've heard (obviously not every model). I've never heard that particular package, and you did say earlier that the sound quality wasn't that much of a priority for you.

Do you have to have the DVD recorder?

Robbie

dglancy

Hey Robbie,

Fast response! I'm feeling guilty annoying you with all these questions - do I owe you money yet!!

Damn it, I'm fickle .. going off that Philips system all ready. It was the speaker package which had me going (looks only!). No, the DVD recorder isn't important and I wasn't even thinking of it. I wouldn't use it much IMHO. Had a DVD recorder in an an iMac I sold a few months ago, and I never used it.

But I think I may have stumbled onto something which might be close to what I'm looking for (audio wise).

It's the Pioneer SCHT-900. Basic specs.. Thin speakers with suitable stands on all four main speakers. Integrated DVD player has progressive scan and Component Video out. Its for €599, which might let some cash left over to get a LG plasma if I could find one for €4300 max.

Thanks again Robbie, for your time and your comments are very helpful.

Damo

robbie1876

Hi Damo,

I presume you mean the Panasonic SCHT-900? I've heard good things about this system and am actually going to audition one on Tuesday, so I'll let you know what I think. It really looks very slick, and I see now the type of speakers that work for you.

I'm thinking that your budget might just allow you to splash out on the Jamo DVR50 which is simply the best all-in-one system out there at the moment. The video performance in particualr from this machine is stunning. Although it doesn't have those super sexy tall thin speakers that the Panasonic has, the speakers are still very discrete and slick looking, and look superb on their stands. If you are ever passing by Harvey Normans in Swords, they have this unit on display, although it was not operational when I was there.

Robbie

dglancy

Indeed it was Panasonic! I was also looking at a similar Pioneer system (NS-DV990) and got confused! Damn P's!

I now notice that the Panasonic specs mention that progressive scan and component video is for NTSC only - which sounds like it may be a gray import. NTSC has less resolution as far as my understanding goes and I guess most (all) UK/Irish DVD's would be encoded for PAL.

There's always something, isn't there!

robbie1876

Some DVD players such as that Jamo one I mentioned are capable of outputting progressive pictures from both PAL and NTSC DVDs. This is brand new technology, traditionally it was indeed only NTSC that benefitted from progressive.

silverside

This is veering off topic but is it possible to hook a plasma screen like that up to the DVI output of a PC? Would that improve image quality drastically by avoiding any analogue conversion anywhere in the signal path?

robbie1876

Yes, it does dramatically improve the video quality to use the DVI output, but obviously it is dependant on the quality of your video card. I dare say that a very good dedicated DVD player running component video would produce a better result than an average video card running in DVI... but I've no real proof of that! I just don't like the idea of using a PC as a high end video source.

DVI keeps the signal in the digital domain, and provides the most accurate pixel reproduction and scaling currently possible.

There is however, a new format known as HDMI, which is basically a way to transmit a DVI signal down a standard scart lead. I had the pleasure to install this plasma with this DVD player recently. I spent a lot of time looking at the component video feed first, and was blown away by the quality of picture. Then I turned on the HDMI, and my jaw just dropped. I have never seen such beautifully rendered images on a plasma. HDMI is definitely the future, but at the moment it is still limited to high end equipment like that above.

Robbie

dglancy

Have you concidered buying a Projector, or are you in love with the look and feel of a plasma?

Yeah, the plasma thing seems to do it for me alright! Because it's a living/dining/do everything room (typical of apartments I guess), I am hoping that the plasma screen will act as a piece of furniture and give the room focus.

Unless you have a dedicated cinema room, the projectors just don't seem to be as neat and if they are anything like the computer projectors I use at work .. they don't seem to be as suitable to watching fifteen minutes of the news headlines. I tend to watch tv for no more then about 15 minutes at a single sitting unless I'm watching a movie.

Do most people with a projector also have some sort of basic tv for news, etc or are home projectors much quicker warm up time then typical work projectors?

- Damo

The Ritz

Damo,

Do most people with a projector also have some sort of basic tv for news, etc or are home projectors much quicker warm up time then typical work projectors?

imo projectors are not suitable candidates for replacing your TV....... the vast majority of projectors need a light-controlled environment to do their best ( the darkest "black" that a projector can display is the ambient light in the room reflecting off the surface of the screen) - preferably blackout conditions. A 42 - 50" image in a normal living room situation is quite impressive, most normal rooms are overwhelmed by 7' + screens........ you can have them installed to drop through a slot in the ceiling, but for sporadic tv watching etc. a plasma is preferable..... If you can have a dedicated room, though, I'd be rootin' for front projection - movies never look the same on the small screen once you've tried it....


Robbie,

For vanilla dvd playing, a simple pc with a DVI enabled graphics card (fanless Radeon preferably) with the resolutioin set to match the native resolution of the plasma will knock the socks of the vast majority of dvd players - until the emergence of HDMI I would have said all dvd players, but the arrival of dvi-enabled dvd players has changed that contention. If you can get a dvd player with DVI which has firmware which will allow the player output the native reolution of the plasma, then that should be nirvana, provided the dvd players decoding , de-interlacing and scaling ability is up to scratch. That Pioneer you linked to looks like the dogs danglies........


The Ritzzzzz.

.-=MR. JOE=-.

Oh if only to have the money to have such choices!

Lucky sods!

dglancy

Hello all,

Dead thread, I know!

I thought I would let you know what the results of your kind advice and time you gave me last year was. I moved into the apartment in Sept and only got around to talking some pictures lately.

http://dglancy.myfastmail.com/apartment/img1.jpg
http://dglancy.myfastmail.com/apartment/img2.jpg
http://dglancy.myfastmail.com/apartment/img3.jpg

In terms of equipment, I went with the following in the end:

Plasma: 42" Hantarex PD 42 Glass

Speakers: Linn Unik speakers
Amp: Harmon Kardon AVR 230
DVD: Harmon Kardon DVD 22
Sub: Jamo E8 Sub

Cables: Supra Cables (~approx 10% of overall budget)
Scene Lighting: Rako Wireless Lighting System
Music: Apple Airport Express
Furniture: BoConcept & Habitat
Installers: Dublinn Hi Fi

Total cost of system is around €11,500 eur which is a good bit over the original budget!

I'm pleased with it and I purposelywent for style & neatness over performance because it is a living room system and apartment living dosen't allow for over-the-top volume.

Regards,

Damo

richieg

Damo
It looks very impressive, good taste.
I have just bought a new house and have already started on my install. The floor has not been laid yet so I managed to get good speaker cable fitted. My plans are a little more modest. I am thinking about getting an all in one speaker system (Sony HT-DDW760), sky+ and DVDR (probably Sony as well as they seem to be very good right now. I am curious about your choice of plasma. Where did you hear about it, see it and how would you rate it?
What sources do you watch on it....DVD, TV, sky????
How much did the screen cost and where did you buy it?

Why did you go for full separates rather than a all in 1 system?

dglancy

The plasma is from an Italian company known as Hantarex. It is better known for its commercial plasma screens used in places like airports, etc.

The plasma is definitely better than the sum of its parts. All sources look very well for me. I watch NTL:digital via a RGB SCART and a DVD player via Component cable. The unit is made of steel (very solid and heavy) and its front is a full sheet of glass from edge to edge. There is no plastic surrounding the screen. It look fantastic in my opinion even though its specs are not as appealing on paper as a Pioneer models. I'm not sure why, but it looks and behaves very well and comes with a five year comprehensive guarantee.

I went for separates because I listen to music more than I watch TV/movies. I found the Linn speakers to be very musical to listen to and the Jamo subwoofer is also very balanced for listening to music. I am planning on upgrading the h/k amp and dvd to a Linn Movie DI system in the near future. .http://www.linn.co.uk

The screen cost 6500 euro and was purchased along with mostly everything else at a specialist Linn HiFi store named Dublinn HiFi on Aungier Street in Dublin 2. I highly recommend them there and they are very helpful. Even though their equipment is more at the top-range so can be quite expensive they try and work within your budget.

It should be noted that the plasma cost + speakers cost included custom installation into my apartment. This they did to a very careful standard and took approx five hours to do even though I had worked with the building architects in advance to prepare the custom cabling, etc. For example, the wall the plasma is hanging on was supposed to be an electric fire complete with fireplace.

yop

Damn you dGlancy !!! I am sick with jealousy!!

That is a crackin setup, the very best of luck with it, would dream to have a setup like that!!