Hey guys, I'm buying a new house and have free reign to build up my media room. There is a dedicated media room in the house and it is already wired with some speakers on the wall. I don't know what type or anything so not sure if I'm going to keep it, etc. I'm going to need pretty much everything except possibly speakers. TV, receiver, blu ray player, seating, remote control, media center PC. I don't know how I want to set it up. The thought of a media center PC with lots of storage and all the DVDs and BluRays ripped to easily playable ISOs or something sounds really cool. Is that doable and feasible in this day and age? The room is 18ft long by 12ft wide if that helps. And there is built-in cabinetry that can handle a 65" TV. There is tiered flooring so I plan to have two levels of seating. Anyone who is knowledgeable about all this want to help me plan and buy some stuff? I figure my budget is about $10-15k for everything.
I don't think he'll want to fill up an 18x12' room with amps and headphones. Lots of inspiration and gear suggestions if you have the time at avsforum.com
$10-15k is a workable budget for a HT, it's the equivalent of buying a Lexus as a car: shows you don't want to splurge yet still get solid quality+value. Even though you said no speakers, I highly encourage you to buy new/good ones anyway. Also, ditch the 65" TV eventually and go for a projector instead. The following is a quick guide since there's millions of combos possible with selecting each individual component. Speakers: For your room size, I suggest going with 5.1 since 7.1 really fleshes out and worth the money in bigger rooms only. There's around 50 great speaker manufacturers of which most people know only 3-4 i.e. JBL, Klipsch, Polk (NOT Bose). Speakers are the most subjective things to buy for a HT. Set $5k apart for these Marantz, Definitive, Paradigm, JBL, Klipsch, Jamo, NHT, Monitor, M&K, Martin Logan, etc. Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR806 $800 Blu Ray player: OPPO BDP-83 $500 Seating: various options $1-2k Remote control: Logitech Harmony $200 HTPC: w/blu ray drives, enough memory, $2k The room itself: soundproofing, double dry-wall, electrical, cabling, HVAC, etc. $5k
I'm in the market for a new receiver right now, and I currently own Denon and Yamaha receivers. I had told myself I would try a Marantz or Onkyo receiver, but after really shopping around and auditioning several, I've pretty much decided on a Pioneer Elite SC-27. I have a house full of Klipsch speakers........some of them over 20 years old, but if I was in the market for new ones, I think I'd have to splurge with some B&W's.
Make sure you check www.monoprice.com for your cabling and hardware. A/V cabling and hardware has an insane markup. Just because you're going to drop some cheddar doesn't mean you have to overpay for everything. Ohhh...you know what you could do with the savings from monoprice? Build a secret bookcase door to the room.
My dream system that I wanna build in six months: Samsung 65-inch LED http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-UN65C...ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=tv&qid=1275397344&sr=1-9 Definitive Technology Mythos ST Speakers http://www.definitivetechnology.com/Products/products.aspx?path=Home%20Theater%20Speaker%20Systems|Floor-Standing%20Systems&productid=Mythos%20ST%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&hometheater=1 Pioneer Elite SC-27 Audio Receiver http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/P...ent/AV-Receivers/EliteReceivers/ci.SC-27.Kuro Sonos BU250 Music System http://www.sonos.com/products/bundles/Default.aspx?rdr=true&LangType=1033 Couple that with PS3, Xbox 360, Uverse TV and Internet with some awesome seating. Think I can definitely build that system for less then $15K if you shop around.
Can you tell me the benefit of going with a projector? If the resolution of the projector is the same as the TV (1080p) but you're on a bigger screen, wouldn't it a poorer quality? I guess my monitor is a higher resolution than all of them and I wouldn't want to mount my 24", so size does matter I guess. Since there is tiered seating and the second tier is 6' deep that means the people seating up front will be 11ft away from the screen. How big should the TV/project screen be? What's a good projector out there? Also, to clarify... this house is 5 yrs old and already has the media room so I don't need to worry about HVAC etc. They have speakers and light dimmers and wiring already run. I'm not sure if they soundproofed it or not though. Everything else sounds along the lines of what I'm wanting though. Thanks for the tip on the 5.1. I know there are systems with alot more speakers out there (9.2, etc) but have no idea the breakoff point for what to do. So that was good to know. Thanks again.
b&w's are a nice choice. nautilus 801?? u prolly dont want to blow $9,000 on a reciever but the Luxman M-600A is pretty freakin sweet. marantz ud series look nice. blu-ray and SACD. stretch your spending to around $20,000 and you can have a room of audio/video bliss. Luxman M-600A: ~$9,000 B&W Nautilus 801s:~$11,000 Marantz UD8004: ~$3000 maybe the luxman is overkill...maybe it's all overkill. nevermind.
I like Pioneer receivers, the new Pioneer receivers have a built in Ipod interface, that displays your IPod info onscreen. You don't have to buy (aka get ripped off) by other receivers where you have to buy a separate adapter.
Pioneer Elites are pretty good but they overstate their wpc abilities. Sometimes they don't even get that high in stereo and then have a big drop-off for multichannel. But they do have a lot of bells and whistles. Personally, I prefer Marantz but that is because I am more about music and sound quality. Or you could always go for separates. Again Marantz, Integra, Outlaw Audio, or Cambridge Acoustics are good choices for cheaper priced separates. The Parasound Halo or New Classic lines are great for more money. As someone else mentioned - Oppo is good for a media player. Both of their Bluray players are universal and have usb connections for further flexibility. No point in spending more since physical media is going away. As someone said speakers are the most personal. I use 5 Monitor Audio speakers with an SVS sub. I think they mix well together and the SVS is a great value for a $500 subwoofer. For speakers you should go to stores and listen to see what you like. So many people swear by Klipsch but I can't stand them. They create serious listener fatigue for me and I find them muddy for music. So I would say for that go listen, and even ask to take them home to set up in your room with your components. Evertying else you could buy online without much auditioning but speakers are personal and particular.
i love the Luxman and B&W stuff, but the Marantz, correct me if i'm wrong but don't they basically share the same hardware as the Denon's?
Hi Yonker's......... My friend can take care of this for you... He owns a Audio/Visual Company... Would you like his number? Thanks
I suggest you get a PS3 for your blu-ray/dvd/video games/music/streaming needs. Not only do you have one of the best blu-ray players that will also support 3d soon, you will be able to play games as well. With the built-in hard drive, you can store all your movies and music, the highest one is 250GB, but you can upgrade the HD yourself. You can also use the PS3 as a media server to stream movies/music from your computer. Then, you've also got the ability to stream Netflix or buy movies from PSN.
I have a Denon that replaced a Pioneer and I have yet to be able to configure that Denon to produce sounds as good as the plain-jane Pioneer did. It wasn't even an Elite. Maybe it's just my ears, I don't know. I love Pioneer's products. Be careful with the Onkyo's - I've heard several of their models having issues with overheating or running hot. That being said, it's tough to beat Onkyo's for bang-for-the-buck.
