Basic configuration of Home theater room (1 Viewer)

[smithbrad]

For projector, I'm currently on an Epson 5050UB, which I acquired a couple years ago (on deep discount sale) right w/in that $2-2.5K sweetspot you mentioned -- I was actually originally planning for 135" screen, but had to settle for 120" now. Probably won't be upgrading that until maybe Epson's(?) next gen of laser 4K PJ (or comparable competition or maybe some new, reasonably affordable flat panel tech that can scale to 120"-plus) in the $4-5K range I guess, which may be another 3-5 years away since they (along w/ JVC and Sony) only just recently released a new gen of laser 4K PJ. Hopefully, that will indeed be my last display upgrade... but who knows?

I went from a Sharp Z10K projector to a Sony VPLHW10 and now have a Sony VPLHW45es. I'll wait until a Sony 4K Laser projector comes down to the $2.5K range before upgrading, which will probably take another 10 years.

PS: ...I got rid of 99% of my DVDs and almost never watch the small handful I still have anymore. There's really too much to watch in HD (and 4K) to deliberately go back to those.

I'm the opposite. Prior to 4K/UHD I became frustrated about the standard upgrading of catalog titles from the 1970's and up (that I grew up with) from one format to another. I expanded out to content from the 1920's through 1960's and TV from the 1950's and up. A lot of which has slowly been working to blu-ray. I'm finding so much to watch that I've never seen before that I have no interest in rewatching catalog titles I've seen many times, even in a new format (4K/UHD).

 

[JohnRice]

Considering your budget goal, I suggest looking for a good used projector from a reliable seller. Maybe even one of the people who has responded here. I think it is a mistake in the long run to put half your budget into a projector, which is where the most advancements are coming, and sacrifice audio, which doesn't change much. You're most likely going to want to upgrade the projector in the near future.

 

[CobraJones]

Great input here. I hd a quick question.

I have a similarly sized room: 15’x19.5’ but a lot of kids and we tend to all sit in one wide row. What are the main disadvantages of setting up the room wide instead of long (meaning putting the screen on the 19.5’ wall)?

 

[JohnRice]

Great input here. I hd a quick question.

I have a similarly sized room: 15’x19.5’ but a lot of kids and we tend to all sit in one wide row. What are the main disadvantages of setting up the room wide instead of long (meaning putting the screen on the 19.5’ wall)?

I'm guessing you're talking about using a projector. In that case, depending on the size of the screen, you might have a rather short throw.

As far as audio, ideally you want speakers with a very wide dispersion. This means no horn loaded speakers. Certain speaker are designed for wide dispersion because it has sonic benefits. Some of the more affordable options are the ELAC Debut v2 and UniFi v2, as well as Emotiva, but that'[s just off the top of my head. Also, it just won't be possible to get good bass response throughout the viewing area. How good or bad that is will depend on how much time and $ you are willing to put into dealing with it.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I have a similarly sized room: 15’x19.5’ but a lot of kids and we tend to all sit in one wide row. What are the main disadvantages of setting up the room wide instead of long (meaning putting the screen on the 19.5’ wall)?

How many is "a lot" though? And are these younger kids? I imagine younger kids might be fine just squeezing together into a narrower space, but that really depends of course. And as they grow older, not as many of them will probably want to watch stuff all together nearly as often I imagine -- most older teens nowadays certainly do not...

Basically, I'd recommend against doing that (unless you're very sure you'll need this for a very long time to come) as it'll probably involve (quite) significant compromises to both visual and audio for the 2ndary seats (on the far sides) and maybe not just for those either, but maybe also for the primary sweetspot too, particularly if it means moving the primary sweetspot much closer to the rear wall. And then, unless the setup can be easily reconfigured to the more standard, deeper arrangement when you no longer need the width, you may be (more or less) stuck w/ the compromises.

HT audio configs seem typically designed/intended for the (standard) deeper arrangement much like actual theaters, not wide/shallow. And for a good size, dedicated room where you might want more channels (like 7.2.4 instead of 5.1 or 5.1.2), going wide/shallow probably gets trickier to get working well.

Assuming you're going w/ projection, if you're really going wide/shallow arrangement, I suppose you might more likely favor CIH (constant image height) projection w/ a (very) large 2.4:1 AR screen to make the most of the arrangement while you're at it, if you weren't necessarily considering that before... although going w/ the largest possible 2.4:1 AR screen might mean choosing something acoustically transparent so you can hide the speakers behind the screen, which may be the better way to go anyway.

IF indeed going large w/ 2.4:1 AR, I wonder if it's possible to max things out w/ something slightly curved for best results. Might want to look into that possibility (including projector options/capabilities/support), if going largest 2.4:1 AR possible (like something that might take up nearly the entire height of the wall ).

IF you're gonna have to make compromises in certain aspects/areas, might as well also make the most of other potential advantages/benefits that can be gained from the unusual, non-standard arrangement...

_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I have a similarly sized room: 15’x19.5’ but a lot of kids and we tend to all sit in one wide row. What are the main disadvantages of setting up the room wide instead of long (meaning putting the screen on the 19.5’ wall)?

. . .

IF indeed going large w/ 2.4:1 AR, I wonder if it's possible to max things out w/ something slightly curved for best results. Might want to look into that possibility (including projector options/capabilities/support), if going largest 2.4:1 AR possible (like something that might take up nearly the entire height of the wall ).

IF you're gonna have to make compromises in certain aspects/areas, might as well also make the most of other potential advantages/benefits that can be gained from the unusual, non-standard arrangement...

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Maybe go (really) big for a ~220" (or bigger!) curved, acoustically transparent, 2.4:1 screen -- ~220" diagonal in 2.4:1 AR would yield ~7ft tall, nearly 17ft wide image.

Here are some more (basic/starter) info about going w/ a curved screen... though I found its throw ratio recommendation a tad confusing myself, but they claim you don't need a (particularly) special projector... though having/using anamorphic lens would probably be best/ideal, especially since that would also make most use of the PJ's light output capability, which will be especially important/needed for such a large projected image...

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_Man_

 

[JohnRice]

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With our free projector screen calculator, you can find the perfect screen size for your needs by calculating viewing distance, aspect ratio, and more. Get started today!

www.projectorscreen.com

Maybe go (really) big for a ~220" (or bigger!) curved, acoustically transparent, 2.4:1 screen -- ~220" diagonal in 2.4:1 AR would yield ~7ft tall, nearly 17ft wide image.

Here are some more (basic/starter) info about going w/ a curved screen... though I found its throw ratio recommendation a tad confusing myself, but they claim you don't need a (particularly) special projector... though having/using anamorphic lens would probably be best/ideal, especially since that would also make most use of the PJ's light output capability, which will be especially important/needed for such a large projected image...

Home

TV, Projector, & Wi-Fi Troubles? We've Got Your Back! Our mission is to empower you with step-by-step solutions for your home entertainment devices. In an often complex tech world, we aim to make things easy

pointerclicker.com

_Man_

I hope you’re joking.

 

[CrossAtlantic]

What would you consider the ideal position for the sub? Some people I spoke to have suggested placing them behind the last row of seating. I have never see such a setup myself.

 

[CrossAtlantic]

Hello,

After spending all this time researching and talking to multiple people, I have come to following configuration. I also bumped up my budget to $12K to accommodate.

Projector: Epson 4050
Receiver: Denon 4700
7.2.2 setup with Episode Signature 7 series speakers (In Wall).

I have only heard about episode speakers from 2 home theater guys. These are only sold through dealerships. Wanted to ask if anyone here could comment on the quality and compare them with other brands in the same price range (about $3500 for 7.2.2 speakers)