First dedicated Home Theater build w/ $10,000-$15,000 budget. Help me get there. (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

It all sounds good, with the modification Josh suggested.

Anthem is an excellent, long term solution for a receiver. In fact, I plan to get an Anthem preamp/processor in the next few months.

One slight modification. I know there is the whole "ported subs are best for movies" blah, blah. However, I personally suggest that for $400 more you get dual SVS SB4000s instead of PB3000s. The 4000 line is a significant step up from the 3000. Last year I migrated from ported to sealed subs (dual SB-16 Ultras) and will NEVER go back to ported subs. A excellent sealed sub has many benefits over ported, and the idea is just to get a sealed model with the output capabilities you need.

I'm sure @John Dirk will be more than happy to regale you with his pleasure with his dual SB4000s. You can also read his review HERE, or mine HERE.

 

[DanaRuns]

One slight modification. I know there is the whole "ported subs are best for movies" blah, blah. However, I personally suggest that for $400 more you get dual SVS SB4000s instead of PB3000s. The 4000 line is a significant step up from the 3000. Last year I migrated from ported to sealed subs (dual SB-16 Ultras) and will NEVER go back to ported subs. A excellent sealed sub has many benefits over ported, and the idea is just to get a sealed model with the output capabilities you need.

I'm sure @John Dirk will be more than happy to regale you with his pleasure with his dual SB4000s. You can also read his review HERE, or mine HERE.

I know sealed subs are supposed to be tighter, faster, and better for music. But I won't be using my theater for music, just movies and sports. One person said the PB3000 "is like being kicked in the chest by a mule on a roid rage." LOL! Assuming that's actually a benefit of a ported sub, what are the benefits of the sealed sub for a person using it strictly for movies?

 

[JohnRice]

I know sealed subs are supposed to be tighter, faster, and better for music. But I won't be using my theater for music, just movies and sports. One person said the PB3000 "is like being kicked in the chest by a mule on a roid rage." LOL! Assuming that's actually a benefit of a ported sub, what are the benefits of the sealed sub for a person using it strictly for movies?

Notice I never mentioned music.

Sealed subs never have port noise or get sloppy when you over-drive them. Since they don't have ports, they can't have chuffing or port noise. On the second issue, ported subs will get sloppy when you over-drive them, but a sealed cabinet inherently prevents this from ever happening.

That whole "only ported subs are good for movies" is an extremely outdated belief from when there were no subs available like we have today. It simply is no longer valid with some of the amazing sealed subs made today. People still cut the ends off the roast.

But, my point also is that the significantly greater capabilities of the 4000 line more than overcome the output difference between ported and sealed. I have no illusions I will convince you. I rarely can overcome an incomplete and outdated belief.

 

[DanaRuns]

I have no illusions I will convince you. I rarely can overcome an incomplete and outdated belief.

Ouch. That was unnecessary. You assume a lot. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to hear what you had to say and learn something.

In fact, I've never had a ported sub before. Only sealed subs.

 

[JohnRice]

Ouch. That was unnecessary. You assume a lot. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to hear what you had to say and learn something.

In fact, I've never had a ported sub before. Only sealed subs.

It’s really just frustration regarding the issue.

 

[JohnRice]

The fact is it’s not unusual for people to think the uncontrolled aspect of ported subs is a good thing. I no longer believe that.

 

[John Dirk]

Thank you all for such great advice and help! You've made a big difference.

Okay, after going over a million things, this is what I've tentatively decided on. Let me know if you see any red flags:

You've made some great choices!

I agree with @Josh Steinberg on the UHD player. I have that model and it is a great bargain. Prior to purchasing it I owned the venerable Oppo 203 which is in a class by itself but, for pure film playback, the Panny beats it in my opinion as it is better positioned to handle HDR.

You can probably save a little money if you're willing to consider a value brand such as RSL or Monoprice for your ceiling and surround speakers. I have these and have been generally happy with them.

C34E Ceiling Speaker - RSL Speakers

rslspeakers.com

QS8 Surround Speakers

Stunning surround sound that will turn your living room into the neighbourhood's favourite place to watch movies. You may never go to a movie theater again!

www.axiomaudio.com

I see you're willing to go used on the surrounds. You might want to consider doing so for the projector as well. With both Sony and JVC releasing new 4K laser options recently, there will likely soon be a flood of folks looking to upgrade and offering their lamp-based models for sale. I would have been one of those folks but decided to upgrade my center speaker first, placing a new projector out of budget for the time being.

If I may ask, how did you settle on screen size? The wall with the office chair in your room [accounting for the door] would appear to offer about 12 ft of usable real estate. That's about the same as mine, which easily accommodates a 135 inch screen. Finally, since you have the luxury of building from scratch, I'd strongly recommend considering an acoustically transparent [AT] screen. I just added one to my room and it's a game changer. Doing this at the onset however would have saved me a good deal of both time and money. Here is what I currently have.

See on Amazon

 

[JohnRice]

Ouch. That was unnecessary. You assume a lot. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to hear what you had to say and learn something.

In fact, I've never had a ported sub before. Only sealed subs.

Don't take anything I say personally. I want to help, but it can be frustrating at times, and I let it get to me more than it should. Sometimes I let frustrations from previous threads spill into new ones.

 

[DanaRuns]

Don't take anything I say personally. I want to help, but it can be frustrating at times, and I let it get to me more than it should. Sometimes I let frustrations from previous threads spill into new ones.

No worries.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Like @John Dirk suggested, I'd probably cut back on spending that much on the surrounds and probably also the Atmos in-ceiling speakers. IF you can, I'd rather spend some of that $ on the subs instead... though you were already over-budget.

And yes, as I also said earlier, I'd go w/ sealed subs as both Johns recommended.

And also yes, if doable, definitely consider an acoustically transparent screen setup (w/ possibly larger screen) to place the front LCRs behind the screen instead.

Personally, I'm fine w/ just a Panasonic 420 4K disc player since PJs can't make use of Dolby Vision anyway (and all the rest of the video capability is essentially identical for PJ use)... but sure, if you can get the 820 for just $400 (or even less on rare occasion), I guess why not since the 420 doesn't seem to get discounted much anymore since first few months of its release a couple years ago -- I only paid ~$150 for mine (and that was probably before the 820 occasionally dropped to $400 IIRC).

_Man_

 

[DanaRuns]

And yes, as I also said earlier, I'd go w/ sealed subs as both Johns recommended.

You guys, and especially @JohnRice, might be satisfied to know that you've all convinced me about the sealed subs, which was where I had always been before this, anyway. But I did succumb to the trope about ported subs being better for movies, until you guys brought me back.

So, even though it puts me even more over budget, I have now planned for a pair of SVS SB-4000 Sealed Box Subwoofers (in Black Ash for reflection, even though I love the look of the Piano Black better) instead of the ported PB3000s. I figure that I might be able to make up for part of the punch I lose by dumping the PB3000s by moving up to the 4000s when I go with sealed. Of course, that's another $400, putting me even more over budget.

I'm also now reconsidering the BluRay player. It's sooooo easy to spend "a little bit" more on good reasons for something a bit better, but boy does it start to add up quickly. Fortunately, my very understanding wife (yes, I'm in a same-sex marriage) said she was surprised I kept it down to where I have, and suggested I open the purse strings a little more, anyway. But I want to keep it to my budget if I can.

What are your suggestions for the cheaper surround and Atmos speakers?

 

[JohnRice]

You guys, and especially @JohnRice, might be satisfied to know that you've all convinced me about the sealed subs, which was where I had always been before this, anyway. But I did succumb to the trope about ported subs being better for movies, until you guys brought me back.

So, even though it puts me even more over budget, I have now planned for a pair of SVS SB-4000 Sealed Box Subwoofers (in Black Ash for reflection, even though I love the look of the Piano Black better) instead of the ported PB3000s. I figure that I might be able to make up for part of the punch I lose by dumping the PB3000s by moving up to the 4000s when I go with sealed. Of course, that's another $400, putting me even more over budget.

I'm also now reconsidering the BluRay player. It's sooooo easy to spend "a little bit" more on good reasons for something a bit better, but boy does it start to add up quickly. Fortunately, my very understanding wife (yes, I'm in a same-sex marriage) said she was surprised I kept it down to where I have, and suggested I open the purse strings a little more, anyway. But I want to keep it to my budget if I can.

What are your suggestions for the cheaper surround and Atmos speakers?

Regarding sealed subs, they do produce a different style of bass. It's a little more stealth, I would say. It's also cleaner. Part of their appeal is the ability to stop on a dime. So impacts and explosions are sharper, but they're less obviously flashy in general. To make an analogy, sealed subs are the one you want to marry and spend your life with. As I said in my review, it was when I watched Hunger Games with my new subs, and got to the scene where Katniss detonates the cornucopia that I was completely floored.

You certainly don't need to spend on B&W for your surrounds and overheads. The real bargain in overheads is the RSL C34E. Then you have ELAC Debut and Emotiva. I wouldn't spend more than that. For surrounds, agan you have Emotiva, but I'd probably go with ELAC Debut v2 or UniFi v2. ELAC has frequent sales. There are many other options, but those are proven options.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I'm also now reconsidering the BluRay player. It's sooooo easy to spend "a little bit" more on good reasons for something a bit better, but boy does it start to add up quickly. Fortunately, my very understanding wife (yes, I'm in a same-sex marriage) said she was surprised I kept it down to where I have, and suggested I open the purse strings a little more, anyway.

You married well

I think upping to the Panasonic player is going to give you the biggest boost you can get for $100 extra compared to any change in your proposed setup (which is awesome by the way - where do you live and when are you inviting us over??).

I feel on one hand I don’t want to oversell it because I’m not really comfortable spending other peoples money for them but I just want to say this: I’ve been on this forum for a long time and I have never seen anything flummox projector users in that time the way HDR implementation does.

My understanding is that flat panels can more readily display extreme differences between light and dark areas of the picture and that the studios who are mastering movies for 4K UHD are really pushing that extreme range of brightness with very little consideration for how it looks on a projector. Lots of discs that people are very happy with on flat panel TVs are looking too dark or dim or lifeless on projectors, that’s the common complaint I see. The Panasonic is really supposed to be the best in class by far at being able to understand it’s connected to a projector and to adjust the image so that it looks as good as it possibly can in those circumstances.

I don’t think the Sony you were looking at would be awful by any means. I’m just thinking that if you weren’t happy with how it was looking, then you’d wind up having to buy the Panasonic after the fact and then instead of being $100ish extra now, you’re eating the cost of the Sony to start over. The only reason I’m harping on this point is that I recall your initial post about wanting a bright and punchy image and I think this is a key part of that equation. But I also know I talk too much

Last I’ll say on that, I promise!

Whatever you choose there, I think your setup is going to be delightful. You’ve done a lot more research already than most people who come here looking for tips, and even more important, you’re passionate and enthusiastic about putting this all together, and I think that makes all the difference. In my opinion, too many people rely on throwing money at a professional installer and leaving them to make key decisions, without really thinking about what their own priorities are. You are so ahead of the curve in identifying what you want to achieve and how to achieve it and I think you’re going to wind up with a wonderful theater because of it.

 

[Todd Erwin]

One thing that I saw that was missing was a streaming device. Regardless of which 4K Blu-ray player you go for, streaming options are limited and are not updated or even supported for very long. If you shop around, you should be able to pick up a second generation Apple TV 4K for under $100 while they are still in stock. Most retailers are clearing them out now that Apple has released yet another updated model (which, other than storage size, is not that much of an upgrade). Best Buy has the 32GB version of the 2nd gen model for $109.99, and that could drop further for Black Friday to finally clear out all inventory. Costco currently has that same model for $99.99.

 

[DanaRuns]

One thing that I saw that was missing was a streaming device. Regardless of which 4K Blu-ray player you go for, streaming options are limited and are not updated or even supported for very long. If you shop around, you should be able to pick up a second generation Apple TV 4K for under $100 while they are still in stock. Most retailers are clearing them out now that Apple has released yet another updated model (which, other than storage size, is not that much of an upgrade). Best Buy has the 32GB version of the 2nd gen model for $109.99, and that could drop further for Black Friday to finally clear out all inventory. Costco currently has that same model for $99.99.

Thanks. I didn’t mention steaming because I already have the Apple TV 4K. I did t even know they have a newer version.

 

[John Dirk]

What are your suggestions for the cheaper surround and Atmos speakers?

Mine were included in my last post but the Elac line @JohnRice recommended are definitely worth a look as well. If I were buying now that's probably what I'd go with.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Thanks. I didn’t mention steaming because I already have the Apple TV 4K. I did t even know they have a newer version.

If you’ve got an older one and it’s still working fine for you, absolutely no reason to get the latest. The spec bump is very minor. I have no desire to upgrade mine either.

 

[Todd Erwin]

If you’ve got an older one and it’s still working fine for you, absolutely no reason to get the latest. The spec bump is very minor. I have no desire to upgrade mine either.

I’m still running a first gen 4K model with no issues.

 

[DanaRuns]

Welp, the list evolves. So here's where we are today:

Projector: Epson 5050ub $2,999
Screen: Elite Screens Aeon 58.3 x 104.1" 16:9 Fixed Frame Projection Screen with CineWhite Projection Surface $528

AVR: Anthem MRX-740 8K (140 watts per channel, 7.2) $3,099
BluRay: Panasonic UB420 4K disc player $250

Front Speakers: Bowers & Wilkins Matrix 802 Series 2 Existing
Center Channel: Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus HTM1 Existing
Surround Speakers: (Still undecided)
Atmos Speakers: RSL C34E MKII Edgeless In-Ceiling Speakers $300
Sub-Woofers: SVS SB-4000 13.5" 1200W Sealed Box Subwoofers - Pair (Black Ash) $3,399

Total cost: $10,575 (not including undecided surround speakers)

Seating: 1 row of 3 Seatcraft Virtuoso Heat & Massage, Top Grain Leather 7000, Powered Headrest, Powered Lumbar, Power Recline, Black $3,503

Room sound treatments and paint: $1,000 estimate.

GRAND TOTAL: $15,087 (not including undecided surround speakers)

Now, above and beyond that, I just realized I'm going to have to buy cables and wires, smart lighting (cans and sconces), and will likely need an electrician to bring in two dedicated circuits (one for the equipment and one for lighting). What else have I forgotten? LOL!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That’s a good list - and a reasonable call switching to the lower priced Panasonic UB420 rather than the 820. The advantage of the 820 is Dolby Vision, which projectors don’t do anyway, and a more robust build, which is more a cosmetic improvement than functional one.

For cables and wires I don’t have any specific advice except to say that expensive cables are usually overpriced snake oil. I’m not up to date with what our current recommendations for brands are (the Johns should be able to steer you in the right direction there) but that’s an area where people often get suckered into paying way more than they need to by overzealous sales agents. You should be able to spend less on that than you might think.