I purchased my home in Eastern Washington in 2007. This was the first time that I wasn't scraping by to make a down payment and could put some money toward furnishings. I wanted a home theater system, but didn't know a lot about them. I wound up getting nearly everything from Best Buy, mainly to save time. In one trip, I bought most of the home theater components, as well as a refrigerator and a washer/dryer pair. I think I spent around $12,000, which had to be the most I had ever charged to a credit card. The Best Buy sales lady was ready to have my baby.
The centerpiece of the system was a 55-inch Sony Bravia LCD. I don't know that it was the absolute best TV Sony had, but it wasn't too far from the top. This photo was taken not long ago, after I had added an Amazon Echo and an Oculus Rift.
Before the system was installed (by me, except for hanging the TV on the wall), I went to a local custom cabinet shop and had them fabricate the wood cabinet. The front panel of the cabinet drops down on a piano hinge, and hides most of the cables, power strip, network switch, etc.
The 55-inch Sony served me well, but every time I went into Costco, I got envious of the bigger and better displays there. I thought about putting another system together from my own research, but I found that I didn't know much outside of the big mainstream consumer brands. I walked in to Quicksilver Audio in Kennewick, Washington. Quicksilver used to sell and install car stereos and related gear, but for several years now they have focused on high-end home theater and audio systems. Kathy Williams-Deskin spoke with me for a bit to get an idea of what I wanted, then sent two of her installers to my house to take measurements. A week or so later, she had prepared three system configurations for me. I went back to her shop so she could show me what some of the component choices looked like. The one I chose included the following:
The same installers from Quicksilver spent a day and a half at my place, removing the old components and installing the new ones. The new installation is much cleaner than the old one, with cables routed better. They installed a power outlet on the wall behind the TV, as routing the power cord through a wall is apparently not kosher with electrical/fire codes. They brought a 4K copy of the movie Midway to test the system, and it was very close to the commercial theater experience. Neither of them had ever used an Oculus Rift, so they each took a turn with it before they left.
I haven't received the final bill yet, but I estimate this will come in at around $10,000.
The centerpiece of the system was a 55-inch Sony Bravia LCD. I don't know that it was the absolute best TV Sony had, but it wasn't too far from the top. This photo was taken not long ago, after I had added an Amazon Echo and an Oculus Rift.
Before the system was installed (by me, except for hanging the TV on the wall), I went to a local custom cabinet shop and had them fabricate the wood cabinet. The front panel of the cabinet drops down on a piano hinge, and hides most of the cables, power strip, network switch, etc.
The 55-inch Sony served me well, but every time I went into Costco, I got envious of the bigger and better displays there. I thought about putting another system together from my own research, but I found that I didn't know much outside of the big mainstream consumer brands. I walked in to Quicksilver Audio in Kennewick, Washington. Quicksilver used to sell and install car stereos and related gear, but for several years now they have focused on high-end home theater and audio systems. Kathy Williams-Deskin spoke with me for a bit to get an idea of what I wanted, then sent two of her installers to my house to take measurements. A week or so later, she had prepared three system configurations for me. I went back to her shop so she could show me what some of the component choices looked like. The one I chose included the following:
- Sony XBR-77A9G OLED television
- Denon AVR-X4500H receiver
- Sony UBP-X800M2 Ultra HD Blu-Ray/DVD player
- Roku Ultra HD/4K/HDR streaming video player
- Paradigm Monitor SE 2000C center speaker
- Paradigm Monitor SE 3000F front speakers, left and right
- Paradigm Paradigm Surround 1 rear speakers, left and right
- Paradigm Defiance V10 Black subwoofer
The same installers from Quicksilver spent a day and a half at my place, removing the old components and installing the new ones. The new installation is much cleaner than the old one, with cables routed better. They installed a power outlet on the wall behind the TV, as routing the power cord through a wall is apparently not kosher with electrical/fire codes. They brought a 4K copy of the movie Midway to test the system, and it was very close to the commercial theater experience. Neither of them had ever used an Oculus Rift, so they each took a turn with it before they left.
I haven't received the final bill yet, but I estimate this will come in at around $10,000.
