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help with HT design.

post #1 of 5
2/9/10 at 1:23pm
Thread Starter 
 

Hi all, I'm planning on switching my current setup (60in DLP 5.1 surround, all 10+ years old). I'm looking for ideas on components and need some help with speaker placement. I'll apologize in advance for this post being so long.

The general idea is to hang a 55” LCD or LED above the fireplace. I know there are some concerns about heat when you place these up there, but we only have 2-3 fires per year, I’ve placed a thermometer on the mantle when we do and the highest reading I’ve seen is 85F, so I’m willing to take the risk. Since this will be on the main floor, I don’t necessarily need “soul rattling” base (movies are watched after the kiddos are in bed), but crisp clear sound is nice. The ability to fill the room with sound might be tough just dealing with the size and shape (see diagram below)  


Question 1. Is LED worth the extra cost? I figure I can get an LCD for $1200 or less, and recently I saw a LED at Sam’s club for $1600. My thought is, that the picture quality on either will be so much better than what I’m used to that the extra money will be better spent elsewhere. This is going to be our main TV for our home, so it’ll get some use and I really don’t want to replace it for a loooooong time.  


Question 2. We have an open floor plan, and in our existing setup I installed 2 flush ceiling mount rears. When I switch the room I don’t have anywhere good for the fronts. I figure I can use the existing ones for middle, and install 2 flush in the ceiling for where the new rears need to go. My problem is fronts (particularly on the right) I’ve thought about a sound bar, but I have no experience with them. The Bose speakers are small but. . .   


Question 3. Receiver suggestions. Currently I have a Pioneer that’s 10 yrs old, and it’s time for new. It’s been ok, but before I had an Onkyo that I remember being better. I assume I’ll get a 7.1 system, are there features I should try to get?


I plan to buy a blu-ray with internet connectivity or similar too, so I’d be interested in thoughts on those. Also there is not currently an outlet on the wall where the components will be, is there anything else I should have the electrician do while he’s here? I hope to get this done by June, and have a budget of $3k.   

Thanks in advance!


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post #2 of 5
2/9/10 at 2:18pm
Welcome,

1) I recently purchased a 46" 120hz LCD for $1000 and I love it. If you think about it, by the time something hits the shelves, it becomes obsolete. Something newer is always coming out. If you cant do projection, I say save the cash and get a nice LCD with greater than 60 Hz. Put the savings into a newer speaker setup.

2) Do not buy Bose! Blahhh.. booo.. but sorry I cannot answer this question.

3) Make sure it has quite a few of HDMI plugs


Im sorry im not the most tech savvy, but thats what I thought of when I read this post.

Good luck!,

Adam S.
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post #3 of 5
2/10/10 at 11:49am
Looks like you have a good plan running and my last house was an open for plan so I definitely feel your pain.  In relation to your drawing, where were putting your seating?

1 - TV's - it's really personal preference I think, but here is something that I've done and told my friends to do the same and so far it has been good results.  I have a 61" Samsung 6187 LED projection TV for my main theater, and two 42" Vizio XVT series for the Living room and office and they've done fine for me.  What I did was measure from my seats to where I wanted my TV and then went shopping and measured that same distance to the TV's I was looking at.  That gave a good feel for how it would be at your house.  Next thing I tell people is to also bring a couple of your favorite movies to test with as well and make the sales person play them.  If it's something you've watched a bit, you know what to look for and compare.  I usually being at least one high action movie to check for screen blurring and which usually isn't a problem with most now, but on some of the cheaper tv's it's still an issue.

2 - Speakers - same it's all preference.  I don't like Bose as far as my theater goes, but I do still use Bose for an old stereo setup I have which still sounds great.  I use Klipsch F3 series package for my setup, and haven't had an issue and it sounds great for what I watch.  I've heard several others that sound great as well it just depends on your preference, whether or not you want to see the speakers or hide them, and price.  Do the same as the TV, if they have some hooked up to a video setup take a listen and see what you think for different ones, at the very least they should be able to play CD's or some audio so you can take a listen. 

3 - I'm still looking at upgrading mine.  I use a Yamaha and have been pleased with it but it doesn't have enough inputs, so that is definitely one of my main choices in picking a new setup is to make sure it will have all of the connections you need to make to it work.  I've seen a lot of good reviews on Denon receivers but haven't dived into looking at them yet.
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post #4 of 5
2/12/10 at 7:49am
That's a really tricky layout.

As for mounting the TV above the fireplace, heat is one concern, but the bigger issue is likely to be neck strain from having to look up at the TV all the time.  Especially a 55" model.  Ideally, the center of the screen should be at or only slightly above eye level when the viewer is seated.

Also, unless the scale of your drawing is off, the current speaker positions will be quite asymmetric with respect to the TV location.  Even though receiver calibration can compensate for this sort of thing, yours seems like it could be a bit extreme and difficult to overcome.

Are you sure you can't switch the room around and put the TV on the 12.5' wall opposite the fireplace?  12.5' wide should be plenty of room for a wall-mounted TV as well as a set of slim, wall-mounted front speakers.

I would also suggest you stay away from Bose, unless you have an unlimited budget and sound quality means nothing to you...   If small form-factor is a crucial requirement, check out the speakers from Energy.  Their Take Classic system is very often recommended, as are some of their other models.

You already have in-ceiling surrounds, so you only need a matched set of front speakers and a subwoofer.  Very few speaker manufacturers also make good subwoofers - so consider getting a separate sub.  The Dayton models at Parts-Express are good performers at a low price.

For receivers, check out the offerings from Onkyo - very highly regarded around here.  Models from the 607 on up offer excellent bang for the buck.  Features to look for:

1) HDMI 1.3 "Repeater" - this allows you to hook up Blu-Rays using a single HDMI cable and get all the HD sound.  HDMI "Pass Through" will not let you do this.

2) Analog-to-Digital upconversion - this will convert analog video sources (like Wii, DVD, etc.) to digital and output via HDMI (usually at either 1080i or 1080p resolution).  This is great because it means you only need to run a single HDMI cable from receiver to TV, regardless of the type of source you want to watch.
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post #5 of 5
2/12/10 at 1:11pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the input so far. In terms of the furniture layout, I should have been more specific. Currently the room is setup like you had suggested Jason. The flush ceiling speakers are directly above the sofa, there is a 2nd couch along the top wall and a chair in the living room close to the island. I've always felt like the fireplace should be kind of the focal point of the room, but we've got our backs to it. I planned to put 1 couch against the 12.5 foot wall on the left, one on the top wall (slid farther left) and the chair would more or less stay put. 

I know the ceiling speakers are in a bad spot. They could be moved or just not used if they detract from the sound. Also I have a good sub that I was planning on using. 

I hadn't thought about neck strain. It's such a long distance, I'm not sure how big of an issue that will be, maybe I'll sit against that wall for a few hours tonight.

Jason do most of receivers these days come with speaker calibration? Thanks for the insight on HDMI etc.

I'm looking at the blu-rays with network capability, does anyone know if I'll need to run a network cable or are they wireless? 
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