Newbie looking for guidence on Best Buy Magnolia Set Up (1 Viewer)

[bumpychef]

Good evening,

My wife has graciously allowed me to turn our upstairs game room into a media room. As of right now we have decided on our TV set, but i'm working on creating a 5.1 surround sound system and it's very difficult to find a starting point. I've never considered myself to be an audiophile, but my main goal is to get a good sound system and something that won't take away from having a very large TV set. We will mostly be watching TV shows and movies.

The only store I have visited was the Magnolia part of our local best buy since that's where I will be purchasing our TV from. As of now they have suggested the following:

Reciever:
Pioneer El Pioneer Elite VSX – $699

Center:
Bowers and Wilkins FP35378 – HTM62 – $450

Front Speakers:
Bowers and Wilkins 684 – $575x2 = $1150

Rear Speakers:
Bowers and Wilkins CCM664 – $274.99 x2 = $550

Sub:
?????? assume around $300

This brings my total to:around $3149

While I do not mind spending the money for a decent sound system, I want to make sure that I am in fact getting a system that's not over kill for my room.

My room is 17feet by 17feet
and the TV will be an 80" LCD with us sitting about 12 feet back.

Any guidence at all would be appreciated. My main reasons for starting with Best Buy was to get a starting point and to have someone to install along with them offering 18 months interest free financing. I'm open to a local shop or even putting the system together and installing it myself if there's a non in ceiling option and it's significantly cheaper to where I don't need to use their financing.

Thank you so much for your help,
Clay

 

[schan1269]

12' is too far back. Try 9'. Even then, you are too far.Properlt set up, your seat is in the absolute center of the room(the 9').DD and DTS allow a 60% placement which puts you 11'. Too far for a 80".Why are you not doing a projector? Projector and screen will cost less than the 80" LCD. $300 is too low for the sub.

 

[bumpychef]

Thank you for your response. I looked up a few distance recommendations online and most said in the 9' foot range as well. I was always afraid the I would be to close at 12' so I was wrong with that lol. I have moved the seating to the 9' make now. I've never thought about a projector, I will have to do some research on them and I guess get ready to shell out more for a sub.

 

[schan1269]

Which TV were you considering?That room easily supports a 110-125" screen size, even at 9-11' seating.Your content plays a role as well. I watch a lot of 2.40(and wider) so the image tends to be short.Will fathom a guess a projector/painted wall will cost considerably less than the TV, and will provide the sub budget.

 

[Robert_J]

my main goal is to get a good sound system and something that won't take away from having a very large TV set

The better the sound system, the more it compliments the TV, not take away from it.

Like Sam said, a BenQ projector and painted wall or DIY screen will be under $1,200 and give you a much better sub budget.

Subs - How large of an enclosure are you willing to live with? Subs range in size from a shoebox to a refrigerator. Larger = more efficient and deeper bass.

 

[Bryan^H]

http://www.axiomaudio.com/epic-60-500-home-theater-system#

Why not a decent 7.1 setup(including sub) for a little over your budget. The Epic 60 has gotten great reviews.
It is what I'm eyeing for my setup This October!

 

[bumpychef]

The TV we are looking at is the vizio m class 80". http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/detail.jsp?skuId=2157041&st=categoryid$abcat0101001&cp=1&lp=28&pid=1219069106447My budget is around 7k for the sound system , tv, and installation. It is flexible but ideally that's what I'm trying to stay at. I've never done any research on projectors. Would the quality of the projector be superior to the tv? I know vizio isn't the highest quality on tv, just trying to stay in budget. If a projector and screen would look better for the same or cheaper even then i could put more money into the sound system too.

 

[schan1269]

70-80" TV is, by far, the worst value in home electronics.It used to be a good value when DLP was around (the 82" was $3000).There are no, none, in the 70-80" size that can't be bested by a $2500 projector and an

 

[bumpychef]

I'm OK with almost any size bass enclosure. One question with the projector is we have a ceiling fan in the middle of the room, would it be possible to mount it so that the fan does not hinder it.the price of the benq seems amazing if the quality is there

 

[Wayne_j]

A projector should be superior to a TV as long as you keep your lights dimmed. If you like watching TV with full lights on, the LCD TV will be better.

As for price, you can get the BenQ W1070 projector for $742. You can get a 125" screen for $286. A total savings of $1,972 over the Vizio.

 

[schan1269]

"We" typically don't like ceiling fans in theatres. Why?It messes up acoustics.But, depending on the fan(is it flush or foot drop?), the light beam can go under. Many projectors are mounted at the same height as the top of the image.The only issue...is the fan where the projector needs to be?. If so...different projector.

 

[JohnRice]

Personally, I wouldn't use in-wall or in-ceiling speakers.

 

[Robert_J]

The TV we are looking at is the vizio m class 80".http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/detail.jsp?skuId=2157041&st=categoryid$abcat0101001&cp=1&lp=28&pid=1219069106447My budget is around 7k for the sound system , tv, and installation. It is flexible but ideally that's what I'm trying to stay at. I've never done any research on projectors. Would the quality of the projector be superior to the tv? I know vizio isn't the highest quality on tv, just trying to stay in budget. If a projector and screen would look better for the same or cheaper even then i could put more money into the sound system too.

What does the installation cover? Just plugging in components? We can help with that. Unless it is overly complicated, we recommend you doing it yourself. Things will eventually break and when that happens how will you know what to replace or even how to fix it? You won't and then you have to call your audio guy again and get another charge.

 

[Robert_J]

I'm OK with almost any size bass enclosure. One question with the projector is we have a ceiling fan in the middle of the room, would it be possible to mount it so that the fan does not hinder it.the price of the benq seems amazing if the quality is there

Here's an example of a real sub - http://www.powersoundaudio.com/collections/power-x/products/xv30fse

 

[bumpychef]

Thank you so much for the advice. After trying to fit what I want in my budget and the advice from this forum so far I have landed on the following(subject to change by any further advice). I'm trying very hard to keep my budget below 10k and I've decided to start with a 3.1 system and later add on the rear channels. I've also tried to save money by selecting an entry level projector screen recommended earlier in the thread for around 500 instead of the 2500 screen that was presented to me at the store. Unless there's a compelling reason to upgrade the screen right away and then i'll just work some overtime. My wife gets headaches from watching 3D content as well so we will never use the 3d feature which I've read is one reason to get a high gain screen.

Fronts B&W CWM7.4 $799.99x2= $1599.98
Center B&W CMC2BLA $1249.98
Bass forgot the model $900
Receiver $699
Projector Epson 5030UB $2499.98
Screen Elite Screen 120 Inch $500
Total $7448.94

Front speakers:
http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Speakers/Custom_Installation/CI_Series/CWM7-4.html

Center Speaker:
http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/Speakers/Home_Audio/CM_Series/CM-Centre.html

Screen(not sure if I should do powergain, cinewhite, or cinegrey):
http://www.amazon.com/Elite-Screens-120-Inch-SableFrame/dp/B00366S0UW/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1407716949&sr=1-3&keywords=projector+screen+16+9

Projector:
http://www.amazon.com/Epson-5030UB-1080p-3LCD-Projector/dp/B00F144HYA

The front left and right speaker would be placed inside the wall to keep my wife happy and the center would be in front of the screen in all it's glory. I'm not confident in my ability to place speakers inside of dry wall and run the cables correctly so i'm going to have them install everything(i think they said 500 for installation) and i'm sure there will be other costs for wiring electrical outlets etc that i'll have it for around 8500 or 9k.

Thank you for your time and expertise. So far this has been a much enjoyable experience reading the forum compared to last year when I tried to do this alone, got frustrated with the learning curve and just got a sound bar.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I just got that Epson 5030UB projector a few weeks ago, and I'm very very happy with it. The picture quality is amazing. At the moment, I'm projecting onto a lower end Elite screen, and it looks fantastic to me. There are better screens out there and I'll get one eventually, but my current setup isn't meant to be permanent so I didn't want to spend too much on a screen that might only be used for a year or two.

It does come with two pairs of 3D glasses - I've been impressed with the 3D quality. My girlfriend in the past has gotten headaches and eyestrain from 3D, but we've watched maybe three or four 3D movies on the projector and she's commented on how it's much easier on her eyes and head than any other 3D she's seen before, so if you and your wife are feeling adventurous one day, who knows, maybe it'll work for her. If not, you can probably sell the glasses for a few bucks, or hold on to them for yourself. When I was looking at projectors.

Anyway, this is just one guy's thumb's up on that particular model of projector. (I also saw it on display at the local Best Buy/Magnolia, and I have to say, the image quality looks so much better to me at home than it did in the store. So if you saw it at your store and thought it looked good, it's probably going to look even better when you bring it home!)

 

[Robert_J]

I don't see a B&W sub (assuming that's what you chose) for $900 at Magnolia's site. But the only ones they list are 8" and 10" models. There isn't a $900 sub in the store that can match this one - http://www.powersoundaudio.com/collections/power-x/products/xv15se . And if you want to chat with the owner of the company, he's pretty active in the Speakers & Subs section here.

 

[bumpychef]

Thanks so much for the sub recommendation I will decently look at the sub. The sub I'm confident in buying and "installing" with out best buy.

 

[Robert_J]

If you want to DIY, I can guide you through the process as well. Up subs of this size. That's four 18" subs on each side.