Recent content by joseph westcott

Your planned seating distance is too close to the center of the room. This is an audio null area. Not good. Your seating distance should be 2/3 back away from the short wall (which I am glad to see you selected the correct wall for the front speakers). 7.1 is overrated. Not much material is...

It is not advised to place your speakers on the long wall of a room. Especially a room that approaches a square dimension like yours. I would reconsider usiing the entire space with no walls and placing the display and speakers on the short wall. Seating distance should be 2/3 back from the...

Congratulations and welcome to the big, bad world of front projection!!!! Once you go big, there is no going back!!!!

The projector will upscale to its native resolution of 720p from whatever signal you send it. Every projector is different. It is probably better to buy a quality DVD player to do all the video processing.

The best seating distance will be around 13 or 14 feet from a short wall. 11 feet puts you too close to the center of the room which is an acoustical null area, and should be avoided. The projector mounting distance seems fine to me, especially in a light controlled room. I find moving the...

For acoustical reasons, you want to be sitting about 11 or 12 feet back from the screen (front speakers). Video wise, far more subjective but you should be good. 9 feet places you too close to the center of the room which is an acoustical null area. Not good.

I suggest just getting a Tripp Lite Surge Protector. I use the HT10DBS. It provides signal isolation and 3750 joules of protection. The equipment insurance is $100,000!!!!! for all UL or CSA connected components. A more expensive solution like Panamax, Monster Power and others is not needed...

There are a lot of companies that either sell absurdly expensive cables with all kinds of wild claims of improved performance or other vendors that sell garbage. I really like the approach of Blue Jean Cables. They tell you exactly what cables and connectors they use, why, and sell them for a...

Audio is VERY subjective. Just ask any Bose speaker system owner. But, if it were my project, I would do it. I would probably find a way to still utilize the space. Maybe recess your AV equipment into that wall. Store your DVDs and CDs in that space. Run your cables in that space. Make it...

You really need to check with building codes in your state before sealing up a window. Some states require a secondary means of exiting an area like a window. It may not mean much to you if you live in the house all your life but should you need to sell the house, it could come back to bite you...

A room with square dimensions is not the best starting place for good sound quality. Ideally the room would be rectangular with the front speakers on a short wall and a seating distance two thirds back into the room. There are some room calculators that are free on line to help you determine...

7.1 will support up to 7 speakers and a subwoofer. Some receivers and speakers provide support for biamping. I believe this Denon does support this. You can power two speakers with the extra two channels to double the power going to the two selected speakers, if your speakers also support this...

Sony has never made any DVD player that could compare to the other brands mentioned above so I would have a hard time recommending them. The BD-P1400 is a step backwards from the 1200 because it no longer uses the Silicon Optix Reon solution (considered one of the best affordable solutions at...

I personally will not invest in any HD DVDs or Blu-Ray discs. I rent them ALL from Netflix. The HD-XA2 and BD-P1200 both use the Silicon Optix Reon video processors and both are excellent as standard definition players, should either technology disappear, so I do not feel that I have made a bad...

Sorry to hear about the fire. I know that no amount of insurance money can bring your life back to where it was. I wish you luck this coming year and only urge you to reconsider in wall speakers. Not a good solution for optimal audio quality. Sheet rock and wall studs are no match for quality...