Help me design my dedicated HT room (1 Viewer)

[greggor]

Well I've been away from the forum for awhile but it's great to be back and I'm finally ready to start construction on my new dedicated HT room in the basement of my house.

Here is what I have and what I'm hoping to accomplish;

My room dimensions will be 17 feet long by 13 feet wide with 9ft ceilings. I want all the wiring concealed within the walls prior to hanging dry wall so advice on type of wiring, and connectors will be needed. I'm torn between going with a front projector or LCD/Plasma set-up. A front projector is my first choice but picture quality is a very high priority as is high definition.

Here's my existing equipment (most of which will stay)

B&K 7 Channel Receiver
Denon 2900 DVD Player
Direct TV HD satellite receiver
Paradigm studio 60's (front)
Paradigm Studio 40's (rear) I may replace these with in wall speakers due to ceiling height constraints in the rear of the room.

Subwoofer PW 2200.

My budget for a projector, screen and wiring is about 3-$4000.00. this budget needs to include installation which I'll most likely be doing myself with the advice of fellow board members.

If I go the projector route I'll need to know how many feet away from the screen and the height placement for optimal viewing as well as top models which fall in price range. I can post pics of the room area upon request.

If I've missed any vital info just let me know. All responses and advice are welcome. TIA,

Greg

 

[Jim Mcc]

I definitely recommend a 720p projector. The cheapest 1080p is $4,000. You can get a quality 720p DLP projector for less than $900, Mitsubishi HD1000. It's been getting great reviews from owners, and at Projectorcentral.com and
Projectorreviews.com. A close second would be the Optoma HD70, 720p DLP projector. If you want an LCD projector, the Panasonic AX100 is very popular, but about $1900. And the Sanyo Z5 LCD is about $1500. You'll need to decide on which projector first, then you'll know where to mount it on ceiling(throw distance) and where to run cables to. You'll need a ceiling power outlet for projector, and I would run an HDMI cable and component cable to projector.

 

[greggor]

Thanks for the reply Jim. I was planning on running an electrical outlet on the ceiling as well as HDMI and component video cables. I guess I'm already pretty sold on the front projector, I just need to decide which model fits my needs best. Any thoughts on the Sony VPL-HS60? Reviews seem positive and the price is well within my range. Thanks again for the response.

Greg

 

[Jim Mcc]

That Sony has gotten very good reviews, but I've never seen it. Are you not considering a DLP projector?

 

[greggor]

I am definately considering a DLP projector.

Actually I'm real close to ordering an InFocus IN76. Reviews are all very positive and I've always heard great things about InFocus projectors. I just wish there was some place around here to do side by side comparisons.

My HT room is coming along and should be framed out by the end of this weekend. I've got an electrician coming out in two weeks so I need to decide soon on a projector so I can get the outlet mounted to the ceiling in the proper place.

 

[Jim Mcc]

That's a very nice projector. I considered it a while back, but it was overpriced. What does it cost these days? An even better 720p DLP projector is the Mitsubishi HC3000, for a little less than $1500. Check out the reviews at Projectorcentral.com and Projectorreviews.com.

 

[greggor]

I've seen it online for as low as $1800.00 which I think is a very good price considering it debuted at $2999.00 I haven't ordered one yet so I'll check out the Mitsubishi..... thx

 

[greggor]

Jim,

Can you connect DVD directly to the projector using Component video cables and connect a satellite HD receiver to the HDMI input and switch between the two? I'm referring to the Mitsubishi. I don't pass HD signals through my receiver so this would be a very important feature.

 

[Jim Mcc]

On either projector you can hook up your DVD player directly to component input of projector, then hook up your HD satellite to the HDMI input of projector. I don't use my receiver as a switcher either. Make sure that $1800 price for the IN76 is from an authorized Infocus dealer. If not, Infocus will not honor the warranty. It says so right on their website. One advantage of the IN76 is the image out of the box is excellent. The Mits. 3000 will need a little more adjustment with a calibration disc.

 

[Parker Clack]

I saw the Infocus IN76 at CEDIA and it had a killer picture with both SD and HD DVD. I really liked the Panasonic AX100 as well.

 

[greggor]

I'm leaning towards the InFocus, but torn between this and the Mitsubishi. I'm sure I can't go wrong with either one......

 

[greggor]

Well, I pulled the trigger and went with the InFocus IN76 and a Criterion brilliant white 72" screen. I was close to going with Mitsubishi but I chose the InFocus due to their legendary performance with projectors. In a few months once all the dry wall is done and the walls are painted and everythings installed I'll let everyone know how I like it. In the meantime though I'm sure I'll have some questions regarding wire runs and good value cables. My componenets will be about 20 feet away from the screen and projector so I'll have some lenghty HDMI runs to make as well as Componenet video cables. Any early recommendations to set me forth on the right path?

 

[bergman]

I bought the DLP Optoma EP719 native 3:4 blah (720p) but it is really nice. I paid $879 with rebate at circuitcity.com. 2500 contrast and 2000 ansi lumens. it works great for cost in my opinion.