Guys

Can someone point me to a good thread where there are photos of home theaters using Plasma's instead of projectors?

Thanks

If you go to the next forum down, you'll likely find some very nice spaces that use plasmas (and LCD's). Don't think you'll find any theaters with them though.

Here's mine:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/front_040608.jpg

WonHung,

Wow, very elligent. Are those accousticall treatments? Well done.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=920011&highlight=pioneer+pictures

WonHung,

Wow, very elligent. Are those accousticall treatments? Well done.

Thanks dellhop.

Yes, those are acoustical treatments. They're wrapped in a canvas type fabric with the 4'x4' panels having a beveled edge treatment. I'm in the process of getting another panel behind the center and checking out options for treating the ceiling.

I like that color paint you used WonHung. well unless it's white and the lights are giving the color I suppose. :)

Sexy room and set-up!
Can't make out the different subs though, what are they?
Re: stew's comment -- that is subjective and I think what he has is a theater with an image on par with multi-thousand dollar PJ's.
Without that PJ's fan noise, also he can use his theater whenever and as often and however he likes.


OP....the Pioneer pictures thread is probably the best option you have. When I finish my room I will get some pics up on here for you. Should be next saturday.

Re: stew's comment -- that is subjective and I think what he has is a theater with an image on par with multi-thousand dollar PJ's.
Without that PJ's fan noise, also he can use his theater whenever and as often and however he likes.

Stew should have said "for the most part" or "generally", cause it is true the #1 goal in recreating the Theater Experience in your home is of course the BIG SCREEN.

The OP obviously has taken audio to that level, he just doesn't have the big screen element.

I have 2 "setups"....FR with a plasma, and a Theater with a PJ.....the wife watches the plasma, while I'm down in the Theater.

John,

Thanks, John. The paint color is a lighter shade of yellow (more on the cream side.) I got the paint scheme from a Gliden brochure which had the color scheme on the cover. The trim is definitely a gloss white. My digital camera seems to put a bit of a warmer tone to pics taken in this room. But the picture is pretty close to what the room looks like.

Eagles,

Thanks, Eagles. Wanted to make an area where I can kick back and enjoy quality sound and video but also have a room which conveys the overall interior design I have through out my house. The sub on the left is a Velodyne HGS15II and the sub on the right is a DD18.

Very nice.
Minimalistic, clean and sexy.



Plasma George...I know what is commonly thought of as a home theater is a PJ set-up, but I think that is much too narrow. After all, aren't these same people trying to way outdo your normal AMC or Carmike theater. So they are creating the atmosphere but changing to their likes and desires, no?

I believe any room designed around the entertainment set-up is a theater room.

I agree, especially with plasmas screens growing in size, BUT, a Theater is a room built and designed from the ground up to function as a Theater. In wall speakers, soffit for PJ, screen build, sound absorption/isolation, dark colors, fabrics, drapes, etc.

What Wong did doesn't require any of that. Find an empty room, go to an Audio/Video store, drop down the CC and buy a lot of media gear, bring everything home and plug it all in.

BTW, it's a very nice room, I just agree with Stew in that it's more of a media room than a theater.

Plasma George,

Actually, I take a slight exception to the fact that you think I just took an empty room and threw a bunch of gear in there. The basement was unfinished when I started the project and there was quite a planning that went into it. I consulted an acoustics company for much of the detail. Also selection of the gear I have was done with the same amount of detail. I personally have my own opinions of some of the theaters out there which I feel had choices made to put the "look" of the room first over the performance. Having a large screen is nice but having too large a screen can be detrimental too. Even though the room looks run of the mill in construction, the room was purpose built with some accomodations made due to the house infrastructure which couldn't easily be changed.

With respect to my room, it's plenty fine with movie performances with the lights off. Even with all the elaborate rooms out there, would you notice all the theater type details with the lights off? The 50" screen is fine for my room size and setup. The sound I have in there rivals the best out there. People I've had over who are either an ethusiast or your regular Joe Six Pack has said the experience in my room is amazing.

I like it a lot... I think by labling it a media room... I would be complimenting it... I mean, my theater is NOT the place to really kick back, read, have a classy drink and critically listen to my favorite music.

In that regard, I am a little jealous even because this setup looks perfect for that and good for content watching, where mine is great for movies and other content screening, but not good at all to kick back, read, have a classy drink and critically listen to my favorite music.

Always trade offs, no matter what and how you build it for sure.

Won Hung,

I have those exact same speakers. Ds8's for the back. Your acoustic panels look awesome. Where did you get them?

Have you noticed a real difference in sound with the acoustic panels? Is it real "dead" in that you have to crank it up? I am hoping to create a tight sounding environment.

What pre-processor and amp are you using?

Can you send a picture with the back of your room?

Very impressive.

I noticed you have the grills off your B&W's. Does that help sound?

Dax,

Thanks for the compliment. I got the panels from a company called Acoustical Solutions in Richmond, VA. They're the Alphasorb panels with the Guilford fabric.

Yes, I've noticed a significant improvement immediately. Made me wish I had bought the panels sooner. Part of the planning I did with Acoustical Solutions was discussions on not making the room too dead. I originally thought about putting wall to wall berber carpeting. Mike at Acoustical talked me out of it. Hence why I went with hardwood floors with an area rug per his recommendations.

My pre-pro is a Meridian 568.2MM and the amps I'm using are a Bryston 6B-ST for the front three channels and a Carver TFM-25 for the rear surrounds.

Here's a pic of the back of the room:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b173/zx10guy/home%20theater/backleft_040608.jpg

As to the reason I have the grills off, I've always gotten into the habit of operating my speakers with the grills off. Of all the speakers I've listened to, I've always felt the speakers sounded better with the grills off. The exception was my old Mirage M490 speakers which did sound better with the grills on.

Are the acoustic panels 1'' or 2'' thick? I may go to the same company. They look awesome in your room.

They're 2" thick. When you contact them, they have a fabric sampler they can send out to you.

ETA: They also come in two mounting types. The cheaper ones are the impaler clips which imbeds into the drywall. The ones I got are with the Z-clip brackets. Basically Z shaped brackets where the wall brackets are screwed into the drywall. The locations I mounted the wall brackets didn't have a stud so I just used drywall anchors.

I had been told 1'' panels so that it did not over absorb. What were the main things you noticed after you put up the panels? I am not sure what it is I will her differently after I prep my room acoustically.

What do you have in the corners? Are those bass traps? If so which ones did you use from acoustic solutions? thanks for your help.

Stew should have said "for the most part" or "generally", cause it is true the #1 goal in recreating the Theater Experience in your home is of course the BIG SCREEN.

The OP obviously has taken audio to that level, he just doesn't have the big screen element.

I have 2 "setups"....FR with a plasma, and a Theater with a PJ.....the wife watches the plasma, while I'm down in the Theater.

Exactly. IMO, a theater involves many components, one of which is a large screen (hence the theater reference - I've never been to a theater with a small screen). I just can't get a "theater" feeling with a normal size screen (i.e. 50" - 60"). It's just not engrossing enough. There's nothing wrong with a room with a plasma (or similar) and in many ways it's better than a home theater, I just wouldn't call it one. It's just a term, no offense to anyone intended. Heck, by most calculations, you don't even get the benefit of a 50" 1080p unless you're within 6' of the screen. Nobody sits that close, so you might as well get a 720p display for seating of 10' (or more).

There's HT set-ups. There's HT gear. Then there's HT.

to get tghe benfit of 1080p how close would you have to be 9'. I am settign mine up and trying to determine.

On a 60" display you can see the added resolution from 9', yes.
But more importantly, the ansi contrast, color accuracy and black level should be high. So a 1080p of lesser quality is not better than a 768p of better quality.

The general rule of thumb around is for a theater like experience you want the screen width to seating eyeball distance ratio to be between 1.3 - 1.5 for a 16:9 screen and around 1.0 - 1.5 for a 2.35:1 screen. The range is based on preference. 1080p versus 720p plays a bit of a role just how close you can push up the seats.

We get it. You don't think this is a home theater.

We get it. You don't think this is a home theater.

I was actually giving him the tools so that the OP can figure out the answer to his question...

what about a 60''
to get tghe benfit of 1080p how close would you have to be 9'. I am settign mine up and trying to determine.

Foot in mouth.

No worries. It's not as if as an Eagles fan you could help yourself. ;)

j/k

/runs

Plasma George,

Actually, I take a slight exception to the fact that you think I just took an empty room and threw a bunch of gear in there. The basement was unfinished when I started the project and there was quite a planning that went into it. I consulted an acoustics company for much of the detail. Also selection of the gear I have was done with the same amount of detail. I personally have my own opinions of some of the theaters out there which I feel had choices made to put the "look" of the room first over the performance. Having a large screen is nice but having too large a screen can be detrimental too. Even though the room looks run of the mill in construction, the room was purpose built with some accomodations made due to the house infrastructure which couldn't easily be changed.

With respect to my room, it's plenty fine with movie performances with the lights off. Even with all the elaborate rooms out there, would you notice all the theater type details with the lights off? The 50" screen is fine for my room size and setup. The sound I have in there rivals the best out there. People I've had over who are either an ethusiast or your regular Joe Six Pack has said the experience in my room is amazing.I didn't mean to offend, I'm just pointing out that someone "could" start with a room like yours, go buy all the gear, and hook it all up, and have your room in a weekend. (minus the accoustical treatments)

I once thought like you...."larger is detrimental". It's all about the theory of relativity. The HD projectors of today do a wonderful job with HDTV, HDDVDs, etc. I find myself lost in the image cause it's so big and beautiful. Yes the plasma upstairs has better contrast and detail, but you don't miss, or notice it unless I quickly run upstairs, then run back to the theater.

Plasma/LCDs have their applications in bright rooms, but if there's light control, a PJ is the way to go for a Home Theater experience....and it's just a term.;)

I had been told 1'' panels so that it did not over absorb. What were the main things you noticed after you put up the panels? I am not sure what it is I will her differently after I prep my room acoustically.

What do you have in the corners? Are those bass traps? If so which ones did you use from acoustic solutions? thanks for your help.

The 2" ones were recommended to me by Michael Binns who is the owner of Acoustical Solutions. I don't feel that the 2" panels are causing any over absorption. The main thing with I noticed is the calming of the aggressive nature of the Nautilus tweeter in my N804/HTM1 speakers. The imaging is much more precise now without the smearing which seemed to occur before the panels went up. Also, because of the room shape in the rear, I was getting wierd effects which would cause the left front to require as much as 2-3 dB of extra boost to be calibrated with the other speakers. When the panels went up, everything fell within about .5 dB if not being right at 0 dB. I'm also able to crank up the volume and listen at length without any ear fatigue.

In the corners are indeed bass traps. The bass traps are the Alphafabric Wrapped bass traps.

I didn't mean to offend, I'm just pointing out that someone "could" start with a room like yours, go buy all the gear, and hook it all up, and have your room in a weekend. (minus the accoustical treatments)

I once thought like you...."larger is detrimental". It's all about the theory of relativity. The HD projectors of today do a wonderful job with HDTV, HDDVDs, etc. I find myself lost in the image cause it's so big and beautiful. Yes the plasma upstairs has better contrast and detail, but you don't miss, or notice it unless I quickly run upstairs, then run back to the theater.

Plasma/LCDs have their applications in bright rooms, but if there's light control, a PJ is the way to go for a Home Theater experience....and it's just a term.;)

I'm not offended. I'm just disagreeing with you that you seem to have the impression because the room doesn't have a tray ceiling, velvet curtains, a riser, etc, etc, there wasn't any work in building the room out. The room was purpose built. You just don't see the details. Things from using a bit thicker drywall, insulation in all the wall and ceiling cavities, flex ducts used for the registers, 3 20 A circuits, lighting placed on a seperate circuit, hard wired balanced power transformer, the selection of hardwood floors to allow better tuneability of the acoustic characteristics of the room, solid core doors, etc, etc are not apparent to you. In a way, I guess I did my job in that the assumption is the room is just another room as my intent was to make this room a natural extension of other spaces in my house.

As far as the larger is detrimental comment, many people think the bigger the better but don't take into account what's a comfortable viewing size based on distance from the screen. For my viewing position, the 50" does fine. It could be bigger but I made a concession of picture size in defference to audio performance. I wanted my center channel to be in perfect alignment with my left and right mains. I accomplished this. The only regret I have is not buying another N804 tower to be my center instead of the HTM1 I have now. I did think about an acoustically transparent screen for a front PJ but I didn't want to gamble that I would be dis-satisfied with the sound having the center behind the screen.

WonHung,

Just wanted to say that is a really nice looking room. Nice clean set up and I'm sure it sounds wonderful. Kudos!

Thank you, jvrock.

As far as the larger is detrimental comment, many people think the bigger the better but don't take into account what's a comfortable viewing size based on distance from the screen. For my viewing position, the 50" does fine.

i would agree. i started off about 9-10 feet from 62" screen and stayed that way for a couple years. i always felt too close. maybe my field of vision is unusually narrow. i moved back to about 13 feet and i find it much more comfortable to view.
i'll note that in regards to hours watched, my tv is used much more for tv than movies. i do hope, though, to eventually create a dedicated HT room for movies with a PJ. next house maybe...