Ok guys.. I hope this is the right place to be posting this. Basically, here is my story. I'm 17 years old and I have a job working a few days a week making some money on the side while in High School. I've decided to start saving some money on building a theater/game room. I have a vacant room in my basement and haven't taken measurements yet but I do know that I want to completely transform it into an entertainment room.

The premise behind it is mainly for gaming...specifically my PS3. I don't know exactly what do get and where to put it. If you guys can walk me through with this stuff that would be great.

If I need to take measurements of the room then let me know and I'll come back with them. Aside from that I just need help on what I need.

I want to make the best out of my PS3 for Blu-ray and gaming. That means I need to know what is the best kind of HD TV at an affordable price. If I can get some lists of TV's that would be awesome. Also... I don't really know much about audio system outside of many games supporting 'Dolby 5.1'. If someone can assist me in this and some good audio set ups that would help to. Now this is the part that really confuses me... what else do I need? Is there some sort of unit that combines everything? How do I plug in all of the speakers into the PS3 and the TV?

I'll stop asking all of these questions before I get ahead of myself. I hope this initial post gets me off to a good start.

P.S. I already posted this in the theater construction section before I found this.

Once again... I need to know the best kind of stuff to buy to get the best out of my PS3 for the room I'll be using. If you need the room dimensions then I'll have them by tomorrow, if needed.

Best place to start is you telling us some information;

1) How much do you want to spend?
2) Do you prefer DLP, Plasma, LCD etc?

We can start there.

I'm willing to spend a medium amount...I guess. I don't want to go all out and buy the MOST expensive stuff but then again I don't want to buy cheap stuff either. Something in the middle will be good for me. If you can suggest products with reasonable prices then that'd be great. I intend on making this a fairly long term project anyway so I'll be saving up for it.

Currently in my family room I have an LCD and I think it looks great while playing Heavenly Sword via HDMI in 720p. That's about as far as my tech knowledge goes. It's a 42'' Philips. The Model # is 42PF7421D/37. I like it a lot but I want a 1080p TV for sure.

So to answer your questions:

1) Nothing cheap...nothing too expensive. Just in the middle
2) LCD

i'm in love with how my ps3 looks on my 42" plasma samsung 4253. it's a slightly older model, so they've been turning up as floor models at a lot of the "big box" stores at least in my neck of the woods over the last year. i spent slightly over a grand, but feel like i got at least 3 times that in the amount of "kick-a$$" the tv really has. and it's AMAZING for movies from the ps3, both blu-ray and the upscaled standard dvds. i've been rewatching all 3 of the extended 4-hour versions of "lord of the rings" all week, for no other reason than it looks even better than it did at the movies on my television.

i've never owned an LCD, but i liked the way they looked when i was shopping around, but for the month or so that my girlie and i were comparison shopping every model we could find, we ALWAYS came back to samsung plasmas for our favorite picture quality. and then we found the unpassable deal on this one, and i have NO regrets so far . . .

In my basement I have the Samsung HLT6189S LED DLP (~2,700.00) and don't feel that for the price you can go wrong with it and for sound I'm just using an older Dolby digital JVC receiver I had laying around (~500.00) and it's fed via optical and am using some older polk audios (~1,000.00) that I had laying around for speakers and to me it looks and sounds incredible for gaming.


It just depends what you want to spend... Upstairs I have the Samsung LNS4696 (~3,000.00 ) with the Sony STRDG1000 receiver (~650.00) wth Boston Acoustics (~1,000.00) speakers and have the audio via hdmi and think that sound is definately better but the 46" screen is a little small for gaming at eight feet but the screen is brighter than the HLT6189 but the 6189 has better blacks.

Opinions will definately vary; just depends what you want to spend.

You should post your budget.

Also everyone's opinion will differ regarding type of tv, type of speakers, # of speakers, receiver, brands, etc.

You need to do enough legwork where you will be satisified with the end result. Every piece of equipment will have its advantages and disadvantages. You have to understand some of the technical stuff to fully take advantage of any hardware. From your posts, you have a lot of research to do.

I'm willing to spend a medium amount...I guess. I don't want to go all out and buy the MOST expensive stuff but then again I don't want to buy cheap stuff either. Something in the middle will be good for me. If you can suggest products with reasonable prices then that'd be great. I intend on making this a fairly long term project anyway so I'll be saving up for it.

Currently in my family room I have an LCD and I think it looks great while playing Heavenly Sword via HDMI in 720p. That's about as far as my tech knowledge goes. It's a 42'' Philips. The Model # is 42PF7421D/37. I like it a lot but I want a 1080p TV for sure.

So to answer your questions:

1) Nothing cheap...nothing too expensive. Just in the middle
2) LCD


"In the middle" is not helpful. At a Home Theater enthusiast website, "in the middle" means anywhere from $10k-$50k to some people.

"You know what I mean" is also not an acceptable answer. What is the finite range of money you can/want to spend? $3000 for the entire project? $5000? No one can help without knowing what your resources are to start.

Is it safe to assume that "in the basement" means "in my parent's basement?" Assuming you plan to move out in the next year, or two, you might not want to put that much into a project of this nature to begin with. Not trying to be a killjoy, but you really need to start with more research at this site more before "what should I buy" comes into play. Most of your questions can be answered in the other forums here beyond the PS3.

Here is some products I think you should consider:

Sony 60A3000 (60" LCOS 1080p) ~ $2500.
The best HDTV for the money in my opinion. This would be best with a viewing distance of 9-12 feet.

Onkyo SR-605 receiver (7.1, HDMI 1.3a switching) ~ $499
Very nice sound for a reasonable price.

I cannot recommend a display since you give us no idea of your intentions. You can get a 37" 1080p set for $800 bucks, or you can get a 65" CRT set that does 1080i for the same money used from your local papers FOR SALE ads. We have no idea how much space you have, or if you intend to move these things in the future, etc.

But I can solve your Audio dilemma quite easily: Buy an Onkyo Home Theatre In A Box setup for your surround sound needs right now. This will give you a perfectly good 5.1 or 7.1 solution, speakers and powered sub. In the future, the Onkyo receiver is capable of driving more expensive, more refined speakers should you choose to upgrade.

I would not recommend going out and shopping for seperates at this point in your life, you most certainly won't have the budget for it......the Onkyo's sound good, and the speakers are fine for bookshelves.

An HT in a box is a decent option on a low budget, the Onkyo mentioned would perform adequately however there are plenty of alternatives available many of which would out perform any HTB, it really takes some leg work on your end as well as research upfront (which your doing now).

You really need to provide more information: room size, budget, how it will be used (games, movies, HDTV...etc..) in order for people to give the correct responses and remember everyone here has their own preferences, best to use these opinions as a starting point - research, demo then buy!

"In the middle" is not helpful. At a Home Theater enthusiast website, "in the middle" means anywhere from $10k-$50k to some people.

"You know what I mean" is also not an acceptable answer. What is the finite range of money you can/want to spend? $3000 for the entire project? $5000? No one can help without knowing what your resources are to start.

Is it safe to assume that "in the basement" means "in my parent's basement?" Assuming you plan to move out in the next year, or two, you might not want to put that much into a project of this nature to begin with. Not trying to be a killjoy, but you really need to start with more research at this site more before "what should I buy" comes into play. Most of your questions can be answered in the other forums here beyond the PS3.:cool:

In the middle is not helpful.

I think I can help. I bought my Flat Panel Philips LCD from http://www.outlet.philips.com it's not a 1080p but I couldn't afford 1080p. I think right now they are running a special on a 37" LCD for 579. That covers the TV part at a reasonable price. Next I would look at a Receiver. I bought the Onkyo TX-SR674 a year ago and they can be found on the net for around 350. They have a newer model out now which is supposed to have 3 HDMI inputs, the 674 only has 2. Cables, get HDMI cables from www.bluejeancables.com you can get custom lengths and they are inexpensive. Speakers, I found a great deal on some wharfedale speakers from Compusa, but they don't sale those anymore. Unfortunately, my subwoofer went out 3 weeks ago and again I wasn't expecting it so I went out and picked up a 12" Dayton Sub from http://www.partsexpress.com/ for 150 bucks. You might be able to find some surround speakers for around 40 bucks a pair and a center channel for 40 bucks.

Lets see thats:

LCD: 580
Sub: 150
Receiver: 350
Satellites: 80
Center: 40
Cables: 20

That should get you in around 12-hundy. That's what I would consider medium. Of course you could always go with a HTIB, but what fun is that. As far as furniture goes, hit up your CraigsList you should be able to furnish that room at a decent price. Also since your still in High School, take wood shop and build you a nice place to store all these devices.

For 350 bucks you can get a refurbished Onkyo 5.1 or 6.1, and its awfully close to a 7.1 setup, which includes sub and speaker. To buy seperates at this point in time is silly. When you're talking about Mains and a center at $500 each and up, then you start talking about seperates. IMHO of course.

Well, actually JBL is clearancing out some of their tower speakers lately, but again....$150 instead of $300 each....



Yep, right now..Onkyo 7.1 setup..$399.99. 5.1 good enough? (it is unless your receiver can do 7.1 uncompressed audio), thats only $229.

If you have a reasonably sized room in a (dark) basement, I would (and did) go dlp projector instead of a flat panel...You'll be looking at 100" plus screen size for $900. 1080p would be nice, but you really can't beat it in bang for the buck terms and most, if not all, will accept a 1080p input and look great.

If you have a reasonably sized room in a (dark) basement, I would (and did) go dlp projector instead of a flat panel...You'll be looking at 100" plus screen size for $900. 1080p would be nice, but you really can't beat it in bang for the buck terms and most, if not all, will accept a 1080p input and look great.

I don't own a projector but I am curious about how much the bulb cost to replace and how often you have to replace it? A co-worker has a projector in his den and it's not 100% dark in there and it doesn't look that great to me. Does this basement have any daylight coming in, my basement does, since it is a walkout basement.

I'm trying to talk my co-worker into getting a better projector and some black out shades and a PS3 so I can see if it has that great of quality picture.

My basement has 2 windows on either side of the screen, I just shut the blinds during the day if I'm watching a movie. On the bulb, I guess it depends on how much you use it. I've had mine for a year and I'm on the same bulb and still under 1000 hours. Replacements run $300 I think? At this rate I'll probably need a new one in a year, but so far so good...

"In the middle" is not helpful. At a Home Theater enthusiast website, "in the middle" means anywhere from $10k-$50k to some people.

"You know what I mean" is also not an acceptable answer. What is the finite range of money you can/want to spend? $3000 for the entire project? $5000? No one can help without knowing what your resources are to start.

Is it safe to assume that "in the basement" means "in my parent's basement?" Assuming you plan to move out in the next year, or two, you might not want to put that much into a project of this nature to begin with. Not trying to be a killjoy, but you really need to start with more research at this site more before "what should I buy" comes into play. Most of your questions can be answered in the other forums here beyond the PS3.

What 17 yr old kid has a middle budget of $10k-$50k? :D

On tight budget I would recommend the following equipment to get the bast bang for your buck:

Philips 1080P LCD TV 47PFL7422D/37 $1700 (Costco)
Onkyo 605 AVreceiver $400 (JR.com)
Onkyo SKS HT540 7.1 speaker system $250 (JR.com)
Sony PS3 60gb $500 (anywhere)
HDMI cables from Monoprice $20 (Monoprice.com)

You can research for reviews on every one of this items here and you'll find that they are a great choice for the PS3. (I have the same setup)
Now as for the room, I would not spend a lot of money on it as you probably be out of there some time soon, you can get by with just the equipment.

Here are some reviews on the TV and the Receiver:
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/hdtvs/2420/philips-42pfl7432d-42-inch-lcd-hdtv.html
http://www.hometheatermag.com/receivers/807onk605/

Hope this helps.

What 17 yr old kid has a middle budget of $10k-$50k? :D

He came here for recommendations. My point was "in the middle" means different things to different people--especially at an enthusiasts website.

The point is moot, though. The OP hasn't even logged in to the website since 9/30/07. Until he chimes in again with specifics, everyone is simply pissing into the wind.