Small apartment, beginner's home theater.

After browsing through some of these home theater build threads I have to say I'm a bit intimidated, especially by the sheer size and scope of some of those builds. When I read http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=19087588 I wasn't even sure I could call this a home theater at all but I'll stick with that term because I don't know what else to call it.

As you can read in the title I am new to home theatre and quality audio. I live in a small apartment so my options are very limited but I would like to enjoy TV, games and films on a reasonable level anyway.

This is my apartment's living space:


And a newer picture:


On the pictures you can see my bed to the left, desk in the middle, my 29" Sony Trinitron to the right and my couch at the bottom.


My aim is to find a way to fit a ht in that small area. Since I am renting this apartment I am not planning on doing any (de)construction, just adding (non permanent) stuff.
I intend to replace that sd CRT TV with a high definition plasma TV. Because of the limited area size, the largest screen I can get is 42". I'm currently eyeing the Panasonic TX-P42V20 or G20.
I'm also adding an xbox360 and a PS3 to the mix for games and blu-ray.


My questions are:

* Does anyone know of a good way to get a 42" plasma in there? Seeing as I'm renting, I don't think I'm allowed to wall mount the TV in the far right corner. (As you might have noticed, the back wall is not on a 90° angle either).
The trinitron came with a handy cupboard but it is only usable by that TV so I'm going to need to find some kind of cabinet or something where I can house the consoles, possible receiver, etc. Maybe even put the TV on as well. The distance between the TV and the couch in the pictures is about 6.5-7ft. The distance from the couch to the back wall is at least 10 feet.

* What kind of home theatre equipment do you guys suggest? Nothing too fancy, just something to get more out of what I have. If possible, I'd like to connect it to the PC as well.


Crude MSpaint sketch of the room's layout:


I am eager to receive your wisdom!

Ah, no. There is no place behind my couch. Or else I wouldn't be able to get through the front door. ¬¬

Which Denon HTiB are you referring to?

I'd rather not, I don't even use headphones on the PC. Especially because I wouldn't be able to hear if someone called or knocked on the door.
And it's not like I'm going to be owning a mansion anytime soon.

Wait I'll draw it out, don't have my camera with me.

*Edited the first post.*

Oh yeah, the ht is certainly going to be combined with the new TV. The old CRT is going to one of my relatives.

Let's see here,

Receiver: $400
Subwoofer: $900
2 surround speakers: $350
Center speaker: $400
2 main loudspeakers: $850
+ ----------------------------
$2900


Already seems to be a pretty steep in price to be honest. They don't seem to sell Emotiva around here either... or Ascend.
Thanks for the recommendation though, you're very helpful.

That DHT-591BA does look very interesting for a tighter budget configuration. I'm trying to find a seller at the moment.
Does this set have another name in other parts of the world perhaps? I can't seem to find this particular model.

I'm in Europe. Denon does get sold in Europe but when I check out the various European Denon sites this particular model isn't there.
I've tried the French, German and UK Denon sites and none list the DHT-591BA. The UK and the German site only list a set called DHT-1311XP.

But judging from your recommendations, prices and what I've read so far, an all-in set like that Denon is probably the way to go.
In case I can't get my hands on the DHT-591BA, are there other sets with the same or even better quality? I noticed you mentioned Sony before as well.

Hah, quite a radical change there. I appreciate the idea but sadly it will not be possible.

+The desk is owned by the landlord, can't get rid of it that easily.
+The PC monitor is brand new. (you'll notice that the monitor in the first picture is not the same as the monitor in the second picture.)
+The old TV is will be going, together with its dedicated cabinet.
+I'm going to keep the chair, it's quite comfy.
+I will be getting a 42" TV but it won't double as a monitor. Wouldn't want a monitor over 24" in size to be honest, nor just one screen for the whole thing. Not to mention that my PC is hardly HTPC quality.
+I am on the lookout for a stand and a cabinet. It will have to hold at least the receiver, a PS3 and an XBOX360.
+I'd rather use a ht speaker system as PC speakers than a PC speaker system as ht speakers to be honest. I'd also like a receiver to bring it all together.

Thanks for the input though, I could certainly see an idea like yours work for some people.

With the couch underneath the bed a person can not sit on it unfortunately.

Oooh, lots of interesting ideas.


I do know someone who did something similar with a 32" screen. Sad to say it just isn't for me. I'm very happy with my new monitor (a Dell U2311H IPS panel) and I intend to keep it. If I do use a monitor/TV combo on the desk I would have to move the desk to the corner because a bigger screen would probably block a lot of the window. My apartment is naturally dark and I'd like to get a good amount of light in during the day.


An interesting thought. I'm not sure how I'd be able to raise the bed that much without making it unstable though. And I would still need to relocate the closets currently under my bed as well. I also want to be able to sit upright on my bed and that means I can't raise it too much either.
However, I sketch your idea and post it here. It never hurts to try.


As a matter of fact I will probably be changing the computer case, the PC is 4 years old now and I'll probably be doing some upgrading by the end of the year or early 2011. But I've got another idea as well, I've taken a picture of the room with a table where the trinitron usually is. It might be possible to use a small table like this and put the TV on it, with the receiver/360/PS3 in some kind of cabinet underneath. (the table here is actually my dinner table so if I do take this route I'll get another one.)
In this configuration I might also be able to put the computer enclosure on the floor so there's less chance of it obstructing the TV.
Thanks for the recommendations as well, but (with the PS3 and Xbox360 in mind) I'd like to get a home theater system with at least some HDMI ports on it.

Picture of the table idea (please ignore my awesome cable management ):


My room's layout:


Optimistic Mrsavetheworld's version:

(The upper right rectangle is supposed to be the bed + couch.)

EDIT: I think the "wall to wall" distance in the above pic is about 11.48 ft or 3.46 meters.

It is actually a real apartment, everything except the desk and one of the large closets is mine.
I can not take away the legs of the bed (short of sawing them off).
I also can not put the couch across from the door, as you can see on the layout drawings in my previous post.
I wouldn't want to deal with the hassle of moving my monitor every time I want to watch TV either. Especially since there are times when I watch both at the same time.

:O

Since the bed occupies the same place as the closet underneath it I don't think I'm sacrificing a lot of space here.


Not to go off topic here (I would really like to start buying more stuff and enjoy my HD games/movies) but can you tell me more about your futon?
I've slept on futons in Japan but I haven't really seen it implemented in the West.