12.5 x 15.25 room, projector or 60" plasma?

You said basement, that means dark. You want a projector. First row about 8 to 10 feet. Second row on a riser?

You will want some sound absorption. Carpet is a good start. Heavy drapes or soft panels along the middle of the side walls are often good enough. Make sure you get a receiver with room correction. Is the audio out of the 2k budget? It can be done, but not without compromise.

I say projector also, but 2 rows of seating is not realistic in that room. I would have one row of seating, and then use some sort of portable seating for when you have extra people. If you're set on 2 rows of seats, you should buy the largest TV you can afford.

If I had that space to work with I'd go a little bigger 106" or 110" or 120" screen, have one row of seatting around 12feet back and a bar/table behind the seating with bar stools .......

my seating is about 14 ft from the wall and i have a 92"and projector. i love it, its my first and i was only used to 42 plasmas.
i know i could have gone bigger. if you have doubts take blue painters tape and make a 45 tall by 80 square on the wall and sit back at look at it.
remember not all content will fill the full screen, some with have the black bars which is about 35 or 37 by 80.
i would say 92 is peferect for your size room

my old 42 now, basically a 92 which it would take 4 42 full screen to get to the 92 full screen.
think you will be happy. if your used to a 34 inch from 14 feet

I am sitting 14' from a 125" screen.

You need to determine where your sweet spot will be, the seat that you will be sitting in for the majority of your viewing and use that as your baseline. How far back will that seat be? This calculator will also help:
http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

Go with the THX recommended viewing distance. I know it seems big now, but you adjust quickly to it. I went too small with my first screen (100" screen sitting 12.5' away) and once I got used to it, I really wished I would have gone slightly larger.

Blu-Ray looks amazing with the THX recommended distances.

IMHO, I would get a projector and screen.

As for audio, I am not a fan of home theater in a box systems. They usually have very small drivers, are cheaply built, and give you just adequate sound.

On a budget, I would start with some of these speakers, and an entry level receiver.

Receiver:
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/DENAVR391/DENON-AVR-391-5.1-Channel-AV-Home-Theater-Receiver/1.html
$109

Left and Right Speakers:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117406
$100 after promo code

Center channel:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117404
$50 after promo code

For $120 and some more mid bass repsonse you could get a pair of these floorstanding speakers for $120 after promo code:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117403

The speakers are a screaming deal and were designed by Andew Jones who is a noted speaker designer who was previously known for designing much more costly speakers. I own speakers that cost 10x more than these and can tell you first hand the Pioneer speakers are no slouch. They easily can hang with speakers that cost 2-3 times more.

As for the receiver, if it was me, I would step up to this one that has room equalization (Audyssey MultiEQ):
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/DENAVR1612/DENON-AVR-1612-5.1-Channel-A/V-Home-Theater-Receiver/1.html

but that will run you slightly over $200 with shipping. Still, I would spend my money here before worrying about room treatments. You will also need a subwoofer, but save up for that and get a decent one. Plan $200-300 for one.

If you can wait a few months there should be some awesome deals on projectors for the holidays. You could probably save $200-300 by waiting I suspect.
Edited by ack_bk - 8/31/12 at 11:44am

I would go projector also. I'm in a 11x12 room 92 inch screen 10 feet away from me and it's perfect. 5.1 surround sound and Optoma hd20 projector and my family loves it. All I need is to find some seats now. Good luck let us know what u decide

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Projector has a big "WOW" factor, I have a 120" screen in a 17' room. We do movie nights with the kids and just put down pillows and blankets for the closer seating. Of course your audience may vary

My room as 15’ 3” x 12’. You can do two rows but it’s tight. I got a good deal on recliners recently and wasn’t expecting to do two rows (and if I could get photobucket to come up I’d have pictures) so I had to squeeze them in. The back row can’t recline fully but it’s serviceable. In a space that size a couch or small bar and bar stools would be a better option for a second row. Mine was a package deal of six recliners so that’s what I had to work with.

My screen size 113” 2.35:1 which I think is about 92” in 16:9. I’ve been pleased with it.

I am as new as they get, and I am building a room the same size as you are talking about, I think the thing to remember is that the projector can be made to project a picture size of your liking. it can be big or small. I set up my epson 8350 last night and the height of the projection is 62" and the width (on the horiziontal) is 9'6" . so you can make it as big or as small as you desire. the fixed plasma screen can never get big.....the real benefit is for the wide aspect movies not the 4:3 aspect ratio of TV shows. I have the epson 8350 and an onyko hts5400 and I shopped around and found great deals. tonight we hook up the rest of the system so i can test drive it before i hang the cieling drywall.

This is a good point with the caveat that some of these projectors put out lots of lumens (like the Epson 3010) and you don't want to go to small as lumen output can degrade black levels.

Projectors are great, but ask yourself if you are prepared to watch everything in the dark.
Also how picky are you about the picture. With your budget you can have a large, impressive projected picture but it won't be able to touch a good plasma for blacklevel, even in complete darkness.
Once you get into the $3000 range for a projector system the quality starts to balance out.
Saying that, I have made the choice to compromise picture quality for size and have gone with a very cheap projector until the midpriced technology improves.
As for screen size, the best advice as always is make no decisions until you get the projector and experiment with a real picture. Tape is a good starting point but can't really tell you if you are going to get a headache or not. I went from an 80" wide screen to a 92" (both at 10' viewing distance) and am now at 112" from 9' away for scope movies. You become accustomed to the size and if you are an enthusiast will likely gravitate to something larger.

^^^^^This is what I have also. 106" screen. 1 row of 4 seats, 11 ft. back and a bar with 4 stools behind it. My ceiling is 7' 6". I'd even like to upgrade to 110"

I'm in a similar dilemma. 1 have a 16x15 dedicated HT room. I'm trying to decide between the Panasonic Plasma 65"GT50 vs a projector like a Epson 6010. With the couch, my sitting distance would be about 14' from the wall

My thoughts are that the plasma picture is very crisp, the deep blacks, and when I have lights on, the picture is still good, to watch football games with the light on.

With projector, the lights have to be dimmer, and the picture is not as "crisp" but still clear, but I can have a 110" screen.

Are there any drawbacks by going with a plasma other than the screen size, or go with a projector sitting at 14+ feet, will I still have the clairity with the lights on\dimmed down?

Trying to make by decision by mid week ...went to a few HT shops and still can't get a good feel - plasma clarity still wins in my eye, but not sure about the loss of quality with the light on with a projector.

While I think you have room for 2 rows of seats (I did it in my last room that was about 16 feet deep), the issue you're going to run into is head space. You'll want an 8-10 inch riser for your 2nd row, which is then going to limit your height to just a tad over 7 feet. While it's doable, it may feel tight to those in the 2nd row. The other issue will be having to hang the projector and how that will affect your ability to have a 2nd row.

As far as screen size, I think you can easily go over 100 inches in that room. I don't think you're going to get that theater feel with a 60" screen. It just doesn't have the same presence.

Finally, with proper lighting, you don't need a perfectly dark room to enjoy a projector in that space. Task lighting installed over the seating and not up front will give you light while still darkening the screen space.