[Scots]

I'm starting my first budget home theater setup and everything just arrived today, so now I am scratching my head on speaker placement, screen height and outputting audio from PC or projector?


Quick run down on items (nothing high end but I only had a $1000 budget to play with)

105" screen (milliskin)
Viewsonic px800hd
Visio 4551-D5 surround system

10'6" x 10'6" room
Viewing distance is 9'6" (roughly)
reclining sofa up against the back wall
Window has blackout blinds
Walls are painted with a dark flat paint
Ceilings are flat white and can't get the wife to budge on those



I was going to place the screen about 25" up from the floor with the sound bar attached just below. Subwoofer behind the couch with rear speakers in the corners.

Is it ok for the screen to be that low?

Rear speaker placement in the corners on a 45° angle/behind the couch facing towards the projector or side walls directly pointed at the couch?

What is the best for audio? Through pc or projector? and if I am running it through pc is it worth getting a dedicated sound card?


Last concern, if I am getting too much reflection from the ceiling, are there any attractive wifey approved solutions that could help with that?


Thanks

 

[redpoint5]

My guess is the screen is just about perfect at 25" from the floor. The advice I was given was that eye level should be at the lower 1/3rd of the image height.

What is your content source? My guess is running HDMI to projector and passing the audio from there via TOSLINK would be the way to go. The built in audio on an HTPC is probably fine. Many come with ATMOS capability, so I can't see a dedicated sound card being an improvement, though I could be wrong.

 

[Scots]

My guess is the screen is just about perfect at 25" from the floor. The advice I was given was that eye level should be at the lower 1/3rd of the image height.

What is your content source? My guess is running HDMI to projector and passing the audio from there via TOSLINK would be the way to go. The built in audio on an HTPC is probably fine. Many come with ATMOS capability, so I can't see a dedicated sound card being an improvement, though I could be wrong.

You are correct Hdmi. I'm so new to all of this I never knew what a toslink cable was but thanks for the input. I installed the screen but made the newbie mistake of not checking the throw height first so currently I have a 99" screen. Which is fine for now since I'm building a new console cabinet soon and will customize it to fit.