Passed my board recertification exam and wanted to get something as a reward for myself and family. Both my boys(11 and 8) have wanted FP since going to an Ultimate Electronics store and seeing Star Wars Ep II on a Marantz. Went to the dealer(Best Sound St. Louis) and demoed a HS 20 with a Stewart screen(silvery-gray finish). Really liked the picture plus I have about $400 credit on my Sony MC built up. I am also having them do the installation(I have two left feet when it comes to that kind of thing). Unfortunately I have Pegasus for my DirecTV provider and cannot go with the $399 upgrade from DirecTV(the rep I talked to told me he could not sell to me since I live in Pegasus territory). So I switched to E* and got their HiDef package. I wanted to do Voom but I need to have FoxNews channel.
A couple of questions:
1. Should I have them do an acoustically transparent wall? The equipment is housed in a tall rack at the front of the room where the projector will be placed. I was planning to disassemble the rack and reassemble it as two shorter racks a couple of feet apart and keep the center channel speaker in between the two racks. There are bookcases to the left side so it won't be possible to do an acoustically transparant wall that runs the length of the front wall(also there is a door that leads to another finished room on the right front wall).
2. When the E* installers come(Feb 21, I got the 2 dish installation) is there anything that I should know or do beforehand?
3. I will be using the projector for DVD 30-40%, HDTV 30-40% and reg TV 30-40%.
I'm not sure what your objective is for an acoustically transparent wall, but the pro's and cons of that is something to discuss with your installer. Aside from proper mounting cabling, your HS20 should come with all the inputs you'll need for satellite.
Congrats on the certification AND the projector. I think you'll find, as many of us have, that its the most fun and useful piece of electronics you've ever owned.
I guess it depends on how accoustically transparent an acounstically transparent wall really is. Subs shouldn't be all that expensive to hide, but again, the installer that's familiar with your space would be in the best position to give you some options. Good luck.
Most commonly, people use acoustically transparent screens so they can place the center channel speaker behind the screen. This places the voices closer to their perceived source than if the CC is placed above or below the screen. I would only consider an acoustically transparent screen if this is your objective. These screens are not totally "transparent" acoustically. I'm not sure about the image compromises that are made to perforate the screen material, but I can't imagine that it would be beneficial -- or even neutral, (imagine light leaking into the space behind your screen).
Also, your sub's will most likely be placed on the floor, well below your screen. They would not be hidden by the screen.
Good luck! You're gonna love your HS20! I love mine.
Well you can get an idea of what the HDTV setup will look like on the thread i posted that has screen shots. I don't doubt that you will be impressed. If you can find a way to utilize DVI/HDMi I would recommend it even though many on this forum don't think the upgrade from component are worth it. Not sure what Everest, thinking that is who you are going with offes in the form of outputs on their unit.
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