[Kain]

This is what I currently have as a main home theater:

Display: Panasonic TH-42PW5
DVD Player: Pioneer DV610AV-K
A/V Receiver: Harman Kardon AVR 8500
Mains: Klipsch RF-7
Center: Klipsch RC-7
Surrounds: Klipsch RS-7
Subwoofer: Seaton Sound SubMersive

I setup the above in 2004, ran it without a subwoofer till 2009, and then added a SubMersive. The only thing I've changed since 2004 is the DVD player as my original DVD player (Harman Kardon DVD 30) went bad.

As you can see, it is still in the DVD ages.

I do have a Blu-ray HTIB connected to a 1080p TV in the living room though. While that is an Full HD setup, the sound quality is no where near of this main home theater despite it being DVD-based. It's a HTIB so can't expect much obviously.

Now, this is what I'm planning to get in 2-3 years time for the main home theater (once things have been "standardized" and the dust settles for all/most new technologies).

Room size is roughly 12 x 11 x 9.5 feet.

Display: 65-77" LG OLED UHDTV
Ultra HD Blu-ray player: Some good player that is out at the time
Processor: Trinnov Altitude32 8-16
Mains: Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C
Center: Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C
Side surrounds: Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C
Back surrounds: Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C
Ceiling speakers: 4 x the upcoming Seaton Sound Catalyst on-walls or the upcoming/updated Spark
Subwoofers: 2 x Seaton Sound SubMersive HPi+ with 2 x Seaton Sound SubMersive HP-Slave

So, in total, it is/will be a 7.4.4 setup.

Any comments/opinions will be appreciated.

 

[waterm3732]

This is what I currently have as a main home theater:

Display: Panasonic TH-42PW5
DVD Player: Pioneer DV610AV-K
A/V Receiver: Harman Kardon AVR 8500
Mains: Klipsch RF-7
Center: Klipsch RC-7
Surrounds: Klipsch RS-7
Subwoofer: Seaton Sound SubMersive

I setup the above in 2004, ran it without a subwoofer till 2009, and then added a SubMersive. The only thing I've changed since 2004 is the DVD player as my original DVD player (Harman Kardon DVD 30) went bad.

As you can see, it is still in the DVD ages.

I do have a Blu-ray HTIB connected to a 1080p TV in the living room though. While that is an Full HD setup, the sound quality is no where near of this main home theater despite it being DVD-based. It's a HTIB so can't expect much obviously.

Now, this is what I'm planning to get in 2-3 years time for the main home theater (once things have been "standardized" and the dust settles for all/most new technologies).

Room size is roughly 12 x 11 x 9.5 feet.

Display: 65-77" LG OLED UHDTV
Ultra HD Blu-ray player: Some good player that is out at the time
Processor: Trinnov Altitude32 8-16
Mains: Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C
Center: Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C
Side surrounds: Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C
Back surrounds: Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C
Ceiling speakers: 4 x the upcoming Seaton Sound Catalyst on-walls or the upcoming/updated Spark
Subwoofers: 2 x Seaton Sound SubMersive HPi+ with 2 x Seaton Sound SubMersive HP-Slave

So, in total, it is/will be a 7.4.4 setup.

Any comments/opinions will be appreciated.

Nice dream theater!

To optimize those great speakers and that state of the art processor, you're going to need to invest in some high quality acoustical treatments on the walls of that relatively small room!

 

[Kain]

Nice dream theater!

To optimize those great speakers and that state of the art processor, you're going to need to invest in some high quality acoustical treatments on the walls of that relatively small room!

Thanks!

I forgot to mention in my original post but I surely will be using some high quality acoustical treatments.

By the way, are there any other speakers that I should take a look at that are similar in price and performance? Based on my research and current experience with the SubMersive, I think I will be extremely pleased with the Catalyst 8C. I did consider the Catalyst 12C but it offers only (roughly) 3 dB of increased SPL while also physically looking a little "overpowering" in my small room.

 

[SnellTHX]

This is what I currently have as a main home theater:

Display: Panasonic TH-42PW5
DVD Player: Pioneer DV610AV-K
A/V Receiver: Harman Kardon AVR 8500
Mains: Klipsch RF-7
Center: Klipsch RC-7
Surrounds: Klipsch RS-7
Subwoofer: Seaton Sound SubMersive

I setup the above in 2004, ran it without a subwoofer till 2009, and then added a SubMersive. The only thing I've changed since 2004 is the DVD player as my original DVD player (Harman Kardon DVD 30) went bad.

As you can see, it is still in the DVD ages.

I do have a Blu-ray HTIB connected to a 1080p TV in the living room though. While that is an Full HD setup, the sound quality is no where near of this main home theater despite it being DVD-based. It's a HTIB so can't expect much obviously.

Now, this is what I'm planning to get in 2-3 years time for the main home theater (once things have been "standardized" and the dust settles for all/most new technologies).

Room size is roughly 12 x 11 x 9.5 feet.

Display: 65-77" LG OLED UHDTV
Ultra HD Blu-ray player: Some good player that is out at the time
Processor: Trinnov Altitude32 8-16
Mains: Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C
Center: Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C
Side surrounds: Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C
Back surrounds: Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C
Ceiling speakers: 4 x the upcoming Seaton Sound Catalyst on-walls or the upcoming/updated Spark
Subwoofers: 2 x Seaton Sound SubMersive HPi+ with 2 x Seaton Sound SubMersive HP-Slave

So, in total, it is/will be a 7.4.4 setup.

Any comments/opinions will be appreciated.

Ouch, DVD player and that terrible Panny TV yet you have a Klipsch RF-7? Thats almost as bad those guys who spend $4000 on a Samsung LED and then use the TVs built in speakers.....

 

[Kain]

Ouch, DVD player and that terrible Panny TV yet you have a Klipsch RF-7? Thats almost as bad those guys who spend $4000 on a Samsung LED and then use the TVs built in speakers.....

Can you name a better TV out in 2002-2003 when I bought the Panasonic?

 

[JlgLaw]

Ouch, DVD player and that terrible Panny TV yet you have a Klipsch RF-7? Thats almost as bad those guys who spend $4000 on a Samsung LED and then use the TVs built in speakers.....

Wow, what a helpful comment.......








Jim

 

[SnellTHX]

Wow, what a helpful comment.......








Jim

I wasn't trying to be helpful either.

 

[SnellTHX]

Can you name a better TV out in 2002-2003 when I bought the Panasonic?

Nope probably not. But the Klipsch RF7s indicate that money isn't really a problem for you so I just thought it was funny you still have a DVD player and a 13 year old TV.

 

[JlgLaw]

I wasn't trying to be helpful either.

Obviously.....








Jim

 

[Kain]

Nope probably not. But the Klipsch RF7s indicate that money isn't really a problem for you so I just thought it was funny you still have a DVD player and a 13 year old TV.

Why the hell would you come here to complain that my current home theater is "too old" when this thread is requesting comments/opinions for my next home theater? I didn't feel like upgrading to the 1080p Blu-ray era and it doesn't have to do with how much money I have or don't have. I really don't understand what you are trying to get at. And, for the record, my Panasonic plasma TV was more than double the price of my whole Klipsch speaker set (excluding the subwoofer which was added later in 2009).

 

[Seegs108]

I'd seriously reconsider the display. OLED is nice but not when it comes to an immersive experience. You should definitely look into front projection. Every time I see someone go all out and do a ton of audio channels with quality speakers and see a tiny 65" TV on the wall I laugh. Also, why is this posted in the $20000+ forum?

 

[Kain]

I'd seriously reconsider the display. OLED is nice but not when it comes to an immersive experience. You should definitely look into front projection. Every time I see someone go all out and do a ton of audio channels with quality speakers and see a tiny 65" TV on the wall I laugh. Also, why is this posted in the $20000+ forum?

I'm thinking of dropping OLED and getting an 80ish inch Sony 4K TV instead. I read around and it seems OLED has quite a few issues with it right now. Secondly, my room is very small. Even with a 80 inch TV, it will take up around 3/4 of the wall. I really don't have a need for front projection.

 

[Seegs108]

I'm thinking of dropping OLED and getting an 80ish inch Sony 4K TV instead. I read around and it seems OLED has quite a few issues with it right now. Secondly, my room is very small. Even with a 80 inch TV, it will take up around 3/4 of the wall. I really don't have a need for front projection.

It's not going to take up anywhere near 75% of your wall. Here's a little sketch I put together based on your numbers given in the original post. The front wall is 11 feet x 9.5 feet. Here's what an 80 inch diagonal flat panel would look like with scope material compared to what a scope 120" diagonal screen would look like when projected properly:

Remember, these photos are proportional to your room dimensions

Like I said, you'll never get that immersive experience with a small flat panel. Even in your relatively small room an 80" TV still looks like, well...a TV.

 

[Kain]

It's not going to take up anywhere near 75% of your wall. Here's a little sketch I put together based on your numbers given in the original post. The front wall is 11 feet x 9.5 feet. Here's what an 80 inch diagonal flat panel would look like with scope material compared to what a scope 120" diagonal screen would look like when projected properly:

Remember, these photos are proportional to your room dimensions

Like I said, you'll never get that immersive experience with a small flat panel. Even in your relatively small room an 80" TV still looks like, well...a TV.

Thanks for the drawings!

Some questions...

1. Will a current "good" 4K projector support Rec. 2020, HDR, HFR, etc. like some of the new and upcoming TVs?

2. How is the fan noise with current projectors? Since my room is small and my seating position about 2-3 feet from the back wall (where the projector will be placed), will I be annoyed by the fan noise?

3. How high should a 120" screen be position from the floor (in my room)?

4. Since a 120" screen will take up most of the front wall, how would I position my front left and right speakers? I am guessing that I'll have to get a stand for the screen and place the LCR speakers behind it? That is not something I would prefer since I'd want the screen on the wall. The speakers I am considering for the LCR are the Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C and they are 11" wide. Would they fit in the space on the sides of the screen? If not, maybe I could reduce the screen size slightly to accommodate them?

5. How is the response time of a projector for gaming? Will it have low input lag?

 

[Seegs108]

Thanks for the drawings!

Some questions...

1. Will a current "good" 4K projector support Rec. 2020, HDR, HFR, etc. like some of the new and upcoming TVs?

2. How is the fan noise with current projectors? Since my room is small and my seating position about 2-3 feet from the back wall (where the projector will be placed), will I be annoyed by the fan noise?

3. How high should a 120" screen be position from the floor (in my room)?

4. Since a 120" screen will take up most of the front wall, how would I position my front left and right speakers? I am guessing that I'll have to get a stand for the screen and place the LCR speakers behind it? That is not something I would prefer since I'd want the screen on the wall. The speakers I am considering for the LCR are the Seaton Sound Catalyst 8C and they are 11" wide. Would they fit in the space on the sides of the screen? If not, maybe I could reduce the screen size slightly to accommodate them?

5. How is the response time of a projector for gaming? Will it have low input lag?

1. Like current TVs, no they won't but, of course near future ones will, as those are the standardizing features of UHD blu-ray. Though achieving REC2020, in the consumer space, is still a LONG way off. There are no flat panel technologies that can currently produce a color gamut anywhere near REC2020. There aren't even any prototypes out yet that can do it. With that said, projection is currently best suited for wider-than-REC709 color spaces. Up and coming laser based units will do REC2020. Current OLED flat panels are having a hard time reaching P3, let a lone the MUCH wider REC2020. HDR for projectors is very different in terms of spec. Flat panels must reach 1000 nits of brightness, and I believe (someone feel free to correct me if I'm mistaken with this number) HDR for projection is only 100 nits. 100 nits will be easily obtainable at "home theater" screen sizes such as the 120" screen example in the photo I just posted. Also, true REC2020 content is a long way off. Most UHD blu-ray content we'll initially get will be REC2020 only because it's encoded that way, not captured/graded that way. Capturing content in a large enough gamut to color grade for REC2020 is a long way off. We'll use SMPTE 2084 to get the proper P3 color back from the REC2020 encoded material.

2. Extremely quite. Even compared to units selling 5 years ago. Lately there's been a lot of stagnation is terms of PQ advancements in the home theater segment so manufacturers have been focusing on other things such as better 3D performance, better out of the box color/greyscale/gamma, more lumens while maintaining contrast numbers, adding smart sharpening software, and also making units far more quite than they've ever been. For example the VPL-VW1100ES puts out 1800 calibrated lumens at max zoom and it's still less than 30dB. Low lamp mode does 1100 lumens and is around 20dB. The current JVCs are right up there, but just a tad more noisey. But still far better than many units that came out just a couple years ago.

3. I believe it has to do with seating position and how high the viewers head is off the ground.

4. Most people build a baffle wall and use acoustically transparent screen material to get the best "cinema" experience. I'd recommend Seymour-Screen Excellence's Enlightor-4K material. In this scenario speakers are placed behind the screen. In your other thread, you mentioned a $70000 budget. You could easily do a baffle wall with AT material within this budget. Even a bright, shorter throw projector with an anamorphic lens within this budget and still have plenty left over for great speakers.

5. It depends on which projector you buy. Most higher end DLPs have excellent input lag. Typically less than 35ms. The Sony VPL-VW110ES has about 40ms when sending a 4K signal to the projector. The current generation of JVCs is a little high, around 120ms and the Epson laser LCoQ units are even higher at 140+ depending on what settings and scaling is occurring inside the projector. So if you want to game make sure you read a review that lists measured input lag because, just like TVs, the numbers are all over the place.

 

[thebland]

I like picture #2 - front projection.

Without front projection I would scale back your audio as it will make big sound... But contrasted against a small flat panel, it will over power the image and make for a poor experience.

I had such an experience with an earlier system of mine. I owned the newly released, entire Citation audio system many years ago. Bought the whole thing after Stereophile dubbed it best of the best. Mind you I was in my first home and crammed all 7.4 channels in a larger guest bedroom in my first home. The room was likely was 15' X 12'. It was pretty impressive sounding but I had a small non front projection screen. I'll never forget the large sounds just dwarfing the size of what I was seeing on the screen. It killed the audio excellence. I had this amazing audio system that was just awesome - best of the best - but this wimpy, small screen killed the new-fangled 7.4 sound. It never 'sounded' good of ever drew me in. If you want the movie experience a large portion of your field of view must be video.

The Screen you're considering is too small in my opinion. Then in scope films, you'll have those distracting black bars top and bottom!

See below for guidance of a good screen size vs area of front wall ratio...

 

[Kain]

Super thanks for the replies. I started a thread in the projector section to get a discussion going on how to make everything fit/work.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/24-di...070434-120-inch-2-35-1-screen-small-room.html

 

[Unherdable]

It's not going to take up anywhere near 75% of your wall. Here's a little sketch I put together based on your numbers given in the original post. The front wall is 11 feet x 9.5 feet. Here's what an 80 inch diagonal flat panel would look like with scope material compared to what a scope 120" diagonal screen would look like when projected properly

Although I am all for a larger screen, personally I think the front projection screen in your rendering is too big. Remember he still has to put the main speakers in, on speaker stands, and properly setup (away from the walls) to sound good. So.... I think his original idea of a TV is a better choice. And.... it will handle the ambient light better, for a more useful room (think superbowl parties).

 

[Seegs108]

Although I am all for a larger screen, personally I think the front projection screen in your rendering is too big. Remember he still has to put the main speakers in, on speaker stands, and properly setup (away from the walls) to sound good. So.... I think his original idea of a TV is a better choice. And.... it will handle the ambient light better, for a more useful room (think superbowl parties).

The screen goes on a baffle wall and the speakers go behind the screen.

 

[Unherdable]

The screen goes on a baffle wall and the speakers go behind the screen.

In a room that size? Let's see, speakers away from wall, and screen away from speakers (at least 12" for Stewart Filmscreen microperf)..... don't think so.