HT Setup - Suggestions please

[vishwa]

Hello,

Finally I have an opportunity to set up our media room. I don't have any existing home theater system and I will be setting it up from scratch. Any suggestions are appreciated. I have listed the details below.

Room dimension - 22ft x 14ft I get this dimension by combining the family room and a bed room.

Dedicated home theater room Vs Media room Majority of the people I spoke to suggested that I should make this as dedicated home theater room with acoustic panels and lighting. Only one or two suggested that I should make this as extended family room / entertainment room with a good home theater system. After much debate we finally decided to go with idea of making it more like a media room. The idea being that if we open the siding door the entire room should merge with the rest of house. And if we close the door it will be reasonably isolated home theater room. I have attached the layout indicating the approximate design.

Requirement or the plan we have in mind. Usage will be 50/50 video and audio.
1. TV (probably 60 for daily usage). Not decided on brand or the size
2. Motorized screen (8ft or more?) which can open in front of the TV for watching movie etc.
3. Receiver Two HDMI output mandatory Almost finalized on Yamaha Aventage 1030.
4. Projector I have reviewed Optoma and BenQ. Not finalized yet
5. Speakers I have reviewed Focal and PSB Imagine T and T2. Not finalized yet
6. I will be needing two speakers for Zone 2 which will be in master bed room. (right behind where the screen will be)
Any suggestions on Speakers, Projector and Receivers are greatly appreciated. I may go step by step in implementing the whole thing. I will start with TV, receiver and 7.1 speakers first. Then we will go with projector and zone 2 speakers. I also have PS3, WII and will be consolidating all the video content on a NAS drive along with XBMC/HTPC.
I would like to finish the setup in the next three months. I will post the progress once the work starts.
Thanks in advance.
-Vishwa

 

[efernand1]

Hi

There are related posts on Home Theatre setups for areas as large as your place posted by some where budgets and specs were discussed and guidance was provided. If you have a healthy budget, you can perhaps take a few quotations from Home Theatre dealers in your area who would provide costing and recommendations. These then you can share with us and we can guide you further. Don't provide the actual budget you have in mind to the Home Theatre dealer. If it is 5 lakhs, say your budget is 3-4 lakhs...let him provide options.

In terms of performance AVRs, you need to look at Marantz SR series, NAD or Cambridge Audio. These are true performers and can handle loads easily. Rotel is good but expensive.

Speakers are available in a variety of ranges and it all depends on what appeals to you in performance, size, budget, looks etc.....you need to demo as many models and brands to make a proper informed decision. For Zone 2 feature, you need to have decent speakers which will sound better or as good as the ones in the Hall...which means you need to go for the best.

You can click on my user name to see related posts where value suggestions were provided. Fortunately there are a lot of Home Theatre dealers in Bangalore who can provide you quotations based on your requirement which you can self evaluate or reach out to us for suggestions.

 

[vishwa]

Thank you, I have quote from couple of providers. All of them are insisting that I should do complete wall paneling for acoustics. That is something I don't want to do. Is that something really necessary? Keeping that in mind I may scale down to less powerful system and speakers.

Thanks,
-Vishwa

 

[grunthos]

Thank you, I have quote from couple of providers. All of them are insisting that I should do complete wall paneling for acoustics. That is something I don't want to do. Is that something really necessary? Keeping that in mind I may scale down to less powerful system and speakers.

Unless you are going for really high end equipment, you can skip wall treatments