Home cinema help

aisling_d

Hi....I'm starting up my home entertainment system which will (hopefully depending on money) consist of LCD tv, projector, home made projector screen (paint), surround sound speakers and amp/receiver. If anyone has any info on any of the above like where to go for the best deals and good quality stuff...I was looking at the Panasonic TX-32LXD500...read some reviews and it looks quite good

Maxwell

Hey there,

My best piece of advice would be to visit the home cinema set up sections on this site:

www.avforums.com

An excellent informative site

Wish you all the best!

Villain

Just one point on the screen, you can buy the proper Cloth for a screen pretty cheap, I posted a link in this forum a few weeks ago, I'll see if I can find it. What Projector were you looking at?

aisling_d

I was looking at the BenQ PE7700...read some reviews about it in What Hi-Fi and it got a good rating but then heard that technology has moved on since then...so not too sure....my budget is around €2,500.

I was going to buy this special projector screen paint from www.goosystems.com it's not too expensive about €150. Also having trouble deciding on what speakers to go for...I'd like B+W speakers but can't really afford them ...what are denon like...does anyone know??

Villain

aisling_d wrote:

I was looking at the BenQ PE7700...read some reviews about it in What Hi-Fi and it got a good rating but then heard that technology has moved on since then...so not too sure....my budget is around €2,500.

I was going to buy this special projector screen paint from www.goosystems.com it's not too expensive about €150. Also having trouble deciding on what speakers to go for...I'd like B+W speakers but can't really afford them ...what are denon like...does anyone know??

When you say your budget is €2,500 do you mean in total or for the projector?

Maxwell

I was wondering about the goo paint for a while.

Im just using a basic white paint for mine - w0uld there be a huge difference on the goo paint, worth the €150?

Aisling/Anyone have a link to a comparison?

Villain

Have a read here

Maxwell

Thanks for that!

At least I can see how it compares to a screen - but was wondering whether there is a test/comparison against ordinary paint. Would want to spend 150 euros to find that the picture is only slightly better than what Im getting now.

aisling_d

Sorry...yeah €2,500 for the projector.

Went into Cloney Audios in Blackrock...wow!! They have an amazing set up...it's like somebody's house rather than a shop with an upstairs room converted into a home cinema room. They put a border around the painted chimney breast and the picture quality was really good. The bloke in the shop was telling me about this goo paint 'cos I said I didn't want to waste a load of money on a screen...this is where I fell in love with home cinema:D

pH

As for PJs, I have a panasonic AE500 which is LCD and it's great. the new ae900 is about €1,600 and even better.

The important things to consider (in my opinion):

DLP or LCD?
DLP gives a brighter picture with higher contrast than LCD, but for the same money LCD gives you a better resolution. When 720/1080 line 3chip DLPs are available sub 2 grand then the game is over but until then .....

Some people don't like DLP because of the 'rainbow effect' - if you're buying a DLP then make sure you have watched some bright fast-moving scenes on the exact model.

Darkness
All PJs really need cinema levels of darkness for the best picture.

Home Theatre vs Boardroom
Make sure the PJ you're buying is designed and sold as a HT unit. Boardroom PJs are designed for presentations and are compromised at HT units.

as posted above buy some Home Theatre magazines in easons, and read the appropriate avforums.com forums.

Maxwell

aisling_d wrote:

Sorry...yeah €2,500 for the projector.

Went into Cloney Audios in Blackrock...wow!! They have an amazing set up...it's like somebody's house rather than a shop with an upstairs room converted into a home cinema room. They put a border around the painted chimney breast and the picture quality was really good. The bloke in the shop was telling me about this goo paint 'cos I said I didn't want to waste a load of money on a screen...this is where I fell in love with home cinema:D

Aisling - do they sell the goo in Cloney and are they using at all in their stores?

aisling_d

pH - thanks for the advice...will check out the mags and see what they say....God I'm turning into my dad he's a real technology freak!

Maxwell - Cloney audios don't sell the goo paint he just recommended it. Their shop is in the middle of a revamp at the mo so the projector image is just on a 2 year old "Magnolia" painted wall....they're using a SIM2 projector worth €18000 so maybe that's why the picture looks class

spuddy01

aisling_d wrote:

pH - thanks for the advice...will check out the mags and see what they say....God I'm turning into my dad he's a real technology freak!

Maxwell - Cloney audios don't sell the goo paint he just recommended it. Their shop is in the middle of a revamp at the mo so the projector image is just on a 2 year old "Magnolia" painted wall....they're using a SIM2 projector worth €18000 so maybe that's why the picture looks class

Hi Aishling if you're looking for a projector I would recomend this site I purchased a Sanyo Z3 here before Xmas & I'm projecting onto a magnolia wall & I have to say the picture is well impressive they also have the Z4 but as you'll see ur spoilt for choice!!The avforums is a great place for info regarding Home Cinema,Best of luck!!:D http://www.technikdirekt.de/main/en/video/projektion/daten-video-projektion/daten-videoprojektoren/page.html

GinjaNinja

For projector blinds, I can recomend Black out material.
It's perfect. I'm using a custom black out roller blind with my infocus X1a and its prefect.

aisling_d

Cheers for the advice lads...just bought a stack of HT mags at the weekend so will be spending my evening thrawling through them.

Maxwell

aisling_d wrote:

Cheers for the advice lads...just bought a stack of HT mags at the weekend so will be spending my evening thrawling through them.

The perfect way to go - you will see a common thread occuring from the mag's on the best equipment, pick one, then try and get it at the best price possible. Remember to check the german sites - some great prices there.

Wish you all the best with your purchase