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5 hours ago, jofus said:

We recently finished our HT in a previously inaccessible area of our attic. It was an odd space due to the roof line, but it turned out really well. The room is 14x14 with a 5x5 drink/snack nook in the corner.

Audio is 7.1 surround (two circular height speakers in the vaulted ceiling are aimed at the seats). Speakers are MartinLogan 40i Towers, 50XTi Center, ML in-wall rear surround, SVS PB-2000 sub (behind the seats in pic). This system ROCKS in this small room. Total immersion.

Seat to screen distance is about 9’, with the screen being an 83” LG G2. Denon receiver controls everything from an AV closet down the hall.

The movie posters are insulated acoustic panels with the image printed onto the fabric. Walls/ floor/ ceiling are all insulated with R-38+. We put in a solid core pocket door, which, does a great job keeping most of the sound in the room.


1e768ffdf3813d70681967290c441c08.jpg



a18ba0a6ed925000dabe6c5f156d0ffe.jpg

Damn, that's a lot of sub for that little room.  I bet it sounds amazing!

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  • 1 year later...

Getting to the point with the remodel that I need to start thinking about speakers for the main room.  I'm thinking of just doing a 3.1 system this go-round (haven't used the 5.1 system in my basement in years at this point).  I just want something that sounds good and looks good for the wife.  Any suggestions?  The room has high vaulted ceilings, so surround isn't going to happen.  

We will have a long media console that is roughly 90" long and 25" tall so speakers will be visible, sitting either on top or next to the console.  Wife wants them to look nice.  I'll put the receiver in the media console. Not going to do a big sub, so maybe considering tower speakers for my right and left to add the bass there?

I haven't looked at this shit in years.  Have no idea what the current trends and good equipment are.

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Get a Marantz receiver and see what good built-ins are available. I assume B&W makes some good ones. A decent sub should be easy to find - probably get a SVS SB-1000 Pro.

Edited by Bevo
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Don't sleep on the low profile down firing subs.  We had one for a while (Yamaha, now discontinued), and it did pretty well for taking the load off the bookshelf speakers.  Something like that likely would be a discrete (stick it under the console if you like) way to get the most out of whatever speakers you get.

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6 hours ago, dcbc said:

Don't sleep on the low profile down firing subs.  We had one for a while (Yamaha, now discontinued), and it did pretty well for taking the load off the bookshelf speakers.  Something like that likely would be a discrete (stick it under the console if you like) way to get the most out of whatever speakers you get.

Got the wife's buy-in on doing a 3.1 (bookshelves and center on top of the  console) with a sub next to the console, just need to make sure all speakers are piano black since the media console is black.

SVS speakers and subs look nice and price is not too bad.  With their current sale, I can get Ultra bookshelves, center and a PB-1000 sub for $2,300.  Who else should I look at?  

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5 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Got the wife's buy-in on doing a 3.1 (bookshelves and center on top of the  console) with a sub next to the console, just need to make sure all speakers are piano black since the media console is black.

SVS speakers and subs look nice and price is not too bad.  With their current sale, I can get Ultra bookshelves, center and a PB-1000 sub for $2,300.  Who else should I look at?  

If I remember right, the reviews on the piano black say they smudge easily. I could be wrong, though, since I'm going off memory.

As far as subs go, RSL has an inexpensive one that gets good reviews, RSL Speedwoofer 10S MKII. I suppose Emotiva is pretty good at RS13. I've liked Martin Logan subs. B&W and KEF are kind of overpriced for subs.

Edited by Bevo
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1 minute ago, Bevo said:

If I remember right, the reviews on the piano black say they smudge easily. I could be wrong, though, since I'm going off memory.

Kids are grown, so nobody will be touching them once they are in place.  But that's good to know.

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11 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Got the wife's buy-in on doing a 3.1 (bookshelves and center on top of the  console) with a sub next to the console, just need to make sure all speakers are piano black since the media console is black.

SVS speakers and subs look nice and price is not too bad.  With their current sale, I can get Ultra bookshelves, center and a PB-1000 sub for $2,300.  Who else should I look at?  

I have a 3.1 system after a 9.2 system in my old place. 
 

What you should spend your money on is a center speaker and build from there. You want a true 3-way center. Timber matching is bullshit so don’t worry about brands. 
 

AVS Forum has tons of info on speakers/bookshelves etc. 

Places like crutch-field allow hassle free returns after 60 days if want to do an in home demo, as does SVS, Monoprice THX etc. 
 

Next on the list would be the subs. 
 

Last would be the bookshelves and the main question there would be what is your ratio of music vs home theater?  

Edited by ChickenSandwich
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10 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

I have a 3.1 system after a 9.2 system in my old place. 
 

What you should spend your money on is a center speaker and build from there. You want a true 3-way center. Timber matching is bullshit so don’t worry about brands. 
 

AVS Forum has tons of info on speakers/bookshelves etc. 

Places like crutch-field allow hassle free returns after 60 days if want to do an in home demo. 
 

Next on the list would be the subs. 
 

Last would be the bookshelves and the main question there would be what is your ratio of music vs home theater?  

Probably 70% TV and 30% music.  And music is streaming stuff, not sitting down listening to lossless files or anything like that. This isn't a critical listening setup, I just want clear dialog, nice background noises and a sub to round out the sound for me.  Honestly, even the PB-1000 might be overkill for what I want, but it's a huge open room so I'll probably go bigger on that end.

AVS Forum is information overload for me.  

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Also looking for input on what receiver to run.  Just need it to power the speakers and be able to connect to it via wifi/bluetooth to play music.  I probably don't need to be in Marantz land.  I've got a Yamaha right now that has been perfectly good.  Not a fan of Onkyo after having a couple die prematurely (which precipitated the Yamaha purchase).

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22 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

Also looking for input on what receiver to run.  Just need it to power the speakers and be able to connect to it via wifi/bluetooth to play music.  I probably don't need to be in Marantz land.  I've got a Yamaha right now that has been perfectly good.  Not a fan of Onkyo after having a couple die prematurely (which precipitated the Yamaha purchase).

Maybe GoldenEar, Wharfedale, Sonus Faber, B&W, Emotiva to look at for center channel and satellites. Marantz, Denon, Yamaha will all be fine for a 3.1 or 5.1 system. 

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I'm at a bit of a crossroads on our home theater setup and could use some assistance. Our Panasonic projector is on its last legs. It's a good unit but it's time to upgrade or move on to some other option. The issue I'm having is we really don't want to go up on screen size and a lot of newer projectors have much shorter throw ratios. Our room is pretty big and the throw from the projector to screen is 16 feet. I really don't want to invest in moving the mount and all the wiring forward. It's nice where it is because it's not as noticeable. I have debated a few options, 1) replace the projector with a long throw projector and get a new screen (I may see about going up a bit to 92" or 100" from 85" that we currently have), 2) get a short throw laser projector and screen, 3) get a 77-85" TV. I was hoping to stay under $2500 for everything.

We've had projectors in various forms since 1996. We really only watch stuff at night. I have a TV in my study that I mostly watch sports on but I'll sometimes watch on the projector. The panels are really starting to go out and the newer bulbs just highlight the flaws now. It's hard finding a not super expensive projector with a long throw ratio now. Most of the good ones I see from Ben-Q, Epson, and Optoma are in the 12-13 feet maximum throw range. The best one I can find is the Epson 5050. It's more than I'd prefer to spend but has most of the things I'm wanting like 4K, HDR, and good brightness. I've seen it in action and it looked great.

The short throw laser is interesting because it seems to have the best technology upside. Laser lasts longer than bulbs. It looks brighter and clearer. The issue is the short throw while great is still odd. The projector needs to sit a foot from the wall. That can look really dumb. The wife definitely does not want to walk in the room and see a cabinet sitting a foot out from the wall. There are some options like sliding shelf mounts but that just makes the amount go even higher and makes it not worth it since then I'm getting into OLED TV prices.

Which leads me to my final option, a 77-85" TV. The issue I have with TVs is I see way too many flaws in the TVs I see on display when I can actually watch something like a movie or live TV. When it's the stock HDR or 4K demo, it looks great. I'm not going to watch that much of that content. Anywhere I go though to check TVs only has that sort of content running. What is the best way to find out what these things look like when you're just watching a non-4K movie or an OTA NFL or college football game? As far as price, I can get a huge TV for pretty cheap but I realize I'm risking getting something that can't replicate motion very well. I've found that motion on newer TVs just looks weird to me. Maybe I'm too institutionalized with this projector but newer TVs really seem to show a lot of artifacting, blur, or other imperfections. I don't want to just get a big ass TV to try it out so some assistance with where I should look for research would be helpful. I was looking at an LG OLED TV this weekend that was on sale at Best Buy. It was showing a trailer for Top Gun: Maverick. Overall it looked good but when it would go close up on a face of an actor or a black background, it would get really grainy and was really noticeable. About the best option I saw was an 85" Sony Bravia XR X90L. 

I know I'm overthinking this but is there also a good site that breaks down the OLED, QLED, Full Array LED differences and why I need to worry about refresh rates? We mostly watch stuff on our Apple TV and plan to get the 4K version. I know TVs come with smart apps so that would be a bonus but not a requirement. Standard projectors have none of that, short throw lasers do. We also watch OTA channels and blu-rays. 

Edited by mdmost
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13 hours ago, mdmost said:

I'm at a bit of a crossroads on our home theater setup and could use some assistance. Our Panasonic projector is on its last legs. It's a good unit but it's time to upgrade or move on to some other option. The issue I'm having is we really don't want to go up on screen size and a lot of newer projectors have much shorter throw ratios. Our room is pretty big and the throw from the projector to screen is 16 feet. I really don't want to invest in moving the mount and all the wiring forward. It's nice where it is because it's not as noticeable. I have debated a few options, 1) replace the projector with a long throw projector and get a new screen (I may see about going up a bit to 92" or 100" from 85" that we currently have), 2) get a short throw laser projector and screen, 3) get a 77-85" TV. I was hoping to stay under $2500 for everything.

 

https://www.costco.com/lg-86"-class---ur8000-series---4k-uhd-led-tv.product.4000153824.html

 

86" LG at Costco for <$1000  Crazy

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2 hours ago, TeeDubya said:

I actually found a good site last night that compares TVs and projectors. Rtings.com. They do a really good job of breaking down why a TV is better than another especially for certain types of media like sports and TV shows. They have a nice big article all about how projectors can't replicate the quality of TVs now even at larger sizes. They don't recommend this TV but I appreciate the suggestion. 

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4 hours ago, mdmost said:

I actually found a good site last night that compares TVs and projectors. Rtings.com. They do a really good job of breaking down why a TV is better than another especially for certain types of media like sports and TV shows. They have a nice big article all about how projectors can't replicate the quality of TVs now even at larger sizes. They don't recommend this TV but I appreciate the suggestion. 

Post the link if you can.  I'd love to see it.

Buying a TV is all a compromise.  Where do you draw the price point is the big question.

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1 hour ago, TeeDubya said:

Post the link if you can.  I'd love to see it.

Buying a TV is all a compromise.  Where do you draw the price point is the big question.

https://www.rtings.com/projector/learn/research/launch-article

https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/ur8000

I like the site because sports and TV shows are the things I'm worried about in shifting over from a projector. They give you a good idea how those might look and the ratings are very helpful. You can also compare other TVs on the same page. I think all the motion blur technology that made HD look like it was a live TV broadcast was what threw us off from moving over. I know you can turn those settings off but I want to be able to see more than just demos. That was a nice thing about when I looked at a front projector at Nebraska Furniture Mart. I was able to take the remote and log into YouTube to see how things looked from there. 4K stuff was amazing. 

Honestly, I may just see who has the best return policy and try out a TV for 30 days. We have a stand that it can go on where we have our center channel and other items. If we like it, we can then get it mounted as we'd have to take the old screen down. 

Edited by mdmost
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17 minutes ago, mdmost said:

https://www.rtings.com/projector/learn/research/launch-article

https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/ur8000

I like the site because sports and TV shows are the things I'm worried about in shifting over from a projector. They give you a good idea how those might look and the ratings are very helpful. You can also compare other TVs on the same page. I think all the motion blur technology that made HD look like it was a live TV broadcast was what threw us off from moving over. I know you can turn those settings off but I want to be able to see more than just demos. That was a nice thing about when I looked at a front projector at Nebraska Furniture Mart. I was able to take the remote and log into YouTube to see how things looked from there. 4K stuff was amazing. 

Honestly, I may just see who has the best return policy and try out a TV for 30 days. We have a stand that it can go on where we have our center channel and other items. If we like it, we can then get it mounted as we'd have to take the old screen down. 

Thanks mdmost!

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On 2/21/2024 at 4:04 PM, Chewbacca said:

Got the wife's buy-in on doing a 3.1 (bookshelves and center on top of the  console) with a sub next to the console, just need to make sure all speakers are piano black since the media console is black.

Take a look at a pair of Usher S-520s as mains and an S-525 center.  You can get all three for $905 (10% off) by signing up for the linked dealer's emails.  The design is unchanged in about 20 years, but these are terrific speakers for the money.  Lots of glowing reviews out there.  I ran the S-520s as mains and surrounds (along with the S-525 center) in a 5.1 system for 15 years.  I recently upgraded to a tower as mains as part of going from 5.1 to 7.1, shifting the S-520s I had been using as mains to the rear. 

Edited by Tonesky
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A center channel speaker is a critical component of a home theater system set-up as it delivers about 70% of the dialogue from movies and television. Without one, you're missing out on vital parts of what you're watching.

Most frequent complaint/want is clear dialogue from the center. Can’t stress enough how much a three way speaker excels over a two way center speaker in home applications. 

The detailed spec will clearly state if the speaker is 2 or 3 way.  

Avoid the 2 way center if possible. 
 

Good budget friendly example in piano black from SVS

https://www.svsound.com/products/prime-center?variant=9532387395

Top line Ultra in piano black

https://a.co/d/5Tqx4uT

SVS also has a 45 day in home trial period available 

Monoprice 365c THX

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=34189

Edited by ChickenSandwich
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I started to hate my overhead 4k projector. I did not want to sacrifice my 100" screen and I wasn't ready to drop 10k on a 100" tv (this was a couple of years ago, or a year ago, can't remember). I bought a Hisense short throw laser that came with the screen and I love it. I'm sure it's not as great of a picture as a 100" O/Q but to my eyes it's great, and about 5x better than my old overhead. They do make cabinets/tables with "skylights" but last I looked they were 3-4k. 

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On 2/21/2024 at 8:06 PM, mdmost said:

I'm at a bit of a crossroads on our home theater setup and could use some assistance. Our Panasonic projector is on its last legs. It's a good unit but it's time to upgrade or move on to some other option. The issue I'm having is we really don't want to go up on screen size and a lot of newer projectors have much shorter throw ratios. Our room is pretty big and the throw from the projector to screen is 16 feet. I really don't want to invest in moving the mount and all the wiring forward. It's nice where it is because it's not as noticeable. I have debated a few options, 1) replace the projector with a long throw projector and get a new screen (I may see about going up a bit to 92" or 100" from 85" that we currently have), 2) get a short throw laser projector and screen, 3) get a 77-85" TV. I was hoping to stay under $2500 for everything.

We've had projectors in various forms since 1996. We really only watch stuff at night. I have a TV in my study that I mostly watch sports on but I'll sometimes watch on the projector. The panels are really starting to go out and the newer bulbs just highlight the flaws now. It's hard finding a not super expensive projector with a long throw ratio now. Most of the good ones I see from Ben-Q, Epson, and Optoma are in the 12-13 feet maximum throw range. The best one I can find is the Epson 5050. It's more than I'd prefer to spend but has most of the things I'm wanting like 4K, HDR, and good brightness. I've seen it in action and it looked great.

The short throw laser is interesting because it seems to have the best technology upside. Laser lasts longer than bulbs. It looks brighter and clearer. The issue is the short throw while great is still odd. The projector needs to sit a foot from the wall. That can look really dumb. The wife definitely does not want to walk in the room and see a cabinet sitting a foot out from the wall. There are some options like sliding shelf mounts but that just makes the amount go even higher and makes it not worth it since then I'm getting into OLED TV prices.

Which leads me to my final option, a 77-85" TV. The issue I have with TVs is I see way too many flaws in the TVs I see on display when I can actually watch something like a movie or live TV. When it's the stock HDR or 4K demo, it looks great. I'm not going to watch that much of that content. Anywhere I go though to check TVs only has that sort of content running. What is the best way to find out what these things look like when you're just watching a non-4K movie or an OTA NFL or college football game? As far as price, I can get a huge TV for pretty cheap but I realize I'm risking getting something that can't replicate motion very well. I've found that motion on newer TVs just looks weird to me. Maybe I'm too institutionalized with this projector but newer TVs really seem to show a lot of artifacting, blur, or other imperfections. I don't want to just get a big ass TV to try it out so some assistance with where I should look for research would be helpful. I was looking at an LG OLED TV this weekend that was on sale at Best Buy. It was showing a trailer for Top Gun: Maverick. Overall it looked good but when it would go close up on a face of an actor or a black background, it would get really grainy and was really noticeable. About the best option I saw was an 85" Sony Bravia XR X90L. 

I know I'm overthinking this but is there also a good site that breaks down the OLED, QLED, Full Array LED differences and why I need to worry about refresh rates? We mostly watch stuff on our Apple TV and plan to get the 4K version. I know TVs come with smart apps so that would be a bonus but not a requirement. Standard projectors have none of that, short throw lasers do. We also watch OTA channels and blu-rays. 

 

I'm in a similar boat. Currently have a 75" in the living room, and now doing a remodel of the room. New paint, floor, blinds, and furniture. Also going to upgrade/update the TV situation, and I've put in a ton of hours in the past couple months researching it all.

You "can" get an 85" TV for cheap, but you're getting a cheap TV. Good ones will put you in the $6k-$10k range, some at 85", some at 98" (Hisense).

For me, the bump to 85" from 75" wasn't a big enough difference to justify the cost. Enter the Ultra Short Throw projector and the game changes a bit.

 

You will sacrifice some picture quality over having a TV. That's just how it is, but already having a projector, you know these types of things. However the projectors today, including UST's, are getting a lot closer than many years ago. UST's also are better situated to produce better colors, and cover a significant amount more of the color specs out there now. Most triple laser units can reproduce over 100% of the BT.2020 spec. So while a small sacrifice in pure black is made, the color gamut is much better in reproduction.

For a UST, the environment is the biggest factor. How much ambient light needs to be overcome during the day, or even with lights on in the evening?

A room with a couple south facing windows, with no real blinds to block the light, and a lot of daytime viewing will need a brighter output of at least 3k, preferably 4k, ANSI lumens. So something like an AWOL Vision LTV-3500 Pro (3.5k ANSI lumens, or an Epson LS800 (4k ANSI lumens) would work better in that environment.

In my own living room, it has 2 north facing windows. Even on a bright, clear day the room isn't near as bright. You don't need lights on, but the ambient light level is much less. Plus the new blinds will block a lot more light than the current ones, so that makes the options out there a little more available to me than if the situation were different.

One thing for consideration, which you mentioned, is the throw distance. This means how far from the wall the unit needs to be to project the correct size image. Smaller image, the closer it gets, regardless of brand/model.

For example, the Epson LS800 has the lowest throw ratio out right now, and the back of the projector needs to only be about 7 inches away from the wall. Most will need the closest side to the wall (which they call the back, and it is) somewhere around 12"-14" from the wall for a 120" image. For a 100" image, most will need about 10"-12" or so. The Epson LS800 would need about 4" for a 100" screen.

Then there is the height where the bottom of the screen needs to be set. Most need about 15"-18" or so from the surface the projector is on, to the bottom of the screen. The Epson again being the outlier and needing only 12" for a 100" screen, and 14" for a 120" screen.

The above will determine the size, specifically height, you can have for your cabinet, as that height + the height from there to the bottom of the screen. To note, 120" screens are 5ft tall. If, for example, your room has 8ft ceilings, that leaves you with at most 36" (probably more like 34", realistically) for the cabinet height + the distance to the bottom of the screen. Which means if you need a height of say 17" for the projector, then the tallest cabinet you can have would be 17".

 

For my environment, I'm going to go with the following:

- Awol Vision LTV-3000 Pro ($3200)
- "Nothing Projector" Black Series ALR/CLR screen for UST projectors ($1000)

For me the above projector brings together a good balance of lumen output, as well as picture quality, and the unit's subset of features. Instead of having a wonky version of google/android tv, which most brands that use that can't get netflix onboard, they just throw in a new 4k Fire Stick. Fine by me, I already have Roku's everywhere anyway.

The screen isn't the best, but that's going to double the price. After seeing several side by side comparisons, the NP screen is probably 95% the picture of the higher priced one. The difference is really negligible, and that's side by side. The difference, for me, isn't worth another $1k.

 

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6 hours ago, ChickenSandwich said:

A center channel speaker is a critical component of a home theater system set-up as it delivers about 70% of the dialogue from movies and television. Without one, you're missing out on vital parts of what you're watching.

Most frequent complaint/want is clear dialogue from the center. Can’t stress enough how much a three way speaker excels over a two way center speaker in home applications. 

The detailed spec will clearly state if the speaker is 2 or 3 way.  

Avoid the 2 way center if possible. 
 

Good budget friendly example in piano black from SVS

https://www.svsound.com/products/prime-center?variant=9532387395

Top line Ultra in piano black

https://a.co/d/5Tqx4uT

SVS also has a 45 day in home trial period available 

Monoprice 365c THX

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=34189

Yeah, the more I look around, the more I'm leaning towards SVS for everything.  Ultras for the fronts and center and I haven't decided on the sub yet.  Ceiling in this room is probably 20 feet (vaulted), so it's a huge space to fill.

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4 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

Yeah, the more I look around, the more I'm leaning towards SVS for everything.  Ultras for the fronts and center and I haven't decided on the sub yet.  Ceiling in this room is probably 20 feet (vaulted), so it's a huge space to fill.

Compact 15 (same footprint as a lot of 12s) sealed servo sub. 
 

https://www.rythmikaudio.com/E15.html

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8 minutes ago, hornfan785 said:

I would also recommend a Rythmik sub, just because I've been using my LV12R, along with some Ascend Acoustic speakers, since 2013 and it's performed great! I am biased though, I've never owned anything by SVS.

If there's one thing SVS is known for,  it is subs. But I'll check out Rhythmik, too. 

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Local to austin you can email/call or text directly with owner and designer. 
 

send them your room dimensions and tell them what you are trying to do. Customer service is top notch and read the reviews vs svs

I believe they offer a free trial period as well

3.1

53086003620_c2f886f165_b.jpg

*biased but owned one of each

 

As far as an AVR goes, get something with good room correction. If not opposed to refurbished, accessories for less is an authorized marantz refurbished retailer and offers extended warranty 

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/avreceiver/home-audio/receivers-amps/home-theater-receivers/1.html

Edited by ChickenSandwich
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17 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Local to austin you can email/call or text directly with owner and designer. 
 

send them your room dimensions and tell them what you are trying to do. Customer service is top notch and read the reviews vs svs

I believe they offer a free trial period as well

3.1

53086003620_c2f886f165_b.jpg

*biased but owned one of each

 

As far as an AVR goes, get something with good room correction. If not opposed to refurbished, accessories for less is an authorized marantz refurbished retailer and offers extended warranty 

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/avreceiver/home-audio/receivers-amps/home-theater-receivers/1.html

House is in CO mountains. 

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On 2/21/2024 at 8:06 PM, mdmost said:

I'm at a bit of a crossroads on our home theater setup and could use some assistance. Our Panasonic projector is on its last legs. It's a good unit but it's time to upgrade or move on to some other option. The issue I'm having is we really don't want to go up on screen size and a lot of newer projectors have much shorter throw ratios. Our room is pretty big and the throw from the projector to screen is 16 feet. I really don't want to invest in moving the mount and all the wiring forward. It's nice where it is because it's not as noticeable. I have debated a few options, 1) replace the projector with a long throw projector and get a new screen (I may see about going up a bit to 92" or 100" from 85" that we currently have), 2) get a short throw laser projector and screen, 3) get a 77-85" TV. I was hoping to stay under $2500 for everything.

We've had projectors in various forms since 1996. We really only watch stuff at night. I have a TV in my study that I mostly watch sports on but I'll sometimes watch on the projector. The panels are really starting to go out and the newer bulbs just highlight the flaws now. It's hard finding a not super expensive projector with a long throw ratio now. Most of the good ones I see from Ben-Q, Epson, and Optoma are in the 12-13 feet maximum throw range. The best one I can find is the Epson 5050. It's more than I'd prefer to spend but has most of the things I'm wanting like 4K, HDR, and good brightness. I've seen it in action and it looked great.

The short throw laser is interesting because it seems to have the best technology upside. Laser lasts longer than bulbs. It looks brighter and clearer. The issue is the short throw while great is still odd. The projector needs to sit a foot from the wall. That can look really dumb. The wife definitely does not want to walk in the room and see a cabinet sitting a foot out from the wall. There are some options like sliding shelf mounts but that just makes the amount go even higher and makes it not worth it since then I'm getting into OLED TV prices.

Which leads me to my final option, a 77-85" TV. The issue I have with TVs is I see way too many flaws in the TVs I see on display when I can actually watch something like a movie or live TV. When it's the stock HDR or 4K demo, it looks great. I'm not going to watch that much of that content. Anywhere I go though to check TVs only has that sort of content running. What is the best way to find out what these things look like when you're just watching a non-4K movie or an OTA NFL or college football game? As far as price, I can get a huge TV for pretty cheap but I realize I'm risking getting something that can't replicate motion very well. I've found that motion on newer TVs just looks weird to me. Maybe I'm too institutionalized with this projector but newer TVs really seem to show a lot of artifacting, blur, or other imperfections. I don't want to just get a big ass TV to try it out so some assistance with where I should look for research would be helpful. I was looking at an LG OLED TV this weekend that was on sale at Best Buy. It was showing a trailer for Top Gun: Maverick. Overall it looked good but when it would go close up on a face of an actor or a black background, it would get really grainy and was really noticeable. About the best option I saw was an 85" Sony Bravia XR X90L. 

I know I'm overthinking this but is there also a good site that breaks down the OLED, QLED, Full Array LED differences and why I need to worry about refresh rates? We mostly watch stuff on our Apple TV and plan to get the 4K version. I know TVs come with smart apps so that would be a bonus but not a requirement. Standard projectors have none of that, short throw lasers do. We also watch OTA channels and blu-rays. 

Another +1 for "buy an 85" HDTV". The only reason I don't make the switch is because I have 2 solid projector setups (120" and 100") that would cost thousands to switchover to similar size HDTVs.

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How are people hooking things up for streaming in their home theaters?  Are you streaming through the tv and running HDMI to the receiver to get the sound to the speakers?  I want to make sure I never have to use the tv speakers when I get this set up.  

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Receiver -> display: via ARC/eARC

devices -> receiver


If you have a lot of devices and don’t want to swap cables, get an hdmi switch. Just make sure you’re getting hdmi 2.2 parts. Which can be a pain in the ass if one isn’t when you play certain content. Something to do with copyright protection and an interception device, give or take.

 

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19 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

Receiver -> display: via ARC/eARC

devices -> receiver


If you have a lot of devices and don’t want to swap cables, get an hdmi switch. Just make sure you’re getting hdmi 2.2 parts. Which can be a pain in the ass if one isn’t when you play certain content. Something to do with copyright protection and an interception device, give or take.

 

I imagine sources will be streaming apps (from TV), Blu Ray player (because I'm old and own a fuckton of Blu Ray movies)  and then music streaming from phones via wifi or bluetooth. Not going to have cable, I think.

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20 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

I imagine sources will be streaming apps (from TV), Blu Ray player (because I'm old and own a fuckton of Blu Ray movies)  and then music streaming from phones via wifi or bluetooth. Not going to have cable, I think.

 

Sounds about right. I would suggest forgoing the built-in tv apps, and getting a dedicated streaming box instead. The hardware and performance isn't great to start, and doesn't get better in the long term. Plus it's easier to keep things consistent across TV's. Go for the box over a stick. Better hardware and format support.

 

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1 hour ago, thunderlounge said:

 

Sounds about right. I would suggest forgoing the built-in tv apps, and getting a dedicated streaming box instead. The hardware and performance isn't great to start, and doesn't get better in the long term. Plus it's easier to keep things consistent across TV's. Go for the box over a stick. Better hardware and format support.

 

Do most streaming boxes have a quick button for netflix and prime? Is it a pain having a remote for cable, TV, streaming, and the AV receiver? It seems like the newest receivers should have video streaming built-in but I'm pretty sure they don't have video streaming like Prime and Netflix but just audio streaming like Roon. I also like to stream off my NAS.

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46 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Do most streaming boxes have a quick button for netflix and prime? Is it a pain having a remote for cable, TV, streaming, and the AV receiver? It seems like the newest receivers should have video streaming built-in but I'm pretty sure they don't have video streaming like Prime and Netflix but just audio streaming like Roon. I also like to stream off my NAS.

I switched most of my streaming boxes over to the Onn Tv box. It's $20 and reliable. The remote will also let you control the volume and power for your Tv/receiver. Install Plex and stream from your NAS or any PC you have.

https://www.theverge.com/23738980/walmart-onn-google-tv-4k-streaming-box-review

image.png.81509a72819c9d97f271b58e9079d8b3.png

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Yes, most have quick access buttons.

I use roku ultras, but would also consider amazons fire cube (or whatever), or the nVidia Shield seems to also be a big hit. 
 

I initially got a roku way back when, so kept it the same throughout.

Not sure which of the two above I would pick if I were to switch, but roku does me fine. Dolby Vision (Atmos pass-through), HDR, HDR10+, etc. Of course those are up to your display in the end (or audio setup, for atmos) which makes a difference.

The roku remote does fine. It turns on the tv, which wakes up the audio from standby, and also controls the volume. I don’t mess around with settings much once I have it where I want it, so mostly use the roku remote.

IIRC there’s an app for nas streaming, but don’t hold me to that one. If Roku doesn’t, then at the very least you should be able to do it with one of them.

 

 

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1 hour ago, thunderlounge said:

The roku remote does fine. It turns on the tv, which wakes up the audio from standby, and also controls the volume. I don’t mess around with settings much once I have it where I want it, so mostly use the roku remote.

We have Roku Streaming Stick 4Ks on each TV. They are regularly (and currently) on sale for $40.  They perform better than using the TVs’ built in smarts.  It has dedicated buttons for Netflix and Apple TV, but not Prime. But, getting to prime (or any other installed app) still just takes a couple of seconds.  The only time I use the AVR remote is to change to, or select the audio mode for, music, and restore the audio mode to surround when returning to video. 

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bought appletv units when they were slightly discounted over christmas.  5 billion times better than the xiaomi box i had.

no problems with built-in app on my TV because it's recent model so the performance is fast.... but the appleTV is just absolutely blazing, has way more services and functionality, and integration with apple devices is just a peach.  for example i could put my headphones on and the aTV will detect and ask me to switch it to it instantly.  no clunky pairing needed.

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