Hi all! Long time lurker, first time posting to the forum. The wife and I are building our first custom home, a floor plan that we fell in love with. The somewhat unfortunate thing is that the floor plan does not include a dedicated theater room. Like many others, this means that our living room area (open floor plan) will be our "theater".
We have a newer 55" 4k Ultra television that will be mounted above the fireplace mantle. I've been speaking with a custom AV Install/Sales company in town and he's given me the following recommendations to purchase. He also visited the home so he knows what we are working with...
1. Denon AVR-x1300 Receiver
2. (7) Episode 350 "in ceiling" speakers
3. (1) Episode In Wall Sub (ES-Sub IW Dual 8" and E-2100 Power Amp)
We will also have two speakers outside on our "covered" deck so we'd prefer a 2-zone AVR. We do not currently have an AV Receiver and this was his recommendation. The three speakers nearest the TV will be aimable and the two rear speakers and the two out on the deck will be flat (non aimable). I've attached a rough sketch of the layout. All AV equipment will be housed in a closet just beside the living room. For all of the items listed above, the cost was just under $2,000, and does not include any install.
Questions
1. Any concerns with anything that I've listed?
2. Should that Sub be plenty for that room? FYI, I went ahead and pre-wired the opposite wall too, just in case I needed to add another in-wall sub down the road?!
3. Is the HDMI cable "really that important? I purchased one for $10 that said it was true 4k quality, but it looked somewhat basic?! It was 25 feet long in order to be run through the wall to the AV closet. I'd hate to get the drywall installed and then find out I've got a diminished picture quality because of a less than stellar HDMI cable!!
4. He suggested we not install a volume control on the deck and just utilize an App on our phones to control the volume out there. Could this be a mistake down the road if/when we install a TV out there?
Thanks so much in advance.
Slightly technologically challenged firefighter, Jeff