Pay for Installation

[Puahapa]

Hello everyone,

My wife and I have decided to purchase our first home theater system. We went to the local specialty shop and whats listed below is what they recommended. I have no knowledge of AV equipment, I just listened to this setup in the shop and it sounded great.

My question is, should I pay for installation? I can run cables no problem and $1000 seems steep.

Thanks..


- Sony 65" 4K TV (XBR65X810C) $1498.00
- Yamaha (RX850) $899
- KEF (Q700) L/R floor standing speakers $799, center channel (Q600C) $600, subwoofer (Q400) $600
- BEALE (IC6-B) 2 channel in-ceiling surround speakers $315
- Panamax (PM8) $67 surge protection for A/V equipment, (MD2) $40 for subwoofer
- Installation $500 - $1000

 

[highfigh]

Hello everyone,

My wife and I have decided to purchase our first home theater system. We went to the local specialty shop and whats listed below is what they recommended. I have no knowledge of AV equipment, I just listened to this setup in the shop and it sounded great.

My question is, should I pay for installation? I can run cables no problem and $1000 seems steep.

Thanks..


- Sony 65" 4K TV (XBR65X810C) $1498.00
- Yamaha (RX850) $899
- KEF (Q700) L/R floor standing speakers $799, center channel (Q600C) $600, subwoofer (Q400) $600
- BEALE (IC6-B) 2 channel in-ceiling surround speakers $315
- Panamax (PM8) $67 surge protection for A/V equipment, (MD2) $40 for subwoofer
- Installation $500 - $1000

I guess you could, but electrical codes cover 'low voltage' cabling and home theater cabling falls under that category. Also, they should know how to route the cabling in the most efficient way, allowing future upgrades as needed, without requiring that walls or ceilings be opened, won't have too many bends in the conduit, the raw cables will be terminated properly, any parts used will be of good quality or better, the placement of speakers will be beneficial to the sound and the equipment will be set up properly, so the system will provide the best sound and video quality possible, dependent on the room and models used.

You wrote that you know nothing about the equipment- installing it needs to be done right. I won't say that all businesses will install or set it up correctly but if you ask for references, you can find out if this place is one of the good places. Does this place have insurance? They need to. That, vehicles, payroll, advertising, training, licensing and the rest of their overhead needs to be paid for.

How many hours of labor were in the estimate?

 

[tyhjaarpa]

If you are ready to learn and study how to do that job you can do it yourself, audioholics for example has quite many tutorials how to set up HT. It is also good to read setup instructions from manuals you get with your equipment. Do it slowly with instructions and you should be fine, but be ready to use one day for installations as you have no knowledge. Inceiling speakers how ever need more work, why don't you get boobshelf speakers for surrounds? I think big part of installation is for that work.

Edit:
Where are you from? As I think you can get better performing sub for the same price as Q400 goes for.

 

[KenM10759]

I agree that I'd change up the chosen subwoofer for a better performing one at similar money...or less.

That doesn't seem an unreasonable fee for installation. Of course the value is in just how good of a job they do and how many hours they spend doing it. If you feel comfortable with cable installation, there's plenty of support here for setting up the system itself. With in-ceiling speakers there's possibility of some frustration running wires without the right tools, so may be worth getting it done as long as there's a "not to exceed" clause.

 

[highfigh]

Most in-ceiling speakers require placing a cable that's long enough to reach, a way to find it before installation and mounting them. Running and securing the cable takes the longest, by far. Rough-in rings are a cheap way to position the speakers and eliminate the need to cut the hole (the drywall guys should do that, but make sure they don't damage the wires or the plastic ring) and installing them takes about two minutes. If the hole cutting is left to the OP, a drywall saw makes it an easy job.

 

[sterling shoote]

Ask the installer for pictures of installations.

 

[BMXTRIX]

That's a pretty standard 5.1 audio system. Hanging the TV, and the rest should take a couple of guys a good day to do the work. You can certainly do it yourself, just as you can often work on your car, paint your house, mow the lawn, do the electrical in your home, plumbing, etc.

It's up to you if you want to do it. But, two guys for a day for $1,000 is cheap. One car mechanic would run you a lot more for 8 hours of labor, and they aren't poking into the walls of your expensive home.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

As mentioned - you'd be better of with different sub, lets say:
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-3mk5HP.html
and if possible on/in-wall speakers are preferred, but if you must go with in-ceiling - get ones which can be aimed to your ear, slightly behind your sitting position.
$500-1000 for full of work 2 guys is fair price. You can install it yourself of course, but do you know how to properly position sub in the room (hint: sub-crawl) or best places for speakers?

 

[herbu]

My question is, should I pay for installation? I can run cables no problem and $1000 seems steep.

The only part of this installation that could be troublesome is the in-ceiling speakers. The rest should be easy. Not only easy, but could help you understand your system for normal operation and replacement of any component if it becomes necessary in the future.

If you're determined to do the in-ceiling speakers, maybe you could just pay the pros to do that, including running the wires to the place you'll put the receiver. Then you do all the rest.

It really is simple. One HDMI cable from the TV to your Yamaha. One HDMI cable from your cable/sat box to your Yamaha. One HDMI cable from your DVD/Bluray player to your Yamaha. Then one pair of speaker cables from your Yamaha to each speaker. Every connector on each component is clearly labeled.

If you're not at all interested, $1k seems reasonable, given the in-ceiling speakers. If you can go with bookshelf speakers on stands, $1k is too much. Either way, I would ask how they plan to hide the speaker wires. Hidden behind the floor molding and terminating in wall outlets, or just laying on the ground. If $1k includes hiding all the speaker wires, it becomes an even better deal.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The only thing I would hire them to do would be installing the 2 ceiling surround speakers and mounting the TV on the wall.

The 3 front speakers, subwoofer, AVR could be installed by you.

1. If you are using KEF front speakers, why not also use KEF ceiling speakers?

http://www.amazon.com/KEF-CI160SR--Ceiling-Architectural-Loudspeaker/dp/B00CERP7QE/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1457577151&sr=1-1&keywords=kef+ceiling+speakers

Also is the Q700 price for 1 speaker?

2. You don't need to spend $107 on 2 surge protectors. Just get one surge protector.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004K1YG5K/ref=s9_acsd_bw_wf_a_PowerDis_cdl_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-5&pf_rd_r=0FRKJJJFMZCRTVT0P7YG&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=2212293322&pf_rd_i=12643220011

3. In about 2 months you could probably get the Denon X3200 for $500 (MSRP $1,000) on Amazon.

4. Here is a $2,000 AVR on sale for $900. That's 55% off! I would buy it immediately before it is gone.

http://www.amazon.com/Marantz-SR7008-9-2-Channel-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B00CS4X8S2/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1457577703&sr=1-4&keywords=Marantz+Receiver

 

[billg71]

Hello everyone,

My wife and I have decided to purchase our first home theater system. We went to the local specialty shop and whats listed below is what they recommended. I have no knowledge of AV equipment, I just listened to this setup in the shop and it sounded great.

My question is, should I pay for installation? I can run cables no problem and $1000 seems steep.

Thanks..


- Sony 65" 4K TV (XBR65X810C) $1498.00
- Yamaha (RX850) $899
- KEF (Q700) L/R floor standing speakers $799, center channel (Q600C) $600, subwoofer (Q400) $600
- BEALE (IC6-B) 2 channel in-ceiling surround speakers $315
- Panamax (PM8) $67 surge protection for A/V equipment, (MD2) $40 for subwoofer
- Installation $500 - $1000

As far as installation goes, if the installation is in a finished room I'd definitely pay someone to do it as long as they will do it without running exposed wires or damaging existing wall coverings. Is there an attic above your HT room that can be accessed? Also, you need to find out if audio and/or video calibration is included in the price(I doubt it is).

I'd suggest a less expensive TV, the Sony they quoted is a 2015 model UHD(4K) display but without HDR capability. The Samsung UN65JS8500 is an HDR display, it was selling at around the same price before it sold out. Unless you routinely sit 3 feet from your TV you'll never see the difference between a standard 1920/1080 HDTV and the 4K version. But you'll definitely see the difference(on appropriate source material) between an HDR display and a standard 4K. HDR is the game-changer here.

That said, HDR is in it's infancy, the standards have just been set, there's very little source material available and it's definitely "early-adopter" technology. I'm an early adopter, I love my Samsung SUHD TV(UN48JS8500). But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone for their first venture into home theater, it's just too new. Save your money, you can get a decent 65" HDTV for < $1000 and be just as happy with it. In 2 years when the HDR tech has settled down, upgrade the TV if you feel the need.

The Yamaha receiver won't need upgrading for a while, it's HDMI 2.0A/HDCP 2.2 compliant(will work with HDR) and that's a decent price.

I have no experience with the speakers and sub you listed so can't comment. Spend some time at the dealer and listen to a variety of speakers, take some CDs you're familiar with and make your choice. Maybe spend that $500 or so you saved on the TV on speakers.

Just my thoughts, hope this helps.

Best,
Bill

 

[afterlife2]

Youtube.com will be your best friend.

 

[Andrew08]

For me, I did all the wiring myself, why? I saw what my local AV store did, all the settings are wrong, 80hz subwoofer cut off, 80hz sub from av pre cutoff, but with 90hz floor standing speaker cutoff, subwoofer is 10db louder than it should, i can pinpoint the exact location of the sub with my 2 eyes closed.

anyway i do have 2x q900, 1x q600c, 2x q400b and 2x q800ds, 2x q100, the sub is not doing good, even with 2. the mesh is a sure to remove thing, i can hear sound differences with it.

 

[Puahapa]

Hey everyone, thank you for the reply and I apologize for the slow response. I was on vacation with my lady.

I decided to have them pay for installation for a number of reasons. The main one, I don't want to run wires. I appreciate the responses.

Now for my next question. Ive read that all HDMIs are the same. I really like the guy and don't believe he is out to fleece me. We've actually hung out and shared a beer. Anyways he's telling me that a 4m HDMI has to be the $80 cable vs the $10 cable off amazon.

Thoughts?

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hey everyone, thank you for the reply and I apologize for the slow response. I was on vacation with my lady.
I decided to have them pay for installation for a number of reasons. The main one, I don't want to run wires. I appreciate the responses.
Now for my next question. Ive read that all HDMIs are the same. I really like the guy and don't believe he is out to fleece me. We've actually hung out and shared a beer. Anyways he's telling me that a 4m HDMI has to be the $80 cable vs the $10 cable off amazon.
Thoughts?

Well, not sure which cables you had in mind from Amazon or which $80 cable is suggested, but Monoprice has the cable you need, RedMere 15 ft, a little over 4m. and is $11 plus shipping. The longer the distance the better hdmi cable you need. 4m may or may not benefit, but that RedMere is the better cable.