Noob building home theater

[everettT]

Thx. I think I’m going with HSU CCB-8s all around, with their HIW-1 wall speakers for the ceiling speakers, and leaning toward 2 VTF-15H MK2s, though not set on those yet.

That would be very nice setup.

 

[CB22]

Klipsch RP-280FA’s for $840 each. You said your pair cost around $800? Where?

When I first got them they were $1200 for the pair RP-280Fs via Amazon. The FA's are the "sound bouncers," which I've heard not such great things about. When I sold my RP-280Fs + 450c I got $900 for the three mains. I seemed to have a VERY hard time selling so I just took what I could get. Check out the heritage series, probably not the best for home theater but they hold their re-sale value a lot better if you have to have a Klipsch speakers. After a six months of living with the Klipsch just got turned off by the treble and after a year I got too fed up and decided to sell them. I said this before on a different thread but if you are 100% set on the 280s make sure you have #1 a some what big room for them #2 some acoustic treatments to catch the high frequencies. I got listing fatigue from watching Ghost Protocol in my smaller size room. Not fun.

PS if you think your the kind of person that will upgrade sooner than later check some other brands, HSU, SVS, Ascend Acoustics, etc... I think your money will go farther there.

HSU CCB-8s

Very wise choice. I'm actually looking pick up a pair myself, when the next HSU sale happens.

 

[2channel lover]

Thx. I think I’m going with HSU CCB-8s all around, with their HIW-1 wall speakers for the ceiling speakers, and leaning toward 2 VTF-15H MK2s, though not set on those yet.

Solid choice.

I don't remember how large your space is, but if you're around 3000 cu ft, you could save a few dollars and get a pair of the VTF3 mk5. For movies I think you would realize the advantage of the 15H mk2 more than music...or you plan to run balanced connections.

 

[Mhkpilot]

Solid choice.

I don't remember how large your space is, but if you're around 3000 cu ft, you could save a few dollars and get a pair of the VTF3 mk5. For movies I think you would realize the advantage of the 15H mk2 more than music...or you plan to run balanced connections.

It’s around 300sf. 8’ ceilings make it around 2,400 cubic feet.

 

[Mhkpilot]

Solid choice.

I don't remember how large your space is, but if you're around 3000 cu ft, you could save a few dollars and get a pair of the VTF3 mk5. For movies I think you would realize the advantage of the 15H mk2 more than music...or you plan to run balanced connections.

I’m not opposed to that but the overall savings would only be around 200 bucks. It’ll be mostly for movies. I’m not opposed to that idea...

 

[Sef_Makaro]

Since your emphasis is on HT (not so much music), I'd go with atmos. The people In know who have it think it is a very significant improvement!
HT obsolescence is really up to you! My thinking is get a good current system. Any additional screen resolution is like reducing distortion from 0.01 to 0.005 - it measures better but you are not going to experience the difference! A current $5000 HT is still going to be nice 10 years from now and whether or not you upgrade it in 5-10 years and if so, which components you upgrade is entirely up to you. Once gear starts dying, that will often recommend moving to the next generation of technology.
If you are planning to live there a long time, you want to do the renovations right! The important thing is to have a place where you and your family can unwind/relax/do a brain dump from the day (as I think of it). For that you can get away with your 50" and a good stereo as it may make sense to put money into the refurb of the home today and build your HT showroom when you are no longer making decisions on how to renovate. If I was in your shoes, that would appeal to me, because I would actually enjoy the process of detailing out the HT more, once the decisions about the renovation are out of the way.
In the context of home renovation, $5000 really isn't much.
The important thing is to communicate well with your wife and present the HT as a family thing (especially if you have/plan kids). When I was young, Disney presented a movie every Sunday and I bet half of america's families got together to watch them every Sunday night! Propose something like that; the idea of a family tradition/gathering which might even extend part way into teenage years will help sell it to the wife! And if you defer building the real HT until later, make sure she knows you are doing it for the family and home so it is not a fresh topic of debate when the time to follow through comes.
If she sees the HT as your excuse to go into isolation and escape into gaming, she will always resist putting money into making it a better place. If that is a point of contention, negotiate/set time limits.

That was a bit of an incoherent ramble! Obviously I don't know your details, but food for thought, or flush it, as seems fit to your specifics.

With the except of the part about kids this is pretty much how I got my wife involved. Building up the home theater is something for both of us. We watch movies together all the time now. Movie night is almost always at our house. When I was looking at broadband absorbers I decided there was no way I was going to pay $500/ea for the 4 I wanted at the local AV place, so I built them. I hadn’t my wife pick out the fabric to wrap them in. She uses both systems as much or more than I do for music while she’s home during the day.

 

[2channel lover]

I’m not opposed to that but the overall savings would only be around 200 bucks. It’ll be mostly for movies. I’m not opposed to that idea...

$200 is not a tremendous amount of cash, but it will buy some nice content.

My volume is set on about 11 o'clock...and post room EQ, I boosted both +3db...they loaf along for music, adding that nice heavy bottom you can feel as if hearing music live, but clean and tight. Stick in a Blu ray with some heavy explosions, etc...they come to life.

You can't go wrong with the big brother though.

 

[Mhkpilot]

Ok, wow. Here we are 3 years later. Here is a bit of an update. Getting ready to sheetrock the theater room (yes, it’s taken longer than expected due to Covid, supply shortages, and an underestimation of the overall scope of the project, but we’ve been making progress, slowly but steady.)
The speakers have all been purchased. I went with HSU Research all around; CCB-8s for the left, right and center, I got a pair of HB1 MK-2 bookshelf’s off eBay that’ll be the rear left and right, and 4 HIW-1 that’ll be the in-ceiling speakers for Atmos. Also got a ULS-15 MK2 for the sub. They’re all rosenut finish.
instead of a tv screen I went with a projector, of which I have the screen purchased but not the projector proper, nor have I purchased the receiver, there is still some work to be done.
Some may scoff, but we’ve decided to reorientate the room setup to where the screen drops down in front of the sliding glass door. Yeah. I had the same thoughts, but we’re going to get a heavy duty curtain and the slider is the only natural light opening in the room, so we will be sure to seal it off well. To solve the center speaker problem with the door being there, I got an achoustical transparent drop-down screen, and am putting a column lift inverted in the ceiling and will put the center CCB-8 on a shelf attached to the lift which will drop down when the screen lowers.
My apologies for this taking so long for a real update.

 

[Mhkpilot]

I tried posting pics but keep getting a “file upload is too large” message.