X-mass raffle.... Need tv advise...

[ImcLoud]

For the last 3 years we have funded a raffle for xmass, and drew a winner at my company xmass party, we donate the funds to a charity {last year was Alzheimers Foundation because my wifes grand father was diagnosed, this year is ACS, previously have done a local schools sports fund, I wanted to do that again, I feel the medical ones are depressing, but everyone else disagrees with me, so acs it is}....

The first year we did an entire high end kitchen setup, it had $700 blender, $2500 knife set, $500 mixer, $300 coffee machine, $2000 pan set, $1500 of pampered chef crap, ect... It was almost $10,000 of stuff, and we sold 400 $25 tickets in 20 days!!!!

Last year me and a friend of mine who owns an insulation company split the cost of a Suzuki Boulevard motorcycle {but believe it or not the tickets were much harder to sell than the kitchen items raffle}....

This year my idea is to do a home theater, my wife wants to do a cruise, and the girls in the office of course side with her . But since I make the final decision ... And my friend with the insulation company doesn't get the same joy out of it as me so I am on my own this year I think Im going to do the entertainment center..

I'm thinking a 5.1 and I think I have that figured...

Emotiva- UMC200 with an XPA5, an SVS ultra sub, and SVS ultra towers with center and surrounds, a PS3 Bundle, and then I was either going to buy an assortment of cables or give a $200 amazon gift card with it...

I figure that will be around $7000, and leaves around $3000 for a tv, but I'm terrible at picking TV's especially something that others would like.... I think LED would be good since its new, but I know some say plasma has a better picture......

Now if the svs speakers aren't ready I'm thinking Ascend sierra towers and their new center with sierra 1 surrounds....

The problem is the TV, where should I be looking???

We are having the x-mass party at my house this year, {previous years we had it at hotels and restaurants and it costs me a fortune, I will save $2500 buy hiring entertainment and a caterer myself, my wife also disagrees with this...}...

 

[its phillip]

Panasonic P65ST50...or upgrade to P65VT50 if you can squeeze that in

 

[Steve81]

Is that you Mark?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

My 2 humble cent - change the speakers to EMPTek 7.1 set (e55ti) etc.. including di surrounds. Keep SVS subs, but it worth to double down on these.
Much better for budget and they look and sound great. Gen Pop wont know the difference anyways

Intead of Emotiva's pre-pro - go with mid level avr - like TX-NR1010, RX-A1020 or AVR-3313CI

See phillip's rec for TVs (ST50) - barely any gen pop will know the difference
and yes, bigger is better (for TV sizes )

If you still have budget throw in decent Epson/Panasonic Projector, new Wii system and Xbox w/Kinect - these will bring much more interest than external amp

 

[ImcLoud]

My 2 humble cent - change the speakers to EMPTek 7.1 set (e55ti) etc.. including di surrounds. Keep SVS subs, but it worth to double down on these.
Much better for budget and they look and sound great. Gen Pop wont know the difference anyways

Intead of Emotiva's pre-pro - go with mid level avr - like TX-NR1010, RX-A1020 or AVR-3313CI

See phillip's rec for TVs (ST50) - barely any gen pop will know the difference
and yes, bigger is better (for TV sizes )

If you still have budget throw in decent Epson/Panasonic Projector, new Wii system and Xbox w/Kinect - these will bring much more interest than external amp

I would like to use "NEW" stuff, as in just released new {the EMPs are nice but I would go ascend 340s over them{I have a/bed them and the 340s sound better, although the emps look better}, I would like to stay away from dual subs {hence going with the ultra vs the dual drive hsu which I prefer} because dual subs may not work for everyone. And as far as pre pro, thats more or less my preference, I hate AVR's especially when spending over $700 or so.... As far as projectors, again not everyone can use or wants one, and I am trying to get it as plug and play as possible, but I have called a friend of mine who does installs to see if he wants to donate his time to the winner {for a tax write off of course}... so that may be less of a concern when he gets back to me...

 

[jcl]

Emotiva doesn't have a great record with newly released surround sound pre pros. You may like your UMC-1 now, but a lot of people put up with a lot of issues early on. I think the first umc200 is due to ship on 12/1 so it is an as yet unknown quantity....

As to the sub(s) you can spin it either way. The pb13 ultra is an almost 2' cube and weighs 155 lbs. While dual subs might not work for people, a sub as big as the ultra may not either.

I think it's a good idea to stick with the 5 speakers.

I'd include the cables just so the winner doesn't have to think about it. Wouldn't want them to buy $100 monster hdmi cables or the like.

Panny Plasmas are what seem to be highly recommended. You could go with a larger 70" led like a sharp, but that's getting big enough where it might not fit well on some stands. Which leads to ...

Maybe add something a Salamander stand to hold everything; something along the lines of a triple 20 or 30
Salamander - Synergy - Triple 20 - OC - w/Triple Width Shelf-Audio Advisor
Salamander - Synergy - Triple 30 - OC - w/Triple Width Shel-Audio Advisor

One caveat of the cabinets is to make sure that they are big (deep) enough to hold your electronics.

 

[ImcLoud]

Emotiva doesn't have a great record with newly released surround sound pre pros. You may like your UMC-1 now, but a lot of people put up with a lot of issues early on. I think the first umc200 is due to ship on 12/1 so it is an as yet unknown quantity....

As to the sub(s) you can spin it either way. The pb13 ultra is an almost 2' cube and weighs 155 lbs. While dual subs might not work for people, a sub as big as the ultra may not either.

I think it's a good idea to stick with the 5 speakers.

I'd include the cables just so the winner doesn't have to think about it. Wouldn't want them to buy $100 monster hdmi cables or the like.

Panny Plasmas are what seem to be highly recommended. You could go with a larger 70" led like a sharp, but that's getting big enough where it might not fit well on some stands. Which leads to ...

Maybe add something a Salamander stand to hold everything; something along the lines of a triple 20 or 30
Salamander - Synergy - Triple 20 - OC - w/Triple Width Shelf-Audio Advisor
Salamander - Synergy - Triple 30 - OC - w/Triple Width Shel-Audio Advisor

One caveat of the cabinets is to make sure that they are big (deep) enough to hold your electronics.

The stands are a good idea, I am going to look into that, I would like to go plasma, but Im afraid people would think its old technology, so I think I am going to buy one plasma and one led then give them the choice and then keep the other for my bar.... Im thinking 55" is pretty universal size that will fit most anywhere....

As far as the sub, most decent subs even if I went dual are at least that big, although the ultra is heavy, its footprint isn't huge...

 

[Grador]

These tickets could be a hard sell because most people have no clue who these brands are you are looking at for the components. You and I may know emotiva makes great stuff, but almost no one else does. Additionally a lot of people aren't willing to give that much room up to their home theater.

 

[ImcLoud]

These tickets could be a hard sell because most people have no clue who these brands are you are looking at for the components. You and I may know emotiva makes great stuff, but almost no one else does. Additionally a lot of people aren't willing to give that much room up to their home theater.

See I think that is the draw of it all, if it was Sony and Toshiba, they figure it is regualr stuf, but when they see the pictures and names they never heard, they will think its high end stuff and buy the tickets, which are only going to be $25...

Most people we are dealing with have good sized homes and should have the room, or will give it away.. When we did the kitchen raffle, the women who won, bought 20 tickets and gave everything but the knife set to her assistant {and she gave her old knife set}...

 

[Jonny Rotten]

60st50 tv.
Perfect,not to big,not to small.beautiful picture.It will have a "wow" factor.I have one.Look up the reviews

 

[ImcLoud]

60st50 tv.
Perfect,not to big,not to small.beautiful picture.It will have a "wow" factor.I have one.Look up the reviews

That looks perfect, plus I ordered a stand from a local furniture store tonight {made the mistake of bringing the wife, so she bought a half oval table tonight too}.

 

[shadyJ]

There is a reason home audio isn't big money, its because a lot of people do not want big clunky things in their rooms. The stuff you are contemplating generally only appeal to men, and even then only a certain group of men. To be honest, I think you would sell more tickets with the cruise. Maybe you should think about raffling a high end product or service from a local business.

 

[ImcLoud]

There is a reason home audio isn't big money, its because a lot of people do not want big clunky things in their rooms. The stuff you are contemplating generally only appeal to men, and even then only a certain group of men. To be honest, I think you would sell more tickets with the cruise. Maybe you should think about raffling a high end product or service from a local business.

Worse case I buy all the tickets and get a $10K system for $20K , maybe I should do the cruise, lol... The IRS would probably have a problem with me doing a no profit raffle, and claiming both ends, the tickets and the cost of raffle merchandise.. May land me in jail...

I think we will sell the tickets, I dont see that as a problem, but here is where the problem is coming in, my wife came back from dance class {she teaches dance} tonight after we went to the furniture store, and her first words were, "what happens if no one wants the radio system?" I would hate for a huge xmass I told you so, I already slipped and told her neice and nephew there is no Santa...

 

[ImcLoud]

Raffle is over, a customer of mine from Westerly won, all the tickets sold, but they picked the vacation prize not the home theater , we ended up making it a choice of 3 items, a NEW Polaris ATV, the vacation package, or the Home theater...

and they picked the vacay oh well... what evv... who cares.. I don't care... I wasn't even looking forward to it... it doesn't really matter to me.... it's all for charity and stuff so it doesn't bother me.... who cares, rite? not me, I don't even care.... Pick what you want, but don't be surprised next time they call for late night service because their heat is out, if I don't wait until the morning to send a tech, hmfh.... vacation over a sweet home theater system, who does that??? He probably left it up to his wife, because she bought the ticket, or maybe he didn't even know it was a choice, I should call and verify they understand the entire theater system is included... Must be a misunderstanding...

But anyway the worse part is, I bet my office manager that the winner would take the theater over the other prizes, so now I have to buy her a pair of "Marni" sandals {never even heard of them}, if I won the bet she was going to give me back 2 weeks of her paid vacation {and I would have taken it, not because of the money, but because I can't live with out her there} so I have to take her out for lunch Monday and then to Nordstroms to help her pick out sandals, .. who picks a vacation over a complete home theater system... I have been in this customers house, I had the mechanical contract on the build and seen their TV, nothing great... dam it... who wants sandals in the winter? It snowed here today!!! at least hteir only sandals my wife would have wanted jimmy choo heels for $1000 lol

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

This just shows how little both of us know what "regular" (not techy) folks like

 

[Adam]

I bet that your office manager told them that she'd buy them a TV if they took the vacation. That's got to cost less than two weeks pay...plus sandals...plus dinner.

 

[ImcLoud]

I bet that your office manager told them that she'd buy them a TV if they took the vacation. That's got to cost less than two weeks pay...plus sandals...plus dinner.

LOL, Im going to check into that.... good point...

But she already had the 2 weeks vacation, every time she tries to take her vacation I talk her out of it, But she is actually taking it in a few weeks all at once, before I go back on a truck. My wife is taking a week to help out and we are getting a temp, its going to take 3 of us to do her job for sure... She is a beast, payroll, accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory, employees schedules, work schedules, customer service, and more, a true asset, I would be lost without her.... My wife jokes that I have two wives, my OM calls me at least 15 times a day, and when my wife can't find me, she calls her and she knows exactly where I am {mainly because my trucks have gps tracking that is always on a 32" screen at the office, shows all the trucks locations at all times}...

My wife just told me them sandals are $700+!!!! But in all fairness 2 weeks of her vacation costs me all of 3 times that, so she was pretty sure I was going to loose, you may be onto something adam...

 

[ImcLoud]

This just shows how little both of us know what "regular" (not techy) folks like

Yup, I spoke with them today and they said the home theater would be their last choice... Man do I suck... I would have picked that system over the others hands down.... I even biased the HT package a little, because it was worth more than all other prizes!!! Still went for the vacation.....
Oh well...

I took her for her sandals today, cost me $580 {she actually brought a coupon with her for 20 percent off!!!}, I told he saleswomen, "you must not get many people buying sandals this time of year" {since we got 10" of snow today}, and she said just the opposite, people are going on vacation this time of year and the sell tons of them.... RECESSION my @$$ a ton of people buying $700 sandals!!!!! I just think the wrong people are getting the money, lol...

 

[Adam]

RECESSION my @$$ a ton of people buying $700 sandals!!!!! I just think the wrong people are getting the money, lol...

Says the man who just bought a pair of $700 sandals...

 

[ImcLoud]

Says the man who just bought a pair of $700 sandals...

I had no choice, lol... But I do feel the economy, I do well but if the economy ever kept going how it was 9 years ago, I would be retiring in a couple years, if not already retired... Now Ill be lucky if we can retire by the time I'm 45...