Home cinema for renovated basement- $2000 budget

[Jerry Cohen]

Hi,

We are moving to a new home with a basement in next 3 weeks, the basement will be fully renovated and include home cinema area and kids place.

Due to basement structure it was recommended to me by internal designer to set picture size of 100" , the projector will be attached to ceiling and will be between 9'8" and 15'10" back from screen for prime viewing.

My budget is $5000 for a Projector ,Screen ,Speakers (5.1 or 7.1?) , Cables and receiver.

After getting suggestions from projector related forums seems I will be left with ~$1500- 2000 for speakers.
1) Shell I go with ceiling, In wall or regular speakers ( combined)? Which brands / bundles? ( I liked in past the JBL's)
2) Go with 5.1 or 7.1 ?
3) I like high volume but not extreme

I will really appreciate forum suggestions as I do not have a lot of experience with speakers and I don't want to mess up.

Thanks in advance
JC

 

[shadyJ]

For the best sound, I would go with regular cabinet speakers. Placement can have a big impact on how good the speakers sound, so it's better to be able to move the speakers around to find optimal placement. This is especially true with subwoofers. In that budget range the speakers I would be looking at are the Ascend CBM170s, Hsu HB-1s, or HTD Level Three bookshelf speakers, with their corresponding center speakers. I might also look at the Infinity Primus line, specifically the p363, c351, and p163s. For subs I would be looking at Hsu, Outlaw, PSA, Rythmik, or some Klipsch RW-12ds.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I would get the light canon BenQ W7000 for $1600:

BenQ W7000 Projector - Review Summary

Amazon.com: BenQ W7000 300-Inches 1080p Cinema Quality Home Projection System -Black: Electronics

"The overall picture quality - notably the colors, of the W7000 really do look impressive. That DLP look and feel - rich colors yet without being over the top, is in its full glory with the W7000. That's not to say you can't find more natural looking color, especially on far more expensive DLP projectors. What I can say, though, is that for a roughly $2500 projector, it should knock your socks off.

After all, it's not just good color and skin tones, it's also near wall-melting brightness (ok, that's a bit over the top). Still over 1500 calibrated lumens, is rather dazzling considering much of the BenQ's competition would be very happy if they could deliver even 600 calibrated lumens. Wow!

Update: W7000 black levels are much improved. As noted on the Image Quality page, they are now comparable to most of the other projectors in the $2000 - $3500 range, which is to say, extremely good black levels. Only the Epson 5010, near its price (a couple hundred dollars more in the US), has a slight advantage in terms of blacks. To find the next more expensive projector to best the W7000 you would have to go up by almost $1000 to the JVC RS45 projector. Of course, the W7000 is dramatically brighter in "best mode" than either of those two projectors."

Add a $500 screen.
Amazon.com: Elite Screens ER120DH2 Sable Fixed Frame Projection Screen (120 inch 16:9 AR)(3D): Electronics

Now you have about $3K for speakers and subs.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

For in-wall, I would get five Revel W253L in-wall for $200 each (MSRP $300), Total $1,000.

New Revel W253L in Wall Speaker with Grill Each | eBay

http://www.revelspeakers.com/Products/Details/212#specs

Then get Dual HSU VTF-15H subs for $1995 delivered.

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-15Dual.html

Or other subs.

Subwoofer Performance CEA Standard (THD <10%) 2 Meters SPL @ 20/32/40/50/63 Hz:

$500 Cadence CSX15MK II: 83.8/93.3/98.6/109.3/115.5
$1200 B&W ASW-610XP: 85.1/96.1/101.5/105.9/108.9
$500 EMP ES1010i: 85.0/97.0/102.5/106.0/105.0
$700 Emotiva X-Ref 12: 81.0/99.1/103.5/107.6/108.5
$1600 Klipsch SW-311: 84.2/102.6/105.3/108.6/111.4
$769 SVS PB12-NSD: 103.2/105.9/106.5/107.3/108.0
$4000 Velodyne DD15+: 97.0/102.0/109.0/109.0/112.0
$900 Aperion Bravus II 12D: 87.0/105.3/109.8/112.6/112.2
$879 Velodyne EQ-MAX15: 84.8/104.2/110.0/114.2/114.8
$1,200 RBH SX-12: 87.7/108.0/111.1/113.7/112.7
$650 Outlaw LFM-1EX: 101.0/110.7/112.3/113.7/113.8
$800 Power Sound XV15: 102.7/109.6/113.7/116.6/114.7
$800 Epik Empire: 102.2/109.7/113.2/116.4/119.2
$2200 JL Audio F112: 92.8/112.4/116.2/113.3/117.6
$1700 Funk FW12X: 107.0/112.4/114.0/113.9/113.1
$1200 SVS PB12+: 107.0/111.5/114.3/115.3/115.3
$9,000 Paradigm Sig Sub2: 106.4/109.9/113.2/116.9/120.2
$900 Hsu VTF-15H: 103.9/113.0/115.7/115.7/115.6
$5,000 Velodyne DD18+: 103.4/113.0/115.8/116.8/115.3
$2,000 SVS PB13 Ultra: 110.6/113.5/115.5/117.5/117.8
$700 Chase HT VS18.1: 111.1/ 116.0/118.1/117.8/117.2
$1,200 Rythmik FV15HP: 108.1/117.0/119.5/119.1/118.8

 

[Jerry Cohen]

Thanks All for suggestions
I will check and let you know my selections or questions

 

[Jerry Cohen]

So I looked at the recommendations but too many models were suggested confusing me as I read that when choosing speakers set need that front, back and Sub to work well together .(front not to big ..and such)

In case I have 2-3K budget can you pls suggest one or to sets to choose from.
Thanks

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

So I looked at the recommendations but too many models were suggested confusing me as I read that when choosing speakers set need that front, back and Sub to work well together .(front not to big ..and such)

In case I have 2-3K budget can you pls suggest one or to sets to choose from.
Thanks

Too many models?

For in-wall speakers, get the Revel W253L for $198 each delivered.
New Revel W253L in Wall Speaker with Grill Each | eBay

For subwoofers, get dual HSU VTF-15H subs for $1995 delivered.
VTF-15H DualDrive Package

 

[Jerry Cohen]

Again thanks so much!

So I was thinking .. I have currently the following equipment I thought to keep in living room and buy new equipment for the basement (home cinema) per your proposal.

Following equipment I own:

Receiver : Yamaha rx-v863

Speakers:
---------
Tower - 2 X JBL L880
Center - JBL - EC25
Rear - 2X small speaker JBL (Forgot the brand but I think they are enough)
Sub - ES150p

So my question .. Will you recommend to move My current equipment to basement and invest more on projector , wiring and screen.
Any changes you will recommend for the JBL set I own to improve the quality? or is it enough as his?

With rest of money I can buy 5.1 inexpensive set for the leaving room.

Thanks
JC

 

[Jerry Cohen]

From what I understood the Sub I own is weak and need updated beside that any suggestions for the the Equipment I own?

 

[Jerry Cohen]

Guys
For room size 18x11x8 , which sub will you recommend?

SVS PB 12 NSD or SB 12 Plus

Thanks

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Guys
For room size 18x11x8 , which sub will you recommend?

SVS PB 12 NSD or SB 12 Plus

Thanks

Rythmik FV15HP for $1200 unequivocally.

CEA Standard (THD <10%) 2 Meters SPL @ 20/32/40/50/63 Hz:
$1400 SVS PB12+:........ 107.0/111.5/114.3/115.3/115.3 dB
$2,000 SVS PB13 Ultra:.. 110.6/113.5/115.5/117.5/117.8 dB
$1,400 Rythmik FV15HP: 108.1/117.0/119.5/119.1/118.8 dB

 

[shadyJ]

Neither. The equivalently priced Outlaw, PSA, and Hsu subs have more bang for the buck. For a $5k dedicated home theater setup, I wouldn't want to go with just one sub either.

 

[shadyJ]

Rythmik FV15HP for $1200 unequivocally, which even outperforms the $2000 PB13-Ultra.

CEA Standard (THD <10%) 2 Meters SPL @ 20/32/40/50/63 Hz:
$2,000 SVS PB13 Ultra:.. 110.6/113.5/115.5/117.5/117.8 dB
$1,200 Rythmik FV15HP: 108.1/117.0/119.5/119.1/118.8 dB

I wouldn't be surprised if the FV12r outgunned the SVS 12"s as well. I spent some time with one, that thing was a beast for the size and price.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I wouldn't be surprised if the FV12r outgunned the SVS 12"s as well. I spent some time with one, that thing was a beast for the size and price.

It seems like at first everyone thought Rythmik was all about 0.5Q, tight musical bass and not as much output; they did not realize that Rythmik was also about class-leading output + tight bass, which is a win-win.

So if I were to buy a powered sub, I would get a Rythmik for sure... But I only buy passive subs.

Probably the biggest reason I got rid of my amazing and great sounding Definitive BP7000SC was because they had built-in powered subs. If they were similar to the NHT Classic Four built-in sub, I might have kept them.

Fetish, I know.

 

[Jerry Cohen]

Thanks all !!
After reading endless subs reviews I decided to go with the SB12-NSD which I hope will not be to big for my room.
Found it for $579 in website outlet.

 

[GranteedEV]

seems kind of silly to be concerned about sub size in a dedicated theatre room. Larger subs are that way for a reason...