I'm toying with the idea of a home theater setup.
Uses include:
- Movies
- TV
- PC gaming (MMORPG's)
- Possible PC video editing
- Music
It's hard to know where to start. Prices for components range more than an order of magnitude where it's all 'good'. Deciding where the sweet spots are, where you get the bang for the buck to justify the extra cost, is not easy; this site has nice guides for budgets from $1,000 to $75,000. The issue for me is not so much 'this is my budget what should I buy', as 'what level is the right one to buy', *then* identifying components.
On a TV, I've seen many and none has quite struck me as the ideal tv yet.
The Sony 34XBR960 was tempting because it's considered to have a great picture quality, but it's small and weighs over 200 pounds.
Plasmas and LCDs can be good, but the picture quality isn't quite there yet. Rear prjection I just don't care for much.
A front projector is an option - of course there, too, you have the $1K, $2.5K, and $6K price ranges to pick from. The big size is nice, though I need to think twice because I have a small room for the TV. I don't have the measurement, but if I walk across with normal steps, it's 7 steps, about square in shape. Viewing distance could be as close as 6 feet depending how I set it up; that's with a couch to the side.
So, I tend to wait for the 'best picture (high resolution, bright, vivid), good value, etc.'
Any tips on how to start to zero in on the big questions - do I want to spend $3,500 or $20,000 is a big question - are of interest.
