How To Build A Home Theater - The Basics

DC_Dude

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Now a good portion of that was pre-wiring and instillation. And let me be honest, not all of that was in the living room (but the bulk of the work was). We just renovated my home and extended it, and the total build with appliances and bells and whistles came in at 300k. 75% of my home was removed and rebuilt. For years, I always would cobble my systems together - so this time I said, "let me get a professional do it".

Why no Projector? Because we have large windows and with that much lightwe needed something that wouldnt wash-out so we wanted tv that was less reflective during the day. I also hate projectors as they never looked as good to me as TV's (especially Oleds)...

After research Mini-LED was what we settled with because it's great in rooms that have heavy light. It's also Sony, which is my favorite brand. (I've owned 4 Bravias at this point) And usally when we upgrade we just move the older one's to another room.

The installer went with Martin Logan in-wall speakers. And I picked a Kef subwoofer. I don't have all the serials in front of me. But we wanted things to be seamless and not have wires and junk everywhere. It was a bitch with the HDMI wires because the originals I bought were the old-school ones that weren't HDMI 2.1 (8k's) and the installer had to come back and get behind the walls again. Dude did the damn thing.

We had family over for my grand's 1st b-day and we let fam watch some trailers and they were blown away with the sound and picture. I'm talking people outside were coming in from the yard blown away. Here's a pick of the living room, I might upload more later.

20230329-221413b.jpg


We're still unpacking after 5 months of living in what used to be my home gym on my property (seperate building).

NICE!
 

slewdem100

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Now a good portion of that was pre-wiring and instillation. And let me be honest, not all of that was in the living room (but the bulk of the work was). We just renovated my home and extended it, and the total build with appliances and bells and whistles came in at 300k. 75% of my home was removed and rebuilt. For years, I always would cobble my systems together - so this time I said, "let me get a professional do it".

Why no Projector? Because we have large windows and with that much lightwe needed something that wouldnt wash-out so we wanted tv that was less reflective during the day. I also hate projectors as they never looked as good to me as TV's (especially Oleds)...

After research Mini-LED was what we settled with because it's great in rooms that have heavy light. It's also Sony, which is my favorite brand. (I've owned 4 Bravias at this point) And usally when we upgrade we just move the older one's to another room.

The installer went with Martin Logan in-wall speakers. And I picked a Kef subwoofer. I don't have all the serials in front of me. But we wanted things to be seamless and not have wires and junk everywhere. It was a bitch with the HDMI wires because the originals I bought were the old-school ones that weren't HDMI 2.1 (8k's) and the installer had to come back and get behind the walls again. Dude did the damn thing.

We had family over for my grand's 1st b-day and we let fam watch some trailers and they were blown away with the sound and picture. I'm talking people outside were coming in from the yard blown away. Here's a pick of the living room, I might upload more later.

20230329-221413b.jpg


We're still unpacking after 5 months of living in what used to be my home gym on my property (seperate building).
Sounds like you got the x95k. That's supposed to be a beast especially at 85. That's a sweet setup.
 

b_visionary

Seeing booty, imagining shit.
BGOL Patreon Investor
I installed this over the weekend. Sounds great.

 

DC_Dude

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Now a good portion of that was pre-wiring and instillation. And let me be honest, not all of that was in the living room (but the bulk of the work was). We just renovated my home and extended it, and the total build with appliances and bells and whistles came in at 300k. 75% of my home was removed and rebuilt. For years, I always would cobble my systems together - so this time I said, "let me get a professional do it".

Why no Projector? Because we have large windows and with that much lightwe needed something that wouldnt wash-out so we wanted tv that was less reflective during the day. I also hate projectors as they never looked as good to me as TV's (especially Oleds)...

After research Mini-LED was what we settled with because it's great in rooms that have heavy light. It's also Sony, which is my favorite brand. (I've owned 4 Bravias at this point) And usally when we upgrade we just move the older one's to another room.

The installer went with Martin Logan in-wall speakers. And I picked a Kef subwoofer. I don't have all the serials in front of me. But we wanted things to be seamless and not have wires and junk everywhere. It was a bitch with the HDMI wires because the originals I bought were the old-school ones that weren't HDMI 2.1 (8k's) and the installer had to come back and get behind the walls again. Dude did the damn thing.

We had family over for my grand's 1st b-day and we let fam watch some trailers and they were blown away with the sound and picture. I'm talking people outside were coming in from the yard blown away. Here's a pick of the living room, I might upload more later.

20230329-221413b.jpg


We're still unpacking after 5 months of living in what used to be my home gym on my property (seperate building).

You mentioned you have a OLED tv? What's that? I am going to assume it's a good quality tv.
 

slewdem100

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Which is the best all round 4k projector ?
I would say go on AVSforum.com and ask them....they are gonna wanna know your budget, what room in the house is it going? are you worrying about how it handles ambient light or is it light controlled to where it can get completely dark when necessary? Is it a projector for a theater or a TV replacement?

I suspect its for a theater in your case...if thats true, you still want a traditional long range, lamp based (not sure about this) projector

I normally check out the under $3k section...
https://www.avsforum.com/forums/digital-projectors-under-3-000-usd-msrp.68/

But I suspect you will be looking in the over $3k section...
https://www.avsforum.com/forums/digital-hi-end-projectors-3-000-usd-msrp.24/
 

Helico-pterFunk

Rising Star
BGOL Legend
Anyone have any quick recommendations for a soundbar (preferably under $200) that would pair well with a 55" Samsung?


My dad was thinking about picking one up later this year at some point ... and it's for a new set he bought in March of this year.


He's not too tech-savvy, and hasn't owned a soundbar before.
 

HAR125LEM

Rising Star
Platinum Member
Anyone have any quick recommendations for a soundbar (preferably under $200) that would pair well with a 55" Samsung?


My dad was thinking about picking one up later this year at some point ... and it's for a new set he bought in March of this year.


He's not too tech-savvy, and hasn't owned a soundbar before.
Check woot.com. That site will usually have Soundbars within that price range every few days.
Techbargains.com is a portal to other Shopping sites. They have a Soundbar link under their "Electronics" field.

You'll usually see Soundbars from SONY, YAMAHA, and VIZIO within that price range.
ROKU has one that's been pretty well-rated.
 

XXXplosive

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Anyone have any quick recommendations for a soundbar (preferably under $200) that would pair well with a 55" Samsung?


My dad was thinking about picking one up later this year at some point ... and it's for a new set he bought in March of this year.


He's not too tech-savvy, and hasn't owned a soundbar before.
Try this. Just over $200 and Samsung brand so it should pair perfectly with your dad's TV.

Amazon product ASIN B09XYT7JL6
 

slewdem100

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Try this. Just over $200 and Samsung brand so it should pair perfectly with your dad's TV.

Amazon product ASIN B09XYT7JL6
Yeah, I find soundbars to have a lot of issues (especially when you wanna connect via ARC/ eARC) so at this point I usually advise people to get the same brand soundbar as their TV, especially at the budget level

Good suggestion
 

$moneyPit$

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
I have the Epson 5050 and while it's been around for a few years and not native 4K, it can handle 4K just fine.
There is a newer version that uses laser instead of a light bulb, Epson Home Cinema LS11000.
I also have the 5050UB and I've been happy with It for the last 2 years. I may upgrade this year to the Epson Ls11000 which I think you're referring to. I would love to get a JVC but I do use my projector In the day at ,times and my basement has some ambient light so whatever I get has to have a high contrast ratio.
the newer setup starts after the first 3 pics, for those that never saw.
So This was my setup back In 2015/2016







moved into a house, had a basement fire in July, most of my gear had water and smoke damage, I salvaged what I could, which was basically just the arcade and decided to rebuild my home theater. Finished up the main bulk of the work right before the New year. but I still have a couple of small things to do.

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DC_Dude

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Aight fellas, this is a random ass question. Anyone in here has a Lovesac with the StealthTech sound system?'
I just got one and I am trying to maximize it as I set up my basement area....

 

XXXplosive

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Aight fellas, this is a random ass question. Anyone in here has a Lovesac with the StealthTech sound system?'
I just got one and I am trying to maximize it as I set up my basement area....


I'm always weary of these celebrity-endorsed products, especially when it comes to home theater and such.
They're usually just average products with high prices because of the celebrity endorsements.
 

HAR125LEM

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Platinum Member

WattDogs

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BGOL Investor
I'm thinking about putting my Pioneer 5.1 sound system in storage & going to all Sonos.

I currently have 3 SONOS Ones (2 in the living room, 1 in the bathroom) & a SONOS Beam (in use as my bedroom TV soundbar).

I was hoping that the Sub Mini was on sale for the 4th but no dice.

Has anyone set up their home theater with only SONOS?

I'm thinking to move the 2 SONOS Ones to be the rears, moving the SONOS Beam to the living room & then adding the Sub Mini later when I catch it on sale.
 

Gemini

Rising Star
BGOL Investor

LG G3 vs Samsung S95C OLED TV: this was TOUGH!​


LG G3 vs Samsung S95C | The Hardest Video I’ve Ever Made​

 

mailboxpimp

Rising Star
BGOL Patreon Investor

The Best Outdoor Projector I've Ever Used!!​


I was in a comedy club with a room that had a stage in it and ascending platform stairs with seats on each platform, I've been in apartments with livingrooms bigger than this room. it gave me a lot of ideas to maximize a small space. The acoustics would be better as well.
 
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