Home Theaters

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

I searched, last thread was many years ago and I assume things have changed.

Our home will be completed next month. We have a good size room in the basement with a wet bar, perfect for a home theater.

I really do not want to mess with a projector and screen, it seems like quite the hassle. Plus, we did not get the room wired for the home theater set up, so I dont want my budget to be eaten up by installation fees. I have a $3k budget for the electronics, and here is my plan.

TV: Samsung 65" LED 2160p Smart 4K Ultra HD TV with High Dynamic Range Black
Model: UN65MU7000FXZA
SKU: 5773836

It's not the best or biggest TV, but it is on sale right now for $1350, which seems like a helluva deal.

Bluray Player: Microsoft Xbox One S 1TB 4K Ultra HD Bluray White

It'll play Bluray's just fine, plus my games, netflix, and amazon prime. It also costs the same as most Bluray players these days.

Sound: Onkyo HT 2Ch 3D Smart Home Theater System Black Model: HT-S7800

Seems to be highly rated, has 7 HDMI Ports, seems future proof, and has Dolby Atmos technology.

Mount: Rocketfish TV Tilting Wall Mount, Rocketfish Small Speaker Mounts

Seems simple enough to install, and will tilt downwards which is about all I need.

Cables: Rocketfish 8 foot 4K HDMI Cable and 50ft of speaker wire.

As far as installation, I figure I'll run the speaker wires under the carpet and then up inside the walls using wire fish tape. This method doesn't seem too complicated (at least I hope). I don't quite know how the speakers need to be spaced, but I assume youtube can help with that.

Anyways, how does this setup sound for a reasonable home theater?

[26 Inf]

I don't know that I would put the speaker wires under the carpet unless you are going to be able to snug them up against the walls and avoid crossing doorways.

The thing that I found was that my original idea for how the TV should be placed was not optimal for the way we actually ended up arranging things. I ended up patching some holes and repainting. It might be a good idea to make sure of location before you permanently mount the TV.

[Jer]

You said a room in the basement... Is it light controlled? No windows is even better. If so, why not a projector & screen? You can get a much larger picture at a fraction of the price if so. Put the money you save into audio.

Speaking of, I would not go with a theater in a box speaking from experience. It seems like a good solution but in most cases you're stuck as upgrading individual components usually isn't possible. At least not easily. I'd also be careful of newer Onkyo stuff as they've had a lot of dead HDMI port issues over the years. I say that as someone who is currently running 5 Onkyo receivers but they're all older before the faulty HDMI port issue reared it's ugly head.

Don't waste money on brand name cables found at Best Buy because they're marked up big time. Monoprice & Amazon Select are plenty good & you'll never notice a difference.

Same goes for wall mounts. Read reviews & get a highly rated inexpensive mount & you'll be fine. If all you need is a small amount of tilt you shouldn't need to pay more than $25 or so. Deals pop up regularly. Just do a DIY screen & projector & you won't even need a mount for your TV.

[Rayrevolver]

Monoprice for cables and mounts. I have installed 3 or 4 mounts for 55" TVs with the $19 tilt mount being a great option. Same for a long HDMI cables. These two items alone will save you over $100 relative to big store prices.

[Honu]

audio is a huge part of a good HT setup :)
otherwise its just watching TV :)

I would try to spend a touch more on the audio or go with a more budget screen projector and at least get a proper 5.1 setup even a 5 year old sound system will be awesome

[C-grunt]

FYI Microsoft just announced the Xbox One X this week. Should be out in a few months. Might want to check it out before you buy the S.

[elephant]

honestly, I did a Pepsi challenge a couple of weeks ago, a $2800 wall mounted 70" LCD Samsung vs a $80,000 Sony 4k projector on a $12,000 shark skin screen and the TV in my opinion was far better. TV's have come a long way and are cheaper. I don't think blue ray players make much of a difference as long as you go with a notable brand. Obviously if you have a 4k TV and 4K or Ultra HD videos, your going to want a 4K blue ray player.

As far as sound goes, I think you hit a home run. I know a lot of people have other taste in systems but nothing beats an off the shelf system. I have heard a $300k Wilson Audio set up with 2 $30k D'Agostino amps and 99 out of 100 people wound know the difference between that and a $1000 Samsung or Bose set up.

Post some pics when you get finished.

[jbjh]

+1 on the above advice.

The Samsung you're looking sat is decent, but my reservation with it is the 60Hz refresh rate of the panel itself. This is THE corner they cut to keep the cost down. When you watch a movie, you will notice 'judder' in scenes moving from one side of the screen to another. You can moderate this with the Auto Motion Plus feature.

Personally, I hate the "Soap Opera" effect, but I grew up in the editing room, and as a film and television editor myself, I know how the films are intended to look, and tune my picture settings to produce as close to cinema as possible.

If you are determined to get the Sammy, by all means do so. It isn't a bad set. And here is a link with some picture tuning advice

https://reviews.lcdtvbuyingguide.com/samsung-led-tv/samsung-mu7000.html

Do however consider bumping up to the 8000 Series, or one of the competing 120Hz machines. The difference is noticeable, and often dramatically so. For just a bit more money, you can grab a 65" Sony Bravia 4K 930D model TV. Normally I find Sony products way overpriced, but these are exceptions. The Sony has an amazing upscaler. And it's picture quality is superb. By not buying everything at BestBuy i.e. Monoprice online instead of Rocketfish, you'll probably be looking at about the same price overall.


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[horseman234]

Before deciding on a sound system, try to find some decent audio/video stores where you can actually compare the sound. I have to disagree with elephant, as I have no trouble at all distinguishing between most generic off the shelf systems, and nice speakers, processors and amplifiers. While it is true that most people are perfectly happy with low the low quality sound from their mobile devices, and rarely do they use lossless audio, there is quite a difference in the sound quality, especially with good speakers or headphones. Also room acoustics play a very important part in the resulting sound quality of a home theater.

A good place to research audio/video is http://www.avsforum.com/ . That forum covers everything from budget systems to the extremely high end.

[LowSpeed_HighDrag]

Ok, so, taking the awesome advice into account from everyone in here (especially that better sound is a better experience over all) I have put together a different list based off of reviews.

Here's a brief description of the room: Basement living room with two windows, certainly not light controlled. About 25 feet deep and 15-20 feet wide. Not the best acoustics, but it is what it is.

So, my audio list from Crutchfield:

Receiver: Onkyo TX NR656 7.2
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_580TXN656/Onkyo-TX-NR656.html

Front Speakers: Elac Debut F5 (comes highly rated)
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_970F5/ELAC-Debut-F5.html

Center Speaker: Elac Debut C5
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_970C5/ELAC-Debut-C5.html

Rear Speakers: Elac Debut B6
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_970B6/ELAC-Debut-B6.html

Sub: Klipsch Reference R12SW (supposed to be a powerhouse, and seems to be one of the highest rated subs)
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_714R12SW/Klipsch-Reference-R-12SW.html

As far as the Xbox, I'l stick with the One S for now, I have been burned too many times as an Xbox early adopter.

The TV, well, I already bought this one, but I could certainly return it as it is unopened. Problem is, I got it from Best Buy for a STEAL at about $1400.

Good heads up on the cables. I remember when everyone said you had to buy $200 Monster HDMI cables lol.