HELP!: Garage Conversion - Home Cinema (and kids room...)

[Tommy W]

I'll be installing some home cinema kit (1st time!) in my soon to be converted garage. This will be a kids playroom but an excellent opportunity to double-up as a home cinema for the family too.

The room will be 2.25m wide x 5.1m long, with the screen goong on the 2.25m back wall and a settee at the opposite end. Here's my early thoughts on what I'd like to install - can you please, please advise/guide me on best investment and where to haggle for the best deals.

37" LCD screen (Full 1920 x 1080 HD Resolution) - Panasonic TX-37LZD70?
Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver
Sony Playstation 3 for Blue-Ray and Games
Q Acoustics 1010i 5.1 System
Wall brackets for the speakers and screen
Stand for the kit
Best cables/interconnects.power conditioner to suit

Have seen some attractive options (Empire Direct, Creative Audio etc) but will want to test first in a store - possible Sevenoaks?

All help very welcome indeed

T

[Dr Force]

Hello matey and welcome to the forums

My immediate thought is that your screen is too small

37" is nice and 1080p is great but sat 14ft away will mean very little benefit in the differences in HD IMO (720p,1080i,1080p).

I would also ask, why no PJ?? You could have the ultimate cinema experience in a room that size with a screen size as big as 80"x40" veiwing area (92"diagonal)

If this is not your cup of tea then please reconsider the size of your screen.A 50" screen would be great.I understand the budget constraints but you may as well spend the extra now rather than feel the need to upgrade in 12 months.I saw a panny in currys at 50" ( not sure if it was 1080I or P) for just over a grand.

The rest of your kit looks great.

[ched]

I would be tempted to go for a projector. I dont have kids so dont really know how they would treat a projector, re turning on and off. Also problem with projector would be lamp life of about 3000 hrs then £120+ for a new bulb.

But WOW What a picture. You can get a Optoma HD65 for about £400-£500 then ideally you need a screen, but then you may be able to have an image that you would fill your 2.25m wall!!!! It would only be 720p but projectors are a big wow factor. Maybe you could get an old 32" CRT TV for non Cinema occasions????

As for speaker cables, well my opinion (prepare for me getting flamed big time) is that anything more than £1.50 a meter is a bit OTT unless you are spending HUGE amounts on kit.

Interconnects well anything that uses hdmi as long as its a shortish (less than 3 meters) any cable thats 1.3 complaint will be perfect. Any optical or co-axial sound cables will do as its digital signals that wont deteriorate over short (3m) lengths.

For analogues cables just make sure they are Oxygen free copper conductors, and have gold plated connectors. Oxygen free conductors because they resist oxydisation. Gold plated connectors as they resist tarnishing and maintain a good connection with low resistance.

As for power conditioning well other than a decent surge protector I wouldnt worry too much. When I say decent I mean a brand that you have heard off and maybe one that has enough confidence in their product to offer insurance cover for attached devices.
If you go for a projector you could get a cheap (£25) UPS(uninteruptable Power supply) as in the event of a power failure you can then power down the projector on UPS power and let it run the fans to cool bulb.

Hope that gives you a few ideas.

[Tommy W]

Thanks folks,

This is very helpful. I'd sooner avoid a projector for ongoing lamp costs but take on board what you are saying about the screen size - will rethink this.

Any thoughts on best places to buy screen and kit?

[HandsomeBWonderful]

[QUOTE=Tommy W;6427052]I'd sooner avoid a projector for ongoing lamp costs QUOTE]

Ongoing lamp costs? If a couple of hundred quid every 2 or 3 years for a new bulb is all that's holding you back on getting a PJ then I'd suggest you rethink this. At the very least borrow or hire out a PJ for a weekend and see if you'd be happy with it on a permanent basis. (I guarantee that 50 inch LCD wouldn't be given a second thought).

[Dr Force]

[QUOTE=HandsomeBWonderful;6428259]

Originally Posted by Tommy W

I'd sooner avoid a projector for ongoing lamp costs QUOTE]

Ongoing lamp costs? If a couple of hundred quid every 2 or 3 years for a new bulb is all that's holding you back on getting a PJ then I'd suggest you rethink this. At the very least borrow or hire out a PJ for a weekend and see if you'd be happy with it on a permanent basis. (I guarantee that 50 inch LCD wouldn't be given a second thought).

Could not agree more

In a dedicated room you have got to try and accomodate the best experience and the big screen is the way to go

[ched]

[QUOTE=HandsomeBWonderful;6428259]

Originally Posted by Tommy W

I'd sooner avoid a projector for ongoing lamp costs QUOTE]

Ongoing lamp costs? If a couple of hundred quid every 2 or 3 years for a new bulb is all that's holding you back on getting a PJ then I'd suggest you rethink this. At the very least borrow or hire out a PJ for a weekend and see if you'd be happy with it on a permanent basis. (I guarantee that 50 inch LCD wouldn't be given a second thought).

I agree as well. A bulb is in the oder of £120+, my last one lasted 3309 hrs and cost £129. That works out at 3.9p per hour, so even at 3.5hrs use a day thats less than £1 a week and a bulb should last 2.5-3 years!!!

I think you really should get a demo of a projector even if its just to see what a projector could look like. The effect of a projector is so much better thhan a flat screen tv you NEED to see one in action in a proper room not in PC world, dixons etc.

[daywalker21]

Hi I just did the very same thing (see my posting) I did the whole thing for £2200 including PJ, cinema seats and room decoration. This did not include the original garage conversion cost (£2000) but the results are absolutely amazing, trust me my kids have no problem with the PJ it is remote controlled and ceiling mounted. PS3 games have nevr been so amazing, try playing Little Big Planet on a 7" screen and you will be blown away.

[Mister Gonzo]

I agree with what everyone else has said. I've a friend with a 50" TV which looks great, but I prefer my 720p 104" screen anyday!

I've had my PJ for over 2 years now and even with continual daily use the bulb is still going strong. Yes, you have to replace the bulb once in a while, but a PJ is definitiely worth it!

[imjay]

I must agree with most of the posters to this thread.

We tried to create a Cinema experience first with a 56in HD 1080p television. We learned that while it is a very nice tv it is not capable of providing a Cinema experience which we came to simply define as: The creation in one's home as near as possible the same visual experience as a Commercial Cinema.

No TV on the consumer market today is capable of Cinema. It's funny that in stores and online if you click on a Seller's link to "Home Cinema" you most often reach a list of surround systems - it's as though by adding external speakers to a television you have a theater experience.

If the main use of the room is day-to-day television watching then I would suggest you bargain hunt for a larger screen than in your post - size really does matter with visual entertainment.

I'm not sure about the impact of the VAT as I'm in the US but you can buy a really decent HD capable 720p digital projector for under $1000 US which I think is still around 500 pounds and you can start off with a home made screen though we bought both out fixed wall gray and our white pull down white screens for $50 each at a nearby closeout shop.

We bought our first projector almost two years ago - put it on a shelf - mounted the screen across the room - distance only 13ft and even after two years every time I dim the lights and light up the screen I am in awe and just go: "WOW, this is just like being at the Cinema!" (Better as I can sit in pajama pants, pause the film whenever I like and my refreshments are close at hand, inexpensive and can include an adult beverage if I have a mind to have one.

You children will be the envy of their friends if you have a Kid's Cinema Day.

Sorry to rattle on so - either try for a larger television and don't call it a Home Cinema or go Cinema and you won't be sorry.
goodluck!!!