[musomackem]

Hi guys, I'm Phil, 33 years old, UK, and I'm an AV addict who rarely has the money available to afford to feed my desire for more gear.

However, in the next week or so I will be given the rare opportunity to remember two late relatives of mine, (long passed in all possible ways apart from the beaurocratic circus of wills and industrial compensations), by enshrining their memories in my living room, allowing their final legacy endeared to me to be an audiovisual treat for years to come.

In English, I've been left some cash in a couple of wills and I'm going to blow a fair whack of it on some AV gear.

First, I'll show you my meagre 13'x13' living room...

A mixed and confused picture, I'm sure you'll agree.

That door is in a nightmare of a position. I can't rotate furniture because the gas fire is on the wall to the right, meaning either a TV or the sofa would have to back onto the gas fire... clearly not the solution.

I think I've pretty much convinced myself that the door has to go, whatever happens. I'm sure it wouldn't cost much for a builder to come in, knock a door through the other wall (not a supporting wall luckily) and brick up / plaster up the doorway or whatever it is that they do to turn holes into walls nowadays.

And let's not mention the speaker-cables-resting-precariously-on-the-door-frame-and-thus-looking-hideous-to-any-potential-future-Mrs-Musomackem situation for the time being, and get to the AV gear...

A barely-larger-than-portable CRT TV with a Kef Q95C centre speaker on top, almost doubling its height.
To the sides are a set of Kef Q3 floorstanders, and the observant amongst you might just beable to make out the feint outline of a Cambridge Audio Azur 640R at the bottom if the shelving rack to the right of the TV.

Clearly there's an "odd-one-out" in that picture.

I need a proper telly.

Also, for years I've fancied a projector for watching movies on, although I'd like a "regular" TV for just watching TV, so if I do go for a projector, I'll be wanting a TV too, albeit a smaller one than if I don't go the projector route.

So... my dilemma is that I need a TV regardless, but should I go for a BIGGER TV and no projector, or a smaller TV plus a projector, and whichever route I choose, which models should I be looking at?

I have little or no experience of LCD or Plasma or projectors. I'm vaguely aware that plasmas generally do better blacks although LCDs are catching up, LCDs are generally brighter and use less power, both technologies are about to become obsolete anyway, plasmas are generally better for movies whereas LCDs are better for sports, and that there's at least 3 different technologies of projector out there, and I know absolutely nothing whatsoever about any of them.

And so there you have it, the groundwork for a serious AV dilemma.

I'm looking at spending in the region of £1300-£1400 in total, of which my best plan so far I think has been to spend £800 on one of these...

Panasonic PT-AX200E review - whathifi.com

...another hundred or so on a 92" screen from Richer Sounds...

OPTOMA DS9092PMS at Richer Sounds - HI-FI Separates, Home Cinema, Speakers, MP3 DVD Portables, Plasma LCD, etc.

...and £400-£500 on a 37-42" HD-Ready TV.

However, while on my surfing voyage through endless reams of reviews, forum posts, adverts and manuals, I'm wondering whether I might be better off spending £1400 on a bigger TV... the 50" LG 6000 that everyone's raving about perhaps? Maybe there's something even bigger and better in my price range that I've not heard about?

I'm not too fussed about 1080p from what I've read about it so far, seeing as though I don't have an HD source yet anyway, and due to the size of my DVD collection, good upscaling is more important to me than future-buys resolution compatibility. I'll worry about 1080p the next time I'm shopping for a TV, in 5 or 6 years or so I think.

If anyone can help me unravel this big bag of snakes I'd very much appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,

Phil.



P.S. I'm also planning on relegating those Q3 to be my rears and buying a set of B&W 683 for my fronts... is the room too small or would they be OK, do you think?

[rewerb]

Originally Posted by musomackem

However, while on my surfing voyage through endless reams of reviews, forum posts, adverts and manuals, I'm wondering whether I might be better off spending £1400 on a bigger TV... the 50" LG 6000 that everyone's raving about perhaps? Maybe there's something even bigger and better in my price range that I've not heard about?

How about the 60PG7000 around £1700.

ZettaVolt LG 60PG7000 Plasma TV

[musomackem]

Originally Posted by rewerb

How about the 60PG7000 around £1700.

ZettaVolt LG 60PG7000 Plasma TV

Ooh, that looks a bit special. £1700 isn't out of the question either.

And 100,000 hours lifespan? Nice one LG!

So the concensus is that for this room I'd be better off with a 60" plasma than I would getting a 37" or 42" TV plus a projector with a 92" screen?

Any defenders of any of the projector technologies?

Can anyone explain the differences between LCD projectors, DLP projectors, and the other projector technology in terms of what difference it would make in my room?

[Rahmorak]

I am not a projector expert by any means, but to be honest if the processing on the 60" panel is not that great (especially if you watch a lot of SD) then I would be wary of the 60".

I personally would rather have a 50" Kuro than a 60" LG. I would however prefer a 60" Kuro but my pockets are not deep enough.

So... if I was in your shoes I would probably consider:

1) A 50" Kuro. (the impact of black levels and decent video processing cannot be overstated)

2) Panasonic TH-42PX80 (~£700, + Projector

3) Sony KDL-40W4500 (~£900, + Projector.

Option 1 was what I went for but as always the best advice is to get a demo and see the screens yourself (not at Curry's but a decent AV retailer)

[Phil Hinton]

LG 50PG7000 Full HD 1080 Plasma HDTV Review review at AVForums.com

[musomackem]

Originally Posted by Rahmorak

I am not a projector expert by any means, but to be honest if the processing on the 60" panel is not that great (especially if you watch a lot of SD) then I would be wary of the 60".

I personally would rather have a 50" Kuro than a 60" LG. I would however prefer a 60" Kuro but my pockets are not deep enough.

So... if I was in your shoes I would probably consider:

1) A 50" Kuro. (the impact of black levels and decent video processing cannot be overstated)

2) Panasonic TH-42PX80 (~£700, + Projector

3) Sony KDL-40W4500 (~£900, + Projector.

Option 1 was what I went for but as always the best advice is to get a demo and see the screens yourself (not at Curry's but a decent AV retailer)

Thanks mate, I'll check out the Kuro and those other 2.

[musomackem]

Originally Posted by Phil Hinton

LG 50PG7000 Full HD 1080 Plasma HDTV Review review at AVForums.com

Ah excellent!

Is there one for the 60"?

[musomackem]

Mmn. That Kuro does sound a bit special.

I'm definitely leaning in that direction now.

Still no defenders of projectors?

Maybe I should post a link to this thread in the projectors forum.

[dave_st185]

I was having exactly the same thoughts as you two years ago - I investigated both sides thoroughly and in the end went for the best 50" plasma available at the time, which these days would be a Pioneer

Projectors are a bit more of a pain to live with, bulbs that gradually dim and require changing every 2000ish hours, requiring a bat cave for ideal image quality etc, but the impact of watching a film or something on a 92" screen is pretty special

I'm still thinking about getting a projector eventually but I'm glad I did it this way around, and when I do eventually get a projector I'll go for a high quality one as I'm starting to find image quality like a drug - once you've experienced a high quality image it's very hard to settle for anything less - and remember a big projector will show up image defects more easily than a similar quality smaller screen

[rewerb]

Originally Posted by musomackem

Mmn. That Kuro does sound a bit special.

I'm definitely leaning in that direction now.

Special price too. £2500 for this years 50". Unless you can manage to find last years 508X model still in the shops (£1600)

[musomackem]

Originally Posted by rewerb

Special price too. £2500 for this years 50". Unless you can manage to find last years 508X model still in the shops (£1600)

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping

[rewerb]

5080XD, new, £1600 without speakers, but with 5yr guarantee
Pioneer - PDP-5080XD-T - 50-inch KURO with Digital DVB-T Tuner

One left!!