£3500 budget on home cinema

stefan32

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hi there need some advice please turning my garage into a cinema room at the mo so i need to get a projector, fixed screen and audio equipment. got a budget of £3500 so need some good advice please room size is 20ft by 10ft cheers
 
Projector Optoma HD20 £900
Speakers:XTZ 99.25 x 3 £890 and 2 x 89 sats £120
Amp Onkyo 876 £800
Subwoofer BK Monolith £430
Blu-ray either stand alone or PS3 if you want to game as well as movies £250
Screen make your own, whatever size for £50 max
Total £3440

Get that lot and you will have a pretty awesome home cinema.

That will give you a system which will be difficult to beat for the price
 
thanks for getting back quick ive got a ps3 already so ill shove that in the room to save me 250 quid unless you think i can spend elsewhere
 
is the optoma h20 any good? i was looking at the panny 3000 and then maybe hooking it up to my arcam avr280 and bw sub but they does mean i have no surround in my front room. in terms of speakers i need ceilings for the rear and something small for the fronts something like b w m1s but not sure whether they will be powerful enough.
 
Have you got info on your throw distance and image size, the HD20 has very little zoom and no lens shift, so if placement is a consideration then a LCD projector may be more suited.

Epson TW3000
Epson TW3500
Mitsubishi HC5500
 
I was trying to keep the pj down to around £1k as with a £3.5 budget a near £2k projector means that the sound side will be compromised IMV.

If you want a more lifestyle system you can spend less on the sound and more on the pj if you want.

As you are converting a garage I would not expect you to have placement problems for the pj so the HD20 will do a great job,with as good if not better performance than the 3000 in some areas.

The 3000 will have lens shift which I doubt you will need,is quieter but personally I like the DLP projectors more.They have a more film like image and a pop that lcd usually cannot deliver.The only issue is Rainbow effect.You need a demo to see if your eyes are susceptible.
 
ok in terms of my arcam avr280 will that do the job in terms of power and also what ceiling speakers do you think.

the projector will be on the ceiling so i was thinking about mounting it in the middle of the room so that at least we can stand up behind it when we are all playing wii and the missus wants bloody singstar.

Also remotes? universal remotes or logitech?
 
in terms of image size i was looking at a bmax a velvet screen of 216x129
or the next size up.

Putting the ceiling up next week so i i do need to make sure that i stick my projector in the right place. shall i buy the screen first or projector as im having to buy each bit of equipment month by month IE: screen, amp, speakers projector, sub. Hopefully have it all finished in 3 months

Wish i new what i was doing but you guys have been a great help!!

keep coming with these ideas.
 
Things to have a look at before purchasing.

Speakers.
Monitor Audio Radius 90HD10 5.1 Speaker Package,
Kef KHT3005SE 5.1 Speaker Package,

Amplifier.
Denon AVR2310,
Onkyo TXNR807,

Projector,
Themescene HD20,
Mitsubishi HC5500,

Blu-ray.
Panasonic DMP-BD80,
Sony BDP-S550

Screen.
Beamax R-Black Manual.

The above equipment will take you close to your overall budget. But it will be worth it. The Denon and Onkyo amplifier have an amazing amount of power, capable of filling your room size with either of two speaker options. The Kef are a multi award winning speakers pack and have been tried and tested.The Monitor Audios are the new kids on the block, but with a perfect balance for the size of speaker they sound very sweet.

As for the Projector. The Themescene HD20 is by far the cheapest of the two pj's, but that does not mean it compromises on quality. The Mitsubishi is a little more and could push your budget with package. But I feel it will be only by a small margin if you did choose this pj.

Blu-ray players. I'd say either of these to will be perfect for the level of equipment in use. Both have plus and minus points but overall are very good at there price points.

The Screen. It's may only be a manual type, but Beamax Screen we feel still offers one of the best solutions for a home cinema screens. They are easy to mount and use. So it will keep the whole family happy.

The Only other items are cabling and a projector mount!

If you would like to call into our store in Colne, Lancashire. We will happily set-up your chosen systems to show you how good this is.

Regards. Shane.
 
Projector,
Themescene HD20,
Mitsubishi HC5500,

Regards. Shane.

It's an old habbit. Optoma HD20. But as We are a Themescene Dealer. This projector does carry the Themescene 3 year warranty unlike Optoma Projectors.

Regards. Shane.
 
I'm just confused what to get hd20 is a good price so why is the panny 3000 a grand more? Just because of lense shift? If i bought a hd20 and my room is 20 ft long and i want it to project from the ceiling where would i have to mount the pj to fill a bmax A Velvet 216x129 fixed screen Ie: how close to the screen can i go
Sorry to ask about a thousand questions how about speaker cable, hdmi leads?

wish i had about 10 grand
 
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ok you guys have convinced me to get the Optoma H20 sounds like a good deal

What im after in terms of speakers is descreet i dont like bookshelves type speakers so im looking at ceiling speakers for the rear and maybe something like inwall or small satelites for the front.

sub and amp also need to discuss.

sorry one other thing what goes up first? The PJ or the screen?

thanks guys
 
Stefan, before you put the ceiling up remember to run all the cablingover joists. I would also get the Screen put in before the ceiling and conceal it between the joists so that means an electric remote control one.

Also with your budget I would go for the electric screen and better quality PJ and an average surround sound unit and you can always upgrade that at a later date but the sound would still be very good. But thats just the the way I would do it (I hope when I do though my budget wouldn't be limited, we can dream). Don't forget to post some photo's as you go :) Good luck whichever way you go!!
 
Do you know what your priorities are in terms of video vs audio?

I know for me, I could happily live with a £1,000 audio setup.....say something like an Onkyo amp and whatever speaker package you chose for £500ish.

In terms of video though, I feel there is a significant jump in performance going from a 'budget' 1080p projector to a more expensive model. If you felt you could live with a £1k audio setup, you could then splash £2.3k on a JVC HD350 and have a few hundred quid left towards a screen.

Just a thought..........
 
is th beamax a velvet screen no good then?

really like the look of it

damn shall i go for a average sound system and buy the panny pj?

decisions decisions

blimey im never gonna buy anything at this rate

how about this setup onkyo 607 £400
B&W ceiling speakers c160 £150
B&W M1 satelite speakers about £130 each
B&W sub which is in my front room
Panny 3000 £1899 or Optoma h20 £ 899

or how about any good second hand av recievers and speakers
 
You can get an Onk 875 new/refurb with 12 months g/tee for £499 off ebay and it will pee all over the 607.
 
now that sounds like a good deal

what about ceiling speakers and inwall any advise
 
Acoustic room treatments might be worth considering whilst you are still in the planning stage. Less than £500 spent on bass traps and reflection damping will pay off many times over in audio performance.

In dedicated room I'd always go for a simple fixed screen. Besides the saving of time and hassle getting it installed it'll never curl or break down.
 
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Stefan I would go for the Panny too I have a friend picking me one up in the far east cheap while he is working there.

I think that system will be fantastic.
 
Shall i just get the credit card out and buy the panny then theres no going back

or wait till jan and see what the sales bring!!
 
The panny 4000 is out in the states with a $1999 price I would wait to see what it's out for here before splashing the cash.
 

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