Help with new setup

[nvaughan84]

Hi all,

I'm moving house in a few months and for the first time ever I'll be able to have my own cinema room

I'll be looking for a complete setup and need some advice.

For the AMP, I'm seriously considering the Denon avr-x2700h. For the money (£650) it seems like a great option and I've always liked Denon

For the speakers (including subwoofer) I have a budget of around £750. I would like a 7.1 Dolby Atmos setup if possible (but might be a bit of a stretch)

I'm not too sure whether to go for a Projector or a 75 (or even 85inch) TV. I think I would like the true home cinema feel with a projector but are they good for gaming?? I'd say my budget for a projector + screen or TV would be about £1600-1800.

Any thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks

Nick

 

[Hoku]

A few thoughts on your consideration of a projector.

I went from a 42” plasma TV to my BenQ projector with 92” screen.

Positives:

I love the natural colours. As you have a reflected light, rather than an emitted light with TV’s, it just looks ‘right’.

Motion is superb. Although my eye sight is not as sensitive or trained as my hearing, I am sensitive to motion blurring or judder and the projector performs really exceptionally well in this regard.

Size. You can’t beat the sheer scale of the picture for every night feeling like movie night. But it’s great for sports too. I watch cycling on GCN+ and it’s just awesome on the big screen.

Negatives:

Mounting on the ceiling and cabling. This was a lot more effort than just plinking a TV on a stand. But once it’s done it’s done. I would recommend not skimping on the ceiling mount. Get a decent one that will really help with set-up and is easy to fine-tune.

Blacks. A less expensive pj won’t perform as well with black areas of the picture as a good TV. But even though I’m a bit of a sci-fi geek, I don’t personally feel this is a deal breaker. I think the size of the screen and picture performance in the other respects mentioned above more than compensate.

Fan noise. I would say this is the single biggest negative of a projector compared to a TV. And it’s this I would really recommend you check for at any demo to make sure you’re happy with this. When I first switch it on, it is noticeable, but once the amp and speakers kick in, it’s less of an issue and I become engrossed in the movie etc.


If you were seriously considering a PJ, I would personally lower your PJ budget and up your speaker budget, but that’s more to do with my priorities and taste really.

 

[ShanePJ]

For the surround sound, you could look at the Denon AVR-x2700H with the Q Acoustics 3010i plus a pair of Wharfedale D300 for Atmos duties, this comes in around your budget

As for a projector, whats the room like? Dimensions, throw ratio, wanted screen size, seating distance, ambiance off the room regarding brightness and lighting control

If you look at something like the Optoma UHD38 with the Spitfire 100" Electric Screen, you'll have a little money left over for a HDMI Cable and ceiling mount.

The Projector with the screen will need to be positioned between 11' to 12' which is known as the throw ratio (Like most projectors at this price, it will need to be placed either on the ceiling or coffee table (not ideal)). Everything else in the room regarding speakers and cable lengths can be worked around it plus the UHD38 also has gaming features which also includes 240Hz and 4.20ms response timing which is one thing you have mentioned

 

[nvaughan84]

Thanks for the replies guys. Very useful information

I think I will go with a projector based on your comments.

The room size is 3.5m wide x 5m in length so a decent amount of room to play with. A screen size of 100inch sounds great which would mean the projector would be approx 3.4m from the screen. I could even push it to 120inch screen size at 4m from the screen.

Would you recommend a 16x9 screen or 4x3?

I've looked at Focal Sib Evo speakers (Focal Sib Evo 5.1.2 (Black)). How do they compare to the Q Acoustics 3010i?

 

[ShanePJ]

It has to be 16/9 or 16/10 depending upon the projector you choose as these are panel ratios. Do note that the distance I inputted were for the Optoma UHD38 alone, so be careful when choosing another projector when calculating your throw if you are basing it on my comments as it might be different even if it from the same manufacturer

I'd say compared to the Q Acoustics, I cannot complain about them speaker part although I would push towards the Q Acoustics based on their traditional styling and my own personal taste in sound. The subwoofer though is a weak link and regardless of what speakers you choose, look at brands like SVS to transform how you experience those all important booms and crashes