Home Cinema on a budget - my setup

Markscop

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Hi Guys,

I have seen a few topics asking for budget setups on here and as I have just completed mine I thought i'd share my setup which is working wonderfully now its finished.

The equipment:

Projector: Epson TW480, currently £449 at PC World. As they also have finance options I currently pay around £25 per month which won't break the bank. Provides a 120" screen at around 4/5 metres from the wall, with loads of adjustment settings to get the perfect image shape for your wall. Also 720p so great for SkyHD, gaming and HD movies.

To save some money, I haven't bought a screen, I just project it on the wall (magnolia paint) and given the high lumens from this projector the image is clean and sharp. Its never going to rival more expensive setups but for the price it is an absolute bargain.

Receiver: LG SR906B 5.1 3D Receiver System. £189 on amazon. The speakers are not great but the star here is the receiver. 3x HDMI in, 2x optical out. Means I can connect Sky, Xbox and PS3 to the back. Also has USB on the front so i can connect the ipod for music. The speakers at the front were not that good, especially for music, so i had to upgrade them.

Speakers: Rear speakers - LG - came with the receiver. Front sound stage - Monitor Audio R One HD. Not your typical sound bar as it does not try to replicate virtual surround sound but simply replaces the front 3 speakers. The bonus is that the quality of the speakers are phenominal. I got an ex-demo R One for £270. They retail at around £500 so shop around!

Cables: Maplin or equivalent is your best bet. Alternatively you can pick up some great deals online, especially through ebay or amazon marketplace.

Cable tidy: B&Q sell 2m D-link which you can paint for around £5, perfect for hiding those speaker wires.

Once you have the above its just a matter of finding a local installer to put the projector up and mount the speaker under the screen. I found a local handyman as I dont have the tools who charged £20/hr. I marked up all the drill sites etc. before he came over so it only took him 40 minutes.

All done. You now have a home cinema and excellent quality home audio system for around £600 + monthly payment for the projector.

I realise that there may be alternatives to the above setup but this is working great so far.
 
i take it then that the soundbar accepts the left, centre and right speaker cable outputs from your amp. is that right? just curious.
 
Yes that's right, it's a passive sound bar so accepts speaker cable rather than hdmi/optical that powered sound bars generally have.
 

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