The Perfect Home-Cinema-System...
 

Ok everybody, what do you think is the best Home-Cinema-System?
What are the best deals at the moment?
would you get HDTV? Plasma TV? Rear Projection TV? or Projectors?
I'm kinda thinking about getting a new TV for example, but I might actually get a projector. Can you give me some good advice or share your experiences?

Jel,
im actually starting to kinda research this myself,,,
may be in da market in about a year or so.

Was at a trade/sales conference a couple of weeks ago, and
one of the presenters and trainers was Samsung.
Couldn't understand him too well, but he mentioned something about
Plasma screens having only a life of about 150,000 hours or about 5 yrs.
So, if that's da case, I'd stay away from plasma.
We did just get 60'' big azz screen toshiba tv though, just in time for playoffs. :lol:
Having bought that my Home-Manager {aka ball-n-chain, wife...j/k :lol: }
declined my requisition to visit the Sony Store. :D :D

ZtR

Still a tube fan!
 

I am partial to a tube. I would not turn down a plasma display or anything else for free :wink:

But I can not find a display medium I prefer to a high end tube TV. Right now I like the relatively new 40" Sony Trinitron. (I am definately a Sony display fan!).

A good projector can provide such excellent quality but the price point for "good" is pretty high. Many people will say something less than $7500 will provide as awsome picture. That is true if you have a conference room in your house where you can eliminate all ambient light and set your chairs up right in front of the screen. Even then most projects do you display a strong enough picture in a small space to make it worth the investment. (But if you can "borrow" the projector at work it is fun using it at home or at a party! :lol: )

However, my experiences with home TV are not with much HDTV time. Once that is more available in the US I may have to change my thinking. Right now my "quality" comes from the best NTSC Interlaced picture I can view from VHS, DVD (maybe progressive), Cable TV, Hi8...

Also, I have more practical uses as well. Most TV watching is not straight on and is during hours with quite a bit of light. That really puts a damper on any projection system, projector and all but the brighest HDTV. (It also means you will need tweaking ability. I have several presets for my Sony 35" Trinitron and found the hack codes on the internet so I can tweak all of the settings like a professional tech.

I would definately check out the 40" Sony TV. And then have it professionally calibrated for color temperature and you will not be disappointed. (But once you calibrate that is true of most decent TVs. The difference is amazing).

For the rest of your system... it starts at the speakers and then you just make sure you have a clean source with enough power to feed the speakers.

I am running Definitive Technology BP20 (bi-polar & bi-wired) in the front much smaller DTs in the back. (DT center too). NO sub because these speakers are more than enough.

If I was buying today I would go right for the Mirage. Go for the highest end you can afford. They deserve a Sunfire amp. (I am running an old Sony 900ES integrated. I love the sound quality but no DTS).

And... eBay is they way to go. If you are willing to be a year or two off "current" you can get awsome deals. My integrated went for $1400 new. No DTS but AWSOME sound for an integrated (and the ability to channel all power to the back and use an outboard amp). I have seen them for $300.

My buddy bought a pair for Mirage M1s for less than 50% of retail. They were in PERFECT condition.

Shoping for toys is so fun. Nothing better than hooking up new toys, getting them set how you like and then popping in your reference sources for a little testing (and showing off).

We should start posting reccommend reference sources. (I have not seen anything definitive in this forum. If it exists could someone post a link?)


Grantman

I have an Epson PowerLite 71C XGA projector and have a theater in my basement. I use an HTPC for DVD's and TV and spdif out to a sony receiver which decodes Dolby Digital. The projector cost about $2800, I built the HTPC myself and the receiver was like $200 (all in USD). The DVD experience rivals the cinema and the TV leaves much to be desired but that will change soon since I am going to get HDTV over cable but have been holding off because there are currently no HDTV tuners cards for PC's that can decode cable yet. Although I could just hook the component cable directly from the cable box to the projector which would not be an ideal solution since the component cable cost $100 and would have to be detached from my Radeon 8500 in order to watch HDTV and that would defeat the whole HTPC experience not to mention eventually being able to convert HD caps to KVCD (really dying to try this out).

-Dano

How long does the bulb last :?:Let us know when you do that :) I'd love to see the results :cool:

-kwag

The bulb lasts 1500 hrs. and costs about $400. I have had it for over 2 years now and am at 950 hours so it's not as expensive as it might seem. The whole video scene will eventually head toward HD and I know that people like Tom Barry and others are blazing the way. Hey Kwag, would it be worth trying kvcd on the new T2 HD wmv?

8O I'd love to see that :mrgreen:

-kwag

The best bang for the buck right now is HDTV RPTV. You can get 50" of widescreen fun for $1600 if you shop around. That's what I did.

You guys with projectors and huge 50" TV's, and I'm stuck with a 32" HDTV :stickouttongue:

My screen is a 16:9 and has a diagonal measurement of 7.5 feet. :P

:stickouttongue: :stickouttongue::stickouttongue: