Houston Area Home Theater Installer Recommendations? (new home, contractor, calculator)

[Shark01]

Did a search, nothing came up.

New home, 11' x 16' dedicated media room (a little small), lots of pre-wired spots (wiring covers all over).

Thought I would be able to spec everything out, read a few magazines, looked at a couple of forums, and have come to the conclusion it would take too much time to get up to speed.

Anyone have dealers/installers that are knowledgeable, reasonably price, trustworthy, etc?

Or does anyone have recommendations on the following?
Projectors
Screens (with my size room, nthing over 100" I guess)
Receivers
Speakers
Audio systems (5.1, 7.1)

Thanks

[kreeyax]

I researched projectors a good bit last year. Bang for the buck seemed to be the Epson Home Cinema 8350 at the time. This web site has package deals with the projector, mount and screen:

Projector Package Deals For Home Theater - Visual Apex Projector Deals 1.800.883.7495

This calculator will tell you the recommended throw range for different projectors and screen sizes:

Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8350 Projection Calculator - Throw Distance and Screen Size

With your size room you might be able to get away with 92"-100" screen, depending on your seating distance.

Audio.. it really depends on your budget. I like Denon receivers in the $500-$700 range, but sub-$400... Pioneer is a good choice as you get a load of features for the money. Speakers are most important for sound quality, IMO. So spend a bit more there if you can. I'm really fond of my Paradigm Studio floorstanding speakers with matched center channel. If you want to go cheaper on the receiver, you might consider a separate amp since cheap receivers usually have underpowered amps. Check out Emotiva for amps.

SVS makes subwoofers that will deliver some serious bass for home theater and music.

Surrounds you can skimp on a bit if you need to. They don't really need to match your front soundstage for home theater duty. If you listen to 5.1-channel music like DVD-audio you will probably want matched surrounds though. Wish I could recommend a good installer, but I don't have any experience with them here in Houston. Good luck!

[deckhanddavy]

Although I'm not a contractor, I've been following the high end A/V field for some time now. I purchased a new home about 7 months ago. I'll share with you my budget and final configuration in this thread of my theater room.

First off, my budget was 3k. Nothing more. I hit that number almost exactly. Here is my theater room completed after 3 weeks of work.

Room size: 12x14



This is the room as-is, standard paint when purchased


We had pre-wired tubing installed behind the walls and electrical just as you did. I used a fishing cable to route the hdmi cable through the tube, and it worked great. I also purchased 6 acoustic panels for the room that has done wonders in regards to audio quality. Really, the improved audio quality has done wonders for our movie experience.

For my screen and projector, I have the following:

Projector: epson 8530
Screen: EliteScreen Cinewhite 120"

If you want more details on my configuration, I'd be more than happy to help you out. **Also, Blu-ray player means everything. It's the processing of your a/v that means everything. I have an Oppo player....it truly is amazing.

-dave

[ChocolateBabz]

Just one thing to add - we put in a remote controlled dimmer switch for the lighting - it wasn't an expensive thing at all but I love it as a feature.

[RCH99]

deckhanddavy- where did you find those acoustic panels? What are they made of?

[deckhanddavy]

Originally Posted by RCH99

deckhanddavy- where did you find those acoustic panels? What are they made of?

I ordered my panels through Acoustic Panels by ATS Acoustics. They had the best prices on the panels I wanted for my room and are 2" thick, with beveled edges. The outside material is micro suede fabric, and is framed in wood. They use mineral wool as the absorbing material...a lot of it.

I had 4 of the panels custom sized for the recessed areas next to the bump outs.

The difference in audio quality was staggering. Before, the hard bare walls were causing all of the acoustics to get muddled, with very little separation. Also, the bass was overpowering everything and making matters worse. After installing the panels, there was real sound stage and clarity. The 5.1 is now truly 5.1 separation. I was a bit doubtful before ordering the panels, but after a ton of research at avsforum and hometheaterforum, I was able to spec out the right size and configuration for my room.

I made a diagram of how the layout of the panels are configured in the room:



All of their panels are made by hand and take approx 2 weeks to be delivered.

[RCH99]

Excellent...thanks

[deckhanddavy]

Originally Posted by RCH99

Excellent...thanks

No problem at all

[Shark01]

So for you guys with projectors instead of TVs, how does the picture quality compare?

Sharp has an 80" TV so I'm just wondering.

Thanks for all the good input.

[Hollywood Hogan]

Originally Posted by deckhanddavy

I ordered my panels through Acoustic Panels by ATS Acoustics. They had the best prices on the panels I wanted for my room and are 2" thick, with beveled edges. The outside material is micro suede fabric, and is framed in wood. They use mineral wool as the absorbing material...a lot of it.

I had 4 of the panels custom sized for the recessed areas next to the bump outs.

The difference in audio quality was staggering. Before, the hard bare walls were causing all of the acoustics to get muddled, with very little separation. Also, the bass was overpowering everything and making matters worse. After installing the panels, there was real sound stage and clarity. The 5.1 is now truly 5.1 separation. I was a bit doubtful before ordering the panels, but after a ton of research at avsforum and hometheaterforum, I was able to spec out the right size and configuration for my room.

I made a diagram of how the layout of the panels are configured in the room:



All of their panels are made by hand and take approx 2 weeks to be delivered.

did you install this all yourself?