Home Theater install- Anyone have this done?

[dhg]

The wifey and I decided we want to make the downstairs family room into our home theater room. Thought of doing it ourself, but think we'd rather have a professional installation. Has anyone had this done? I know places like Stereo Advantage do this, but haven't dealt with them since they were on Main and Forest. We have a decent budget for it. Any recommendations of companies in the Buffalo area or is it really easy enough to do on our own?  Any equipment and brand recommendations? 

[HereComesTheReignAgain]

I'm a big fan of Paradigm speakers and if you are going the receiver route instead of really high end separates, I like Denon.  I've had great luck with both brands and they have quite a range of prices depending on what you are looking for.  I installed my own stuff, but it was not a professional level job by any means.  It is easy enough to hook everything up, but making it look nice is tough unless you already have the wiring in the walls.  (I wouldn't go wireless.)  I am not good at fixing drywall! 

[BillsFan4]

What are you looking to install? 

 

TV, surround sound speakers, subwoofer, receiver? 

 

It really depends on your budget and your end goal, as far as what to recommend. 

Sorround sound system can range from a couple/few hundred for a cheapo basic system, to $600-$2000 ish for a mid tier system, to crazy money for the high end stuff. 

Itll depends on if you want to piece it together yourself or buy the whole surround sound system as a package. 

 

Do you want top of the line, middle of the road, cheap? 

 

What size and type of TV?  LED, OLED, Projector? 

 

Do do you want a basic installation, or do you want a more fancy setup (like speakers and TV built into the walls, etc)? 

 

 

I would check out places like Stereo advantage, Speaker Shop (great place for a better quality Speedo equipment), even Best Buy. They (Best Buy) offers full home installation and they will likely have more equipment in the low to mid tier range (they have higher end stuff, too).

 

Personally, I’d recommend doing it yourself. Unless you want to go nuts and have everything built into the walls and automated, etc. 

 

TVs - I’d recommend #1) Sony (Z9 series, or OLED is their top end stuff), #2/2a) Samsung/LG (the Q9 from Samsung or the OLED TVs from LG). 

 

Receiver - it depends on what your top priority is. But in general-  Denon is a good all around brand (I have one myself) with options from the low/mid end all the way up to the very high end. Marantz (amazing sound quality for listening to music), Yamaha, Onkyo are 2 good mid-tier brands. 

 

Speakers - very tough to say. Very personal as far as preference, and much depends on budget

 

Subwoofer -again, depends on preference. Do you want or be able to really FEEL the bass? Or do you want tighter, crisper bass? 

 

To really feel the bass, I’d recommend a ported sub. For tighter bass that isn’t quite as loud, I’d recommend a sealed subwoofer. I prefer ported subs, but that’s just me. Both have their advantages. 

 

 

As i as I always say to everyone looking for audio visual equipment - most important thing is to go look at the stuff yourself. Go compare TVs, compare speakers and receivers etc. 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2018 by BillsFan4

[Fadingpain]

3 hours ago, dhg said:

The wifey and I decided we want to make the downstairs family room into our home theater room. Thought of doing it ourself, but think we'd rather have a professional installation. Has anyone had this done? I know places like Stereo Advantage do this, but haven't dealt with them since they were on Main and Forest. We have a decent budget for it. Any recommendations of companies in the Buffalo area or is it really easy enough to do on our own?  Any equipment and brand recommendations? 

I have a good friend who spent $85,000 on a home theatre in the basement of her house, like maybe 10 years ago.

 

Complete with gigantic TV screen (like 8 feet wide maybe? or more?) and a couple rows of reclining seats, etc.

 

At the time it was the most perfect home set up you could imagine! 

 

Now she curses it and makes jokes about it b/c the technology is all dated and the picture quality is rather low compared to the latest stuff.

 

My point: ask yourself how much $ you want to sink into technology that will be soon outdated and which has almost no resale value.

 

 

[Soda Popinski]

my daughter bought us a sound bar from Wal Mart last year, I think it was about $85 bucks and I swear to jebus I love the damn thing.   Sometimes less is more.  

[Augie]

42 minutes ago, Fadingpain said:

I have a good friend who spent $85,000 on a home theatre in the basement of her house, like maybe 10 years ago.

 

Complete with gigantic TV screen (like 8 feet wide maybe? or more?) and a couple rows of reclining seats, etc.

 

At the time it was the most perfect home set up you could imagine! 

 

Now she curses it and makes jokes about it b/c the technology is all dated and the picture quality is rather low compared to the latest stuff.

 

My point: ask yourself how much $ you want to sink into technology that will be soon outdated and which has almost no resale value.

 

 

 

My son has a home theater in the basement with a big screen like that. The screens don’t cost much and the place was already wired by the previous owner, making it easy to do. They did hire a professional to hook it all up correctly, and they got new equipment rather than try to buy the stuff there that was only 4-5 years old. Even the seller said “yeah, it won’t cost that much, and it will be far better than what I have.”

 

I generally lean towards the previous wave of technology for a fraction of the cost, because I can barely tell the difference. I don’t have to have the absolute latest and greatest, as it will be outdated soon enough, and it’s not usually that much better than the last wave. My son does say it’s his favorite room in the house! 

[Alaska Darin]

16 hours ago, Fadingpain said:

I have a good friend who spent $85,000 on a home theatre in the basement of her house, like maybe 10 years ago.

 

Complete with gigantic TV screen (like 8 feet wide maybe? or more?) and a couple rows of reclining seats, etc.

 

At the time it was the most perfect home set up you could imagine! 

 

Now she curses it and makes jokes about it b/c the technology is all dated and the picture quality is rather low compared to the latest stuff.

 

My point: ask yourself how much $ you want to sink into technology that will be soon outdated and which has almost no resale value.

 

 

Technology has changed quite a bit in 10 years but your point is certainly valid.  That being said, it's very easy to put together a very impressive home theater for less than $5k today.

[plenzmd1]

15 hours ago, Augie said:

 

 

 

I generally lean towards the previous wave of technology for a fraction of the cost, because I can barely tell the difference. I don’t have to have the absolute latest and greatest, as it will be outdated soon enough, and it’s not usually that much better than the last wave. My son does say it’s his favorite room in the house! 

 

yea, no kidding. But to you previous wave of technology means a color TV. I am gonna drag you into 2018 no matter how hard it may be!!!!

[Augie]

5 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

yea, no kidding. But to you previous wave of technology means a color TV. I am gonna drag you into 2018 no matter how hard it may be!!!!

 

I’m telling you, if you go with the Acme Super Deluxe Rabbit Ears (available at Sears and JC Penny), you can get a pretty decent picture! 

 

 

 

For the record, we have a 4K TV and a 3D TV, and we have no use for either upgrade since there is virtually no content.....still....after years of waiting. 

[plenzmd1]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

I’m telling you, if you go with the Acme Super Deluxe Rabbit Ears (available at Sears and JC Penny), you can get a pretty decent picture! 

 

 

 

For the record, we have a 4K TV and a 3D TV, and we have no use for either upgrade since there is virtually no content.....still....after years of waiting. 

For the record...the picture via antenna is superior to  cable or satellite...what's old is new again!

 

I promise, I will get you there...just trust the pro-cess.

[dhg]

20 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

What are you looking to install? 

 

TV, surround sound speakers, subwoofer, receiver? 

 

It really depends on your budget and your end goal, as far as what to recommend. 

Sorround sound system can range from a couple/few hundred for a cheapo basic system, to $600-$2000 ish for a mid tier system, to crazy money for the high end stuff. 

Itll depends on if you want to piece it together yourself or buy the whole surround sound system as a package. 

 

Do you want top of the line, middle of the road, cheap? 

 

What size and type of TV?  LED, OLED, Projector? 

 

Do do you want a basic installation, or do you want a more fancy setup (like speakers and TV built into the walls, etc)? 

 

 

I would check out places like Stereo advantage, Speaker Shop (great place for a better quality Speedo equipment), even Best Buy. They (Best Buy) offers full home installation and they will likely have more equipment in the low to mid tier range (they have higher end stuff, too).

 

Personally, I’d recommend doing it yourself. Unless you want to go nuts and have everything built into the walls and automated, etc. 

 

TVs - I’d recommend #1) Sony (Z9 series, or OLED is their top end stuff), #2/2a) Samsung/LG (the Q9 from Samsung or the OLED TVs from LG). 

 

Receiver - it depends on what your top priority is. But in general-  Denon is a good all around brand (I have one myself) with options from the low/mid end all the way up to the very high end. Marantz (amazing sound quality for listening to music), Yamaha, Onkyo are 2 good mid-tier brands. 

 

Speakers - very tough to say. Very personal as far as preference, and much depends on budget

 

Subwoofer -again, depends on preference. Do you want or be able to really FEEL the bass? Or do you want tighter, crisper bass? 

 

To really feel the bass, I’d recommend a ported sub. For tighter bass that isn’t quite as loud, I’d recommend a sealed subwoofer. I prefer ported subs, but that’s just me. Both have their advantages. 

 

 

As i as I always say to everyone looking for audio visual equipment - most important thing is to go look at the stuff yourself. Go compare TVs, compare speakers and receivers etc. 

 

 

 

Yes, looking to install all of those.  I would do myself, which I still might, but I don't want to go wireless speakers and I want the install to look clean/professional.

 

Going to go middle of the road quality wise. We already have a Samsung 4K in the upstairs living room and have been really happy with that, so probably looking at a similar, larger model. 

 

For audio, I have heard/read lots of good stuff about Denon. A must for me too is that is listen to cd's, so I need a good quality cd player as part of the system. Been looking at a Yamaha for that. From what I've read the dvd/blue ray players just aren't very good when it comes to playing cd's.  Always loved JVC products for that, but looks like they have gotten out of the home audio business.

5 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

For the record...the picture via antenna is superior to  cable or satellite...what's old is new again!

 

I promise, I will get you there...just trust the pro-cess.

Oh yes. Planning on getting a good quality antenna as part of this project too! 

[eball]

My $0.02...the only "difficult" part is the wiring.  Hire a professional to do that job correctly.  Otherwise, it's just mixing and matching the components you want/like.

[dhg]

Just now, eball said:

My $0.02...the only "difficult" part is the wiring.  Hire a professional to do that job correctly.  Otherwise, it's just mixing and matching the components you want/like.

I am leaning towards doing exactly that!

[plenzmd1]

3 minutes ago, dhg said:

 

Yes, looking to install all of those.  I would do myself, which I still might, but I don't want to go wireless speakers and I want the install to look clean/professional.

 

A must for me too is that is listen to cd's, so I need a good quality cd player as part of the system.

1

you and @Augie do need to get together and share an egg cream and compare the relative merits of your walkmans!!! ? 

 

JK!!!!!

[dhg]

31 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

you and @Augie do need to get together and share an egg cream and compare the relative merits of your walkmans!!! ? 

 

JK!!!!!

Ha! I know cd's are considered "old school" now! ?

[GG]

19 hours ago, Fadingpain said:

I have a good friend who spent $85,000 on a home theatre in the basement of her house, like maybe 10 years ago.

 

Complete with gigantic TV screen (like 8 feet wide maybe? or more?) and a couple rows of reclining seats, etc.

 

At the time it was the most perfect home set up you could imagine! 

 

Now she curses it and makes jokes about it b/c the technology is all dated and the picture quality is rather low compared to the latest stuff.

 

My point: ask yourself how much $ you want to sink into technology that will be soon outdated and which has almost no resale value.

 

 

He's exaggerating a bit.  If he spent $85K on his home theater a decade ago, it's unlikely most of the cash went into equipment that's already obsolete.  I'm guessing the TV/projector may be a bit dated, but should cost that much to replace anyway.    

 

Determine what's most important to you, first.  FYI, really good sound systems (amp & speakers) will last decades.  You can upgrade the video portion of the home theater every 6 years or so if the need arises.  A very important, but overlooked part of the home theater design is to check the quality of the video and audio processing of your AVR.  You can get pretty bad audio lag in cheaper systems.

 

 

[KD in CA]

This thread needs a Fabio reference....

[dhg]

1 hour ago, GG said:

He's exaggerating a bit.  If he spent $85K on his home theater a decade ago, it's unlikely most of the cash went into equipment that's already obsolete.  I'm guessing the TV/projector may be a bit dated, but should cost that much to replace anyway.    

 

Determine what's most important to you, first.  FYI, really good sound systems (amp & speakers) will last decades.  You can upgrade the video portion of the home theater every 6 years or so if the need arises.  A very important, but overlooked part of the home theater design is to check the quality of the video and audio processing of your AVR.  You can get pretty bad audio lag in cheaper systems.

 

 

AVR?

[GG]

17 minutes ago, dhg said:

AVR?

Audio Video Receiver.  The new receivers sacrifice sound quality for digital processing of the HDMI signals.    My recommendation is to get an AVR with a preamp out to connect to a very good amplifier.   This will essentially future proof your system as far as sound quality goes.  

[eball]

35 minutes ago, GG said:

Audio Video Receiver.  The new receivers sacrifice sound quality for digital processing of the HDMI signals.    My recommendation is to get an AVR with a preamp out to connect to a very good amplifier.   This will essentially future proof your system as far as sound quality goes.  

 

I guess it depends upon whether you're setting up a home theater or a professional sound studio.  If the former, I don't think "sacrificing" quality with an AVR is going to be something anyone typically notices.  But maybe that's just me.