TV's

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by Atticus808

then another $250-$500 on a sound bar and sub.

... Really? You're fired.

[Atticus808]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

... Really? You're fired.

my living room won't be that big, and i don't feel like having speakers everywhere.

it'll either be a soundbar or 2 towers

[53Driver]

Originally Posted by Atticus808

ok, so curved tv is out of the question.

my budget for a TV is around $1500. then another $250-$500 on a sound bar and sub.

i MAY skip the 4k and wait till it's a standard

edit: good info everyone, keep them coming!

edit 2: would also like opinions on LED, LCD, and Plasma.

edit 3 cause i like to edit: looks like LED is the way to go now

LED all the way and I'd consider cutting the TV budget in half and going with a quality sound system. A guy I work with just picked up a Bose sound system for $800 off Amazon. Our 47" LED HDTV was $550 so I think you could get a really nice LED for $700-800 unless you are trying to go really big but if you have a small living room a 50" TV should be sufficient.

[Atticus808]

Originally Posted by 53Driver

LED all the way and I'd consider cutting the TV budget in half and going with a quality sound system. A guy I work with just picked up a Bose sound system for $800 off Amazon. Our 47" LED HDTV was $550 so I think you could get a really nice LED for $700-800 unless you are trying to go really big but if you have a small living room a 50" TV should be sufficient.

our living room is something like 12'x13'.
well i can up my budget too. so no sound bar?

i should mention that i don't want a ton of wires running everywhere, which is kind of why i don't want a full home theatre system.

[gramicci101]

This is your house that you're having built, right? Is your living room on the first or second floor? If first, does it have a finished basement or crawl space underneath? If second, does it have a finished attic above it?

Is there a closet attached or nearby that has decent ventilation that you could put your various sources in (receiver, dvd player, xbox, etc...), or are you looking at having a tv stand with everything in it?

Sound is almost more important than image for immersing you into what's happening. It should be rich and powerful and deep, which is something a soundbar will never be able to manage. I can point you to front speakers that will blow away any tower you could find at Best Buy for a fraction of the cost, so that's not an issue. The problem is bass. If the t-rex stomping through the glade isn't completely heard, much less felt, you lose a lot of the experience. A piddly little 6.5" sub with 50 watts from a soundbar can't even reach those frequencies, much less play them with authority. Good subs take up a lot of room though. You could build them into the attic and have them fire through an air vent in the ceiling, or building them under the floor and have them fire up. Or if you're ok with having them present in the room, build them and finish them to look like furniture and make it an end table.

[Atticus808]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

This is your house that you're having built, right? Is your living room on the first or second floor? If first, does it have a finished basement or crawl space underneath? If second, does it have a finished attic above it?

Is there a closet attached or nearby that has decent ventilation that you could put your various sources in (receiver, dvd player, xbox, etc...), or are you looking at having a tv stand with everything in it?

Sound is almost more important than image for immersing you into what's happening. It should be rich and powerful and deep, which is something a soundbar will never be able to manage. I can point you to front speakers that will blow away any tower you could find at Best Buy for a fraction of the cost, so that's not an issue. The problem is bass. If the t-rex stomping through the glade isn't completely heard, much less felt, you lose a lot of the experience. A piddly little 6.5" sub with 50 watts from a soundbar can't even reach those frequencies, much less play them with authority. Good subs take up a lot of room though. You could build them into the attic and have them fire through an air vent in the ceiling, or building them under the floor and have them fire up. Or if you're ok with having them present in the room, build them and finish them to look like furniture and make it an end table.

what front speakers would you recommend?

living room is on the first floor, unfinished attic or basement. looking to put stuff just with the tv stand

i won't need a 10/10 sound system, maybe more like a 7-8/10. this will MAINLY be for sports (hockey), and probably 1 or 2 movies a week.

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by Atticus808

i won't need a 10/10 sound system, maybe more like a 7-8/10. this will MAINLY be for sports (hockey), and probably 1 or 2 movies a week.

Do you want just front stereo, or do you want to go surround sound?

[Atticus808]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

Do you want just front stereo, or do you want to go surround sound?

surround



fuck i should just suck it up and make my living room 5.1 or 7.1.....

[chaoskaze]

Get a projector since you are "building" the house. Wut ever TV you buy will be outdated in 2years with the way they push out new techs might as well get something that can last & really enjoy.

PS: if you don't live in Japan, don't buy 4k. Cuz everything u see is like 1080 & below.

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by Atticus808

surround

fuck i should just suck it up and make my living room 5.1 or 7.1.....

It's not a big living room, you don't need 7.1. 5.2 would be nice. Do you have a receiver that can support surround? If not, I absolutely love my Denon X2000 and can definitely recommend going that direction. An X1000 is probably all you need, unless you want to do second room audio and video and third room audio. With these receivers, everything gets run to the receiver, and you run a single HDMI to the tv from the receiver. Very clean.

For speakers, get these for your front stage. You can either do three for left/center/right, or you can get the matching center channel. If you're not comfortable building your own boxes or wiring your own crossovers with the included parts, they sell both here. For surrounds, get these. They have a link to purchase angled surround boxes as well.

Then finish them as you would like. Stain and varnish, self-adhesive veneer, paint, whatever. You can match them to your furniture.

Projectors are very light-dependent. If you can control ambient light (windows, openings to other rooms, etc...), then projectors are great. If you can't, get a TV. Screens are easy to build, I can give you a link to a DIY thread.

[53Driver]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

This is your house that you're having built, right? Is your living room on the first or second floor? If first, does it have a finished basement or crawl space underneath? If second, does it have a finished attic above it?

Is there a closet attached or nearby that has decent ventilation that you could put your various sources in (receiver, dvd player, xbox, etc...), or are you looking at having a tv stand with everything in it?

Sound is almost more important than image for immersing you into what's happening. It should be rich and powerful and deep, which is something a soundbar will never be able to manage. I can point you to front speakers that will blow away any tower you could find at Best Buy for a fraction of the cost, so that's not an issue. The problem is bass. If the t-rex stomping through the glade isn't completely heard, much less felt, you lose a lot of the experience. A piddly little 6.5" sub with 50 watts from a soundbar can't even reach those frequencies, much less play them with authority. Good subs take up a lot of room though. You could build them into the attic and have them fire through an air vent in the ceiling, or building them under the floor and have them fire up. Or if you're ok with having them present in the room, build them and finish them to look like furniture and make it an end table.

Okay, stop being a hoarder of the gouge.

[53Driver]

Originally Posted by Atticus808

our living room is something like 12'x13'.
well i can up my budget too. so no sound bar?

i should mention that i don't want a ton of wires running everywhere, which is kind of why i don't want a full home theatre system.

I don't think you need to "up your budget" I jst think you need to adjust it. No need to drop $1200-1500 on TV then piddle out $250-500 on sound system. I'm leaning the same direction as gramicci, sound is as important to the experience as visual. $650-800 will get you a very nice LED HDTV, so don't pair it will a $100 sound bar. Lots of wireless options these days too. The guy I work with picked up a BOSE surround sound system, all wireless from the receiver that you hook up to the TV I believe. He said he got it for around $800, shipped.

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by 53Driver

Okay, stop being a hoarder of the gouge.

The gouge?

[53Driver]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

The gouge?

Sorry, aviation term for the "info".