top ten home theater projector brands?

catmandoo

Answer
You said home theater projectors although commercial brands could be used in the home as well. But lets focus on non commercial. In no particular order i would say, Runco, Wolf, Barco, Meridian, JVC, Panasonic, Sony, Christie, Sim2, Digital Projection.

Kevin
40 years high end audio video specialist

home theater question: projector prices...?

Nazia

I am looking to install a home theater. I am going to have a 100'' diag screen.

When looking for projectors I find some in the range of $250 all the way up to $10k. Seriously... such a huge range, what is the difference? I am really confused. Can you really get a good one for under 1 grand? If so, why would anyone pay thousands upon thousands?

Help me out because I don't know.

Thanks
I have been looking at this product:

http://cgi.ebay.com/HD-Ready-Home-Cinema-LCD-Projector-TV-Tuner-Free-Post_W0QQitemZ360135430082QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_2?hash=item360135430082&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72:1205|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1307|301:1|293:1|294:50

the seller has great feedback, everyone seems to be happy with it

Answer
We would highly advise that you do not purchase this China-manufactured projector for the following reasons:

1. The contrast ratio of 600:1 is just to low for best movie presentation. The ideal is a native contrast level of at least 2000:1 or higher.

2. Most LCD light engines [the mirrors] coming from China are organic based so with the passage of three years, they will fade and you will end up with a colorless projector. Look for a DLP projector which does not suffer from fading mirrors; it's a totally difference technology which is currently the state-of-the-art.

3. There is more to maintenance of a projector than simply replacement of projection bulbs. What happens should the motherboard burn out or you drop the projector? China is not a neighborhood manufacturer or dealership in which you can easily bring your damaged projector for repair. Stick with a major projector brand in which there are any number of reputable dealer who can readily take care of any questions you may have about how to set up the projector, technical advice and general consumer inqueries.

If you are on a budget and live in the U.S., you may want to check out on craigslist.org [Los Angeles] under Electronics, keyword: Infocus: a quality used offering by a seller who lives in Studio City. He's selling a slightly used Infocus SP4805 for about $350.00 [which I also own] that will fulfill your needs. As for a screen, check out www.goosystems.com and order a set of paints for around $150.00 which will allow you to roll-on any wall your movie quality screen. Again, this paint on the wall approach will eliminate the need for any mechanical screen and the actual screen can be as large as 120 inches diagonally.

Here's a movie clip from "A Good Woman" projected by the Infocus SP4805 onto a 96" diagonal screen:

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/e6/32/22ab225b9da0543f3304f010.L.jpg

Good luck!

Powered by Yahoo! Answers

What do I need to build a home theater?

best projector brand for home theater image

jenavieve

My brother's moving out and we're going to have an extra room, I'd like to turn it into a home theater. I mean, I know I need a projector and a screen, but do I need speakers? Which brand of projector/ other supplies should i get?

Answer
That depends on what you want. Also, how big is this room? My HT is 19ft x 27ft and I use a projector with a 12ft 2.4:1 screen. If your room is really small it may make more sense to use a flat panel TV. Also if there are any windows that can not be completely blacked out, a projector may not be the best solution.

For audio you need at a minimum an AVR (Audio Video Receiver) and speakers. Ideally you will also have some sort of subwoofer. How big a sound system you need depends on your room size and your taste. Personally I like overkill, the audio system in my HT could fill a full size commercial cinema but I have it packed into an eleven seat HT. You probably don't need that kind of overkill.

Stay away from the so called HTiB systems. These "Theatre in a Box" systems are of poor quality and have very little or no flexibility. If one part fails you throw the entire thing away.

If you could update your question with information about your room and if you just want adequate sound to hear the dialog or if you want a true big cinema experience maybe we can suggest some specific ideas for a system.

mk

What is a good home theater sound system for a low price?

bmskeet

I just recently purchased a home theater projector and screen and am looking for a good home theater sound system to go with it. I don't know much about them so i'm looking for some help.
I would like something that supports HD 1080. I will be using it to watch DVD's as well as DirecTV and XBOX.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Answer
A budget would be helpful, when you say low price that could mean anything. Thousands for a system is low price as its endless what you can spend. We see allot people in these forums want a whole surround system for few hundred which is just not at all realistic, cant even buy a receiver for that much that's going to be any good.

First thing is there are many really cheaply made and poor sounding low priced systems on the market today so you have to be very careful if "low price' and tight budget is a concern. Not only do "all" of these cheap systems sound bad, when they break (and they will) it will cost more to repair them than what they cost new. So you'll end up either trying to bastardize the system to try and get it to work or end up having to buy a whole new system.

Do not buy any of these "Pre-packaged' systems they all use really poorly made speakers, and equipment that wont last and will break.

Your best to get a decent system one that will be somewhat reliable and even sound good, is to custom design it by buying separate speakers from manufactures that only specialize in making speakers and a receiver from a good name brand and preferably one that used better parts internally.

Paradigm, Energy, make some nice sounding and built budget speakers, and Marantz, Denon, and my favorite (but more expensive) NAD which all use high quality parts.

You have to be a bit selective with some of which model Marantz and Denon models as not all use discreet output stages and better internal parts. Look for low Impedance drive capability as this will indicate they are using better parts. What this means is when it gets loud and requires more current from the amplifier to handle these high demands it will be able to do so better with out running out of power quickly, and sending a distorted signal to the speakers and either damaging the speakers or amplifier. Its always a good idea to more power than you will ever use so the amplifier is never running close to its maximum output capabilities.

Your always better off saving up as much money as you can to get something better, and if your really wanting something good you will want to visit your local independent high end audio video store as they carry the better brands of speakers and equipment and the salesmen at these stores have many years experience designing and installing high quality systems.

The chain stores don't have a clue what they are doing, and 98% of the equipment they carry is low end anyway. The chances of putting together a good system from one of these stores is slim to none.

Kevin
40 years high end audio video specialist

Powered by Yahoo! Answers