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Greetings:First post on Home Theater asylum. My friend is building a house and has come to me for help in selecting his HT system for the basement and his whole house system. I think I know 2ch pretty well but I know very little about HT. Help me help him.
For his basement system he wants a front projector system, I think he is working with his builders audio installers. Here is what they have recommended: Marantz SR8200 receiver and DV8300 single disc player, Grand Cinema HT300 projector($12,000!), and RBH C-6100SE in-wall Towers, RBH C770SE center and SpeakerCraft 8.5 in-ceiling rears. Sub is a Carver Knight Shadow.
The second installer recommends the same speakers but would use Harmon Kardon 7.1 receiver and HK progressive scan DVD and a Runco 700 projector.
What do you think of those various components. My gut tells me the Marantz but I don't know
I have a couple of audio dealers that I use and they carry Rotel or NAD as their entry level HT equipment. Should I have him get those guys out to give him an estimate. He also mentioned a JVC D-1LA projector.
I know I am asking a lot but I really need your help on this one. I'll answer any questions I can or I can call him if there is something I can't answer.
Thank you in advance.
El Monte
Follow Ups:
The Runco Reflection CL700 you mentioned and the DWIN TransVision TV3 are each about $5000 less than the HT300 and have roughly the same specs (although the DWIN does 1200 lumens opposed to the others 1000 lumens). I believe the DWIN has more reviews available, too.Honestly, I'd tell your friend to find out why the first installer wants the HT300. I'd also suggest he try to audition at least two of the above if not a couple of others. Also, tell him to check into getting a good screen. The Stewart Grayhawk is supposed to be one of the most favored screens today, but some research might be a good thing here.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for the follow-up. I'll tell him. I think his installer said the HT300 was HDTV ready. I'm not really sure if the others are or are not.El Monte
All three of them have the same resolution (1280x720 progressive). The Runco appears to be the only one that can't do 1080 interlaced.Another one that looks decent (well, the specs do...) is the Sony VPL-VW12HT. That actually has a higher resolution of 1366x768 and retails for only $6500. That's an LCD projector (the others are DLP). Some people don't like LCDs for the screen door effect on the cheaper ones, but then some people are susceptible to seeing rainbows with the DLP projectors (especially on black & white movies).
If your friend is spending that much on his home theatre, I'm pretty sure whoever is putting it together will be able to let him audition several different models of projectors... you may want to suggest the Sony one as well.
I would suggest the book by Robert Harley (sp?) "The Complete Guide to Home Theatre" as a start. You need someone who really know how to set this stuff up. Also it needs to be as simple as possible as most people don't know how to run a HT system once it is installed. How high are the ceilings in the basement? In ceiling speakers have a number of limitations, but most people want the stuff to disappear. There were a series of articles in Stereophile's Guide to Home on systems.Basically one could spend big money and still have a poor system in the end. Your friend needs to get some more quotes and to talk to other installers.
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