One chance at the dream....please help me get it right !!

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The Deal

Having sold my soul and agreed unconditionally to doing the housework from here on in I have finally convinced the boss…otherwise known as Mrs. Evans to agree to me purchasing a projection unit and turning our second lounge into a dedicated home theatre/cinema room!!

The room

The room size is 5.3mtr long x 4mtrs wide and I plan to mount the projector from the ceiling. The room has two large windows and a door way, but with the aid of blinds, curtains and a “sausage dog” draft excluder I can achieve an excellent control of light getting into the room.

Audio

My current audio set up is

Speakers – Front Dynaudio Audience 52’s with a Dynaudio 42 Centre

Rear -- Dynaudio 42’s

Sub -- Rel R-205

Cable – silver anniversary

Amp -- Yamaha RX –V2500

The projector

Having spent much time trawling Adelaide Hi fi /cinema shops (where I live) I have stumble across a new, in the box, Sony VPL-VW80 that has been discounted due to the new 85 model release.

It is being offered to me at Au$5000 (sterling 2,950 approx) the demo was superb and having researched the reviews tend to back this up.

The questions

• This is a serious purchase for me, and the technology is already superseded, am I better looking at a current model from another manufacturer and can anyone recommend a product that is better than the impressive Sony at this price?

• I have no knowledge on screens or the appropriate sizes…currently the shop has quoted me on a 120 inch fixed screen at Au$950 (sterling 560) and I know that given the length of the room the projector can comfortably throw onto this size of screen. What I need to know is the recommended viewing distances against screen size for my size room? Would I need to consider a smaller 100inch screen,? And what makes, models and type of screen should I be looking at for this quality of projector?

• I have not got a Blu-ray player as yet, would I get away with purchasing a PS3 , or do I need to consider a more dedicated unit to get the best results out of the projector (A PS3 in Aus is approx AU$400 or sterling 235, and this is my price bracket give or take 10%)

• Connectivity is something I need advice on, as the amp does not have HDMI would I be best running the HDMI from the Blu-ray to the projector and then a coaxial cable from the Blu-ray to the amp for audio?

Any assistance on the above would be greatly appreciated as would advice on any additional things I may have missed …..

Please remember this is costing me my soul so I need to get it right !!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi mate. My two penneth would be to somehow allow for an HDMI-equipped AVR in your budget. Although the RX-V2500 is a nice bit of kit, unforunately now it's a little outdated. To get the best out of your movie soundtracks, and to make those Dynaudios really sing, an AVR that can handle the new HD Audio codecs from your Blu-Rays will be a great improvement. There's some excellent receivers on the market now that represent such great value for money, and if you can....you should.

Connectivity wise this will also aid you, with a simple single HDMI cable running from your AVR to your pj. Voila !

 

[Messiah]

Looking at THE_FORCEs pictures it looks like he has a little experience in this kind of thing

- what great set ups!!

But I would certainly agree. I would look to upgrade the receiver as well.

As far as the BD is concerned, I think the PS3 is an excellent piece of kit. If you would use it for gaming as well then I would go for this. If you are only going to use if for BD then maybe buy a standalone player. Personally I would go for the PS3. It has many useful functions.

 

[Anonymous]

Why thank you Messiah kind sir !

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply.

I have had a think about the suggestions and I am now thinking of giving a demo to the JVC 550 PROJECTOR with a lower price tag than the Sony... leaving some spare cash to hunt down a new amp with HDMI capabilities..it will need to be capable of driving the 52"s...and come in with a AU$1200 (700 sterling ) budget any recommendations?

p.s The Force....have you by chance won the national lottery at some time in your life !!!!...

 

[D.J.KRIME]

I have a RXV2500 and used to use a PS3 but recently upgraded to a Sony S760 which not only has this upgrade given beter PQ over the PS3 but I did not need to upgrade my amp as I now use the multi-channel outputs on the S760 and get HD sound via the multi-channel inputs on the RXV2500 which also alows you to run the amp in DIRECT mode turning off all video aspects on the amp

 

[Anonymous]

Yes I spoke to a shop today and they recommended the same...they offered me the Sony Blur ay and suggested I would still get excellent quality out of the Amp (it may be a few years old but is in perfect condition).They sugested that to do justice with a new amp would cost $2-$2500 Au and I do not want (and can not afford !!) to throw that amount of cash at it ...the Sony was on budget if indeed I go for this model, which leaves me thinking do I just bank the spare funds for another day or push the boat out to get the JVC 950 projector which is rated as best in class at its price point ...does anyone reading this have a JC 550 or 950 and want to comment...I was not going to trial the 950 as I have decided it was out of my range...now I am thinking again....hmmm

 

[Anonymous]

Muffinmuncher:
p.s The Force....have you by chance won the national lottery at some time in your life !!!!...

No such luck !!

Krimes suggestion of going down the Multichannel out route is fine for the Yammy 2500, if this is your only source that will be using any form of HD audio. If you add any other sources, such as a PS3 for games that support 7.1 LPCM, then you'll still only be getting vanilla DD/DTS codecs due to having only the one set of multi-ins on the Yamaha - but you could always upgrade the AVR at a later date if the need arises ?