Home Theatre Projector + Surround Sound advice please

haji on 06/10/2016 - 21:54
Last edited 07/10/2016 - 01:34 by 1 other user

Hey all.

We recently built a house and have a vacant room that was designated to be a Home Theatre room, measuring at 5x4m. I've started my research on projectors and am leaning towards the Benq W1070 as my budget is around $1k. I was wondering what surround system you would advise to go with this? Preferably wireless speakers as we allowed a power point on the ceiling for the projector but nothing for speakers in the corners.

Another question is, would I be able to use chromecast to watch movies from Google Play through the projector? I know it has a USB slot but need to double check.

A noob question also, I wouldn't be able to get any sound out without connecting a Surround Sound system, right?

And lastly, our floors are polished concrete so at the moment there's a bit of echo in the room. Would covering up the back wall or ceiling with foam panels help absorb the sound? (Like these? http://www.swamp.net.au/assets/full/AC-20-ZY-35.jpg)

Thanks in advance.

Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • apple2016 on 06/10/2016 - 23:17

    The room does not seem large. Do you really need a projector?
    Are you going for a projector as it gives you a bigger screen at cheaper price?
    I would not recommend a projector unless you like a large screen.

    Also what would be your source?
    Would you be mostly playing DVD/blue ray movies?
    If so does your player support surround speakers?
    If not you need a av receiver.

    In my opinion wired speakers offer superior sound quality to wireless ones.
    Some wireless speakers like sonos are good but are more expensive.

    • Diji1 on 06/10/2016 - 23:46

      Do you really need a projector?

      They can easily fit a 3 meter diagonal screen - actually a lot larger but i cant be bothered looking it up.

      • haji on 07/10/2016 - 14:53

        I think we will initially project it on to the wall as our paint colour is Lexicon 25% which is pretty white. The lower the percentage the brighter it is.

    • imc123 on 07/10/2016 - 05:33

      +1 for wired speakers

      if you go down the AVR route, might i suggest starting with a stereo setup first, then you can always build the surround setup later on

      • haji on 07/10/2016 - 14:53

        Any suggestions for AVR?

        • imc123 on 07/10/2016 - 15:13
          • if you are willing to look at/get someone to help with second hand ones, go for pioneer, yamaha and denon 5.1 avrs, they go for around $400-$500
          • same with new ones, you can go to showrooms and have a listen to some, yamahas are good for basic setups which would be easy to setup and not as many fancy functions which probably wont get used. jb hifi also has Onkyo TX-SR series which are good value, a new one is around $600-$800, try and avoid hardly normal, very overpriced lol
    • haji on 07/10/2016 - 14:52

      The projector won't be for daily use, only for movie occasions, Playstation and sports games. We do like a large screen.

      We want to play movies through Chromecast, Playstation and have TV inout for the footy.

      I have to look at wired speaker options.

      Thanks.

      • apple2016 on 07/10/2016 - 15:14

        Projector is fine if you like a large screen and use it occasionally.
        I would recommend getting a AV receiver so that you are able to switch your sources easily like chromecast/appletv/bluray player/ usb etc.
        The receiver would also be good if you are going for 5 ch surround or 7 ch surround.
        The Receiver could potentially introduce a delay which could affect your gaming experience.

  • imc123 on 07/10/2016 - 05:26
    +1

    wireless speakers as we allowed a power point on the ceiling for the projector but nothing for speakers in the corners.

    just want to point out that wireless refers to the signal that the surround speakers receive, not the power, so they do require to be plugged into a wall socket.

  • Ryanek on 07/10/2016 - 10:09
    +1

    If you are looking at that BenQ I would highly suggest its competitor the Epson EH-TW5300 instead. The BenQ uses DLP whilst the Epson uses LCD projection. You might have read that people have experienced the rainbowing affect with DLP projectors but this differs from person to person.

    The lamp on the Epson is also much cheaper, I've seen them as low as $99. It's also better suited for gaming, playing Fifa on a 110" screen is the bomb.

    To make the most of the projector you need an AV Receiver. This is where you hook up the projector, audio, playstation, chromecast and everything else. The only thing that should be coming out of your projector is a HDMI and power cable (ideally through the ceiling).

    • sane on 07/10/2016 - 10:55
      +1

      I'd suggest going to a real shop and seeing real projectors. Some are particularly susceptible to the rainbow effect, some don't care about it. Some are particularly susceptible to the screendoor effect, and some are blind as a bat. You really need to know which you are before you buy. You also need to see the impact of the colour wheel on the DLPs (a good colour wheel makes the rainbow effect almost disappear.

      Lamp prices I would also say are not an issue. It will be many years before you need a replacement, and ebay/Amazon have decent prices.

      The centre of the system is the AV amp, which you didn't mention. I would advice something decent here, with 7.2 output (like the Yamaha deal that was on ozbargain a week or two back). The projector is just the display device for this. A pair of nice floor standers, a centre, a subwoofer, and some small surrounds would kick you off, with the option of adding some more surrounds later to give you better sound behind you. Again, you are likely to find better prices overseas for these (which gives you the shipping problem). Prices of AV gear in general is silly in Australia.

      As for chromecast, you plug it into the amp. No good plugging it into the projector, since there are no speakers.

      Yes you'll need to kill the echo. Can I suggest a rug on the floor, maybe curtains over the window (also good for blockout in summer evenings), and probably sound absorbent material on walls. A good tip is you can get some big canvas prints (eg BigW deals) and put the foam material behind the canvas, in the gap in the frame. Looks good and does the sound deadening job at the same time.

      http://www.instructables.com/id/Decorative-Sound-Absorbing-P…

      • Ryanek on 07/10/2016 - 13:00

        BenQ lamp is over $300. It should definitely be a factor in your decision considering these two have similar performance.

        • sane on 07/10/2016 - 14:34
          +1

          The reason I say don't worry is because they last 5000-6000 hours. So the cost is ~5c per hour of use. And assuming you use less than 20 hours per week, we are talking about 6 years of life.

          In 6 years time we'll probably be talking 8K projectors. Probably with lasers. Or maybe 8K VR headmounted displays?

          And if it costs the ~$600 that you can get the Benq W1070 for today, you'll have the choice between a new lamp, or putting the money towards a new projector.

          Meanwhile, get what fits your need now.

        • Ryanek on 07/10/2016 - 15:43

          @sane: Ah but that's on eco mode. No one runs projectors on eco mode, you'll get 3000 hours on average. I get what you're saying but it makes sense to me to choose a product whose consumable is 1/3 the price.

        • sane on 07/10/2016 - 16:22

          @Ryanek:

          I do ;-)

          SmartECO on this one seems to turn down the brightness unless it needs it (eg dim scenes use less lamp, not more DLP turned off, akin to blocked LCD).

          In general you should expect to get 5000+ hours out of most projectors nowadays, just by not running them flat out.

          For me, I only use the projector when watching a movie, etc., so I've had my projector for 5 years and only used 2000 hours of bulb life. I'm expecting to want a 4K projector before I need a new bulb.

      • haji on 07/10/2016 - 14:59

        We already have a rug and our windows are quite small which was on purpose as we wanted the room to be naturally dark.

        I actually dig the look of the foams so am happy to expose and have them cover one of the walls completely. Missus isn't so keen :|

        • sane on 07/10/2016 - 16:33

          Up to you, just suggesting a wife-friendly way of putting acoustic foam on the walls that also can look good. Something I've not tried, but have heard of, you can put remote controlled LED 'christmas' lights behind and around the paintings to give mood 'lighting' that goes with the cinema vibe.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw0XIej6mBc or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtSzO3oaNFk

          BTW even with small windows, big curtains is another socially acceptable way of adding sound deadening.

    • haji on 07/10/2016 - 14:56

      Much appreciated. We ran a conduit near the power point in the ceiling for the projector and returned it down the wall where we will be projecting so it's just a matter of getting a long enough HDMI cable to feed it through.

      I will research Epson vs Benq. What's a good/bargain price for each?

  • haji on 09/11/2016 - 14:51

    Would this suffice me? https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/274870

  • haji on 12/12/2016 - 14:12

    Pulled the plug on this one https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/281545

    Now need recommendations for medium-end speakers, budget around $700.

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