Home Theater Mega Thread

[fundmark19]

That just gave me a great idea since my tv speakers are starting to go it seems I should put some in wall speakers since they are cheaper then soundbar. I wonder if my 4 year warranty from future shop will cover speaker rattling I think I still have a year left

[Aegypticus]

To expand on what Komskies said, the room is also quite small, to the point where if we did the speakers on or in the wall there wouldn't be room for anything else. I've heard before that you can superficially judge the quality of a speaker by weight. Those Monoprice suckers are heavy.

[Ryan Coke]

I think I am going to go with monoprice ceilings for my 4 surrounds in my basement theater. The reason I finally settled on putting them in ceiling instead of in wall was the insulation factor.....lots of room in the ceiling, and no insulation penalty from squeezing the speakers into the cavity.

I am using normal floor mount speakers for the fronts.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Komskies

I highly recommend the Monoprice speakers.

Good to hear. I think I'm going to get a pair of those for in the garage.

Originally Posted by fundmark19

sound - Onkyo HT-S5100 7.1 (just got this yesterday and need to set it up) here is the system I don't have the actual model number till I get home tonight

Doesn't look like you can do it with that AVR. It looks as though you can leave zone A in 5.1 and use the other 2 channels for zone B, but as far as I see there's no way to have seperate inputs playing in each zone at the same time.

[8sPOT]

To those of you that purchased speakers from Monoprice, how much, if any, did you have to pay upon delivery? I've got some speakers and a wall mount in the shopping cart and with GST and shipping it's about $181. But they have a disclaimer saying there could be duty etc upon delivery.

If I can get this stuff for the price on the website that's a heck of a deal!

[Burninator]

I just had an order from them was around $110 and the duty was $14.

[Ryan Coke]

My last shipment was about a $10 fee from the customs brokerage, and after that just GST.

[Ryan Coke]

Just about to order some blinds for the theater, but was wondering how dark the room needs to be for using a projector. I have a walkout, but with a deck above the windows so there is never any bright direct light. I am debating between the blackout double cell cellular blinds vs. just going for a single cell light filtering.

Just wondering if anyone can give some more insight into how dark the room needs to be to watch the projector, especially from anyone who has it in a room with windows.

[fundmark19]

Depends on your projector really. But the blacker the better the projector will look 100% of the time

[photon]

I have blackout blinds in my basement, and even when there's no direct sunlight, I only have to have the blinds open on one window to make it unenjoyable, and I have a pretty bright projector (1200 Lumens I think).

Light filtering would make the projector useless IMO.

[Ryan Coke]

Thanks much, blackout it is.

[Azure]

So not really a home theatre question, but this is probably the best thread to get an answer.

I'm a bit of an amateur when it comes to this so excuse the somewhat simple question. I have a single set of Creative T6100 speakers that I want to use with both my PS3 and PC. I'm assuming this needs some kind of an amplifier/equalizer/reciever, but I have no idea where to start. I will very likely be slowly upgrading everything, including adding a projector at some point in the future so I need something that I can use with a new set of speakers as well.

Price is a bit of a concern I guess, which is probably why I need help.

Every receiver I've looked at has a billion different inputs/outputs in the back, most of which I don't want. From what I understand I just need to be able to plug in the speakers, and have 3-4 HDMI out puts for the PS3 and computer. Although I currently don't use HDMI to control the sound from my computer.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Vulcan]

Hey Azure, I'd look for an entry level receiver with 3D capabilities. Even if you don't think you'll need the 3D it will assure you that the receiver is capable of doing what you need, such as having HDMI intake ports that will process the audio and ARC. Try looking at the Onkyo 309 or last years 308 or a similar product from say Pioneer (VSX 521 or last years 520]. These will both have digital connections[toslink] and regular connections.

http://www.hd.ca/onkyo/txsr309.php

This will give you an idea on the price.

[Azure]

Thanks. I've actually checked out a couple Onkyo Receivers and they seem to be sort of what I want.

Question, I'm not seeing the inputs to actually plug my speakers in. It would be the same inputs that go into any normal computer with on board sound, or a sound card. Not sure what the term for it is. Otherwise that seems to be more or less what I want.

What is involved to connecting your computer to the receiver via HDMI. I currently just plug in with my speakers into the onboard sound. Out of the video card into the receiver?

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Azure

Thanks. I've actually checked out a couple Onkyo Receivers and they seem to be sort of what I want.

Question, I'm not seeing the inputs to actually plug my speakers in. It would be the same inputs that go into any normal computer with on board sound, or a sound card. Not sure what the term for it is. Otherwise that seems to be more or less what I want.

What is involved to connecting your computer to the receiver via HDMI. I currently just plug in with my speakers into the onboard sound. Out of the video card into the receiver?

You would either use the headphone jack on the front to plug in your 3.5mm stereo plug for your speakers, or get a female 3.5mm stereo to a male R/W RCA cable, and plug it into the r/w on the receiver.(Ignore this, totally backwards)

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Rathji

You would either use the headphone jack on the front to plug in your 3.5mm stereo plug for your speakers, or get a female 3.5mm stereo to a male R/W RCA cable, and plug it into the r/w on the receiver.

also a lot of newer computer MBoards have toslink and co-ax audio connections made to connect to your receiver. All you need is the right cable.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

also a lot of newer computer MBoards have toslink and co-ax audio connections made to connect to your receiver. All you need is the right cable.

I assumed the lowest common denominator, since the optical and coax audio inputs are pretty clearly labelled and he was saying he couldnt find the kind of connection he needed.

[Vulcan]

YOur easiest connection would be HDMI from your computer to your receiver and than HDMI from your receiver to your monitor, projector or TV. After it's connected all you should have to do is right click on your speaker icon at the bottom right of your screen and go to playback devices and choose the HDMI connection.

Of course this depends on you having an HDMI out from your computer or video card.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Rathji

You would either use the headphone jack on the front to plug in your 3.5mm stereo plug for your speakers, or get a female 3.5mm stereo to a male R/W RCA cable, and plug it into the r/w on the receiver.

You won't get 5.1 that way though. Also, you wouldn't be using the amp portion of the AVR.

Originally Posted by Azure

Question, I'm not seeing the inputs to actually plug my speakers in. It would be the same inputs that go into any normal computer with on board sound, or a sound card. Not sure what the term for it is. Otherwise that seems to be more or less what I want.

A receiver is going to output to speakers via speaker wire. If you've got an 1/8" (headphone) jack for you're speakers, they're already being powered. In your case with the 6100, they are definitely powered. You could cut off the jacks and then wire them to the amp, but the 6100 is a 76W system. You hook that up to an amp that's putting out 50-100 per channel, and those speakers aren't going to last long. I'd recommend purchasing both the AVR and the speakers. If you're on a budget, you could take a look at an HTIB (home theatre in a box) which includes both an AVR and speakers.

You mentioned having 3-4 HDMI inputs on the receiver. If you want to save some cash you could get an entry level receiver (or used from a few years ago) with only 2, and get an HDMI switch from monoprice for $50.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

Just about to order some blinds for the theater, but was wondering how dark the room needs to be for using a projector. I have a walkout, but with a deck above the windows so there is never any bright direct light. I am debating between the blackout double cell cellular blinds vs. just going for a single cell light filtering.

Just wondering if anyone can give some more insight into how dark the room needs to be to watch the projector, especially from anyone who has it in a room with windows.

what kind of projector do you have?

I have our patio door window in the same room i use the projector, and shutting the blinds does allow light to creep in from the corners, but it's never bad enough to make it unwatchable. of course, watching at night is best, and just happens to be the times we do our most movie watching.