Oh! Dont forget the remote for the PS3!!!!
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+...on+3/8208389.p?id=1165610937857&skuId=8208389
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+...on+3/8208389.p?id=1165610937857&skuId=8208389
Build me a home theater system
- Thread starter KNH
- Start date
Realized I made an oops! The HDMI are NOT that cheap. I think the best quality cheapies you can buy are still like $30. I have to use three of them with my set up and I bought $40 cables. I'm more of a looks and appearance kind of guy though. I only buy quality stuff that I know is going to do the job! Also, dont forget surge protectors. Look for the ones that carry a connected product warranty. If ever they should fail and your tv or whatever else is connected takes a hit they will pay for damages if not replace the item or items that got hurt. Sorry for blowin up your post. Hope all my gibberish is usefull.
While plasma might be great for some you have to consider your own set up and wants from the TV. There are pros and cons of both plasma and LCD and you need ot make that decision for yourself.
PLasma on the plus has awesome rich blacka dn dark colors while LCD and LED have better whites and bright colors.
Plasma due to the type of tech is inherently faster in refresh rate though 90% of people dont notice much lag on current 120hrz and up LCD/LED
Plasma has a glass casing which if you room is like mine with large picture windows causing glare which is unacceptable for most. LCD/LED due to their coatings have less of an issue with this.
Burn in and set life spans are not really an issue any longer. The pixel shift tech in plasma negates most of that unless you leave your TV on CNN or something for a week solid.
All of that said there is one serious downfall to plasma and that is the lack of support and models moving forward. While there are the diehard Plasma people it seems the consumer market has shifted to LCD/LED and this does not bode well for future plasma models. Samsung for instance has discussed cutting plasma the past 2 years but continues to make them and will do so for at least another year. While most do not have issues with plasma it is somethign for you to keep in mind. The general TV consumer though would be happy with any type of large flat screen these days though...
For BluRay - PS3. A lot of the cheap blu rays are great for today but lack the space and resources to fully update their firmware with the new codecs and such with bluray. The PS3 is fully able to update at will, plus you get an inernet device, multimedia hub, and gaming machine in one. It really is a fine centerpiece to a home theater setup even if you never use it for games.
Surround sound. This all comes down to personal preference and what you are going to use it for. HTIB (home theater in a box) are fine if you only want to pump up the sound slightly and potentially hear a bullet whiz by you. Most of these are no upgradable and you have to scrap the entire unit shoudl something break or go wrong. The inputs are severly limited as well so you are stuck and not well future proofed.
The ONLY HTIBs I would recommend are package deals in a sense in which a dennon/onyko/yamaha reciever is packaged with speakers be it klipsch, boston acoustics, or Onykos own brand. These are great sets for most people and are fully upgradable down the line shoudl you chose. Since these packages are a full blown reciever you get all the benefits of buying single components (though the recievers are normally mid grade and you will lose out on some of the high end features it does not sound like you need them and again you could always upgrade later)
All cables buy from monoprice.com and not from ANY retailer as they severly markup the price and it has been proven that there is no difference between high end monster cables costing 100+ and the $3 cables on monoprice. Dont let a sales guy tell you otherwise. Make sure to get speaker wire on monoprice as well as the wires in the packages and such are small guage and crap IMHO. Normally give you 18 guage wire when you will want 12 for most systems.
Wireless speakers are nice in that you dont have cables running across your room under the carpet or such BUT they still need plugged in and there is still a wire from that hub to them. The quality also diminishes with them as oposed to wired speakers.
PLasma on the plus has awesome rich blacka dn dark colors while LCD and LED have better whites and bright colors.
Plasma due to the type of tech is inherently faster in refresh rate though 90% of people dont notice much lag on current 120hrz and up LCD/LED
Plasma has a glass casing which if you room is like mine with large picture windows causing glare which is unacceptable for most. LCD/LED due to their coatings have less of an issue with this.
Burn in and set life spans are not really an issue any longer. The pixel shift tech in plasma negates most of that unless you leave your TV on CNN or something for a week solid.
All of that said there is one serious downfall to plasma and that is the lack of support and models moving forward. While there are the diehard Plasma people it seems the consumer market has shifted to LCD/LED and this does not bode well for future plasma models. Samsung for instance has discussed cutting plasma the past 2 years but continues to make them and will do so for at least another year. While most do not have issues with plasma it is somethign for you to keep in mind. The general TV consumer though would be happy with any type of large flat screen these days though...
For BluRay - PS3. A lot of the cheap blu rays are great for today but lack the space and resources to fully update their firmware with the new codecs and such with bluray. The PS3 is fully able to update at will, plus you get an inernet device, multimedia hub, and gaming machine in one. It really is a fine centerpiece to a home theater setup even if you never use it for games.
Surround sound. This all comes down to personal preference and what you are going to use it for. HTIB (home theater in a box) are fine if you only want to pump up the sound slightly and potentially hear a bullet whiz by you. Most of these are no upgradable and you have to scrap the entire unit shoudl something break or go wrong. The inputs are severly limited as well so you are stuck and not well future proofed.
The ONLY HTIBs I would recommend are package deals in a sense in which a dennon/onyko/yamaha reciever is packaged with speakers be it klipsch, boston acoustics, or Onykos own brand. These are great sets for most people and are fully upgradable down the line shoudl you chose. Since these packages are a full blown reciever you get all the benefits of buying single components (though the recievers are normally mid grade and you will lose out on some of the high end features it does not sound like you need them and again you could always upgrade later)
All cables buy from monoprice.com and not from ANY retailer as they severly markup the price and it has been proven that there is no difference between high end monster cables costing 100+ and the $3 cables on monoprice. Dont let a sales guy tell you otherwise. Make sure to get speaker wire on monoprice as well as the wires in the packages and such are small guage and crap IMHO. Normally give you 18 guage wire when you will want 12 for most systems.
Wireless speakers are nice in that you dont have cables running across your room under the carpet or such BUT they still need plugged in and there is still a wire from that hub to them. The quality also diminishes with them as oposed to wired speakers.
Yeah the glare problem with plasma is unacceptable. Unless you live in a house without windows, glare is going to be a big issue. When I was shopping at best buys for a new tv, I sat in front of their plasma demo and I could only see half the picture as the other half was glared out by reflection. I ended up buying a DLP projector. At the time, I think these were the best bang for the buck. It was a couple years ago so I'm sure things has already changed alot.
If anyone declares an extreme superiority of one over another kind of tv, they are fooling themselves, and attempting to fool you. I think you'll be quite pleased with any of the choices in any of the categories so long as you understand the differences between them. Plasma DOES have issues with burn in and it IS an older technology, and the white DO fade over the years. But, who keeps a tv for that long anyway? The blacks are best on plasma, but I think you would be hard pressed to say the blacks on my LED are bad. They're ALL good. LCD and LED are a little lighter, run cooler, and the LEDs use the least amount of energy. Read the article below and that should cover most of the unbiased opinions and state them as fact.
Personally, I chose a Samsung LED this past spring, and I've been very satisfied with the tv. I would buy it again. I was happy with the Samsung blu ray I got as well because of the seamless integration with the tv. I like that they talk to each other like a little Samsung family. So, if you're looking for a personal recommendation, that's mine.
http://asia.cnet.com/buyingguides/home_av/0,39066264,61985379-3,00.htm
As far as a surround sound system, I'm hoping to pick something up on Friday. Since my room is wired for surround, I have speaker drops at the back of the room. I think you can get away with a cheaper (read: system in a box) system for a good price at Amazon, but you may be the kind of guy who wants to buy component. In the end, I can't tell the difference between a $500 system and a $2000 receiver.
Personally, I chose a Samsung LED this past spring, and I've been very satisfied with the tv. I would buy it again. I was happy with the Samsung blu ray I got as well because of the seamless integration with the tv. I like that they talk to each other like a little Samsung family. So, if you're looking for a personal recommendation, that's mine.
http://asia.cnet.com/buyingguides/home_av/0,39066264,61985379-3,00.htm
As far as a surround sound system, I'm hoping to pick something up on Friday. Since my room is wired for surround, I have speaker drops at the back of the room. I think you can get away with a cheaper (read: system in a box) system for a good price at Amazon, but you may be the kind of guy who wants to buy component. In the end, I can't tell the difference between a $500 system and a $2000 receiver.
http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/421...amsung-un55c7000-1080p-led-240hz-3d-hdtv-1849
There are some good deals
There are some good deals
someone mentions PS3, that's a great idea, kill 2 birds with one stone!
Sony has been good to me. Last year after the holidays I picked up what was the Black Friday Deal, Grabbed a 46" 240hz 1080for $1000 and a 32" 720 for $299, bought the Sony BlueRay with wireless Wifi, but have yet to use it. It works great! my daughter enjoys the movies especially in the dark, wife not so. I'm planning to pick up the BOSE 123 surround sound. spendy but it is great. Like most people have mentioned, if you are on a budget not a shabby idea to go with package deal either at Costco or Best Buy. As for Plasma, LCD, LED, that's another story, LED will last longer and that is all I know,
Vizio makes good TV and always have great deals. and made in US.
If you can wait, wait til after the Super Bowl, that's when all the great deals come out. After SB all sale slow down, especially TVs.
Sony has been good to me. Last year after the holidays I picked up what was the Black Friday Deal, Grabbed a 46" 240hz 1080for $1000 and a 32" 720 for $299, bought the Sony BlueRay with wireless Wifi, but have yet to use it. It works great! my daughter enjoys the movies especially in the dark, wife not so. I'm planning to pick up the BOSE 123 surround sound. spendy but it is great. Like most people have mentioned, if you are on a budget not a shabby idea to go with package deal either at Costco or Best Buy. As for Plasma, LCD, LED, that's another story, LED will last longer and that is all I know,
Vizio makes good TV and always have great deals. and made in US. If you can wait, wait til after the Super Bowl, that's when all the great deals come out. After SB all sale slow down, especially TVs.
Some really great info on this thread, its really helping me a lot. Thanks. I appreciate the info on the plasma but I will be going with a lcd/led. The wife is sold on them and they use less power. The ps3 idea is great for a blu ray b/c we were thinking of getting it as a gaming system anyway. I think I just need to decide on speakers and a receiver. HTIB should work for my needs so I just need to figure out which one. Love the lead on were to buy the cables although I'm a little confused on which ones I'll need.
thanks to everyone
thanks to everyone
Cables it all depends on what you get. Most of the Dennon/Yamaha/Onyko HTIB now have HDMI passthrough. Just make sure before you buy. If you went that route you would need:
HDMI from PS3 to reciever
HDMI from reciever to TV
Choice of either HDMI/Component from cable/Sat box to reciever. You woudl only NEED HDMI if you went with Dish sat service as they are the only ones who offer 1080p at this time. Everyone else is still simply 720p and thus component woudl work for that.
Speaker wire (optional but upgrading is worthwhile in sound quality)
HDMI from PS3 to reciever
HDMI from reciever to TV
Choice of either HDMI/Component from cable/Sat box to reciever. You woudl only NEED HDMI if you went with Dish sat service as they are the only ones who offer 1080p at this time. Everyone else is still simply 720p and thus component woudl work for that.
Speaker wire (optional but upgrading is worthwhile in sound quality)
