HT Upgrade

[naamanf]

So my old Sony 60" SXBR takes up to much space in my living room so it's time to upgrade. I plan on upgrading everything so any suggestions would help. I think I am going to pull the trigger on the Samsung PN58B860 plasma unless someone has a better suggestion. I plan on wall mounting it and getting wall mount speakers to keep everything from taking up a lot of room.

Thoughts?

[grawk]

I have the HTD flat panel speakers, and they're remarkably decent considering the form factor. They also have a pretty good guarantee. Home Theater Direct

I'll take that sxbr off your hands

[Hopstretch]

Shipping from Kansas might cost a few bucks.

How much do you want to spend on speakers and how flat and unobtrusive do you need them to be?

Maggie MMGWs and a small sub like an Epik Vanquish would be a pretty sweet and discreet setup.

This Atlantic Technology system is also a winner as far as flat-panel speakers go. They have some B-Stock in their online store.

Edited August 29, 2009 by Hopstretch

[DigiPete]

Will your HT double as a 2-ch audiophile speaker rig as well?

If so then that drives a bit of the electronics and speaker choices

[DigiPete]

in the recent HT, panasonic plasma did very well 42" viera tc-p42g10

not sure how that scales to the 60" size.

In general I have seen samsung rated lower in HT mag for video processing than say Sony or Panny

I would get monoblocks if you are looking at a 2-ch rig with full size speakers as part of your HT.

When I switched to monoblocks, this really improved the sound, the Denon 3808 reciever's amplification section was definitely holding the speakers back in many ways (not enough current, thin sounding and the highs were somewhat harsh)

The preamp section of the 3808 is fairly decent, but can be outdone by dedicated tube preamps

Just my experience.

[Grand Enigma]

While the Maggies are great, I think it would sound quite odd with such a small screen. Their sound stage is pretty huge and they really need a screen to go with them.

[swt61]

in the recent HT, panasonic plasma did very well 42" viera tc-p42g10

not sure how that scales to the 60" size.

In general I have seen samsung rated lower in HT mag for video processing than say Sony or Panny

Having just recently built my own HT, I've done a lot of research, and came to the same conclusion...The Panny G10 series was the best picture for the dollar I found (and one of the best at any price). I bought the 50", and the largest size available is 54".

I also wanted relatively flat speakers I could hang on the wall. Not finding what I wanted in my price range, I made my own by building a flattish box approx. 7' wide x 14" high x 7" deep. Then I purchased in wall L, R and Center speakers and cut the baffle accordingly. I used pillow stuffing in the box, and it mounts to the wall with threaded studs mounted to the wall studs (that way I could hang it on the studs while I attached the nuts and washers). I made a similar, somewhat smaller box to mount on the ceiling for my surround speakers (in ceiling, round speakers with rotatable tweeters). But just mounting them in the ceiling would be a great choice in most situations.

The box and speaker grills could even be painted to match the wall for an even more stealthy look (high wife approval factor).

Edited August 29, 2009 by swt61

[Voltron]

Got to jump on a work call, but I think Panny plasma is still pretty hard to beat. The Pioneer Elite that I have had for years is also great but I think the price to performance ratio isn't as high as others. I like the Gallo Reference wall-mount speakers and think they would be awesome with even a small sub. I have also had very good experience with my McCormack HT-5 amp which can be had pretty cheap on Audiogon.

[Dusty Chalk]

Thoughts?

My only thought is, are you sure you can make your room dark enough for a plasma? They don't go as bright as anything else. I personally prefer plasma, but can't recommend it if you don't have room-darkening shades.

[DigiPete]

now if you could find a Sony 60a3000 that is a very nice unit,

but it does eat up some real estate

[morphsci]

now if you could find a Sony 60a3000 that is a very nice unit,

but it does eat up some real estate

And it was a bitch hanging it on the wall.

[DigiPete]

And it was a bitch hanging it on the wall.

yah, would would need a hefty wall shelf

[swt61]

My only thought is, are you sure you can make your room dark enough for a plasma? They don't go as bright as anything else. I personally prefer plasma, but can't recommend it if you don't have room-darkening shades.

Yeah, good point Dusty.

That was the factor that ultimately brought me to the Plasma. My bedroom is nice and dark.

If I were to set one up in my living room, I'd go with LCD, due to the brightness factor.

Also, even the new Plasmas like the G10 series still put off a fair amount of heat. Enough so that I upgraded my window unit air conditioner.

[The Monkey]

My dad has been trying to find time to build an HT system for the finished basement. But he has no time. So my mother is threatening to go to PC Richard to get whatever they have. A quick browse of the website indicates not good. Are there any reliable one-stop shops on the internets for this stuff. Would need everything from tv to speakers, but doesn't need to be high end.

[Grahame]

Aren't these people near you? J&R: Electronics, Digital Cameras, Computers, Appliances, Software, Video Games, DVDs, CDs .

[grawk]

yah din, hit J&R downtown

[The Monkey]

This is for their place in East Hampton. I guess jr might deliver.

[swt61]

You can run it there. It'll be good practice for the marathon.

[naamanf]

For this set up I really want it to be unobtrusive as possible. I plan on doing a true theater when I finish my basement so I can go all out there.

I ended up ordering the Sammy PN58B860 plasma. It's pretty thin so it should look good on the wall as long as I can keep the speaker depth down. Thinking about maybe going with hybrids.

Also picked a Denon 4308CI. Store had one left so I got a pretty good deal on it.

Now I just need to go speaker listening.

Off to Monoprice to order a bunch of stuff.

Edited August 30, 2009 by naamanf

[tkam]

good call on the 4308ci i love mine