Apr 4 2008, 05:33 PM, updated 17y ago
Let me tell you guys a bit about our theater. We had our first theater in 2000 which consists of a Sony 60" 4:3 RPTV, And a 5.1 Snell Acoustics system which were powered by the Sunfire Theater Grand Processor and Sunfire Cinema Grand 5-channel amp which put out juicy 200 watts into each channel. Sources were a Sony DVD Player fed through Component, Pioneer CLD-95 Laserdisc player thru composite, a VHS Player thru composite and astro. The sound was IMO terrific in our medium sized room. But it just needed more, oomph, more kick. We enjoyed it alot, well, until the TV broke down, twice once in 2003, then in 2004, after that we didn't really bother to send it for repairs.
So, in 2006 I went around studying AV and checking for reviews to replace the Television, we first decided that a 720p RPTV at around 60" would be enough, so we looked at the JVC, then Toshiba came out with a nice looking gargantuan 72" RPTV, looked at it, and almost went for it. But then, 1080p RPTV's started coming out, the Sony 60" SXRD was absolutely gorgeous, but then we looked at Projectors, first the 720p ones, I thought the Panasonic AE900U and AX100 were excellent, AX100 being a bright little fella, but it kept me wanting more, Fast forward 2007, Sony Pearl Arrived, went to take a look at it, 'Mamma Mia!' I thought, the black levels were unbelievable, the picture filmlike, but a bit too soft, colours were excellent but didn't have that POP to it, I waited for the Mitsubishi HC5000, 'That's more like it, a picture that pops!' Wait a minute, i see the iris working, it's kinda annoying, and the Black Levels were 2 steps down from the Pearl. But, that colour that just pops, and the Reon Processor doing great work. Then I thought, what If I could get the Black Levels of the pearl, and the razor sharpness and colour as well as processing from the Mitsu in one package. Tadaaa! the JVC DLA-HD1 was next on my list, went for a look. 'B'JEEZUSSS'. Thats one heck of a picture. Bright too.
So I took that. What about screen? Oh Noes! Spent a lot of time looking at a DNP Supernova screen. Bright, but hotspotting, as well as half gain off the center, brightness isn't uniform, and some sparklies. Looked at Senemax as well, bright but, even worse than the DNP, while cheaper. Then took a look at carada, nope, da-lite, nope, Stewart, YES. YES? Looked at the Firehawk G3, nice and sharp, excellent colour, excellent uniformity. Asked questions in AVS, good reviews, but, WHAT'S THIS? 2.35:1? Cinemascope? NICE! This is gonna be expensive I thought, It's ok, DIY Screen is good enough, went an ordered a Prismasonic FE-1500R lens, neeaattt. Whaddya mean the JVC doesn't do vertical stretch? Problem occured, I've ordered the JVC, the Lens, now i need a Video processor? Dayyuummm.
DVDO, Crystallio, Dragonfly, etc. V-Processors, I BE NEEDIN' THEM. Looked at Crystallio and Algorith's Dragonfly when I was at UK, Great but, they don't sell'em here, DVDO, whaddya know, they do. The Video Processing were amazing. It's amazing what it can do to 1080i material, or even HDMI 480i from a dvd player connected to it, will allow godlike results. But, bu-but wait, I don't have HDMI Sound Processing from the Sunfire! I need a new Processor, well looked at receivers at first, almost bought the Yamaha RX-V2600, then Almost bought the Denon 3806, then almost bought a Marantz SR-9600. KRELL, yum, ARCAM, yum, I wan't more.
ANTHEM?! Whuttahell is that? New brand? Nu' uh They're AVM-20 has been on the Market for 5 years and remins a reference to many Processors. AVM-50, nice! GENNUM VIDEO PROCESSING? THX ULTRA 2? FOUR HDMI INPUTS? I'm Sold! Read...Read...STATEMENT D2? Anthem Statement D2, It's sooo sexay, it has rave reviews, it's sound a notch higher than the AVM-50 and what seems to actually join the ultimate realms of a Theta Processor, really? Nah, well close. Now I don't need 2 separate equipments, It's an AV Processor, with ultimate capabilities.
I didn't really need to Upgrade the Speakers, I just added 2 more surround, Energy CR-3s. So the 2 main front L/R speakers are now powered by, a... Bryston 4BSST. Warm, excellent sounding on 2-channel, well the Anthem Upconverts music to 7.1 so uh... still. Movies sound great too, lots of details I've never heard thanks to the Anthem. Bought a PS3 for Blu-ray, and getting an Oppo 980-HD for 480i thru HDMI and let the anthem do the processing to 1080p.
Oh the screen, well, I did a DIY Blackout screen, But guys here at LYN say that I've spent so much on the equipment might as well get a branded one. So I did. Ever Heard of SmX? SmX Makes Acoustically Transparent screens, in fact they're so good, Hollywood is using it, and AVS is raving about it, it's Gain is pretty low at 1.16, but it's actually pretty bright when used for real. I went with a Curved 2.35:1 130" wide SmX Acoustically Transparent screen. That gives me a 112" diagonal 16:9 which is more than enough. 2.35 though, is huge.
Time went by fast and in late 2007, we decided to upgrade the theater, give it a little makeover, a Big Little that is. The whole room has changed, we added rockwool and fabric to the whole, It's a bit classy, a bit modern, abit contemporary, it's us. I wish I could show you guys the difference before and after, but my mac screwed up and lost everything, silly me, didn't back-up.
Well, Were happy with what it is now.
Pictures in the next post.
Farhan.
This post has been edited by psp _BOY: Dec 2 2008, 04:58 PM
Our Home Theater. (Pictures and Screenshots), Showpiece Cinema (New pics page 22!)
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