Cheap home cinema advice
Posted by: Steve G on 27 January 2004
The builders have nearly completed the room I'm going to be using for a little AV setup so I need to get moving on deciding what system to install. I've set myself a budget of around £3000-£3500 and the system will only be used for AV as I've a dedicated music setup in another room.
The room isn't that big (about 16" x 9") and after checking a few mags I'm considering the following:
Projector: Screenplay 4800
DVD: Pioneer DV565A
Amp: Denon 2803
Speakers: Aegis Evo 3B
There will be a Sky+ box as well.
That's about £2600 at street prices. Any other options I should consider?
What about a screen? I'd like a roof-mounted retractable one but I know absolutely nothing about them.
I'm heading to the local dealers at the weekend to check out options but I'd like an idea of what to consider before then.
Regards
Steve
Posted on: 27 January 2004 by Simon Matthews
I was going to go for the screenplay 4800 but, after conversation with a very honest Infocus sales guy, went for the Infocus X1 instead.
They are virtually identical units except for HDTV capability which is irrelevant to the uk in any case. They offer identical picture quality and are in the same casing. The big bonus is that I had mine delivered with three years warranty from within the uk for £780. For DLPit is a STEAL.
The picture quality is really impressive IMO.
Posted on: 27 January 2004 by Simon Matthews
As another idea check out the yamaha dsp800 processor. This powers a centre and two rears and feeds a signal to a separate 2 channel amp for front left and right duties (as well as signal to an active sub if you need it)
A second hand nait or similar would sit in nicely for two channel duties. Then, if you feel like it you can play cd's on two channel through the dvd player / nait by switching off the 5 channel setting from the processor.
Not the last word in fidelity but certainly heaps better than the mess made by most 5.1 amps.
Just a thought.
The dsp800 offers a very good performance for the money.
Posted on: 27 January 2004 by Jez Quigley
seconded..especially if you can pick one up in the sales as I did for £149 and press into service some speakers I had hanging around.
Posted on: 27 January 2004 by Two-Sheds
I've got the denon AVR2802 and it does a good job for the price for AV purposes. It's pretty poor for music, but you say this isn't a consideration.
I'm not totally sure on this, but when they say HDTV do they not just mean 480 or 540p (prog scan) or 1080i (interlaced) through a component input? I say this because I have a DVD player (arcam dv89) which does prog scan and can only output it through component (I think). The pic quality from this is substantially better than through composite or s-video (or from my old dvd player in europe through RGB scart). This is viewing on a 30" TV so I assume the difference will be even more noticible on a projector.
Posted on: 28 January 2004 by Steve G
If I was integrating my music system with the AV setup then I'd consider something like the DSP800 but as I'm not I'd rather go for a dedicated AV amp especially as the DSP800 hasn't been updated for a few years now.
Regards
Steve
Posted on: 28 January 2004 by Occean
I would consider looking at a DVD player that will output PAL progressive scan such as the DV-668
This will give you a considerably better picture when used with a progressive source.
