New home theater system CHT 2.0

Well, I'm starting a new HT system. Coincidentally there happens to be a new house attached to it, but that is a side point

I'll keep you posted.

You moved? Did you leave the old system in place? That setup rocked! What are you looking at now?

Yeah, it's still in Central Oregon. Right now? I'm looking at a 20" tv and a pair of computer speakers w/ 'subwoofer' in a tiny appartment. And I really really can't wait until the house is ready for the HT.

Everything stayed, as part of the sale agreement, so it's all new stuff! Wheeee.

Definitely let us know what goes through your mind when you get moved in.

Since I've been worrying about other stuff for quite a while, first due to just enjoying the CHT 1.0 and later due to moving, I've sort of lost track. What's the scoop on the newest trends and best bang / buck in video? I'll be needing a 40ish display for casual watching and such in a well lit room and I think I want to go with front projection in the HT. Any links or articles I should read to get back up to speed?

As far as audio, I'm planning on using 8 matched semi-full range speakers bi-amped and plenty of subwoofers (you know me) all tied together with pro-audio type active crossovers, mixers and parametric eq as needed. The mixers (with help from the crossovers) are gonna do a custom bass management solution ...

I'm thinking about maybe using either pro amps or maybe Outlaw 770/755, or possibly a bunch of the M blocks. Still mulling that part, there's plenty o' time.

EDIT: I have 4 Carver m1.5t amps I'll probably use for SW duty. 6000 watts should do it....

[This message has been edited by charlie (edited May 12, 2004).]

sonys crts are the best quality youll get near 40in. not the best value though. front projectors, ruunnnnncooooooo. some may tout DLP, but it is far from the answer. i am talking about dlp in rear projectors though, in fronts they are way more advanced (still not the answer however).

It has to be shallow. Either a LCD/DLP RP or plasma. It will be in a well lit room and cannot be deep. It's also not the theater system, it's a TV.

LCoS is better than those with a small footpring.

Well, we're finalizing the construction details (for the house) with the general contractor. The HT room is 16'x20' plus an 8' wide closet for the equipment in the rear. Lots of work to do, it's gonna be a long winter .....

EDIT:

Oh - BTW it looks like the exterior house walls will be concrete and foam: www.polysteel.com

[This message has been edited by charlie (edited July 31, 2004).]

Well, the house is finally getting there. I like to think of it as an HT wrapper ....



So, I was thinking of using some of the newly facelifted Outlaw stuff, but it looks like they barely have any shipping products any more. What's up? Did I really see a 790 announced, or was that a dream? And is there NO receiver currently shipping?

Man, I need to get up to speed. :-)

THe house is passing final inspection tomorrow. Shop is coming this summer, HT after that. Stay tuned.

I'm getting pretty stoked, this concrete construction made it a very quiet structure inside.

Excellent! I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with for your new system.

I'm thinking a 990 (or the upgrade if it's out by then) as the centerpiece, and a slim RP as the display. Maybe one of the RCA DLP units, 62" or so. Around that the speakers and wall treatments will be custom built units, but not in-wall. In-wall precludes easy tweakage. Probably 22 channels of amplification and all active crossovers, each set of drivers connected directly to its amp section.

No clever clocks are planned.

charlie,
check out the new Samsung DLP around 54". It has LED lighting. Say goodbye to color wheel. I have seen one. Very sweet. I was watching a collage football game in HD. Greens where smokin', yellows-blues and the other colors very-very nice.

Have fun w/ the house - looks cool.

This one?

Looks nifty, but I'm hoping for at least 60", 65" would be ideal. We'll see. Thanks for the tip.

According to this from the HE show, HP's also getting in on the LED light source thing, although like Samsung they're starting out around 52".

This LED thing is such a very cool idea - I hope it works out. If so I'd expect LED powered DLP systems to go bigger and smaller. Very cool.

Thanks guys.

You should definitely check out the Sony SXRD displays. The new ones were just officially announced and should be out in early fall.

You can get the current 60" SXRD for less than $4000, but you will probably be able to get the new one for about the same as well.

Differences between current SXRDs and upcoming:

1080P accepted on both HDMI inputs instead of just 1080i (though not a big deal at all yet)

They got rid of the "elephant ear" speakers on either side of the screen and moved them below the screen - this has been a big complaint of the current models

up to 30% shallower depth. The 50" comes in at around 19" deep now and apparently the new 55" will be about 13" deep, so pretty shallow.

Other than that, it's pretty much same as current models...

One thing about DLP. Most DLP sets (pretty much any of the RPTVs based on the TI chips) are not true 1080 displays. True 1080 displays have at least a native resolution of 1920x1080. Most (if not all) current and upcoming DLP RPTVs are 960x1080 and use a process called wobulation (you can read up on it on Wikipedia.com if you want more info) to approximate 1920x1080.

You can totally tell the difference between a true 1080 display like a sony SXRD or JVC D-ILA vs any DLP when viewed side by side. The native 1920x1080 displays are obviously sharper.

I expect DLP to start to fade away based on increased competition from LCD and LCoS based RPTVs as well as LCD, Plasma and upcoming SED based direct view TVs.

Seems like good 3 chip true 1080 DLP designs are not forthcoming for RPTVs any time soon and even in front projectors they are quite spendy (I think the Runco 3 chip projector is like $20k).

So if you want the best bang for your RPTV buck, look at something other than DLP.

And make sure if you do buy an HDTV right now that it is true 1080. Why companies are still coming out with new 720 designs is beyond me.

13" is OK, but I'm after the 7" deep RP systems, like the slim RCA units.

Finally I'm getting the shop built, so sometime this winter CHT 2.0 will start moving forward. The family room is upgraded to a 3.1 system and a Viewsonic 40" LCD, so I'm not suffering too badly anymore.

Currently I'm starting to plan for my audio test gear needs, I'm looking at Sample Champion for the software and maybe a Lexicon USB sound interface for testing hardware. Also gonna use a decent audio amp and I have a lab microphone.

Any comments or suggestions?

Just curious, Why the Lexicon Omega for testing? I've used one and the mic pres on it are pretty crappy. I had to send it back to Lexicon for repair. In that price range, the Emu boxes are a better deal for a USB interface. YMMV.

I'm looking for just this sort of feedback. I need a high quality USB sound card with a good mic input. I was hoping a name like Lexicon would deliver, but apparently not?

Can you link your recommendations?


EDIT:


This it? http://www.zzounds.com/item--EMU0404

Sorry for not providing the link but that is the one I was thinking of. I've never actually used one but a good friend whose ears I trust recommended it to me. If you have the money, here are two more options. On the high end, the Apogee Mini-me would be the other USB sound card with mic input I would recommend. The Apogee converters are top of the line and the Mini-me is a solid little device that I have used to record classical music. Here's a link:

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/245288.html

If you're looking for a solid, USB microphone preamp/converter, right in the middle of those two is the Sound Devices USBpre. I own one of these and it is built like a tank and sounds pretty clean too. Here's the link:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/292993-REG/Sound_Devices_USBPRE15_USBPre_Version_1_5_.html

I was very suprised at the poor build quality from the Lexicon when I opened it up. It's the type of box that just tries to do almost too much for the money. The Lexicon name is on it more for the reverb plug-in it comes with than anything else.

The others you posted are a little more than I had in mind. I'm just looking for somethign that will give accurate results.

The E-MU unit does look solidly built. If it is going to be accurate I'll go that way, otherwise I can spend more (I'll be dropping over $10K on this project after all) but I'm not into wasting money either.

Charlie:

Although I've never used one of M Audio's mic preamps, I do own one of their soundcards and the quality/performance is excellent.

http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.list&ID=mobileinterfaces