Ask Engadget HD: How do I take my home theater to the next level?
By Richard Lawler 
posted May 6th 2010 3:15PM
posted May 6th 2010 3:15PM
"I just moved into a new house, and finally have a room with space to set up just as a home theater, and a closet to the side for my AV equipment. I already have a projector, screen and speakers from my past setup, but where can I get the best bang for my buck in other areas? Things I've thought about are high end audiophile speakers, movie theater-style seating, installing a D-BOX motion setup or even a popcorn machine. What do you recommend?"
We've perused the Engadget HD Flickr group (what, your pics aren't there already?) enough to know you guys have done all of that and then some, so let us know what custom projects you've found worked best to make your home theater stand out.
[Picture belongs to shieldss44]
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First thing - black ceiling and dark walls. I was amazed at the difference, both in terms of contrast performance from the PJ but also the "feel" of the theater. A room with a white ceiling says "rec room," one with a black ceiling (and maybe even nice sconces for gentle lighting along the walls) says "movie theater."
Second, I'd do a nice sub (like Emotiva's new model, an AV123 MFW15, or a Hsu or SVS) to really kick the bass up a notch.
Third, I'd consider speakers or seating, depending on which of those is the weak link in your current setup. I don't think you need a $20k set of speakers for HT, but that's very subjective. Let me put it this way. If your speakers came from a big box store, you could probably do better. Emotiva, Axiom, Ascend, Paradigm, Polk, etc. Just nothing from Bose!
@RDaneel,
Funny, just last night a visited a friend's house were he had done exactly that. His dedicated home theater is just a small curtained off side of his basement. It is very modest size, but he's still got a 106" screen and a 1080p projector. But the black ceiling and black curtained walls really made the picture pop when the lights were turned off. I just got his only screen and 720p projector from him. But my basement room is a lot bigger and it currently multi-purpose. I think I may still do the black curtains though.
If you're going to put our equipment in a closet do you have a RF system picked out? Automation is great. For a room your size I would look into acoustics - bass traps, sound dampening wall art, etc. It will make any speaker system sound better and get you better bang for your buck than upgraded speakers, in my opinion.
A urinal, so you never have to hit the pause button?
I made custom shelving with Ambient Lighting built in. I thought it was a nice touch. If you want unique though and have some dough, Stadium seating with subwoofers in the seats, and a keg-orator built in!
All the sudden my urinal idea makes a little more sense...
Can we talk more about ambient lighting? I think this is the one aspect of home theatres that most people neglect. Some suggest putting some light behind the TV. I doubt the ideal home theatre experience involves watching movies in complete darkness.
www.avsforum.com will have everything you want to know and more, so much more sometimes my head hurts from trying to comprehend all of it as I'm starting on my HT soon hopefully.
I don't understand the attraction to theater-style seating. You can't snuggle with your loved one ;) I recommend a nice soft sofa with a high-back.
@erh
They make a loveseat style with no center arm. That's what we use.
ROOM TREATMENT.
I am a gear freak, but after hearing some great theaters which had properly-designed rooms, I was sold on fixing the room before spending serious money on the gear.
The room in question had about $30,000 in isolation and treatments, yet the cost of all the speakers (active) and preamp was just under $30,000. Yet, I have heard $100,000+ of speakers/amps/preamp in a 'normal' room, and it just didn't do anything for me.
The seating and D-Box system go hand in hand...You can either get a platform for existing seating or buy seating with D-Box motion integrated. Having experienced it for myself, I would HIGHLY recommend it for anyone looking to add that "+1" to their home theater experience. Its DEFINITELY something you wont see in most theaters (at home OR your local cinema) and it adds a great deal to your immersion into the movie.
Beside HDTV, the second most important thing is your sound system. and third would your your cabinet. it matter whise if you had lots of eletronic, good cabilet make it more stand out. and don't buy cheap one that might break. Added Led Light is nice.
If I were Ken, I would go for an Anchor Bay DVDO upscaler/HDMI switch, particularly if your projector is 1080p and you have an older receiver. It will give you all kinds of controls on tuning the source material for you projection system. I've seen broadcast SD look great when blown up through the DVDO....sports that were shot in 1080i or 720p also get an improvement....plus it can minimize the "mosquito effect" on badly compressed DVDs & cable/satellite sources. These are all things you notice more when you project to a large size. I'd also recommend replacing your projector screen with a (larger) ClearPix screen to place your center and/or main speakers behind the screen like a real movie theater.
What separates a dedicated theatre from a mere entertainment system is THE ROOM. Before you worry about any of your gear, the priority should be to plan out your room in detail. This means soundproofing the room and altering the dimensions if necessary. Float the floor. Suspend the ceiling. And build soundproof walls. Make use of a double door "air lock" entrance, or at least invest in a soundproof single door.
After the room's construction is addressed, focus on acoustically treating your room and adjust the lighting to make the most of your audio/video environment.
All the while, you should be planning ahead for silent HVAC. You should make sure that dedicated electrical outlets are in the proper positions. Make sure that all of your cabling is run correctly in the walls, ceiling and floor.
If you create a great room, then and only then can you reap the rewards of your carefully selected gear :)
Acoustic treatment.
Hire the actors for a live performance!
I would be against using a D-Box system that seems like a gimmick, speaking of gimmicks don't spend extra for 3D. If 3D is included in a system you want for other reason there is no reason to avoid 3D but don't base your decision on 3D and certaintly don't pay more for it.
Bass traps to smooth out the low frequences. Bass traps will tame those standing wave resonances for a flatter bass response.
If you're listening to same bass heavy music and ever wonder why certain low frequences sound a little louder than other low frequencies in your room, then you probably need a bass trap.
Blu-ray and 3D TV