My Low Budget Theater

from Sins Forums

Going to the movies was costing us upwards of 50-75 bucks a shot so I was able to talk the wife into finally building a home theater.

Unfortunately my budget was not real big so a lot of research was done on what I could do.

Here is the final result...

Screen: Elite 110" (a little work to put together, but quality is much better than when we where shooting on the wall).

Projector: Optoma HD20 (1080p 24hz/60hz, good picture quality for the price).

Speakers: Spec grade but they sound pretty good for the room size. I already had the powered sub-woofer and the surround speakers were installed in the ceiling already. I'm using an old stereo too so I'm not processing any of the newer formats like Dolby TrueHD.

Added some room darkening curtains from Wal-mart which allows us to use it during the day. Got the red bean bag chairs and rugs there also to add a little more color.

I'm feeding a dish receiver, blueray player, xbox and media center pc into the projector. I picked up the wires from amazon and monoprice 25' each and also ran electrical to a surge protected outlet (we get spikes in the country).
 
I'd like to add a better receiver and theater seating but I'll have to make due with using existing stuff for now.
 

We watch most of our favorite TV shows on it now, plus renting movies from Redbox or checking out from theLibrary. Even upscaled DVD's look good. All in all we're definitely getting our monies worth out of it. 

 

 

50,016 views 14 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

If I may ask what satellite service do you have, DishNetwork or DirectTV? 

I have a Home Theater set in my bedroom centered around a Samsung LED 47in TV, Samsung 5.1 Home Theater with DVD player.  I have DishNetwork and a Win 7 computer feeding the system.  Except for the gaming system and progector vs TV we have somewhat similar setups. 

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

I'm using DishNetwork too.

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Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Okay, you are aware of that DishNetwork brought out Blockbuster so you can go to the Dish Site and set up an account to receive DVD's in the mail.  The best part of it is with your current subscription you don't have to pay to rent the movies, they come to you free of charge, keep them as long as you like.  Unfortunately you can only get one movie at a time.  Oh and the return mailer is postage paid. 

You can also watch streaming movies from DishNetwork.   :sun:

Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Very cool setup you got there !! I'm a big movie buff, so that setup is very appealing to me.    :thumbsup:    -- Ace --

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

I just watch my blurays on this 27 inch monitor sitting in front of me.

Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Looks good, all you need now is a popcorn machine. :thumbsup:

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Wizard1956, reply 6

Looks good, all you need now is a popcorn machine.
End of Wizard1956's quote

We have a tiny one on the wet bar you can't see :P

Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top

That's one heck of a huge screen! Imagine playing games on that. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I have a similar setup in my man cave... screen; projector; 5.1 surround speakers; and a 1TB PVR... was already in house and I purchased it for 800 bucks

Oh and a Bluray player [added later] and VHS VCR... still have heaps of family movies that haven't been converted to digital as yet.

I won't do cable/satellite/pay TV, but the projector has a built-in TV tuner and I can watch any of the free-to-air stations... should one be airing anything worth watching.

While on the subject of TV, has anyone else noticed how the stations, free-to-air or otherwise, always put crap on during the coldest, Wintery months, and oodles of good stuff during the warm, Summer months?  Bastards!

Bankers car salesmen and TV execs, they're all bastards.... bastards, I say!!!! ;)

Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting starkers, reply 9
I won't do cable/satellite/pay TV, but the projector has a built-in TV tuner and I can watch any of the free-to-air stations... should one be airing anything worth watching.
End of starkers's quote

I wouldn't expect any less from you ;) 

We're actually debating whether to cut the cord or not from dish. Dish network in my opinion has the best setup and DVR on the market and their dish anywhere is good too. 

And cutting the cord for us will mean adding services like Hulu and Netflix or Amazon prime.

So it's not a zero cost cut for us.

Quoting Uvah, reply 8

That's one heck of a huge screen! Imagine playing games on that.
End of Uvah's quote

I've been avoiding that. I don't want the kids burning out the bulb. We already have 400 hours on it just watching TV and Movies.

Quoting starkers, reply 9
I have a similar setup in my man cave... screen; projector; 5.1 surround speakers; and a 1TB PVR... was already in house and I purchased it for 800 bucks
End of starkers's quote

Ya, I'm 5.1 too right now. I am looking at a low end receiver like the Denon AVR-1913 which is 7.1. Not sure if the extra surround speakers will do much based on my research but I can easily drop them in. Mainly I want the ability to process the HD audio formats from Bluerays.

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting ZombiesRus5, reply 10
Ya, I'm 5.1 too right now. I am looking at a low end receiver like the Denon AVR-1913 which is 7.1. Not sure if the extra surround speakers will do much based on my research but I can easily drop them in. Mainly I want the ability to process the HD audio formats from Bluerays.
End of ZombiesRus5's quote

I've been wanting one of those newer Denon's myself. Still rocking an older Sony DA5-ES, but am definitely starting to feel the lack of modern inputs. It may have to become a shop system soon.

Definitely like your setup though!

Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting ZombiesRus5, reply 10
I've been avoiding that. I don't want the kids burning out the bulb. We already have 400 hours on it just watching TV and Movies.
End of ZombiesRus5's quote

From what I read about projection TV's is those bulb's aren't cheap...How much and how many hours of use do you get out of them...?

Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting ZombiesRus5, reply 10
Quoting starkers,
reply 9
I won't do cable/satellite/pay TV, but the projector has a built-in TV tuner and I can watch any of the free-to-air stations... should one be airing anything worth watching.

I wouldn't expect any less from you
End of ZombiesRus5's quote

I had Foxtel satellite TV and it was 90% repeats and rubbish... so when the bastards started showing ads I ditched it.  I dislike advertising on free-to-air intensely, so there was no effing way I was gonna pay for it.  It simply wasn't worth 120 bucks a month for the 10% that was worth watching... and being patient, as I am, that 10% comes on free-to-air in 6 to 8 months anyhow.  Nope, I'd rather rent or buy DVD's or Bluray if I can't wait to see something.... and often I have rented something only to buy it later, classic TV series box sets and sci-fi movies, etc.

Quoting ZombiesRus5, reply 10
Ya, I'm 5.1 too right now. I am looking at a low end receiver like the Denon AVR-1913 which is 7.1
End of ZombiesRus5's quote

I have a 7.1 Pioneer Receiver upstairs which is connected to my 55" LED TV, Bluray player and media player... has a PVR; connects to the internet; plays content from HDD's and other devices.  Does 7.1 sound any better?  Well it seems it fill the room more, like there aren't any gaps, if you know what I mean.

Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top

Supposed to be around 4000 hours.

Replacement bulb is around $140.