2. home-theater
  3. 1052501972

Is $18,000 enough for a high end HT?

This will be my first attempt at building a HT. My room size is: 19'L x 11'2"W x 8'H. This room is a library. I want high-end stuff. I want my windows to rattle when the Apollo 13 takes off. I want to be tempted to get up and dance when a good music score comes on. I want to build it myself as I think it would be a lot of fun. I have plenty of vacation time that I could use. The following is what I would expect:

1. A projector with Texas Instruments' Mustang/HD2 and 16:9 aspect ratio
2. Recessed screen
3. 5 on or in ceiling speakers (Thiel or Triad I’m thinking)
4. 1 Subwoofer
5. DVD player
6. Power Conditioner
7. Processor
8. A 5 channel Amplifier
9. Cables for the items on the list

When I priced every thing I wanted individually the price came to over 25K. Bare in mind $18,000 is a lot of money for me. However, I figured since we spend a ¼ of our lives watching TV it is well worth the investment. I invested some money a few years ago explicitly for my HT. Besides, I figured if my wife is not happy with all the money I will be spending, I could just say, that I am not taking the money from our cash flow, rather from a fund specifically set up for a HT. I am thinking maybe I should pull money out now. But is 18k enough? I am not willing to spend that kind of money if I will not have a great HT. Perhaps I should wait a couple of more years until I save up more money and the technologies go down in price. (I'm concerned that I will say that in two years again as I did two years ago. There are always newer technologies coming out.) I have no experience with any dealer and want to know if I could expect such a deal from a reputable authorized dealer. I read in Robert Harley’s book: “Home Theater For Everyone” that choosing the dealer is far more important then choosing the manufacturer of the components. In my experience for other purchases I find this to be very true. It seems there will always be tech support issues. Also, when I want to upgrade and add components, the dealer will know exactly what I have and all of my issues and I would be able to get his/her valuable input. I plan on adding within the next year or so, an AMX system for control, a video processor and an HDTV set top box.

The cables I would start off not so high end as I want to see for myself over time if they make a difference. However, the cables that would go in my ceiling I would want high end because it would be a big pain to replace those. I would also be flexible with the projector, I would settle for a refurbished or demo unit (with valid warranty). I would even settle for a good one that has an HD1 chip and an XGA resolution. I have seen some of those and they are definitely good enough.
captaincapitalism
captaincapitalism OP
52 posts
 
The joist detector was actually my first investment.
lokie's avatar
lokie
528 posts
 
I have a fealing that you would not get much more enjoyment out of a $50,000 system than you would with something like Krelldog's system. Your on the right track with this thread. Just keep asking questions.
msbornerb4af
2 posts
 
I see a lot of people on this site think of "high end" as the best of the best. $18,000 for a high-end home theater? Absolutely! It can be done and quite easily at that. $18,000 for a "state of the art" high-end home theater? Probably not.
scottht
398 posts
 
I think it depends on how much of the work you can do yourself. If you do everything yourself and buy used equipment, you should have a decent HT system. $18,000 will buy a nice system, but this does not do anything for the room. The room itself has a huge effect on the HT environment and sound. You couls easily spend another $18,000 on the room alone. I have about $30,000 invested in my HT room and I did all of the work myself. I would not consider my room Hi-End. It is awesome and people freek when they walk in for the first time, but it is not HI-End. (In my mind) Hi-End would cost you about $75-100,000. Everyone has different opinions of what Hi-End is, but lets face the facts. It's not going to happen on $18,000
mrpoindexter
63 posts
 
If you are smart about spending your $$$, you will have a kick ass system.

First off, no need to spend a fortune on the video path.

NEC XG-110LC $3500 used
Home Theater PC with Immersive H3DII - less than $2000 new
Da-Lite 48"x84" 1.5 gain screen. Do not get a retractable unless it is tensioned, which is expensive. A fixed screen will do well and if you want to cover it up, put up some drapes.

This will give you a video path that will smoke ANY digital projection system AT ANY PRICE as long as you are not wanting to run an insane sized screen where the brightness of a digital is required. The HTPC will scale anything including HDTV!

You would be out less than $6500 for your video system.

For audio, a nice 7.1 system with speakers, sub and processor/amp combo could be had for $6000. Not high end by Audiogon standards, but high end by J6P standards, easily. I will leave that part of the equation to others.

With the remaining $$, you could get an SDI modified DVD changer ($1100) and HTPC control software/hardware (MainLobby, DVDLobby, DVDProfiler, sLINKe $400) and you will have a 300 disc Escient style system for DVD. Add in $500 and get yourself a D-Theater HDTV VCR and another $600 for a Samsung SIR T-165 and you can watch anything in the native rate it was broadcast in (720p for ABC, 1080i for others) and record HDTV on your HDTV VCR.

Add another $1000 for a Buttkicker, amp and parts to make a floating platform and you will have some bass sensations you cannot get with subwoofers at any price. Or, you could pass on this part and upgrade the sound system by $1K.

You can even pay for tax if you don't buy out of state and still have $500 left for some movies.
More to discover