Home Theater

I'm helping a buddy of mine convert his unfinished basement into a full-blown theater room. He wants to sound proof the room so he won't bother anyone in the rest of the house. Sound proofing is not an area I have much experience in so I'm looking for suggestions as to the best method(s) and material(s) to get this done correctly. His basement is completely unfinished right now so there's not really any limits to what we can install.

that is not a ps3.... i'm thinking sharp aquos or any of the sony bdp500 but are there things to look for if i want good price/performance or something? thanks.

For reasons nobody can explain, we have had a box in our garage in San Francisco since 2019 that contains a JBL Link Bar and subwoofer. Either one of Alden's friends or somebody we know left it here and then denied knowledge of it when we investigated. In any event, I finally opened it and then checked it out a little online. It is a sound bar based on Android TV that can turn a dumb TV into a smart one, plus it has Google Assistant built in somehow, and it is a stand-alone smart speaker for streaming music. Has anyone here ever used or owned one? I don't have a use for it but I might offer it a niece or nephew if it is a decent product. It seems from reviews that it…

Moved my old Marantz SR 7100 receiver. The left front channel is not working (not much sound). Is it possible to set another channel (it 9.1 I think) so that the receiver outputs the Left front sound to it (I will be doing a 3.1 system) or should I just get a new receiver. I tried to output the front to Zone 2 and the center in the main Zone but it didn't really work. Yumi is going to be using this so I would probably go with an all in one to make it easy for her when I am not around - and don't want to overspend on this system since it is mostly for HT. The speakers are KEF Q950 + Q650 center.

My Onkyo TX-NR3008 receiver has stopped working correctly. None of the speaker outputs work anymore, nor do the pre-outs. I don't know what the hell happened but I've tried resetting it to factory defaults and also tried updating the firmware. Neither of which helped at all. I'm a bit pissed/annoyed since it was a pretty pricey receiver when I bought it 2-3 years ago and of course it's out of warranty now. So at this point I'm pretty sure I'll get an emotiva xpa-5 for the amp - just have to decide on a surround processor/receiver. Emotiva's UMC200 looks interesting but it won't be back in stock for at least two months. Outlaw has a similar inexpensive processor …

Hello! So as a fan of Stax, I was seeking and got referred to Quad ESL for ES speakers setup. What is the bets amplifiers to drive them ? Please shed me some lights ! Thanks very much

So a friend just built a new house, had the contractor wire up multiple rooms for whole-house audio and unfortunately the guy (electrician) walked off the job right at the end, leaving him with somewhat of a turd to deal with. I'm trying to help him take the lemons and turn them into a palatable drink and thankfully this guy isn't an audio nut. I'd be losing my goddamn mind right now if it was me. The situation - the front end lives in one room and the only thing that exits is speaker wire. The worst part, the electrician only ran one pair of wires to each of the seven rooms that are to get distribution from the hub. Yes, you heard that right, it's wired for mono…

Yep Yep.... Guy should be here in 15 minutes to hook it up. Not sure what it's gonna be but I'm psyched. Supposedly the combine the quantum gateway with the ONT

Looking for a recommendation for the home theater: Subwoofer - not rear ported, prefer sealed or front firing passive radiator - sensitive on size. Would like depth around 14" - will be placed in a corner - small preference for white or gloss black Options: - New emotiva subs are just a hair too big - SVS SB-1000 - Sunfire SDS-10 - Elac S10EQ Center - Max width 19" - no rear ports, sealed or front firing as it will be in a cabinet - not worried about dreaded matching, will be operating as "large center" or "small L/R" Options: - Wanted Dynaudio Excite or Emotiva, but too wide - Used is fine, looking around $500 range Thanks for the researchers out there!

After not owning a TV since I gave away my 150lb CRT 3 years ago, I'm now in the market for not one but two televisions. The first one is for my sainted mother. It has to be around 40", 1080p (duh) and have as simple a UI as possible. Also, it should be reliable as possible. Unfortunately, as best I can make out, LG and Samsung have driven a race to the bottom WRT retail prices and therefore component quality. What I have determined so far: LG or Samsung, Sony as a possible dark horse 3rd candidate around 40" No SMRT TV pls. 60 or 120Hz, preferably the latter. Massive amount of I/O is not necessary. LED backlit LCD, no plasma…

I have a Marantz SR6005 receiver that I used to use with a 5.1 setup (LCR are Monitor Audio silver RX6 and centre while the ss and sub are cheapies). I was planning to get rid of the sub and surround sound speakers and just have a 3.0 setup. Is this ok? The manual only specifically mentions a 2.0, 2.1, 5.1, and 7.1 setup though (nothing about a 3.0 setup). I would be using the LR for music and the LRC for movies/tv. "This unit can perform 2.0/2.1 to 7.1-channel surround playback. This page provides the speaker installation procedure for the 7.1-channel playback using surround back speakers as an example. The default setting is 7.1-channel. You can also perform 5.1-cha…

So, looking for a way to hook up a pair of wireless headphones and powered monitors to my TV. I only have optical out and don't really need hdmi switching... I can't find anything obvious out there. To integrate I am think I need remote control which I can override with my Samsung learning remote, as with my Panny the optical out wasn't variable. I looked at emotiva and nothing obviously fit the bill. Since I am going active I really don't need a receiver, something more pre/pro ish... Surely someone has made the ideal gadget? Maybe even active speakers with optical in and RCA out that has remote? Heh.

alright, don't shoot - I moved into a house this week that has an old bose acoustimass system in the living room. I cannot seem to get it to work. is it worth trying? cables distribute from the woofer through the walls to these little speakers mounted around the ceiling... I have no idea how that would sound when it works. anyone with experience or ideas, please let me know what your advice might be: use the cabling and replace all the speakers? fix the bose system? call bose and find someone who can get it to work? rip it all out?

Forgive me if this is being discussed elsewhere, but I think it merits its own thread. I know there are some panny plasma fans here. I've had my 47" plasma for maybe 5 years now, and have loved every minute of owning it. I heard a few weeks ago that manufacturing will cease on panny plasmas after the year (2013) is up. So I'm a little late bringing this news, as stock is already starting to run dry (amazon recently sold out of their ST60 series panny plasmas). The ST60 series has received rave reviews from... well everyone, you do the googling. Plenty of "best tv of 2013" type awards, and its not even the top of the line plasma, it just happens to be in the sweet …

So when I first got my TV, Bobby knocked it over before it was even out of the box, so I immediately moved it to the master bedroom (where he doesn't have access). Now that I've cleared more than 50% of the living room, I want to finish clearing it, bring my furniture down (I will hire Two Guys And A Truck this time), and set my TV up there. Any ideas on how to make it sufficiently stable that a running 16 lb. cat can't knock it over? Is there a TV stand that will actually attach to the bottom of the TV (it's a huge plate)? Or should I just weight it down? Sandbags? I need to hurry up before next (current?) episode of Doctor Who drifts off air.

Prompted by the thread on The Wire, I noticed that it is available on Xfinity's new Streampix offering. Since I have Comcast triple play (1st mistake ), I get this for free. Unfortunately, The Wire is an online only offering (some stuff on Streampix can go right to your TV, others not). So my question is, if I wanted to watch this on a TV instead of the computer, can I do so, and if so, how? Also, I do have a PS3 that I could use, if this is a way to do so.

I'm totally new to room treatments, so I'd be interested in any basic tips and advice about what works and what doesn't.

So I just got my home theater setup and I 'm still trying to figure out how the fuck to use it. One thing I'd like to do is be able to use wireless bluetooth headphones for when the Little Monkey is sleeping. But, to my knowledge, my AVR does not have a BT transmitter built in. What's the best way for me to accomplish this goal?

Thought this was interesting and worth sharing, from Business Week's Insider: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/here-comes-apples-real-tv-09132011.html This is the kind of thing that might just pull me back into the TV game. Mind you, I gave up TV in 1988 when I was a first year law school student, and have never subscribed to cable since. Just wanted to avoid the temptation back then because I knew I wouldn't have the discipline to turn if off. Now that I have more time on my hands, I just don't find TV viewing very interesting. Can always catch the well produced series in their entirety on DVD or Bluray. Can catch up with sports and news on the …

Does anyone within the sound of my voice have experience with wall mounts for plasma flat panels? There seems to be an incredible spread of prices for these things, literally from under $70 to over $700 for specs that would seem to meet my requirements. I need to mount my 50" Panny GT-25 about 10" to a foot out from the wall in The Home Theater of the Absurd. The panel weighs about 85 pounds, according the the manual. This particular wall has studs on 24" centers. The panel will face straight out from the wall and will never move once mounted. I may swing it a little to reach a cable or something, but it's not a situation where the TV will be swiveled back and forth…

Ideally I'd like to get a real HT setup, but the reality is the funding and wife support simply isn't there at the moment. However, I am in the market for a Blu-Ray player. And I was also thinking about one of those soundbars that are being pitched instead of having 6 speakers. Are these things any good? If so, are there any that are relatively inexpensive? I'm pretty lo-fi when it comes to HT so I don't need a super high-end solution.