The $2500 Home Theater

Last year, I did a series of blog entries on a home theater at various price points - $2500, $5000, $10,000, and $25,000. In the ever-changing world of consumer electronics, what was great last year is no longer even available. So, I thought it might be time to revisit that series.

Last year, when I talked about the $2500 theater, I had specified a 50” DLP, a stereo receiver and speakers, and a DVD player, plus installation and calibration.

This year, the DLP is pretty much not even available any more. I’ve replaced it with a solid mid-range 46” LCD panel, and I’ve replaced the stereo setup and DVD player with an all-in-one unit that we call an HTIB (Home Theater In a Box). The price includes proper installation on your existing table or TV stand, and connection of several existing components, such as a game console, cable or satellite box, and even that old VCR you keep around for the kids’ videos, subject to having the right input and output jacks available. I’ve kept calibration in the mix, but to keep the whole thing within the price point I had to limit the cal to audio-only. More on that later.

The Television

I specified a 46” Samsung LCD television for this project. It’s the latest series from Samsung, but doesn’t include all the bells and whistles. So, for example, this model is 1080p, but is not 120 Hz. And it doesn’t include some of the neat Internet-based features such as RSS feeds and LED backlighting. That said, this is a very solid workhorse TV that you will enjoy for many years. It’s perfect for a master bedroom suite or a living room, and may even be the only TV in the house for many people. After all, not everyone needs RSS feeds on the TV – many people just want to watch TV!

The Receiver

For this project, I chose a Home Theater in a Box (HTIB), which is an all-in-one system that includes the A/V receiver, DVD player, subwoofer, and 5 surround speakers. Last year, I had specified a stereo receiver and a pair of good-quality speakers. That's still an option, but given the prevalence of surround sound in movies and TV, I opted for the HTIB.

The main upgrade here is moving from stereo to 5.1 surround sound. As Keith discussed in an earlier article, surround sound adds a significant level of sound immersion when you’re watching a movie, or a sporting event or other show that’s broadcast in surround sound.

The second difference is that this system has pretty much everything you need built in already – the AM/FM tuner, amplifier, DVD and CD player, and the remote control. So you don’t have to worry about getting speakers to match the amplifier, or about adding extra cables from the DVD player to the receiver or TV. And setup is much simpler for us, too, so we’re in and out of your home that much quicker.

Of course, we consider this to be a relatively entry-level system, so there are some things missing from the package. For example, the system has a DVD player, not a Blu-Ray player, so you won’t be taking advantage of all of the resolution your TV can deliver when you play a DVD. You can still get that higher resolution when you view high-definition broadcast, cable, or satellite programming. Upgrades to Blu-Ray-based HTIB’s are available, and will generally cost $300-500 more.

There are many brands of HTIB out there, and we would choose one from Panasonic, Samsung, LG, or one of the other excellent brands that are available.

Installation

Many people feel they can install an HTIB system by themselves, especially if it’s mounted on a basic stand. And many people are right about that. But adding professional installation into the mix ensures that the connections are right, and protects you against some of the more common problems we see, such as using the wrong connections, especially with older existing equipment.

We often see people connecting high-quality DVD or Blu-Ray players using the worst possible composite video connections, which really reduces the quality of the overall system. By using the right connection, you can really maximize the performance you get from your investment.

Note that we would use your existing cables to connect your existing equipment. Adding new cables could potentially improve performance of the system, but would change the pricing a bit. We'll be sure to give you the option, though. All cables would be neatly dressed and tucked away, but not necessarily hidden in the wall. And, of course, this is a table-mount, and wall-mounting is an optional upgrade.

Installation is a very small percentage of this package, and since we need to be there anyway for the calibration, doesn't it just make sense to have the system professionally installed?

Calibration

Most of the time when people add an HTIB into their home theater, it’s for a living room, game room, or other multi-purpose room. There are major flaws in the room from an acoustical point of view, compared with a dedicated theater room. For example, modern home has a fairly open floor plan with one or even two walls missing from the room – where there could be a wall, there’s an opening to the kitchen, dining room, or foyer.

From an acoustical point of view, these types of flaws can really affect your enjoyment of the system. The bass is too boomy (or missing in some places), the dialogue is hard to understand, and the high pitches can seem too bright and overpowering.

So adding calibration will really enable you to take advantage of all of the benefits you are getting with your new home theater system. When you invest that much money, shouldn’t you get your money’s worth?

I’ve dropped video calibration from the mix this time, though. Not that it’s unimportant, and we always encourage it as an add-on, but with a budget that’s severely limited like this, we believe that simply choosing the right mode setting will give you 50-60% of the benefit of a video calibration. This isn’t true of audio calibration, so we chose to focus on where you get the most value.

A Final Word

Of course, $2500 is both a lot of money and not much at the same time. The system described here is really a pretty basic home theater, without a lot of frills.

You can make many trade-offs in quality and performance to hit this price point, and still come up with a pretty good system. We can also create a less expensive or more expensive system depending on your specific needs. Generally, we’ll have to trade off screen size and resolution, calibration and installation, and even the HTIB quality to get to a lower price point. And if a larger screen, better motion handling, or better sound quality is important to you, your alternatives will be priced accordingly.

We believe that your home theater should be a reflection of your style, your needs, and your budget. For an in-person consultation on what would work well in your situation, call us to schedule an appointment either in your home or in our showroom. Keith can be reached at keith@inspired-electronics.com or at 847.471.4420.

For more information about Inspired Electronics, Inc., visit us on the web at http://www.inspired-electronics.com/. We look forward to installing your home theater!

Rob