Sitting on top!

Update: Home Theater (mini)

It's been over 6 years since I updated my sweet spot (my home theater), and I've been getting anxious to bring it up a notch or two for the past one year. After a month and a half of weekends spent selling old junk on eBay and saving from going out and many other I finally came up with the capital needed for this rather heavy/steep project/hobby/desire.

As you guys know, I am a huge audioholic and the home theater is the centerpiece of any self respecting audioholic, but cashflow issues meant that I had to settle for a HTIB surround sound system... but still it was ONKYO!

Now anyway, at long last, I've picked that ball back up again... and here's the result: My home theater is now fully realized, thanks in part to my eBay sales and that I am taking an advance on (courtesy of my savings account).

Okay! the fun part; here is a little run down on what I used, why I used it, and some of the details that guys who build stuff might dig.

COMPONENTS:

• Panasonic 52" Plasma Display
  
• Onkyo Ht RC270Audio/Video Receiver
  
• Polk Audio RM75 series - Central and Surround/Back Speakers
  
• Definitive Technology Pro Monitor 800- Front Channel Speakers
• Onkyo & Polk Audio - Sub woofers! (yes, I have two)
• Sony BD570 Blu Ray Player
• Sony MDS JE510 Mini-disc Deck
• JVC XU301 MD/CD Combo Deck
  
• Dish Network (I need my Tamil Channels!!!)
  
• Self Made Ubuntu Media Center PC
• Xbox360 + Kinect + Michael Jackson Experience (highlight)
  

Phew! That's a lot of Electronics! I stole the Display, from Panny directly for $350!!!! They were very helpful, shipped fast and the price obviously was all rock bottom. Thanks to my buddy who's wife works there. The 1080p Plasma display has vivid color, excellent contrast/black level ratio and the versatile Viera lets me connect to my wireless network in other words, inbuilt Internet compatibility and the THX picture setting.

My initial idea called for a 65" display, but when I was placing the order I decided on 52" just because I liked the price of it. "three hundred and fifty dollars" ... see, it has a nice ring to it don't you think? Especially for a TV MSRPed @ $1169. I chose Cheetah Mounts from Amazon to mount the display on my wall. It was very easy to assemble and looks like it cost three times what I paid for it. Though you can't see unless you close enough and behind the TV!

Everyone knows sound would play a crucial role in bringing home that movie theater experience, and the Onkyo HT RC270 does the job admirably. See my review here: It features a host of excellent sound and video processing features and was also a steel from Amazon @ $479. Regular price: $689.

The Polk Audio RM75 series ($479) speaker system is the second star of the show and the first obviously is the one and only Definitive Technology, I got the Pro Monitor 800 series. The bass is incredibly stunning and the mids and highs are all very crisp and clear, and Definitive Technology Pro Monitor 800's ($219 x2) direct/reflecting speaker technology combined with my receiver's speaker calibration system have virtually eliminated any sweet spot in my room. You can experience an excellent and well balanced surround effect from just about anywhere in the seating area. I promise!

The sub brothers/woofers ROCK! Especially the Polk Audio PSW10($109). BTW, don’t muddle quality sound with other brands unless you are pairing a very basic setup with the sub woofer that has been directly designed for those speakers.

The Media Center PC providing all the content is an old Inspiron desktop that I'm running the Ubuntu Media Center OS on. It plays DVDs, records TV, plays my 1.3 TB of MP3 collection from my NAS server, displays family photos, Skype chat and surf the web. How cool is that?

Tips for your Home Theater: if you want to ensure the absolute best bang for the buck, let your ears make your audio decisions.