a.bentonab
Expert
Seeking input on a setup I am piecing together for the new basement. Plan is to have a home theater projector hooked up to a receiver. Inputs into the receiver will include a cable or satellite box (I'm not sure which we will be getting at the new house, and no we aren't ready to go to streaming only yet), a PC, plus or minus a blu ray player, and if possible my 2 gaming systems (don't laugh) an NES and an N64. Haven't gotten into any of the newfangled Xbox or PS systems. PC, set top box, and any blu ray players will be HDMI inputs to the receiver, old school gaming systems are RCA to the receiver. Receiver to the projector will be HDMI or possibly HDMI to cat5 back to HDMI pending the actual length of run needed. Sound system I'm open to suggestions. There are doorways on both sides of room so initially I thought I'd use soundbar and wireless woofer for ease of wire runs but that seems like that would really be a weak point in my setup. Suffice it to say there are a LOT of speaker systems out there and other than something 5.1 hooked up to the receiver I'm pretty much clueless. Probably don't want a $150 Walmart special system but also not willing to drop 10 grand on top of line Klipsch.
Would appreciate any any input that could be provided on any of the above but specifically the questions I've posed below
1. What Should I be looking for in a PC? Bluetooth would be a must, I am thinking I could put in a blu ray drive and expect as good or better playback than on a dedicated blu ray player right? Would a graphics card be a must? If I run HDMI from PC to receiver will it be true 5.1 sound? I would think that a PC would be the optimal way to play Netflix.
2. Is it really that hard to find a home theater receiver with 4+ HDMI ports and two separate RCA jacks? Seems plenty have either or but to get them on the same model I've run up the price to a grand! And why are companies putting all these services into the receiver like wifi pandora Netflix etc that's why I am hooking up the components for crying out loud!
3. Wire runs. This one has me out of my comfort zone. Large open doorways on both sides of room. Are people happy with the flat speaker wire under carpet? And the HDMI from receiver to projector will have to be a new run in a finished basement ceiling. Is that something a moderate DIYer should attempt? In the end I'll probably need a new power outlet in the ceiling for the projector which would probably necesitaye an electrician opening up the walls anyway
4. Any suggestions on sound source? As said was originally thinking soundbar with wireless woofer but I think something like this setup deserves 5.1. There's such a huge range in price for systems that it is just boggling my mind.
Would appreciate any any input that could be provided on any of the above but specifically the questions I've posed below
1. What Should I be looking for in a PC? Bluetooth would be a must, I am thinking I could put in a blu ray drive and expect as good or better playback than on a dedicated blu ray player right? Would a graphics card be a must? If I run HDMI from PC to receiver will it be true 5.1 sound? I would think that a PC would be the optimal way to play Netflix.
2. Is it really that hard to find a home theater receiver with 4+ HDMI ports and two separate RCA jacks? Seems plenty have either or but to get them on the same model I've run up the price to a grand! And why are companies putting all these services into the receiver like wifi pandora Netflix etc that's why I am hooking up the components for crying out loud!
3. Wire runs. This one has me out of my comfort zone. Large open doorways on both sides of room. Are people happy with the flat speaker wire under carpet? And the HDMI from receiver to projector will have to be a new run in a finished basement ceiling. Is that something a moderate DIYer should attempt? In the end I'll probably need a new power outlet in the ceiling for the projector which would probably necesitaye an electrician opening up the walls anyway
4. Any suggestions on sound source? As said was originally thinking soundbar with wireless woofer but I think something like this setup deserves 5.1. There's such a huge range in price for systems that it is just boggling my mind.