CECAA850 Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 which I think the customer breaks the tie. Just remember you're the boss, he works for you. If he sells Klipsch, I really don't see the issue there other than, as we speculated, his profit margins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akdave Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Normally the bid process is like the honeymoon. The contractor is generally on his best behavior to get the job. You're currently seeing the BEST SIDE of him. Don't expect things to improve or his attitude to get better once you sign on the dotted line. +1 very well said. You're not asking for a multi level Koi pond cascading through the middle of your theater room - you're asking to provide the gear and for him to do the install. Some red flags here IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted August 9, 2014 Moderators Share Posted August 9, 2014 it'd still be a $25k+ project for him. For $25k, I would find some friends who were handy with construction and buy them some gift cards. Honestly, there are just too many resources out there that could help you if you chose to go that route. I myself am not very "handy" but I have been blessed with some amazing friends that have helped me do what I did not know how to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Normally the bid process is like the honeymoon. The contractor is generally on his best behavior to get the job. You're currently seeing the BEST SIDE of him. Don't expect things to improve or his attitude to get better once you sign on the dotted line. Very well said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 I've seen 2 numbers $25k and $40k. Do most of it yourself/with friends and get the $40k system for $25k (or less). It should kick butt. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted August 9, 2014 Moderators Share Posted August 9, 2014 Another benefit to DIY is you will enjoy the end result even more because you did the work plus you will know exactly where every wire is, how it's all connected, which makes it MUCH easier down the road to fix, replace or troubleshoot since you know the process you took during the construction. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Another benefit to DIY is you will enjoy the end result even more because you did the work plus you will know exactly where every wire is, how it's all connected, which makes it MUCH easier down the road to fix, replace or troubleshoot since you know the process you took during the construction. I have a friend who had an HT built several years ago. I don't thinkj he even knows how to calibrate his system. There is no wow factor in his system because it was not setup the properly IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevinicus Posted August 9, 2014 Author Share Posted August 9, 2014 The 40k number is the entire budget. The 25k figure is assuming I buy the projector, screen, speakers, subs, Lumagen, and seating for about 15k leaving 25k for design, construction, installation, automation, and calibration. Unfortunately, I don't really have the time to do it myself, and would rather get it done sooner rather than later. If it was just running wires to speakers and mounting stuff, I'd be okay. It's what I did for my last home. This is much bigger though, and there's so much more to do that I have no desire to work on. I'm ready to enjoy my theater. But I want it done right too. Regardless of who does it, I will know where every wire is and where they go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 (edited) Ok. It is just that a lot of us here are DIYs or at least partial DIYs. I understand the time thing, I have so much going on that there is not enough time left for this hobby most of the time. That being said if you spend $40k it better kick some serious butt IMHO. Edited August 10, 2014 by babadono Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevinicus Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 Ok. It is just that a lot of us here are DIYs or at least partial DIYs. I understand the time thing, I have so much going on that there is not enough time left for this hobby most of the time. That being said if you spend $40k it better kick some serious butt IMHO. Yeah, I've always been a DIY for home theater in the past, but I want to make sure this is done right and making sure the acoustics of the room are the best they can be is beyond my skills. That extends to other area of the construction as well. So, if I did do it myself, not only would I have to spend so much time that I don't have working on it, I'd spend just as much, if not more doing extra research so I would know how to do it. I really want to get it done fairly soon as well, so DIY is really not an option. The plan is for it to definitely kick some serious butt. Probably going to buy the projector tonight since there is a sale that ends today. There won't be any alternatives for installers after that either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 What sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 If your talking about the projector people sale on the panny 8000 it goes on sale as soon as it's off sale again. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevinicus Posted August 11, 2014 Author Share Posted August 11, 2014 What sale? For the Panasonic AE8000. A couple weeks ago most had it for $2250 and then there's a $350 rebate. Now, most places have gone back up to around $2,500. One that still has it at $2250 says their sale ends today. Another place still has it at that price, but they don't mention how long it'll be that low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 What sale? For the Panasonic AE8000. A couple weeks ago most had it for $2250 and then there's a $350 rebate. Now, most places have gone back up to around $2,500. One that still has it at $2250 says their sale ends today. Another place still has it at that price, but they don't mention how long it'll be that low. yeah it's "always" on sale same as just not allowing to advertise under msrp. You just wanna make sure you do it in time for that rebate for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 (edited) ... with some of them I get the feeling they don't know what they are talking about. It's like they don't understand that masking is to block out part of the screen with different aspect ratios and not something that blocks out the image to make it a certain shape. We have a 2.35:1 Seymour screen, and, so far, can live without masks. We project in total darkness (except for light from the projector) and the areas that would covered by masks, if we had any, are dark enough to ignore. Our Panasonic projector provides some electronic masking. The most common ARs we find on Blu-ray are 2.39:1, 2.35:1, 1.85:1, 1.78:1, and 1.37:1. For all of those, the image fills the screen from top to bottom ("Common Height"), and is whatever width the AR specifies. By using common height, we adhere to the filmmakers' intentions that the wider formats are actually larger in area, as well as the right shape. The three most common ARs have pre-sets on the projector, and we zoom to make sure the height is just right. For odd-ball ARs, we hand adjust. So, for our favorite, 70 mm Todd-AO's 2.2:1, we fill the screen from top to bottom, and have about 1.5 inches of space on either side of the image. For Ultra (not Super) Panavision 70, or MGM Camera 65 (both 2.76:1), we fill the screen from side to side, and there are some dark spaces top and bottom. If you are committed to masks, ask the installer, or the screen company, if they are able to provide masking for all aspect ratios. So far, we have counted 12 ARs: 1.33 (old TV), 1.37, 1.66, 1.78, 1.85, 2.0, 2.2, 2.35, 2.39 (nicknamed 2.4), 2.55, 2.76, 2.89 (controversial Cinerama shape), not counting the variable IMAX shape. Edited August 11, 2014 by Garyrc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevinicus Posted August 12, 2014 Author Share Posted August 12, 2014 Thanks for the input Gary, I am pretty sensitive with the unmasked areas. I've been in a couple of theaters now one with masking, and one without (and this one had 2:35 playing at the smaller size some of the time), and it was very noticeable to me every time. The girlfriend not so much. But at $250 or $350, depending on which screen I go with, I think it's definitely worth it for me. I'm only worried about the two "main" aspect ratios. I know I'm lumping in everything from 2.35 to 2.40 into one group there, but the size difference between them is small enough that I'm okay with it. I'll have a Lumagen for the shifting aspect ratio movies, and I don't care about 4:3 at all. I finally heard back from the installer yesterday. My e-mail is acting funny and his reply didn't come through. He had to send it to my other e-mail, and even then it went to my spam folder. He basically said "okay" to everything I said. I guess he's willing to accept what I want after he realized I wasn't going to cave in and just accept what he wants. He is still trying to push the TruAudio (Bad Boy series - These) or the 900 series from Episode, but said he would do Klipsch if that's what I wanted. He said the TruAudio were slightly cheaper than the Klipsch THX line and would "blow them out of the water - check out the specs!" Now the place I went that had TruAudio in their showroom said they were $1400 per speaker. I know the KL7800 MSRP is 1500, so I assume that's what he's going by when saying the TAs are slightly less. However, I have been quoted $588 per for the KL7800s, so that's just a tiny bit less. I asked him if he had installed the TAs or Episodes somewhere that would be willing to let me come listen. We'll see what he says. In the meantime, I have 3 guys coming out this week, starting tonight. I want to hear what they say before making any decisions. I did go ahead and buy the projector last night (and yes, it's still on sale) just to get that out of the way. So, the first part of my home theater is now taken care of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 EDIT, I just realized you were going with in-walls. UGH. This whole time I thought you were referring to the THX stand alone speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevinicus Posted August 12, 2014 Author Share Posted August 12, 2014 EDIT, I just realized you were going with in-walls. UGH. This whole time I thought you were referring to the THX stand alone speakers. I'm not 100% going in-walls. Baffle wall is still in consideration. Depends on design issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 I'm not 100% going in-walls. Sorry if you've mentioned it and I've missed it but is an acoustically transparent screen an option with stand alone speakers behind it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevinicus Posted August 12, 2014 Author Share Posted August 12, 2014 I'm not 100% going in-walls. Sorry if you've mentioned it and I've missed it but is an acoustically transparent screen an option with stand alone speakers behind it? If we build a baffle wall (and depending on how far it can be brought out.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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