What, does the author only pay MSRP and live in 2002? With a little research and a willingness to dig for deals, you can easily get much more bang for your buck than this guy is describing. His tiers are at least off by one, if not two, levels in almost every category.

I agree.  So far i’m right at $2,500.  That is a MCE 05 with two SD tuners and one HD tuner, Sony CRT projector (running 768p) 1000w 7.1 system, 270w Dual 10” subwoofer, Xbox 360 + HDDVD drive, and a Wii.  Granted my basement was already finished and all i did was run the cables and hook everything up and i already had most of hte speakers.

By the way, my screen measures 96” diagonal!!

Yes, these look like MSRP for 2002.  In 2006 I got a 7.1 system (not an HTIB) with a 42inc 720p plasma and a 720p projector and a motorized, tensioned 100inch screen, along with an HD DVR and an HD DVD player, along with all the wiring and fancy mounts and faceplates for under $6,000.

I always wondered what happened to the people who “discovered” the weapons of mass destruction. I thought they got a job working for OJ looking for “the real killer” but in fact they went into the Home Theater Cost Analysis business. This is one of the most absurdly inaccurate and misleading pieces I have ever read.  I suppose the guys at the big blue box could show it to customers to justify charging $80 for 6 foot cable that could be obtained on line for $5. Had I seen something like this when I first started, I would perhaps have been discouraged from attempting to create a wonderful entertaiment experience for my family and friends. Panasonic PJ/Onkyo 5.1/Maxsuma screen/online cables=106” of Magic for $2300

I’m a professional installer. A typical $10K installation would include:

- 1080p projector
- 92” fixed screen
- good 5.1 sound (Denon/Canton, not HTIB)
- RF remote fully programmed
- Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player
- complete installation and calibration
- basic lighting control

This package would be installed in an existing room, and would include all equipment, plus professional installation and calibration.

Oh, and it even includes some basic lighting control where pressing “play movie” on the remote dims some of the lights in the room, and “stop” or “Pause” raises the lights.

This is a standard/typical package. With a little tweaking, we can match the $20K specs pretty much exactly (e.g we could move to a less expensive projector and lower speaker package, and remove the lighting control and Blu-Ray/HDDVD player, which gives us room for some basic construction in that price).

My company is based in the northwest suburbs of Chicago - maybe I should open a branch office in California!

Yep, you can do much better with a bit of research and tips found at places like AVS.  I did a completely-from-scratch room with acoustically transparent Cinemascope screen (speakers behind screen), 7.1 surround, HD DVD, HDTV and 12 foot wood bar for just over $12,000, including all furnishings.

Please, this is the worst article on cost i have ever read. For 5 grand I built a killer system with a 61"DLP, 7.2 surround, Upconverting DVD player, under seat bass shakers with money to spare!

Yea… this article needs to be killed off and buried in order to prevent embarrassment.  Don’t believe me?  Humor me and TRY to itemize these lists.  Your lists are astronomically high!

LMAO!!! A $5K system includes a home theater in a box??? Are you kidding me? HTiB (in my opinion) should never cost more than $1000, otherwise buy individual speakers and a receiver. 42” Pioneer and Panasonic plasmas are all under $2000. So where is that last $2000 going? So considering that $2000 42” plasma, you can get a nice receiver and speakers for $3000 that will anhiliate any HTiB.

Highly exagerated ! Ridiculous !!

I recently built my home theater with:
- 1080p Panasonic PT-AE2000U Projector
- Onkyo SR705 receiver
- Bose Accoustimass 16 (6.1) speakers
- Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-ray and upconverting DVD player
- 170” screen
- Projector Mount
- 25 feet HDMI cable

Total: US$4800

Still below the 5K budget above that only gets you a HTiB and a 42” LCD TV.

Wow, budgeting a home theater with “All construction, electrical, installation and furnishing costs aside” is like budgeting a car without wheels, engine, and seats!

I know the article is not entirely accurate, and that most components can be picked up at a fraction of the total estimate, but I don’t think he had BEST BUY in mind when he wrote this article. Perhaps he had an absolute maximum in mind and went by the old rule of thumb of “cheaper is NEVER better”. Hmmm… overestimating on everything so you’re not hit with hidden costs…..Isn’t that how you’re supposed to budget?.

Yeah this article doesn’t seem to be marketed to you guys, a theater would involve high definition components as well as component switching.  The 5000 is a bit much for and HTiB setup though.  I figure the best 42” setup with the same stuff would go something like this:

42” pioneer 4280 or 40” sony xbr4 $2000-2400
wall mount bracket $150-400
yamaha or Bose HTiB $500-2000
oppo unconvert $229
Blu Ray $400-500
Harmony or comprable IR remote $150
Monster Power Center $200-300
Cableing-HDMI $300ish Speaker wire $60ish Misc $200

So $4189-4540 plus 4-10% tax, not exactly average but those would be the best results for what an average consumer would see everyday in that size range.  It looks like this estimate also matches screen quality with speaker quality.  That’s probably why the projector setups are so scued to what most people estimate, most people skimp on the audio side.  In most good theaters the audio and room construction is twice the price or more of the video element.

I agree that these prices are highly exaggerated. Maybe this article was recycled from a few years ago? 1080p projectors can be had for as little as $1499 after rebate (though that particular deal might not be the best possible projector). And you certainly don’t need a professional to install your system. Our customers do it themselves all the time! For the record I work for Projector People.com. I think we may need to submit our own article on the actual cost of a front projection theater.

Here is a link to an article we did about shopping online for projectors, just in case anyone is interested.
http://www.electronichouse.com/article/how_to_shop_online_for_projectors/

I am a Home Theater sales and Installation business owner, and we have installed complete custom installations for about 6k. This would include; 58” Plasma (wall mounted) Pioneer THX Certified Receiver, Monster Power Center, (5) JBL In-Ceiling Oval (Directional) Home Theater Speakers, JBL 500W Powered Sub.  This article is overpriced, and is not taking the steady price drops of AV into account. Plus, who would want a Home Theater in a Box anyway…??!!

Last time I checked a Sherwood VR670 home theater speaker system with DVD could be purchased for under $300.  J&R Music World has a quite respectable Toshiba 32” LCD for $699.  So maybe it would be more interesting to see how much home theater you can get for under $1,000, which is still more than most mainstream consumers are used to.  Course that comes with all remotes and cables necessary, and you don’t need a pony-tailed “expert” to sell you snake oil, so it’s probably not going to fly…

There is some good information here…but, none of the comments or system suggestions address proper viewing distances, the effects of ambient light on a front projector’s image quality, the issue of proper sound pressure levels in rooms of varying sizes, etc.  (We use SMPTE specs when evaluating a given installation.)

My point is, “one size does NOT fit all applications”. Nowhere in this article is that fact mentioned…just the price points.  What works well in one room will not perform to expectations in another space of different dimensions. 

A theater experience is one that should excite the senses.  When someone sees a video artifact for the first time, they cannot ever “Unsee” it ... the same thing applies when presented with an audio system that is not sufficient to fill the space as required to satisfy the sensory expectations.

Bottom line…a proper entertainment system design choice is all about fulfilliing expectations, not just getting a price. You have to research the system requriements based on YOUR environment and the science required to “do it right the first time”!!  Buying anything based solely on price has usually not been a satisfactory experience for me.

I think the prices are in line.  I believe the term “Home Theater” gets used rather loosely.  A true dedicated Home theater should not disturb others in the house. So you need to do sound isolation. Using many different products that can be achieved. Like Quiet Rock or even Acoustical Solutions.
The room should also try to replicate as best as possible what the director intended.  Which means accurate color from a projector, a $1499 projector currently on the market can’t do it.  Only 3 chip projectors get close to D65.  They are getting a lot better. But they also need to be calibrated.  As far as audio goes a system needs to reach certain SPL levels to meet that expectation as well. Not just the high frequencies or lows.  It needs to be balanced across the whole frequency spectrum.  With different room sizes as do the speaker sizes change and equipment list change as well. 

I feel that for the most part the prices above represent a good ball park figure.  I have seen and heard great dedicated rooms that cost $20k as well as $500k.  As the room gets larger so should the budget. 

Like they say in the article it also depends on what you do with your decor.