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Each of these theaters features full A/V and professional installation, but all came in under $20,000.
Who says you need to spend six figures on a home theater? In recent years, the prices on audio/video equipment from flat-panel TVs to speakers has dropped, making very good home theater and surround-sound systems available to more and more people.
The technology in mid-range to affordable audio/video gear has improved considerably, bringing quality sound and images to the budget minded. And you don’t have to deck out a big space to have an area that looks like a theater. You can have a home theater system with a big-screen TV and surround sound right in your family room, recreation room or bedroom if you like. Best of all, you can have wonderfully immersive home theater experiences for $10,000 or less. The cost largely depends on your tastes. Here are three fairly budget-minded but highly satisfying home theater systems—and how they came about:
The $11,000 Retirement Theater
Residents at a Massachusetts adult community enjoy the full home theater experience in a smaller space.
Living Room Theater Upgrade Under $10k
For less than $10,000, a Florida family adds a 60-inch flat panel and a full surround system to their family room.
$5k Project Turns into $20k Theater
A homeowner opts to increase his budget to get the entertainment experience he and his family desire.
Yeah, same here. For 9K and a bunch of sweat equity I am turning a 14’x16’ finished basement bedroom into a dedicated theater complete with Cinema Scope 2.35:1 remote controlled Prismasonic Lens, Panasonic AX100, Denon AV receiver/DVD, and full accoustical treatments on the wall, soffits with rope lights, the works. If you are willing to do the research and work yourself it is amazing what under 10K will buy you.
Thats the problem with articles like this. People read these or go to a store and think they can’t do anything like this for less than 10k. Mine was 3400 with cables and stands.
Sanyo Z4
Oppo 971h
Denon 2106
SVS SBS-01 with PB10 subwoofer
Phenominal system all together. It constantly wows friends and niehbors so much so I am setting up three very similar systems for friends.
I have to second the comment of the above. I originally was hoping to get into a theater for not too much dough. Went to a couple of places where the entry fee for a HT system with a projector was somewhere between 15-20K. I was dismayed. I then stumbled onto a couple of forums where I quickly figure out it could be done for less than 10K. The more I researched, the more I was able to drop the price. I turned a useless ‘storage’ room - more like a huge garbage can of useless acquired junk - into a delightful space for under 6K and that included the carpet, drywall, equipment, lighting, wiring, everything. It has been three years, but from what I can see, I could spend the same and get an HD projector instead of my SVGA.
No one who has been to visit and gotten a demo has failed to be dazzled (maybe they are being polite, but I doubt it, knowing my friends). Take a look at http://www.chriswhitworth.com
Interesting. My HT system cost well under $2500 and to me appears to be as good or better than the $25000 Runco systems at HT outlets. Optoma HD70, Onkyo HTS790, Oppo HD971 and Behr “silverscreen”. For HD signals, I use my Dish HD reciever. For the general public I highly doubt the extra cost is worth the minimal if any increase in picture/sound quality!
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Sounds like you’re on the way to a nice system, Matt. I’m a firm believer that you can have good-quality affordable home theater. Everyone who is doing systems like this should dend digital images and a decsription of your rooms to my email, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), and we’ll try to get them in the magazine. We need more articles on systems such as this!