Your Home Entertainment Center

[P___X]

I have a 55" LG CX OLED, hooked to a Universal Audio Apollo Twin via optical that goes into 2 active Mackie MR5 mk1 studio speakers. I have a 43" curved 4k Samsung from 2015 in the basement.

I've always preferred projectors, but last 3 homes we've had, we hadn't had a good surface to project to. Our current home has 8 surfaces where it could work, so now I'm thinking about buying an ultra-short throw laser projector. Unless it's 60 pounds, I can just easily carry it around, set it up in our bedroom for movie night without breaking our no TV in bedrooms policy.

Bomaker Polaris 4K Ultra Short Throw Tri-Color Laser Projector, WiFi, Internet 753208648511 | eBay

Every scene springs to life with finer details, more realistic colors, and deeper black levels. 4K UHD resolution with HDR10. This unit is an open box item. I removed the projector and tested it. Bright clear picture, Wi-Fi connects perfectly, Bluetooth connects, speakers work nicely, and it is...

www.ebay.com

 

[Thomas Veil]

How about a retractable canvas and a projector?

Oh, I'm good. Now, if I should get a house with a big blank wall, big enough to hold a 75" or so TV, that's when I'll move up.

My son has a house like that. For a while we were joking about how he kept buying bigger and bigger TVs, but darn if he doesn't have plenty of space for them.

 

[P___X]

Oh, I'm good. Now, if I should get a house with a big blank wall, big enough to hold a 75" or so TV, that's when I'll move up.

My son has a house like that. For a while we were joking about how he kept buying bigger and bigger TVs, but darn if he doesn't have plenty of space for them.

To date, I have trouble understanding why people want huge houses. Lot's of extra work and cost and very little extra benefit in my opinion.
I prefer flexible spaces and the issue with a 80" TV is everything but flexible.

 

[tobefirst]

We are getting bids to have our basement finished right now with the goal of hanging a projector down there. Hoping we can afford it.

We are moving forward with getting the basement finished, though not by a GC. Instead, my recently retired father-in-law and his (also retired) brother-in-law are going to do it; they have both been looking for projects to occupy their time, so it is a win-win. I have no idea how quickly they can work or how long it will take, but visions of projectors are already in my head. Currently, our receiver and 5.1 setup (which is down to 4.1 because the center channel crapped out) is upstairs, but I hope to attach that to the projector downstairs (maybe even jumping to 7.1 or 7.2) and place a simple sound bar upstairs.

 

[Herdfan]

To date, I have trouble understanding why people want huge houses. Lot's of extra work and cost and very little extra benefit in my opinion.
I prefer flexible spaces and the issue with a 80" TV is everything but flexible.

They are like boats. You want one until you get it, then you want rid of it.

 

[tobefirst]

They are like boats. You want one until you get it, then you want rid of it.

The two best days in a boat owner's life: when they buy the boat, and when they sell the boat.

 

[EricWN]

To date, I have trouble understanding why people want huge houses. Lot's of extra work and cost and very little extra benefit in my opinion.
I prefer flexible spaces and the issue with a 80" TV is everything but flexible.

Not everyone likes cramped spaces I guess. Same with gardens and green spaces around the home, I wouldn’t want to live with a neighbour a car length away.

And when my 47” tv finally dies I’ll surely upgrade to something way bigger, in a heartbeat.

 

[P___X]

Not everyone likes cramped spaces I guess. Same with gardens and green spaces around the home, I wouldn’t want to live with a neighbour a car length away.

Cramped is quite subjective though. I grew up in a 600 sqft flat so our 2000 sqft house feels quite spacious. A colleague of mine who lives alone, bought a house that is twice the size. He'll need a housekeeper and a gardener on top of the mortgage that will be twice mine. I doubt he enjoys his house twice as much as I do. Like everything luxury, space beyond a threshold comes with diminishing returns, IMHO. I would switch this to a 1400 sqft high rise condo in a heart beat, if it weren't for the kids.

And when my 47” tv finally dies I’ll surely upgrade to something way bigger, in a heartbeat.

To date, one of the most fun things for me is to watch a movie with my laptop on my chest. Poor man's IMAX without having to leave the bed.

 

[EricWN]

Cramped is quite subjective though. I grew up in a 600 sqft flat so our 2000 sqft house feels quite spacious. A colleague of mine who lives alone, bought a house that is twice the size. He'll need a housekeeper and a gardener on top of the mortgage that will be twice mine. I doubt he enjoys his house twice as much as I do. Like everything luxury, space beyond a threshold comes with diminishing returns, IMHO. I would switch this to a 1400 sqft high rise condo in a heart beat, if it weren't for the kids.

To date, one of the most fun things for me is to watch a movie with my laptop on my chest. Poor man's IMAX without having to leave the bed.

Yup, we’re all different in our preferences. Some like huge places some don’t, some a home cinema, some their MacBook experience.

 

[P___X]

They are like boats. You want one until you get it, then you want rid of it.

The two best days in a boat owner's life: when they buy the boat, and when they sell the boat.

This is pretty hilarious. Can you guys elaborate?

 

[tobefirst]

This is pretty hilarious. Can you guys elaborate?

I don’t know anything particular. Just a saying I’ve heard a bunch.

 

[Huntn]

They are like boats. You want one until you get it, then you want rid of it.

I agree about boats, but can’t say that about big houses, although I’ve never owned a truly large house, my largest 3500SF. I’d say that if your income is large enough, your not that worried about associated expenses of boats or houses. 😉

 

[tobefirst]

I agree about boats, but can’t say that about big houses, although I’ve never owned a truly large house, my largest 3500SF. I’d say that if your income is large enough, your not that worried about associated expenses of boats or houses. 😉

Haha. What is the threshold for “truly large?”

 

[Herdfan]

This is pretty hilarious. Can you guys elaborate?

So you want a boat. You can imagine weekends on the water, family trips and all the good things that you can do with a boat. So you get one and you are so happy.

Then you find out that it takes at lot of time and effort to make sure it is ready to go from being clean, to having all the stuff you need for the day to making sure it is maintained. Just lots of stuff to do. It then becomes too much to do where those weekends are still fun, but you're not as excited about them because of all the work that needs to be done both before and after. So it sits for a couple of weekends. You missed it, but other things come up and it sits some more.

So now you use it much less than you did at first and it is just sitting there costing you money. (Another old adage is that a boat is a hole in the water that you dump money into.) So now you begin to hate that you are paying hundreds of dollars a month for something taking up space in your driveway. And so you make an effort to use it again, but the juice isn't worth the squeeze, so to speak.

So you sell it and are relieved that the burden of the boat is gone.

When we had one at my parent's lake house, it sat on the lift so at least we didn't have to go launch it. But when we would have people down to the house, I would go down at least a day ahead of everyone else just to get the boat ready. Plus, ICE cars are rated by miles per gallon, boats are rated at gallons per hour. A 200hp outboard will burn around 10 gph at cruising speeds, double that at WOT. Our boat had a 60 gallon tank and it wouldn't last a day skiing and tubing. So they are expensive to operate in addition to the time suck of owning it.

 

[Huntn]

So you want a boat. You can imagine weekends on the water, family trips and all the good things that you can do with a boat. So you get one and you are so happy.

Then you find out that it takes at lot of time and effort to make sure it is ready to go from being clean, to having all the stuff you need for the day to making sure it is maintained. Just lots of stuff to do. It then becomes too much to do where those weekends are still fun, but you're not as excited about them because of all the work that needs to be done both before and after. So it sits for a couple of weekends. You missed it, but other things come up and it sits some more.

So now you use it much less than you did at first and it is just sitting there costing you money. (Another old adage is that a boat is a hole in the water that you dump money into.) So now you begin to hate that you are paying hundreds of dollars a month for something taking up space in your driveway. And so you make an effort to use it again, but the juice isn't worth the squeeze, so to speak.

So you sell it and are relieved that the burden of the boat is gone.

When we had one at my parent's lake house, it sat on the lift so at least we didn't have to go launch it. But when we would have people down to the house, I would go down at least a day ahead of everyone else just to get the boat ready. Plus, ICE cars are rated by miles per gallon, boats are rated at gallons per hour. A 200hp outboard will burn around 10 gph at cruising speeds, double that at WOT. Our boat had a 60 gallon tank and it wouldn't last a day skiing and tubing. So they are expensive to operate in addition to the time suck of owning it.

I agree about the boat. I would not include a house in the same category unless it turns out being a burden.

Haha. What is the threshold for “truly large?”

Back to the statement about big houses being basically a burden, i think the factors are what you are used to, if you are taking out a loan on it, and if it is a burden financially. Based on my perspective I’d say 10kSF although I suspect anything bigger than 5k would strike me as such. 🙂

 

[tobefirst]

Back to the statement about big houses being basically a burden, i think the factors are what you are used to, if you are taking out a loan on it, and if it is a burden financially. Based on my perspective I’d say 10kSF although I suspect anything bigger than 5k would strike me as such. 🙂

Holy shit. So a 5k sqft (460 sqm) house is just, what, "medium?"

That's bananas to me. I grew up in an 800 sqft (74 sqm) house with five of us. And now live in a 1500 sqft (139 sqm) house with three of us. Of course, as I mentioned in another thread, we are working on finishing our basement to add more living space.

To be clear, @Huntn, I'm not judging you. You're welcome to live in as big a palace as you want or can afford. 😉 We just have very different perspectives on this.

 

[Huntn]

Holy shit. So a 5k sqft (460 sqm) house is just, what, "medium?"

That's bananas to me. I grew up in an 800 sqft (74 sqm) house with five of us. And now live in a 1500 sqft (139 sqm) house with three of us. Of course, as I mentioned in another thread, we are working on finishing our basement to add more living space.

To be clear, @Huntn, I'm not judging you. You're welcome to live in as big a palace as you want or can afford. 😉 We just have very different perspectives on this.

I think the issue here is the statement that buying a big house is just like buying a boat. I tried to explain why I disagreed. 🙂

 

[P___X]

So you want a boat. You can imagine weekends on the water, family trips and all the good things that you can do with a boat. So you get one and you are so happy.

Then you find out that it takes at lot of time and effort to make sure it is ready to go from being clean, to having all the stuff you need for the day to making sure it is maintained. Just lots of stuff to do. It then becomes too much to do where those weekends are still fun, but you're not as excited about them because of all the work that needs to be done both before and after. So it sits for a couple of weekends. You missed it, but other things come up and it sits some more.

So now you use it much less than you did at first and it is just sitting there costing you money. (Another old adage is that a boat is a hole in the water that you dump money into.) So now you begin to hate that you are paying hundreds of dollars a month for something taking up space in your driveway. And so you make an effort to use it again, but the juice isn't worth the squeeze, so to speak.

So you sell it and are relieved that the burden of the boat is gone.

When we had one at my parent's lake house, it sat on the lift so at least we didn't have to go launch it. But when we would have people down to the house, I would go down at least a day ahead of everyone else just to get the boat ready. Plus, ICE cars are rated by miles per gallon, boats are rated at gallons per hour. A 200hp outboard will burn around 10 gph at cruising speeds, double that at WOT. Our boat had a 60 gallon tank and it wouldn't last a day skiing and tubing. So they are expensive to operate in addition to the time suck of owning it.

I had a friend who's father had a boatshare with the physician group. So boat was shared between probably 10-20 people. Sounded like a way more efficient way to manage it.

Do you think boat rental is worth it? A colleague of mine is a big boater...I think he enjoys being off the grid when sailing out. Something that is nearly impossible to achieve in my line of work. "Offline is the new luxury".

Holy shit. So a 5k sqft (460 sqm) house is just, what, "medium?"

That's bananas to me. I grew up in an 800 sqft (74 sqm) house with five of us. And now live in a 1500 sqft (139 sqm) house with three of us. Of course, as I mentioned in another thread, we are working on finishing our basement to add more living space.

To be clear, @Huntn, I'm not judging you. You're welcome to live in as big a palace as you want or can afford. 😉 We just have very different perspectives on this.

I'm with you on that. To me it sounds like something that is non-sustainable. Despite my temptations, we don't have a housekeeper as my wife and I were brought up in a way to you raise your kids in a household that doesn't rely on paid workforce for basic maintenance. Even though we have 2000SqFt we use about 1400 of it, the basement has a guest bedroom/office and a movie room/gym, neither of which gets used daily.

 

[Huntn]

Power Reset to get your TV to turn back on
I have. 55” Sony TV that has been relegated to our bedroom. It’s about 10 years old. Periodically it will not turn on. I’ve double checked power available to the TV and found this article:

Will Your Sony TV Not Turn On? A Few Common Fixes

The Sony brand is synonymous with top of the line electronics, and their TVs certainly meet those expectations. But what do you do when your TV refuses to

www.alphr.com

It mentions a power reset. Unplugging the TV for several minutes, then back in fixed it. I’m wondering what would cause the need for a power reset? I was gone last week and there was a power surge/loss of power momentarily and I suspect that is the cause. 🤔

Any TV technicians reading this? 😀

 

[SouprMatt]

Power Reset to get your TV to turn back on
I have. 55” Sony TV that has been relegated to our bedroom. It’s about 10 years old. Periodically it will not turn on. I’ve double checked power available to the TV and found this article:

Will Your Sony TV Not Turn On? A Few Common Fixes

The Sony brand is synonymous with top of the line electronics, and their TVs certainly meet those expectations. But what do you do when your TV refuses to

www.alphr.com

It mentions a power reset. Unplugging the TV for several minutes, then back in fixed it. I’m wondering what would cause the need for a power reset? I was gone last week and there was a power surge/loss of power momentarily and I suspect that is the cause. 🤔

Any TV technicians reading this? 😀

Unplug, wait a minute, and plug back in is the magic solution for everything. TVs are powered by computers now, so it makes sense that a ”hard reboot” would fix some issues.