Browse Forums Home Theatre & Automation 1 Jan 14, 2013 9:17 pm Hi all, hopefully you can give me some good ideas and advice. I have been told to paint our home theatre in a dark color, is this really neccassary? im worried a dark paint may not look the best on all 4 walls of the room, can anyone share some pics or recommend colors? Has anyone used a pearl or metallic finish? would these be ok as they are a semi gloss finish. Next i need to get ideas of a decent quality projector, speakers and amp. I dont have a massive budget due to over spending during the build. Can any one recommend models and brands and maybe a store to purchase from in Melb? Thanks in advance, cheers john Re: A couple home theatre questions 2Jan 14, 2013 9:25 pm In my experience wall colour makes less of a difference than your ability to keep the room free from glare. You don't even need pitch black if you have a good setup really. Budget for speakers, amp and screen are hugely subjective... Personally I've moved away from projectors in favour of a 60 inch plasma. I'd suggest looking into Yamaha RX-V amps (I have the 2067) and Jamo speakers are usually excellent (they make excellent roof and wall installation units as well if you are constrained for space). Jamo D500LCRs are fantastic front channels for example. Don't forget seating either, the best system in the world is awful if you aren't comfortable! HD Re: A couple home theatre questions 3Jan 16, 2013 3:48 pm Depends on whether or not the room is going to be a dedicated home theatre. If it is a dedicated home theatre, I would say go as dark as you can, and like the previous poster has stated avoid glare. Pearls or metallics are a bad choice, because they will reflect, rather than absorbing the light coming off the screen. If you will be using it for other purposes (including casual TV watching) maybe stick with a feature wall and invest in some heavy curtains that can block out light. In regards to equipment, you will find that there are many differing views about quality, performance of different brands. I ended up going with an Epson Tw8000 projector, Yamaha rx- v 2071 coupled with some speakers that I already had. Dealings I've had with Matt from The Cable Connection have been excellent. Awesome customer service and advice.http://www.thecableconnection.com.au/ Eastwood Hifi also have excellent deals on amps and speakers. Re: A couple home theatre questions 4Jan 19, 2013 10:32 pm Hi Donuts9999, This is an interesting question. I have been in the same situation few monthds back and was able to gain lot of experience\knowledge regarding designing a HT system and topics related to that. 1) with the color question: Yes , you will benefit from having dark colors inside the room. If it's a dedicated room I suggest you to go for a darker color of your choice. For the ceilling , again apply a dark color but remember to purchase a 'FLAT or MATT' finish. I initially painted only the surrounding walls and sooner realized that the white cieling is going to reflect lot of light thus affecting the viewing experience in the long run. (After all the expenses on a projector or a big plasma, why don't you go the extra mile and do it right once.). If your room is not dedicated for a theater, yeah I agree that you can't go for a darker color. But atleast try to go for a feature wall on where the screen will be hung. so it makes a nice contrast. --------- 2) With the theatre system it all comes down to your budget. If you are going for a projector , there are excellent projectors (including 3D) in the 2000 - 3000 AUD range. But there are some for less than 2000 AUD as well. (Check the BenQ projectors). 3) next it comes down to the audio system which is the most important aspect as per my openion. The reason is about 60% of the cinema feel in an HT is created by the audio system. Go for the best speaker package that you can afford (you won't regret that in the long run as speakers are not outdated soon like projectors and AV recievers do). After about a year long research and listening sessions, reviews from local and foriegn experts my preference has become on the 'PARADIGM' brand. Jamo is also excellent, but if your budget permits you , Paradigm has the best value for money according to the current prices/models. But trust you ears, different people like different brands so it's totally up to you. 4) decide on the speaker type : Cielling mounted , wall mounted or floor standing. 5) And other aspects like seating ,lighting as other members have suggested. I will post some pics soon of my HT room with the colors. I hope to upload few pics after it's completed with everything. If you have a budget in your mind and wan't to workout a system for that just PM me so I will share what I have collected so far. As far as the stores are concerned , the places I can trust are not in the order of preference) Audio Trends in ringwood, The Cable Connection (which is managed by the nice guy called Matt Walker) Big Picture People Eastwoof Hifi in Sydney Hope this helps Re: A couple home theatre questions 5Jan 20, 2013 2:51 am Check out the AVS forum....lots of build ideas there. Remember to budget for getting the room acoustics right as well as the room its self is a large part of the puzzle. With the strong Aussie dollar why look into JTR speakers and Emotiva amps. they seem to get good write-ups, I know they are on my list when the time comes. Good luck Re: A couple home theatre questions 6May 01, 2013 11:15 pm Definately darker is better. The reflected light is much less making the picture the focus of the room when the lights are off. If you cant go completely dark try a nice grey or red depending on your decor. Cheers, Matt Hi Suku18 In NSW the statutory required insurances are: 1. 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