In that price range, BenQ W1070 is closest competition. Besides those 2, there are a couple other BenQ models in that price range, depending on your personal setup. Everything else, you are looking at $1000+ for Epsons. There is also Viewsonic that seems to be in sub-$1000 range, but I don't know much about them. BenQ and Optoma run that price range.
BENQ W1070 Same projector I have. I love it. Voted "best bang for your buck" projector in 2015. Amazing picture!
Alright i will tell you this, save your money. I have a benq w1070 with 120 inch screen. I would say just save a little money and buy a decent projector. The w1070 is as clear as my 75 inch led.
yes, the projector has to have 1080p, and even then read reviews.
I have this $655 one and it's terrific, but you won't find a decent projector for less than $400. Not for movie/TV watching anyway. Cheaper projectors are only good for watching PowerPoint.
In my research (am looking into projectors as well) the BenQ W1070 gets consistently high marks <$700USD. 2000 lumens, does 3D, and 1080P resolution.
Here's the Amazon link
The projector used in that photo is a BenQ W1070 that can be had on Amazon for less than $700! I'd highly recommend it!
I got the BenQ W1070 1080p 3D Projector
You can't go wrong with that price, but I would suggest a screen over a wall, as the screen's material will give you the best image quality. That won't be too expensive either, somewhere between $100-$150.
If you're willing to stretch your budget just a bit more, the BenQ w1070 is raved for it's price range and will compete with many pricier projectors. It's selling for $585 on amazon at the time of this post. There are newer models of it, but it was the gold standard <$1k projector when I was shopping around a year ago. Otherwise, the Optoma HD142X is also well received, athough again $48 over your price range. I personally purchased an Acer H5380BD a year ago around $400, with a factory refurb currently selling on amazon for $280 (steal price!!). If you're buying new though, I'd recommend stretching out for the w1070, or newer BenQ generation if you can save up to the $700 mark. The w1070 is worth the extra cash compared to my Acer, but I do enjoy my Acer quite a bit and would jump on that refurb if you're comfortable purchasing a refurb. Things have changed in the past year though, so might help to do a quick search on wire cutter or other sources for newer tech.
ninja edit: if the BenQ was <$600 when I got my Acer, would have purchased without a doubt. It was around $750 when I was holding out for it but got too impatient.
double edit: Acer 5382 is a brigher version of the 5380 for $420. These are 720p though and I'd still recommend the BenQ. As someone else mentioned, H6510BD is a solid projector as well, but the BenQ w1070 was repeatedly named best value for a reason.
Hey guys! I think current state of my craigslist stereo is pretty solid, so here are some pics, info, and street prices!
EDIT: $2,250 total cost including cables
I’ve been slowly tweaking and building up a stereo over the last year from stuff I’ve purchased off Craigslist. My girlfriend and I are slowly adventuring back to the east coast from San Francisco, and we set up shop in Bozeman, Montana for a year, in this bizarre basement apartment in the city’s only formal apartment building, built in 1914.
The one thing a carpeted basement apartments excels at? Acoustics!
1) B&W 805 Nautilus (w/stands: $1400) - I purchased these from a really cool guy who handled bags at SFO. He even let me pay over two paychecks! The imaging and upper-mid detail on these are INSANE. I’ll reserve judgement on the frequency response until I can add some acoustic treatments to the walls, especially on either side of the screen. Sliding a sine wave tone up and down the frequency range seems to reveal some surprising 3-4db dips and peaks in the response from its low end (45hz or so) all the way up into the 150hz range. I assume this has a lot to do with room acoustics. I need an SPL meter or a measurement microphone I think.
2) Energy S10.2 Subwoofer ($85) - Pretty impressive overall for the price. I would purchase this at eBay prices for sure. The front panel has a smooth crossover and volume dial so you can really do a good job matching up to the speakers. Seems to solidly reach down below 30hz with no problem and decent detail.
3) Emotiva XDA-2 DAC ($150) - FANTASTIC DAC for what it sells for used. Fully balanced analog circuitry with both RCA+XLR out, 24/192khz, and a hella solid aluminum remote. I removed the gross silver decorative face plate things, and took face apart to disable Emotiva's unfortunate and tacky "Shenzhen Blue" LED rings around every fucking button, and now it looks as good as it sounds.
4) Rotel RB-1080 (~$500) 200w x 2 (350w x 2 @ 4ohms for you power hungry electrostat guys). At first it blew me away. I still think this amp is an insane deal for what I paid for it, but the more I listen to it, and with more components and speakers, the more I don’t wonder if it does fit the online forum descriptions of “harsh/dry/fatiquing/analytic/etc). Maybe it’s the 805’s, but something about a lack of warmth and lack of clear present midrange seems to be afoot. I want to break my craigslist rule and save up for a used ~$2k Mark Levinson off eBay or something, to give these speakers an amp they really deserve.
** Other things to mention:**
5) Screen: 100”, painted on the wall with cheap gray hardware store paint, with 2” black felt tape around it from amazon. I didn’t want to wait to order the Behr Silver Screen samples from Home Depot’s website, so I went to my local Ace Hardware and they color matched it from the computer! The screen cost me about $20 total including a foam roller.
6) Projector: (BenQ W1070, about $550) - This is my second one, and haven't had a single issue with either. I bought and used one in 2014-2015 for video installations in grad school (with fantastic results) as well as playing around with it at home. This combo looks unbelievably good, with great blacks and plenty of lumens to watch TV or play casual games in moderate room light. I frequently play games with half of the track lighting on!! As far as projector lag goes it’s minimal- I just beat the new Doom on ultra violence, so it works fairly well. Not saying it was remotely easy, but I didn’t feel like projector lag had anything to do with it!
7) Rotel RDV-1080 DVD/CD transport ($50) - Cheap...visually matches the amp. I use it as a transport only and COAX out to the DAC.
8) SurgeX SX-2120-SEQ ($5) sequential power conditioner and surge protector. Got it for $5 at an "employee auction" when I briefly worked for an AV company that would give employees the first dibs on any old equipment they pulled from remodeled luxury homes.
9) Black metal+ glass AV shelf ($40) - Looks great and super solid. I dunno anything else about it.
Done:
Switched from a TV to a BenQ w1070 projector. 120" of glorious viewing.
Migrated server over to a N54L MicroServer running Xpenology - DSM 5.1
Installed a HDHomerun with a Mohu Leaf for OTA Live TV
Replaced main HTPC and ROKU 3 with a Amazon FireTV
To-do:
Replace all media extenders with Amazon Fire TV
Setup FLIRC so I can use my Harmony remote with the FireTV
Update movie and TV show backdrops with more recent stuff
Setup playlist for security camera viewing
Minor tweaks to current KODI skin, add banner views perhaps
Not quite... They're $800+ on Amazon. Check it out for yourself (BenQ W1070 1080P 3D Home Theater Projector (White) here
The Benq w1070 is a great budget projector. Very bight and crisp picture. 24ms lag, DLP light engine w/ 6x color wheel so no worry of image burn in, super easy placement with zoom & vertical offset adjustment, & replacement lamps are only around $115. There is a used one on ebay for $500. This will absolutely destroy anything portable you've looked at. For a 150 inch display you will have to place the front of the lens assembly 12ft 7in from the screen. For 120 inch screen it is a minimum of 10ft. I've owned this and gamed a lot on it. 4 hrs of COD will give you ptsd if you have subs turned up.
Yeah, I hear that. I don't blame you, especially because $200 can otherwise be spent on better speakers, or something. How is your audio setup? I went to Amazon.com and found that they're selling the BenQ W1070 for $519.
Here are some other options, if your budget is in that $500-$700 range:
The one I picked up was the Epson Home Cinema 2045 (which I bought from Best Buy actually)
I can't speak for GingerWez93 but I also have a large bluray collection and if something is not on bluray I'll usually stream on Amazon, Netflix, Hulu or Google play.
To answer your bluray player question though, I use either a PS3 or PS4 depending on which room I'm in and the PS4 is hooked up to a projector. (This projector to be more specific: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A2T6X0K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) It looks fantastic.
And for sound I have a fairly generic speaker system (This one: https://www.amazon.com/Genius-GX-Gaming-SW-G2-1-3000-Devices/dp/B007TSRCZM) and it sounds good to me. I'm not very much of an audiophile though so if sound is extremely important to you I would invest in a better sound system.
"high quality" and "affordable" doesn't usually mix well when you're talking projectors. But maybe take a look at the BenQ W1070
To expand upon /u/Bill_Money's comment, yes, saving for a larger budget would be wise. You CAN probably piece together a set up for around $600, but it will be very low quality.
If you're okay with that, and that's what you want to start off with, then great. You'll get a much better bang for your buck if you can shop used, as electronics depreciate quickly. However, there's obviously a risk buying used equipment, plus it will be difficult to even find the equipment for sale in the first place.
The Wirecutter is a great website for buying suggestions:
You'll notice that even their "budget" suggestions are above your budget. If you really want to spend as little as possible, buy one of those budget projectors from their list, buy a HTIB (like the one you linked below), and paint your own screen on the wall instead of buying one (if you Google "projector screen paint formula" you'll find lots of posts and articles about how to paint something that looks better than a plain white wall).
However, the strategy I would suggest if you're serious about having a decent home theater is to save up and buy your components piece-by-piece. These other Wirecutter articles provide some great suggestions to shoot for:
At the very least, I would want to save up for a better projector. For the past couple of years, the most popular "starter" projector that home theater enthusiasts have recommended is the BenQ W1070. It's $699 right now, but I've seen it go down to around $600 during sales if you're willing to be patient and watch it for a while. (I own the BenQ HT1075, which is slightly better than the W1070. I bought it during Black Friday last year for $670).
This one is pretty good (I heard) for your kind of budget: https://www.amazon.com/BenQ-DLP-1080p-Projector-W1070/dp/B00A2T6X0K/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1471077864&sr=1-2
BENQ W1070 Same Projector I have!
Benq 1070 BenQ W1070 1080p 3D DLP Home Theater Projector (2012 Model) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00A2T6X0K/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_NbSnwb7BD2C2B
I'm planning on either the Benq W1070 or the Optoma HD28DSE
Projectors have gotten cheaper and cheaper. It's fantastic. I have a BenQ W1070. It's $700, and it's kickass projector. 3D, DLP, dual HDMIs, 1080p, 2000 lumens.
This Optima has been getting good reviews, and has same specs but 3000 lumens (even better!). This one is only $574.
I just have mine hooked up to an HDMI switch on my TV stand, which also routes the audio via optical to my speakers. I've got a 138" screen. Football, videogames, movies, whatever, are all awesome on it.
Well looking at the Amazon prices of all of your potential gear, it looks like your budget is ~$3100 (minus the projector screen, just buy the screen). Here's a couple options that I think would let you have a better overall experience. I'll stick to 5.1, but if you want to do 7.1 instead, let me know.
System 1:
Projector: BenQ W1070
5.1 System: Hsu Research Hybrid 15 5.1 Package
Receiver: Marantz SR5009 (You don't have Atmos or a 4k projector, so you don't need HDCP 2.2 or Atmos. This is a much better receiver for the price.)
System 2:
Projector: BenQ W1070
Receiver: Marantz SR5009
Front Speakers: Emp Tek R55Ti
Side Speakers: Emp Tek R5Bi
Center Speaker: Emp Tek R5Ci
Subwoofer: PowerSoundAudio XS15se
Brand new: $796.96
http://www.amazon.ca/BenQ-W1070-1080P-Theater-Projector/dp/B00A2T6X0K
to stay in a budget, but with the requirement of 1080p i think the best retail deal is the benq w1070
and as for drop down screens, elite screens are supposed to be good but you would need to measure to figure out what size works for you
but going to /r/projectors will serve you a lot better than a one off comment from me, gl
i think your main frustration will be that most setups focus on multiple inputs with one output. here you need multiple outputs. that might mean using built in sound for the two 50s with a speaker setup for the projector, or it might mean some sort of switcher.
If you keep an eye on this sub there has been a couple of decent sales on the BenQ w1070. Currently only $672 on Amazon. It should do what you want and at 1080p.
http://www.amazon.com/BenQ-W1070-1080P-Theater-Projector/dp/B00A2T6X0K
Pfft I got a 1080p 3D Projector for 1/4 for price, I can get as many inches as I want. 100 inch is no problem if that's what I want. Just got to make the room dark.