Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Speaker / wire placement in new construction

Randy? Never.

I'd rather see pictures then have to read an equipment laundry list every other post.

Good point.

Were you wearing a red t-shirt and is that your gut in the picture?

I would love to put in a large screen front projection. However, with the amount of use that it will get watching TV, I am concerned about bulb life / cost. Dollar for dollar, front projection is the way to go. You get more screen size (all things being relatively equal).

I can tell you that watching TV, especially the local HD signals on my 720p projector is pretty jaw dropping. If warranty problems happen, I would rather send in a 10lb unit than some huge tv. Also, 3000+ hours is a lot, that is like 3 hours a day for 3 years.

Heck there are many days the tv only gets turned on for the news at night in our family. That is not really an issue.

I can afford 2-300$ every 3 years for a bulb for the experience of my own theater.

Is 3000 hours the average bulb life for FP's? How often have you had to change the bulb? How difficult is it?

Now you have me re-thinking my opinion of front proj.

Depends on the projector, all mfg's have a different spec. I know some people that have 3-4000 hrs on their bulbs. I only have about 600 hrs on my SanyoZ2 and I've had it for 3 years. It mostly is used for movie night, concert videos, and HD sporting events.

What do you do for ambient light control? How big of a factor is it (ambient light)? I will have a doorwall leading to the outside on the exterior wall and a glass door across from it on the interior wall.