My Sanyo PLV-70 Home Theater
by Ben Buie

This is the home theater setup I put together for my parents' new house.I am 29 and an IT Consultant, but for their Christmas present this pastyear I decided I would research and design for them the ultimate hometheater for under $10,000.00 Luckily I didn't have to buy the equipment:)

Here is the setup:

  • Sanyo PLV-70 projector (ceiling mounted about 16' from the screen)
  • DaLite Cinema Contour Screen w/ High Contrast Da-Mat fabric and Pro-Trim finish
  • 100" diagonal
  • Denon AVR-3803 AV receiver
  • Panasonic RP91k DVD player
  • Dish Network 6000U HDTV receiver w/ 8vsb module
  • Home Theater Master MX-500 remote
  • Polk Audio RM6700 speakers (center + L/R + surrounds)
  • Velodyne CHT-12 subwoofer

I attached some pictures (I am not a photographer, forgive me).

I must say this combo has worked amazingly for my parents. The goal wasto be able to watch ALL of their TV (from plain Dish Network to HDTV toDVDs, etc.) on this thing with little or no degradation during daytimeviewing.

They watch about 10 hours or more of TV on this system per day.Starting with FoxNews in the morning to some great DVDs (Fellowship ofthe Ring is their latest) and plenty of HDTV (they get CBSHD out of NewYork in addition to Discovery HD, HBO HD, Showtime HD, and some golf andNBA in HD on the HDEVT channel).

Anyone who has an ambient light issue or who just wants the best picturepossible for around $5,000.00 must look into this project/screen combo.It won't overcome any amount of ambient light, but in low-light it isalmost as good as other projectors in complete darkness. The bottomline is that in their environment (low ceilings, only closing the blindsclosest to the projector) they can watch TV on it even during thebrightest days.

The screen makes a HUGE difference (especially during the day).Specifically, the screen border. Spend the extra money for the Pro-Trimfinish, this big black border with a light-absorbing fabric makes thepicture seem brighter because it is perfectly framed. Also, the greyscreen material makes the side-bars during 4:3 material almostinvisible.

Of course, at night this thing is as close to being there as you canget. The scaler on the Sanyo PLV-70 is something to behold, even crappyDish Network looks pretty dang good (although fuzzy at times). HDTV islike looking through a window.

Those looking for a simply amazing sound system on a relatively tightbudget should look into this speaker combo. The Velodyne CHT-12 is anamazing 12" subwoofer, and combined with the great Polks this systemrocks. Don't even think about looking at a Bose system before listeningto this combo. The Polks are very small (see picture), so they will sitwell with the wife.

The automated controls (zoom, focus, lens-shift, keystone) are a godsendon the PLV-70. Notice in the pictures that the projector is completelyflush-mounted to the ceiling, this would have been impossible withoutthe vertical lens-shift.

The Home Theater Master MX-500 remote (around $100 street) is a greatthing if you want one remote to control the entire system and you wantto be able to do most things with a press of the button (turn the entiresystem on or off, change sources, etc.).

I did a ton of research before picking these components, so anyone whohas similar constraints ($10k budget, ambient light problems, systemshouldn't overtake the room, amazing video quality on a variety ofsources, must be easy to use) should take a look at these items.

Picture Notes:

All pictures were taken during the daytime with the blinds closed.However, there is still a good deal of ambient light coming in from thelake room (composed of all windows) and the bedroom area. No flash wasused for the screen picture.

The side-view shows how the system blends in with the room.

Side View

The front-view (really a front to back view) shows a closer picture ofhow the projector and surround speakers were installed.

Front View

The screen shot is of the Dish Network HD demo channel; I did not freezeframe the picture first, so there is a little motion-blur. Notice howbright the picture is even with ambient light coming in through theblinds (enough ambient light to cast light onto the left side of thecabinets and to the books on the coffee table, and create reflections onthe cabinet smoke-glass doors).

Screen Shot

All the equipment is installed in the smoke-glass cabinets below thescreen, and a great deal of effort was taken to make the speakers andscreen part of the décor.

Finally, the review of the Sanyo PLV-70 on this website was a HUGEfactor in choosing what projector to go with. Your unbiased reviewcombined with other reviews, comments from owners, and finally a demosealed the deal. Thanks for helping us choose a great projector!

For more detailed specifications and connections, check out our Sanyo PLV-70 projector page.