I would really appreciate if some one out there could tell me if I am getting royally screwed. I have just purchased a new home that is pre wired for surrond sound in the family room and wired for I guess tv the rest of the house. I am getting a 50" TV and surround sound in the family room a 42" in the bedroom (no audio) and then installation of a small tv in kitchen and one small tv in the bath room. The Kitchen and batroom were not wired but the family room and bed room is wired. All wires I guess end up in a hall way closet that they will have a rack. I got a bid of 16K for the complete job delivered with the equipment you see below. Any help or input would be greatly appreciated. I deleted a whole bunch of wires and little items from the list.

Family Room
1 50-inch Plasma TVHitachi P-50T501 50-inch 1080i Plasma HDTV
1 Ultra Thin Wall Mount PDR- PDM-110T Ultra thin adjustable universal wall mount, fits Plasmas from 37 to 55 inches.
4 In-ceiling Pivoting Speaker Spk. Craft AIM-2
White- Flush Mounting Amiable Speaker
1 In-ceiling Pivoting Speaker Spk. Craft AIM-3
White- Flush Pivoting, Directional Speaker
1 125 Watt Subwoofer Spk. Craft BassX
125 Watt Powered Subwoofer, apx. 12" square, comes in Black
1 In-ceiling Rear Surround Speaker Boston VRI585-T2
Dual Tweeter Diffused Surround Speaker
1 5.1Audio-Video Receiver Integra DTR-4.6
115 watt x 5 channel Audio-Video Receiver w/ slot for XM card.
1 DVD Player Denon DVD-1720
Single Disc DVD Player
1 Surface Mount IR Receiver Elan IRS2B
Standard Surface Mount IR Receiver
1 Power Supply Elan PWR-2
Plug in 110 V to 12 VDC Power Supply
1 IR Terminal IR Amplified
Amplified 4 port Infrared Terminal Block
1 Dual Head Flasher IR Flasher Dual- 2
Dual Head Infrared Flasher
1 Heat Exhaust System Act. Therm. Cool
Active Thermal Management Fan System, Designed to quietly pull heat from Cabinets or Closets



Master Bedroom
1 42-inch HDTV Plasma TV Hitachi P42T501
42-inch High Def Plasma TV
1 Ultra Thin Wall Mount PDR- PDM-110T
Ultra thin adjustable universal wall mount, fits Plasmas from 37 to 55 inches.
1 Component Video Interconnect Western Hi-Res
Pre-wire for remote connection to HDTV Display
1 Surface Mount IR Receiver Elan IRS2B
Standard Surface Mount IR Receiver
1 Power Supply Elan PWR-2
Plug in 110 V to 12 VDC Power Supply
1 IR Terminal IR Amplified
Amplified 4 port Infrared Terminal Block
1 Dual Head Flasher IR Flasher Dual- 2
Dual Head Infrared Flasher
1 Low Level Input Connection Western LLIP
Outlet for Un-balances audio input


Kitchen
1 15-inch high performance TV Sharp LC15S5US
15-inch flat panel LCD TV with speakers across bottom
1 Surface Mount IR Receiver Elan IRS2B
Standard Surface Mount IR Receiver
1 Power Supply Elan PWR-2
Plug in 110 V to 12 VDC Power Supply
1 IR Terminal IR Amplified
Amplified 4 port Infrared Terminal Block
1 Dual Head Flasher IR Flasher Dual- 2
Dual Head Infrared Flasher
1 Satellite TV Outlet Western STVO
Satellite TV Outlet w/ Telephone Connection

Master Bath
1 15-inch high performance TV Sharp LC15S5US
15-inch flat panel LCD TV with speakers across bottom
1 Wall Bracket Peerless DLT-100
Tilting wall bracket for TVs 13" to 20"
1 Swing Out Mount Peerless SA-730-
Universal Swing Out Mount
1 AC Power Outlet Western AC Outlet
110 Volt AC Power Outlet
1 Surface Mount IR Receiver Elan IRS2B
Standard Surface Mount IR Receiver
1 Power Supply Elan PWR-2
Plug in 110 V to 12 VDC Power Supply
1 IR Terminal IR Amplified
Amplified 4 port Infrared Terminal Block
1 Dual Head Flasher IR Flasher Dual- 2
Dual Head Infrared Flasher
Area Total $1,082.00

Equipment Room
1 Wall Mounted Rack Atlas Sound
Wall Mounted 19 Inch Cabinet for Electronic Equipment
3 Rack Shelf Atlas Sound SH-
19 In. Venter Rack Shelf

 

Hard to say because without me spending the next 18 hours pricing out all those pieces there is no way to know what they are charging for labor AND if the equipment prices are reasonable. Did they break the quote out for you??? If so post it.

 

I did a little price check online and the equipment are no more than maximum7 to 8K so that lives another 8 to 9K for the rest.

 

you should definitely consider 1080p over 1080i.....

 

Can you please tell me why? I really appreciate it.

 

replied to your PM.

 

Yeah, that Hitachi P-50T501 is pretty mediocre. I'd skip that one.

 

what's up with all the ir receivers? are you going to be changing channels from around a corner or miles away? also, the 15" tvs in the kitchen and bathroom are pretty small. i have 23's in my master and kitchen and a 19" in the kids' bathroom. i would also guess the 15" is 4:3 rather than 16:9.

 

+1.
In my kitchen i went with 23" also. 15-19" is just too small no matter where you mount it...

 

I don't think 1080i plasma's exist. Make sure it's either 720p or 1080p... plasma's are all progressive screen AFAIK.

GL!
PS, I would spend a week getting all that stuff myself, and quote a couple people for the job, plain & simple.

 

Hitachi's are not that great, they have relatively poor black levels. If you are doing a new home you want to get better TVs.

I would foget about getting a 1080p set. For a 50" set and a 42" set getting 1080p is almost worthless unless you plan on standing right up at the TV to watch it. 720p (what your guy is calling 1080i) is perfectly fine for 50" and 42" sets.

If I had to spec equipment I would get a Panasonic or Pioneer 50" and 42" set. You can get those two for dirt cheap these days, like around $3k for both!

 

If you can, make sure you get 1080p not 1080i.
1080p is true High Definition and you won't regret spending the extra bit to make sure you are up to speed on equipment. All HD players (blu-ray, HDDVD) require 1080P for true HD.

As for TV's look at the Sharp Aquos series, they are the best in the industry right now (bang for your buck).

As for audio equipment, if you are a true audiophile then you would look at some nice stuff, but for general purpose, heart thumping sound for movies and general listening, almost any unit will do these days. If you can go with THX certified.

Speakers again like the above paragraph. And it all depends if you are flush mounting them, or having them visible.

It sounds to me like this will be a sweet setup. Good luck with the install.

 

It seems all the gear will be in the closet and thus why you have so many IR repeaters? It's clean that way, but means putting a DVD in will be a little bit of a pain.

Also, consider small speakers that hang on the wall. They will sound a lot better for less money. You'll get more for your money.