budget home theater, built for rewatching not gaming
picked for black levels and sound, not brightness or input lag. the rewatch tax on a good projector is real
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1
BenQ TH575
black levels beat everything else i tried under $500, RTINGS backs that up too
2
Sonos Ray
replaced a first-gen Vizio bar that finally died after six years
3
NexiGo PJ40 Pro
keep this one as the travel/airbnb backup, not the main setup
4
100" fixed frame projector screen
5
blackout curtains
cheap ones from ikea. doesn't need to be fancy, just needs to be dark
6
Apple TV 4K
7
ceiling projector mount
cost more than the projector's own mount kit was worth skipping
8
Monoprice HDMI 2.1 cable
9
surge protector
10
cheap HDMI switch
so i'm not crawling behind the tv every time i swap inputs
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