Quick Review of AWOL Theater 3500X Plus (With Station)

[Dave_K]

Great quality, but trickier than expected to set up.
I found it a bit surprising that each component in this package came with its own, separate instruction manual, and its own, different looking (and working) remote control. I would have appreciated a "Quick Start" guide that covered all four crates of stuff instead of having to watch, pause, rewind and re-watch YouTube videos with a magnifying glass on my phone to help optimize the picture and sound during setup, The 3500X projector and Cinematic+ floor-rising screen are by far the best parts of this system. The picture is truly outstanding. The "Station" is definitely a great convenience- but it does not totally eliminate all manual projector to screen alignment steps as I hoped. The ThunderBeat speakers sound fine for "wireless" speakers that are clearly designed for convenience and quick setup over optimal sound quality. Unfortunately, the projector's built-in speaker used for the center channel is not tonally matched to the other ThunderBeat speakers. And I could not find any comprehensive tone, volume or delay/distance compensation settings for individual speakers. But I really wasn't expecting these in the ThunderBeat system anyway. If you've never experienced an excellent high end home theatre surround sound setup before, you will likely be impressed by this ThunderBeat system. In my case, I bought it for the wireless, plug and play convenience. Don't get me wrong, the sound is pretty darn good- just not high end.

 

[Family man]

Definitely agree on the setup, it shouldn't take a small research team and a flashlight just to get picture and sound dialed in and this separate manuals and remotes for each piece? that's just lazy packaging. A Quick Start guide that covers the full bundle should be the bare minimum.
Glad to hear the 3500X and the Cinematic+ screen pull their weight, man that's the kind of quality you expect when dropping serious money.

 

[HardwellHard]

Good effort, totally get how frustrating juggling multiple manuals and remotes can be. The picture sounds amazing, but the speaker mismatch and lack of fine tuning options must be annoying.Tho, when you mention manual projector-to-screen alignment steps, is that mostly about positioning the projector or is there more to it??

 

[B3amM3Up]

It sounds like you've got a fantastic setup, even if it comes with a few headaches. Juggling multiple manuals and different remotes can really make things tricky! Yeah me too, I'm glad to hear that the 3500X and Cinematic+ screen are performing well. Have you thought about using a universal remote or maybe an app to make managing all of that easier?

 

[croissant-vanilla235]

Four crates and four remotes sounds like a puzzle! Did you end up labeling the remotes or using a universal one to make things easier? Also, are you planning to tweak the speaker setup later or just rolling with it for now?

 

[theStoned]

Good effort, totally get how frustrating juggling multiple manuals and remotes can be. The picture sounds amazing, but the speaker mismatch and lack of fine tuning options must be annoying.Tho, when you mention manual projector-to-screen alignment steps, is that mostly about positioning the projector or is there more to it??

The manual alignment i think is mostly about physically positioning the projector... distance, height, and angle, to line up perfectly with the screen. The Station helps, but it doesn't handle the fine adjustments automatically, so some manual tweaking is still needed.

 

[OHP]

Great quality, but trickier than expected to set up.
I found it a bit surprising that each component in this package came with its own, separate instruction manual, and its own, different looking (and working) remote control. I would have appreciated a "Quick Start" guide that covered all four crates of stuff instead of having to watch, pause, rewind and re-watch YouTube videos with a magnifying glass on my phone to help optimize the picture and sound during setup, The 3500X projector and Cinematic+ floor-rising screen are by far the best parts of this system. The picture is truly outstanding. The "Station" is definitely a great convenience- but it does not totally eliminate all manual projector to screen alignment steps as I hoped. The ThunderBeat speakers sound fine for "wireless" speakers that are clearly designed for convenience and quick setup over optimal sound quality. Unfortunately, the projector's built-in speaker used for the center channel is not tonally matched to the other ThunderBeat speakers. And I could not find any comprehensive tone, volume or delay/distance compensation settings for individual speakers. But I really wasn't expecting these in the ThunderBeat system anyway. If you've never experienced an excellent high end home theatre surround sound setup before, you will likely be impressed by this ThunderBeat system. In my case, I bought it for the wireless, plug and play convenience. Don't get me wrong, the sound is pretty darn good- just not high end.

Btw before anything, I loved reading this review. Very comprehensive and informative. But four crates and a pile of remotes sounds like way too much for a "plug and play" setup. I'm really glad to hear the image quality made up for it though. I get why you went for wireless, but yeah, sometimes convenience trades off that final bit of finesse. Hopefully future updates make it all easier to fine-tune.

 

[Dave_K]

Good effort, totally get how frustrating juggling multiple manuals and remotes can be. The picture sounds amazing, but the speaker mismatch and lack of fine tuning options must be annoying.Tho, when you mention manual projector-to-screen alignment steps, is that mostly about positioning the projector or is there more to it??

Yes, even though the projector fits pretty snugly into the Station, I still had to wiggle the projector a bit in order to center the picture on the screen and minimize keystoning. Undoubtedly the Station made this much easier than it would have been without. But I guess I was expecting a miracle. I'd still rate overall performance of the system as outstanding.

 

[screensceneg33k]

I had a Buddy who set up a similar system last winter. It was a bit of a mess, with remotes and manuals all over the place. Eventually, he got fed up and just put labels on each remote. But the picture quality was amazing, so in the end, it was definitely worth the trouble.

 

[LightBeam]

You know, it's interesting how complex setups can sometimes make things a bit messy. Sure, they can deliver amazing performance, but you might find yourself yearning for a bit of simplicity. Still, when the image quality is top-notch, all the extra hassle can really feel worth it. It's like you're trading some clutter for a stunning view, and that can definitely make the effort feel justified

 

[Hambletons]

Thanks for sharing! Quick question, can you hear the fan during quiet parts of a movie? And is there any way to fix the sound delay between speakers, even if it's not part of the ThunderBeat system? I'm aiming for a simple setup with good sound.

 

[Dave_K]

The fan is extremely quiet to my ears. Not a distraction at all.

I cannot find any menu settings for adjusting delay between speakers.

 

[hometheatreVV]

I’m trying to get a feel for what people in London are running in terms of higher-end projector setups, especially UST or laser models.
Has anyone here got something like a Hisense PX3 Pro, LG HU915QB, Sony XW5000ES, AWOL, Epson QS100, or anything similar?
Would be great to hear how you’re finding it day to day, like how is the picture quality, brightness, setup, noise, all that. Also curious how it compares to just sticking with a big TV.

 

[hometheatreVV]

I’m trying to get a feel for what people in London are running in terms of higher-end projector setups, especially UST or laser models.
Has anyone here got something like a Hisense PX3 Pro, LG HU915QB, Sony XW5000ES, AWOL, Epson QS100, or anything similar?
Would be great to hear how you’re finding it day to day, like how is the picture quality, brightness, setup, noise, all that. Also, curious how it compares to just sticking with a big TV.

 

[Malia Stiles]

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