Considering a 2.1 or 3.1 system - recommendations requested

[Sho'Nuff]

Hi all:

I am starting to get more and more into home theater, and am looking to build a decent starter/mid range 2.1 or 3.1 set for my home. I already have a pretty decent TV (a 65" Samsung UN65HU900F), which I currently have paired with a Sony ST5 soundbar and its associated powered sub..

I absolutely love the TV, but I have been quite disappointed with the soundbar. Frequently I find the mixing on the soundbar to be very, very bad. E.g., voices are very quiet or muddled whereas the music is loud as hell, the audio in general is very quiet (no - I'm not deaf), etc. but occasionally the sound is great (e.g., the sound in Star Wars Force awakens sounds awesome on the ST5). Anyway, the inconsistent sound quality is getting very annoying, so I am looking to do away with the soundbar and move into a more traditional home theater setup.

I am not interested in buying surrounds yet (still trying to work out how they would be placed in my theater, which has some interesting design challenges), and I am looking more specifically at a 2.1 stereo system, or a 3.1.

My total budget (for speakers and receiver) is $3000-3500.

That said, I am strongly considering the new Definitive Technologies BP 9000 series. Specifically the:
BP9040 - $900 each; integrated powered 8" sub with bass radiator http://www.definitivetech.com/products/BP9040; or

BP9060 - $1100 each; integrated powered 10" sub
http://www.definitivetech.com/products/BP9060.

I like the BP9040 and 9060 because they sound good (to me), have integrated subs (which also sound good to me), and because they can be upgraded to support Dolby Atmos. The cheaper BP9020 sound alright too but the low end isn't there and they would need a separate sub.

In the case of the 3.1 system, I would pair the floor standing speakers above with relevant definitive techs center channel, specifically the:

CS9040 - $499 - 8" bass radiator (not a sub) http://www.definitivetech.com/products/CS9040; or

CS9060 - $699 - 8" powered sub http://www.definitivetech.com/products/CS9060;

If I went with the 9060 line, the total for speakers would be $2900, leaving $600 for a receiver.

If I went with the 9040 line, the total for speakers would be $2300, leaving up to $1200 for a receiver.

For the receiver I am considering:

Denon AVR X2300AVW - $799
https://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR-X2...eivers&refinements=p_89:Denon|Pioneer|Marantz

or the slightly less powerful Denon AVRX1300W - $599
https://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR-X1...eivers&refinements=p_89:Denon|Pioneer|Marantz

Thoughts/Recommendations? I like the speakers and am fairly confident that they would be a nice choice for my house, but I am open to other brands to consider. I also know very little about receivers so any help on choosing one would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[exar333]

I would go 9060. You likely will upgrade the receivers more often than the speakers.

Note: I went with something similar when I got my L/R Mythos STS/Mythos 9 (C) + $500 receiver. I liked it a LOT but did add a dedicated sub after a while (it was worth it).

Going with the better speakers gives you more flexibility down the road (updated receivers and sep sub).

 

[mdram]

i would forget towers with a built in sub and just get good towers and a good sub

the placement for the towers may not be ideal for the sub

 

[boomhower]

I agree with mdram and would skip the powered towers. I'd take a look at Ascend acoustics. A front stage of 340's with a nice sub. Take a look at HSU, PSA, SVS and Rhythmic. If you get the matching stands for the speakers you'd be right at $1k. Spend another $1k on the sub.

 

[MongGrel]

Pretty much anything I'd say has been, I'd stick with a separate sub and good speakers, your receiver will evolve more over time than the speakers, probably.

I'd go 3.1 with a lower priced AVR, you can always upgrade the receiver and or add satellite speakers later if you desire to.

My center speaker is the most important one in my 7.2 as far as I'm concerned, though it's not high end. Just an Andrew Jones Pioneer from a few years ago. Still have some speakers from 30 years ago in the setup.

The ELAC line is supposed to be pretty nice since Andrew Jones migrated there, it isn't highly priced but has gotten good reviews and might be worth looking at.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...D3E0871E69748C1F2608D3E08&fsscr=0&FORM=VDQVAP

$1850 for a set of 5 of those would probably be nice with a good AVR even, and then chuck in a very nice sub.

You'd have a nice 5.1 for $3500 easy.

Just the towers and the center and you could knock off $500 for a 3.1

Denon receivers have always had a good reputation, still use a cheapo Sony myself these days without a lot of bells and whistles. It's not state of the art I guess, but wth. If I had the money at the time I probably would have went with a Denon myself. But my last Sony I had had for many years died and I went with what I liked and knew more or less.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J356C0K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I agree with mdram and would skip the powered towers. I'd take a look at Ascend acoustics. A front stage of 340's with a nice sub. Take a look at HSU, PSA, SVS and Rhythmic. If you get the matching stands for the speakers you'd be right at $1k. Spend another $1k on the sub.

I'd throw EMP Tek in that list too. Posters on avs forums seem to like their towers as well. I just bought some bookshelves, center channel and 12" sub for under $1k on their scratch and dent site. Still waiting to get them and set them up. I think RBH bought them a few years ago.

 

[boomhower]

I'd throw EMP Tek in that list too. Posters on avs forums seem to like their towers as well. I just bought some bookshelves, center channel and 12" sub for under $1k on their scratch and dent site. Still waiting to get them and set them up. I think RBH bought them a few years ago.

They would be a good option as well. If you go B-Stock they are an absolute bargain. Their B-Stock sub for $400 is a hard to beat proposition for the money but with his budget I'd still go with another maker for the sub. But I am a sub nut so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[MongGrel]

They would be a good option as well. If you go B-Stock they are an absolute bargain. Their B-Stock sub for $400 is a hard to beat proposition for the money but with his budget I'd still go with another maker for the sub. But I am a sub nut so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm weird that way but so is my set up a little.

Use a separate old receiver and a couple old, pretty much bullet proof Kenwood KL-777Z speakers for dual subs ()

I can actually tweak my subs that way a bit :sneaky:

Bought the things in 1981 for about $99 bucks a piece, they still work about like the day I bought them. Still sell for over $300 bucks a pair these days.

 

[exar333]

I will maybe be a little different, but I absolutely like powered towers if you plan to add a separate sub later. Running powered towers full-range with a separate sub sounds FANTASTIC and adds a lot of lows to your L/R channels and allows your sub to focus only on lowest frequencies. This arrangement allows a lot of flexibility with your crossovers and dial-in your sound.

Edit: Running a 3.3 setup (more or less) with LCR sound-matched, powered subs for L/R (setup full range) with a nice SVS discrete sub.

 

[mdram]

with powered towers/sub system if you set them to small to divert lows to the sub are you really gaining anything?
if you leave them at large does that affect the sub output?

 

[exar333]

with powered towers/sub system if you set them to small to divert lows to the sub are you really gaining anything?
if you leave them at large does that affect the sub output?

You only need to connect the LFE to the dedicated. You set the whole tower as full-range (or small, depending on your receiver) and leverage the integrated subs down to 40hz. I set the dedicated to take everything down from 40hz to ~16hz (which is the lowest my sub goes).

Powered subs (in most towers) are not made to provide much power at frequencies below 30hz, generally. Even a dedicated sub often struggles with reproducing both VERY low frequencies and 'lower frequencies' such as 30-40hz at the same time.

I can tell you the difference in sound without the dedicated sub (both powered subs with LFE) vs. towers full-range and dedicated LFE sub vs. just towers and dedicated sub. #2 is best, #3 is second, and #1 is last.

This was a big concern to me because I absolutely do not have an ideal setup for anything 'surround' in my current downtown living area. I wanted the absolute best 3.x setup I could get....getting the STS towers for $900 for the pair was a STEAL and definitely played into that.

 

[mdram]

.getting the STS towers for $900 for the pair was a STEAL and definitely played into that.

how much? wth, i woulda done that too

 

[SithSolo1]

If you don't mind some minor blemishes, SVS has some decent mark-downs in the outlet store. You you could pick up a pair of Prime towers, a Prime center, and a PB13-Ultra for about $2800 shipped. Drop the rest on a receiver and be done.

http://www.svsound.com/collections/outlet-specials

 

[Anubis]

My total budget (for speakers and receiver) is $3000-3500

my personal recommendation if you don't mind large black rectangles is this

2 PSA MTM-210s, and a MTM 210C, ignore the rears for right now
pair it with a V1500 or V1800 and any 600$ receiver

http://www.powersoundaudio.com/

ive heard them, i owned some for a bit, they sound better then the SVS speakers IMO. i thought the prime/ultra speaker line was very disappointing for their price, the subs are top notch

and if you don't like them, they offer a 60 day trial. They are mini JTRs for the most part, will play louder and cleaner them most in their price range,

 

[exar333]

how much? wth, i woulda done that too

Crazy Best Buy Magnolia deal about 18 months ago when they discontinued carrying them. The lady working was actually annoyed because she would have bought them if she knew they had gone so cheap. Lol

 

[exar333]

If you don't mind some minor blemishes, SVS has some decent mark-downs in the outlet store. You you could pick up a pair of Prime towers, a Prime center, and a PB13-Ultra for about $2800 shipped. Drop the rest on a receiver and be done.

http://www.svsound.com/collections/outlet-specials

Nice deal for great stuff.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Going to test some more stuff.

Anyone have any experience with the old Boston Acoustics VR line? Specifically the VR965 or 975?

 

[soulcougher73]

If you don't mind some minor blemishes, SVS has some decent mark-downs in the outlet store. You you could pick up a pair of Prime towers, a Prime center, and a PB13-Ultra for about $2800 shipped. Drop the rest on a receiver and be done.

http://www.svsound.com/collections/outlet-specials

This is what i was going to recommend also. Good deal for all that.

 

[rchunter]

SVS and PSA both make great subs. I own both. I wouldn't buy speakers from them though, not that they sell bad ones i'm sure they are fine for HT use, just that I prefer others brands.

 

[giantpandaman2]

At that price point my vote goes for Ascend Acoustics towers with the ribbon upgrade or Aperion Verus Grands.

I really wouldn't worry about Atmos. Atmos has so many limitations. It only works for more than one person if you have multiple in ceiling speakers. If you plan on doing the "bouncy house" approach...well, I guess it could work if you only sit in one spot (so no guests or friends over!) and never move.

SVS makes great subs...but yeah, I wouldn't pick their speakers for a 2.1 or 3.1 setup.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Any thoughts re: the B&W 683 S2's? I tested them the other day and they sounded great.

 

[gus6464]

Speakers with subs suck. Get a separate sub. If you don't want to spend much cash on subs you can do DIY flat pack route. I have an Ultimax 18 sub which I use as a side table.

This is the sub when I was first setting everything up and testing.

I have 3 Crown XLS amps inside a closet. The only thing you can see is my Marantz receiver. I have a Panamax power strip in the closet which the subs are connected to controlled with 12v trigger from my receiver. My minidsp is also in the closet.

For my surrounds I use Magnepan MMGW. I am running phantom center right now.

Also Denon sucks. Get a refurb Marantz from accessories4less. I got my SR5010 with a 3 year warranty for $250 less than big box store.

Speakers are Spatial M4 Turbo's. They are dual 12in drivers with a coaxial mounted compression driver in an open baffle. I run them off a Crown XLS1500. Needless to say they play loud and cleanly without breaking a sweat. I will never again own a regular box speaker after these puppies.


Also if you like the Def Techs go listen to some GoldenEar Tritons. They will crush the DTs in every way and are cheaper. Better speaker than the B&W as well.
http://www.goldenear.com/products/triton-series

 

[mdram]

Also Denon sucks. Get a refurb Marantz from accessories4less. I got my SR5010 with a 3 year warranty for $250 less than big box store.

denon and marantz are the same company..............

 

[gus6464]

denon and marantz are the same company..............

That doesn't mean anything. Marantz uses beefier caps. There is a reason Marantz costs more than the equivalent Denon.

 

[mdram]

That doesn't mean anything. Marantz uses beefier caps. There is a reason Marantz costs more than the equivalent Denon.

on the lower end i may agree, but once you hit the higher end, i doubt there is much difference. caps are cheap compared to the other parts