Home Audio Gurus...

faziwazi

Member
Jul 7, 2003
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hey guys, the time has come to buy a receiver for my parent's new house. basically, theyve prewired for 7 speakers (5 in the great room and 1 speaker each in both of the halls), so i need to get them a receiver to handle all these speakers. i was thinking to get a 7.1 system with at least 700 watts. i need some advice on what to get and what not to get. need input also. my parents are willing to pay no more than 600 dollars. any suggestions would be great!
 

v3rrv3

Golden Member
May 26, 2002
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For something good it'll be very hard to find a 7.1 receiver with 700w for under 600 dollars from what I've seen
 

faziwazi

Member
Jul 7, 2003
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Originally posted by: AgaBooga
So this is just for audio in general, not like a home theater, right?

Sorry for the misunderstanding.. but they need it is a home theater. theyll be hooking up many devices to it
 

AgaBoogaBoo

Lifer
Feb 16, 2003
26,108
5
81
Originally posted by: faziwazi
Originally posted by: AgaBooga
So this is just for audio in general, not like a home theater, right?

Sorry for the misunderstanding.. but they need it is a home theater. theyll be hooking up many devices to it

So they want to do a home theater out of it? 7.1 with only 5 speakers wired in the great room? Or are they gonna run over to the other speakers in other rooms to get more effects?

Are those other two going to be seperate from the 5.1 setup (I assume 5.1 since you've wired for those 5)

What about just doing a 5.1 setup in the great room and getting another cheapy receiver for the other two speakers?
 

faziwazi

Member
Jul 7, 2003
131
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[/quote]

So they want to do a home theater out of it? 7.1 with only 5 speakers wired in the great room? Or are they gonna run over to the other speakers in other rooms to get more effects?

Are those other two going to be seperate from the 5.1 setup (I assume 5.1 since you've wired for those 5)

What about just doing a 5.1 setup in the great room and getting another cheapy receiver for the other two speakers?[/quote]

What they want is the 5 speakers in the great room to be as a 5.1 setup and the other 2 speakers(have their own volume control) to output sound as if they were on their own. They dont want 2 receivers because itll become too cluttered.
 

v3rrv3

Golden Member
May 26, 2002
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I looked a few places and the only brand I saw that could fit the price rang was Sony. Closest other wise was a refurbished Onkyo receiver.

- Kevin
 

EngenZerO

Diamond Member
Dec 24, 2001
5,099
2
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The new Yamaha AVR2400 seems to be an awesome reciever, if that is too expensive look @ the AVR1400, also dont diss HK or Pioneer Elite. I think Denon and Onkyo sonic sounds are too harsh, but if you like that try them out.

 

jdini76

Platinum Member
Mar 16, 2001
2,468
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0
unless you plan to use all 7 speakers in the family room, a 7.1 speaker receiver will be a waste of money andwon't really work the way you want. Almost all of the receivers today have A/B switches so music can be moved to two sets of speakers. I recommend buy a reciever that will fall within your budget, it will definatly be able to acomidate you multiple room speaker set up.
 

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
81
I think it's a waste of money. Get an old stereo receiver (like the natural wood Yamaha ones, they're pretty good :D), used, if need be. Then you can get a cheaper 5.1 receiver for the HT room.
 

T2T III

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
12,899
1
0
Originally posted by: faziwazi

So they want to do a home theater out of it? 7.1 with only 5 speakers wired in the great room? Or are they gonna run over to the other speakers in other rooms to get more effects?

Are those other two going to be seperate from the 5.1 setup (I assume 5.1 since you've wired for those 5)

What about just doing a 5.1 setup in the great room and getting another cheapy receiver for the other two speakers?[/quote]

What they want is the 5 speakers in the great room to be as a 5.1 setup and the other 2 speakers(have their own volume control) to output sound as if they were on their own. They dont want 2 receivers because itll become too cluttered.[/quote]

Go for the Harman Kardon AVR-525. It has 7 amplified channels @ 70 watts per channel. You can use 5 channels for your theater area and use the 2 extra channels for filler music or general listening in the areas where the 2 extra speakers are placed. The H/K includes a separate remote for controlling the "2nd zone" too. You should be able to find one for under $600 - and, H/K is "honest" when it comes to their power ratings.

 

T2T III

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
12,899
1
0
Originally posted by: jdini76
unless you plan to use all 7 speakers in the family room, a 7.1 speaker receiver will be a waste of money andwon't really work the way you want. Almost all of the receivers today have A/B switches so music can be moved to two sets of speakers. I recommend buy a reciever that will fall within your budget, it will definatly be able to acomidate you multiple room speaker set up.

The "A/B" switch is not designed for this purpose. The A and the B are designed for 2 sets of front speakers and you can control the sound going to either pair. Sending music to a second zone was not the intent of A/B. Plus, if you set the speakers in the halls up as "B" - the sub and surround speakers in the room might still play if you have some processing such as Dolby Pro Logic II turned on at the time.

Go for a 7 channel receiver -- one that has 2 channels dedicated to a multi-room setup. I've owned 5 receivers over the past 2 years - believe me, it's been a hassle, but I'm happy with the H/K now. :)

 

Nutdotnet

Diamond Member
Dec 5, 2000
7,721
3
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Honestly, I think the only way they are going to find exactly what they want is with two receivers.
 

T2T III

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
12,899
1
0
Originally posted by: Nutdotnet
Honestly, I think the only way they are going to find exactly what they want is with two receivers.

Why do you say that? I'm doing it now with one receiver and one DVD/CD/MP3 player. Couldn't be happier. And since I could do what I wanted with "1" receiver, I bought a much better receiver than I would have gotten had I neede two receivers.

 

jdini76

Platinum Member
Mar 16, 2001
2,468
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Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech
Originally posted by: jdini76
unless you plan to use all 7 speakers in the family room, a 7.1 speaker receiver will be a waste of money andwon't really work the way you want. Almost all of the receivers today have A/B switches so music can be moved to two sets of speakers. I recommend buy a reciever that will fall within your budget, it will definatly be able to acomidate you multiple room speaker set up.

The "A/B" switch is not designed for this purpose. The A and the B are designed for 2 sets of front speakers and you can control the sound going to either pair. Sending music to a second zone was not the intent of A/B. Plus, if you set the speakers in the halls up as "B" - the sub and surround speakers in the room might still play if you have some processing such as Dolby Pro Logic II turned on at the time.

Go for a 7 channel receiver -- one that has 2 channels dedicated to a multi-room setup. I've owned 5 receivers over the past 2 years - believe me, it's been a hassle, but I'm happy with the H/K now. :)

i don't understand why you would want to set up 2 sets of front speakers that will be placed in the same room. if th second set of speakers are going to be placed in a hall i would imagine its only going to be used as background music, and if for anything else they would have their own built in sub. does it really matter if there is music playing in the other speakers in the "great room"
 

xchangx

Golden Member
Mar 23, 2000
1,692
1
71
My parents have a setup kind of like this. They have speakers setup through-out the house. What you want is a reciever and another gizmo that splits your audio... I got one for their store at radio shack, basically, you have one input and 4 outputs (or 8 outputs). There are buttons in the front that allow you to turn off a speaker if you want.

 

T2T III

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
12,899
1
0
Originally posted by: jdini76
Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech
Originally posted by: jdini76
unless you plan to use all 7 speakers in the family room, a 7.1 speaker receiver will be a waste of money andwon't really work the way you want. Almost all of the receivers today have A/B switches so music can be moved to two sets of speakers. I recommend buy a reciever that will fall within your budget, it will definatly be able to acomidate you multiple room speaker set up.

The "A/B" switch is not designed for this purpose. The A and the B are designed for 2 sets of front speakers and you can control the sound going to either pair. Sending music to a second zone was not the intent of A/B. Plus, if you set the speakers in the halls up as "B" - the sub and surround speakers in the room might still play if you have some processing such as Dolby Pro Logic II turned on at the time.

Go for a 7 channel receiver -- one that has 2 channels dedicated to a multi-room setup. I've owned 5 receivers over the past 2 years - believe me, it's been a hassle, but I'm happy with the H/K now. :)

i don't understand why you would want to set up 2 sets of front speakers that will be placed in the same room. if th second set of speakers are going to be placed in a hall i would imagine its only going to be used as background music, and if for anything else they would have their own built in sub. does it really matter if there is music playing in the other speakers in the "great room"

It might really matter if someone is watching TV in the great room and someone is doing laundry in the hall area and wants to listen to FM radio. Having the source playing in both environments can be quite cumbersome.
 

jdini76

Platinum Member
Mar 16, 2001
2,468
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Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech
Originally posted by: jdini76
Originally posted by: Tiles2Tech
Originally posted by: jdini76
unless you plan to use all 7 speakers in the family room, a 7.1 speaker receiver will be a waste of money andwon't really work the way you want. Almost all of the receivers today have A/B switches so music can be moved to two sets of speakers. I recommend buy a reciever that will fall within your budget, it will definatly be able to acomidate you multiple room speaker set up.

The "A/B" switch is not designed for this purpose. The A and the B are designed for 2 sets of front speakers and you can control the sound going to either pair. Sending music to a second zone was not the intent of A/B. Plus, if you set the speakers in the halls up as "B" - the sub and surround speakers in the room might still play if you have some processing such as Dolby Pro Logic II turned on at the time.

Go for a 7 channel receiver -- one that has 2 channels dedicated to a multi-room setup. I've owned 5 receivers over the past 2 years - believe me, it's been a hassle, but I'm happy with the H/K now. :)

i don't understand why you would want to set up 2 sets of front speakers that will be placed in the same room. if th second set of speakers are going to be placed in a hall i would imagine its only going to be used as background music, and if for anything else they would have their own built in sub. does it really matter if there is music playing in the other speakers in the "great room"

It might really matter if someone is watching TV in the great room and someone is doing laundry in the hall area and wants to listen to FM radio. Having the source playing in both environments can be quite cumbersome.


I didn't realize there were receivers that could play multiple sources at the same time.