Home Theater Question...couldnt find a better forum

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bNeta86

Member
May 7, 2002
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Hey all

Looking for some HT advice. I have an old Bose 2.1 system set up atm. It has the split cubes and the passive sub (which sounds pretty darn good considering how old all this stuff is).

My reciever is just as dated as the speakers and is really lagging behind my new projector setup in my living room.

Here are my thoughts - and questions.

1) Can I simply buy a new reciever - 2 new bookshelf speakers and a center chan...then use the old bose sub / cubes as my rears and then the bookshelf / centers for the front?

The way the sub hooks up the 2 cubes are run through the sub...may not be worth it and its about time for me to just buy everything new - but anyway.

I like Onkyo - heard good things...and the klipsch speakers seem nice also - but looking for opinions / buying advice.

I want the reciever to have at least 2 hopefully 3 component video inputs - with 1 output
3 S-Vid input - 1 out (2 if possible but dont know that I have ever seen that)
2 HDMI - 1
Upconvert (if you guys think this is worth it - I am undecided)
3 Optical Inputs

and a speaker system to match - really only need 5.1 - small room so 7.1 / 6.1 would just be overkill and I dontthink I would buy those speakers yet.

Would you do the HT in a box setups? the onkyo one looked decent but always been a "sets suck" kinda guy.

Hope that at least gets everything started - thanks in advance!
 
YOyoYOhowsDAjello

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,205
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AVSforum and Hometheaterforum would be good places to check for more info.

My initial thought would be to sell the current system and start with a proper set rather than trying to integrate a passive sub and dealing with the speakers not matching.

Going off your list of requirements, the 2 HDMI inputs looks like that's going to be the toughest thing to accomodate on a budget. Most budget receivers, and even a lot of $500 to $1000 receivers don't have that option.

3 component
3 s-video
2 HDMI

Do you really have 8 video sources to hook up?

An Onkyo HTIB like the refurb $350 one with DVD player in hot deals would be a good option on a tight budget, but it's going to be lacking with some of your requirements.

What kind of budget do you have?
 
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bNeta86

Member
May 7, 2002
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Budget is kinda flex...I have money - but I'm stingy.

The 2 HDMI are really for future needs I dont want to have to buy another reciever later - but realize they are kinda pricey.

That onkyo HT in a box in hot deals does seem like a no brainer - but wanted to maybe limp along buying better parts and just integrating my system and upgrading over time.

The room I display in is on an angle - and is pretty small - so I dont have room for 4 bookshelf size speakers - the rears would have to be wall mounted and I think the bose would work well back there...esp. considering they are good for that type of rear sound (at least I think so - not overpowering but clear) and they are small and mount well on the walls.

The center chan. is my most important upgrade as I need the sound to come from the screen now that its huge! and the TV used to serve this purpose but obviously is not hooked up anymore.

I would love to keep the reciever under $300 (found a nifty refurb onkyo for $150 but cant find it again lol. guess I should have jumped on it)


The speakers is where I am a real newb - but I dont listen to music much - its almost 100% for movies / TV.

 
Hyperlite

Hyperlite

Diamond Member
May 25, 2004
5,664
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Look into Ascend Acoustics and start hanging out at AVSforum. I've been there for the past month or so and have learned so much about home theater setups i can't even express it. I will soon be purchasing an ascend acoustics setup with an HSU sub and Pioneer reciever. The Ascend HTM-200's would work well for your wall mount situation.
 
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Meuge

Banned
Nov 27, 2005
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Receiver: Yamaha or Harman/Kardon

Speakers: Klipsch
Fronts: RF-25
Center: RC-25
Rear/Surround: RS-25
Subwoofer: SVS PB10ISD

That's a "budget HT"
 
M

Meuge

Banned
Nov 27, 2005
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P.S. Stay the hell away from the likes of Onkyo, and the rest of mass-market junk. Pretty much anything you can buy at CircuitCity is unacceptably bad.
 
YOyoYOhowsDAjello

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,205
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Ecost has some refurb onkyo receivers for around $150. Maybe you were thinking of one of them?

Like this one http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=476907

That's basically the receiver that would come with the Onkyo 780 set. CC has the 7.1 set for under $400 AR now new from their site if you want to check that out.

I'm thinking the bose might be worth more if you sold it vs using them for surround duty.
There are lots of options for wall mounted speakers like the Ascends Hyperlite mentioned.

HK matches really well with Ascend speakers. You could get a refurb from the seller harmanaudio off ebay to complement the Ascends if you go that route. For a 5.1 Ascend set you're probably looking at about $1300-ish though, not exactly the same ballpark as the Onkyo HTIB set.

The Ascend 170s are pretty universally liked though. Three of those for the front speakers, a HK from last year's model off ebay, and a nice HSU or SVS would be a great start.
 
S

spc hink

Golden Member
Jun 13, 2005
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From what I came to understand, HDMI has a way to go until it is worth purchasing. Even if you get HDMI now it won't be at its full potential and you will have an urge to upgrade your reciever to one with more matured HDMI technology. I would get a cheap reciever like the xr-55 and wait a bit till HDMI has gone down in price and got better. I am a newb at HT, but this is what I gathered from lurking on AVSforum.
 
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bNeta86

Member
May 7, 2002
176
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Ohh....and for video sources -

Xbox
DVD
HD Directv
Tivo
VCR
Gamecube
SNES (not a big deal)
camcorder
computer


 
YOyoYOhowsDAjello

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,205
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Originally posted by: bNeta86
great info guys - trying to read up on these speaker options. keep it coming ;-)
Click to expand...

If Ascend seems like it might be in your pricerange, you might want to browse through the thread I made when I was looking for opinions.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...hreadid=1607826&enterthread=y&arctab=y

My pricerange was roughly in that area.

Axiom
Aperion
B&W
Paradigm
Rockets
Klipsch
Infinity
etc.

It would be a good idea to go out and listen to some stuff to see what appeals to you.
Something like Ascend has a neutral sound that would be a good bet.
Something like Axiom or Klipsch would have a brighter sound.
Some Rockets are more laid back.

You can research for a year, but in the end it really comes down to hearing stuff in person.
A lot of these online companies have great trial periods where you can demo speakers in your home and then if you don't like them, send them back and only lose shipping (the costs will vary by company, some even cover shipping both ways to have you do a demo like Aperion Audio).

Ordering a pair of bookshelf speakers from a few companies to demo and keeping the ones you like the best might be a good idea for you. Then return the rejects and build up a system based on the ones you liked.
 
YOyoYOhowsDAjello

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,205
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91
Originally posted by: bNeta86
Ohh....and for video sources -

Xbox
DVD
HD Directv
Tivo
VCR
Gamecube
SNES (not a big deal)
camcorder
computer
Click to expand...

Do I have this right?

Xbox - component
DVD - component
HD Directv - component
Tivo - component
VCR - composite
Gamecube - component
SNES (not a big deal) - composite
camcorder - composite / s-video
computer - component / s-video / DVI

Looks like you have a lot of component sources.
Like you seem to know above, most receivers have 2 or 3 component inputs.

Looks like you'd want 5 or 6 ideally?
You might want to get a component input switch in addition to the receiver's inputs if you don't want to manually be switching inputs a lot.


 
B

bNeta86

Member
May 7, 2002
176
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0
Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Originally posted by: bNeta86
Ohh....and for video sources -

Xbox
DVD
HD Directv
Tivo
VCR
Gamecube
SNES (not a big deal)
camcorder
computer
Click to expand...

Do I have this right?

Xbox - component
DVD - component
HD Directv - component
Tivo - component
VCR - composite
Gamecube - component
SNES (not a big deal) - composite
camcorder - composite / s-video
computer - component / s-video / DVI

Looks like you have a lot of component sources.
Like you seem to know above, most receivers have 2 or 3 component inputs.

Looks like you'd want 5 or 6 ideally?
You might want to get a component input switch in addition to the receiver's inputs if you don't want to manually be switching inputs a lot.
Click to expand...

Xbox - component
DVD - component
HD Directv - component
Tivo - s-vid (doesnt really improve much in component)
VCR - composite
Gamecube - composite (its just a gamecube;-)
SNES (not a big deal) - composite
camcorder - s-video
computer - s-video (atm)

 
YOyoYOhowsDAjello

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,205
45
91
Alright, my gf's brother has a gamecube and I could have sworn it had component output on it.

3 component inputs is much more do-able :)

Something like an Onkyo 503
( $205 after rebate right now :thumbsup: )

Panasonic XR55 also has 3 component inputs according to CC and is another good one in the range.


 
P

Pyroclazm

Senior member
Oct 21, 1999
693
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0
1070

I guess they no longer carry any of the older models, I currently own a 1050 and it's an amazing reciever.
 
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