Home theater system recommendation

[imported_LaP]

I just bought a Samsung HT-TX75 HTIB and i'm really dissapointed. I will return it to the store this week and get a new home theater. I decided to go for an A/V receiver and a 5.1 speakers system. For the DVD reader i will buy a HD-DVD reader or Blu-Ray reader this fall or next year.

I searched the web for informations but all audio web sites i foundreview 3000$ pro systems only or system not generally avalaible in Canada. I don't have this kind of money to spend on a home theater and i don't want to drive 10 000 Km to find a little niche pro audio shop in north Alberta that have this shiny ellistic 5.1 pro audio system that doesn't really sound better anyway.

Here what i want

-Budget 1200$ CAD Max for the A/V receiver and speakers.
- Good audio quality for stereoand Pro Logic 2. Specially for rock music.
- Good audio fidelity for mid-range and treble again for rock music.
- Oomh not a priority i don't want to wake up the neighborhood but this must shake a little when i pump up the volume.
- At least 2 opticals inputs, one digital coax inputand another input digital coax or optic.
-One stereo output(For my wireless headphone). One stereo input a plus (just in case).
- HDMI Switching a big plussince i'm missing one HDMI input for myHDTV.
- Good sound quality while listening with alow volume level (this is my main problem with the Samsung HT-TX75 HTIB).
- USB input or iPod compatibility a plus.
- Support for Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, Dolby Pro Logic 2.
- Look is a plus if possible i don't want my system to look like an original Star Trek serie system.

I don't know much in sound system so i'm uterly lost here.For me this is like chinese i don't know what too look at.Here a system that look okay.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catal...65000FS10086969&catid=

With

http://www.futureshop.ca/catal...65000FS10084144&catid=

But i don't really know this is an entry level system maybe this is not better than the Samsung HT-TX75 after all.

 

[s44]

At that budget I'd go 2.0 or 2.1 and add more speakers later.

 

[imported_LaP]

Yeah that's a good idea.

What set of front speakers do you suggest. I could get a set of Paradigm Monitor. Are they good front speakers ? I could get a set of Energy too but they are more expensive.

A lot of companies even Boss offert small plastic made front speakers. Should i even bother looking at them or wood is really better ?

I want speakers with a good stereo sound quality but at the same time my home theater room is small and i don't want something that will make the house shake at 15% of max volume level.

For the receiver i could get a Harman AVR 147 or Yamaha HTR6050 or more expensive RXV 661. What do you suggest ?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Paradigm is a good brand for you to look at in Canada from what I understand. The performance series would have been right in your pricerange there, but that got merged into the Monitor series, so I guess that's where you'd be looking.

Don't bother with the cube-style speakers unless you're under heavy WAF influence

Decent sized bookshelf speakers or floorstanders made of MDF is generally the way to go.

I'm going to send you a PM with some info I've been writing that's a work in progress.

One of the online brands I mention, Axiom, is based in Canada and would be worth a look.

 

[myocardia]

Along with Paradigm and Axiom, Polk Audio makes some really nice sounding home speakers, at good prices, and while I'm not sure whether they're easy to find in stores in Canada, they do ship to Canada.

edit: Oh, and you should look into a Denon receiver, if you can find them north of the border. If not, Yamaha is decent, and a bit better than Onkyo, in the lower priced receivers.

 

[vshah]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Paradigm is a good brand for you to look at in Canada from what I understand. The performance series would have been right in your pricerange there, but that got merged into the Monitor series, so I guess that's where you'd be looking.

Don't bother with the cube-style speakers unless you're under heavy WAF influence

Decent sized bookshelf speakers or floorstanders made of MDF is generally the way to go.

I'm going to send you a PM with some info I've been writing that's a work in progress.

One of the online brands I mention, Axiom, is based in Canada and would be worth a look.

what is this work in progress eh?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: vshah

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Paradigm is a good brand for you to look at in Canada from what I understand. The performance series would have been right in your pricerange there, but that got merged into the Monitor series, so I guess that's where you'd be looking.

Don't bother with the cube-style speakers unless you're under heavy WAF influence

Decent sized bookshelf speakers or floorstanders made of MDF is generally the way to go.

I'm going to send you a PM with some info I've been writing that's a work in progress.

One of the online brands I mention, Axiom, is based in Canada and would be worth a look.

what is this work in progress eh?

Once upon a time in a forum called Peripherals where people once came for answers to their Home Theater related questions and a few brave souls frequented the forum to attempt to answer questions, a poster named YOyoYOhowsDAjello found that he was answering the same questions over and over again.

On 02/24/2006 he tried to consolidate some of the knowledge he had acquired into a single thread called "General Audio Thread", but alas... due to poor organization and crappy implementation, he was embarrassed to link to the thread without disclaimers and was never really finished with the thread. An addition of a "Headphones" section written by IAteYourMother was added to the thread that had better organization but just highlighted the inadequacies of my own writing and organization. Eventually things that should not have been forgotten were... and the thread faded into the archives.

With the failure of the General Audio Thread, YOyoYOhowsDAjello was still determined to address some of the questions that plagued Peripherals along with any thread that seemed to mention z-5500 and similar products. Digital Audio Thread tried to address those questions that kept popping up time and time again. Myself along with a few others have used this thread as a resource to link people to information that usually answers the questions they ask about digital audio.

Along the same lines, YOyoYOhowsDAjello now sets out to write new content about general home theater audio and create an introduction to the topic so posters can have a resource that goes over their specific questions along with some topics that are very important to consider.

The preliminary table of contents includes

Contents:
1. General Considerations
1.1 ? Auditioning
1.2 ? Internet-Direct vs. Retail
1.3 ? Used Equipment/Refurbished
1.4 ? DIY
1.5 ? Upgrade Path
1.6 ? WAF (?Wife Acceptance Factor?)
1.7 ? HTIB (Home Theater In a Box) vs. Individual Components
1.8 ? Speaker Roles and What to Look For
2. Product Recommendations
2.1 ? Budget + Spending Ratio
2.2 ? Speakers
2.3 ? Subwoofers
2.4 ? Receivers / Alternatives
2.5 ? Stuff to Avoid
2.6 ? Cables
3. Setup / Other Resources
3.1 ? Placement
3.2 ? Calibration
3.3 ? Other Resources
3.4 ? Who is this Jello Character Anyway?

Progress has come to a crawl since Jello seemed to be busy with his new and amazing girlfriend who seemed to take up his time in the nicest possible way. A preliminary version up until section 2.2 has been written that covers general ideas about how to spend money, general options, and upgrade path planning. Eventually Jello will find the motivation and time to write 2.2 and beyond to bring this resource to completion. The final form may be in a AT thread, or with the help of Cernax web hosting, it may become a website that I link to that includes pictures, diagrams, and links to other resources.

Hopefully with the completion of this resource, Jello can live happily ever after.

The End.

 

[Rio Rebel]

Progress has come to a crawl since Jello seemed to be busy with his new and amazing girlfriend who seemed to take up his time in the nicest possible way

Just the way God intended...

If it weren't for my wife, I'd live in a rathole, driving a broken down Gremlin but listening to $100,000 worth of stereo equipment.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Rio Rebel

Progress has come to a crawl since Jello seemed to be busy with his new and amazing girlfriend who seemed to take up his time in the nicest possible way

Just the way God intended...

If it weren't for my wife, I'd live in a rathole, driving a broken down Gremlin but listening to $100,000 worth of stereo equipment.

She actually thinks that out of my personal "end of summer / birthday purchase" options, that getting upgraded main speakers is the best way to go

 

[imported_LaP]

Thx for the pm Jello it helped me a lot.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: LaP
Thx for the pm Jello it helped me a lot.

Great :thumbsup:

 

[montypythizzle]

Jello, they should make you "Elite Soundman", good idea?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
Jello, they should make you "Elite Soundman", good idea?

:shiftyeyes;

I think it's fine how it is now

 

[pradis1]

Not sure if you bought anything yet, but Futureshop has a crazy special on speakers and subwoofer package (Polkaudio RM10 with subwoofer PSW10 for 349.00 as a door crasher only).
As for a receiver, I've looking for quite sometime and it really all depeends on what features you're looking for, but from what you've listed, anything in midrange should do the trick.

Here are a few that I would recommend:

- Yamaha RX-V661 (found it online for 290.00 US, but might be about 100.00 dollars more in Canada)
- Yamaha HTR6050B (only found it at Futureshop for 479, but they have a boxing week special on the HTR 6060B for only 399.00).
- Onkyo TX-SR505 (Very good receiver with all the features you're looking for and more. sells for about 450.00 dollars in Canada, but if you drive accross the border, you can pick it up at Circuitcity for 249.00 dollars).

Some might recommend slightly higher receivers such as Onkyo 575 or 605 or higher Yamahas but frankly for what you're looking for it's not worth the extra money as you won't be getting anything noticable unless you go the high end models such as Yamaha RX-V1800 which does Video upscaling to 1080P which I haven't personally been able to see to give feedback on the quality.

I personally just bought the above speakers and will most likely check out a couple of audio stores in Toronto to see if they can do price match, and if not then will go down to the US and pick up the Onkyo TX-SR505.
This will give you a full Home Theater surround sound system with everything you're looking for at about $700.00 only, and I know for a fact that many people have paid close to 1400.00 for the same configuration.

It's all about shopping around and going the extra mile to buy from the lowest price source.

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[Deudalus]

I would also very seriously consider AV123.