Home theatre advice for a noob (deal/value minded...)

[dcdomain]

Hey guys,

I posted this in some Home Theatre forums (hometheatreforum.com and avsforum.com) and the reason I'm posting it here is because of the deal oriented mindset of some of you guys (Rossman comes to mind =T). I understand that I just missed out on a killer Onkyo receiver deal right? Anyway if you guys could offer some advice, it would be appreciated. There's just so many things covered in the other forums it's a bit overwhelming. Thanks!

I'm looking to build a HT system for my parents in one of the rooms (12' x 20') in the basement of our house. The system will be there for about 2-3 years at which point we'll be moving and most likely upgrading the system. Though I don't really have budget to work with, I'd prefer to keep costs low for this first time system before I start learning more and eventually upgrade to a better system. I'm more of a bargain/value kind of person so I would feel a lot more at peace with that sort of system than an all out high end one.

To my understanding, I need the following components:
DVD Player: I've always dealt with the cheapo Apex players that can play SVCDs or the low end Pioneer/Sony DVD players.
Receiver: Onkyo HTS760? It's around $450 - $500 at various places, anything else to recommend?
Speakers/Subwoofer: See above.
Projector: Infocus X1, Sanyo PLV-Z1, Panasonic PT-L200U, any others to recommend? (Ordered an Infocus X1, but may cancel it).
Projection Screen:

Miscillaneous:
Line Conditioner/Surge Protector:
Cables: (I understand that most cables that come with the sytem are terrible? I've heard of people going to Home Depot for their cable needs?)
Furniture:

Computer:
This is where it gets tricky, I'd like to use the HT system to play DIVX videos and play games. But mostly for videos. Now would I go out and buy one of the media PC's like the one offered by Gateway? Or should I build one? I've built all my past computers before but I'm not sure if I should be looking into some special components. I should really worry about the sound card in this system, a good video card with DVI out for the projector and what else? I'm not even sure how this would fit in with the overall system... would it just be one component or an entire command center?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to help me out. Now to continue reading the forums and looking out for deals =T.

 

[amnesiac]

DVD Player: Onkyo DVCP-500 is available at OneCall for <$100 last I checked. Great price on a good 5-disc changer.

Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR600 or TX-SR700. I have the 600 and it's fantastic. No complaints.

Speakers:
1) Fluance. 5-speaker set can be had for ~ $300 shipped. Great reviews
2) Onkyo refurb ~ $164. Don't know if they're still available. Also very good reviews.
3) Paradigm. No clue on cost. Highly recommended by many
4) Athena. Available at Best Buy if you want to audition them.
5) Axiom. I hear these mentioned a LOT
6) Energy Take 5.2. These get brought up a lot too.

Subwoofer: There are many that are good, but it is ultimately up to your ear to decide what's best. Velodyne is always a good choice, albeit expensive. SVS is also excellent.

Projector: Don't know much about projectors, but I hear the X1 has the problems with rainbow trails or something. Plus it's a color-wheel DLP which causes many people to complain about eye fatigue.

Projection Screen: Stewart Filmscreen makes great screens. They're down the road from me.

Cables: Lots of "audiophiles" will insist on paying a buttload for magic wiring. The smart ones will tell you to get the 12GA heavy wire from Home Depot and be done with it. Personally, I got the 4-wire in-wall speaker cable. It's really neat because you can hook it up several ways (diagonal pairs, 1 pos/3 neg) and get completely different sound profiles.

Furniture: Completely up to you.




*** I just remembered -- CHeck out this month's "The Perfect Vision" magazine. THey just released their 2003 Best Of / Editor's Choice awards and there's lots of great products for every price point. Direct download link here:
http://www.avguide.com/recommended/detail.jsp?category=14

 

[kami333]

Also there's a Sherwood reciever at outpost.com, $79+shipping, if you really want to keep it down.

 

[alkemyst]

This is a have to have a budget request. I have been around HT a long time and all the people that reply back with "there is no budget, whatever the best value is" usually say oh a lot less than that.

I would say your best $$$ can be spent at high end shops that have customer consignment sections and then try to pick up the rest through other Forums FS/T sections and then go to the Hot Deals...esp if you are just looking to replace the whole thing later.

A good option would be to perhaps build it as maybe an average HT now, but a great bedroom (or office) system later...concentrating on 2 channel ability...

There are a ton of variables, but you don't have to 'have' a projector....also keep in mind many have a TV way too large for their needs....I am rushing on this post but I believe optimum seating range is 2.5 - 3 times the screen height (not diagonal), and also depends on how many lines per inch you are dealing with.

The setup of the room is also important especially since most rooms have doors/windows in unideal /compatible locations.

I paid about $20k once for a setup (Definitive Technology/Rotel/Marantz with a Mits 36" TV/VCR included in that back in 95..LD was not popular and DVD wasn't around)...I also picked up a great system (Yamaha 1070 receiver, Klipsch Quartets, Klipsch Academy Center, and two PSB 300's for surround for under a grand about the same time.

 

[EngenZerO]

Speakers...I spent most of the spring listening to speakers at my local dealers. I have listened to Energy, Paradigm, NHT, B&W, Polk, Klipsch...etc. I found that my tastes were geared more to the NHT but with the imaging that the B&W provided. So...after reading numerous posts on avsforums...I began looking @ internet compaines. Onix, Ascend, Aperion, Axiom. After reading the characterics and reveiws of all these speakers, I ended up taking a plunge and ordering a 5 speaker set up from Ascend and a subwoofer from SVS. All, I have to say is that I am the happiest I have ever been with the Ascend/SVS combo. The have the sound that I prefer (i bit brighter and cleaner than NHT SB3's that I auditioned) and have the imaging that the B&W provided (forgot which model). The SVS sub was truley awesome. It destroyed nearly all subs I looked at and was much cheaper than a Servo 15 from paradigm.

Reciever...I am still running an el cheapo reciever but I plan on getting a Pioneer Elite 45TX. I have heard this is an awesome reciever and provides plenty of power to power many speakers. It also has MACC which is very handy for calibrating. Another thing you want to look at for recievers is how the recievers amp pushes out the highs. I have heard that onkyo's and denon's are more to the bright side. Pioneer pushes out lower bass. Harmon Kardon pushes out a warmer high (which reduces speaker brightness). If you are on a budget...check out Outlaw audio. They have gotten some praise on the internet audio forums.

Projectors...dunno much

Cables and Surge...go with either the Home Depot or Lowes cable...it was cheaper and it gets the job done. With surge protectors, get a surge that can handle around 2000 joules.

DVD...I figure a decent panasonic dvd player would get the job done.

 

[skriefal]

The little sub/sat speakers that come with those HTIB systems are very likely approaching their limits in a room that size (approx 2160 ft^3, assuming 9ft ceilings). They'd certainly "work", of course, but they're really better suited for smaller rooms. Definitely check into the Fluance AV-HTB or SX-HTB sets, as they should fill the room much better than HTIB speakers would do.

For a receiver, consider the Sherwood RD-6108. It's frequently on sale at Circuit City for $129 or so, although it's $169 at the moment. If you can swing a bit more cash, then look at the Pioneer (VSX-D812, $284 @ Best Buy) and Panasonic (SA-HE100 or SA-HE200) -- they're considered to be good budget, reasonably well-powered models.

With a projector, your best bet for a DVD player is to put together a small computer and use a software player. This would also allow you to use a TV-Tuner card and DScaler to view television in much better quality, as well as to scale other sources input through the tuner card (VCR, etc). The alternative would be to purchase a progressive-scan DVD player, as well as a component->VGA transcoder box (like the AA9A62).

For audio cables, just grab the Acoustic Research cables from Best Buy or the slightly cheaper Dayton Audio cables from Parts Express. Don't waste money on overpriced/overhyped $50+ Monster cables. For speaker wire, grab the 12gauge or 14gauge stuff from Home Depot (or similar store) for under 35cents per foot.

For video cables, you're going to need something rather long. You could make them yourself by ordering crimp-on RCA connectors from Parts Express and then using several runs of RG-6 coax, or you could have them custom-made by any of the various online cable makers (Heartland Cables, Bluejeans, RAM Electronics, etc).

 

[skriefal]

Originally posted by: EngenZerO
Reciever...I am still running an el cheapo reciever but I plan on getting a Pioneer Elite 45TX.

The 45TX has been discontinued. Better move quickly if you still want one. Otherwise you'll need to wait for the new models to appear.

 

[EngenZerO]

Originally posted by: skriefal

Originally posted by: EngenZerO
Reciever...I am still running an el cheapo reciever but I plan on getting a Pioneer Elite 45TX.

The 45TX has been discontinued. Better move quickly if you still want one. Otherwise you'll need to wait for the new models to appear.

I know they announced the 53TXi and another model but I didn't think they would discontinue the 45TXi that fast.

Ozzie

 

[skriefal]

Well, I should perhaps state that I think it has been discontinued. I've certainly seen a few threads over at the Home Theater Forum that stated it has already been discontinued, although I'm not certain if this has ever been officially corroborated.

 

[EngenZerO]

hmmmm...if that is the case...I will keep my eye out for a good price