I need some direction

[Greenman]

I don't know all that much about it, and I don't have the hours necessary to educate myself, so I'm asking those of you that have already done their homework for a little help.

I'm looking for a 5.1 system in the $1.5 to $2k range. It will go in a very large room, around 20x30, with a very high ceiling. It just needs to sound good, and the easier it is to use the better.
Thanks in advance.

 

[BD2003]

For a room that size, with that kind of budget, its definitely not going to come in a single box.

I've been out of the speaker market for a while, so I cant make any specific model recommendations, but you generally can't go wrong with anything made by Paradigm or Axiom. Defintely buy a matching set. With that size, you might want to consider 7.1. Not necessary, but you've definitely got the space.

As far as the receiver goes, with such a huge room with tall ceilings, youll probably have serious reverb in there. It might be quite a bit more expensive, but if you're really concerned about sound quality, consider a receiver with auto calibration that corrects not only for gain, delay, and frequency, but for reflections as well. I know some higher end pioneers do it well (Advanced MCACC, not to be confused with "regular" MCACC), and I'm pretty sure Onkyo has something similar.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Do you have time to look at my sticky thread?

I have product suggestions in there.

If you just want a decent $1.5 - $2k system, we can give them to you, but we'll all say something different.

In a room that size, a really strong subwoofer is going to be important for HT use.

Do you have any desire to go out and test some different products in person to see what appeals to you, or do you just want basically a list of good bang for the buck products that are likely to please?

 

[Rio Rebel]

Yoyo's thread is outstanding. Do yourself a huge favor and read through it. Like BD2003, I think you can't go wrong with Paradigm, and I've heard the same about Axiom. And there are others equally good, depending on your taste. Also, you should definitely buy a matching set, with the exception of the subwoofer.

 

[Greenman]

Thank you gents. I'll read through Yoyo's thread, but if any of you know of a solid system in that price range please toss out a name.

Testing systems is tough due to time constraints, and the fact is, I trust you fellows.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Greenman
Thank you gents. I'll read through Yoyo's thread, but if any of you know of a solid system in that price range please toss out a name.

Testing systems is tough due to time constraints, and the fact is, I trust you fellows.

For $1500-$2000, I'd be buying a sub, speakers, and receiver separately.


I'm a fan of AV123's products and support, so I'd look to them first since I'm quite sure what to expect.

A 5.1 system based on
2 pairs of X-LS encore bookshelf speakers
1 X-CS encore center
1 MFW-15 sub
$1400+shipping

+ an Onkyo 605 (or 705) from a reputable company that would let you return it easily if you run into any issues with it
~$400 for 605, ~$600 for 705?

+ all the cables you need from Monoprice
price depends on all the cables you'll need in addition to just speaker wire and a subwoofer cable

That would probably run a little over $2k including shipping actually...

There are a lot of good options out there though.

If you get a chance to check out Paradigm as was mentioned earlier, the speakers that used to be in the Performance series (Atom / Titan / etc.) that are now in the Monitor series would probably be a good fit for your pricerange.

For subwoofers it's not very important to match brands but with a room size like yours, getting a really solid one IS very important.

Epik subwoofers, Elemental Designs, the AV123 MFW-15, and some of the SVS and HSU subs would have ones in your pricerange that offer a lot more output and bang for the buck vs. the vast majority of retail subs (and all the retail ones that are in your pricerange).

 

[spidey07]

A room that size is going to need some serious power or VERY efficient speakers. A separate amplifier might be a really good idea or try to increase the budget, 100 watts at least.

If you can't do the amplifier then look to speakers greater than 93db efficiency.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: spidey07
A room that size is going to need some serious power or VERY efficient speakers. A separate amplifier might be a really good idea or try to increase the budget, 100 watts at least.

If you can't do the amplifier then look to speakers greater than 93db efficiency.

I agree with these points, but an amp seems like it would really eat up a lot of the budget and would require a receiver with pre-outs, which would probably end up running about $1000 or so on its own. Maybe there's a better option out there, but this is about the cheapest new multichannel amp that I know about.
http://www.emotiva.com/lpa1.html

One of the reasons I stuck the 705 in there as a suggestion was that it adds pre-outs to the feature set which would allow an amp to be added later for an upgrade path.

For affordable speakers with high sensitivity, Klipsch and HSU are coming to mind, but I'm not sure what else is out there in the ~$300/pair range of good quality with high sensitivity. Of course if the system was started as 2.1 or 3.1, that would open more options for speaker choices that might better suit the SPL requirements for this room.

Do you know of any options that might fit in this budget?

 

[BD2003]

I doubt he's going to truly need an amp unless he's trying to put the speakers at the corners of this huge room AND blast it theater loud. Are you trying to build a theater, or is this going in one part section of a huge living room?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: BD2003
I doubt he's going to truly need an amp unless he's trying to put the speakers at the corners of this huge room AND blast it theater loud. Are you trying to build a theater, or is this going in one part section of a huge living room?

Yeah it does depend if he's trying to fill the whole room or not and what his expectations are.

What's the story, Greenman?

 

[Greenman]

Not going to try and blow the windows out, so it won't need huge amounts of power. But (why is there always a but?) it looks as though the budget is going to be increased. The amp is going to be a Pioneer, I forget the model number (it's at work) but it does the auto calibration thing (think it's around $1600). Speakers are still up in the air, but will end up in the $1k range, I haven't even looked at subs yet, that will be next.
I'll get the model number for the amp/receiver tomorrow and post it.

Thanks again to all of you for responding, you really have helped.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Greenman
Not going to try and blow the windows out, so it won't need huge amounts of power. But (why is there always a but?) it looks as though the budget is going to be increased. The amp is going to be a Pioneer, I forget the model number (it's at work) but it does the auto calibration thing (think it's around $1600). Speakers are still up in the air, but will end up in the $1k range, I haven't even looked at subs yet, that will be next.
I'll get the model number for the amp/receiver tomorrow and post it.

Thanks again to all of you for responding, you really have helped.

Does that mean you went out and bought it or something else?

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: Greenman
Not going to try and blow the windows out, so it won't need huge amounts of power. But (why is there always a but?) it looks as though the budget is going to be increased. The amp is going to be a Pioneer, I forget the model number (it's at work) but it does the auto calibration thing (think it's around $1600). Speakers are still up in the air, but will end up in the $1k range, I haven't even looked at subs yet, that will be next.
I'll get the model number for the amp/receiver tomorrow and post it.

Thanks again to all of you for responding, you really have helped.

Any pioneer over $1000 will definitely get the job done.

 

[heyheybooboo]

20x30 is pretty big space - need to consider wall/ceiling treatment to cut down on sound reflection. Or better yet a soft partition - a 'stylish' heavy curtain (...enter the theatre stage left, please .... ) would be sweet and improve your sound quality immensely. The walls in the theatre could basicly be covered the same way.

Even without the partition I would concentrate the theatre area in 'half' the space - those rear speakers would sound like they are in the next county if they are on the far side of the room .... lol

 

[spidey07]

actually a large room like that is ideal to space out the speakers. Some decent room treatments could do wonders for reflections - but I'll repeat that you'll need power. I've setup home theaters like this before, not professionally - just by referral. The one thing people do is go out and buy all this equipment, throw it in and then wonder why it sounds so soft. Each treatment you do takes away energy on purpose, further needing more power.

without actually hearing the room I can't really recommend anything.