Is this a good use of $1600 on a setup?

[toekramp]

$600 - Front Channels - TST3

$450 - Receiver - Onkyo 606

$100 - Center Channel - TC2

$280 - Mirage S8

$200 - Rear Channels - Omnisat V2

The room is only 12x20, so I'm not worried about filling it. It will primarily be used for gaming and movies (through an HTPC if that matters).

(and if it isn't obvious, I'm a complete noob in these matters)

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

That'll work, might not be ideal but it'll work.

 

[PurdueRy]

Drop the towers for bookshelfs and get a more capable subwoofer.

Also, it is out of stock but you can order it and they will ship next time they get an order:

http://search.live.com/cashbac...fferings/5002/12333220

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Drop the towers for bookshelfs and get a more capable subwoofer.

Also, it is out of stock but you can order it and they will ship next time they get an order:

http://search.live.com/cashbac...fferings/5002/12333220

Yep. Between the bookshelves and the lower priced receiver, go with something like this for the sub: http://www.edesignaudio.com/pr...h=2_41&products_id=407

 

[Greg04]

Originally posted by: toekramp
$600 - Front Channels - TST3

$450 - Receiver - Onkyo 606

$100 - Center Channel - TC2

$280 - Mirage S8

$200 - Rear Channels - Omnisat V2

The room is only 12x20, so I'm not worried about filling it. It will primarily be used for gaming and movies (through an HTPC if that matters).

(and if it isn't obvious, I'm a complete noob in these matters)

Go to onecall and get the onkyo for $398

or newegg and get the Pioneer 1018, (crap, I just checked newegg and they raised the price of 1018 $120!! Pioneer now $549!(I paid $429 in since I bought mine in December '08). Wow. The Onkyo looks good.

 

[toekramp]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Drop the towers for bookshelfs and get a more capable subwoofer.

Also, it is out of stock but you can order it and they will ship next time they get an order:

http://search.live.com/cashbac...fferings/5002/12333220

Yep. Between the bookshelves and the lower priced receiver, go with something like this for the sub: http://www.edesignaudio.com/pr...h=2_41&products_id=407

I apologize for my lack of knowledge in this area, but why the preference of bookshelves over towers?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

One of the things that floorstanding (tower) speakers tend to get you is better bass performance. If you're going to be using a subwoofer though, it's kind of a waste to get speakers with better bass performance (at least to some degree).

With a setup with a subwoofer, the speakers are going to be concentrating on mid and higher frequencies, so bookshelf speakers will do that adequately.

So instead of getting $600 speakers and a $300 sub, you could give up some bass performance in the speakers and get a better sub. You could potentially not notice a whole lot of difference going from $600 floorstanders to $300 bookshelf speakers from the same company in a configuration like you're planning since the bass performance isn't going to be utilized fully. On the other hand, going from a $300 sub to a $600 sub would be quite a significant upgrade.

 

[cheesehead]

I might suggest the Paradigm Cinema Series if this is just for movies, or the Paradigm Atoms if you want to listen to music, too?

You can mix-and-match with little ill effects.

 

[sdifox]

why are you picking omnisat as rear, why not stay with tsc and get the tsb for surround? You should try to timbre match even if it is front to back.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
One of the things that floorstanding (tower) speakers tend to get you is better bass performance. If you're going to be using a subwoofer though, it's kind of a waste to get speakers with better bass performance (at least to some degree).

With a setup with a subwoofer, the speakers are going to be concentrating on mid and higher frequencies, so bookshelf speakers will do that adequately.

So instead of getting $600 speakers and a $300 sub, you could give up some bass performance in the speakers and get a better sub. You could potentially not notice a whole lot of difference going from $600 floorstanders to $300 bookshelf speakers from the same company in a configuration like you're planning since the bass performance isn't going to be utilized fully. On the other hand, going from a $300 sub to a $600 sub would be quite a significant upgrade.

you have to quantify your statement to exclude high def surround music, where fullrange speakers for all 5 channels would sound better.

 

[Koing]

Upgrade the center.

The center is as very important speaker in a surround sound setup for films. A fat % of the films sound is from the center. If you like it then thats all that matters though. So listen to them if you can.

I like my HTM62 compared to the HTM61 and I saved £200!

Koing

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
One of the things that floorstanding (tower) speakers tend to get you is better bass performance. If you're going to be using a subwoofer though, it's kind of a waste to get speakers with better bass performance (at least to some degree).

With a setup with a subwoofer, the speakers are going to be concentrating on mid and higher frequencies, so bookshelf speakers will do that adequately.

So instead of getting $600 speakers and a $300 sub, you could give up some bass performance in the speakers and get a better sub. You could potentially not notice a whole lot of difference going from $600 floorstanders to $300 bookshelf speakers from the same company in a configuration like you're planning since the bass performance isn't going to be utilized fully. On the other hand, going from a $300 sub to a $600 sub would be quite a significant upgrade.

you have to quantify your statement to exclude high def surround music, where fullrange speakers for all 5 channels would sound better.

Originally posted by: toekramp
It will primarily be used for gaming and movies (through an HTPC if that matters).

I thought we were already excluding that based on his stated usage

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello


I thought we were already excluding that based on his stated usage

I like to be comprehensive

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello


I thought we were already excluding that based on his stated usage

I like to be comprehensive

Well that's good :thumbsup:

I'm not really a multichannel music guy so I don't know what's optimal for a setup like that. If it was $1600 for a multichannel music setup, would fullrange speakers all around be a better bet, or is this budget still low enough that you'd be better off with a bookshelf / sub combo?

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello


I thought we were already excluding that based on his stated usage

I like to be comprehensive

Well that's good :thumbsup:

I'm not really a multichannel music guy so I don't know what's optimal for a setup like that. If it was $1600 for a multichannel music setup, would fullrange speakers all around be a better bet, or is this budget still low enough that you'd be better off with a bookshelf / sub combo?

I am more of a full range everywhere kind of guy

issue with sat+sub is the xover is too high most of the time.

Obviously my surrounds are not as big as my mains, but they are decent size nonetheless.
The mains have 4x6.5" and the surrounds are 2x5.25"
Remember, they are bipoles.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello


I thought we were already excluding that based on his stated usage

I like to be comprehensive

Well that's good :thumbsup:

I'm not really a multichannel music guy so I don't know what's optimal for a setup like that. If it was $1600 for a multichannel music setup, would fullrange speakers all around be a better bet, or is this budget still low enough that you'd be better off with a bookshelf / sub combo?

I am more of a full range everywhere kind of guy

issue with sat+sub is the xover is too high most of the time.

Obviously my surrounds are not as big as my mains, but they are decent size nonetheless.
The mains have 4x6.5" and the surrounds are 2x5.25"
Remember, they are bipoles.

Yeah, my surrounds and rears are pretty substantial as well (2x5.25" surrounds, 2x6.5" rears) but I certainly paid more than $1600 for the 7.2 configuration

I'd bet that even if I was going to be doing some multichannel music listening on a system for $1600 that I'd end up with bookshelf speakers.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Yeah, my surrounds and rears are pretty substantial as well (2x5.25" surrounds, 2x6.5" rears) but I certainly paid more than $1600 for the 7.2 configuration

I'd bet that even if I was going to be doing some multichannel music listening on a system for $1600 that I'd end up with bookshelf speakers.

you should try hd music like sacd/dvda. too bad they are basically dead.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Yeah, my surrounds and rears are pretty substantial as well (2x5.25" surrounds, 2x6.5" rears) but I certainly paid more than $1600 for the 7.2 configuration

I'd bet that even if I was going to be doing some multichannel music listening on a system for $1600 that I'd end up with bookshelf speakers.

you should try hd music like sacd/dvda. too bad they are basically dead.

Well I do have an 80 gig PS3 now. I don't have a pre-pro that can accept audio over HDMI yet, so I guess that will have to wait. It looks like there are two versions of the 80 gig PS3 and only one of them supports SACD. I guess I'll have to figure out what I have when I get home

EDIT: I'm pretty sure I have the one that doesn't support it.

EDIT2: Confirmed, no support

 

[s44]

You can get a refurb Onkyo 705 for $420.

More power, and has pre-outs so you can hook up a power amp to it later.

Edit: I agree with the bookshelf fronts + better sub suggestion.

 

[toekramp]

thanks for all the replies, time to start spending some money

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Yeah, my surrounds and rears are pretty substantial as well (2x5.25" surrounds, 2x6.5" rears) but I certainly paid more than $1600 for the 7.2 configuration

I'd bet that even if I was going to be doing some multichannel music listening on a system for $1600 that I'd end up with bookshelf speakers.

you should try hd music like sacd/dvda. too bad they are basically dead.

Well I do have an 80 gig PS3 now. I don't have a pre-pro that can accept audio over HDMI yet, so I guess that will have to wait. It looks like there are two versions of the 80 gig PS3 and only one of them supports SACD. I guess I'll have to figure out what I have when I get home

EDIT: I'm pretty sure I have the one that doesn't support it.

EDIT2: Confirmed, no support

your pre/pro doesn't have 6 channel in? That is how I do dvd-a

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Yeah, my surrounds and rears are pretty substantial as well (2x5.25" surrounds, 2x6.5" rears) but I certainly paid more than $1600 for the 7.2 configuration

I'd bet that even if I was going to be doing some multichannel music listening on a system for $1600 that I'd end up with bookshelf speakers.

you should try hd music like sacd/dvda. too bad they are basically dead.

Well I do have an 80 gig PS3 now. I don't have a pre-pro that can accept audio over HDMI yet, so I guess that will have to wait. It looks like there are two versions of the 80 gig PS3 and only one of them supports SACD. I guess I'll have to figure out what I have when I get home

EDIT: I'm pretty sure I have the one that doesn't support it.

EDIT2: Confirmed, no support

your pre/pro doesn't have 6 channel in? That is how I do dvd-a

It does, but I have no player with 6 channel out

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
It does, but I have no player with 6 channel out

lol, those players must be dirt cheap now... I am still on my panny RP-82s