It's (finally) almost that time..shopping for a 2ch system for the living room

[jlee]

1610 is $264.88. 591 is $349. $265 isn't bad..hmm.

 

[electroju]

That side wall is easy to fix. Use sound acoustic panels. You can make panels your self or buy pre-made ones.

Listening any speakers in the stores is a waste of time. It is best to buy the speakers and place them in your room. Break them in for at least 48 hours (about a week) and listen to them for a few weeks. Abuse the 30 day return policy.

People here are too damn cheap to go with unauthorized dealers. The benefits of going through authorized dealers is the warranty is valid. If your speakers or AV receiver breaks within the warranty, you get support. If you go with unauthorized dealers, the warranty will not be valid, so you are shit out of luck if your electronics breaks.

If you do not have a lot of room, go with bookshelf or monitor speakers. The PSB Image B6 seems good.

Any commercial subwoofer are crap. You have to build the subwoofer yourself if you want a good subwoofer. The Rythmik Audio subwoofers are good. Another good subwoofer brand that would put an exception is Epik. The Epik Legend should be small enough.

You can skimp on Audyssey if you are willing to spend a little time to set the audio up by ear. It's not really all that hard. Or if you can find someone nearby with the spl metre near you.

I set my subwoofer with my front channels by ear. I agree is not that hard, but setting equalizing is hard for a full range speakers. Real time analyzer is better for equalizing the setup. The following competes against real time analyzers costing thousands of dollars.

True Audio TrueRTA
http://www.trueaudio.com/

 

[jlee]

That side wall is easy to fix. Use sound acoustic panels. You can make panels your self or buy pre-made ones.

Listening any speakers in the stores is a waste of time. It is best to buy the speakers and place them in your room. Break them in for at least 48 hours (about a week) and listen to them for a few weeks. Abuse the 30 day return policy.

People here are too damn cheap to go with unauthorized dealers. The benefits of going through authorized dealers is the warranty is valid. If your speakers or AV receiver breaks within the warranty, you get support. If you go with unauthorized dealers, the warranty will not be valid, so you are shit out of luck if your electronics breaks.

If you do not have a lot of room, go with bookshelf or monitor speakers. The PSB Image B6 seems good.

Any commercial subwoofer are crap. You have to build the subwoofer yourself if you want a good subwoofer. The Rythmik Audio subwoofers are good. Another good subwoofer brand that would put an exception is Epik. The Epik Legend should be small enough.



I set my subwoofer with my front channels by ear. I agree is not that hard, but setting equalizing is hard for a full range speakers. Real time analyzer is better for equalizing the setup. The following competes against real time analyzers costing thousands of dollars.

True Audio TrueRTA
http://www.trueaudio.com/

Heh a $500 subwoofer is just a bit out of my price range at the moment. 😛

 

[velillen]

For the same price as the 1610 id look into an onkyo 607. Well a refurb unit is about the same price. Does only have the 2EQ audyssy. But has analog upconversion (vs 1610's upscaling). more hdmi ports. Bit more power per channel. And a few other things i cant remember. I like options so just giving you one!

 

[jlee]

For the same price as the 1610 id look into an onkyo 607. Well a refurb unit is about the same price. Does only have the 2EQ audyssy. But has analog upconversion (vs 1610's upscaling). more hdmi ports. Bit more power per channel. And a few other things i cant remember. I like options so just giving you one!

How's the 2EQ compared to the 1610's MultiEQ?

The 607 is $679.00 at Amazon...I'll have to look up the Onkyo refurb store. Edit: $329 😱

Hmmm.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

How's the 2EQ compared to the 1610's MultiEQ?

The 607 is $679.00 at Amazon...I'll have to look up the Onkyo refurb store. Edit: $329 😱

Hmmm.

MultEQ has better filter resolution and will correct the subwoofer.

http://www.audyssey.com/technology/multeq.html#multeq-solutions

 

[jlee]

I can get the Denon 1610 refurb from Dakmart for $250 shipped, vs $285 shipped for new...not sure if it's worth the (small) savings for a refurb unit, though.

 

[alkemyst]

That side wall is easy to fix. Use sound acoustic panels. You can make panels your self or buy pre-made ones.

Listening any speakers in the stores is a waste of time. It is best to buy the speakers and place them in your room. Break them in for at least 48 hours (about a week) and listen to them for a few weeks. Abuse the 30 day return policy.

People here are too damn cheap to go with unauthorized dealers. The benefits of going through authorized dealers is the warranty is valid. If your speakers or AV receiver breaks within the warranty, you get support. If you go with unauthorized dealers, the warranty will not be valid, so you are shit out of luck if your electronics breaks.

If you do not have a lot of room, go with bookshelf or monitor speakers. The PSB Image B6 seems good.

Any commercial subwoofer are crap. You have to build the subwoofer yourself if you want a good subwoofer. The Rythmik Audio subwoofers are good. Another good subwoofer brand that would put an exception is Epik. The Epik Legend should be small enough.



I set my subwoofer with my front channels by ear. I agree is not that hard, but setting equalizing is hard for a full range speakers. Real time analyzer is better for equalizing the setup. The following competes against real time analyzers costing thousands of dollars.

True Audio TrueRTA
http://www.trueaudio.com/

With this guys meager budget and the looks of that room, things like acoustic panels would be the stupidest thing to attempt.

 

[velillen]

How's the 2EQ compared to the 1610's MultiEQ?

The 607 is $679.00 at Amazon...I'll have to look up the Onkyo refurb store. Edit: $329 😱

Hmmm.

The Onkyo 607 refurb is $270 at A4Less. Really what it came down to for me was just actually looking at features you wanted.

Inputs Onkyo has 6 hdmi inputs plus the composite (two sets i believe) vs only 3 on the Denon

Denon wins in the audyssy catagory. Set it up yourself though and that can be a meh catagory (but out of box ease of set up denon wins)

Denon will only scale analog to hdmi. Onkyo 607 will upconvert it as well. So for old inputs (dvd player/wii) onkyo wins.

Denon is 5.1. onkyo is 7.2 if you ever wanted to add a second sub or more speakers. Denon is like 75wpc vs 90wpc on the onkyo. Not abig deal really though on that part.

Just gotta evaluate what you want feature wise 🙂 For me i have three devices for hdmi (pc, PS3, a WDTV) and didnt want to be maxed right off the bat. I also have a wii which is composite so the up conversion is nice as well. The Onkyo 507 is technically the model that is at the level of the denon. In that regards Denon is better. But since you can get a "step up" to the next level of onkyo (even though its last years model) for the same price its a whatever 🙂

As for refurb warranties.... at least for onkyo its 1 year limited on parts and labor. Basically covers everything for normal use except cosmetic damages. The onkyo unit refurb i received looked brand new (zero cosmetic damage) but YMMV on that. Though at ~40 more for a brand new unit that has an extra year of warranty it is a bit more up for debate.

 

[s44]

Denon will only scale analog to hdmi. Onkyo 607 will upconvert it as well.

Wrong. Analog->HDMI *is* upconversion. Scaling is "upscaling". But it's a fake feature since you need more expensive units for scaling better than what's built-in to your TV.

90wpc on the onkyo

About 75 in real-world testing.

 

[jlee]

Hmm. The audyssey is a really big point for me - as for HDMI, I have 3 HDMI inputs in the TV and only two are used now (myself & roommate's 360's).., may have a third when I buy a blu-ray player..., more would definitely be nice, but the base audyssey looks pretty bare.

Blah. I need a raise 😛

 

[alkemyst]

Hmm. The audyssey is a really big point for me - as for HDMI, I have 3 HDMI inputs in the TV and only two are used now (myself & roommate's 360's).., may have a third when I buy a blu-ray player..., more would definitely be nice, but the base audyssey looks pretty bare.

Blah. I need a raise 😛

In that 'listening area' I don't think you will get any benefit spending anymore than a base reciever gains. I'd add a center channel speaker if anything though.

 

[StarvinMarvin22]

I was in a similar situation and just recently bought the denon 1610 from electronics expo... I'm sold on the multeq audyssey.

They ended up emailing me that the 1610 was OOS and they upgraded me to the 1611 at no extra cost.. it should ship out tomorrow.

I paired it up with this speaker set

It should all show up sometime this week.

I'll eventually add a sub but don't want to piss off my neighbors (small apartment).

 

[jlee]

I was in a similar situation and just recently bought the denon 1610 from electronics expo... I'm sold on the multeq audyssey.

They ended up emailing me that the 1610 was OOS and they upgraded me to the 1611 at no extra cost.. it should ship out tomorrow.

I paired it up with this speaker set

It should all show up sometime this week.

I'll eventually add a sub but don't want to piss off my neighbors (small apartment).

Hmm I wonder if I could get that lucky if I ordered asap.. :hmm:

 

[velillen]

Wrong. Analog->HDMI *is* upconversion. Scaling is "upscaling". But it's a fake feature since you need more expensive units for scaling better than what's built-in to your TV.

I thought i had that one backwards, just to lazy to double check lol. As for if its worth it or not....both my gf and I thought her wii looked a bit better after hooking up to the 607. Just played wii sports before then hooked it up and played wii sports again as our "test" since iw as curious how well it worked. Nothing specatular but it did seem to show a bit of improvement. Then again could just be the placebo effect sort of deal. Also thats from a low end model plasma so you are right if you had a more expensive tv it would probably be nothing.




But moot point he went with the Denon which is gonna rock for him 🙂

 

[sdifox]

I set my subwoofer with my front channels by ear. I agree is not that hard, but setting equalizing is hard for a full range speakers. Real time analyzer is better for equalizing the setup. The following competes against real time analyzers costing thousands of dollars.

True Audio TrueRTA
http://www.trueaudio.com/

Agreed, if you have the flexibility to change those settings in the receiver, then sure, it helps. But chances are at the price points he is looking at he is not going to get granular control over equalisation.

 

[sdifox]

op should send a note downstairs

"Don't bother to call the cops. One of them live here." :biggrin:

 

[jlee]

op should send a note downstairs

"Don't bother to call the cops. One of them live here." :biggrin:

LOL

I'll probably invite him up for a movie some time...we've both lived in this building for about 6 weeks and have no complaints -- I was building furniture the other night and making quite a racket (pounding on the floor trying to seat all the annoying wooden dowel pins)..sent a text apologizing for the noise and got one back saying 'no problem', so hopefully if there's an issue he'll let me know first. 😛

I have a set of Sennheisers for really loud / really late stuff...just learned last night that I can't bake anything with those on because I will NOT hear the timer go off. 🙁

 

[sdifox]

LOL

I'll probably invite him up for a movie some time...we've both lived in this building for about 6 weeks and have no complaints -- I was building furniture the other night and making quite a racket (pounding on the floor trying to seat all the annoying wooden dowel pins)..sent a text apologizing for the noise and got one back saying 'no problem', so hopefully if there's an issue he'll let me know first. 😛

I have a set of Sennheisers for really loud / really late stuff...just learned last night that I can't bake anything with those on because I will NOT hear the timer go off. 🙁

connect a light to the timer 😛

 

[s44]

As for if its worth it or not....both my gf and I thought her wii looked a bit better after hooking up to the 607.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if it did, since the video ADC section of an AVR tends to be better than many TVs. I suspect more of it was from getting a cleaner and more accurate 480i/480p signal in the first place than from upscaling it to 1080p after, though...

 

[kornphlake]

Honestly all you need is a 2ch receiver at the moment, get something at a pawn shop or yard sale. By the time you're ready to upgrade to surround sound HDMI will have been replaced with something else and you'll have to replace the receiver anyway, even if HDMI endures, the way technology advances 2 years from now you'll be able to buy today's top of the line for 50% less. It doesn't make sense to buy features you may never use, put the money in good speakers and buy a receiver that meets your needs today.

 

[jlee]

Honestly all you need is a 2ch receiver at the moment, get something at a pawn shop or yard sale. By the time you're ready to upgrade to surround sound HDMI will have been replaced with something else and you'll have to replace the receiver anyway, even if HDMI endures, the way technology advances 2 years from now you'll be able to buy today's top of the line for 50% less. It doesn't make sense to buy features you may never use, put the money in good speakers and buy a receiver that meets your needs today.

Eh knowing me, I will probably upgrade it before I move...I just have a habit of rationalizing my way into something and then upgrading sooner than expected. 😱

 

[alkemyst]

I didn't need HDMI almost 6 years ago and still don't. I paid $300 for my Yamaha HTR-5690 and it's still awesome.

Once I upgrade to a LCD/Plasma, then I will take the HDMI plunge.

 

[velillen]

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if it did, since the video ADC section of an AVR tends to be better than many TVs. I suspect more of it was from getting a cleaner and more accurate 480i/480p signal in the first place than from upscaling it to 1080p after, though...

That sounds fair 🙂 Im still learning so good to point to keep in mind!

 

[jlee]

I didn't need HDMI almost 6 years ago and still don't. I paid $300 for my Yamaha HTR-5690 and it's still awesome.

Once I upgrade to a LCD/Plasma, then I will take the HDMI plunge.

That's because your TV is like 20 years old. 😛

I love HDMI...I have tons of cables kicking around so I can hook up anything I own. 😀