My speaker search update: Onix Rockets

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Excelsior

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
college + high end HT components = dumb

no offesne, I'd love to have what you are geting/have, but I don't think it's someothing to do in college.

Are you saying that because of cost / distraction / damage / something else?

I think he is saying the money is better spent/invested elsewhere. I agree, I would love to have a setup like that, at the moment, but I think I would just buy a much less expensive set of components, that had good sound, for good value. Enjoy though! I wish I could visit.

Fair enough

I figure I've saved close to $7500 by not having a car or insurance for almost 6 years now, so I'm using that as justification for spending this much on something I'll enjoy.

HT stuff is pretty much all I've been spending my money on over the last year. I try to get really good deals for my money to stretch my dollar. This is by far the most expensive purchase I've ever made... with second being my $999 Infocus Screenplay 4805 + screen deal at costco.

This started out as an "I think I should get a new center channel" idea, so I wasn't out to spend 2 grand from the start... it just sort of happened

If you're ever in Madison, you're welcome to come watch a movie though

 

[dr150]

Originally posted by: sygyzy I just need to get a receiver now. What is the ratio of receiver cost to speakers? Is there one? I was thinking about spending around $500-750?

JVC Digital Receivers Are All the Rage

Also do a search for Panasonic digital receivers at that website.

 

[Raiden256]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Ordered

I'd like to just go ahead and take credit for this right now.

Seriously, like I said over at the other forum -- Congrats! These should keep you satisfied in the speaker department for many years. Careful though... you've been bitten. You'll soon find yourself eyeing separates, $800 dvd players, front projectors, etc. The Home Theater bug is dangerous.

 

[grrl]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004
college + high end HT components = dumb

no offesne, I'd love to have what you are geting/have, but I don't think it's someothing to do in college.

I have to disagree. I spent a fair amount of money in college buying good equipment and have only upgraded twice in 20 years. I sold my Thorens turntable for what I paid for it and still use the original Boston Acoustic speakers, Adcom amp, Pioneer tuner, and Denon deck (it sees little use now though). I've only upgraded the preamp (Adcom to Aragon) and the CD player (Sony to Pioneer). Good gear can last a very long time, especially good speakers and electronics so I think the OP is being pretty smart, unless he really needs the money for something else right now.

EDIT: to be completely honest, I was also able to save a lot to money because I got about half of the equipment at about 1/2 price through relatives who were reps.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Raiden256

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Ordered

I'd like to just go ahead and take credit for this right now.

Seriously, like I said over at the other forum -- Congrats! These should keep you satisfied in the speaker department for many years. Careful though... you've been bitten. You'll soon find yourself eyeing separates, $800 dvd players, front projectors, etc. The Home Theater bug is dangerous.

I know I've said this before, but I think I'm done for a while now. Ok, I'm not counting the DVD player because I've never actually purchased one for myself, this is a reject from my parents... but other than that, I think I'm set for quite a while

I have to get some more DVDs before I can justify any DVD player over $150

I have the front projector covered already, and for separates.... well... I'm going to ride this HK until it bites the dust I think

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Well, I'm off to bed now.

I have to work at the zoo from 5:30am to 10:00pm tomorrow :shocked:

This overtime will take away some of the sting from this purchase hopefully

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[sygyzy]

Originally posted by: dr150

Originally posted by: sygyzy I just need to get a receiver now. What is the ratio of receiver cost to speakers? Is there one? I was thinking about spending around $500-750?

JVC Digital Receivers Are All the Rage

Also do a search for Panasonic digital receivers at that website.

Are they really? I never would have thought. I always thought names like HK, Denon, etc were where it's at. I associate Panasonic and JVC with low-end dvd-players and VCR's. Of course my plasma is a Panasonic

Anyway, how do the price points for receivers (or any other components) go? Like $250-500 low end, 500-1000 mid (better than beginner but not "pro), $1000+ high end? I need to know so I can get the best bang for my buck and have "proper" pairing for my Ascends. Thanks!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: sygyzy

Originally posted by: dr150

Originally posted by: sygyzy I just need to get a receiver now. What is the ratio of receiver cost to speakers? Is there one? I was thinking about spending around $500-750?

JVC Digital Receivers Are All the Rage

Also do a search for Panasonic digital receivers at that website.

Are they really? I never would have thought. I always thought names like HK, Denon, etc were where it's at. I associate Panasonic and JVC with low-end dvd-players and VCR's. Of course my plasma is a Panasonic

Anyway, how do the price points for receivers (or any other components) go? Like $250-500 low end, 500-1000 mid (better than beginner but not "pro), $1000+ high end? I need to know so I can get the best bang for my buck and have "proper" pairing for my Ascends. Thanks!

I guess it depends on who you ask about the price ranges.

Some would call a $1000 receiver low end
If you're looking for "high end", separates are where it's at (but I wouldn't spend that much unless you had already spent a lot more on speakers).

Speakers make a bigger difference in overall sound quality than your receiver. Spending $2000 on a receiver vs $500 on a receiver isn't going to be as big a difference in quality than making the same jump in speakers.

For "Bang for the Buck", I think a 2:1 to 4:1 ratio of speaker cost to receiver cost is about on track. I think the same ratios apply pretty well to subs.

I've read good things about the Panasonic digital amps, but haven't read anything about the JVC units.

If I were to upgrade from my HK, I think I'd just get a new amp and use the pre-outs from my HK. If I needed a new receiver tomorrow, I'd probably end up going with a Pioneer 1015tx for a low cost solution... and for something higher, probably a HK AVR-635 or maybe Denon 3805. I haven't been keeping up on receivers for about 6 months, so I'm not sure if there are better options by now.

I've found picking out this stuff is a lot harder than picking out computer products. There isn't any cool graph to check out that is straightforward and tells you just about all you need to know about the products (like for videocards, CPU, etc.). Also, it seems like just about every review I've read has been very positive about the products. Maybe I've just stuck to researching above average products, but most reviews say that "product X is as good as receivers/speakers/subs costing 3 times as much". I want to know where all these sh!tty components are that cost 3 times as much as all the good ones

Well, I don't know if I said anything helpful or if I'm just rambling. I just got up, and I have to get to work now. :frown:

 

[dr150]

Originally posted by: sygyzy

Originally posted by: dr150

Originally posted by: sygyzy I just need to get a receiver now. What is the ratio of receiver cost to speakers? Is there one? I was thinking about spending around $500-750?

JVC Digital Receivers Are All the Rage

Also do a search for Panasonic digital receivers at that website.

Are they really? I never would have thought. I always thought names like HK, Denon, etc were where it's at. I associate Panasonic and JVC with low-end dvd-players and VCR's. Of course my plasma is a Panasonic

Anyway, how do the price points for receivers (or any other components) go? Like $250-500 low end, 500-1000 mid (better than beginner but not "pro), $1000+ high end? I need to know so I can get the best bang for my buck and have "proper" pairing for my Ascends. Thanks!

The reason well made digital receivers are all the rage is because they are cheap and offer audiophile sound.

Digital amplification has been recently refined to such a high level to make it a no-brainer for someone on a budget. Heavy receivers are going the way of the dinosaur.

If you read the audiophile forums like Audio Asylum, Audiocircle, or Audiogon, you'' see that most all audiophiles/enthusiasts have been extremely satisfied with the new twist to this technology.....

 

[sygyzy]

Do they offer the same outputs and inputs as the traditional receivers?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Do they offer the same outputs and inputs as the traditional receivers?

Depends on the model of course, but on the outside, the inputs and outputs will be the same kind. I think a good portion of them tend to actually have less inputs because they tend to by physically smaller than their analog counterparts, so even if they jam pack the back, there isn't physical room for all the connections.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

My speakers are coming tomorrow :thumbsup:

 

[dr150]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
My speakers are coming tomorrow :thumbsup:

Keep us informed....with pics.

 

[sygyzy]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Do they offer the same outputs and inputs as the traditional receivers?

Depends on the model of course, but on the outside, the inputs and outputs will be the same kind. I think a good portion of them tend to actually have less inputs because they tend to by physically smaller than their analog counterparts, so even if they jam pack the back, there isn't physical room for all the connections.

That's my big concern. Where can I read more about digital receivers? Despite them being "all the rage" I can't find many articles introducing them or the technology. What are the cons of having one over their traditional counterparts? Do they lack any standard features such as upconversion? How about their power output? Are they meant to be paired with home theatre speakers? I plan on using the Ascends.

 

[gw186]

If those things sound as good as they look you should be happy.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: sygyzy

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Do they offer the same outputs and inputs as the traditional receivers?

Depends on the model of course, but on the outside, the inputs and outputs will be the same kind. I think a good portion of them tend to actually have less inputs because they tend to by physically smaller than their analog counterparts, so even if they jam pack the back, there isn't physical room for all the connections.

That's my big concern. Where can I read more about digital receivers? Despite them being "all the rage" I can't find many articles introducing them or the technology. What are the cons of having one over their traditional counterparts? Do they lack any standard features such as upconversion? How about their power output? Are they meant to be paired with home theatre speakers? I plan on using the Ascends.

As you've probably read at Ascend, a lot of people think that HK pairs well with them. HK has started making digital receivers lately and they might be worth a look. E-mail the guys at Ascend and see what they think of the Digital HK paired with their speakers.

I think if you look for specific models over at AVSforum you'll be able to find lots on info on digital receivers.

Oh crap, I have to get to work.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Omg today was irritating.

Today in summary:

Got up at 4:40am as usual for work
Back home at 2:15
Went to gf's house to see if speakers were there yet, they weren't so I waited
UPS guy shows up and I see him basically throwing the boxes with my speakers around in the back of his truck
I go out and say "Could you take it easy on those, they cost about $2000"
He replies "I'm like the 40th guy who has handled these"
I say "Well, I'd hate to have them break right at the end then"
I offer to help him carry them and he says no, he'll take care of it - he looks like he's about to drop each box as he carries them, but they all made it out ok.

Boxes are pretty messed up (I can upload pics tomorrow if anybody cares) in some places, but the excellent packaging job has spared them from physical harm (I think, I haven't gotten the chance to hook them up yet).

So, I bring the closed boxes to my house, unload them and reload the van with my old set of speakers for my gf's parents to use.

I hook them up to their old Sony Pro Logic receiver and for the life of me couldn't get anything to come out the surrounds. Also, all the RCA sound outputs appear to be dead on the thing too as I was unable to hook up their old Harman Kardon stereo receiver for surround duty.

I worked on trying to get the surrounds to work for about an hour and a half. They were really looking forward to surround sound so I really wanted to get it working, but I don't know what the hell was wrong with everything, but I couldn't even get stereo to come out the rear speakers using a multitude of arraingments of the two receivers and connections.

So, they say they wouldn't mind getting a new receiver as the one they were using was somewhere around 6 or 8 years old, so I look quickly to see what kind of options I could give them for a $200 to $300 range for a new receiver (they wanted it that night, so ordering online was not an option).

So, I was looking at stuff and noticed the Pioneer 1015 was $500 at Best Buy, not too bad a price on it. I know that the 1015 is a monster for power and I thought about my situation for a while. I was already kind of concerned that my HK might not do so well driving a bunch of 4 and 6 ohm speakers, and I knew that many Rocket owners were running theirs with Pioneer 1014s and 1015s.

I asked my gf's parents if they would be interested in my Harman Kardon AVR-325 for $300 and they said that sounded like a good option for them. So, I set off for Best Buy with the intension of spending another $200 towards my receiver purchase.

I get there and they are selling their floor model 1014 for $287 so I got that
I normally don't get extended warranties on stuff, but for $30 I got a 4 year warranty on it where I can bring it into Best Buy for repairs. I figure since it was such a good deal and it was a floor model, it would be a pretty good idea to get the service plan.

So, I just got back from setting up their receiver and running speaker wire through their floor and everything. Everything is working for them now.
My new receiver is still sitting on my couch covered in stickers and I haven't hook my speakers up to anything yet, so I hope everything I just got works

 

[Goosemaster]

WOW..NIce

 

[EvilYoda]

hehe, always a good site...and I see N64 controllers!

I think I'm auditioning the new JMlab-Focal Profile bookshelves on Friday, I can't wait...the new tweeter should be awesome, but I'm a little leery (sp?) as I've come to love "softer" tweeters in the last 2 years...anyway, congrats again...and get to work, set em up!

 

[Raiden256]

Sweet! Hope all goes well. We gotta get some pics of the speakers when you get 'em up!

The packing is impressive, isn't it?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Raiden256
Sweet! Hope all goes well. We gotta get some pics of the speakers when you get 'em up!

The packing is impressive, isn't it?

I have that first pic in my update of my first post.

I'll host some more tomorrow if anybody wants to see some more of them.

The color matches really well between all 5 of the speakers, I'm happy

I needed help getting the 550s out of their boxes because I was having trouble keeping the box to stay down when lifting them out. There were some pretty decent sized dents in my boxes, but the foam packaging worked great :thumbsup:

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
WOW..NIce

yeah, aren't they nice looking?

I think I made the right choice over the Ascends. I didn't know I was this shallow about appearances until I saw these babies

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
hehe, always a good site...and I see N64 controllers!

I think I'm auditioning the new JMlab-Focal Profile bookshelves on Friday, I can't wait...the new tweeter should be awesome, but I'm a little leery (sp?) as I've come to love "softer" tweeters in the last 2 years...anyway, congrats again...and get to work, set em up!

Yeah, we get some NES going on this projector to from time to time

Good luck on your own speaker buying!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Here, I took a pic of one of the boxes as an example

eeep

 

[K1052]

Good lord that is a huge center channel! :Q
I never realized the releative size until now.

Every time I see those speakers I want to dry hump them.:heart:
Damn those things look good.