I need to finally junk all of my old equipment from 1970 and get new stuff, i already have a dvd player toshiba 1600, but i need a new reciever and speakers, plus a new tv, cd player, and record player, but that will come later. But for now what reciever do you guys recommend and what speakers are good, i guess i want a 5.1 setup??? PLease help.
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Need home theater help...
- Thread starter BChico
- Start date
I'd recommend a Denon reciever. I have owned several of them myself and they're very nice. They can run on the expensive side, however. If you're looking to get a good set of speakers I'd say get one that's 5.1/DTS compatible so you can get your DVDs in the best possible sound quality.
Any speakers are 5.1 compatible if you have enough of them, but the receiver has to support them with enough connections. However, if you use towers for your front speakers, you are going to have a hard time balancing them with the surrounds (rear) and center channel for accurate 5.1 listening. That's why many home theater speaker systems use 4 matching speakers for the front and rear sets.
Also, home theater speakers, at least mine (Infinity HTS20) are not that good for music compared to bookshelf. They are awesome for movies, but I'd suggest that if you want tower speakers, buy them AND buy a 5.1 set for home theater.
Also, home theater speakers, at least mine (Infinity HTS20) are not that good for music compared to bookshelf. They are awesome for movies, but I'd suggest that if you want tower speakers, buy them AND buy a 5.1 set for home theater.
kami
Lifer
Talk to the friendly folks at Home Theater Forum...or just browses the thousands of posts.
This thread might interest you if you want to keep the cost low.
This thread might interest you if you want to keep the cost low.
For receivers I would stick with:
(and in no paricular order)
Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha, Marantz, Sony ES or DB lines. For $300 there is not many choices as far as specific models I could give you. For about $500: Denon AVR-1801, Onkyo TX-DS575x, Sony DB 840 or 940. All very good receivers. All will support 5.1 channels, Dolby Digital(DD) and Digital Theater Surround(DTS).
The most expensive part will be the speakers. Buy a good set of main speakers first. This way you can enjoy music with them also. Then get your surrounds and center channel, followed up with a good subwoofer. There are a few company's that sell an entire speaker package for about $1000. These are pretty good speakers. The two I can think of are Definitive Technology and Energy Loudspeakers.
As far as matching speakers the only ones that need to be matched are the front three, L & R Main and Center, so they are timbre matched (will sound the same). Balancing all the speakers is easy. Many receivers include internal test tones to balance them. I owuld recommend getting a Radio Shack Analog SPL Meter($30) and either AVIA or Video Essentials DVD to help calabrate your audio and video for the best results.
I second the visit to Home Theater Forum. You may see me running around there also. You can check out reviews of different products atAudioReview .
For checking out various online vendors see Audio Survey
My HT Stuff
(and in no paricular order)
Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha, Marantz, Sony ES or DB lines. For $300 there is not many choices as far as specific models I could give you. For about $500: Denon AVR-1801, Onkyo TX-DS575x, Sony DB 840 or 940. All very good receivers. All will support 5.1 channels, Dolby Digital(DD) and Digital Theater Surround(DTS).
The most expensive part will be the speakers. Buy a good set of main speakers first. This way you can enjoy music with them also. Then get your surrounds and center channel, followed up with a good subwoofer. There are a few company's that sell an entire speaker package for about $1000. These are pretty good speakers. The two I can think of are Definitive Technology and Energy Loudspeakers.
As far as matching speakers the only ones that need to be matched are the front three, L & R Main and Center, so they are timbre matched (will sound the same). Balancing all the speakers is easy. Many receivers include internal test tones to balance them. I owuld recommend getting a Radio Shack Analog SPL Meter($30) and either AVIA or Video Essentials DVD to help calabrate your audio and video for the best results.
I second the visit to Home Theater Forum. You may see me running around there also. You can check out reviews of different products atAudioReview .
For checking out various online vendors see Audio Survey
My HT Stuff
Been Down This Road Quite Recently! Got lots of help too. One of the best things I discovered in the whole ordeal, was to buy as much as possible from... you won't believe this... Sears! And not the on-line Sears, but the brick & mortar one. Reason? They'll price match Web prices. Saved myself a ton! And it's easy to return if you decide you don't like it.
Good Luck!
Good Luck!
Sometimes I wonder where people make all their money, then I realize they probably aren't married and don't have law school debt. 😀
Anyway, for a decent receiver under $300, take a look at what Pioneer has. I found their VSX-D409 for $200 but usual price is closer to around $250. It has Dolby and DTS decoding, speaker connections for 5.1 and for an additional set (great for a home theater setup and a bookshelf setup). It has connections for just about every component imaginable and has received good reviews at audioreview.com. It supports 2x100watt and 5x100watt output, which is plenty for me. The remote sucks -- that's the downside.
Sure, it's not Denon, Onkyo, Harman Kardon or Yamaha (etc), but then again if the decision is between buying a REALLY nice receiver or getting a nice one AND buying the other components, I'd say that a receiver that's not connected to anything is a little useless. 🙂
I'd say your priority is to determine a budget and work within it. These components can get ridiculously priced -- the top of the line Infinity tower speakers are about $2000 EACH, and I'm sure there are others out there that are more. I liked the idea of buying the entire home theater system together because everything matches (acoustically and aesthetically), and it was just less of a hassle to research systems as opposed to individual components.
My set-up: Pioneer VSX-D409 receiver, Panasonic DVDR30, and Infinity HTS20 speakers. I am very happy and spent less than $700 on it (with some heavy discounting, however).
Anyway, for a decent receiver under $300, take a look at what Pioneer has. I found their VSX-D409 for $200 but usual price is closer to around $250. It has Dolby and DTS decoding, speaker connections for 5.1 and for an additional set (great for a home theater setup and a bookshelf setup). It has connections for just about every component imaginable and has received good reviews at audioreview.com. It supports 2x100watt and 5x100watt output, which is plenty for me. The remote sucks -- that's the downside.
Sure, it's not Denon, Onkyo, Harman Kardon or Yamaha (etc), but then again if the decision is between buying a REALLY nice receiver or getting a nice one AND buying the other components, I'd say that a receiver that's not connected to anything is a little useless. 🙂
I'd say your priority is to determine a budget and work within it. These components can get ridiculously priced -- the top of the line Infinity tower speakers are about $2000 EACH, and I'm sure there are others out there that are more. I liked the idea of buying the entire home theater system together because everything matches (acoustically and aesthetically), and it was just less of a hassle to research systems as opposed to individual components.
My set-up: Pioneer VSX-D409 receiver, Panasonic DVDR30, and Infinity HTS20 speakers. I am very happy and spent less than $700 on it (with some heavy discounting, however).
Well, I leave it to you to decide which items to get. But here's a couple of things to keep in mind while shopping...
Sidenote: AC3 5.1 = 2 Front Speakers + 2 Rear Speakers + 1 Center Speaker + .1 Subwoofer = 5.1
Receiver:
- AC3 (Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound) decoding is a MUST
- DTS decoding isn't anywhere near as popular as AC3, so you can actually get away with a unit that doesn't offer this (which should push the price down)
- Believe me on this...You'll NEVER use all the surround sound fields they give you. SSF is how the Receiver sends the signal to the speakers to simulate different surroundings (Stadium, Theatre, Concert Hall, etc...) Don't buy into the hype of having to have a bunch
- Also consider just how much power you REALLY need for your speakers. Around 100watts per channel is a decent starting number, work it up or down from there.
- In the $300 price range, don't even bother considering the remote controls that come with the units. You'll want to eventually invest in a good remote to control all your components
Speakers:
- You DO NOT want to skimp on the quality of your speakers
- GET A GOOD CENTER SPEAKER!!!! The center speaker is where the voice/speech is played. Having a crappy center is like trying to listen to a soft spoken, broken english speaking immigrant.
That's about the extent of info I can offer.
Good luck and Happy Hunting!
Sidenote: AC3 5.1 = 2 Front Speakers + 2 Rear Speakers + 1 Center Speaker + .1 Subwoofer = 5.1
Receiver:
- AC3 (Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound) decoding is a MUST
- DTS decoding isn't anywhere near as popular as AC3, so you can actually get away with a unit that doesn't offer this (which should push the price down)
- Believe me on this...You'll NEVER use all the surround sound fields they give you. SSF is how the Receiver sends the signal to the speakers to simulate different surroundings (Stadium, Theatre, Concert Hall, etc...) Don't buy into the hype of having to have a bunch
- Also consider just how much power you REALLY need for your speakers. Around 100watts per channel is a decent starting number, work it up or down from there.
- In the $300 price range, don't even bother considering the remote controls that come with the units. You'll want to eventually invest in a good remote to control all your components
Speakers:
- You DO NOT want to skimp on the quality of your speakers
- GET A GOOD CENTER SPEAKER!!!! The center speaker is where the voice/speech is played. Having a crappy center is like trying to listen to a soft spoken, broken english speaking immigrant.
That's about the extent of info I can offer.
Good luck and Happy Hunting!
Namuna (or anyone for that matter): What are some good universal remotes? The Pioneer one is really crappy, and the instructions are horrible so I cannot program my TV into it (or anything really -- I had the DVD player setup on it, but it only lasted as long as the receiver was turned on, oddly enough). I know there are some awesome ones that look like Palms (Philips Commander? something like that), but I can't afford $150 for a remote (see post above). I'm thinking at most $50, but I'll evaluate depending on the recommendations.
On the center channel thing, I can agree completely. One of the criticisms of the lower model from Infinity, the HTS10 (~$450) is the small center channel. When I found I could purchase the HTS20 for just slightly more ($280 v. $380), I leaped on it, and the center channel is a good deal larger (saw the HTS10 at Circuit City). When I first started watching surround sound movies, I noticed that the center channel is EXTREMELY important and would have been very disappointed with a smaller speaker than the one I have.
It pays to research this stuff!
On the center channel thing, I can agree completely. One of the criticisms of the lower model from Infinity, the HTS10 (~$450) is the small center channel. When I found I could purchase the HTS20 for just slightly more ($280 v. $380), I leaped on it, and the center channel is a good deal larger (saw the HTS10 at Circuit City). When I first started watching surround sound movies, I noticed that the center channel is EXTREMELY important and would have been very disappointed with a smaller speaker than the one I have.
It pays to research this stuff!
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