Recommend me some HT improvements.

[warmodder]

Here's my setup so far:

50" Samsung Plasma
Sony HTIB circa '99 (Not sure of the model, not bottom of the line, but probably not tops either)
300 disk Sony CD Changer
100 disk Pioneer CD Changer
Lexicon CP-3 THX Decoder (Broken-- thought I would mention though)
JVC Turntable

Speakers:
2x Niles Audio AT8700
Sony HTIB Sub

The Sony speakers sound like trash. We tried out the center channel mounted over our tv and it was seriously near subway quality. The in wall's we use as our rear channel mounted on the wall behind the couch--they sound fantastic. The sub is passable to my ears.

I think what we really need is a pair of front channel speakers and a center. Our budget is pretty low otherwise we would just get 2 more of the niles. (Women just don't understand audio...)

Do you guys have any recs for decent cheap speakers? Also, is it possible to use pro audio gear for home audio? I could make a separates system with amp/pre for much cheaper using pro gear.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

How cheap is are you thinking?

I have some suggestions in my sticky thread at the top of this subforum.

Some people use pro gear for HT use. There are some benefits and drawbacks.

Were the AT8700s there when you got your room or something? Is there a way to setup the room so you can use the Niles speakers as the fronts instead of rears?

 

[Tiamat]

How about three of these for $300 total?

 

[warmodder]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
How cheap is are you thinking?

I have some suggestions in my sticky thread at the top of this subforum.

Some people use pro gear for HT use. There are some benefits and drawbacks.

Were the AT8700s there when you got your room or something? Is there a way to setup the room so you can use the Niles speakers as the fronts instead of rears?

Well we had a flood a while back and lost the entire first floor, so he decided to splurge and get them. I suggested moving them to the front on either side of the tv, but they're wired through the walls (monster cable too haha!) and I don't think there's anyway to do it without making a giant ordeal. Then there's the problem of giant holes in the wall.

The TV is mounted above a fireplace on the other side so we couldn't just reverse the room either.

I'm guessing 300 or so as far as budget goes. Probably could push it to 500, but I'd prefer not to. Thanks for the help, I'll check out your sticky.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Bummer on the flood

Did you ask about the pro gear because you have some already that you could use, or was that just a thought about an alternative?

 

[warmodder]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Bummer on the flood

Did you ask about the pro gear because you have some already that you could use, or was that just a thought about an alternative?

I have a modest home studio, and thought I might find something to do double duty so to speak. For instance I could get a top of the line avalon/neve preamp for like 1500 where a comparable hifi system would be many many thousands. I have a behringer tube preamp now, which isn't anything amazing, but if I get a pro audio amp would I get better sound quality then my receiver gives me now? Assuming I could even hook it up that is. I also have a set of krk monitors which sound terrific (they'll be part of my dorm room system once school starts again) and were fairly cheap to boot. (300 for the pair)

Used equipment is fine too. I've had my eye on some old McIntosh gear which is really appealing! A C28 Preamp/MC2505 for the curious.

I should probably mention music quality is of higher priority than movies, as we don't really look at tv all that often.

We've got our head in the clouds as far as possibilities, but our wallet (and mom...mostly mom!) is keeping us chained to the ground.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I'm not very familiar with what would be necessary for getting pro stuff integrated into your current system, but there shouldn't be anything major standing in your way if you want to go that route. If you're mostly music oriented, then it should work fine. For HT usage, you might run into trouble getting a lot of the newer features and decoding abilities that are common on HT receivers but might not exist for the kind of equipment you're considering.

Spending $1500 on a pre-amp when you said your budget was $300 has be a bit confused about what your actual plans are
So you're saying that if you got pro gear to use in the livingroom, that you would use it for that as well as for your studio?

I don't know enough about pro gear to know what to suggest specifically for you.

If you like the idea of used equipment, a couple bit HT/Music oriented sites are
http://www.audiogon.com/index.html
http://www.videogon.com/index.html

 

[warmodder]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Spending $1500 on a pre-amp when you said your budget was $300 has be a bit confused about what your actual plans are
So you're saying that if you got pro gear to use in the livingroom, that you would use it for that as well as for your studio?

Yea, I can't obviously fit one in my budget, but I was thinking they were a better deal than say 5k for a hifi preamp. Just musing since I had you here.

Those speakers posted look decent. I'll probably demo a few at the store and see what I like best. There are apparently some really nice deals out there.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: warmodder

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Spending $1500 on a pre-amp when you said your budget was $300 has be a bit confused about what your actual plans are
So you're saying that if you got pro gear to use in the livingroom, that you would use it for that as well as for your studio?

Yea, I can't obviously fit one in my budget, but I was thinking they were a better deal than say 5k for a hifi preamp. Just musing since I had you here.

Those speakers posted look decent. I'll probably demo a few at the store and see what I like best. There are apparently some really nice deals out there.

Well if I was going to get a $1500 pre for HT duty I'd be looking at an Integra 9.8
http://www.integrahometheater.....8&class=Separates&p=i

Or waiting to see what Emotiva and Outlaw have in store for us coming up soon...

I'm much more HT oriented than Music oriented... although I have my system playing music pretty much all the time when I'm home, it's just casual listening vs. when I actually care about it which is usually movies.

I'm sure others could help you better with music as such a high priority and what a $1500 pro preamp would mean in terms of quality and features vs. a home audio oriented unit.