Setting up the beginnings of a new HT setup

[gchanjam]

I recently bought a 50" Samsung 1080P DLP along with the Xbox 360 HD-DVD player and the picture is spectacular. However the sound is horrible so I figured I might try my hand in getting a modest HT setup. But I dont know just how long I'll be staying in my current place and my girlfriend is absolutely opposed to having wires running the length of the room for the rears.

So I thought of a simple solution to tide me over for a while that would still leave room to upgrade. So my plan is to buy a receiver that will allow me to upgrade so something like the Onkyo TR605 with 7.1 and HDMI conversion and not just pass through. Then I would buy a set of decent but not too extravagent bookshelfs like the Boston Acoustics CR67's or some Infinity Beta's and just have a 2 channel setup for now. Then down the road buy a subwoofer. Then once I have a more permanent residence, buy a center channel and 2 more satellites for the rear or possibly some better speakers and move the 2 bookshelf speakers to the rear. Is that at all possible or would I just be better suited buying a complete setup now or even a HTIB. Thanks for any replies.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I think that's an excellent plan. If you check out the "Upgrade Path" section of my sticky thread at the top of this area, that's pretty much exactly what I would suggest for your situation to get the best system in the end based on what your current situation is like.

AV123 has a great deal on black X-LS bookshelf speakers for $165/pair without grilles if you want to check them out too.

 

[zinfamous]

:thumbsup:

my only suggestion would be is if you are in an apartment, I would hold off on the sub, even though it's better for the sound overall. I live below some asshats that think a sub in an apartment building is acceptable (it's not--esp when you have it on 24/7, listening to news even--assholes). I went center before sub...and it seems more tolerable. (well, no complaints yet 🙂)

 

[Exterous]

I agree that that sounds like a good plan. I am not too familiar with various bookshelf speakers but I do have a pair of CR67s so I figured I'd chime in. (They are on clearance at CC for $150). They have great sound for the price and I am really happy with them. However, down the road, I would get a better pair of fronts since they seem to lack the lower range and a bit of the med range you generally get out of a nice pair of floor standing speakers.

I would avoid HTIB like the plague. They usually include an un-necessary DVD player and the reciever aspect is sorely lacking (usually only a couple of RCA inputs and one digital coax or Optical input) and I can't remember ever seeing one that does video passthrough

You could go with a speaker package and a reciever but I feel that buying the system in bits will result in a better HT in the longer run

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Exterous
I agree that that sounds like a good plan. I am not too familiar with various bookshelf speakers but I do have a pair of CR67s so I figured I'd chime in. (They are on clearance at CC for $150). They have great sound for the price and I am really happy with them. However, down the road, I would get a better pair of fronts since they seem to lack the lower range and a bit of the med range you generally get out of a nice pair of floor standing speakers.

I would avoid HTIB like the plague. They usually include an un-necessary DVD player and the reciever aspect is sorely lacking (usually only a couple of RCA inputs and one digital coax or Optical input) and I can't remember ever seeing one that does video passthrough

You could go with a speaker package and a reciever but I feel that buying the system in bits will result in a better HT in the longer run

There are some pretty nice HTIB options out there with some of them including nicely equipped receivers. There are certainly some really crappy HTIB options out there, but at the same time there are some options out there that are pretty competitive with putting together a system from components on your own.

Onkyo even makes a HTIB that includes the 605 that the OP is talking about in the that includes support for the new audio formats and conversion of analog video sources to HDMI output.

 

[Exterous]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: Exterous
I agree that that sounds like a good plan. I am not too familiar with various bookshelf speakers but I do have a pair of CR67s so I figured I'd chime in. (They are on clearance at CC for $150). They have great sound for the price and I am really happy with them. However, down the road, I would get a better pair of fronts since they seem to lack the lower range and a bit of the med range you generally get out of a nice pair of floor standing speakers.

I would avoid HTIB like the plague. They usually include an un-necessary DVD player and the reciever aspect is sorely lacking (usually only a couple of RCA inputs and one digital coax or Optical input) and I can't remember ever seeing one that does video passthrough

You could go with a speaker package and a reciever but I feel that buying the system in bits will result in a better HT in the longer run

There are some pretty nice HTIB options out there with some of them including nicely equipped receivers. There are certainly some really crappy HTIB options out there, but at the same time there are some options out there that are pretty competitive with putting together a system from components on your own.

Onkyo even makes a HTIB that includes the 605 that the OP is talking about in the that includes support for the new audio formats and conversion of analog video sources to HDMI output.

I stand corrected. What price point do the better HTIB's start at?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Exterous

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: Exterous
I agree that that sounds like a good plan. I am not too familiar with various bookshelf speakers but I do have a pair of CR67s so I figured I'd chime in. (They are on clearance at CC for $150). They have great sound for the price and I am really happy with them. However, down the road, I would get a better pair of fronts since they seem to lack the lower range and a bit of the med range you generally get out of a nice pair of floor standing speakers.

I would avoid HTIB like the plague. They usually include an un-necessary DVD player and the reciever aspect is sorely lacking (usually only a couple of RCA inputs and one digital coax or Optical input) and I can't remember ever seeing one that does video passthrough

You could go with a speaker package and a reciever but I feel that buying the system in bits will result in a better HT in the longer run

There are some pretty nice HTIB options out there with some of them including nicely equipped receivers. There are certainly some really crappy HTIB options out there, but at the same time there are some options out there that are pretty competitive with putting together a system from components on your own.

Onkyo even makes a HTIB that includes the 605 that the OP is talking about in the that includes support for the new audio formats and conversion of analog video sources to HDMI output.

I stand corrected. What price point do the better HTIB's start at?

As Auric pointed out in this thread, $249 gets you a reburb Onkyo 790 set
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2109913&enterthread=y
http://www.shoponkyo.com/detai...d=1&detail=1&ext_war=1

I think the receiver on that set is comparable to an Onkyo 504 with 3 digital optical audio inputs and 1 digital coaxial.

3 component video inputs. (No HDMI included, no conversion of other video to component)

On the higher end level, the HTIB with the Onkyo 605 receiver is $750 including DVD player from Amazon (+ shipping?)

There's a THX certified Onkyo HTIB for $750 as well, although the receiver is not as nice as the 605-based set.

Overall I think you can get a pretty competitive receiver from sets like these, but the speakers tend to still be the weak point.

It's not a bad starting point to get a HTIB set, but especially in a case like this where sound quality and a 2.0/2.1 system is a priority, matching a good receiver (for expandability later) along with a couple higher quality speakers makes a lot of sense.

 

[gchanjam]

Thanks for all the responses. So I'm leaning towards the Onkyo 605 and the BA CR67's for now. However, I know the CR67's are a little underpowered to be permanent fronts so do you think down the road they would be reasonable rears or would they need replacing down the road?

 

[zinfamous]

the new Onkyo 605-based HTIB is crazy good, albeit rather spendy for an HTIB....

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: gchanjam
Thanks for all the responses. So I'm leaning towards the Onkyo 605 and the BA CR67's for now. However, I know the CR67's are a little underpowered to be permanent fronts so do you think down the road they would be reasonable rears or would they need replacing down the road?

Those would be plenty for surrounds / rears down the road. It's not a big deal if you have unmatched surrounds / rears unless you're going to be doing a lot of music on them either.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: zinfamous
:thumbsup:

my only suggestion would be is if you are in an apartment, I would hold off on the sub, even though it's better for the sound overall. I live below some asshats that think a sub in an apartment building is acceptable (it's not--esp when you have it on 24/7, listening to news even--assholes). I went center before sub...and it seems more tolerable. (well, no complaints yet 🙂)

good suggestion, although the sound isolation problems from neighbors usually do not stop at just subwoofer frequencies. A 150hz tone can still pass through most floors unless there is concrete slab. When living in an apartment, the potential to annoy neighbors with sound is 100% unless you live in a nice place with concrete slab (recently built place). So, hopefully people aren't asshats and turn off their systems by 10pm (usually the agreement as set forth by leases).

You know you will be in for hell if you can hear your neighbors talking on their cellphones...

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: zinfamous
:thumbsup:

my only suggestion would be is if you are in an apartment, I would hold off on the sub, even though it's better for the sound overall. I live below some asshats that think a sub in an apartment building is acceptable (it's not--esp when you have it on 24/7, listening to news even--assholes). I went center before sub...and it seems more tolerable. (well, no complaints yet 🙂)

good suggestion, although the sound isolation problems from neighbors usually do not stop at just subwoofer frequencies. A 150hz tone can still pass through most floors unless there is concrete slab. When living in an apartment, the potential to annoy neighbors with sound is 100% unless you live in a nice place with concrete slab (recently built place). So, hopefully people aren't asshats and turn off their systems by 10pm (usually the agreement as set forth by leases).

You know you will be in for hell if you can hear your neighbors talking on their cellphones...

Or live above a bar that plays loud music until 2am for all apartments to hear 😀