Speaker/Receiver set up

[TheSiege]

Well I bought a new home, and the great room is vaulted and quite large. My 7 year old soundbar just doesnt produce the sound I need/want. I am wondering about a decent setup on a budget. I am fine with 2.1 for now. I may upgrade later. But I want something that will give me quality sound for a decent price. Any suggestions? As a side note, I dont have a receiver.

 

[mdram]

define budget?
example my 'budget system was
2x primus p363 @ 100 each (onsale)
klipsh sub12hg @ 200 (onsale)
denon 2100 @ 329 (refurb)

added a center channel pc351 for 150 (onsale)

still thinking about where to go

 

[Anubis]

step 1 - budget
step 2 - WAF

 

[TheSiege]

400-500

 

[mdram]

that will be tough

what are your requirements for an avr?
4k? bt? airplay? ect?

wiling to look at refurb?

 

[Anubis]

Was gonna say the Elac B5s, but those are $500 alone. Pioneer SP-BS22s are cheaper and are a solid super budget option

Denon AVR-S710W is like 375 ish, the 510 is cheaper, not bad budget receiver, 710 has wifi 510 doesn't

 

[gar655]

Was gonna say the Elac B5s, but those are $500 alone. Pioneer SP-BS22s are cheaper and are a solid super budget option

Denon AVR-S710W is like 375 ish, the 510 is cheaper, not bad budget receiver, 710 has wifi 510 doesn't

The B5s are $230 for the pair. B6 are $280.

The unifi B5 are $500.

 

[giantpandaman2]

Elac B5/6's, BIC sub, used/refurb receiver of your choice is probably the best option in that price range. Should sound decent.

 

[Anubis]

The B5s are $230 for the pair. B6 are $280.

The unifi B5 are $500.

ahh,

thanks for the correction i thought the B5s price was each not the pair my mistake

def the B5s then

 

[mdram]

http://www.accessories4less.com/ has good prices on refurb stuff

 

[Kaido]

#1 - congrats on the new crib!!

#2 - if you want a small step up from your soundbar, check out my Bose Clone project here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?p=38100549

The speakers are tiny (a la Bose cubes) & are a bit of a step up from a sound bar - nice clear vocals (zero bass tho, you need a sub with a high crossover to compensate for the compact size). That sub for $129 is excellent (I've been through several 5", 6", 8", 10", and 12" pre-made subs in my various projects & the Monoprice Premium is my current favorite pick by FAR). You can start out with 2.1 easily. Plenty of decent receivers on sale. If you want something fancy, there's a Sony on sale for $268 shipped:

https://www.amazon.com/Sony-STR-DN850-Channel-Receiver-Bluetooth/dp/B00JC31SGG/

7.2, Bluetooth, Wifi (Airplay & DLNA), 4K pass-through, etc. So ~$270 receiver, $130 sub, $40 for a pair of black speakers = $440 for a nice 2.1 setup with future expandability. fwiw I got the white speakers & the WAF is very high :thumbsup:

 

[alcoholbob]

Ascend Acoustics CBM-170SEs are great if you give zero about WAF/decor. They are basically ugly ass boxes with amazing sound quality. Certainly the best measuring speakers in it's price range.

Those are UN-SMOOTHED measurements too. If you want to see what a typical retail company does with their measurements (1/3 octave smoothing) it now looks like this:

 

[WhiteNoise]

I'd pick up a used 5.1 or 7.1 receiver (for future expansion) and nab some Pioneer or Polk speakers. Good budget speakers that should work well for you compared to your current sound bar.

Polk Audio T50 $99 each at best buy on sale atm

BIC Venturi V1020 10" sub $169.80 at Parts Express

That leaves some room for a 5.1 receiver (used).

 

[mdram]

I'd pick up a used 5.1 or 7.1 receiver (for future expansion) and nab some Pioneer or Polk speakers. Good budget speakers that should work well for you compared to your current sound bar.

Polk Audio T50 $99 each at best buy on sale atm

BIC Venturi V1020 10" sub $169.80 at Parts Express

That leaves some room for a 5.1 receiver (used).

if your gonna spend 169 on a sub, bump it to 200 and get a sub12hg on sale

 

[Billb2]

A used receiver/integrated amp from the "silver era" -1978-1984.
Ebay/Salvation Army/Goodwill.

Add the used speakers of you choice from a high end audio store.

This can be done within you budget and sound quality will far surpass any current low end equipment.

 

[WhiteNoise]

if your gonna spend 169 on a sub, bump it to 200 and get a sub12hg on sale

His budget is $500 so I was trying to provide some kit and still allow some room for a receiver.

I personally use Velodyne and Hsu Research subs in my home.

 

[Nutdotnet]

$4-500 total? For all speakers and receiver?

That's a toughie...even with 2.1.

How about 2.0 for now? The sub is one of the most important speakers in your setup - don't get a cheapie.

Monoprice makes a great sub for the money, BUT, you're also talking about a large room - the larger the room requires a more powerful subwoofer.

What I'd do is this:

1. Buy your AVR either refurb or lightly used. As someone else mentioned, accessories4less is a great site for refurbs. Spend no more than $200 - you should be able to find one that fits your current needs at that price. Don't worry about brand - anything from Denon/Marantz, Yamaha, or Pioneer will work great.

2. Spend the remaining $300 on a pair of decent bookshelf speakers. A pair of Elac B6s, or better yet - the Ascend Acoustics mentioned above, or a pair of SuperZeros from NHT will all sound great. On the NHTs (which I have) - just email them asking what the best price they can do, you'd be surprised (or buy them off Amazon). The Ascend's are $350 FWIW.

The great thing about the Ascend's and the NHTs is once you finally go surround sound, you can upgrade to the NHT SuperOnes or the Ascend Acoustic 340s and move the previously purchased ones to surround duty.

Good luck

 

[funboy6942]

Ive bought TONS of fine working 5.1 receivers from here....

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/search/...&sortBy=itemEndTime&SortOrder=a&showthumbs=on

and considering most tvs now a days have the spdif outs from the tv, the receivers dont really need to have hdmi inputs anymore, you can use the tv as the hdmi switch, and the receiver to decode the DD and DTS codes coming from the tv with the one optical cable. Also from the same place Ive gotten speakers, or go to your local goodwill, Ive gotten great deals on speakers there as well, rocking a infinity 8" sub I got for $35 which goes for $200 new, and some $200 Yamaha speakers I got for $15 that look new as well. So finding what you need well under your budget can easily be had if you know where and how to shop, for you dont need to spend a lot to get a lot 😉

Here are some subs to be had to hook up to the system....

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/search/...&sortBy=itemEndTime&SortOrder=a&showthumbs=on

And speakers....

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/search/...&sortBy=itemEndTime&SortOrder=a&showthumbs=on

Stuff may be older, but will rock the house down on a budget.

With the sub and speakers I mentioned, I have them hooked up to a Denon AVR-1705 I won off there for $35 shipped that looks new, thats hooked to my pc via the spdif output from my audio card, and let me tell you, my stuff thumps the house down off my PC 😉, and I got $35+$15+$35=$85 total in my entire PC speaker system, that will smoke a crap ton of other systems on the market that cant touch a candle to what all I paid, or even come close 😀