who's got an el cheapo stereo system?

[notanotheracct]

so i've got an old early 90's onkyo reciever/amplifier and these two 15" x 25" speakers probably from the 80's... i thought just maybe i might try for a small upgrade.

anyway, i've actually been thinking of upgrading for quite a long time but just never decided on something. what i'd like is something simple and cheap like this. a 4 or 5 maybe even .1 speaker system that'll sound good enough for normal tv, game console playing, and that'll be just good enough for music such as loud heavy metal. i don't want pc or wireless satellite speakers.

for a reciever, the only thing i really want is alot of video inputs. 4/5/6 composite inputs, cd input (i'd plug my pc's sound card into that and play my mp3's through that), and an available s-video input or 2'd be cool. then a composite/s-video output after that is all i'd need, 2 such outputs would be that much better.


with that in mind, i come to you guys - i'm looking for something under $200 for atleast the speakers, a combo set such as linked above wouldn't hurt either. does anyone have a system similar to what i mentioned? any specific systems/speakers/recievers that sucked for you, blew up, bad support, sounded horrible, fell apart? anything you'd highly recommend, loved, etc?

 

[Goosemaster]

Look into the panasonic digital amps

edit: jsut saw <$200

Just keep your stereo

 

[ElFenix]

likely that onkyo and those big speakers sound better than any system you could find for $200

 

[notanotheracct]

wow, are you guys serious? the system i linked to is just garbage? the only thing i require from the speakers is that they don't crackle and garble when the volume is turned up, like a crappy car system. but if not, what kind of cash do i need to lay down for an average sounding system?

 

[ElFenix]

sony stuff is pretty much ass.

does your current system hiss or crackle or pop? if not, i wouldn't replace it with some plastic pos.

 

[Tylanner]

talk to the "Soundman"

 

[notanotheracct]

nah it doesn't hiss, crackle, or pop... i was just hoping for a new semi-decent speaker system.

i mean, downstairs i've got a bang&olufsen system with a pair of these upfront, a pair of these in back, two of these as dual center speakers, and a subwoofer. it's a nice looking system and all, but it cost thousands... and more importantly, i don't particularly notice much of a difference with them compared to my older speakers.

anyway, who's the "soundman"?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I think an onkyo 580 would be about as cheap and crappy as you'd want to go for an all in one system.

But hey, if you don't notice a difference between a set of floorstanders that cost $3000 and your 20 year old speakers, then go with whatever is cheap.

How about going in to circuit city or something and listening to some of those HTIB sets with a cd you bring in? I don't konw how friendly they are at your local places, but mine would let me do that.

For $200 you could get a really basic 2.0 system going but getting anything higher than that of decent quality is going to be really tough.

I went over some basic suggestions in a GH thread just a little while ago.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1702196&enterthread=y

 

[notanotheracct]

what about a pair of these
http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=62.1

and a decent reciever. i could always get another pair for surround and look around for a center speaker/subwoofer later.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: notanotheract
nah it doesn't hiss, crackle, or pop... i was just hoping for a new semi-decent speaker system.

i mean, downstairs i've got a bang&olufsen system with a pair of these upfront, a pair of these in back, two of these as dual center speakers, and a subwoofer. it's a nice looking system and all, but it cost thousands... and more importantly, i don't particularly notice much of a difference with them compared to my older speakers.

anyway, who's the "soundman"?

:shocked:

dude....you need a better source if you can't tell the difference.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: notanotheract
what about a pair of these
http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=62.1

and a decent reciever. i could always get another pair for surround and look around for a center speaker/subwoofer later.

:thumbsup:

Get one of those mini oknyo amps...or an outlaw...or a NAD off of ebay ..anything but that sony

 

[notanotheracct]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
:shocked:

dude....you need a better source if you can't tell the difference.

it's source is a directv HD reciever which goes through this. a great reciever from 1973. i mean there is an overall difference in quality but i meant that i'm happy with the older speakers sound considering it's meant for a bedroom with a completely different environment than the home theatre downstairs.

now to start reciever hunting.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: notanotheract
what about a pair of these
http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=62.1

and a decent reciever. i could always get another pair for surround and look around for a center speaker/subwoofer later.

That's what I would do on a $200 budget.

Is there something wrong with your current receiver? You just need more inputs?

 

[notanotheracct]

well more inputs and s-video inputs (i have none) would be nice not to mention my recievers headphone jack is pretty much broken which means it's a PITA if i wanna use headphones.

i've got two tv's in the bedroom and they both have crappy built-in stereo speakers where if you crank up the volume the sound gets distorted, not that i ever expected much from them in the first place. the thing is with a new reciever i could either have both tv's get their input from one reciever or reuse the old one and let them have seperate recievers. currently only one tv is hooked up to the speakers and sounds fine, the other's still crap. i just want adequate sound for once on both, and i wouldn't mind some fake surround either.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Just browsing around ecost....

$169 in cart for a Pioneer 515 with two s-video outputs
$179 new at CC

EDIT: looking at CC's pictures... I'm not seeing s-video at all...

Not sure on the outputs of the Onkyo 502

Harmanaudio on ebay also sells refurb units for pretty cheap. I think if you got lucky you could get an AVR130 or something like that for pretty cheap.

 

[notanotheracct]

yea i'm even thinking of going for an oldie. don't know if it has what i want though.

that pioneer is pretty nice too.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Oh yeah, I was going to say that if you're planning on making a system out of ELTs in the end, you might run into trouble as these are on sale because they're being replaced by a newer line. After the current stock runs out, you wont be able to get these new from AV123 anymore.

If you want a whole set of these eventually, I think you're going to need to buy them all at once now to garauntee you'll be able to get them

 

[mercanucaribe]

What's wrong with what you have? Nothing based on what you say. And why did you spend thousands on a stereo system?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
What's wrong with what you have? Nothing based on what you say. And why did you spend thousands on a stereo system?

I'm kind of confused on this as well even though I'm making suggestions.

Did you demo the Bang&Olufsen stuff before you spent how much on it? ($6000-ish?)

If you're not really happy with the performance of that, why are you getting another system for a different room?

... and this other room has two tvs in it? What are you hoping to do with two tvs? Watch them both at once?

 

[funboy6942]

Something like this fits the bill nicely and will sound better then alot of systems you put together costing $1K.

I use the newer Logitech Z5500's for my HT set up. You cant beat for under $300 you a $180 watt 10" powered sub, matching speakers, and THX cert. Only thing your missing is a am/fm tuner but if you got a walkman you can hook that up to these and your all set.

The newer Z5500's have a better DTS decoder and no longer have the attached wires to them so you can place them anywhere you wish. The bass coming from the sub WILL rattle/crack your windows (I know Ive cracked two), and shake stuff off your walls.

Wont find anything in this price range that will do that and sound kick butt too. It has 500 watts total RMS not max power and can be turned up to the max without a bit of distortion. It'll make that Sony system you linked in the OP sound like a turd.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: notanotheract
i don't want pc or wireless satellite speakers.

Reason for this, notanotheract?

 

[notanotheracct]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: notanotheract
i don't want pc or wireless satellite speakers.

Reason for this, notanotheract?

i don't like satellite speakers because i assume they need batteries for power and i despise the hassles that come with batteries. "pc" speakers i didn't want because i'd rather plug my pc into a reciever and have it output to the speakers... but that logitech setup from funboy42 interests me a bit now. am i right in assuming that it can connect to a reciever?

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
What's wrong with what you have? Nothing based on what you say. And why did you spend thousands on a stereo system?

the B&O system WAS a great (and expensive) system back when i got it, and still is in its own right, but its connected in the family room with a 53" tv and HD satellite and the room is large enough to have a more theatre effect. and besides, if i move the speakers upstairs i'll have nothing downstairs.

for the bedroom i just want something cheap, simple, and effective. the speakers i have now actually one of them had something blow out... i don't know if its the tweeter or just enclosure cover but i never really noticed a difference in it's sound after it "blew" and i wouldn't mind smaller speakers. as for my reciever, like i mentioned before the headphone jack on it is broken. i tried to fix it but was unsuccessful. it DOES somewhat work but i have to spend 5 minutes shaking, twisting, and turning the wire so that BOTH left and right sound comes out simultaneously otherwise i'll only get one side or none. the reciever also only has 2 inputs, i don't recall how many outputs, and none have s-video; more wouldn't hurt.

while the B&O system sounds and looks nice, i don't want to spend another couple thousand for something fancy when i only need something that'll due. i mean don't get me wrong, i'd love to have a B&O system in everyone room but i'd rather put the cash towards other things like a new comp, a nice lcd tv, a new car or whatever.


and c'mon, is it wrong for a man to want to escape the stone age?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Why would you need advice on an el cheapo stereo? Just buy the one that's least expensive since you obviously don't care about things like features, power and quality.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

So you'd be interested in the computer set if it could connect to a receiver?
I agree that you can get nice value out of a computer speaker set, but I don't know what systems funboy42 is comparing it to that cost $1000 and sounded worse.

What kind of things do you need to connect to your receiver?

The z-680s would be able to connect to a receiver, but at that point your receiver would just be acting as an input switcher.

 

[notanotheracct]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
Why would you need advice on an el cheapo stereo? Just buy the one that's least expensive since you obviously don't care about things like features, power and quality.

that's harsh, i did mention quite a few requirements i needed.


and yea, what i need is for my reciever to just act as an input switch to for example move between satellite, xbox, ps2, gamecube, dvd, and cd (mp3 collection on my pc). it doesn't need decode for an HD tv, i don't need or want the radio, and as far as amp/pre-amp goes only needs to reflect the needs of my speakers. the two tv's btw were more for being able to watch tv and play games simultaneously, especially when guests are over.