home theater help

[theraidenproject]

what surround sound system should i get? it needs to be about $450 or less (more on the less side). Its for about an 11' by 12' foot room. im thinking HTIB because i dont have enough $ for a nice matched components. im looking at the Philips MX966, the Pioneer HTD-510DV, and the RCA ones. If you could give me any advice on these, any other similar price ranged HTIBs, or if you could price a nice individual component system for <$500 that would be great. Thanks a lot.

[jah871]

look into a bose system, they are a bit more but well worth it. i have a bose 3-2-1 system and it is very nice.

[Havoc_online]

bose is the best but is still way overpriced, goto best buy, and look into dvd players that are also 5.1 recievers with the speaker sets, you want something that's at least 500 watts of power, you can find like 2-3 different packages like this for about 300-500.

hope this helps

[Mango]

I was a salesman in a mid to high end home theatre/car audio store (Bryn Mawr Stereo and Video, now known as Tweeter Etc.) so I can answer any and all questions you would have about something like this.

Wattage, throw that out the window. DO NOT believe most wattage claims on HTIB boxes, they lie and are there to fool people who think HIGHER MUST BE BETTER. Not so. Issues such as RMS ratings, speaker efficency, etc. come into play. Believe it or not, the best HTIB's are made by Sony, Denon, Pioneer and Magnovox. Your best bet, with your listed price point, would probably be the Magnovox or a Sony. Sony has like 4,000 HTIB's (haha seems like they do) so your best variety is going to come from their offerings. Denon's HTIB's arent really HTIB's but they can be, seeing that Denon dosent make the speakers they package with them. But they are the best you can buy IMHO. But you pay for it.

Sony makes a great new HTIB for about 499.99 that is a DVD player and tuner/amp/switch (to plug PS2's, Xboxes etc., VCR's etc.). The speakers are small, and the sub is powerful, and it totally rocks.

Hope this helps!!!


PS: And Bose is nice but overpriced. I can tell you 100 other packages that are cheaper than Bose and sound 100% better. Mirage FX series cubes (that are 1' silk dome tweeters and 41/2' mids in magnetically shielded composite hosings, and the Mirage FX8 powered Sub (that totally smokes ANY Bose sub) and a Denon reciver, $1,500!!! Smokes the biggest and best Bose offering. Its all in what you know!!!! Sold tons of them to customers who thought Bose was amazing. Took them in, played this setup and watched thier jaws drop.

[Predater]

well first off, tecnicly infinity has the best system. but its about twice the price of a good bose system. it is sweeeeet thow.

now to ansure your question. i have the step up of the pioneer system you are thinking of. mine just has a few worthless extras. i got it from holiday in points . its a great system for a smaller room. mine is in a 11'*15' room. i love the system. if you ever want you can just add beter speakers and re-tune the system.

[Chris]

I also worked in a home audio store. Go with a sony HTIB. If you can afford it, Best Buy has a nice yamaha HTIB for around 5 or 600. Check that one out as well. Mango hit the nail right on the head about the power ratings, IGNORE THEM, they mean jack. Go listen to the setups and figure out for yourself what sounds best.

-Chris

[mrhooie]

I work in a home theatre store during the winter

My best advice - look for something with a powered sub woofer - anything else is a waste of cash

The Yamaha VS10 (that's here in Canada - not sure if the US is the same) at $699cdn is the best deal

[masterninja]

Bose is bad. Listen to the guys that work at the stores. I also worked in Home Theater. Everything I recommend seems to be out of peoples price range. However, Here's my opinion anyway, Spend a little more than you want to for something a little better than you need. People always talk about buying something for "now" and getting something better "later". Why?!? Do it right once!!! I'm not saying to spend $35,000 on a pair of Montana XP's. Just make a few informed decisions that you won't regret later. By the way Totem Acoustic recently released some speakers called "Dreamcatcher". they're pretty reasonable for the sound quality, but the are 4ohm. Nothing sounds as transparent for the money. "Measure twice, Cut once"

[ShooterJM]

Originally posted by masterninja
Bose is bad.

He's right! RUN AWAY. Just think. Bose=No highs, no lows.

Infinity is good, personally I like Klipsch. For your price range, I agree with the previous assesments. Go with a new Sony. If you already have a good relationship with an audio shop, you might see if you can pick up a good used Dennon.

[Miscue]

Bose is WAY overrated. Most of their stuff is junk IMHO compared to the equipment that's out there at same or lower price range. I am a big fan of Klipsch, they make great stuff. I have the RF-3IIs myself, which are GREAT floorstanding speakers for the money.

A pair of them run about $600 new, if you look for a used pair you might be able to keep it within your price range. If you don't have a good receiver, you might not be able to get them to really shine... which is pretty much the universal situation for any set of speakers really. I highly recommend these!

[theraidenproject]

ill see if i can work at tweeter on the weekend or this summer, get some more $ and hopefully a discount. i dont think i will even be able to afford one right now, b/c my budget was for furniture + this, but as you all know, furniture is pretty expensive.

[Jonneh]

I feel the need to post pictures of my rack! tee hee hee!


I can't remember the stupid model names, but all the little boxes are Cyrus. The top two things is the CD player and its power supply, the two below it are the digital processor and the amp for the front speaker (see the second picture)
The one below those is the amplifier for the back two speakers and the woofer. and the two below that is the amp for the front channels and its power supply.

The DVD player is some fairly old Denon one that cost us some outlandishly large ammount of money.



Thats our big tv and , minus Dreamcast

Hooray!

[irbodden]

Mind telling me what system you end up getting? Thanks

[ShooterJM]

Ok so while we're on the subject

I'm building a integrated box for my home sound system. Basically just a computer that does better processing then what I currently have. Problem is it's gonna spit out the sound at 120 S/N ratio. Anyone have experiance with a Amplifier that won't degrade that?

[Mango]

Shooter, it depends on what you want. Are you looking for a monoblock amp or a stereo amp? If you're looking for a stereo amp to hook to that, using composite (rca wires) then something from B&K would be really nice. Or Adcom. But your talking big $$$ there. If your looking for a standalone amp then those are the big two I would recommend. Also, check out Marantz if there is a dealer around you. Otherwise, perhaps a stereo Yamaha reciever (less money and still great sound) would be better. I dont fully understand what you want to do, so Im just throwing out names. hah.