5.1 home theatre setup advice

[Phoenix3434]

Hi guys..

I need some advice for a 5.1 home theatre system. Recently, I bought the Sony's BDVE500W system from FS, and it is pretty bad considering how much I paid for it in terms of sound quality - so I am going to return it.

While I don't know much about audio systems, I do have a very good ear. I am starting to read up on the literature and am starting to become somewhat familiar with the different components, but am unsure about what to buy.

That being said, could you guys please give me a couple of suggestions for setups in the $800 - $1500 range? (receiver + speakers - 5.1 setup).

Obviously, the best bang for the buck. I am willing to wait till boxing week if I have to. I am pairing this with a Panasonic 50" G15 plasma TV + a blu-ray player I am yet to buy.

Also, I live in the GTA.

Thanks you!

[audit13]

My advice would be to get a decent Yamaha/Denon/Pioneer/Onkyo receiver and a set of Energy 5.1 speakers. These items regularly go on sale at FS and other retailers for a decent price.

[Nyte]

My advice would be to get a decent Yamaha/Denon/Pioneer/Onkyo receiver and a set of Energy 5.1 speakers. These items regularly go on sale at FS and other retailers for a decent price.

I prefer the Onkyo receivers, they tend to be much better value than the other brands on there. But I've been told they're really hard to find or are overpriced in Canada; I got mine in the US.

Also, if you don't mind spending more money over time to build up your system, I'd pass on the 5.1.

[Phoenix3434]

Hey guys. So, what are some good stores to check out receivers at? I only know of 2001 Audio Video. Seems expensive though. Sadly, going to the US is not an option for me.

Nyte, are you saying that I should go with a 7.1 setup instead? Are they "significantly" better than 5.1 setups - assuming same receiver + level of speakers.

My room is about 12 feet x 24 feet where the "entertainment center" is in a 12x12 block (half the room). What kind of speaker sensitivity and receiver power should I go for?

Thanks!

[audit13]

I prefer the Onkyo receivers, they tend to be much better value than the other brands on there. But I've been told they're really hard to find or are overpriced in Canada; I got mine in the US.

Also, if you don't mind spending more money over time to build up your system, I'd pass on the 5.1.

I currently have an Onkyo receiver but I preferred the sound of the Yamaha receiver I compared it to. I got the Onkyo for the TrueHD and DTS-HD decoding. My next receiver will be a Yamaha rx1900 that I hope to purchase around Christmas

Why pass on the 5.1? I find that good sound makes the movie much more enjoyable.

[vasanth1981]

start off with an above average receiver[something with TrueHD and DTS-HD], stick with Yamaha/Denon/Pioneer/Onkyo brands....5.1 is good....7.1 or 7.2 is future proofing. Speakers get front and center channels first and get the others later on or you could get really cheap ones for now and upgrade later. A really good sound sys would cost you abt $3500-$5000[Receiver $800-$1500 and Speakers $1500 - $3500]. Go for really good speakers, they would last a long-time, good brands available in Canada are Klipsch and KEF. Remember....Sound is all abt moving AIR.....

[Nyte]

Nyte, are you saying that I should go with a 7.1 setup instead? Are they "significantly" better than 5.1 setups - assuming same receiver + level of speakers.

No, I was implying to start with a 2.0.

My room is about 12 feet x 24 feet where the "entertainment center" is in a 12x12 block (half the room). What kind of speaker sensitivity and receiver power should I go for?

Thanks!

Depends a lot on how loud you like to play stuff.

Why pass on the 5.1? I find that good sound makes the movie much more enjoyable.

I said if he was willing to build up (so he will eventually have 5.1 or 7.1). As for why, this is just my opinion, but I find the sound quality to be lacking given the speakers you could get within his posted budget - he'll need to split the amount over 6 speakers AND a receiver.

It's the approach I'm going with right now. I started at 2.0 and eventually added some surrounds, but I found that while they were nice to have, they didn't add all that much given most of the Blurays I've watched. To sum it up, if I was building a new system with a limited budget, I'd much rather have two good front speakers than 6 lesser ones.

[SivaNevets]

i got mine for slightly more than 1k. sound much much better than onkyo 9100.
heres wut i got (everything on sale, got everything together in a month)
Front: Polk RTI6 (equivalent RTI A3) $169
Centre: Polk CSI A4 $165
rear: Polk M10 $89 (could be cheaper)
Subwoofer: Polk PSW10 $150
($573 before tax)

receiver: Denon AVR 789 $499

upgrade options:
u can upgrade centre to CSIA6, and match the rear with RTIA1
or a better sub

[audit13]

...I said if he was willing to build up (so he will eventually have 5.1 or 7.1). As for why, this is just my opinion, but I find the sound quality to be lacking given the speakers you could get within his posted budget - he'll need to split the amount over 6 speakers AND a receiver.

It's the approach I'm going with right now. I started at 2.0 and eventually added some surrounds, but I found that while they were nice to have, they didn't add all that much given most of the Blurays I've watched. To sum it up, if I was building a new system with a limited budget, I'd much rather have two good front speakers than 6 lesser ones.

I see your logic. This is basically the approach I took with my setup. I now have a system I happy with except for the receiver and tv which I'll change at Christmas.

[Nyte]

I see your logic. This is basically the approach I took with my setup. I now have a system I happy with except for the receiver and tv which I'll change at Christmas.

I'm basically running a 4.0 right now. Next in line would be to add a center, but my biggest issue there has been placement. I'd need to find a new TV stand that can hold it as it won't fit on my current one; and furniture shopping is such a pain. I originally considered placing the TV on top of the center, but they updated the enclosures so they aren't perfectly flat anymore

[Phoenix3434]

Thank you all for the awesome tips. I like Nyte's idea of building it up slowly - I'll have to think about that. I might just go for 2 front + center speaker + subwoofer for now then and leave the surround/rear for later.

Can the front and rear/surround speakers be the "same" model of speaker? As in in a 5.1 setup, I can get 4 identical speakers for the 2 front and 2 surround? If not, what's the reason?

Nyte/Audit, both of you guys said you started off with smaller systems (e.g. 2.0) and built up - what did you guys go with to start off with? Nyte, you said you have a 4.0 setup (2 front/surround) - does that mean the center + woofer are the LEAST important in a setup? I thought the center was important for vocals and such.

As for the furniture issue, here's an idea:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/ca...e/10364/11794/
This is what I bought - still unassembled . Mine has extra grooves for the boxes above the shelves as well. Totally modular system - as in you can build up and sideways as you please. They have other cool TV solutions at ikea as well - like one unit that has sliding doors over the TV. Very cheap compared to the other "big store" solutions. Can run the cables behind the backing as well.

[Nyte]

Can the front and rear/surround speakers be the "same" model of speaker? As in in a 5.1 setup, I can get 4 identical speakers for the 2 front and 2 surround? If not, what's the reason?

Yes they can be the same. The reason you might not want it to be the same is that historically, very little information is sent to the rear speakers; this is changing now that we have multichannel audio, but most of the focus will generally still be in the front.

To put it another way, if you got really nice front speakers, it would be overkill to use the same ones for the rears, but there is certainly no negative to doing so except to your wallet.

Nyte/Audit, both of you guys said you started off with smaller systems (e.g. 2.0) and built up - what did you guys go with to start off with? Nyte, you said you have a 4.0 setup (2 front/surround) - does that mean the center + woofer are the LEAST important in a setup? I thought the center was important for vocals and such.

I started with 2 front speakers; they are the most important ones and everything supports stereo output (ie. 2.0). The center is not important in this case the sound will be split across the two front speakers. It's a much bigger issue with the low-end HT in a box type deals that you originally tried as they have very small speakers that are very directional. Good fronts will have a wide enough sound stage that the entire front area will be covered.
As for the subwoofer, it depends on whether what you have gives you enough bass. In my case, the fronts (details here) have 6x 7" woofers to cover the bass; they claim it will go down to 25hz, I've never tested.

As for the furniture issue, here's an idea:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/ca...e/10364/11794/
This is what I bought - still unassembled . Mine has extra grooves for the boxes above the shelves as well. Totally modular system - as in you can build up and sideways as you please. They have other cool TV solutions at ikea as well - like one unit that has sliding doors over the TV. Very cheap compared to the other "big store" solutions. Can run the cables behind the backing as well.

I've looked at that (and the other ones they sell), they won't meet my needs. The problem with most of those is that they don't hold up the weight I need and/or they're too small. It's something you should keep in mind as well when you're shopping. I need it to be able to hold up the center speaker (70lbs), TV (80lbs), receiver (50lbs), and the misc other stuff that don't weigh nearly as much, but add up.

[audit13]

Thank you all for the awesome tips. I like Nyte's idea of building it up slowly - I'll have to think about that. I might just go for 2 front + center speaker + subwoofer for now then and leave the surround/rear for later.

Can the front and rear/surround speakers be the "same" model of speaker? As in in a 5.1 setup, I can get 4 identical speakers for the 2 front and 2 surround? If not, what's the reason?

Nyte/Audit, both of you guys said you started off with smaller systems (e.g. 2.0) and built up - what did you guys go with to start off with? Nyte, you said you have a 4.0 setup (2 front/surround) - does that mean the center + woofer are the LEAST important in a setup? I thought the center was important for vocals and such.

As for the furniture issue, here's an idea:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/ca...e/10364/11794/
This is what I bought - still unassembled . Mine has extra grooves for the boxes above the shelves as well. Totally modular system - as in you can build up and sideways as you please. They have other cool TV solutions at ikea as well - like one unit that has sliding doors over the TV. Very cheap compared to the other "big store" solutions. Can run the cables behind the backing as well.

For my system, I started out with an Onkyo 705 receiver, older Mirage stereo speakers, and a 12" Velodyne sub. I replaced eventually replaced the Mirage speakers with 4 Energy RC-30s. For the centre, I went with the Energy RC-mini. When the RC-CLR went on sale, I bought the LCR to see if it would be a better match with my system. Within 15 minutes of listening to the LCR, I decided to sell off the RC-mini and keep the LCR. Going with the larger centre channel made the voices sound more natural and its timbre more closely matched my fronts and rears. The mini was good but the voices sometimes sounded kind of thin.

I'll replace my Velodyne with an SVS pb10-nsd sub in the near future.

For furniture, I went with this stand: http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...084420&catid=#

It has a lot of space to keep my Onkyo cool. I also have my centre channel speaker, an htpc, cd player, and a BD player on the stand. I intentionally went with this stand because this stand allowed me to place the centre speaker directly below my tv.

[liquidimpulse]

i'm on the same boat as you, except I'm looking at spending under $1000 on all speakers (maybe except the surrounds if its necessary) and another $500 on the receiver.

Right now I'm looking at a lot in the used marketplace through kijiji and canuckaudiomart.

i see a person advertising a mission m34i 5.1 bundle for $999 and it sounds pretty hot, although im not too sure! Just wondering what everyone's take on it? or is it too good to be true?and what are your opinions on the system?

another thing I'm looking at into are the paradigm monitor 7 v.2's. A pair went for $300+shipping a while ago from a seller and I'm hoping I can snatch a pair soon as well, however will it be hard pairing it with a suitable center for under $200?(new/used)

anyways sorry for hijacking the thread but you should check out the used marketplace as there is ton of value to be sought.

[audit13]

...another thing I'm looking at into are the paradigm monitor 7 v.2's. A pair went for $300+shipping a while ago from a seller and I'm hoping I can snatch a pair soon as well, however will it be hard pairing it with a suitable center for under $200?(new/used)....

Others may disagree but I'm a believer in timbre matching all of the front speakers. Since my front speakers' drivers were farther from the floor than the centre speaker's drivers, everything sounded better when I matched my front speakers to my centre speaker.