Newbie - needs help!

[sml1]

I need some help with speaker selection. I'm just wading in to the home theater world, and we had a guy come out to the house to give us an estimate.

In a nutshell, he is recommending a six speaker, in wall/ceiling system containing the following:

3 x 6.5 ceiling (A-615)
2 x front, in wall (A-820)
1 x center (?)

Of course, also a subwoofer (?)

In looking at the recommended systems here, they all seem to be either five or seven speaker configurations.

I think, based on the part number, that he is planning on using RBH speakers, but I'm not certain because what he's suggesting would be the "commercial" product line. BTW, he's also recommending a Yamaha RXV-559 receiver.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

[sml1]

He's quoting as follows:

in ceiling @ $150 each
front wall @ $200 each
Center @ $200
Subwoofer @ $300

The receiver was @ $600.

I know these prices are likely ridiculous, but about $1,500 is my budget for this portion of the systems

[mazersteven]

The most important thing you can do is get out and audition as many speakers as you can. Bring your own material to demo (DVD's & CD's). Take your time (if you have time), and have fun.

I don't know what speakers your installer has to offer.

I recommend Speakercraft AIM8's

www.speakercraft.com

Reason I recommend them is the fact you can pivit and move the whole driver, not just the tweeter. This way you can aim the speaker to the listening area. Doing this creates the feeling of the sound coming right from the screen and not the ceiling.

Pics in my webshots link.

[NYyankeeboi]

I know that from my own previous witch hunt of a Yamaha receiver that the price for a V559 seems kinda high, I saw them on ebay for $239.00 (possibly refurbished). The direct Yamaha website has them at $449.00 and the builder of the unit usually has the top price... Heres a link

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=200507&CTID=5000300

I know that cutting holes and doing the install is not an easy job, but I would be careful of his component pricing.

[ParadigmDawg]

It is really a easy job if you have even a little bit of handy-man skills. I am not very skilled at all and it only took me 30 minutes to intall 2 in-ceiling speakers. Took a little longer to run wire/cables trough the walls but was not difficult. I would consider giving it a shot so you can upgrade the speakers and still spend the same amount of money.

You really need to listen to as many speakers a possible and decide what you like before you just buy some and have them installed.

[jcPanny]

Check out some websites for a reality check on the prices. Looks like everything you list is above MSRP. Obvisouly you should expect to pay for labor and installation but you didn't indicate whether that was included.

RBH A-15.
http://www.audiophileliquidator.net/product_info.php?cPath=35_30_42&products_id=939

In your price range, you will get better performance from a bookshelf speaker system than entry level in-ceiling speakers. I would also recommend wiring for a 7.1 HT system and either installing speakers for 5.1 or a full 7.1.