advise on selection of Audio/Video components needed

[Zurab]

Hi All,
I would like to buy audio/video system for my home.
Purpose:
To watch TV, films and listen to quality music (different genre from rock to classic)
My listening habits - 50% HT and 50% stereo music
I do have:
Room size about: 35 sqm;

Room ceiling: a so called stretched ceiling (see layout and renders in pics).

TV Sony 50W807C Android, with TV receiver box;
Xbox (my son connects it to living room TV from time to time)
Wireless network (Ubiquity, 802.11bgn)
Wired network (FTP6 cable) for internet and cable TV,
Satellite cable (coaxial) and receiver box;
Pre-wires room for 5.1 setup (two front, one sub and two rear (rear wall to ceiling corner points).

Considering to buy:
1. AV receiver (in favor of Marantz SR5010, http://www.marantz.co.uk/uk/product...etheatre&subcatid=avreceiver&productid=sr5010 ) &
2.Speakers. No preferences over brand. Can be floor standing or wall mounted.
Later on will add on
3. a Turntable (please advise on options),
4. Blu-ray player (probably),
I will connect different gadgets/laptops, music streamer for having music in other rooms (probably) and (NAS) Network-attached storage (maybe).

For my listening habits shall I consider adding integrated amplifier on top to AVR?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

is there a budget limit somewhere? Are you planning to add a sub?

 

[Zurab]

Have not set budget.
Yes, sub will be great.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Judging from render design, on-walls are pictures so here are few good onwalls:
http://www.revelspeakers.com/productlist-rev/revel-list-products/rev-products/type/on-wall.html
http://www.sourcespeaker.com/LS26.html

Subs - you have rather large room and you're going to need a capable sub.
If you want smaller box:
http://www.svsound.com/products/sb13-ultra
Of if you don't care about sub size:
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-15hmk2.html
http://reactionaudio.com/Echo-15_p_41.html

 

[Zurab]

Thank you for recommendation. Please don't pay much attention to render. I'm more in favor of floor standing front speakers.

From what you suggested I made a comparison and have some questions that are more of general.
Freq Resp +/-3dB (Hz):

Revel M10: 110Hz-21kHz
LS26: 45 hz- 20 kHz​

Nominal impedance:
Revel: 8 ohms
LS26: 6 ohms
Sensitivity, for both models is 89 dB
Recommended amplifier power min-max is given for LS26 only: 20 - 150 W RMS
Crossover Frequencies is given for Revel M10 only: 2-1/2-Way at 400Hz and 2.2kHz

Marantz sr5010 spec are as follows:
Power output (8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 0.08% 2ch Drive): 100 watt
Signal to Noise, 100 dB
Speaker impedance: 4-16 ohms.
Marantz states that rated at 100 watts per channel, the SR5010 features low impedance drive capability and is compatible with 4 ohm speakers;

I'm not complete understanding the AVR/Speaker pairing criteria. For mentioned Marantz model what is better (or the best) choice, 6 or 8 ohms speaker? or shall I consider 4 ohms?

How the Frequency response shall be selected, i.e. is it 110Hz of Revel better then 45Hz of LS26?

Has Signal to noise spec of AVR (100dB of Marantz sr5010) any relation with Sensitivity of speaker (89 dB of M10,m for instance)?

In most speaker specs one can find number of power outputs under different conditions, like
8 ohm, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 0.08% 2ch Drive
6 ohm, 1 kHz, 0.7% 2ch Drive
6 ohm, 1 kHz, 1% 1ch Drive
Which one shall be considered as RMS power?

Is frequency extension and frequency response the same?

Some speakers provide Sound Pressure Levels, most don't. Is that important?

Thank you.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

The devils is in details. SourceSpeaker doesn't provide range limits for frequency response - so it's apples to oranges
6 or 8 nominal is also typically rough approximation - better number to judge speakers/avr compatibility is by minimal impedance.

Marantz sr5010 is good choice - not too flashy, but has all the bare minimum specs of mid-range avr.

But recommending speakers without knowing your price limits is sorta fruitless exercise
Don't know if you're ready to spend that much, but best tower speakers I've heard are these and by far (regardless of price - and I've heard several $100k+ speakers which didn't impress me much)

http://www.salksound.com/soundscape 8 home.htm

You will likely want to get an external amp to power these beasts, something like this one:
https://emotiva.com/products/amplifiers/xpa-5 or new XPA gen3 with 3 channels ( surrounds don't need much power and could powered by AVR)

 

[Zurab]

Minimal impedance is never provided over internet or in brochures, I guess. What is a minimal impedance for Revel M10 or Soundscape 8, for instance? So shall I select speaker that has 4 ohms minimal impedance as recommended by Marantz itself?

How the Frequency response shall be selected, i.e. is it 110Hz of Revel better then 45Hz of LS26?

Shall I care about X-over frequencies?

Appreciate your effort, but $8K (for pair of Salk Soundscape 8) is expensive. I should had set a budget limit from the very beginning... and make you job easier too. I would say, $2.5K-$3.0K for pair seems to be OK for me.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Minimal impedance is never provided over internet or in brochures, I guess. What is a minimal impedance for Revel M10 or Soundscape 8, for instance? So shall I select speaker that has 4 ohms minimal impedance as recommended by Marantz itself?

How the Frequency response shall be selected, i.e. is it 110Hz of Revel better then 45Hz of LS26?

Shall I care about X-over frequencies?

Appreciate your effort, but $8K (for pair of Salk Soundscape 8) is expensive. I should had set a budget limit from the very beginning... and make you job easier too. I would say, $2.5K-$3.0K for pair seems to be OK for me.

Minimal impedance is RARELY provided, but sometime vendor provide impedance measurement like here:
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cmt340m/cmt340mmeas.html
lowest possible point on the graph is the minimal impedance. In case of CMT340SE's is about 5ohm, BUT given Sensitivity (Anechoic) of 90dB @ 1 watt/ 1 meter - these are hard power from any reasonable 70-120W per channel amp/
receiver

Frequency response listed is often "optimistic" or then missing limits (like I said before) is absolutely useless. You can't just assume it's +/3 db

x-over frequencies of crossover - are not telling me much tbh, but they do to people who understand speakers design - which isn't me.

Now we have budget. Good first step. How many speakers/electronics do expect to buy for that amount?
Just the fronts? o

 

[Zurab]

For that budget Fronts and central are considered. But if very good fronts, then I can devote whole budget to it and buy central separately.
Later I will buy sub, and surrounds to get 5.1;

Does it make sense to request the minimal impedance graph from manufacturer like Ascend Acoustics provides?

So if limits are given (i.e. +/-3dB) then Freq. response is real? Broader the range the better the speaker? For instance, Soundscape 8 has 25hz-60kHz range for +/-3dB and LS26 has 45 hz- 20 kHz.

What about SPL, is it important to pay attention?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

For 3k LCR you should really try to go out to local audio shop and bring your favorite music
but for specific suggestions:
Imo these would get great match for you:
http://www.salksound.com/songtower features.htm
and matching songcenter
with limits frequency response has more meaning, but it also could be quite optimistic.

Bottom line - don't overthink specs too much - they are not very good or consistent way of judging speakers performance

 

[Zurab]

Thank you so for your time and recommendations.
I'll look at shops around, however the choice is not big unfortunately. Mostly, Canton, Boston, Focal, rarely limited range of B&W.