Help a noob in selecting speakers for home theater

[JackD121]

Go with the Outlaw. Do it now, before the sale runs out!



Better stick with our recommendations. You've got champagne tastes on a Miller Lite budget.



Wall-mount. Got it. We can work with this. OK, I'm going to solve all your problems, even some you don't realize you have yet.

Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 SE pair with an HTM-200 SE center channel = $476 (Memorial Day / summer sale, unknown for how long)
2x NXG Pro 4.1 satellites -- $90
Outlaw LFM1-EX -- $599 for a very grown-up sub (Father's Day special, probably only good for this week)
Denon AVR-E300 -- $190
heavy duty wall-mount bracket 4-pack -- $33
Subwoofer cable -- $8
More speaker wire than you need -- $9
Make some DIY acoustic panels -- ~$100 (I hope)

That room is going to be awfully live. Acoustic panels and bass traps will improve your sound more than you'd think. Plus, you can let your wife pick out the fabric, which she'll dig, and it'll make your neighbors jealous. See this site for some placement ideas.

Total cost is around your max budget, depending on acoustic panels. But the WAF will be so off-the-scale, she's sure to let you overspend! Then you can add some Wiremold or whatever cable management you like for the subwoofer cable and power cords as needed.

The speakers are well regarded for the price. I heard them in store and thought they were fine. The sub, on the other hand, is not worth owning, skip it. The Outlaw Audio LFM-1 EX is on sale right now for $600 shipped, it will be many times better than the Pioneer sub, I would hit that sale while it lasts. Easily the best bang for your buck at that sale price. The sale only goes on for another couple days.

Thanks guys .. i am about to pull the trigger on the outlaw sub, only have couple of questions .. haven't decided yet on the speakers yet.
1) The review for the sub says that it is a great sub for someone who is looking to fill a large space, do you think it is a little too much for the media room as its only around 250 sq ft or so ?
2) The cons for this say "Limited connectivity". What does that mean ? Are there any specific receivers only this will connect to ?

For the speakers i am leaning towards the pioneer ones or the ascend one Rojo suggested .. haven't thought about receiver but denon E400 looks good.

 

[shadyJ]

There is no problem with having a powerful sub in a small room. All that means is the sub will not compress the peaks as much and will play with less distortion. These are good things. The criticisms of limited connectivity is a little weird for the Outlaw sub. Most subs only have a line level RCA input. The Outlaw has that and speaker level inputs as well. Your receiver will be able to connect to the Outlaw subwoofer.

 

[its phillip]

The LFM-1 EX is definitely not too much sub for your room (that's slightly larger than the room I have mine in). After you get it, you'll probably like it so much that you'll want another

The pioneer sub is total poo and not to be recommended imo.

 

[JackD121]

There is no problem with having a powerful sub in a small room. All that means is the sub will not compress the peaks as much and will play with less distortion. These are good things. The criticisms of limited connectivity is a little weird for the Outlaw sub. Most subs only have a line level RCA input. The Outlaw has that and speaker level inputs as well. Your receiver will be able to connect to the Outlaw subwoofer.

The LFM-1 EX is definitely not too much sub for your room (that's slightly larger than the room I have mine in). After you get it, you'll probably like it so much that you'll want another

The pioneer sub is total poo and not to be recommended imo.

Thanks guys .. i just bought the sub .... question for the speakers .. .

i am more interested in the pioneer speakers as they have have great reviews and are a little cheaper. What i am curious is that will it be ok to order 4 of those pioneer bookshelf speaker rather than 2 bookshelf for back and 2 floor standing ones for front ? Or there will be a noticeable diff in the sound ?

Which receiver do you think is better - denon E400 or yamaha RX-V475. I have been using a yamaha receiver (v667) for last couple of yrs and have been very happy with it except that it doent not have network capabilities.

 

[rojo]

Excellent for pulling the trigger on the sub! IMHO, that's the most significant component of your HT, and anything you do from here on out will at least sound great, if not excellent. The advice that follows is nit pickery, really. But it is what it is.

The Ascend Acoustics speakers will tolerate wall-mounting better than the Pioneers I think. I've read that the Ascends are OK with only having a few inches between speaker and wall, whereas the Pioneers' little 4" drivers need as much room to breathe through the rear ports as they can get. Also, the Pioneers don't have any mounting holes. They're stands-only. Another thing that makes the Ascend a better choice is that they're higher sensitivity and higher power handling.

But if you do end up choosing the Pioneer, I don't think there'll be any other drawback to using all bookshelfs instead of towers up front. I think they'll reach well below the traditional 80Hz LFE crosover point.

The reason I recommended the Denon E300 (or E400 or any of the X-thousand models) is because of the Audyssey room correction. I think you'll get better results, especially with bass correction, with Audyssey than with the Yamaha's YPAO. Also, Audyssey Dynamic EQ is ossum.

 

[JackD121]

Excellent for pulling the trigger on the sub! IMHO, that's the most significant component of your HT, and anything you do from here on out will at least sound great, if not excellent. The advice that follows is nit pickery, really. But it is what it is.

The Ascend Acoustics speakers will tolerate wall-mounting better than the Pioneers I think. I've read that the Ascends are OK with only having a few inches between speaker and wall, whereas the Pioneers' little 4" drivers need as much room to breathe through the rear ports as they can get. Also, the Pioneers don't have any mounting holes. They're stands-only. Another thing that makes the Ascend a better choice is that they're higher sensitivity and higher power handling.

But if you do end up choosing the Pioneer, I don't think there'll be any other drawback to using all bookshelfs instead of towers up front. I think they'll reach well below the traditional 80Hz LFE crosover point.

The reason I recommended the Denon E300 (or E400 or any of the X-thousand models) is because of the Audyssey room correction. I think you'll get better results, especially with bass correction, with Audyssey than with the Yamaha's YPAO. Also, Audyssey Dynamic EQ is ossum.

Thanks for your help in selecting the sub. You advise on receiver is helpful as well, will go with denon. I like trying diff things anyways.

How do people mount pioneer speakers then ? I was thinking of just getting 4 bookshelf speakers with the mount that you suggest or this one -
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000X9O8SI

I think these mounts will work as we need to tighten speakers from the side. I am more interested in trying pioneer first is because i can just go to frys and grab them and test them. If i don't like those, i can always return and get the ascend ones. Hoping there will be some good deals in the coming weeks at frys, so might your opinion about other speakers as well.

 

[rojo]

Man, I wish I lived near a Fry's. Or actually, maybe not. I'm broke enough as it is.

Yeah, I think those clamping wall brackets are probably the only way to hang the Pioneers on the wall, other than hanging actual shelves. And if the Pioneers do fail the audition in your house, the clamp brackets should work with the Ascends as well.

 

[JackD121]

Oh kool.. Thanks man.. Gonna start with 4 of those bookshelf ones and then go from there.. Will compare ddiff denon models to see if there is any major diff in the newer ones..

Now lets hope Frys has some great deal for the july 4th weekend.. Or before that.

 

[shadyJ]

Fry's also has killer deals on Infinity Primus speakers, keep your eyes open for those as well. You can get p363 towers for $107 sometimes, and those will put out a much bigger sound than their price would suggest.

 

[JackD121]

thanks for the tip .. they are currently 199 each ..would be a good deal if i can get it for 107 ... will they work fine if i use the pioneer bookshelf for the rear or infinity primus 163 would be better (hoping there might be a deal for them at the same time or something) ?

What do you think about the jbl floostanding speakers that are on sale right now at Frys for $130 each - FRYS.com | JBL

There are so many different companies that it is difficult to figure out which are good ... or atleast find out what not to buy

 

[shadyJ]

Fry's has all these in their speaker room (at least the one near me does), and you can compare and listen to them in store. The JBL's would not be my first choice, but I don't think they are bad. My preference is for the Infinity speakers, but the Pioneers are good for the price. Fry's also runs sales on the Primus bookshelf speakers, the p163 goes for $60 each, the p153 for $50, and the p143 for $40. I would go for the p153 or p163 for surrounds for the p363.

 

[rojo]

Well, when you've got access to listen to them in the store, you don't really need us to tell you what you think sounds good. Take some tunes with you and annoy the sales people. Just don't let them talk you into buying Bose. Also bear in mind that Pioneer is discontinuing its home speaker lines, so the sales staff could be compelled to push the Pioneer hard to get rid of their stock, even if you think the JBL or Infinity sounds better. But I have heard mostly positive reactions about the Pioneers at least, so just let your ears choose for you.

Don't let the sales people tell you what you're going to hear / what you should listen for. Threaten them with Justin Bieber demo music if you have to.

 

[JackD121]

oh wow ..,.that is some great price .. will keep looking .. Friday is te day when new Frys deals come .. so hopefully there will be something good tomorrow..

 

[JackD121]

Fry's has all these in their speaker room (at least the one near me does), and you can compare and listen to them in store. The JBL's would not be my first choice, but I don't think they are bad. My preference is for the Infinity speakers, but the Pioneers are good for the price. Fry's also runs sales on the Primus bookshelf speakers, the p163 goes for $60 each, the p153 for $50, and the p143 for $40. I would go for the p153 or p163 for surrounds for the p363.

The infinity speakers are on sale now starting Friday. .. P363 is 200 for a pair and p153 are 50 each. Gonna go to store sometime tomorrow and check these out.

 

[zieglj01]

The infinity speakers are on sale now starting Friday. .. P363 is 200 for a pair and p153 are 50 each. Gonna go to store sometime tomorrow and check these out.

Check the speakers and find the ones you like best - however, remember that
loudness does not guarantee overall quality - also in home trail, is the best
way to judge your speakers.

If you are thinking about Pioneer >>>
If you decide to go with bookshelf front speakers - Dennis Murphy has brought
back the AAL Pioneer modded speakers for a short time - he also mods their
center channel. They will have a new/better tweeter, and a revised crossover.
They are more smooth, refined and open with better detail and definition, over
the origional stock speakers - and the bass from the bookshelf speakers is nice.
Philharmonic Audio

Your call

 

[JackD121]

Ughhhh .... went to two store and drove around 50 miles .. both stores were out of stock of both pioneer and infinity .. online price doesn't reflect discount ... i guess need to wait till they are back in stock ..

 

[zieglj01]

Ughhhh .... went to two store and drove around 50 miles .. both stores were out of stock of both pioneer and infinity .. online price doesn't reflect discount ... i guess need to wait till they are back in stock ..

Do you live near a Best Buy?

 

[JackD121]

Do you live near a Best Buy?

I do.. Thought about price match but couldn't fibd these speakers in store.. All are sold on website as marketplace item for shipping only.

Called frys CS.. They said its on backorder for them but they placed an order for me and then sent the order to a diff department to match the price as in store price

Once approved from the department, they will ship it as soon as its back in stock. Fry's doesn't sell the center channel though.

Anyone one what's the difference between the two center channels, other than one being 5 1/4 and the second 6 1/2 i think.. Smaller one is 91 on amazon and bigger one is 199. Thanks

 

[shadyJ]

go for the c351 center if you can, it is a beast of a center speaker and performs very well. Well worth the extra $100. Consider that the center channel is the most heavily used channel in the home theater, and the vast majority of the dialogue is handed to the center, as well as lots of music and effects.

 

[JackD121]

Thanks .. will buy that if my order ships ..

the guy at Fry's(who did not even know that infinity primus has center channels also) was saying that i can't use any other brands center channel (e.g. pioneer etc) with infinity speakers since the technology is diff ... which didn't make sense to me cuz as per him infinity doesn't even make center channel but they are selling the rest of the speakers so we should just setup the system without center channel ???

I think he was just bs but want to confirm as you guys by now already know that i don't knw $hit either