Starting to build a home theater. Audio Advice

[JacobD550]

Hello All,

I just recently purchased a house with a dedicated home theater room. I am all excited and have started my research process as to how I am going to finish out this room. There is so much information out there and so many different options. I am canvasing multiple sources as to what would get me the best bang for my buck.

First off let me give a description of my theater room to let you know what I am working with. I have a dedicated theater room that measures 13X19. The ceiling is 10 feet, but on the front wall (where the screen will be) and the two side walls the ceiling is vaulted with the slant starting at 8 feet. The back wall is flat with no vaulting, the door is on the right side of this wall (if you are facing the screen/front wall) The room also has a sound dampening insulation installed in the walls.

The room has been pre-wired for 7.1 surround sound in-ceiling speakers. The LCR speakers are wired on the front wall vaulted slope, with the surrounds wired on the vaulted slope of the side walls. I already have realized the guys who pre-wired misplaced the surrounds. Both surround channels are placed on the side wall with the first location wired way forward of where I will be sitting. I am planing to have the surrounds moved with my surround moved to sitting location and rear locations moved to the back wall.

Budget/WAF background. I am looking to spend $3000-$3500 on my speaker/sub setup. The wife predictably likes the idea of in-ceiling better than towers. With that being said I am not ruling out towers because she is pretty easy going and would be OK with towers if I tell her there is an advantage to having them.

Tower route. I think I have settled on if I am going the tower option I will be ordering speakers through and internet direct company. Looking around I believe I can get a better bang for my buck through ID companies. The ID setups I have been looking at are HTD level 3 system or EMP-Tek e55ti. I would appreciate feed back on this option as far as company quality and especially if there is a better option out there that would fit my budget.

In-ceiling route. As far as in-ceilings go I have been looking at a MartinLogan ElectroMotion IC setup. Quality concerns or better option for budget feed back again appreciated.

Sub. For the sub I am trying to decide between SVS, PowerSound Audio, or MartinLogan.

My main confusion lays with tower vs in-ceiling. Forums tell me that towers are much better, but local home theater stores tell me it is a personal preference issue with a small difference in sound quality. I would really like to find a place to go listen to both options. I live in Houston, any recommendations of places I can go sample different speaker options?

Summary
1. speakers vs towers.
2. quality of ID towers vs MartinLogan in-ceiling.
3. place around Houston I can go demo speakers.

Thanks in advance to everyone that responds. I know this is a bit wordy and un-informed but this is why I am coming to the experts.

-Jacob

 

[zieglj01]

In Houston - check Modia Home Theater

And check into Allstar Audio Video (do not know much of what they may carry)

There does not seem to be much in the way of specialty stores there anymore

ID brands are good options, for testing speakers in your home - and they do
offer return policies. Home testing is the best way to go.

Now tower and bookshelf speakers are a far better option than in-ceiling speakers.
If you can not tell the difference - then may someone have mercy on you.

Due to some set-up restrictions - many people do use in-ceiling speakers for their
surround options.

 

[ImcLoud]

OK, first congrats on the new house and welcome to the forum...


Second, subs.. I have heard and bought a bunch of them, I found HSU to have the best bang for your buck... for that room I would start here - VTF-3 MK4 DualDrive Package

Third speakers- towers vs in ceiling, if you have any expactation of a nice system, do NOT go in ceiling fronts... I also wouldnt go with towers, towers are built to give you more ow end, your receiver is going to cross the bass to your subwoofer so its a moot point.... You are just paying more for wood and shipping {even if its free shipping you pay for it in the price, I assure you, even if you buy them locally, somewhere shipping was paid}, and more resonance {larger cabinets = more resonance....}...

NOW heres what I would do...

Ascend Acoustic CMT340se front end CMT-340 SE Mini-Tower Loudspeaker and Fluance surrounds Amazon.com: Fluance XLBP Wide Dispersion Bipolar Surround Sound Speakers for Home Theater: Electronics

That IMO is your best bang for your buck... The ascends are all business, they come with VERY nice tweeters and drivers, the fluance surrounds are well made and sound great, the HSU subs ROCK, I can not think of anything else for $1500 that will smash a room like them...

Thats around $3000, hang the front on the wall, hang the surrounds where they should be {I would go 5.x vs 7.x rear surrounds sound unnatural to me and there arent many movies recorded to support it}....

good luck I hope this helps...

 

[JacobD550]

Thanks for the feed back. A couple questions about the ascend package.

1. would I just get 3 of the CMT-340s and use one as a center chanel?
2. would the surrounds be alright to mount on the vaulted part of the ceiling or do they have to be on the flat wall portion?

-Jacob

 

[ImcLoud]

Thanks for the feed back. A couple questions about the ascend package.

1. would I just get 3 of the CMT-340s and use one as a center chanel?
2. would the surrounds be alright to mount on the vaulted part of the ceiling or do they have to be on the flat wall portion?

-Jacob

You would get a pair of cmt340se's and a 340 center {it has a different crossover that allows it to be mounted horizontal...

I mount my surrounds on omni mounts so they can be moved around once mounted...

do you have some pics of the room..


When I did my HT setup I listened to sooo many speakers including the emps, and the ascends were just that next level above everything in their price range... same with hsu, I tried svs, and a few others, hsu was heads and tails above..

 

[JacobD550]

Ahh yes I went on ascends website just now and saw the center.

I do have pictures but I am only seeing a URL option to post pictures. Am I missing something here?

Also, are you suggesting I just go 5.1 instead of 7.1. If I do 7.1 will the Bipole Fluance surrounds work for both surrounds and rears?

-Jacob

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think it would be fine for most people to get an AVR plus 7 bookshelf speakers (hang on wall) + 2 subs for your room.

Do you already have an AVR?

 

[JacobD550]

I do not have an AVR yet.

I am just starting my research process. I have been doing research myself and wanted to get a few more opinions from experienced owners.

-Jacob

 

[ImcLoud]

Heres the best advice for you... Get everything setup, avr, seating, screen, projector, ect.. and then demo some speakers that interest you... Ascend, emp, svs, HSU all do free home demos, some you have to pay return shipping but besides that they are risk free... Thats what I did, I tried and tried and all were good, but the ascend 340s simply surpassed everything else...

 

[JacobD550]

ImcLoud,

I think that is the best piece of advice I have received so far. I think I am going to focus my budget as of know on getting my receiver and furniture in place then start demoing speakers.

-Jacob

 

[ImcLoud]

keep this thread for your process, let us know what you are looking for in a receiver and we can try to give you some ideas, if you don't mind refurbed or demo's accessories4less.com can save you some money, I like Pioneer, Dennon, and Marantz, I recomend spending as little as possible for something that will do what you want, the resale value is a joke, avr's are out dated and replaced quickly, and if there is any part of your system that is going to fail it is the avr...

this is a nice one for short money DENON AVR-E400 7.1 4K & 3D Networking Receiver Airplay | Accessories4less and the sub is also a pretty easy choice, in your room I would go duals, I have dual vtf2's and they are more than enough for my large room, but the vtf3's are a great buy too... IMO the HSU subs are the best buy unless you are building them yourself, which will get you even more bang for your buck... DIY kits are easy, you just glue, screw, and paint they come all cut and ready to put together...

 

[JacobD550]

The features I am looking for in an avr are enough power to fill my media room.

Plus I want some internet streaming options like pandora. I have 6 zones powered in the rest of the house that I want to use the avr as an internet radio streaming input so I can change pandora stations remotely from my phone when I am downstairs or in the garage working.

Beyond that I dont need anything fancy.

-Jacob

 

[ImcLoud]

So you are going to want something with zone 2 DENON AVR-2313CI 7.2 4K & 3D Pass Through Networking Receiver AirPlay | Accessories4less this also has dual sub outputs...

As far as power goes that is going to depend on how efficient your mains are, the higher the sens rating the less power they need to get loud, BUT keep in mind most rooms don't need much power to the mains, since the lows are the hardest freqs to power and those will be handled by your subs, your mains will most likely be crossed around 80hz leaving the heavy lifting to your sub amps... So in most cases 75+watts per front channel is more than enough power to get the wife complaining, 200w per ch will get the neighbors joining in... But for that you will need separate amps, not really needed..

 

[mtrycrafts]

Welcome.

If you are looking at area audio stores and plan on visiting them in person, call and ask if they have in-ceiling speakers set up by chance.
If so, may want to take your wife to listen and show her how badly they sound. Take her to a local theater to show how they should sound.