Sick of "TIAB"

[mia389]

My name is Allen and I am new to the forum. I have learned this is the place to go for, for knowledge and experience.

After purchasing a few theater's in a boxes in my lifetime I have finally learned to stay away from them. This is my first attempt at a Home theater build. I have done some research the last 48 hours and have come up with a build. Since many of you have been down this road, I figure you can tell me if I am all wrong or not. Please post your suggestions. I would like to stay under $2000. Here is what I have so far. Some of the items I stole from previous post. So far I am at $1850 without satellite speakers.

My goal is to have a great surround sound with the ability to listen to music all over my house. I plan on wiring speakers I already have into my basement and maybe garage.

Also my wife has heard the Bose Cinemate 520. I keep telling her this will be way better. Am I lieing to her?

Thanks,

Allen


Reciever $650
RX-A740


Sub $639
Outlaw Ultra-X12


Center $140
HTD Level 2


L/R $420
HTD Level 2


Ediet: Sorry wouldnt let me post links. I dont think you guys will need them though.

 

[mia389]

Sorry for grammar issues. Wont let me edit

 

[lsiberian]

Two points
1. Buying all at once is the similar to buying a HTIB. You limit every piece of your system to a one time splurge instead of building up over time. Start with a great pair or at most a front 3 set. Price and quality don't always equate, but you really want that front set to be your favorites. Nearly everything you hear will be through those speakers.

2. Craigslist has great deals on used speakers in some areas so be sure to check your area for any steals.

For example
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/ele/4793725985.html
If you happen to live in the DFW area this is definitely a steal.

 

[mia389]

Never thought of Craigslist. Great idea.

 

[ImcLoud]

For $2000 I would buy a pair of ascend sierra 1's in bstock with a stock center for $1080 then pick a Denon or marantz avr from a4l http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/denavre400/denon-avr-e400-7.1-4k-3d-networking-receiver-airplay/1.html for surrounds I would use fluance surrounds for $120 from amazon, and then for a subwoofer vtf2 on sale http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-2mk4.html .. That would put you around $2000 and IMO far surpass what you have listed...

 

[zieglj01]

With HTD - I would go with the Level Three over the Level Two

http://www.htd.com/Products/level-three-speakers/Level-THREE-Bookshelf-Speakers

http://www.htd.com/Products/level-three-speakers/Level-THREE-Center-Channel-Speaker

For surrounds - Wharfedale
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/whardmnd10srrw/wharfedale-diamond-10.sr-4-surround-speakers-pair-rosewood/1.html

The Outlaw sub, or the HSU sub

Receiver >>

Pioneer 1124
http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-1124-7-2-Channel-Network-Receiver/dp/B00ITHKJDO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419898175&sr=8-1&keywords=pioneer receiver

Or, Denon E400
http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR-E400-Integrated-Discontinued-Manufacturer/dp/B00B7X2OTY/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1419898134&sr=8-8&keywords=denon receiver

This will be much better than the Bose Cinemate system

 

[afterlife2]

This is my budget take:
2 pairs of: http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-BS22-LR-Designed-Bookshelf-Loudspeakers/dp/B008NCD2LG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1419898852&sr=1-1&keywords=pioneer andrew jones speakers
1 center: http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-C22-Designed-Channel-Speaker/dp/B008NCD2EI/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1419898902&sr=1-3&keywords=pioneer andrew jones speakers
1st choice Sub: http://www.svsound.com/subwoofers/ported-box/pb-1000
2nd choice Sub: http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-sub-1200-12-120-watt-powered-subwoofer--300-629
Yamaha Adventage Receiver: http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamrxa730bl/yamaha-rx-a730-aventage-7.2-av-receiver-airplay/1.html
All for more or less than $1,3000.

 

[GranteedEV]

Two points
1. Buying all at once is the similar to buying a HTIB. You limit every piece of your system to a one time splurge instead of building up over time. Start with a great pair or at most a front 3 set. Price and quality don't always equate, but you really want that front set to be your favorites. Nearly everything you hear will be through those speakers.

I really second this. I've heard better surrounds than what I personally use, and yet my decent, yet mismatched and underpriced surrounds are totally sufficient for my purposes. On the other hand, the front three is something I find to be very demanding and I'd pour as much budget in that direction as possible.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I really second this. I've heard better surrounds than what I personally use, and yet my decent, yet mismatched and underpriced surrounds are totally sufficient for my purposes. On the other hand, the front three is something I find to be very demanding and I'd pour as much budget in that direction as possible.

Third this. Spend most of budget on L/C/R AND a good SUB. Electronics and surrounds as budget allows. If possible even re-use old HTIB speakes as surrounds.

For AVR - This open box from amazon - has same 3 year warranty as new product:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00CALM2JY/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1419972530&sr=8-1&keywords=denon+x1000&condition=used

 

[GranteedEV]

I find you can usually save money just fine skipping out on a center and putting that saved money towards a subwoofer. I've yet to experience a good stereo setup where I feel a center does or would affect the experience significantly.

 

[jcparks]

Two points
1. Buying all at once is the similar to buying a HTIB. You limit every piece of your system to a one time splurge instead of building up over time. Start with a great pair or at most a front 3 set. Price and quality don't always equate, but you really want that front set to be your favorites. Nearly everything you hear will be through those speakers.

2. Craigslist has great deals on used speakers in some areas so be sure to check your area for any steals.

For example
http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/ele/4793725985.html
If you happen to live in the DFW area this is definitely a steal.

I will be the forth one to agree with this recommendation... I would advise you to go audition different speakers so you can hear the tonal differences and get an idea of what you are looking for. You can read 100 speaker reviews, but in order to fully understand them you have to hear the difference between a "warm" speaker and a "bright" speaker, so on.. there are so many different industry terms used in speaker reviews that you really have to listen to lots of speakers before you can completely understand what is being described.
Before you spend 2000 dollars go out and listen, try to figure out as many of the industry terms as you can... figure out which tonal quality appeals the most to you, and then re read all of those reviews, and find the one in your budget that most closely describes the sound that you are looking for.

 

[KEW]

Reciever $650
RX-A740


Sub $639
Outlaw Ultra-X12


Center $140
HTD Level 2


L/R $420
HTD Level 2

I am kind of the 5th person to agree, but want to get specific.
For $2000, you should have better speakers than HTD 2's for your front 3 (and agree that buying two speakers instead of 3 is a great option) and $630 is way too much to spend on a receiver in todays market unless you are looking for some unique features.

If it was my money, I would get a pair of Philharmonitors at $850, skip the center. Use current HTiB speakers as satellites. Get a receiver with at least Audyssey MultEQ XT (the X1000 BSA suggested above is an excellent option at ~$230). Get a subwoofer for HT use at ~$700 (different discussion required for room size etc to suggest specific model). That puts you at $1780.

Sit back and enjoy it. Decide if you have any noticeably weak spots or miss the quality of satellites or the center.
I'm betting not!

PS - We have largely ignored your comment:
"My goal is to have a great surround sound with the ability to listen to music all over my house. I plan on wiring speakers I already have into my basement and maybe garage. "

Are you wanting a receiver that has the zones and extra amplifiers to drive additional speakers?
Do you want 5.1 for your HT?

 

[herbu]

PS - We have largely ignored your comment:
"My goal is to have a great surround sound with the ability to listen to music all over my house. I plan on wiring speakers I already have into my basement and maybe garage."

Yeh, I noticed that too. While I also agree w/ the 5 agreements above, your desire for whole house may change the equation a bit.
First understand that driving speakers all over your house, in addition to surround in your TV room, is not possible with only one low/mid-range receiver. And the amount of control you want, like listening to different sources in each room, will influence how many and what kind of other receivers/amps you will need.

It doesn't have to be too complicated, and folks here can be a huge help. Can you answer a couple questions?
1) How many separate rooms, (in addition to your surround room), do you want to drive?
2) Do you want only one speaker or multi-speaker mono in each room, or do you want 2 speaker stereo?
3) Do you want the ability to use different sources in each room, (like CD in one, Pandora in another, FM radio in another)?
4) Do you want to control each room from a single "control center", or would you like control from within each room?

You may realize by now that whole house is a lot more involved than one-room surround. So tell us where your priorities are, and we'll push in that direction.