Home Theater Upgrader

[rikus01]

So I am upgrading my theater system from a Bose all-in-one that I bought back in 2004. However I run into a bit of stumbling block and I am not exactly sure where to go.

I recently was able to get my hands on a Denon AVR-X3200W and a BiC American F12 for a relative good price. However, I am unsure on what the next step is. The current room is rather small (10x15) but we will be transitioning to bigger rooms by the year end. My initial plan was to build the sound system incrementally. Starting at 2.1 for now, and then going 5.1/7.1 once we get into the bigger rooms.

The research I have done points to saying that I should get shelf speakers first for now to complete the 2.1. Then when we get into the large rooms, I can add a center speaker and two floor speakers while moving the shelf speakers to the rear as surround speakers. Is this feasible?

Any suggestions on what kind of speakers will go well with what I have?

I am partial to the XTZ 95 series (http://www.xtzsound.us/shop/us/Speakers/95-series/xtz-95-24-black-matt) as I have read nothing but glowing reviews about them but since this my first time building my own theater system, I am a bit hesitant in pulling the trigger. This also represents the max my budget will allow at this time.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

With good sub you can use bookshelf speakers as front speakers as well. Just get the center channel from same line as your front speakers so it wont stand out. It is pretty much a preference to use either bookshelf or tower as mains. How ever, if you like to listen pure direct mode for music then towers will be superior.

I myself would go and listen all speakers you can in your budget, what ever sounds best to you are best pick. Get some music with you that you are familiar with and start listening!

 

[agarwalro]

My initial plan was to build the sound system incrementally. Starting at 2.1 for now, and then going 5.1/7.1 once we get into the bigger rooms.

The research I have done points to saying that I should get shelf speakers first for now to complete the 2.1. Then when we get into the large rooms, I can add a center speaker and two floor speakers while moving the shelf speakers to the rear as surround speakers. Is this feasible?

This is an excellent plan. Since you already have the receiver and sub, you only need a pair of bookshelf speaker to get up and running.

 

[theJman]

The research I have done points to saying that I should get shelf speakers first for now to complete the 2.1. Then when we get into the large rooms, I can add a center speaker and two floor speakers while moving the shelf speakers to the rear as surround speakers. Is this feasible?

Any suggestions on what kind of speakers will go well with what I have?

I am partial to the XTZ 95 series (http://www.xtzsound.us/shop/us/Speakers/95-series/xtz-95-24-black-matt) as I have read nothing but glowing reviews about them but since this my first time building my own theater system, I am a bit hesitant in pulling the trigger. This also represents the max my budget will allow at this time.

Not only is that a feasible path, it's one many before you have taken. You're heading in the right direction.

I'm actually quite familiar with the 95 Series, having reviewed them almost 2 years ago. I think you would be very pleased with a system comprised of those speakers.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I think it's a solid plan with couple of small wrinkles:
a) Bic F12 sub is will not good match for excellent speakers such as 95-24
b) Depends on how long you're going to wait to pull the trigger for full 5.1 - matching center speaker might become harder to purchase

Another option for solid sets are from HSU - they specialize in subs, but their horn bookshelves do not suck at all. I heard them a bit a while ago on 2012 and they played music with confidence
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/speakerpkg.html

You might want just to buy the speakers and consider replacing sub once you get to newer larger space - you see - sub needs to be matched to volume of the room.

 

[rikus01]

With good sub you can use bookshelf speakers as front speakers as well. Just get the center channel from same line as your front speakers so it wont stand out. It is pretty much a preference to use either bookshelf or tower as mains. How ever, if you like to listen pure direct mode for music then towers will be superior.

Do I have to get a center now or can I wait until we tranistion into a larger place with bigger rooms? With being in such a small room my fear is that the center will be of little value add right now.

This is an excellent plan. Since you already have the receiver and sub, you only need a pair of bookshelf speaker to get up and running.

Not only is that a feasible path, it's one many before you have taken. You're heading in the right direction.

I'm actually quite familiar with the 95 Series, having reviewed them almost 2 years ago. I think you would be very pleased with a system comprised of those speakers.

Awesome! Greatly appreciate the support!
Your review was one of the reasons that got me to due further research on XTZ. Thank you! Have you experience them recently or know of anyone who has?

I think it's a solid plan with couple of small wrinkles:
a) Bic F12 sub is will not good match for excellent speakers such as 95-24
b) Depends on how long you're going to wait to pull the trigger for full 5.1 - matching center speaker might become harder to purchase

Another option for solid sets are from HSU - they specialize in subs, but their horn bookshelves do not suck at all. I heard them a bit a while ago on 2012 and they played music with confidence
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/speakerpkg.html

You might want just to buy the speakers and consider replacing sub once you get to newer larger space - you see - sub needs to be matched to volume of the room.

This is the first I have heard of this. How much trouble am I in if I stick with the F12? Or do I need to start looking for options immediately? I would rather not have to switch out the sub now if I can get away with it for the time being, but if I am going to damage something or it is going to sound like garabage I would rather make the switch out now.

Some addition infor: Not sure on what the larger room is going to look like. We are in a lease right now and plan on buying a new house by year end. That kind of unknown was one of the main reasons for starting small now and then figuring out what I need for the bigger room later.

 

[theJman]

Awesome! Greatly appreciate the support!
Your review was one of the reasons that got me to due further research on XTZ. Thank you! Have you experience them recently or know of anyone who has?

Equipment is returned to the manufacturer once the review is publish, so they went back a while ago. I did enjoy my time with them though.

 

[agarwalro]

Awesome! Greatly appreciate the support!

FWIW... Folk like you make the insufferable tolerable. We'll be here, keep coming back to learn (tip of the hat to Gene, et al.) and we'll never let you down.

 

[herbu]

Do I have to get a center now or can I wait until we tranistion into a larger place with bigger rooms?

You can wait if you want. When you tell your AVR you don't have a Center, it will send all the Center stuff equally to your Left & Right, effectively giving you a "phantom" Center.

How much trouble am I in if I stick with the F12?

No trouble, just not the best performance... for 2 reasons.
1) A better sub will give you better lows, quality and volume.
2) A single sub can make it difficult to avoid "null" areas in your room where low freq sound waves reflected off your walls tend to cancel out each other. In other words, the bass in some spots will sound loud, and softer in other spots. A second sub makes it easy to smooth the bass so it sounds equal in all spots.

When you get a better sub, you can essentially use it to get the better performance in your primary listening spot, and use your F12 to help smooth the response in your secondary spots. Some here may disagree with that, but I've done it and it works. Eventually I did replace the weak sister with a second good sub, and it was clearly better. But the combination of a good sub and a weak sister was better than just a single sub.