Completely Blank Slate

[akredz]

Due to a wildfire, we lost our house in June.
We are currently rebuilding and making the best of the situation. The house and all our things were completely destroyed and we're in the process of replacing "stuff".

Basically, I'm looking for advice and recommendations as to what I should be considering.
Previously, we had a 55' Sony wall mounted TV, a Denon 2310 AV receiver, Polk in ceiling speakers, sub and center speaker, Sony Blu-ray player and Direct TV Genie. For music, we had a Bang & Olufsen Beosound 9000 with a pair of Beolab 8000 powered speakers.

This was all in our living room, a large L shaped room, 24' x 42', with 2 cathedral open spaces in the ceiling on both sides in the middle (about 8x10). The tv was on the wall in the front quarter of the room and will almost definitely go back there.

We watch quite a few movies as well as listening to most types of music, ranging from hip-hop to traditional folk and just about everything in-between.

So, we're in the "fortunate" position of being able to get all new stuff and would welcome ideas and suggestions. Our total budget to replace all of that is around $12,000

One of my queries is regarding source.
Should I get a separate CD player or get a universal player that will do an admirable job on both music and movies?

 

[TheWarrior]

Terribly sorry for your loss!

Terribly grateful that you came to us for advice, tho!

Have you already found a new house? Because the room is really the most important first question. We can rattle off manufacturer names all day long (and some still will....).

That said, in regards to HT purchases, really see this as a 'new beginning.' You may feel you had a great system before, but believe me, with proper set up and balance across all components, you'll be able to 'hear' what you've been missing!

Although $12k will get you an excellent set up, there are ALOT of ways to do it wrong, and it all begins with the room size, seating positions, and intended experience.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

B&O speakers are great. Instead of Polk ceiling speakers, I would stick to brands like RBH, Revel, KEF.

You've owned Denon AVR, so I would get something like the Denon X3100 for $500 or X4100 for $800.

I would not get a "CD player". A Universal player is good. Might also try streaming Audio wirelessly from an iPad to a Denon X3100 or X4100.

 

[ImcLoud]

First I would not do built in speakers, once you get away from them you will NEVER go back, a friend of ours recently redesigned his living room, it is a large space and they wanted tray ceilings removed and some other updating done. I convinced them to get away from built in speakers and get some bookshelf speakers, they were both very impressed with the difference, and their previous speakers were higher end jamos.

I would look into internet direct companies for speakers, Denon or Pioneer for an avr, and as far as a DVD player and TV, I would use best buy or some other local outlet to find them.

I would go with a 5.2 system.

Ascend acoustics for the 5 speakers and HSU for the subwoofers.

these subs http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/uls-15mk2Dual.html unless you don't mind something larger, but it seems most people want small cabinets... I like them a lot, for their size they do the job...

then for speakers http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/SRM2/srm2.html sierra 2's for the front 3 and maybe a set of sierra 1's for the surrounds...

Figure $800 on an avr, $1000 on a tv, $1700 for subs, $2800 on speakers, and $150 for a blu ray player that will be plenty of system at about half of your budget, past that system you are not going to get more system for your money, save the rest... UNLESS you are into the fu fu names of the industry and like to spend money, then the sky is the limit, but you will most likely end up with inferior sound compared to what you can get from an ID company...



good luck and I am sorry to hear about your fire..

 

[KenM10759]

So sorry for your family's loss, glad you're all OK and still here to be able to rebuild.

No dog in this fight, just offering encouragement to buy the best quality you can now, especially if doing built-ins for Atmos. Given I'm engaged in upgrading years-old equipment now (some of it dating to 1989) I've realized this may be the last I buy as I approach retirement and have different parameters. So me being a KEF R series fanboy for loudspeakers and SVS sub(s), my opinions on choice of equipment would be exactly that, tainted opinion not based in a whole lot of technical experience.

 

[herbu]

Should I get a separate CD player or get a universal player that will do an admirable job on both music and movies?

Sorry about your troubles. To stick with your question, a "universal" player is more than adequate. There is absolutely no need for separates. If you want to go hot-rod, get the Oppo 103. It has HDMI output for movies, and analog preouts if you want to run your music into a separate music system. I have one. But in truth, I don't see any difference in quality between the HDMI and analog preouts. (The DACs in a decent AVR are as good as the DACs in the Oppo to my ears.) I use the preouts as an input into my AVR for Zone-2.

 

[akredz]

Rather than start a new thread, I thought I'd try to resurrect this one............

The new house is nearly finished and we're finally actually buying stuff to put in it.

I kind of lost track of what I was hoping to achieve, and haven't actually done much more than decide not to have the in ceiling speakers.

Actually, that's not true,
We have a 55'' Sony tv on the way, along with an Oppo 105D.

So, I'm back to the questions again (sorry)

As I like Denon, I'm leaning towards the Denon X4200 AVR , is it going to be a good match with the Oppo?
And do I "need" the 4200, or would the 3200 be enough?

I'm still completely up in the air about speakers. Where we used to live, it was great to be able to go and actually listen to set ups. It's a little daunting to think of buying these, unheard.
I'm also leaning towards SVS for a sub, the PB2000 - but for no real reason other than good reviews.

 

[KenM10759]

If you go to the Denon website it's fairly easy to use their comparison tool to see their specs side by side. Only if you have hard to drive speakers and need the tiny bit more power does the X4200 make sense, it's all the other features that make the difference. Bear in mind that the 4200 may have features the 3200 doesn't and you may want them in the future.

Great choice on the sub. My son has one and it's incredible for the money. Hits well above it's weight.

 

[herbu]

an Oppo 105D... Denon X4200 AVR , is it going to be a good match with the Oppo?

Yes, they will work well together. KenM is right... just compare features.

You do know the unique feature of the 105 is its 7-channel pre-outs? And neither of the Denons have inputs for them? You can run the 105 directly to an amp, w/o a receiver or pre-amp between them. It is the big difference between the 103 and 105.

To use either of the Denons for full surround with the 105, you'll have to use an HDMI cable. (It is not a problem. It works great w/ my 103 and Denon X4000.)

All AVRs, (like the Denons), have a pre-amp in them. The Oppo-105 also has a pre-amp so it is capable of outputting an analog signal. (Or you can bypass the pre-amp in the 105 and use its digital output via HDMI.)

Bottom line? You bought one of the finest BDPs made. In addition to the more normal HDMI output, it has capability neither of the Denons you mention can use. No harm... just money spent on something you won't/can't use.

 

[akredz]

Yes, they will work well together. KenM is right... just compare features.

You do know the unique feature of the 105 is its 7-channel pre-outs? And neither of the Denons have inputs for them? You can run the 105 directly to an amp, w/o a receiver or pre-amp between them. It is the big difference between the 103 and 105.

Ummm, no I didn't.

I just saw shiny bling, good reviews and wanted one...............

I'm old enough that my first hi-fi decision (and calling it hi-fi is a stretch) was wondering whether to ditch the 8 track in favor of that new fangled cassette nonsense. Nowadays, there's too much choice ! And as a part-time dabbler, I'm almost overwhelmed by the information available.

Please be kind.
If I will only be using this system in my main room, and am not looking for multi zone, can you suggest an amp that would work well with the Oppo?

 

[lovinthehd]

FWIW the Oppo is a very nice unit, the digital video output though is still comparable to just about any blu-ray player that's properly functioning; whether you find its built in audio dac/preamp section useful for analog output or not is another thing. None of the current Denons have multi-ch analog inputs IIRC so in that sense you'd either need another avr or pre-pro (a pre-amp or processor) with that feature. I'd just go hdmi input and be done with it (and my older Denon does have multi-ch inputs, just don't use them).

 

[KenM10759]

The current Denon receivers certainly DO have analog video and audio inputs, both. I checked the photos of the backside of the AVR-X4200 and the older AVR_X3100, both seem to have 'em!

 

[lovinthehd]

The current Denon receivers certainly DO have analog video and audio inputs, both. I checked the photos of the backside of the AVR-X4200 and the older AVR_X3100, both seem to have 'em!

Just 2ch, not multi-channel.

 

[KenM10759]

They have 2-channel analog inputs, marked for CD, Tape, etc, and assignable. Also digital co-ax and fiberoptic. The AVR-X4200 & up even have phono amps built in.

 

[lovinthehd]

They have 2-channel analog inputs, marked for CD, Tape, etc, and assignable. Also digital co-ax and fiberoptic. The AVR-X4200 & up even have phono amps built in.

Yes, 2-ch analog hasn't quite disappeared on avrs yet....

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If this is your main system, I would go for the X4000 series. Just wait for the 50% sale on Amazon when the newer models roll out.

For surround speakers, in-ceilings are perfectly peachy.

 

[agarwalro]

X4000 if you have no UHD plans, else X4200.

 

[herbu]

If I will only be using this system in my main room, and am not looking for multi zone, can you suggest an amp that would work well with the Oppo?

You say "amp", but I suppose you mean AVR, (Audio Video Receiver). If that's the case, I can heartily recommend the Denon X4000 everybody is talking about.

I have an X4000 and an Oppo 103, and they are more than satisfactory. If you've already bought the 105, don't worry. You don't have to use the analog preouts. Connect the 105 and your AVR with a single HDMI cable and you're good to go... really GREAT to go.

 

[lovinthehd]

With the 105's pre-amp capabilities you could actually use a multi-ch power amp as long as you don't mind being limited to running everything thru the Oppo....something like the Monoprice Monolith 7 might be an idea.