Recomended Home Theater SetUp for quality

[SanctiMortem]

Hi!

Sorry for the long post

I’m pretty sure compared with everyone here, I’m a beginner when it comes to audio systems and set ups. But also that’s why I think you can help me.

I love movies and tv shows, I’ve had HT systems since I can remember, started by regular simple out of the box set ups. When I decided to learn about it I bought my current set up.
Which is:

Monitor Audio speakers
Radius HD
- Two R90HD for the frontal speakers
- Two R45HD for the surround speakers
- R180HD for the central speaker

Velodyne Subwoofer
- Impact 10 inch

My AVR was a Harman Kardon 2600 which I changed after many years and functionality problems for a Yamaha RX-V481.
The reason I bought a cheaper one is also the reason I’m posting this. I am soon moving out and I want to upgrade my system. I know all of my speakers and subwoofer are discontinued, and taking advantage of that I am willing to invest a bit more than I did the first time.
I like my current system, although I was never convinced of the Harman Kardon AVR (surprising really) but the Yamaha AVR is amazing.

I was looking at Bowers & Wilkings speakers and Klipsch speakers. And by doing that I found out about the Dolby Atmos, and thats when I realized I’m out of my league and need to find some kind of guidance for the setup.
So I turn to you,
- Is any of those speakers better than the other?
I’ve heard that B&W is not as good as it once was, I’ve heard for HT there is nothing better than Klipsch.

- What system do you recomend, what would be the best set up? 5.1.2, 5.1.4, 7.1.2, etc

I’m looking for quality and fidelity, and since I am moving to an apartment, I’m also thinking of soundproofing the room, although it has one big window and a small one on the same wall.

I have no problem with in-ceiling speakers for the Atmos effect, I’ve heard a lot of people prefer those.

My budget goes for about 7-8k USD for the whole system (not including the soundproofing nor the computer/consoles or tv)

What do you guys recomend? What would be the best system I can build for this budget??

Please help,
And thank you very much in advance!!

Again, sorry for the long post and half my life story.

 

[snakeeyes]

That’s a good budget. Dimensions of the room? Volume of the room including any spaces open to that space? (Subs see the entire space open to them).
I actually have a system with a Yammie 681 in my bedroom 3.1 and another 5.1 system in my home theater with the Yamaha 2060. (Going 5.1.4 soon... looking at RSL 34e...) A few internet direct sub brands to check out are Rythmik, HSU, and Monolith. You have plenty of budget to look at Revel and Philharmonic and other great speakers for upgrading the other speakers in your system. Monitor audio has great speakers as well . You should look for a 5.1.4 or 7.1.4 system depending on the size of the room. Dual subs is a good idea if you need to have smooth bass response at multiple seats in the room. Good luck!

 

[shadyJ]

The system you select should be determined by the room dimensions and your seating placement. If it's a small room, there probably isn't a need to go 7.1.4. If you are interested in Atmos, I would shoot for 7.1.2. Brands to look at for speaker systems are Kef, Infinity, JBL, Hsu Research, SVS, Monoprice Monolith, among others. or subwoofers, I would stick with Hsu, Monolith, SVS, and Rythmik.

 

[SanctiMortem]

Hi!

Thank you for the advice on the speakers.

The room dimensions as of now are approximately 5 mts wide (wehre the screen will be) by 4.40 mts long.

From your comments I can see neither of you recommended B&W nor Klipsch, are these brands no good?

Based on your recommendations I think I'll go for 7.1.2. Still looking through he brands, although the Kef speakers look like a really good option, not sure about the infinity ones.

Thank you very much for your advice and your help!

 

[DigitalDawn]

What is the size of your room (WHD)? Also, can you draw a floorplan with seating and upload it here? Please indicate the distances from the seating to the walls.

 

[Randy Hess]

Klipsch makes great speakers.

 

[SanctiMortem]

Hi!

I'm adding the draft of the floor plans, as you can see is of course in meters (sorry if that complicates things) I know is a bit hard to see but is you need me to write down of upload one a bit clearer.

I'll try to upload one tomorrow with more measurements, as of now I hope this helps..

Thank you for your help!

 

[DigitalDawn]

Wow. That's a very difficult room to design. Aside from the odd wall angles. your couch is so close to the back wall that you will have localization problems for the rear channels. I highly recommend that you move the couch forward by at least a couple of feet if possible.

I also recommend that you go with in-wall speakers because of the small size of your area. What is your ceiling height?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I can see neither of you recommended B&W nor Klipsch, are these brands no good?

You know it just depends on whom you ask, right?

They could both sound great to you.

People who believe in speakers that measure well on Stereophile, Audioholics, Sound & Vision, Soundstage NRC, etc., usually don't prefer B&W or Klipsch (except the Klipsch THX Ultra certified speakers that have better FR measurements than any speakers ever measured on S&V).

People who don't care about speaker measurements or people who own B&W and Klipsch speakers will prefer these speakers.

Speakers that typically have better measurements include Revel, KEF, RBH, Salk, Philharmonic, Ascend, NHT, PSB.

I think B&W may have the best resale value, if that's important.

Klipsch (except for the THX certified speakers) may have an internet reputation of sounding "bright" because on the speaker FR measurements - they tend to have a "peak" around 10kHz region. But then again, this treble 10kHz peak is also seen in the expensive Paradigm Beryllium speakers and B&W Diamond speakers and the DefTech and GoldenEar speakers that others say don't sound "bright" at all. They may prefer this "lively" sound and consider the "flat FR" speakers as "clinical" or boring sounding.

 

[SanctiMortem]

Wow. That's a very difficult room to design.
What is your ceiling height?

It is kinda tricky, the good thing is that its still under construction. That gives me the opportunity of isolating the audio, and change some things. The bad news is, I can’t change anything that affects the outside of the building. Both windows that you can see en there are small high windows.
The height of the room I believe is 2.60 mts.

Thanks!

 

[SanctiMortem]

Thank you

You know it just depends on whom you ask, right?

They could both sound great to you.

People who believe in speakers that measure well on Stereophile, Audioholics, Sound & Vision, Soundstage NRC, etc., usually don't prefer B&W or Klipsch (except the Klipsch THX Ultra certified speakers that have better FR measurements than any speakers ever measured on S&V).

People who don't care about speaker measurements or people who own B&W and Klipsch speakers will prefer these speakers.

Speakers that typically have better measurements include Revel, KEF, RBH, Salk, Philharmonic, Ascend, NHT, PSB.

I think B&W may have the best resale value, if that's important.

Klipsch (except for the THX certified speakers) may have an internet reputation of sounding "bright" because on the speaker FR measurements - they tend to have a "peak" around 10kHz region. But then again, this treble 10kHz peak is also seen in the expensive Paradigm Beryllium speakers and B&W Diamond speakers and the DefTech and GoldenEar speakers that others say don't sound "bright" at all. They may prefer this "lively" sound and consider the "flat FR" speakers as "clinical" or boring sounding.

Thank you so much for the clarification, it makes a lot of sense now.
This helps a lot in clearing out the popular opinion from the more fact based opinions.
I am looking at some of the brands they wrote and they do look amazing, and to be honest some of them if not most of them I never heard of!

Thank you so much!

 

[DigitalDawn]

Here are my recommendation for your room:

Front: (3) Triad InWall Bronze LCRs https://www.triadspeakers.com/products/home-cinema/iw-bronze4-lcr/

Surrounds: (4) Triad InWall Bronze/4 Surrounds https://www.triadspeakers.com/products/home-cinema/iw-bronze4-surround/

Atmos: (2) Triad InCeiling Bronze/8 LCRs https://www.triadspeakers.com/products/home-cinema/ic-bronze8-lcr/

Subs: (2) Triad InWall Bronze/6 Subs with RackAmp https://www.triadspeakers.com/products/subwoofwer/iw-bronze6-sub/

 

[SanctiMortem]

Hi all,

This is the layout with a bit more detail and the sitting position a bit closer to the TV to have more room between the back wall. Even though the TV is going to be in the wall, I don't think I can move the sitting any further or its going to be really close.

Thank you for all your help, all your comments have helped me a lot!

 

[DigitalDawn]

Seating placement should be ok if you use bipole surrounds like the ones I suggested.

 

[SanctiMortem]

Seating placement should be ok if you use bipole surrounds like the ones I suggested.

Thank you for the options you provided. The only thing is I don't know if I'll be able to get a hold of them down here. I can't find a dealership, or anywhere where they carry that brand.

I'll keep looking into it though.

Thank you!

 

[DigitalDawn]

I can help you with that.

You can contact me and I will help you find a dealer.

 

[SanctiMortem]

I can help you with that.

You can contact me and I will help you find a dealer.

I can help you with that.

You can contact me and I will help you find a dealer.

Thank you,

I actually found a dealership here, I'm meeting him next week to listen to the speakers.

In the mean time I'll still go look through the other options