New HT Setup Recommendations - 10k Budget

[gwiltshire]

I am moving into a new house and am looking to get a decent HT setup going. The room is approximately 15x15 with hardwood floors (wife hates carpet, unfortunately) and would be used primarily for watching movies and gaming. I usually just use headphones when I want to listen to music. The budget is 10k (exclusive of the TV, which I already have). I have been looking at the Klipsch RPs or the SVS Ultras with a Marantz receiver. I would be excited to get some direction from the knowledgeable folks on here and hopefully end up with a rad setup.

Thanks!

 

[shadyJ]

At $10k, you can do better than Klipsch or SVS. There are a lot of good choices. Paradigm Premier, Arendal, Monoprice Monolith THX, JBL HDI, Deftech Demand, KEF Reference, Outlaw LCRv2, Revel Performa, to name a few. SVS does deserve consideration for subs, as well as Hsu, Arendal, Outlaw Audio, Paradigm Defiance X15. For receivers, I would just pick whatever Yamaha, Marantz, or Denon that has the feature set that meets your needs. In a 15x15 room, you won't need a ton of power.

 

[gwiltshire]

At $10k, you can do better than Klipsch or SVS. There are a lot of good choices. Paradigm Premier, Arendal, Monoprice Monolith THX, JBL HDI, Deftech Demand, KEF Reference, Outlaw LCRv2, Revel Performa, to name a few. SVS does deserve consideration for subs, as well as Hsu, Arendal, Outlaw Audio, Paradigm Defiance X15. For receivers, I would just pick whatever Yamaha, Marantz, or Denon that has the feature set that meets your needs. In a 15x15 room, you won't need a ton of power.

Thanks for your input. Part of my problem is that, like with everything else fun or worth doing, there are just too many good options. Given my use case and budget, do you have a specific setup you would reccomend?

 

[mtrycrafts]

Welcome to AH

Others will recommend. Just a reminder so you know in advance, if wife doesn't like carpet, including area carpet, hard walls, ceiling and floor, sound will be, well different,.
Can you place things on walls and maybe ceiling to tame some of the reflections? Also, a square room is not the best shape of good sound.

ps. what size is the TV?

 

[gwiltshire]

Welcome to AH

Others will recommend. Just a reminder so you know in advance, if wife doesn't like carpet, including area carpet, hard walls, ceiling and floor, sound will be, well different,.
Can you place things on walls and maybe ceiling to tame some of the reflections? Also, a square room is not the best shape of good sound.

ps. what size is the TV?

Thanks for your reply. I could probably talk the wife into an area carpet, but I already lost the battle on wall-to-wall. I should be able to put things on the walls and possibly the ceiling if I needed to, as long as they are not aesthetically prohibitive. TV is 77 inches.

 

[shadyJ]

Thanks for your input. Part of my problem is that, like with everything else fun or worth doing, there are just too many good options. Given my use case and budget, do you have a specific setup you would reccomend?

Thanks for your input. Part of my problem is that, like with everything else fun or worth doing, there are just too many good options. Given my use case and budget, do you have a specific setup you would reccomend?

Agreed, there are so many options. One very good speaker for the price is the Paradigm Premier speakers. One thing I like about the series is the terrific center speaker, the 500C. Very neutral speakers and also fairly powerful. So if you want something specific, here is a setup I will outline which will fall under your $10k budget:
Front left/right speakers: Paradigm Premier 800F (x2): $2000
Center: Paradigm Premier 500C: $800
Side and back surrounds: Paradigm Premier 100B (x4): $1600
Subwoofers: Hsu VTF15h mk2 (x2): $2255
AVR: Yamaha Aventage RX-A6A: $2200

That totals up to about $7k. You can also add in-ceiling speakers if you want to expand to Atmos, in which case you can just get a pair of these Revels which will be very good. Don't forget you have other expenses such as cables and accessories, and that stuff will add up to around a few hundred dollars extra. So all in, you are looking at around $8k. That would be an extremely good system for $8k. Great speakers, amazing subs, reliable receiver.

 

[Cos]

I think Shaddy J's reccomendation is solid and good performace for the dollar. Pair that with a good dealer you will save more.

If you want to move up a bit w/Paradigm, you may want to demo the Founders Series. If you are US based, I have a very good Paradigm dealer who has taken care of a few people for me, some on this site. He gave me a killer deal on my Persona Center.

Paradigm 100f Founders		(Pair)	$5,198​
Founder 90C			$2,499​
Founder 40B		(Pair)	$2,198​
Defiance X12			$1,299​
			$11,194​

I realize that is over budget considering you 10K limit (MSRP). Many Paradigm dealers do provide a decent discount and the founders are a nice step up and the 100Fs do measure well.

SoundStageNetwork.com | SoundStage.com - NRC Measurements: Paradigm Founder Series 100F Loudspeakers

• Definance X12 while a decent sub is just an example, there are many others to chose from
• I would also consider the Denon's 3700h to lower your budget a bit vs Yamaha. You will give up some power
• If I were to buy Yamaha I would probably talk to a few dealers on this site who can also help you out with a great deal.

Denon AVR-X3700H AVR Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum

Given a 15x15 room I would might consider 5.1(2) vs 7.1(2).

With a 10K budget, I would take the time and demo as much as geographically possible. At that price point there are a lot of options out there that you might prefer.

 

[gwiltshire]

I think Shaddy J's reccomendation is solid and good performace for the dollar. Pair that with a good dealer you will save more.

If you want to move up a bit w/Paradigm, you may want to demo the Founders Series. If you are US based, I have a very good Paradigm dealer who has taken care of a few people for me, some on this site. He gave me a killer deal on my Persona Center.

Paradigm 100f Founders		(Pair)	$5,198​
Founder 90C			$2,499​
Founder 40B		(Pair)	$2,198​
Defiance X12			$1,299​
			$11,194​

I realize that is over budget considering you 10K limit (MSRP). Many Paradigm dealers do provide a decent discount and the founders are a nice step up and the 100Fs do measure well.

SoundStageNetwork.com | SoundStage.com - NRC Measurements: Paradigm Founder Series 100F Loudspeakers

• Definance X12 while a decent sub is just an example, there are many others to chose from
• I would also consider the Denon's 3700h to lower your budget a bit vs Yamaha. You will give up some power
• If I were to buy Yamaha I would probably talk to a few dealers on this site who can also help you out with a great deal.

Denon AVR-X3700H AVR Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum

Given a 15x15 room I would might consider 5.1(2) vs 7.1(2).

With a 10K budget, I would take the time and demo as much as geographically possible. At that price point there are a lot of options out there that you might prefer.

Thanks. I will have to reach out to some dealers who are located in my new area.

 

[gwiltshire]

Agreed, there are so many options. One very good speaker for the price is the Paradigm Premier speakers. One thing I like about the series is the terrific center speaker, the 500C. Very neutral speakers and also fairly powerful. So if you want something specific, here is a setup I will outline which will fall under your $10k budget:
Front left/right speakers: Paradigm Premier 800F (x2): $2000
Center: Paradigm Premier 500C: $800
Side and back surrounds: Paradigm Premier 100B (x4): $1600
Subwoofers: Hsu VTF15h mk2 (x2): $2255
AVR: Yamaha Aventage RX-A6A: $2200

That totals up to about $7k. You can also add in-ceiling speakers if you want to expand to Atmos, in which case you can just get a pair of these Revels which will be very good. Don't forget you have other expenses such as cables and accessories, and that stuff will add up to around a few hundred dollars extra. So all in, you are looking at around $8k. That would be an extremely good system for $8k. Great speakers, amazing subs, reliable receiver.

Thank you for the input. I will see if I can go listen to these somewhere locally.

 

[DigitalDawn]

What is your ceiling height?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Would sure be fun spending $10K for speakers, subs, and AVR. Would definitely get some Towers of Power and big subs.

AVR - Yamaha A6A/3080
Front towers/dual subs - SVT Towers of Power/True big subs
Front center - SV821C
Surrounds: SV-61 x 2
Atmos: VM-815 x 4

 

[gwiltshire]

What is your ceiling height?

8.5 feet

 

[}Fear_Inoculum{]

+1 for the Paradigm Premiere 800F. I also purchased the 600C Center channel speaker. Beautiful speakers that have a beautiful sound.

 

[DigitalDawn]

8.5 feet

Your room's cubic foot measurement is approximately 1900, With this in mind, I would go with the following:

Triad Bronze/4 LCRs - Front
Triad Bronze/4 Surrounds - Surrounds
Triad Bronze/8 LCRs - Atmos

www.triadspeakers.com

If you need any help, let me know.

Regards,
Dawn

 

[gwiltshire]

Your room's cubic foot measurement is approximately 1900, With this in mind, I would go with the following:

Triad Bronze/4 LCRs - Front
Triad Bronze/4 Surrounds - Surrounds
Triad Bronze/8 LCRs - Atmos

www.triadspeakers.com

If you need any help, let me know.

Regards,
Dawn

I actually have triads in my current house that I am selling. It might be that the room is just too large and has weird shapes, but I did not end up loving them.