Help design my system for new house

[Desert Toad]

Howdy all!

As some of you know, I'm in need of help for my new house - thanks to all so far!

So here's what I have done so far. I plan on mounting my 32" Aquos on the wall and running 5.1 surround in the living room. I'd like a separate zone for the back patio, and the wife thinks she might want some speakers in the kitchen and bedroom - they would be ceiling mounts, quality not as important as in the living room. Just two speakers in the kitchen, bedroom, and back patio. I will run speaker wire to all rooms this weekend - 14/2 CL-3 rated (thanks to whoever gave me the tip on that). I have put low voltage boxes in behind the tv and where my receiver will sit. Also I have run dish sat. cable to receiver, and plan on HDMI cable inside the wall to the tv.

So with all that, I need to start taking ideas on receivers and speakers. Budget wise, I'm thinking 500-750 on the receiver, and perhaps 750 up to 1000 for the mains, center, and sub. Then I can add the rest as money allows, just keeping in mind how many zones I may end up with. I'm going to put a volume control outside for the patio speakers, but probably just use the receiver controls for everything inside the house. As for possible inputs, DVD, VHS, playstation, kids plug-in games, maybe sirius, and probably a wireless from the itunes.

I've attached a rough sketch of the living room, so we can all visualize the same thing - it has a 9 ft. ceiling and will have hardwood floors.

Anything I've missed?

Can't wait to see the ideas!

DT

 

[mazersteven]

Howdy all!

So with all that, I need to start taking ideas on receivers and speakers. Budget wise, I'm thinking 500-750 on the receiver, and perhaps 750 up to 1000 for the mains, center, and sub.


DT

Wait a Minute!!!

First question--Do you need HDMI in the receiver?

If not then your budget is way out of wack. You shouldn't spend the same on speakers and your receiver. I say up your speaker budget $500 and take from the receiver budget. You'll get better quality sound doing this. JMO

 

[mazersteven]

Howdy all!

Then I can add the rest as money allows, just keeping in mind how many zones I may end up with. I'm going to put a volume control outside for the patio speakers, but probably just use the receiver controls for everything inside the house.
DT

I would also IMO concentrate on the main 5.1 system and add the other zones as you go.

 

[Desert Toad]

Wait a Minute!!!

First question--Do you need HDMI in the receiver?

If not then your budget is way out of wack. You shouldn't spend the same on speakers and your receiver. I say up your speaker budget $500 and take from the receiver budget. You'll get better quality sound doing this. JMO

Umm....errrr.....I guess I was thinking HDMI so that I'd only need one cable from the receiver for whatever I might hook up. But then again, I guess the new receivers all work that way, don't they? So what is the benefit of HDMI?

DT

 

[mazersteven]

So what is the benefit of HDMI?

DT

HDMI provides an interface between any compatible digital audio/video source, such as a set-top box, a DVD player, a PC, a video game system, or an AV receiver and a compatible digital audio and/or video monitor, such as a digital television (DTV).

If you need this feature I recommend this receiver

http://www.accessories4less.com/cgi-bin/item/MARSR4001

I will come into stock again. But now your only spending $400 on a receiver and having more for your speaker budget.

I recommend auditioning as many speakers as you can to find what sounds good to you. Have fun with it and bring your own material to demo (CD's/DVD's).
I wil recommend this system

System 33-2000

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cmt340m/cmt340mhts.html

Hard to see the sizes of your room from the drawing?

 

[BMXTRIX]

I'm not sure what stage you are in, or what you are doing as far as construction (new/retro/rebuild?) but, I would consider EVERY possible scenario now for wiring if the drywall isn't up already. Look at how much you spent on wiring - a couple hundred maybe? Now is the time to wire the heck out of everything!

So, for your LCD - you don't want HDMI run behind the wall.

You want HDMI, VGA, component video, s-video, and composite video - at the very least. Just hit www.monoprice.com and pick up a bunch of cables, should run you 100 bucks max!

For speakers, you have a lot of choices, but eBay offers some great values as does Audiogon/Videogon for areas where you don't need top flight stuff. Keep in mind, you can't just drop a bunch of speakers onto 'zone 2' of a receiver and get killer results - you typically should use a good impedence matching speaker selector and a quality amplifier to handle the audio.

For a receiver and speakers... I would ask around and consider just saving up some money from the start. A good set of mains plus a good receiver is a great start and could easily chew up a couple of grand. Limitless choices out there with Yamaha, Denon, and Pioneer always near the top.

For speakers... Ditto on the choices.

A subwoofer? I think that a good sub is a good sub. The subwoofer is one of the most important speakers you are going to have so going 'cheap' is not the way to go at all... IMO. Just don't get one to start off with unless you can get the one you want. If it's a Velodyne DD series - then start saving... If it's a HSU or Paradigm... start saving! Don't skimp on this speaker or you will be looking to upgrade almost from day one. I went through 3 subs in 12 months and just realize that I should have bought my HGS-18 from day one.

Don't feel like you have to do everything at once. The only thing you have to do is take advantage of open drywall. If you've got things open, then consider running conduit if you think it may help you later.

Finally: You already have a 32" Aquos? I'm asking because it looks like your couch may be on the opposite side of the room at about 14' from the display. At that distance, the Aquos would be a bit on the 'small' side. But, if you have it then you aren't in the position to go bigger yet it sounds like.

Finally - don't forget that you need power at the flat panel location. I recommend simply using an extension cord. That way you can put the flat panel into the same surge supressor everything else is on and it should help to eliminate ground loops.

Good luck!

 

[billnchristy]

ceiling:
http://www.htd.com/in-wall-ceiling-speakers

outside:
http://www.htd.com/outdoor-speaker

I dont think you can get a better deal.

I will let the others fight it out for the rest of your gear!

 

[Desert Toad]

Wow, great looking stuff, Mazer! I'll put that on the top of list.

BMX, how can you do bmx tricks, yet be a couch potato? Anyway, more great info. I put low voltage boxes in the wall, so I can pull whatever I want from the tv to the receiver without a problem.

As for the 32" aquos - we bought that a bit ago, in our small house. New house is a stick built job. The living room is 21' 6" x 14' 8" if it's hard to see.

Keep up the great work everyone, it'll beat the heck out of my HTIB unit that sounds good to me now!

DT

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Hey Desert,

We have spoken on a couple of occasions. I was under the impression that the $1000 was for mains only; so we may need to rethink this whole thing. If $1750 is your entire budget you may be forced to go with one of the 5.1 systems like the SVS or HSU.

Better choice, like I said before; I would slowly build the system starting out with the mains and AVR, later on you can add the center, sub, surrounds and extra zones. I would consider dropping the HDMI AVR and getting a 300-400 dollar AVR and using componant cables. Once the DVD format war ends, you can just run a HDMI dirctly from your DVD palyer to your monitor. So now we are looking at ~ $1400 for your mains which puts you in a great place as far as speakers are concerned. There is a good chance that you can get some really nice speakers for a grand and still have money for your center channel. I know you are in a location that makes it difficult for you to audition speakers but if you can, plan a weekend and go into town and listen to everything you can. You also have the ID option and you can return them if you dont like them.

Consider the following:

Monitor Audio RS-6
PSB Image T-45 or T-55
AV123 rockets
Wharfedale Evolution
KEF IQ series
Swan
Paradigm Studio series
B&W
Ascend
Aperion

 

[Desert Toad]

Okay, looks like we're headed to the big city next wednesday to look at countertops - I'll look at speakers then. As for the HDMI thing, I just want one cable up the wall. Right now, I have the component cables for the dvd on input one, the sat is a S-video on input two, vrc is an rca input on number 4, etc. Will a good receiver still use just one one cable? Will the vcr and playstation both use composite cables? A couple hundred dollars for that wouldn't cut into the budget

It's not that we are out of money, it's just crazy to spend a ton of money on audio. What I had really imagined was a good receiver and a really nice speaker set. But if I'm going to buy each piece separate, I'm going to have to study a bit more.

 

[jaxvon]

Okay, looks like we're headed to the big city next wednesday to look at countertops - I'll look at speakers then. As for the HDMI thing, I just want one cable up the wall. Right now, I have the component cables for the dvd on input one, the sat is a S-video on input two, vrc is an rca input on number 4, etc. Will a good receiver still use just one one cable? Will the vcr and playstation both use composite cables? A couple hundred dollars for that wouldn't cut into the budget

It's not that we are out of money, it's just crazy to spend a ton of money on audio. What I had really imagined was a good receiver and a really nice speaker set. But if I'm going to buy each piece separate, I'm going to have to study a bit more.

If you have a PS2, it will look its best running on Component video, you just have to buy the right cords. Be sure to use the optical out so you can enjoy the surround mix on some of the games. On some of them it's lame (like GTA: San Andreas), but on others, like FPS games, it's way cool.

 

[Desert Toad]

I really just one to have one input on the tv, can this be done without the HDMI? Just the component set to the tv, and the optial into the receiver for the sound?

And what you all think of this receiver, price seems good: http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=31565

And speaking of SVS, how are their complete systems? http://www.svsound.com/products-sys-sbs_black.cfm

 

[Desert Toad]

This one is still looking very good: http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/538999334

thanks to Zumbo for the heads up finding it.

 

[BMXTRIX]

DT - Don't be foolish with your A/V cables. Go to www.monoprice.com and pick up the cables. You don't need top flight cables in place, but you definitely want to go ahead and put them between the receiver and the display even if they aren't going to be used. But, don't spend more than about 50 bucks total on your cabling between the receiver and the TV... it really won't gain you anything. More importantly, as good as HDMI is, there are still certain devices that may occassionally have the HDMI/HDCP error that is nearly impossible to overcome, so those legacy cables may really come in handy.

PS2/PS3 component cables can be found online relatively inexpensively, or are at any BB/CC type stores. The PS3 can obviously be hooked up via HDMI.

As for the receiver... I think I would go with Denon over Onkyo...
http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=33727

and the Yamaha you list is nice.

 

[Desert Toad]

Looking like I'll get the Yamaha - bit more power for the price. As for cables, I'll put HDMI and component in the wall. I've put low voltage boxes between the tv and receiver, so it would be really easy to pull different cables if I need.

I also bought my cables at monoprice, once again thanks to this site.