Advice on speakers/receiver

[PopDisplay]

Lower budget questions:

I just purchased a Sony 55" LCD and an OPPO DVD. Both of these devices as well as my cable box are connected via HDMI cables. Now it's time to deal with sound. The room is 12x12 and given the restrictions in the walls and ceiling, I believe that floor speakers are the only way to go. I will conceal the cabling in some sort of wall mounted racetrack. The "theater" is used 90% for movies.

With a budget of $700-800, what do you suggest for a receiver and speakers? I'll add to this the cost of cables.

Do I want to limit my search to receivers that are HDMI equipped?

Thanks,

Dave

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I just purchased a Sony 55" LCD and an OPPO DVD. Both of these devices as well as my cable box are connected via HDMI cables. Now it's time to deal with sound. The room is 12x12 and given the restrictions in the walls and ceiling, I believe that floor speakers are the only way to go. I will conceal the cabling in some sort of wall mounted racetrack. The "theater" is used 90% for movies.

With a budget of $700-800, what do you suggest for a receiver and speakers? I'll add to this the cost of cables.

Do I want to limit my search to receivers that are HDMI equipped?

Thanks,

Dave

You might as well just get the $400 Onkyo SR605 like everyone else It has 2 HDMI-1.3, TrueHD, & DTS-MA, 7.1 HT--- Join the club.

 

[avaserfi]

You might as well just get the $400 Onkyo SR605 like everyone else It has 2 HDMI-1.3, TrueHD, & DTS-MA, 7.1 HT--- Join the club.

There would be a problem with that...with a 700-800 dollar budget that means he won't be able to afford a decent speaker with that receiver. Just not worth the time.

My suggestion is pick speakers first then find a receiver that can push those speakers and has the connectivity you want. I would suggest looking at last years models of Yamaha, they are good and won't cost an arm and leg because they are being phased out.

 

[jcPanny]

New HT setup

Pop,
Nice video setup.
I would recommend spending $2-300 on the receiver and $5-600 on the speakers. You might also consider starting with a 2.1 or 3.1 system so you can get better quality speakers like the Onix X-LS of SVS models mentioned in this thread. Add the surround channels when budget permits.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

There would be a problem with that...with a 700-800 dollar budget that means he won't be able to afford a decent speaker with that receiver. Just not worth the time.

My suggestion is pick speakers first then find a receiver that can push those speakers and has the connectivity you want. I would suggest looking at last years models of Yamaha, they are good and won't cost an arm and leg because they are being phased out.

I would agree with you 99% of the time. However, in this 1% instance, I just don't see much difference between a $400 speaker system versus a $600 speaker system.

If I could stretch the budget to $950, I would get the Onkyo 605 for $400 and the DefTech ProCinema 60 5.1HT speaker system for $550. http://www.idealav.com/item.aspx?eid=1&pid=106690

If I could not stretch the budget at all, then yeah, I would go your route.

 

[PopDisplay]

$800 sound system

I was able to buy a new Onk SR605 on Ebay for $329 + $27 S&H.

That gives me a few extra bucks to spend on the speakers. I'll ck out the BA Vr2 and VR3, the ProCinema system above suggested and the Mythos ST.

Thanks all for the quick responses.

Dave

 

[gus6464]

I was able to buy a new Onk SR605 on Ebay for $329 + $27 S&H.

That gives me a few extra bucks to spend on the speakers. I'll ck out the BA Vr2 and VR3, the ProCinema system above suggested and the Mythos ST.

Thanks all for the quick responses.

Dave

Sorry for the confusion but the Mythos ST is $5000 a pair. But the BA VR2 and VR3 are great deals right now. Also since you need a complete system for $800 this is the best one I can recommend for the price.
http://www.svsound.com/products-sys-sbs_silver.cfm

At $800 for everything you will be hard pressed to find something that will compete. Another decent setup could be this one:

4x of these
http://www.aperionaudio.com/product/Intimus-422-LR-Satellite-Speaker,7,20,6.aspx
1x of these
http://www.aperionaudio.com/product/Intimus-422-C-Center-Channel-Speaker,8,29,9.aspx
1x of these
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/stf-1.html
or if you can stretch the budget by $50 this one
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/stf-2.html

And last this would also fit the bill nicely
2 pairs of these
http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=82.1
1x of these
http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=91.1
1x of these
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/stf-2.html

If I had to pick between between those 3 systems I would go a tiny bit over budget and get the last setup.

 

[PopDisplay]

Gus- I have $800 for everything

Everything = receiver AND speakers. The speakers you mentioned are $800 or more w/o the receiver.

Thanks for the suggestions anyway.

Dave

 

[Seth=L]

AcuDefTechGuy,

The Onkyo TX-SR605 is not THX Certified, just thought that might make a difference accept not really, but I do think the RX-V661 is going to be a tad more powerful.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

AcuDefTechGuy,

The Onkyo TX-SR605 is not THX Certified, just thought that might make a difference accept not really, but I do think the RX-V661 is going to be a tad more powerful.

Yeah, I was thinking of the 805
THX might not make a difference, but it's nice to have. The THX Ultra logo sure looks fancy
None of the Yamaha have TrueHD, DTS-MA, or HDMI-1.3 yet, right?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I was able to buy a new Onk SR605 on Ebay for $329 + $27 S&H.

That gives me a few extra bucks to spend on the speakers. I'll ck out the BA Vr2 and VR3, the ProCinema system above suggested and the Mythos ST.

Thanks all for the quick responses.

Dave

Looks like you got a great price on the SR605. So you have $444 to spend on speakers. See if you can get a great price on the Def Tech ProCinema 60. The best price I could find is $550 including S/H. If ebay has it for $400, it might be great.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Everything = receiver AND speakers. The speakers you mentioned are $800 or more w/o the receiver.

Thanks for the suggestions anyway.

Dave

Dave, I think you should save up another $100 and get the Definitive Technology ProCinema 60 speaker system for $550, which I think will sound better than the Onkyo speaker system ($300) or any Bose system that costs over $1,500! Like everyone here is emphasizing, speakers are the most important components in your home theater sysem.

 

[Seth=L]

Yeah, I was thinking of the 805
THX might not make a difference, but it's nice to have. The THX Ultra logo sure looks fancy
None of the Yamaha have TrueHD, DTS-MA, or HDMI-1.3 yet, right?

True, but the Yamahas can decode 7.1 LPCM sent out from the player after it has been decoded there, basically you are just changing where those processes take place (The only player that can output bitstream that I have seen would be that new Onkyo HD DVD player due this fall, so the internal Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD processing features are useless at this time on the TX-SR605)

There are trade-offs with each receiver. The Yamaha RX-V661 has preouts and plenty of connections and the Onkyo is compatible with HDMI 1.3a, new gen surround formats, and has a scaler in it.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The only player that can output bitstream that I have seen would be that new Onkyo HD DVD player due this fall, so the internal Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD processing features are useless at this time on the TX-SR605)

There are trade-offs with each receiver. The Yamaha RX-V661 has preouts and plenty of connections and the Onkyo is compatible with HDMI 1.3a, new gen surround formats, and has a scaler in it.

I thought it was the Denon Blu-ray disc player?
I also thought any player with HDMI 1.3 could send bitstream for DTS-MA?

Edit: Oops. Yeah, looks like Onkyo goes with HDDVD and Denon goes with Blu-ray. Great! Both have TrueHD & DTS-MA & HDMI 1.3.

 

[Show13]

So am I to understand that the advantage to owning the RX-V661 over the SR605 would be more power, where as the advantage to the SR605 would be that it is capable of handling the full capacity of blue-ray and HD DVD, which the RX-V661 is not?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

So am I to understand that the advantage to owning the RX-V661 over the SR605 would be more power, where as the advantage to the SR605 would be that it is capable of handling the full capacity of blue-ray and HD DVD, which the RX-V661 is not?

Well, the RX-V661 and the SR605 both have 90-watts-per-channel x 7-ch.
The RX-V661 has preamp output to use with an external amplifier, and the SR605 does not. Thus, unless you are planning on buying an extra external amp, the Yamaha has no advantages over the Onkyo. The Onkyo has the advantages in 3 areas: HDMI-1.3, TrueHD, and DTS-MA.

 

[PopDisplay]

Procinema 60

I'm a little confused. Isn't the Procinema 60 an outdated model? Replaced by the Procinema 600?

The newer version has a bigger sub and different satellites.

Per the tech guy at DefTech, the 600 was a "radical" change from the 60.

Your thoughts?

Dave

 

[Seth=L]

I thought it was the Denon Blu-ray disc player?
I also thought any player with HDMI 1.3 could send bitstream for DTS-MA?

Edit: Oops. Yeah, looks like Onkyo goes with HDDVD and Denon goes with Blu-ray. Great! Both have TrueHD & DTS-MA & HDMI 1.3.

I forgot about the Denon.

The PS3 has HDMI 1.3 and it will not transmit HD-audio bitstream via HDMI, so HDMI 1.3 does not warrant transmission of bitstream high resolution audio.

 

[Seth=L]

I'm a little confused. Isn't the Procinema 60 an outdated model? Replaced by the Procinema 600?

The newer version has a bigger sub and different satellites.

Per the tech guy at DefTech, the 600 was a "radical" change from the 60.

Your thoughts?

Dave

I am not sure about all the differences between the two, but I do know that the little sub that comes with the ProCinema60 packs a punch for it's size. I think its design parameters are quite similar to the quite popular, and in my opinion very nice sounding, ProSub80. The satelite speakers on the newer procinemas look strange, but nice with the grills on. Keep in mind the ProCinema600 is going to cost you quite a bit more than the ProCinema60.

 

[TIMEATELL]

I just purchased a Sony 55" LCD and an OPPO DVD. Both of these devices as well as my cable box are connected via HDMI cables. Now it's time to deal with sound. The room is 12x12 and given the restrictions in the walls and ceiling, I believe that floor speakers are the only way to go. I will conceal the cabling in some sort of wall mounted racetrack. The "theater" is used 90% for movies.

With a budget of $700-800, what do you suggest for a receiver and speakers? I'll add to this the cost of cables.

Do I want to limit my search to receivers that are HDMI equipped?

Thanks,

Dave

I mentioned this in another thread yesterday (loudspeakers), but I think it's worth mentioning again. As stated, you received a pretty good deal on the receiver. You have $444 left for a speaker system. I would recommend this 5.1 speaker system by Kef: kef.com/KHT/KHT2005.2/home.htm

In addition, this speaker system can be purchased for $450 (with coupon code) at Circuit City's website (in the outlet section). That's 55% off of MSRP. I'm not a big fan of CC, but if you know what you're looking for, good deals can be had. This is an excellent price for the set. Good luck.