Little Help

[ivseenbetter]

I am trying to put together a "decent" stereo setup for watching TV, some movies, and listening to music in the living room (we listen to music throughout the house from the living room when we clean). I was going to go with a 2.0 setup and had a pretty good idea on what I would spend my money on and how to come in on budget....well, I blew my budget the other day.

I decided to add a sub to the system! I don't regret it in the least but now I am hoping to get a little help on what to do to fill in the rest of the pieces for the system.

My current stereo receiver is pretty weak...and doesn't have a sub-out. SO, I have to replace it. I also need to get some nice quality floorstanding speakers. Right now I am leaning toward getting a pair of Swan Diva 4.1 for around 550 shipped and then put together a Behringer A500 and some cheap receiver with pre-outs to run them for around 300 (this blows my budget by 300 but I am willing to do it if it is my best option). Does this sound like the best and cheapest setup I could get my hands on that is still a quality driven system?

The only other option I can think of is try to find a Receiver that is stable down to 4 ohms for cheap, and maybe find some nice speakers on Audiogon (I seem to see a lot of Magnapan's on there for cheap).

The key is that the speakers have to be very nice looking speakers in order to make my wife happy. But I don't want to just buy something because it is pretty...I want it to be functional. It has to be floorstanding as well. I'm not opposed to used either. I have to get this done before the wife will let me get started on my theater room.

Thanks!

 

[chadnliz]

I am not into recievers anymore, well we use one in living room but I have had 3 Onkyo units in past and they are great down to 4ohm loads, have pre-outs and sub adjustments. Magnepan, which I have also owned is going to be too much for most recievers......they needs tons of power. There are however some great older amps from Carver, Rotel, NAD, Parasound, Arcam and others that are both cheap and have the power to drive tough loads with no problem.
I have heard Swan speakers once and they look great and perform pretty well..........all in all look like a pretty good deal with great WAF.

 

[ivseenbetter]

No thoughts or inputs? I guess my first idea was a pretty decent one then.

 

[chadnliz]

I guess my idea didnt go well?

 

[Exit]

Sometimes the readers at this particular time period don't know what your equipment selection sounds like and hesitate to make a response. I had a forum question that didn't get a response about a week or two ago.

 

[3db]

I am trying to put together a "decent" stereo setup for watching TV, some movies, and listening to music in the living room (we listen to music throughout the house from the living room when we clean). I was going to go with a 2.0 setup and had a pretty good idea on what I would spend my money on and how to come in on budget....well, I blew my budget the other day.

I decided to add a sub to the system! I don't regret it in the least but now I am hoping to get a little help on what to do to fill in the rest of the pieces for the system.

My current stereo receiver is pretty weak...and doesn't have a sub-out. SO, I have to replace it. I also need to get some nice quality floorstanding speakers. Right now I am leaning toward getting a pair of Swan Diva 4.1 for around 550 shipped and then put together a Behringer A500 and some cheap receiver with pre-outs to run them for around 300 (this blows my budget by 300 but I am willing to do it if it is my best option). Does this sound like the best and cheapest setup I could get my hands on that is still a quality driven system?

The only other option I can think of is try to find a Receiver that is stable down to 4 ohms for cheap, and maybe find some nice speakers on Audiogon (I seem to see a lot of Magnapan's on there for cheap).

The key is that the speakers have to be very nice looking speakers in order to make my wife happy. But I don't want to just buy something because it is pretty...I want it to be functional. It has to be floorstanding as well. I'm not opposed to used either. I have to get this done before the wife will let me get started on my theater room.

Thanks!

What is your budget for the receiver?
Outlaw, andf NAD are 4 ohm stable receivers.

 

[ivseenbetter]

What is your budget for the receiver?
Outlaw, andf NAD are 4 ohm stable receivers.

I really can't spend any more than 400....but that is only if I don't buy an external amp. Ultimately I need to keep it as close to 300 as I can. I know that doesn't get me much.