spending my stimulus package $1200

[ScottWChicago]

I am looking to replace my state of the art system from 18 years ago....

I have a Kenwood and the dreaded Bose speakers. Don't laugh!

I am using it mainly for movies and tv. the room size is 18X20.

I just bought a 42 inch Panasonic 720p which will be the focal point of the room. Finally jumped on the band wagon, I still have my Hitachi rear projection 60 inch from 15 years ago.

I will be buying a new PS3 for my son so I need to stay in the $1000 range for a new receiver and speakers. Switching from comcast to directv as well to try this HD stuff.

I would assume from reading these forums that speakers should be the main focus. I guess my biggest question is should I get 2 floor speakers or go with bookshelf with sub? Do I need 5.1 or 7.1, I don;t think so, but I am not sure.

Noobie needs advice

 

[zumbo]

Gonna have a hard time doing 2.0 and a receiver for 1k.

 

[MDS]

Maybe spend ~300 for the receiver and the rest for speakers but it will still be very tight. The sub is the real issue - a cheap sub just won't do much at all. I don't spend huge amounts of money on this stuff but my sub alone (SVS SB12) would eat up the entire rest of your budget.

The solution is either to get a low cost all-in-one 5.1 type setup and live with it for awhile until you have funds to upgrade or start with just two tower speakers in a 2.0 configuration and then upgrade later by adding center, surrounds, and sub as funds permit. If it were me, I'd opt for the latter and get two reasonably good front speakers. $700 will buy a decent set of floorstanding speakers.

 

[jamie2112]

Well you need to figure out if you want 5.1 or 7.1, only you can know that. You can get great sound out of a 2 channel setup or a 5 channel setup it just depends on how much you want to spend and what your listening preferences are.

 

[WmAx]

Just a heads up, original poster: I am currently investigating a two way speaker that may very well be a new order of value in terms of performance vs. cost. I have not completed analysis, but if you can wait a week or two, I will have more information for you in regards to such. It is possible, you could get a set of 6 two way speakers for less then $400 with very high relative fidelity, at least compared to what you would be used to paying 5x as much for in the traditional market for similar qualities/sound. It's too early for me to recommend this product just yet; I have to do further analysis/measurement to insure my recommendation is solid. This product would allow you to fit both a receiver and a subwoofer into the budget along with the speakers, and not have to compromise with the usual mediocre-level speakers that would normally have to fit into such a low total budget.

-Chris

 

[furrycute]

Keep us posted Chris on the results of your research. I am interested as well.

 

[rnatalli]

Yamaha 663 - $399 (if you look around)
Av123 X-MTM Encore - $549

This will give you a receiver that'll be good for several years out and speakers capable of producing bass until a subwoofer can be added. Later, you can add the center, surrounds, and subwoofer and all is good.

 

[moggi1964]

Yamaha 663 $399 shipped (by phone at J&R)

Athena
LS300 x 4 and LS100C x 1 $499 shipped (by phone at Audioadvisor.com)

Leaves you one hundred towards a subwoofer.

I am enjoying the bass on my Athena's with the 663; 'adventure movie' setting made Raiders of the lost ark fun

Can't wait till my Epik Valor arrives though

 

[WmAx]

While I am not yet comfortable revealing the speaker, I am going to share some initial test results, that are shocking to me, considering the price.

Here is waterfall, detailed FR(unsmoothed) of mid/treble and off axis response from 0 to 90 degrees horiztonal:

http://www.linaeum.com/images/speaker1/fr_waterfall_detail_offaxis_1M.gif

Here is an averaged overall 1 Meter response plot to give an idea of 20-20,000 Hz response characteristic:

http://www.linaeum.com/images/speaker1/fr_fullrange_averaged_1M.gif

Please ignore the distortion plot line; it was at low SPL(about 85dB).

I will describe physical construction:

Cast metal frame 6.5" mid-bass, composed of a stiff poly composition, large motor and large spyder. Metal alloy tweeter. 1.25" thick MDF front baffle. 0.75" thick MDF cabinet. Crossover uses very high power, large iron core inductors. Capacitors are MKT film type. Small ported 2 way, about 15 lbs each.

The off axis response is incredibly identical to on axis, even at 15khz, at 60 degrees off axis. The over all response linearity is better than many so-called high-fidelity speakers.

This speaker costs between $100-$200 per pair.

I would recommend this speaker crossed about 85-90 Hz, integrated with stereo subwoofers. Some very small modifications should be made at minimum: high quality internal acoustic fill material, some glue on some spots to prevent a vibration of certain parts, etc. Easy stuff that anyone can do.

-Chris

 

[EJ1]

All those numbers and graphs are well and good but your ear is going to be the deciding factor. For all we know, those speakers can have amazing numbers but sound like crap to the OP.

Demo. Demo. Demo!

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

The solution is either to get a low cost all-in-one 5.1 type setup and live with it for awhile until you have funds to upgrade or start with just two tower speakers in a 2.0 configuration and then upgrade later by adding center, surrounds, and sub as funds permit. If it were me, I'd opt for the latter and get two reasonably good front speakers. $700 will buy a decent set of floorstanding speakers.

I'd go with the receiver and a pair of good floorstanders option, too. In fact, I've lived with that configuration for years using my old stereo receiver and stereo speakers from ages ago for listening to movies. I only just recently started to upgrade.

 

[Pyrrho]

I think people need to remember that you already have a 2.0 system, so getting a new 2.0 system isn't going to be fundamentally different from what you already have (though it may or may not be better quality).

l think you have a couple of reasonable options. One is simply to save your money until you have enough for a really good surround system. Another is, if you are going to buy some new front speakers, make sure you get at least all three front speakers, so that they will match each other. It will be a waste if later on you decide to add a center speaker, and then find you need to replace your front speakers to get a matching center channel speaker because they don't make a matching one anymore. You can use your current speakers for the rear channels and have a 5.0 system for the cost of a receiver and three speakers.

On your budget, I would not even consider a 7.1 system. It would be far better to spend the money on better 5.1 speakers than on a cheap 7.1 system.

I am tempted to also recommend the Yamaha RX-V663, but you are on such a tight budget, and speakers make more difference in sound quality than the receiver, so I am not so sure it would be your best option. I suppose it depends upon what speakers you can find that you like. If you can get three decent speakers for $600, then it would be a great receiver for you. But it is difficult to get good speakers for that amount of money.

Go audition some speakers and see what you like. Audition speakers costing up to a bit more than you want to spend, just to see if saving for something better seems like a good idea to you.

 

[furrycute]

Thanks Chris for the frequency response plots. They do look impressive.

One question though, how come the low end roll off occurs just before the 100 Hz mark? Is this normal?

While I am not yet comfortable revealing the speaker, I am going to share some initial test results, that are shocking to me, considering the price.

 

[Midcow2]

You best move is switching to satellite.

The next best move get some good speakers. However they alone could blow you budget. So here are some compromise systems I think you will really like.

Speakers : Cambridge Audio S30 $250
Receiver: Marantz SR5002 $750

Speakers : Cambridge Audio S30 $250
Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR705 $600


Speakers:Bowers and Wilkins 684 ( B&W) $645
Receiver : Yamaha 663 - $500

Speakers: Def Tech BP6B $750
Receiver : Yamaha 663 - $500




At $1000 he is an idea.

Get some

 

[Joe Schmoe]

How can you already have your stimulus package? My letter said they wouldn't even start sending them out until sometime next month.

 

[zumbo]

How can you already have your stimulus package? My letter said they wouldn't even start sending them out until sometime next month.

Planning to spend.

Economic stimulus payments will be issued according to the last two-digits of the main filer's Social Security number. People who use direct deposit also will be among the first to receive the payments starting May 2. Paper checks will be put in the mail starting May 16.

DIRECT DEPOSIT
Last two SSN digits:
Payment will be transmitted:

00 through 20
May 2

21 through 75
May 9

76 through 99
May 16




PAPER CHECK
Last two SSN digits:
Payments will be mailed by:

00 through 09
May 16

10 through 18
May 23

19 through 25
May 30

26 through 38
June 6

39 through 51
June 13

52 through 63
June 20

64 through 75
June 27

76 through 87
July 4

88 through 99
July 11

 

[zumbo]

To the OP. I am on the bandwagon for starting with the 2.0 system. If you choose this, make sure of two things.
1)The two speakers you buy have a matching available center with similar FR. Many companies give you a great deal on decent towers, only to stick you with a center channel option that doesn't cut it.
2)Your receiver choice will be able to power the complete 5.1/7.1 system when it is done. Room size, speaker sensitivity, and speakers ohm rating are the most important factors. I would only choose a receiver with pre-outs for every channel.

 

[WmAx]

All those numbers and graphs are well and good but your ear is going to be the deciding factor. For all we know, those speakers can have amazing numbers but sound like crap to the OP.

Demo. Demo. Demo!

What the number so far say, is that this has the potential to be a very neutral speaker. The off axis response of this speaker is unusually neutral, and the on axis is very good. The speaker has good distortion performance. Of course, the speaker is resonant in the cabinet system as is virtually all speakers. But with the speaker being as exceptionally neutral as it is, it could make excellent mid/treble monitors and the response can be shaped with a precision EQ to the listener's preference.

-Chris

 

[WmAx]

Thanks Chris for the frequency response plots. They do look impressive.

One question though, how come the low end roll off occurs just before the 100 Hz mark? Is this normal?

This particular speaker has a slow gradual roll off. It's down by about 6dB around 70Hz. I recommend the speaker for use with subwoofers, crossed at 85-90Hz, to take advantage of it's excellent characteristics for mid/treble use. I will also try to develop a level 2 mod for the speaker that will not involve cutting open the cabinets, so that people with no tools or woodworking skills can have a reference grade monitor system with nearly inert cabinets.

-Chris

 

[furrycute]

This would be great! As the idea of cutting open speaker cabinets kind of scare off newbies... such as myself...

But I am just curious, since this speaker uses a 6.5" driver, why does the low end roll off occur so early? Is this done on purpose to limit the excursion of the driver so as to limit distortion at low frequencies? The Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 SE also uses a 6.5" driver, and its -3db point is at 58Hz.

I will also try to develop a level 2 mod for the speaker that will not involve cutting open the cabinets, so that people with no tools or woodworking skills can have a reference grade monitor system with nearly inert cabinets.

-Chris