new guy needs some recomendations

[TimmyR41]

ok well i've been working on putting a home theater system together for awhile now an i'm to the point now where the last thing left is the receiver and speakers. so far i have a 40" samsung 1080p tv, a sony blu-ray player, an xbox 360 and an hd dvr direct tv box. i've got $150 in best buy gift cards that are going to expire so i figured its time to get on this audio thing.

here are my requirements.
at least 3 hdmi inputs for the xbox, direct tv and blu-ray.
eventual 5.1 surround sound.
excellent sound quality of course.

my thought is to start out with a receiver and 2 front speakers and then add speakers as i get the money. this way i can purchase a slightly nicer speaker as opposed to purchasing a crappy 5.1 system and then replacing them all later.

i own my own home and my listening room is 15' by 13' so i don't have to worry to much about keeping the neighbors up. i plan to do mainly home theater with some music listening. probably about 80/20. i like to listen medium loud but with good quality. (about 50 to 70 on my samsung tv depending on which source i'm using)

now i don't know a whole lot about this stuff, just enough to get myself in trouble so any so i'm open to any comments or suggestions you might have.

so far what i was looking at was the harman kardon avr254 for the reciever. and then i was thinking the axiom m3's for my bookshelf speakers.

that is pretty much the max of my price range. if i can get an equally nice system for less than that it would be great. i was also looking at the polk tsi100's for the bookshelves for 100 less than the axioms or the polk tsi200's for almost the same price as the axioms. in the end i want something thats going to look nice and is going to last me for years. something that can grow with me as i go to a larger house would be nice too. i may not get past just running the bookshelves and maybe a center channel in my current house but i want something that can do at least 5.1 in a couple years when i upgrade my living situation.

thanks in advance.

 

[TimmyR41]

Well I went to best buy tonight and listened to a couple speakers and checked out some recievers.

As faraw the speakers go I listened to the Polk tsi100's, tsi300's and tsi400's. I also listened to the klipsch icon floorstanding and bookshelf speakers. They were using a yamaha htr5940 to run the speakers. Out of all of them I think I liked the Polk better. The klipsch speakers sounded likethe had too much in the way of high frequency sound. The polk tsi100's acctually sounded louder than the floor standing Polk speakers. The floor standing speakers did seem to have a little bit better bottom end though.

On to the recievers. They didn't have an avr254 hooked up but they did have a n avr354 hooked up and a more expensive $1000 yamaha above it. They were hooked up to two in wall spekers on either side of a tv. I set them both to -10db and the yamaha was noticably louder. The Harman kardon seemed like it might have been too quiet. This has me a bit concerned because there is less power in the 254 than the 354. I knowtl though too that there could be alot offactors in the sound. Could be the speakers orthe reciever or the fact that I was standing on the floor at best buy. But I will say that the yamaha they had set up to audition the polk and klipsch speakers was more than loud enough when set to the same setting.

My visit left me wondering if the avr254 will be enough reciever for me and all but eliminated the klipsch speakers as an option.

 

[ack_bak]

A few things. I would definitely consider this receiver:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9245471&type=product&id=1218066769902

It is a Yamaha that supports the latest audio codecs (TrueHD, DTS-HD-MA) has 4 HDMI inputs, and should offer a lot of bang for you buck. I would think that it would meet your needs. It is only 5.1 not 7.1 but if you are planning on 5.1, why pay for more? It sounds like your room is a great size for 5.1. You could also step into the Yamaha 565 if you want more features and power:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9245444&type=product&id=1218066766851

Onkyo receivers are also solid values.

The other thing to consider is that if you get bookshelf speakers you will want to get a subwoofer at some point to drive the lower frequency bass. Most bookshelf speakers simply are not built for lower base extension. Not a bad thing, but something to keep in mind if you are piecing together a system. In other words you may want to get your receiver and then get your fronts and then a sub and then your surrounds. Instead of buying a "just okay" 5.1 system I would recommend buying better fronts and a sub since this is where the majority of movies, games, and music is driven from.

Those Polk speakers are pretty good. And I am just like you, I am not a Klipsch/horn tweeter person. But you have other options in your price range. Since you are mostly a home theater person I would recommend reading reviews of the SVS SBS-SCS01 and SBS-SB speakers. They are priced very close to the Axiom's and are highly rated for home theater usage. There are other choices as well such as KEF, Deftech, Emotiva, HSU, and Elemenatal Designs.

Bang for your buck you should definitely check out Elemental Designs. I have one of their subs and their sub and speakers packages are priced very well. Could be a good fit for your tastes and your budget.

 

[bandphan]

On to the recievers. They didn't have an avr254 hooked up but they did have a n avr354 hooked up and a more expensive $1000 yamaha above it. They were hooked up to two in wall spekers on either side of a tv. I set them both to -10db and the yamaha was noticably louder. The Harman kardon seemed like it might have been too quiet. This has me a bit concerned because there is less power in the 254 than the 354. I knowtl though too that there could be alot offactors in the sound. Could be the speakers orthe reciever or the fact that I was standing on the floor at best buy. But I will say that the yamaha they had set up to audition the polk and klipsch speakers was more than loud enough when set to the same setting.

My visit left me wondering if the avr254 will be enough reciever for me and all but eliminated the klipsch speakers as an option.

Just because both had the same reading on the volume display has nothing to do with the acutal power being used, only if level matched, which they were not. Budget in the 70|30 range speaker to Avr. Bring source material that you are fimilar with and demo as many as you can and take notes. For 1500 to 1600 you can get many 5.1 systems with sub and avr that will be very pleasing for a first system.

 

[TimmyR41]

I had looked at that yamaha reciever a couple times. They didn't have it in my local best buy but it was the other reciever I was really considering. A few things I had noticed. The harman has a lower thd which I was always told was very important. Plus I can get the harman avr254 from amazon for 350 which brings it very close to the price of that yamaha. I have always been a fan of yamaha but I really like the look of the harmans and from what I've read they are a higher quality reciever. If the yamaha is a better choice than the harmon then it would make sense but if the harman is better it would probably be wise to spend the extra $40 to getthe nicer reciever.

As far as the speakers go I will check those other brands out later this afternoon. Thanks for the input.

Is there reasonto so with the yamaha over the harman to save $40?

 

[TimmyR41]

ok, to post my thoughts on my speaker set up. here is what i've come up with. in the price i factored i did not factor the price of the sub as i do not know which one i would get and it would probably be the same one for any of the systems anyways.

option 1
start off with 2 polk tsi100's for mains. then later on add two polk tsi200's as the mains and move the 100's to the surrounds and add the polk cs10 center. then add a sub of some type. $778

option 2
start off with the tsi200's. then later on add 2 of the tsi300 floor standing units as the mains move the 200's to the surrounds and add the same cs10 to the center. then add a sub of some type. $879

option 3
this would be the axioms. starting with the m3's for the mains. adding the qs4's for the surrounds and the vp100 for the center channel. then adding a sub of some type. probably the axiom in this case. $1013

i guess the question is this. is it going to be a noticable difference between the cheaper polk option and the more expensive polk option to warrent the $100 difference. Same goes with going for the more expensive polk option to the axioms only its a $134 difference. then the final difference would be is the difference from the cheaper polk to the axioms going to be sufficient enough to warrant the 234 difference.

sorry about the length of all my posts. i'm one of those who likes to talk through every little detail before i jump off the cliff. haha. And i want to be thinking more in terms of longevity as opposed to well this speaker is 30 more than that set of speakers. in the end i'm going to be putting a full system together and i want to have a vision for the final product before i start and buy something that i'll have to replace because i didn't think everything through.

 

[lsiberian]

ok well i've been working on putting a home theater system together for awhile now an i'm to the point now where the last thing left is the receiver and speakers. so far i have a 40" samsung 1080p tv, a sony blu-ray player, an xbox 360 and an hd dvr direct tv box. i've got $150 in best buy gift cards that are going to expire so i figured its time to get on this audio thing.

here are my requirements.
at least 3 hdmi inputs for the xbox, direct tv and blu-ray.
eventual 5.1 surround sound.
excellent sound quality of course.

my thought is to start out with a receiver and 2 front speakers and then add speakers as i get the money. this way i can purchase a slightly nicer speaker as opposed to purchasing a crappy 5.1 system and then replacing them all later.

i own my own home and my listening room is 15' by 13' so i don't have to worry to much about keeping the neighbors up. i plan to do mainly home theater with some music listening. probably about 80/20. i like to listen medium loud but with good quality. (about 50 to 70 on my samsung tv depending on which source i'm using)

now i don't know a whole lot about this stuff, just enough to get myself in trouble so any so i'm open to any comments or suggestions you might have.

so far what i was looking at was the harman kardon avr254 for the reciever. and then i was thinking the axiom m3's for my bookshelf speakers.

that is pretty much the max of my price range. if i can get an equally nice system for less than that it would be great. i was also looking at the polk tsi100's for the bookshelves for 100 less than the axioms or the polk tsi200's for almost the same price as the axioms. in the end i want something thats going to look nice and is going to last me for years. something that can grow with me as i go to a larger house would be nice too. i may not get past just running the bookshelves and maybe a center channel in my current house but i want something that can do at least 5.1 in a couple years when i upgrade my living situation.

thanks in advance.

I must ask if you've listened to the speakers and if you've read all the issues with HK amps. Honestly if you can afford it. Go elsewhere. I own the amp and while I can get it work for me. It's not for the faint of heart. I suggest an Onkyo, Denon, Marantz, or Yamaha.

 

[TimmyR41]

i did listen to the polk tsi100 and tsi300 and the klipsch icons. those are what they had at best buy. i can't really listen to the axioms since they are an internet only dealer. i think as far as the reciever goes i may be leaning towards the yamaha 465 at this point. it seems to be decent for what i'm looking to do and it gives me an extra hdmi input in case i ever need it. i'm still somewhat up in the air regarding the speakers but i think i'm leaning towards the polk route just to keep things a little cheaper. i want good sound but i don't need it to be the best home theatre on the block. my room won't really allow for great speaker placement either so i probably won't get the best results no matter what speakers i purchase.

 

[lsiberian]

i did listen to the polk tsi100 and tsi300 and the klipsch icons. those are what they had at best buy. i can't really listen to the axioms since they are an internet only dealer. i think as far as the reciever goes i may be leaning towards the yamaha 465 at this point. it seems to be decent for what i'm looking to do and it gives me an extra hdmi input in case i ever need it. i'm still somewhat up in the air regarding the speakers but i think i'm leaning towards the polk route just to keep things a little cheaper. i want good sound but i don't need it to be the best home theatre on the block. my room won't really allow for great speaker placement either so i probably won't get the best results no matter what speakers i purchase.

One thing to note is that the Yamaha doesn't use Audyssey which is probably the best auto setup feature I've used. Though I'm sure what they have is much easier to run.

 

[ack_bak]

One thing to note is that the Yamaha doesn't use Audyssey which is probably the best auto setup feature I've used. Though I'm sure what they have is much easier to run.

Honestly though I would just buy a $40-50 SPL meter and go that route. Audyssey is good, but I have always found it to be off everytime I have ever used it vs SPL and test tones from something like Avia II.

 

[rnatalli]

You should be fine with the HK254. Just be sure to update the firmware.