Hello,
I would like some audio advice on what I should get for a good HT audio setup for a first time buyer. I am a huge movie fanatic and would like Theater like sound at home. I do not know much about HT audio and thats why I am asking. My questions may be "newbish" but forgive me. You don't know what you don't know.
I just purchased 2x Klipsch Synergy F-20 speakers. I got both for 340. If these are not good I can probably sell them. I have nothing else for my setup yet.
I would like to know what I would need for the best Theater like sound such as - fronts? center? sub? AV receiver?
I do have a couple questions.
1) Is it okay to match different brands for front, center, surround and subs? Or is it better to buy the same brands to have consistant audio quality?
2) What should I be looking for in AV receiver? Is 7.1 what I should be looking for?
3) I may be asking in the wrong place or may need to do a lot more research. Any tips or direction would be appreciated.
I do not really know what my budget is at the moment. I would just like to know what I should be looking for - esp to compliment the speakers i just purchased.
Thanks in advance.
Room Analysis - I know this is a very important part of audio selection but this is the least important at the moment. I will be moving in about a year and do not know what room dimensions I need for the future. The room the audio will be in is quite open. It leads from the front door to the dining room to the living area(where the TV is) to a open bar kitchen.
Regarding the Klipsch speakers, if you like them, keep them, and if you don't, then get rid of them. The best way to go about buying a system is to go to all the local audio stores and listen to all of the speakers you can find in your price range, with music with which you are familiar, and of all of the types of music you listen to. Thus, taking a CDR with you that you create for this purpose is a good idea. It is a very good idea to audition speakers of different types (e.g., ribbons, domes, horns, whatever) as well as different brands.
1. The front center channel speaker should be "voice matched" to your right and left front speakers. This is so that a sound moving across the front does not change tonal quality. Ideally, it will be identical to the front right and left speakers, but most people are satisfied with merely identical tweeters and comparable woofers/midrange drivers from the same company.
The surround channel speakers are far less important, both because of the material in surround channels and because human hearing is less capable behind one than in front of one. So if you need to save money, here is a place you can get away with it to some extent. However, the ideal is identical speakers to the front.
The subwoofer need not match the other speakers at all. I recommend buying the biggest and best
SVS subwoofer you can afford, and if you can't afford any of them, wait until you can before buying a subwoofer. (There are some other good brands, which others will tell you about, but you can't go wrong with SVS.)
2. You should look for all the features you require in a surround receiver, of a reputable brand (e.g., Yamaha, Pioneer, Marantz, Denon, etc.). If you select speakers that are difficult to drive, you should get a receiver with preamp outputs for all channels and then buy a good power amp (or several) to drive the speakers.
Your budget is extremely important for the advice to be specific and useful. If you have the money, these would be nice speakers to get:
http://www.magnepan.com/model_MG_201
But telling most people that is a total waste of time, as they are more money than most people have for their entire sound system.
Generally speaking, the more money you spend, the better gear you can get. And if you want the money to make an audible difference, put it into your speakers (subwoofers are speakers, too), and pay as little as you need to for an adequate receiver. I was using a $600 receiver with speakers that retailed for more than $6000, and it sounded great. I replaced the receiver with one that retails for $1700, and unless I engage a feature that affects the sound, it sounds the same as the $600 receiver. Now, if my speakers were difficult to drive, it would make more of a difference, as the new receiver can put out about twice the power of the old one, but the old one could cleanly drive my speakers louder than I ever wanted to hear them, so the extra power is completely useless and irrelevant to my sound.
Also, don't spend a bunch of money on wires. Read both of the following:
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm
http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/long-hdmi-cable-bench-tests