Your Blu-ray player and HDTV Cable box should both be capable of sending their audio via the HDMI connection. No need to use optical for those. Depending on how old your Xbox is, it might be able to send audio via HDMI as well. The original Xbox360s didn't have HDMI outputs, but all of the models from the old "Elite" until now have included HDMI.
I'm guessing your old surround sound setup included an old receiver that didn't have HDMI switching? These days, manufacturers are focusing on HDMI and eliminating most of the other inputs. But it actually makes things easier. You just run HDMI from each source to your AV Receiver. You then only need to run one HDMI cable from the Receiver to your TV. And now the Receiver handles all of the switching duties. You can just leave your TV on one input and use it like a monitor
For your price range, getting the Denon
AVR-1712 or
AVR-1713 from accessories4less.com certainly makes the most sense.
Differences are:
1712 has 7 amps, but no AirPlay or Network features - at $249
1713 has "only" 5 amps, but includes AirPlay and Network features - at $299
BOTH include Audssye MultEQ XT, which is a very large and worthwhile step up over other auto-setup/room correction/EQ programs. Especially over Audyssey 2EQ, which is what you'll find in a lot of receivers in this price range. 2EQ doesn't even EQ the bass, which is where you need EQ the most! MultEQ XT is 2nd only to MultEQ XT32, so it's an absolute bargain, and very rare at this low price point.
So just pick whether you want 7 amp channels or 5, and whether you want AirPlay and Network features built in or not. And do not worry what-so-ever about the "refurbished" label on the accessories4less website. A4L is the fully authorized "clearance" dealer for Denon (as well as Marantz and Onkyo and other brands). You get a full 1 year warranty - no 90 day BS. And the products are guaranteed to either be new and simply on clearance, or just as good as new. There's no better way to get a fully authorized deal and keep your full warranty
For the speakers, I totally agree that the 2nd Generation (just look for the "2" on the end of the model number
) Andrew Jones Pioneer speakers should be a lock. In this price range, there is truly nothing better. They are astonishingly good speakers for the price! Work really nicely with the Denon AV Receivers, too
Only tricky bit might be the subwoofer. Sounds as though you have quite a large room to try and contend with. If there is one place where you never want to skimp in a surround sound system, it's the subwoofer! Getting truly good bass is what makes it FEEL like you're "at the movies" or at a live concert. There's no magical way to get that experience for cheap.
For example, Andrew Jones is pretty much a genius when it comes to speaker design. His line of Pioneer speakers has an 8" subwoofer as one of the products. But Pioneer REALLY wanted to keep the price down around $150 so that the subwoofer wouldn't be noteably more expensive than the other speakers. Andrew Jones took it up to a $160 MSRP budget, he's a genius, he's got the full backing of one of the biggest electronics companies in the world. And...the subwoofer he made with that budget constraint isn't very good
I mean, the bass that it manages to produce is nice enough, but it's missing almost a full octave of the really deep stuff, it can't play very loud, and it's nothing to write home about distortion wise.
So just keep that in mind. That's the best a speaker design genius could do with a $160 MSRP budget constraint. Making good bass is difficult! It takes what it takes, and there's no magic way to do it for cheaper. So don't skimp on the subwoofer! It's just a recipe for disappointment.
Now, ImcLoud and I agree on most things. We have a small difference of opinion when it comes to subwoofers
Mostly, it comes from the fact that I've simply become accustomed to the sort of bass produced by the $2000 SVSound PB13-Ultra. That is now my "benchmark" for what bass ought to sound like, and much like getting used to Blu-ray video quality and then trying to go back to DVD, I don't wanna!
ImcLoud is very much enjoying his HSU VTF-2 MK4, which, I had a hand in helping him pick out. And that's no coincidence or accident because the HSU VTF-2 MK4 is the least expensive subwoofer I consider capable of "doing it all". By which I mean that it can genuinely play down to 20Hz, it can play pretty darn loud, and it can do it all while remaining accurate and distortion free. Is it quite up to the quality level of the SVSound Ultra subs? No. But it's also nearly 1/4 the price. And can it play as loud as the SVSound Ultra subs? Definitely not! But extremely few people need the full output capabilities of a $2000 sub. I certainly don't! I have a small theater room. But I just can't settle for less than the Ultra because of the quality of the bass, not the quantity
Anywho, all of this is to say that, with your budget, something's gotta give. You're looking at $400 for the 5 Pioneer speakers - that'd be two of the SP-FS52 towers at $100 each for your Front Left & Right, plus the $100 SP-C22 Center, and another $100 for the pair of SP-BS22-LR bookshelf surround speakers (which you can most certainly put on speaker stands). If you go with the Denon AVR-1712 for $250, that'd leave you $350 for the subwoofer. Unless you need to factor shipping costs into your total budget, in which case, you've got less than $350.
Now $350's ok for a subwoofer. $350 could get you the HSU STF-2. While it's not the equal of the larger and more expensive HSU VTF-2 MK4 that I talked about earlier, the STF-2 only gives up the lowest of the low end extension. It's good down to about 25Hz instead of 20Hz. And it gives up sheer output. In most small or medium sized rooms, that's no problem. But again, if you have a large or very large room, now that becomes a real issue.
So if our assumptions are correct and you have a large room, I'd point you towards the
Klipsch Reference RW-12D . It's a pretty darn good subwoofer quality wise, and capable of very loud output - especially at this clearance price point. While in a smaller room, I personally like the HSU STF-2's quality just a little bit better, for a large room, sheer output is more important. And it's not as though the RW-12D has poor quality in favor of just loud output. It's still a good subwoofer all around. It's more like, the STF-2 is a little better quality wise but can't play as loud, the RW-12D can play significantly louder, and gives up just a little bit of quality. It's mostly just the cabinet, which produces a little bit of resonance and "colors" the sound a little bit. But this is me and my very picky taste talking. It's truly a small difference, and the RW-12D is easily the better choice for a large room. And you really can't beat it at that price!
Hope that helps
