home theater system for movies/tv

[emcolimited]

hello,
im good with tech but this is the fist time ive though about buying a home theater system for our new place.

we have a 55" samsung es7150 tv which is awesome but i now want to add the sound to match the video. we watch a lot of movies and tv from pvr, netflic, streaming websites and torrents etc. our living room area is about 15' wide and 30' long with the tv on a stand at one end with the couch in the middle. It being not a very large area i dont think i need anything extremely high quality or expensive but i also dont want to through it in the garbage in a couple years. i live in vancouver canada and have been looking at bestbuy and future shop as well as the online sites like newegg and ncix to find some good deal. Any help would be appreciated, i feel a little overwhelmed at time with all the different types of av receivers and speakers.

cheers.

ps, i dont need a blueray player as i will be getting a ps4(just sold my ps3) and it would be nice to have lots of HDMI slots and be able to play music off our phones via usb or bluetooth or something.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum! What's your budget? People's recommendations will depend on that.

For receivers, things to look at are connections, features, power, ease of use, auto calibration, and the remote. Definitely make sure that a receiver has the correct connections for all of the gear that you want to use with it. Power...well, that depends on your speakers and your budget. Ease of use applies mostly in the beginning, because you'll learn how to and get used to using whatever you buy. I talk about auto calibration below. As for the remote, if you don't already have a learning remote or universal remote, getting a remote with the receiver than can control other equipment is very nice.

I'm a big fan of auto calibration. I've used Pioneer's MCACC system since 2005, and just yesterday got a chance to use Audyssey (found on multiple receivers). Something that I've learned about Audyssey is that it does an okay job if your seating is all clustered, but it can't save more than one configuration. MCACC (at least on my receiver) can save up to six different configurations, which is nice for me because I sit both in front of the TV (centered relative to my speakers) and off to the side of the TV (very much not centered to the speakers). With MCACC, I just save a configuration for each spot. Audyssey can't do that, and I've been disappointed so far.

I've been doing some research lately in the ~$500 range, and my vote goes for the Pioneer VSX-1123 which was on sale at Newegg for $430 (list is $630) within the past week.

 

[emcolimited]

Hello, thanks for the reply. Honestly $500 is about as much as I might spend. I'd like to spend more but my wife won't like it. It all depends if the sound quality is worth the extra cash. Ill be buying a ps4. I have a 2tb hd I plug into the tv bi usually leave my laptop also plugged into the tv and use a wireless keyboard. Someone told my to buy a more powerful receiver than the speakers so the receiver doesn't need to max out on its power output. I've got outlets on either side of my couch and in either side on the tv wall but nothing on the wall behind the couch. Since I Download movies sometimes and the file type/ audio type varies will there be any issue with a receiver not being able to play audio files?

 

[emcolimited]

I checked out that pioneer and it looks awesome. I love the connectivity of it. Is there a difference between that and the version with the K at the end?

 

[Adam]

I checked out that pioneer and it looks awesome. I love the connectivity of it. Is there a difference between that and the version with the K at the end?

I agree - the connections on it are quite nice compared to some others in that price range. The "K" on the end just means its the black version.

 

[emcolimited]

im having a hard time trying to find that receiver in canada for less than $799. i could always have it shipped over the boarder and pick it up. since there were no home theatre in a box posts i would assume it would be better to buy a nice receiver and get some speakers seperately

how would these be rated?

denon avr-1913 $459 Newegg.ca - Denon 7.1 Channel Networking Home Theater Receiver

denon dht-590ba $749 Newegg.ca - DENON DHT-590BA Home Theater System

refurbed sony str dh520 receiver Newegg.ca - Refurbished: SONY STR-DH520 7.1-Channel, 3D pass-through 6 HD inputs 4 HDMI HD Cinema Sound A/V Receiver

Onkyo 1040-Watts 7.1 Channel Home Theatre System (HT-S5500) : Receiver-Based All-In-One Systems - Best Buy Canada

I can find the pioneer 523 for $330, the 823 for $399 and the 1023 not the 1123 for $499.

i can find some sony, harmon. and onkyo around the same price at bestbuy.ca but i feel a little overwhelmed.

cheers

 

[slipperybidness]

I agree - the connections on it are quite nice compared to some others in that price range. The "K" on the end just means its the black version.

Pio makes receivers other than black???

 

[emcolimited]

also would getting a model from last year, a 1022 or something be much of a downgrade? i cant find much of any differences in 2012 models.

 

[emcolimited]

After doing more research I found hardan 1700 on amazon for around $250. How does that compare?