2 Home theaters and no clue what to do....

[Hanse18]

I am currently in quite the dilemma. I have two rooms (basement and main floor family room) that are being video and audio updated. Each room serves different purposes though, so I am unsure about what to put in each room.

To begin, the main floor: This is where the majority of the tv watching takes place. Last week I bought the 45" sharp aquos lcd, so obviously I need speakers to go with it. The only other component that will be staying with the TV is a relatively new dvd/vcr player that has progressive scan. The room is completely above ground, and is only enclosed on two sides. Connected to the room is the kitchen and the main foyer. The tv is currently placed in the corner of the two walls in the room, and I would like to make a home theater around it that will work for watching cable tv, occasional movies, and listening to classical music (which my mom does alot while working in the kitchen).

Basement: The tv that centers this home theater is a 62" rear projection from sony. Not the greatest, but I have found it acceptable. The basement is also rather wide open. The tv sits along the south wall, with a wall with windows on one side, and entrances to other rooms on the other side, and straight across from it. This is the room where big-time movies are watched, and is also used alot of party music (we currently have outdoor speakers around our pool that are wired into the receiver here). An XBOX and Playstation 2 are also hooked up here and used with some regularity.

So upstairs I have a 45" lcd with a progressive scan tv player

Downstairs a 62" Rear projection with video game systems

Available for use: A bose lifestyle 25 system (currently being used downstairs but willing to move it)

Anyhow, my current plan looks like this: Upstairs, I want the Bose system we already own. It's midrange is ok, but when you're watching some movie with explosions or alot of action, the bass and overall action is uninspiring. By moving it upstairs, it will be put on more of music duty (playing classical music). I know it's high end isn't the greatest either, but my mom doesn't have the greatest ears, and it will certainly blow away our current system (an antiquated 4 speaker stereo system that has only a few remaining drivers that haven't been blown). Also, the speakers are small, which definitely appeals to the majority of the family. My problem with this is that fact that the lifestyle receiver is absolutely terrible. A major lack of inputs and outputs and the hd video and digital music is minimal, and doesn't do justice to the new tv we have. I almost feel that if I use the lifestyle upstairs, I will be doing overkill with 2 dvd players and possibly 2 receivers. What do you think?

As for downstairs, I have fallen in love with the klipsch R7 series. Money is a bit of an issue, but I think I can manage to squeeze out about 5-6 grand for the system. I definitely want this downstairs, but I'm worried that it just might be more "convenient" to have these upstairs and keep the bose downstairs where there is no hd or digital music to worry about. Also, until this morning, I had always heard that a denon receiver runs great with klipsch speakers since klipsch owns denon (right?). Then looking over these forums i found a well-educated person who says denon doesn't push the klipsch speakers to their full capability. So would a preamp/amp combo work better? I'm really into the big bass, and from what I have heard, an amp is the way to go if you want to keep the clarity. Also, high end speakers demand high end electronics to run them....... but what determines high end receivers? $1,000?

Basically, and hopefully you just read this instead of all that rambling above, I have 2 large and very open rooms that I need to fill, and one must be filled with a bose lifestyle 25 system. The other is still open to all sorts of speaker possibilities, but my heart is with the klipsch speakers. Any idea's on what should be done to get the best possible sound out of both areas?

P.S. I am 17, so obviously I live with my parents. I saved this until the end because I don't want you to pass me off as some stupid kid. My dad has put me in complete control of our home electronics (I was the one that "bought" the aquos, he just paid for it) and I have been researching over the internet like crazy. I have also gone to stores to test different speakers, but you can imagine how hard it is to get help when it's obvious you aren't going to buy anything. Any help would be appreciated, and sorrry for the long post.

-Hanse18

 

[jaxvon]

Welcome! You're not the only young'in here (hell I'm only 18), so you should be right at home. This may be out of place, but I have to compliment you on your English skills. So many people have such poor spelling and grammar these days (I think in large part due to the lax standards of internet chat). So thank you for not making me cringe.

Anyway, onto the recommendations. If you like the Klipsch Reference series sound, then that's great. I honestly prefer a "softer" sound in the treble, but that's all personal preference. So, to continue on my usual path, I'll plug BIC. Their Acoustech system is similar to the Klipsch reference series in design and is actually supposed to sound better. The kicker: it's cheap. You can get the entire 5.1 system for about $930 shipped from an authorized dealer. However, since you have a large area to fill (and I assume you want some chest-pounding theatrical bass), you might want to skip the subwoofer that comes with the system and just order the rest of the speakers. This should be about $720 or so shipped. Since you're budgeting some major cash for this sytem, you could get a monsterous SVS sub. They excel at HT.

I'll post more later.

 

[Hanse18]

Exact room Dimensions:
Upstairs 25' X 12' and 9' ceilings -- adjoined to our kitchen and a staircase.

Downstairs: A bit harder to explain, but the entire room is 14.5' X 33' with 9' ceilings BUT we only use a space of about 15' X 14.5". I might just move the entire thing to a better spot (other side of the room where it is surround by 3 walls instead of 2) but how small is too small for a theatre?

Yeah I love my bass, if for nothing else than to tick off my parents.... but I'm not one of those kids that has subs in their car and has them so loud you can't even hear the actual music. So it has to be clean. That's why the rsw-15 that is usually demonstrated with the klipsch r7's was so appealing. It has the direct firing driver that gives you the crispness that is missing from many subs, and the rear firing driver to rattle the walls. I could be misunderstanding that completely, but I just tried to interpret things into laymans terms. I know svs makes awesome subs, but I wasn't sure how svs sounds with klipsch (since the klipsch floor speakers already put out some amazing bass, I don't want the svs sub to be conflicting with them) so I was going to try to stick with as much Klipsch stuff as possible. Is that a bad assumption that klipsch items are more compatible with other klipsch stuff?

As for the speakers themselves, I would love to be able to look into the acoustech systems, as this is not the first time I have heard people say they are great speakers. The stores in my area, however, don't seem to carry them as they are too cheap for the high end stores, and the cheaper stores (best buy, circuit city) all carry brands from manufactures they have made special deals with. And how can you not like the looks of those RF-7's? They are just mean looking, and if you are just showing them off to some friends (especially 17 year old guys), the size is almost as important as the sound.
Then again, anything is better than those bose speakers down there right now.

Anyone have any ideas on good recievers or pre/amps for some decent speakers? I heard the klipsches are especially touchy.

-Hanse18

 

[Spiffyfast]

With Klipsch speakers they are so sensative (102 db for the RF-7's) that anything can power them to very loud levels. Now I like the Acoustech line b/c I like the sound of the horn tweeter and I heard the Klipsch RF-25 and loved the sound of it, Acoustech is supposed to be better so thats what I'm going with. Those RF-7's are a whole nother monster compared to the RF-25's. I think if your are talking about a 6 or 7k dollar budget I'd look past the Acoustechs myself. The yamaha 4600 might be something to look into for powering this system, its going for around $1500 dollars and has HDMI switching, if your TV has an HDMI input its something I'd look into. If not a Marantz 8500 might be something to consider.

 

[jaxvon]

Very true Spiffy. In this price catagory, Axiom would be another good consideration, though they don't have the horn tweeter thing going on. Axioms are still highly rated and you could definitely fit them into your budget.

Other brands:
Paradigm
B&W
Rocket (from AV123.com)

However, if you can come in under budget downstairs, you might want to think about getting something nicer for upstairs so you can scrap the Bose system. If you must keep the Bose system, then so be it.

I still think an SVS sub (or two) would rock hard for downstairs.

 

[Rich0372]

Hanse18 if you get Klipsch rf7s you will want to get an amp to drive them they are very efficient 102db BUT they have nasty ohm drops down to 2.5 ohms I have a Pioneer Elite reciever and it was tripping the protective circut at higher volumes I got a Rotel 1080 200x2 for the mains and WOW bass was awesome and no more problems for more info go to the klipsch forum they'll tell you anything you want to no about Klipsch Rich

 

[Hanse18]

Those Acoustech speakers sound very appealing if they are all people say they are. I'm sorry for not researching this myself, but acoustech uses a horn as well? I think I will keep the bose and try to put as much money downstairs as possible. My parents were convinced at some point that bose was the way to go (even though we actually got the system for free) so I'm sure they would be thrilled with having it upstairs, especially with those cute lil' speakers.

I'll look into the different options people have suggested, but if you have any more ideas, I'm interested to hear them. It's always more fun when you can spend someone elses money, right?

 

[jaxvon]

Check out the Acoustech website. It's kinda trashy, but the speakers are anything but.

Is the budget for everything downstairs besides the TV?

 

[Hanse18]

Yes, i think I could milk about $5,000 for dvd, receiver, and speakers, plus any cables that are involved (man those things are expensive now, especially if you go to best buy stupid hdmi).

What's the deal with 2 subs? all receivers that i have seen (even though i haven't seen many) have only have 1 subwoofer output. obviously you don't wire both subs out of the same output, so what is going on?

Furthermore, when you compare the acoustech speakers to the klipsch speakers, are we talking acoustech vs R7, or like acoustech vs R-25. I know Klipsch is Klipsch, and so maybe they can get by with their name a little bit, but I don't believe that speakers that cost half as much (acoustechs) can sound even close to the quality of the reference 7's. I know that assuming something is better just because it costs more is wrong, but I have seen review after review saying how much these rock. I'm going to post this and then head straight over to the acoustech site, so maybe I will be seeing things differently when I get back.

 

[Cygnus]

You dont need to spend that much money on cables ($300), thats ridiculous. Max you should spend is about $100 i'd say. If you can, try and find a store that just specializes in audio, and not a chain store such as best buy.

For two subs, yes you can hook two into the one input using a Y-cable. (one male RCA to two female RCA, if i'm not mistaken)

 

[Hanse18]

Ok just for kicks, this is our current system setup to support our brand new, very expensive lcd tv. 2 Cambridge SoundWorks Ensemble III bookshelf speakers, and 2 Advent A1104 floorstanding speakers. No center, and I blew our 8 inch sub one day when no one was home. The receiver is a pioneer vsx-453. Doesn't even come with a remote, or else we somehow lost it before I ever used the system. A 5-disc JVC XL-F115 cd player. And a JVC DR-MV1 dvd/vcr. I will be very impressed if anyone can claim to have heard of these machines. I believe they are all, except the dvd/vcr, from 1995.

Now does that evoke sympathy for me or what?

Also, if the subs are being run out of one output, won't only half of the wattage go to each sub? So what's the benefit, and how do you justify spending an extra $500 for it?