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Vortex189

Enthusiast
Upgrading from a Phillips system that everything came included. First time "building" my own system.

I am on a budget of $1500 but going to buy items separately.

1. 5.2.2 receiver would just be a 7.2 receiver?
2. Should I found speakers first then a receiver?
3. It's a small living room with 8ft ceilings. I would prefer a freestanding tower with upfiring speakers built it. Any suggestions on those and would it still be a single channel or count as 2 channels?
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
$1500 for 7 speakers 2 subs and avr seems very optimistic. Or is that just avr?

Besides Atmos, what other features would you like to have in the avr? Generally these days a new avr indicating its 7ch usually provides for Atmos, tho (and indicates more than anything it'll have 7ch of internal amplification, some may even have 9ch of processing with use of an external amp). Generally you would get speakers then decide on amplification, to make sure its suitable for the speakers/your use. Personally I'd skip the bouncy house Atmos type speakers. Better to just get better main speakers and skip Atmos until you can do it properly with ceiling speakers....

Is nothing from the Philips system still around? What was it particularly (model number)?
 
}Fear_Inoculum{

}Fear_Inoculum{

Senior Audioholic
Upgrading from a Phillips system that everything came included. First time "building" my own system.

I am on a budget of $1500 but going to buy items separately.

1. 5.2.2 receiver would just be a 7.2 receiver?
2. Should I found speakers first then a receiver?
3. It's a small living room with 8ft ceilings. I would prefer a freestanding tower with upfiring speakers built it. Any suggestions on those and would it still be a single channel or count as 2 channels?
1) Yes. 7.2 is the receiver you want. 5 bed layer (Left ,Center, Right, Back Left, Back Right), 2 overhead/height/Atmos speakers, and 2 subwoofers.

2) Speakers should be your main priority, with the front 3 LCR being the most important ones.

3) I don't have experience with Atmos enabled tower speakers with modules on top. But I'd guess that the modules take up channels of their own IE they are wired separately from the towers.

With the budget you're working with, I'd consider the used market. 1500$ is pretty tight to get everything you're looking for, and have it be good quality. Especially if you're looking for new/unused.
 
V

Vortex189

Enthusiast
This is the system I used to have. When I say $1500 budget it'd be more like 3k.

I did find a used system locally. Older denon with 5 klipsch R-10 series speakers.
 

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V

Vortex189

Enthusiast
The system I found is:

Denon 7.1 AVR-2112CI
Klipsch (2) RF-10, (2)RB-10 and (1)RC-10

One back speaker isn't working after a fall but for $500 do you think this is a good deal?
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
The Denon 2112 is an older avr, and doesn't provide for Atmos (so just a plain old 7.1 avr, cannot do 5.1.2). Are you going to use this with a modern tv, particularly 4k? May not work so well. You can see here what the avr has sold for on its own

The Klipsch speakers wouldn't be something I'd want particularly...have you ever heard these models before? I wouldn't bother at this point with broken speakers either. I'd concentrate on the front three speakers and sub for now; do the speakers from that philips set still work? They could stand in for surrounds. No need for the entire set to be same brand (or the subwoofer). Keep in mind that the speakers are the most important part of the system....so I'd concentrate on those first.
 
M

Mpsafranski

Audioholic
For budget speakers I can’t recommend the Elac Debut 2.0 series enough. They aren’t hot in the looks department but sonically beat hands down any other “budget” speakers I listened to when I was first starting. You can often find them on discount and even better, used.

for your receiver, sites like accessories4less can have decent specials (I got my Marantz SR7011 from them at 50% off at the time).Their site used to have great specials on canton, focal and KEF speakers as well but I think COVID killed a lot of those deep discounts. Perhaps others know of other such sites, otherwise eBay, Craigslist and audiogon can be your friend. Better to buy something 2-3 years old with the features you want than brand new imo.

As others have stated, steer clear of the atmos modules. I tried two different models and it was an exercise in futility. Yeah, if I got down on my knees and moved 5 feet towards the screen, the bees in Bladerunner 2049 were flying above me. It was awesome, until I realized how much more comfortable my couch was.
 
M

Mpsafranski

Audioholic
Also, the first thing I learned on this site was, if you love watching movies, a good subwoofer is life-changing. I scoffed at the idea of $6-800 on one speaker but bit the bullet. Life changing. Adding the second one? Dumbest thing I’d ever heard of, that is until I……well, heard it.
So yeah I was rocking Elac debut (4 bookshelves and a center cost a total of $550 on a Black Friday sale) and two $800 subs. And it was fantastic. It’s a setup that’ll keep you smiling for however long you want it to, or while you’re saving for your big boy front 3.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Might check out these speaker reviews for some good bang for the buck stuff if you really want the Atmos speakers in the tops of the front speakers

Some others without the Atmos speakers

They have some nice subs, too
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
A receiver like this will give you the Atmos enabled features you will be looking for and shouldn't have any issues giving you the full 4K support that you should be considering in any AV receiver as a minimum requirement.


There are others on their website for under $500 which will fit the bill as well, but this one hits a nice price point for features and functionality requested.
 
V

Vortex189

Enthusiast
These are all great ideas. I thought atmos would be great but it isn't absolutely necessary for me. I thought my old system was the best thing in the world but now everything is sound bars so I kind of have to build my own. It was a 5.1 system but the bass was too localized to one area that's why I prefer 2 subs.

I am not super picky about looks. I just want to be able to hear my TV again since the TV speaker are horrible.
 
V

Vortex189

Enthusiast
For budget speakers I can’t recommend the Elac Debut 2.0 series enough. They aren’t hot in the looks department but sonically beat hands down any other “budget” speakers I listened to when I was first starting. You can often find them on discount and even better, used.

for your receiver, sites like accessories4less can have decent specials (I got my Marantz SR7011 from them at 50% off at the time).Their site used to have great specials on canton, focal and KEF speakers as well but I think COVID killed a lot of those deep discounts. Perhaps others know of other such sites, otherwise eBay, Craigslist and audiogon can be your friend. Better to buy something 2-3 years old with the features you want than brand new imo.

As others have stated, steer clear of the atmos modules. I tried two different models and it was an exercise in futility. Yeah, if I got down on my knees and moved 5 feet towards the screen, the bees in Bladerunner 2049 were flying above me. It was awesome, until I realized how much more comfortable my couch was.
For the elac debut 2.0 would I use those for front and rear?
 
M

Mpsafranski

Audioholic
Any thoughts on this, basically has what I need.
Our thoughts would be don’t do it. You can piece together a much much much better set for that kind of money, buying used. You aren’t getting rid of localized bass that way either those days need to be crossed over way too high. I’d stay away.

and yes you could use the Elac bookshelf speakers as fronts and rears. They make a center channel too and there you go. All in the price would be similar and the sound not even close.
 
V

Vortex189

Enthusiast
I'm thinking of these, should I use these for front and rear or find a better front speaker? Is 4 smaller center better then 2 large center speaker?
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
This would be a good starter set in the used market.
 
V

Vortex189

Enthusiast
I'm sure I'm being annoying now since I'm annoying myself but I really like the elac. I found a few differet set up options. If I can afford the slightly more expensive elac is it worth is?

Also, is there a big difference between the front speakers being towers or bookshelf speakers?
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
I'm sure I'm being annoying now since I'm annoying myself but I really like the elac. I found a few differet set up options. If I can afford the slightly more expensive elac is it worth is?

Also, is there a big difference between the front speakers being towers or bookshelf speakers?
Measurements will show you a lot about a speaker and each will be different. What I would look for is speakers that are room friendly if you can't try them in your home first.

The Elacs measure decent but there a a couple of areas to watch for when placement is considered, stands are a must (not a shelf or other long flat surface) and a room with low ceiling can cause issues as well. Also note not to expect spl above 95dbs to sound very good as the woofer gets squirily at 400hz and below. Below are two graphs, one predicts what the early reflections will be and the second the predictied in room response.

ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 CEA2034 spinorama early reflections frequency response measurements.png

ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 CEA2034 spinorama Predicted In-room frequency response measurements.png


Choosing another speaker from them won't guarantee that you will like them. I'm with the others that if you are buying new, get the best front 3 and sub(s) you can to start.
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
Forgot to mention if you do look at other brands, Revel is running good deals on a few of their speakers, all of which measure very good and have very respectable distortion numbers. Example

 
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