A New Guy asking New Guy Questions

[TheUntrainedEar]

I’ve been wanting to get a real speaker system for a few years now, and am finally ready to pull the trigger. I want to do it right, so I thought it best to ask rather than trying my own ideas first and then eventually coming for help. I've been reading through the forums for a while, and have some ideas, but I figured I’d try to get more specific questions answered.

Here’s what I’ve done so far:
I’ve ordered Ascend 170se mains and a 340se center
I’ve ordered Atlantic 2200SR surrounds

So, I need the subwoofer and receiver. My total budget for both is $900-1,000.

My thought on the sub is the Hsu VTF-1. My concern is that I never see that one mentioned around here. It’s always the STF-2 or up to the VTF-2. Is there a reason the VTF-1 gets passed over?

I was thinking the Denon 2312 would be a good receiver as accessories4less has it for $463 after shipping. Is there a better receiver for my system under $500?

For the mains/center, I was planning on building a basic entertainment system, basically just a shelf for those speakers to sit on. I read in one of the forums that for speakers like the 170s and 340 that they’re better off on a stand with air around them. Does that make a huge difference? Would a shelf system be workable? The last thing I want to do is get this great system and then undermine it by not using the right kind of stand…

Other info: I’ll use it for an even mix of TV, movies, & music. The room now is tiny, only about 1400sq ft that is open to a small entry-way. However, I don’t plan on staying in this house for more than another year or two, and would like the system to work in a larger room eventually (not a huge room, but larger).

Thanks a ton for any advice. I’m new to this whole world and would really appreciate help in learning how to get the most out of my system.

 

[sholling]

I’ve been wanting to get a real speaker system for a few years now, and am finally ready to pull the trigger. I want to do it right, so I thought it best to ask rather than trying my own ideas first and then eventually coming for help. I've been reading through the forums for a while, and have some ideas, but I figured I’d try to get more specific questions answered.

Here’s what I’ve done so far:
I’ve ordered Ascend 170se mains and a 340se center
I’ve ordered Atlantic 2200SR surrounds

So, I need the subwoofer and receiver. My total budget for both is $900-1,000.

My thought on the sub is the Hsu VTF-1. My concern is that I never see that one mentioned around here. It’s always the STF-2 or up to the VTF-2. Is there a reason the VTF-1 gets passed over?

I was thinking the Denon 2312 would be a good receiver as accessories4less has it for $463 after shipping. Is there a better receiver for my system under $500?

For the mains/center, I was planning on building a basic entertainment system, basically just a shelf for those speakers to sit on. I read in one of the forums that for speakers like the 170s and 340 that they’re better off on a stand with air around them. Does that make a huge difference? Would a shelf system be workable? The last thing I want to do is get this great system and then undermine it by not using the right kind of stand…

Other info: I’ll use it for an even mix of TV, movies, & music. The room now is tiny, only about 1400sq ft that is open to a small entry-way. However, I don’t plan on staying in this house for more than another year or two, and would like the system to work in a larger room eventually (not a huge room, but larger).

Thanks a ton for any advice. I’m new to this whole world and would really appreciate help in learning how to get the most out of my system.

I hope you mean 1400 cubic feet and not square feet because that's a huge room. The differences between between the STF-2 and VTF-2 are pretty small. The VTF can be tuned to play louder than the STF-2 at the cost of bass extension but I wouldn't and tuned low it's essentially an STF-2. If I were you I'd have Hsu and Rythmik both size a sub to your room including those other connected spaces.

 

[TheUntrainedEar]

Thanks for the response.

Yes, you're right. I did mean 1400 cubic feet. I knew that looked wrong when I typed it...

Ok, so basically it sounds like you're saying that the VTF-1 probably isn't worth the upgrade from the STF-2 because it only adds flexibililty (that I likelly won't use anyway) and doesn't add any extra power?

Given the size of the room (1400 cubic ft) the STF-2 should be plenty powerful, but since I'm hoping this system can eventually be moved to another space, I didn't want to settle for that. But maybe that's the way to go. Maybe I get the STF-2 for now, and then when I upgrade my room in a few years, I only have to upgrade my sub. That sounds reasonable.

Any thoughts on the receiver and/or speaker stand issue?

Thanks again!

 

[ImcLoud]

I would get less avr and more sub, get the vtf2 with a $400 AVR, the onlyo 709 is on sale for $400 still I believe...

 

[sholling]

Any thoughts on the receiver and/or speaker stand issue?

I would use inexpensive stands and allow 18-24" behind the speakers and at least 2 feet from side walls for the bass port to work without muddying the bass. If money is tight you can use cheap (~$15-25ea) bar stools from your local Walmart.

I would get less avr and more sub, get the vtf2 with a $400 AVR, the onlyo 709 is on sale for $400 still I believe...

+1 I like the 709 a bit better as long as you can give it room for air to circulate around it and that money could go toward a better sub.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

+1 on 709 as well - great, no amazing feature set for the price, including 7.1 pre-outs (aka to be able to add external amp later if needed)

Nothing wrong with HSU, but you should budget for SVS PB-1000... just saying

 

[TheUntrainedEar]

Thanks for all the input!

I decided to go with the VTF-2, and was going to get a less expensive avr, but then realized it'd only put me like $20-30 over budget to get that Onkyo 709, so I decided to go ahead and get it anyway. I only went $30 over budget on a $1800 system. That's close enough for me. Just don't tell my wife...

I can't wait for everything to arrive and get this set up!

Thanks again guys, I couldn't have done it without everything I gathered from this forum.