Another n00b looking for home theater tips!

[mfive]

Hey gang -

Just bought a new house, and the living room has (5) built-in speakers in the ceiling. (3) in the front of the room above the TV, and (2) more in the back above the couch on either side. All of the cables come out of the wall near where the cable hookup is.

I've never put together a home theater system or know exactly what I should buy. I know I need some sort of A/V receiver, correct? Do I need to/should I purchase a subwoofer as well?

Any tips are greatly appreciated. Can't wait to get a rockin' sound system!

 

[TheWarrior]

If you just bought the house, keep your budget low, you're gonna find all sorts of other things you want / need.

Just search for a good deal on a receiver, I recommend Denon and Yamaha (but thats personal preference) and see what price makes you happy. Get that handled first, hook it up and enjoy it. If you feel the need to sink more money in, then a sub will only be the beginning...

 

[mfive]

If you just bought the house, keep your budget low, you're gonna find all sorts of other things you want / need.

Just search for a good deal on a receiver, I recommend Denon and Yamaha (but thats personal preference) and see what price makes you happy. Get that handled first, hook it up and enjoy it. If you feel the need to sink more money in, then a sub will only be the beginning...

Great info and you're absolutely right. There's always something with the house that could take the attention of my wallet.

You're right though - I think I'd like something entry level to start off. I'm wondering if I'd like a subwoofer though, as one of my guilty pleasures is playing halo/call of duty on the xbox. Something tells me a woofer would make the audio for gaming really stand out. But then again, I know very little about audio.

 

[sholling]

If you're in the US you can find good deals on factory re-certified and warrantied Marantz or Onkyo receivers at Accessories For Less. For example a TX-NR708 would be a great choice and a ton of bang for the buck. For now I'd avoid re-certified Denons however brand new Denons can be a great choice.

For the subwoofer your best bet is to measure the room including ceiling height and any spaces open to the room and the contact Rythmik Subwoofers, Hsu Research, and SVSound and have them size a sub to your room. They'll need length, width, height, and total cubic footage including attached spaces open to the room.

Once you have a bit more money saved I'd look for some bookshelf or floorstanding speaker to for the front three and just use the ceiling speakers for "presence speakers"

 

[timoteo]

Sholling nailed it on the head!

Definately get a sub...get the best one you can afford. AFFORD!!

Since in ceiling speakers never have the best sound, the sub will enhance the overall sound of your system by leaps. Get at least a 10", a 12" or 15" is just icing. but yes calculate your total cubic footage & call those sub companies. Youve never heard of them im sure. But trust us!...they all make GREAT subs at a very affordable price.

Yamaha RX-V671
Denon 1911
Pioneer 921

These are all decent entry level receivers. Check to see if any of these have Pre-Out for each speaker. This is in case you want to ad an amp later. Try & get a cheap one that still has them.

You will connect all your scource components to it (dvd, xbox, sattellite etc) if you can, use HDMI for each.
Connect each speaker to the appropriate speaker terminal on the receiver. Connect a single HDMI from the Output to your TVs Input.
Connect your sub with a single RCA or Sub cable to the Subwoofer Preout & the other end into the LFE in or Left In (either will do). Have the volume on the back of the sub at 40% then run the auto calibration it has. Then go into speakers settings, change all speakers to Small &'set the crossover to 80hz.

This is a very simplified version of directions.