AVR/5.0 Speaker Combo

[GO-NAD!]

Since I completed my subwoofer build a few months ago, I've been left wondering what to do, HT-wise. I still haven't gotten around to final tweaking for best FR yet, but I just don't get a lot of enjoyment out that process. It's generally 1 step forward and 2 steps back, it seems.

Anyway, now I have another project to spend my "spare" time on. A good friend of mine wants to install a HT in his basement rec room and he really likes my setup, so he would like something similar. IIRC, the room is about 27' x 14', with an 8' ceiling - so it's on the large-ish size. He had absolutely no concept of what a good HT would cost, so when I explained what mine cost (which isn't "high-end" by any means), he was a bit taken aback. He really didn't have a budget in mind. He's not poor, but he's...shall we say...price sensitive. I think it might take a few days for him to wrap his head around what he'll need to spend, but I doubt he'll want to go much beyond $5000 for the whole shebang.


He wants surround sound and a large TV or projector setup. I'll spend some time with him looking at the layout of the room to determine how he wants to orientate everything and work out the viewing distance - which should help him decide between a TV and projector. Right now, I'm pondering is AVR/speaker combo. Considering his priority seems to be video over audio, I'm thinking about this:

Fluance-High Performance 5 Speaker Surround Sound Home Theater System

and
RX-V575 - RXV Series - Yamaha - Canada

I've never heard any Fluance speakers before, but Gene gave the towers a great review. For $800, the 5.0 system could be a steal. I figure I'll suggest doing a DIY subwoofer...or two.

Gene mentioned that the impedance of the towers can be a challenge for budget AVRs, so I wonder if the RX-V575 would be sufficient for this setup. Any opinions?

This is all quite preliminary, at the moment. His wife could have a hissy fit over big speakers and make him get a Bose system...or a soundbar.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I dunno what's locally available and how things cost up in the deep and cold north , but I would probably recommend to your friend to go with 5 identical Pioneer BS22 bookshelves over the flatulence system . Marantz/Denon avr with at-least audyssey xt.
For subs - DIY could be great option, but if not possible pair of SVS pb1000's will do nicely

 

[zieglj01]

Crutchfield Canada - I would go with 5 each of the Boston A25 speakers
Boston Acoustics A25 Bookshelf speaker

A fellow Canadian adventure
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1509444/looking-for-main-bookshelf-speakers-under-400-to-complete-2-1-setup-avr-and-sw-already-in-the-mail

Receivers - Marantz, or Denon, or Yamaha

The sub is in your hands

 

[GO-NAD!]

I dunno what's locally available and how things cost up in the deep and cold north , but I would probably recommend to your friend to go with 5 identical Pioneer BS22 bookshelves over the flatulence system . Marantz/Denon avr with at-least audyssey xt.
For subs - DIY could be great option, but if not possible pair of SVS pb1000's will do nicely

With your use of the word "flatulence" for Fluance, I take it that you aren't overly enamoured with their speakers? Any particular reason? I haven't heard the Fluance or the Pioneers, but it's pretty clear that the Andrew Jones designs are getting lots of lovin'. A quick search would indicate that they aren't widely available up here. We could get them through Amazon.ca, but they aren't sold by Amazon, so no free shipping. I'll add them to the list anyway.

I assume you recommend Marantz/Denon entirely because of Audyssey? I'm agnostic when it comes to EQ, but I know Audyssey has a lot of fans.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Crutchfield Canada - I would go with 5 each of the Boston A25 speakers
Boston Acoustics A25 Bookshelf speaker

A fellow Canadian adventure
Looking for Main Bookshelf Speakers (under 400$) to complete 2.1 setup (AVR and SW already in the mail)

Receivers - Marantz, or Denon, or Yamaha

The sub is in your hands

Haven't heard the Boston Acoustics either. I'll have to do some reading up on them.

Thanks!

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

There are some minor issues with sound quality of the towers, which could be forgiven given the cost, but Fluance XLHTB Review | Digital Trends Reviews says the center is the big culprit for "F" branded system

Yes, the auto room setup could make very big difference and since your friend is not very experienced in these things - the better AutoEQ system is - the better the result.
Audyssey XT with 8 calibration points is the least which I would consider, just ask Acdt

 

[GO-NAD!]

There are some minor issues with sound quality of the towers, which could be forgiven given the cost, but Fluance XLHTB Review | Digital Trends Reviews says the center is the big culprit for "F" branded system

Yes, the auto room setup could make very big difference and since your friend is not very experienced in these things - the better AutoEQ system is - the better the result.
Audyssey XT with 8 calibration points is the least which I would consider, just ask Acdt

Thanks for that link. The centre channel is so important, that could be the kiss of death for a surround setup.

 

[3db]

There are some minor issues with sound quality of the towers, which could be forgiven given the cost, but Fluance XLHTB Review | Digital Trends Reviews says the center is the big culprit for "F" branded system

Yes, the auto room setup could make very big difference and since your friend is not very experienced in these things - the better AutoEQ system is - the better the result.
Audyssey XT with 8 calibration points is the least which I would consider, just ask Acdt

I love the sound of the simple YPAO setup of my RX-V1800. It handles my room perfectly. As far as multipointing go, (unless I'm misinterpreting what multipoint is) Audessy does an average of the 8 different positions. To me, its a compromise because no one listening position gets truly optimized for that position where as with single point, at least one spot gets truly optimized. Thats my understanding. Maybe that's why YPAO works so well in my room as my room only has one 4 seat couch for the listening position.

Acdt leaves Audssey turned off but uses Dynamic EQ ..

 

[GO-NAD!]

Yeah, I haven't been able to see/hear what Audyssey could do with my system, hence my lack of conviction when it comes to EQ brands.

 

[fuzz092888]

Yeah, I haven't been able to see/hear what Audyssey could do with my system, hence my lack of conviction when it comes to EQ brands.

IME with Audyssey, good speakers, proper placement, a cooperative room/room treatments will make Audyssey mostly of no use, except below 100hz. SubEQ for multiple subs, also does a better than average job. I will say that XT32/subEQ did more than I thought they did when I took before and after measurements, and it wasn't all bad.

 

[zieglj01]

Yeah, I haven't been able to see/hear what Audyssey could do with my system, hence my lack of conviction when it comes to EQ brands.

I fired all that EQ stuff a while back - if I do EQ, it will be from 200 hz on down.