Hi everyone. I fit the profile exactly for this forum being a true beginner. I recently bought a new house with an open 13’6” x 28’ finished room in the basement with plans of using it both as a movie room on one side and a game room (pool table) on the other. I have room inside a custom shelving system for a 50” TV (which I plan to likely get to support 3D). My focus is to get the movie side of the room sounding great for movies with music being slightly less important if that matters. Still, I wouldn’t be against including iPod/iPhone access, etc.
I do have wifi in the house, but most of the receivers I read about don’t really work well without a hard wired connection unless the router is sitting on top of the receiver, which will not be the case for me. Also, I do have existing Yamaha ceiling speakers installed and would like to use them as a zone 2 if possible for lighter background music instead of a banging system for movies. I don’t plan on using the existing ceiling speakers in the main system.
That said, I understand by reading this forum and dozens of reviews online that the process of putting this all together can quickly get overwhelming. Just reading reviews, it seems every manufacturer and every system has some really high praise from some reviewers and is absolutely torn to shreds by others. It can make you question every component you look at. So, I’ve decided to ask for some advice on here to ease my feelings of doubt. From what I gather, the key part is making sure whatever you choose works well as a team. Obviously, most of these components are not readily available to listen to individually, much less partnered together, so a bit of a leap of faith seems required. So, I’m here for some advice on where to go.
I don’t really know what receiver wattages versus speaker wattages affect a system. I do know that underpowering or overpowering speakers is very bad. I don’t know if the frequency response of the speakers will work or not with each other. I keep reading about "gaps" that will lessen the experience if they exist. I’m not sure what the difference between 4, 6, or 8 ohms is. Perhaps I’m just not capable of learning this stuff.
Regardless, I’ve started to research what type of system I’d like to put in place. For years I have read tremendous reviews about the Energy Take 5 speaker system (with and without the subwoofer). For the most part, reviews of the speakers are terrific but the recommendations include looking elsewhere for a more powerful subwoofer. Thus, I discovered the BIC PL-200 Acoustech Platinum Series Subwoofer. Again, this thing has unbelievable reviews on Amazon. It sounds like it would deliver exactly the kind of base that would make a home theater special.
I’m willing to budget about $1000-$1200 with some wiggle room for the sound system alone (receiver, speakers, subwoofer). I suspect that a 5.1 system will work just fine. So, after all my rambling above, my basic 3 questions are:
1. Any idea if the Energy speakers and the BIC subwoofer would be a good match based on their technical specs (aka cover those "gaps")?
2. If so, does anyone have a recommendation for a receiver they have used that would provide my needs/wants and provide proper powering to the Engery/BIC.
3. If not and I should really be looking in a different direction, throw me an idea on a completely different setup that you may have that is proven to work well together!
In the end, I just really want something that the family can escape to once or twice a week, throw in a DVD, sit back and have a private movie theater experience. I’m really not overly picky, but I am very afraid of making poor choices and spending lots of money on a system that won’t give us that.
Thanks all! Much appreciated for reading!