Calling audiophiles for home theater help!

B

bennyhaha812

Audiophyte
Hi. New to the forums. I am building a home theater system including an htpc, and would like suggestions on the items I still need to purchase. My budget is ~ $4000.

Currently have:
-HTPC. GIGABYTE MA78GM-S2HP MOBO, AMD PHENOM X4, 4GB G.SKILL, LG BLU RAY, ULTRA X 400 WATT MODULAR PSU, 1TB ECOGREEN HARD DRIVE, WIRELESS KEYBOARD AND MOUSE, WIFI, VISTA 64 BIT IN A LIAN LI PC-C37B Micro ATX CASE.
-YAMAHA RX-E100 RECEIVER W/ STOCK SPEAKERS
-PARADIGM PDR SERIES SB-8 AMPLIFIED SUB
-TOSHIBA REAR PROJECTION 51" TV

My room for the equipment is 21' x 11'. I am planning on getting a flat panel tv to replace the old rear projection and increase connectivity. I will most likely purchase a 42" although 46" is not out of the question if there is a good deal to be had. I realize the receiver is not up to the task for home theater so that will be replaced as well. So items I will need are such:

-AV RECEIVER
-FLAT PANEL TV
-SPEAKERS
-CABLES
I am interested in a two speaker set-up since I would rather minimize cable clutter. One pair I have seen are the MartinLogan Purity, as well as the KEF model 11. I also have a local hifi store, spearitsound which sells floor models and used as well as new. Check it out to see if there are any items there that might fit my needs. I can't leave the link do to this being my first post, but a www in front and a .com after the store will get you there. I will be using this system for movies, music, photos, games, and internet. Thanks for your help!
 
J

jostenmeat

Audioholic Spartan
Go bigger than 46", let alone 42", is my opinion. 21 ft is nice length of room, and you would want lengthwise setup for best acoustics. How many feet will you sit from the display? Generally speaking, 38% of room length is the starting point for seating positioning as it will be where you have the best balance of avoiding strong peaks and nulls. As I've learned from bpape, there is a little tweaking to avoid non-axial modes, and so that number may drop to as low as 33%. This number can be from either the front or rear wall.

Let's say that you are on the closer 38%. That is 8 ft away. Now, assuming perfect 20/20 vision, the farthest away you can be in order to enjoy the full benefit of 1080p on a 42" is about 5'. With a 58" display, that # becomes a hair more than 7'.

This Panasonic is the best deal going on in my personal opinion. Note the price includes shipping, as well as free two year warranty.

For cabling, get what you need at monoprice. I would be very surprised if everything you needed totaled more than $50.

So, you still have $1950 left for a receiver and speakers. Make sure to pick the speakers before the receiver. Go listen to a bunch, research, decide. Do the receiver last.

EDIT: helping in another thread here just now, I might consider researching Salk Song towers. One day later on, I'd add a sub eventually for HT.
 
Last edited:
adwilk

adwilk

Audioholic Ninja
I guess I need to track down a pair of Salks. They are getting crazy good reviews.

He's got a sub that would be functional for now so they certainly fit in the budget.
 
J

jamie2112

Banned
I guess I need to track down a pair of Salks. They are getting crazy good reviews.

He's got a sub that would be functional for now so they certainly fit in the budget.
I am going to buy the HT-3 from Salk. They are amazing at the very least......
 
Phil Taylor

Phil Taylor

Senior Audioholic
Some very good insight given above by jostenmeat - especially the deal on the Panasonic - that's indeed a good price. I love my Panny plasma. :)
 
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