Denon 3808 receiver with Klipsch speakers

[mhlzeus]

Hi,

First time poster, long time reader...

I am fairly green when it comes to the whole a/v setup and I just wanted to get some opinions with my intended setup before I jump the gun.

I currently have a home theatre area setup in my basement with a Panasonic 3000 projector and a Stewart Firehawk screen. The projector is mounted on a suspended ceiling.

I have plans to purchase a Denon 3808 receiver and was also thinking about Klipsch floor speakers for the front, Monoprice ceiling speakers for the rear and not too sure what kind of subwoofer yet.

I have about a $3000-$3500 budget in mind for the audio equipment and don't have my mind 100% yet set on any of these components. I just wanted some opinions on this setup and other things that I might be missing that are very important to consider when completing the whole setup. I already did purchase a Monoprice 25ft. HDMI cable for the receiver to the projector.

I appreciate your help and opinions.

Mark

 

[mperfct]

Hi,

First time poster, long time reader...

I am fairly green when it comes to the whole a/v setup and I just wanted to get some opinions with my intended setup before I jump the gun.

I currently have a home theatre area setup in my basement with a Panasonic 3000 projector and a Stewart Firehawk screen. The projector is mounted on a suspended ceiling.

I have plans to purchase a Denon 3808 receiver and was also thinking about Klipsch floor speakers for the front, Monoprice ceiling speakers for the rear and not too sure what kind of subwoofer yet.

I have about a $3000-$3500 budget in mind for the audio equipment and don't have my mind 100% yet set on any of these components. I just wanted some opinions on this setup and other things that I might be missing that are very important to consider when completing the whole setup. I already did purchase a Monoprice 25ft. HDMI cable for the receiver to the projector.

I appreciate your help and opinions.

Mark

I'll see you your questions and raise you three:

1) Why do you like the Klipsch? What else have you listened too?
2) Why are you getting ceiling speakers?
3) Why do you like the Denon (nothing wrong with it, it's pretty good really, but curious to know what attracts you to it?)

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Do you like how the Klipsch sound?

You owe it to yourself to go listen to as many speakers as you can find. Some people like Klipsch some don't. I hate the way they sound but that doesn't matter at all as I don't have your ears.

I use inceilings for surrounds. Not the ideal situation but it's what I have to do and it works fine.

Just pick an AVR that has the power to drive whatever speakers you end up with and has the features you need. The 3808 is my favorite.

 

[jostenmeat]

3-3.5k is a good budget. I'd also stay away from in ceilings, unless absolutely necessary, and even if I did, I'd try to keep within the same brand of speakers for matching.

I think the one piece that requires a lot of research, or at least the place where research pays off big dividends, is the center speaker. Its design and placement.

Best is identical speaker to the mains, upright, same plane. Vertically arrayed drivers are best. If the speaker must be horizontal, some designs are still superior, for instance WTMW or coincidental.

Keeping this horiz center far enough away from floor will also pay large dividends.

Good luck.

 

[mperfct]

you probably wouldn't be ill-advised to take 500-1000 of that money and get a room consult and sound calibration. I know that seems like a large chunk, but audio setup is super critical, especially once you graduate out of a HTiB and start spending decent money on your setup.

It's always easy enough to upgrade speakers down the road.

 

[mhlzeus]

just from some of the reviews I seen online it showed the Klipsch rated fairly well but I am open to other brands. I also heard that Polk audio has good quality speakers as well?

With my room setup it would be difficult to have rear speakers at about ear level. I know this is ideal but I have a home theatre couch (U shaped) and I probably will be able to place the ceiling speakers directly above the seating areas of the couch. In terms of sound quality, what are the draw backs to having these ceiling speakers above the couch?

 

[mperfct]

just from some of the reviews I seen online it showed the Klipsch rated fairly well but I am open to other brands. I also heard that Polk audio has good quality speakers as well?

With my room setup it would be difficult to have rear speakers at about ear level. I know this is ideal but I have a home theatre couch (U shaped) and I probably will be able to place the ceiling speakers directly above the seating areas of the couch. In terms of sound quality, what are the draw backs to having these ceiling speakers above the couch?

I think generally speaking, ceiling speakers have a lot going against them in terms of generating decent sound quality. It's difficult to get a good speaker to reproduce excellent sound in that type of build environment. I think there is something about the ceiling being a bad place to put a speaker in regards to your sound field. I know Dolby recommends against it.

Plus, you'll probably spend a lot more to get a decent ceiling speaker than if you get some wall mounted bi-/dipoles. Have you looked at that? You can place dipoles right even with your ears and by having the inverse polarity of the drivers you create a null zone, where you can have some nice, immersive, non-localized surround effects.

 

[strube]

just from some of the reviews I seen online it showed the Klipsch rated fairly well but I am open to other brands. I also heard that Polk audio has good quality speakers as well?

There is nothing necessarily wrong with Polk, or Klipsch (I have had issues with Klipsch quality but many haven't), but I think it sounds like you are limiting yourself to big store brands. Don't forget that some of the best speakers aren't sold at Best Buy or Ultimate Electronics. Try to find some local or nearby specialty audio stores and check out some of the speakers there. Listen to them - these stores have their speakers hooked up just for that purpose - then make a selection based on what you like. Just as an example, I have Paradigm Monitor speakers at the moment, and I really like a lot of things about them, and a few things that I don't. Overall, when I listened to them in the shop, I thought they sounded good to me (better than some I had heard that were twice the price), and fit my budget well. I had some small Klipsch speakers before that and I didn't like them, but I didn't listen to them before I bought them and really wish that I had.

My point is that you shouldn't shop based on "hearing about good quality" alone. That is still important, but it should only be part of your criteria. You may get a Polk or Klipsch system that you love, but you need to actually hear the quality by listening to them. You have a reasonable budget, such that you have some other great options, like Definitive Technology, Paradigm, and many, many others (I have less experience than many here, they can throw some other brand names out that you can look into).

 

[markw]

Here's the thing about buying speakers on what you've read.

Yes, doing your homework is a good thing but be aware that all speakers sound different. If not, then there would not be such a variety out there.

And, every marque has it's adherents. Some are fanatical to the point that enything else doesn't exist (remember Ford vs. Chevy in high school?) or is pure junk.

But, most logical people will tey to take a rational approach and try to judge speakers (that they have heard) on their own merits. Some do certain things better than others and the opposite also applies. So. nothing is totally good or totally bad. The designers simply put more weight on some part of the entire equation above others.

Odds are that if you buy any speaker sight unheard (?!?) you'll be either as happy as a clam at high tide, or as disappointed as a kid on Christmas day opening his present to find a pink bunny suit.

In the first case, great! This might last until you go to a friend's house and find that his system that cost a fraction of what you'ver paid actually sounds better (to your ears) than yours. In which case, you're stuck with that nagging feeling that you could have done better until you do somethng about it.

As for the kid with the bunny suit, you could immediately return them and hope shipping and restocking fees don't make this untenable.

Beware of hype and fanboys. Keep all receipts and packing materials. Always be aware of the ramifications of returning a purchase and, above all, don't let them tell you to "wait until they break in".

If you don't like the sound after playing them for a day or two, pack 'em up and send' em back. It's the speakers that determine the sound, not the receiver.

 

[mhlzeus]

Thanks for the great responses!

I will take the advice and definately check out some of the specialty retailers and see in person the quality of certain brands.

I heard before that it would make more sense to get better quality speakers than it would be to buy a more expensive receiver with cheaper speakers.
So, lets say that I go with the Denon 3808 and it might cost me about $1500, then as a rule of thumb should I at least be spending this amount of money on a quality speaker set up?