First real system

[termite]

I'm thinking about buying a new sound system. I currently mostly listen to internet radio and music via a Roku Soundbridge M1000, through an old crappy stereo, playing to pretty crappy Aiwa bookshelf speakers. I do not watch TV, and the computer-based movies I watch will wait until a later date. The room I will be listening in is pretty small with a decent amount of furniture in it.

I don't want to spend huge amounts of money, as this will be my first system and I'm a grad student. I was thinking about picking up a pair of Infinity Primus P362's on Ebay ($300-$400 a pair). It seems people around here like them. I know they'd sound even better modified, but that's not in my skill range just yet.

What amp/receiver do you recommend? I'd like to keep costs down, but am willing to buy second-hand to do so. Please let me know what you recommend.

thanks!

 

[Chopin_Guy]

What is your budget and what kind of features are you looking for?? Things along the lines of how loud do you like to listen, you already mentioned your room is fairly small...how many inputs do you need and such details would be a great help in making some suggestions to you...

 

[termite]

I'd ideally like to spend (much?) less than $1000.

I listen fairly loudly, but it's important that the system plays well on lower volumes as well, as my partner sleeps later than I do.

I'd like inputs for the Soundbridge, plus a record (vinyl) player, cassette player and cd player. That's 4 inputs in all.

I'm not really interested in surround sound atm. 2.0 or 2.1 would be ideal, though if there are reasonably priced amps/receivers that can do good 2.0/2.1 and later let me go to surround, that would be good.

Any more info you need?

 

[Midcow2]

One more question ; Room size ?

I'd ideally like to spend (much?) less than $1000.

I listen fairly loudly, but it's important that the system plays well on lower volumes as well, as my partner sleeps later than I do.

I'd like inputs for the Soundbridge, plus a record (vinyl) player, cassette player and cd player. That's 4 inputs in all.

I'm not really interested in surround sound atm. 2.0 or 2.1 would be ideal, though if there are reasonably priced amps/receivers that can do good 2.0/2.1 and later let me go to surround, that would be good.

Any more info you need?

One more question ; Room size ?

Also do you want front towers or would bookshelves and sub work ?

Of the $1,000 i would spend 2/3 on speakers. $600-$700 that is what makes the most difference in sound. Also look at speaker efficiency /sensitivity the higher the less power that will be needed. Low efficiency (80dB) average (90dB), High (100dB). Look for 8 ohm speakers; 4 ohm require twice as much power.

A good receiver to consider is the Yamaha RX-V363 at $199.95
http://www.4electronicwarehouse.com/products/yamaha/rx-v363.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=yamaha 363&utm_campaign=YAMAHA&engine=adwords!8299&keyword=RX-363&match_type=&gclid=CMiBxZDZ_JYCFQ83bAodKiBCZQ

Audioholics sells a pretty good system for $729.99 EMP ECA 5.1 Speaker System http://store.audioholics.com/product/1837/17/emp-eca-5-1-speaker-system---black

Thanks,

MidCow2

 

[termite]

I think it's about 20'x12'. I'll measure when I get home.

The Infinity Primus 362's are about $300-$400 each. Could I do better for $600?

I want to go for floor-standing speakers, preferably.

Would you go for 2.0 or 2.1? I need to make sure any receiver I get works well with 2.0/2.1, but can do more...

I'm not really interested in surround atm, but may be so later.

 

[Adam]

Just to clarify - you mentioned in your first post that the Primus 362s were about $300-$400 a pair, and in your last post you said $300-$400 each. They are indeed about $400 a pair (you can even get that price from Crutchfield, with free shipping both ways to let you check them out at no risk).

 

[termite]

whoops. My mistake, thanks

 

[Midcow2]

I think it's about 20'x12'. I'll measure when I get home.

The Infinity Primus 362's are about $300-$400 each. Could I do better for $600?

I want to go for floor-standing speakers, preferably.

Would you go for 2.0 or 2.1? I need to make sure any receiver I get works well with 2.0/2.1, but can do more...

I'm not really interested in surround atm, but may be so later.

Infinity Primus P362 are $249 each at onecall.
http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=34004

They are 93dB 8ohm which is high efficiency. The Yamaha 363 should drive them fine. They handle 10-200 watts.

You room would be considered medium and you should be okay.

A good inexpensive subwoofer is the

Dayton SUB-120 HT fro $139.90 at Parts Express
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-635

So total cost :

Yamaha 363 receiver = $200
Two Infintity P362 = $500
One Dayton sub = $140
=====
$840

Get cables at Monoprice or Bleujeanscable
http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/

 

[Adam]

Another inexpensive receiver that I recommend is the Onkyo TX-SR506, which normally goes for right around $200 at Amazon.

One thing about either the Onkyo 506 or the Yamaha 363 is that they do not have dedicated phono inputs for a turntable. More specifically, they don't include a phono pre-amp. So, if your turntable doesn't have one built-in, you would need to purchase one separately. There certainly are receivers that have phono inputs, though.

 

[Gimpy Ric]

Hey termite, welcome to Audioholics! I've got a suggestion. It's for a 2.2 stereo receiver that accepts phono, has a powerful amp section, and the price is right:

Harman Kardon 3485 Stereo Receiver w/ 120W per channel $229.00

2.2 just means it is 2 channal, not Home Theater, and .2 means it has two subwoofer outs. It comes with everything a new receiver comes with, plus full factory warranty. And don't be fooled, the 120 wpc is really more like 150-160 watts per channal, as Harmon Kardon under rates their output power.

 

[Alex2507]

You can get the Infinitys here:

http://stores.ebay.com/Harman-Audio_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm

for under $150 each at auction. They are factory refurb's and have a full warranty. The way I see it is that they got a chance to get it right twice. The site has H/K receivers as well. You can use the advanced search feature to see what the completed listing have sold for to give you an idea of what you should be paying. This eBay site comes highly recommended from at least a few of us here at AH.

 

[Gimpy Ric]

Hey termite, welcome to Audioholics! I've got a suggestion. It's for a 2.2 stereo receiver that accepts phono, has a powerful amp section, and the price is right:

Harman Kardon 3485 Stereo Receiver w/ 120W per channel $229.00

2.2 just means it is 2 channal, not Home Theater, and .2 means it has two subwoofer outs. It comes with everything a new receiver comes with, plus full factory warranty. And don't be fooled, the 120 wpc is really more like 150-160 watts per channal, as Harmon Kardon under rates their output power.

You can get the Infinitys here:

http://stores.ebay.com/Harman-Audio_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm

for under $150 each at auction. They are factory refurb's and have a full warranty. The way I see it is that they got a chance to get it right twice. The site has H/K receivers as well. You can use the advanced search feature to see what the completed listing have sold for to give you an idea of what you should be paying. This eBay site comes highly recommended from at least a few of us here at AH.

The whole package deal, Full Factory Warranties and plenty of power. Enjoy

Ric

 

[termite]

Noob question: which input would I use for connecting the Roku Soundbridge? Main In?

Also, looking at at a picture of the back of the Harman (see next post) I see it has two sub outputs (as someone mentioned). Any more sub recommendations? Do I need two? If not, and I get one, which do I connect it to and is it aware that only one is connected?

What do the Remote input and output do? They look optical...

 

[termite]

http://www.myharman.net/images/products/rear_large/HK3485.jpg

 

[Alex2507]

Hey termite, welcome to Audioholics! I've got a suggestion. It's for a 2.2 stereo receiver that accepts phono, has a powerful amp section, and the price is right:

Harman Kardon 3485 Stereo Receiver w/ 120W per channel $229.00

2.2 just means it is 2 channal, not Home Theater, and .2 means it has two subwoofer outs. It comes with everything a new receiver comes with, plus full factory warranty. And don't be fooled, the 120 wpc is really more like 150-160 watts per channal, as Harmon Kardon under rates their output power.

Hey Ric,

Not to step on your toes but that listing is for 'Buy It Now'. They do accept offers and they also have them up for auction. Paying the 'Buy It Now' price is unnecessary. A while ago I was glued to that site so I'm pretty familiar with it, too familiar.

Doing an advanced search for completed listings is very revealing. You can arrange the results to show from highest to lowest and figure out what you are willing to pay. Personally I would be looking at AVR's that handle DD. There have been great suggestions in this thread but if it was me in the market for something like this I would get a hold of Seth=L and PENG. Those two seem to the big brains for amps/receivers.

Here's the list of current options for 2 channel receivers at Harman Audio:

http://stores.ebay.com/Harman-Audio_Stereo-Receivers_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ10225970QQftidZ2QQtZkm

 

[termite]

Personally I would be looking at AVR's that handle DD.

Sorry to be a noob: what is an AVR (audio video receiver?) and what is DD?

 

[Gimpy Ric]

Wow, thats pretty cool Alex! And yes I agree that Seth=L and PENG (and many many more) know lots about receivers I'll never know.

I think the right sub out is for one sub, or they both might be mono, not sure. Damn there I go again! Somebody find me a replacement before I really stick my foot in my mouth .

Not sure about MAIN IN either I'm losing it guys! Back to the "Really Boring Stuff Only" thread for me .

Ric.

 

[Alex2507]

Noob question: which input would I use for connecting the Roku Soundbridge? Main In?

Not sure about this but I would guess anything other than phono. It's just the left and right (white and red) RCA connectors, right? Or is it optical or coaxial digital?

Also, looking at at a picture of the back of the Harman (see next post) I see it has two sub outputs (as someone mentioned). Any more sub recommendations? Do I need two? If not, and I get one, which do I connect it to and is it aware that only one is connected?

I just had my sister get 2 of those Dayton 12" subs. One is good. Two is better. I'm pretty sure that those are mono sub outs and it doesn't matter which you connect to. It's been discussed here before but the real scoop is in the owners manual which you can dig up at the Harman Kardon site. It shouldn't matter whether you have one or two subs hooked up. I am not familiar with their 2 channel jobs but with their AVR's you hook up what ever speakers you have and then level match them. All that stuff is in the manual.

What do the Remote input and output do? They look optical...

That's an optional radio frequency remote control hook up in case you want to control the receiver from the next room. Once again the real scoop would be in the manual.

Sorry to be a noob: what is an AVR (audio video receiver?) and what is DD?

AVR is Audio Visual Receiver. DD is Dolby Digital. I'm sorry to keep mentioning the manual. I am trying to help and am telling you what I know. The stuff I am unsure of I would personally look up in the manual. Once you actually buy a receiver there are members here (Adam & Zumbo) who will look up your manual and walk you through things. At least I have seen them do so for others. Here, I went and fetched the manual for you.

http://manuals.harman.com/HK/Owner's Manual/HK 3485 OM.pdf

 

[termite]

Thank you

The Soundbridge has RCA and optical digital outs.

I'll look through the manual!

 

[Alex2507]

The Soundbridge has RCA and optical digital outs.

In that case I would definitely be looking for something with an optical in. But then again I think you're gonna be hard pressed to get that many watts out of anything else at this price point (I think). It's suppose to be agonizing.