Fresh slate, off to a slow start

[Stang2389]

Hello all,

I've been lurking around here for the last week or so trying to soak up all this information.
I recently bought a house and have never had a surround sound system. My new living room is 25x13 with 9 ft ceilings. It's an open concept so those measurements include the kitchen.

Now I'm being overwhelmed with where to start. I believe I want a 5.2.4 system. The house has been pre-wired by the builder to have 6 speakers in the ceiling. I think I may use those for my .4.

My couch will be in the center of the room, about 10ft back from the TV which would be just ahead of the center pair of overhead speakers.
So my questions are:
Should I use the ceiling speakers as my .4 and would they also do well for movies that dont have Dolby atmos?
Is there a certain avr I should be looking for?
And is there a prepackaged set of speakers that are worth getting? I was looking at the svs prime series or maybe the hsu hybrid 15 series.

I'm looking to spend under $3k if this is possible.
Thank you all in advance and sorry if these questions should've been divided up amongst the appropriate forums!

 

[Stang2389]

 

[everettT]

Try to narrow down your front 3 and subs as they will be the dominant sound in the system. Get the best you can afford and dont skimp on the sub.

As for the ceiling speakers, if they are close enough to the atmos spec, use them for the .4. You can up mix the audio codec to the expanded codec ie dts to dts neural x to use the height speakers.

 

[shadyJ]

all the receivers that have 7.1.4 capability will blow away over half your budget. You might just stick with 7.1.2 receivers. Does your budget include the AVR? In my opinion, 7.1.2 would be a lot more useful than 5.1.4. There are way more 7.1 sound mixes than Atmos mixes. Get the base 7 right before worrying about Atmos. The front 3 and subwoofer are by far the most important speakers in your system.

Hsu and SVS are both good brands, both their subs and speakers are good.

 

[snakeeyes]

The shape of the room looks like a good one for doing 7.1

 

[-Jim-]

Don't be deterred. Your existing speakers could be a good start. Can you advise who manufactured them? Model number?

I'm heading to 7.1.4 but keep choking on the 11.1 Receivers that can handle it. But you can get a Factory Refurbished Denon AVR-X4400H for $999.99 which can do a 7.1.2 or 5.1.4 3D experience out of box. The AVR-X4400H even supports 7.1.4 speaker configuration by adding an external stereo amplifier thanks to its 11.2 channel processing capability. So you can move up if the mood strikes you later. (I'm thinking of doing this.)

Next you can get this 5.1 Speaker System HSU Ultra 15 with CCB-8 Speaker Package
for $2489.00 so I'm $489 over budget, but according to all the reviews it sounds great. Of course to stay within budget I'd go with a Ultra15 - 3.1 Package with CCB-8s for the fronts at $1789.00 and add HB1 Book Shelf Speakers for your surrounds $320 for the pair and viola $999.99 + $1789.00 + $320 = $3109 - I'm just over the line. On of the nice parts about going to HSU, is you get 30 days to test them out in your own home.

I'm certain the gang here will come up with all kinds for Speakers and Receivers to fit your budget. Come on Boys, so Stang you care!


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