got money to spend (well a little)

[sub30thirty]

Hey enthusiasts,

I'm finally ready to put some bucks into my AV setup and i was hoping you could help me out. Ya i'm a noob, so i was hoping i could get some guidance.

This is what i've got..

bose:
201's IV which i plan to make rears.
VCS 10 center
$1500- 2000 to spend

and a 42 plasma

I plan to watch movies in surround,
not really a video console guy,
like music, but will use the system primarily for mooooovies.

What i'd like,
new receiver with HDMI, and future proof.
two fronts new fronts that would fit in with my centre.
don't want towers.

eventually a sub, but thats on another budget.

I was thinking the 301's for the fronts, only because i know they'll be properly matched, however i'm open to what you guys recommend. i know there are plenty of better speakers out there, but what i have already was a gift and i want to build around it.

my place isn't huge, and i'll be moving in less than a year and i want to be able to use this system for 5+ years.

what receiver should i go with? 7.1 i assume?
and if i walk into a store and buy a receiver/speakers should i bargain for 10% off, or have them toss in the cables for free? not sure how the game is played in this arena.

Thanks, your help is appreciated.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

I have some thoughts on a couple of your questions:

1. Receiver - well, there's no truly future-proof receiver out there. However, you can easily buy one that should keep you happy for five years, no question. A lot of movies are still in 5.1, so you can certainly get away with that (I do, and I'm quite happy). I'd think that receivers in the $500 range would work well for you. The Yamaha 663, Onkyo 606, or Pioneer 1018 come to mind. They are just three options, and there are others. You just want to make sure that they have the features that you want. All of those have the latest surround sound processing modes, HDMI, and good power.

2. Getting a deal - that depends on where you go. I'm not much of a game player, but I will certainly try to get a local place to match an online price (from an authorized dealer) if I want to buy local. More generally, price matching is something that you should be able to get - not always, but a lot of times.

Adam

 

[jcPanny]

HT speakers

You have a healthy budget to upgrade the front 3 channels and the sub.
I would check out the subs in the $500-1k price range and bookshelf speakers in the $500/pair range with a matching center channels. Listen to several options at local dealers and also check out some of the internet direct companies, especially for the sub.

 

[Mw`]

He also mentioned he needed a receiver, so having a separate sub budget is fine but you'll want to add one asap as your primary interest is movies. Seems like you've got the basics down, you definitely want matching fronts to start. Adam was right on with his receiver recommendations, just plan on the number of HDMI devices you'll be hooking up because those receivers vary from 2-4 inputs. That leaves you with over $1k for fronts which would be more than enough to get started.

Honestly you're not really going to get any recommendations to add more Bose speakers to your system on most of the regular AV forums. You can definitely use still them though if you want to build around them. Have you listened to any other brands yet? Go out to some of the specialty av stores and also the major retailers to get a general idea of what you're looking for and the various price points. If it were me, I'd move all three of your Bose speakers to the rear and go 6.0 for now (3 fronts, 3 rears). Once you find something you like you can narrow it down. If you're familiar with the AVS forum, go to the audio area and then the HTIB (home theater ina box) sub-forum and look for the thread titled something like "HTIB alternatives." There are tons of options there to help you start your search.

 

[sub30thirty]

Huge thank you for the help guys. I found that forum, wow - lots of reading and research to do now!

 

[sub30thirty]

Okay...

I went with:

PSB Image B25 speakers.
2 Stands
2 optical cables, 1 hdmi cable
RX V663 Yamaha Receiver
Definitive Technology 10 inch sub
sony playstation / blue ray dvd

i'm running a 5.1 system right now with the bose 201's in the back and the vcs 10 in the front. i plan to someday add a new front center and 2 more rear surround speakers. or should i go with the "presence" speakers for DTS as recommended by my manual?

Also during the automatic setup with the microphone, my system came up with an error, stating that my parity is messed up. i know the writing/red rule and followed it with my monster cables. any ideas what it could be?

After getting it all set up... i was a bit of a dummy. I fired up the speakers without setting the receiver to 6 ohm - listened to some tunes and watched a movie before making the adjustment - how bad was that ?

thanks for the help again guys and girls

 

[Mw`]

Nice choices man! Not being a jerk but it's probably the Bose throwing the calibration off, they've been known to cause issues (also check the 663 thread on AVS). I'd try running it with just your PSBs and see what happens. As far as future upgrades, if it were me I'd get the matching center (or just use another B25 for the center) and rears and stay 5.1 for now versus mixing and matching with Bose in the mix.