Help building 1st Home Theatre system :)

[Aneesh Aggarwal]

Hi

Please bear with me in my post below
I am planning to setup a Budget HT system for my music and movies needs, with primary requirements to have a future proof receiver and setup a good system in place now with some expansion done later.
So, as of now decided to buy a Atmos capable 7.2 reciever(budget one's only have 5.1.2 Atmos) with Video upscale capability. With 2 pair of Bookshelfs (Front and Surround/Rear) and a Centre. This is the max I can buy now I think, as I have to take them outside US in a flight. So, baggage limitations.
Will add Ceiling speakers/Atmos speakers & Subwoofer later and probably move back the current Fronts and add Fronts with bigger cone maybe 6" or Floor standing speakers.
After some basics study and reviews, I shortlisted Following Components (primary reason were good reviews and good discounts that I got) :
(Room Sie 16ft X 14ft) :
A) For Front and Surround (Bought all, have to keep 2 of them.. 1 for Front and 1 for Surround):

1) Polk Audio Rti A1 - $196
2) Klipsch R-15M - $125
3) Pioneer BS-22-LR - $65

B) For Centre (Bought all, Have to keep 1):
1) Pioneer C22 - $51
2) Polk Audio CS10 - $99

C) Receiver (will buy refurbished from accessories4less) :
1) Onkyo NR646 - $289
2) Pioneer S910W - $319
3) Onkyo NR747 - $399

Now here I am pretty much confused on which combination to finalise :
Receiver Queries :
1) Was freezed on Pioneer S910w but variuos reviews mention that these do no go well with Warm speaker sets. It's very good for Movies and not very good for music.
So, the competition Onkyo NR646 came in that actually has very slightly more feature than Denon.
2) Now Onkyo has impedance 6-16ohms whereas Denon has 4-16Ohm, and the bought pioneers happen to have 6ohm impedance with minimum inching towards 4ohms. So, going safe I again have to consider option with lower impedance range also covered (do not want any of these components to get damaged). So, now considering a bit on upper side, shortlisted Onkyo NR747 which is 4ohm certified, and a bit of more features(only 4ohm impedance being of my primary use, with probably some more quality additions), with about $100 costlier than other 2.
3) Am I over confusing it and Just buy anyone of denon or onkyo.. no review says bad about anyone of them, but some different opinions on Auto setup Audyssay silver & AutoEq.

Speakers Query (This would also depend on the finalised receiver ):
1) For a cheaper system my preference would be :
Klipsch R-15M (Fronts), Pioneer BS22LR (Surround/Rear), Pioneer C22 (Centre)

1st is that I am not sure if Klipsch and Pioneers do match acoustically.. (if Pioneers will go well with Warm sounding Klipsch or not)
Also, R15M is 5.25", Pioneer's bookshelf and centre are 4".. not sure if this combination works fine. And if it it does keep expansion room open. Are Centre and surround of 4" woofer sufficient ?

2) My choice without thinking of Costing would be
RTi-A1s (Front), R-15M (Surrounds) and CS10 (Centre)

as it makes all of them 5.25inch woofer.
Does that makes sense, and do these Polks go well with Klipsch ?

I am open on keeping any of the combinations, depending on them Blending well.
I hope no one will recommend to buy Rti A3 for Front and keep rtia1 for rear , with CS10.. this will not only sky rocket my budget but also as I have to take them outside US, so will go beyond my baggage limit.

Looking for advise and plan to buy reciever by this weekend and next week return the extras,
Thanks in advance !

 

[ImcLoud]

If you have the speakers already I think it would be pretty easy to decide, plug them all in and see which your ears and eyes prefer.

Make sure your front three match, so the left and right you pick should match the make and series of your center, the surrounds can be any brand...


I will offer you this, If I had the budget that is looks like you have I would buy this..

rxv763 avr $250 and the fluance avhtb set for $250 on amazon, that's $500 for a decent rig...

Although your best bet would be to start with out a center channel, buy a really nice set of bookshelfs and run a phantom/ghost center setup. Your front is important and a nice set of bookshelf speakers is never a waste, check out Wavecrest audios hvl1, ascend acoustics htm200's, and musicdirect has elac b6 bookshelfs for under $300 a pair, I spent some time with them they are nice for the money (anything aj touches is nice)

Also I never thought of Klipsch as warm, to me they are bright like the sun after walking out of a dark room..

I own a pair of the hvl1's, I own a bunch of ascend speakers from the 200's to the sierra 2's, and I heard the fluance set up since my sister owns it, and its all good stuff, I would say the hvl1s are the most bang for your buck, BUT if you could step up to a pair of ascend cbm170se's you will NOT find a better stronger accurate speaker for less money..


Good luck hope this helps you in some way.

 

[Aneesh Aggarwal]

1st is that I am buying it remotely.. and purely going per reviews.
2nd.. I wish to restrict budget around $800
Ghost settings appear to be a compromising deal with some limitations, like in Setup location, listener location.
Looking to buy receiver with ATMOS capability, so minimum descent one I am getting is $289 for Onkyo NR646, but it is from 6ohm onwards.. so have to look for Denon S910W($319) or X2200($379) or Onkyo NR747 ($399), any suggesions here ? or any better product in this budget. I am buying refurbished from Accessories4less.

But, I somehow fall for what u mentioned..
#1. Invest in good Fronts .. Elac B6 or
#2. Front and centers shall match..

New Query :
If I consider Polk Rti A1 as Fronts & CS10 as Center, it will be that, but later adding a bigger Front will make it disproportionate. If the polk CS10 can match with the future bigger Fronts, than I can happily finalize Rti A1 & Pioneer bookshelf, and return Klipsch(Are Klipsch not suitable for Music ?)

 

[Mark of Cenla]

I like the Polk Rti series of speakers. It really depends on what sounds good to you. I also really like my Yamaha AVR. Peace and goodwill.

 

[Aneesh Aggarwal]

Okk.. So I can take a +1 to retain Rti A1's as Fronts (maybe later as surrounds).
Along with these.. which one's as Surrounds.. that can later also work as Backs if required ?
Pioneer look safe and budget option to me
Centres I am still confused.. maybe I keep the cheap Pioneers for now and later with bigger Fronts, I can get a matching Centre.