Help Needed for Home Theater Set-up

[Warren71]

I'm looking for opinions, advice and help regarding my soon to be home theater system. I have a Panasonic TH-50PX60U plasma TV on order. I
already have a Panasonic progressive scan DVD/CD player and I just bought
the Monster Home Theatre Reference PowerCenter HTS 3500. This might be a little unnecessary for my components but I got it really cheap.

I'd like to add a quality a/v receiver and a nice speaker set for tv surround sound and loud enough for music cd's. After some research, I have my eye on the following....

Pioneer VSX-1015TX:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Pioneer_VSX_1015TX/4505-6466_7-31426274.html?tag=pdtl-list

Polk Audio 6800:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-iRwZqw9wjsz/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=107RM6800

I'll get TV programming with a HD DVR through DirecTV and local HD channels
through an OTA antenna.

Any suggestions on the a/v receiver and speakers? Will everything listed
sync up nicely to form a descent home theater system?

From reading this site, I think I will get my audio and video cables from
Blue Jeans unless someone can refer better quality at a reasonable price.

Is this the best way to interconnect the components?
-The HD DVR directly to the TV thru HDMI inputs since the a/v receiver does
not have HDMI. Do I connect just an audio cable from the a/v receiver to
the TV for surround sound?
- I'll use component video cables to hook the DVD player to the a/v receiver and then component video cables to the TV.

Thanks for any help. I'm really new to all of this and trying to get opinions and advice from the experienced.

 

[Sheep]

Keep the receiver, but scrap the speaker system. Polk has not shown good performance/price ratios lately.

I would opt for the SVsound SBS-01 speakers system. The sats are FAR better then the polks and the subwoofer, well, its the best for the money(IMO).

As far as hooking it all up. Run an optical/coax cord from your DVD player to your receiver. Run another optical/coax cord from your HD DVR to your receiver.

Run a Component cord from your HD DVR (unless you have 2 HDMI inputs on your TV, which you would then run an HDMI cord) to your TV.

I assume your DVD player is upconverting, so run an HDMI cord from it to the TV. If it ISN'T, run a Component cord from it to your TV and use progressive scanning when watching DVDs.

For speaker wire, go to home depot and pick up 12ga. wire in the lengths your need.

Hope this helps,

SheepStar

 

[Nick250]

Good suggestions from Sheep. If necessary to get the better speakers I would take a bit from your receiver budget and add it to your speaker budget.

 

[Spiffyfast]

Keep the receiver, but scrap the speaker system. Polk has not shown good performance/price ratios lately.

I would opt for the SVsound SBS-01 speakers system. The sats are FAR better then the polks and the subwoofer, well, its the best for the money(IMO).

As far as hooking it all up. Run an optical/coax cord from your DVD player to your receiver. Run another optical/coax cord from your HD DVR to your receiver.

Run a Component cord from your HD DVR (unless you have 2 HDMI inputs on your TV, which you would then run an HDMI cord) to your TV.

I assume your DVD player is upconverting, so run an HDMI cord from it to the TV. If it ISN'T, run a Component cord from it to your TV and use progressive scanning when watching DVDs.

For speaker wire, go to home depot and pick up 12ga. wire in the lengths your need.

Hope this helps,

SheepStar

I'll second that motion, would be one heck of a little set up

 

[3x10^8]

I agree with all the posters above in that the speakers and receiver don't match up well. That receiver is very nice while the speakers are VERY, VERY MEDIOCRE, imo. That STS system should fit the bill. Also, for about the same price, you could go with Onix xls speakers and an x sub; just another option that will definitely sound better than the polk.

here's a review of the speaker:

http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/loudspeakers/Onixxlsp1.php

 

[Warren71]

Thanks Sheep and others. This is what I needed. Sounds like it won't be half bad with the right speakers. Please let me know of any other speaker recommendations you might have - preferrably under $1000.00.

 

[Nick250]

Warren, budget some time to audition speakers. Find out which speakers sound good to YOU. IMO this the first and most importent step in buying your new audio system. When you go on your auditions take along your favorite CD or DVD concert and use the same cuts everywhere you go.

 

[jcPanny]

Speaker options

Warren,
Read the recent AH review of the Onix X-LS speakers from AV123.com. Based on the review, they will probably sound better then the SVS speakers for music and are only $200 / pair. The Onix X-sub is also a budget option at $200, but I wouldn't expect the 8" sub to compete with a 10" or 12" $500 sub from SVS.