hey guys, I need help!

[brianspiegle202]

The links aren't working, but it looks like you are looking at onkyo stuff, I would stay away from them, specially the subs / speaker sets. AA Monitors I suggested are probably best budget speakers you can get. Pair them with Denon / Marantz / Yamaha receiver and you won't regret it.

 

[brianspiegle202]

thanks man, think I'm gonna go with a Yamaha reciever and get a speaker set by then also

 

[Halon451]

haha it's all good guys, I was just wanting to keep it bb, simply because I have always gotten quality from them, and if I return the sound bar, that's were my credit will be with.

Yeah that makes perfect sense. I guess I either missed it or it wasn't stated that the soundbar was still within the return window. I don't have anything against shopping at Best Buy, I do it often. I have a credit line there which helped me get my new TV and AVR. To be fair when you say quality though, quality is a function of the product not the store. It's not like Best Buy themselves are manufacturing this stuff. Look at it as an investment as much as a purchase. You can either do it quickly or do it right. The latter will yield much better enjoyment and return over the long haul than the former.

Cheers and good luck, hope you can get the sound you're looking for.

 

[Pogre]

haha it's all good guys, I was just wanting to keep it bb, simply because I have always gotten quality from them, and if I return the sound bar, that's were my credit will be with.

I think in that case I'd go for a good receiver and as good a pair of bookshelf speakers as you can. You can and add the subwoofer and surrounds later. I don't have a lot of experience with a lot of the speakers they carry at the regular stores. I know Klipsch is one. I've been reading good things about their newer stuff.

Does anyone know if they carry any of the Andrew Jones speakers?

 

[Mark of Cenla]

If you are buying at Best Buy, I suggest the Sony Core bookshelf speakers and a subwoofer of your choosing. I have a Yamaha AVR, and I really like it. You can get the rest later. When on a budget, quality trumps quantity. Peace and goodwill.

 

[rojo]

thanks man, think I'm gonna go with a Yamaha reciever and get a speaker set by then also

Yamaha receiver = good. Yamaha speakers, no. I still say the Ascend combo I found on Craigslist would be the best bargain you're going to find. And Monoprice 9723 sub for a reasonably decent sub within your limited budget. If you can increase your budget, put more into the sub but stick with the Ascend speakers. As I mentioned before, that combo retails around a thousand bucks.

 

[brianspiegle202]

seriously guys thanks for all the help

I'm gonna up the budget to suit what I need.

I want to get a Yamaha that supports 7.2 so I can add in the future. but I am going to shop around for a better speaker setup (5.2 for now, and I'll add the other 2 later)

I just have 2 questions

1. If I buy a Yamaha with 7.2 channel, am I required to use 7.2? like will it work with only a 5.2 set up for now?

2. if I spend 4-5 on the receiver, what is a good 3-4 hundred dollar 5.2 speaker set up?

 

[brianspiegle202]

this is the reciever I'm looking at purchasing and I'm thinking about using this site to do it.

*special thanks goes to the dude who linked me to it.

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamrxv681/yamaha-rx-v681-7.2-ch-x-90-watts-networking-a/v-receiver/1.html

 

[brianspiegle202]

and these are the speakers I'm looking into


http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/cantmovie95blka/canton-movie-95-5.1-speaker-system-superior-to-bose-acoustimass-black/1.html

 

[tyhjaarpa]

this is the reciever I'm looking at purchasing and I'm thinking about using this site to do it.

*special thanks goes to the dude who linked me to it.

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamrxv681/yamaha-rx-v681-7.2-ch-x-90-watts-networking-a/v-receiver/1.html

This receiver should be fine.

and these are the speakers I'm looking into


http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/cantmovie95blka/canton-movie-95-5.1-speaker-system-superior-to-bose-acoustimass-black/1.html

These speakers how ever are not.

You are better of with good stereo pair than package like that. Electronics are only like 5 to 10% of the sound and speakers are 90 to 95%. Receivers are more of features. As for budget you should look for AA Monitors or those used ascend rojo suggested. Any of those small package speakers will suck just as bad as the soundbar.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

seriously guys thanks for all the help

I'm gonna up the budget to suit what I need.

I want to get a Yamaha that supports 7.2 so I can add in the future. but I am going to shop around for a better speaker setup (5.2 for now, and I'll add the other 2 later)

I just have 2 questions

1. If I buy a Yamaha with 7.2 channel, am I required to use 7.2? like will it work with only a 5.2 set up for now?

2. if I spend 4-5 on the receiver, what is a good 3-4 hundred dollar 5.2 speaker set up?

No, you can even run your receiver with 2 speakers. It is the maximum channels it can drive. Your budget should be around 2-3 for receiver and 6-7 for speakers, as speakers are the most important part.

 

[brianspiegle202]

ok wow that actually helps a lot, I thought the reciever did most of the work!

I'd like to add that I'm relatively new to high end merchandise, and I'm not very tech savvy. the best options for me are packages with subs and stuff included.....some of the specs are wayyyy out of my league as far as know how. I just can't wrap my head around the idea of creating a frankensteins monster of a unit.
thanks in advance for all the help.

so I'll downgrade the reciever a bit, and I'll look into some high quality speakers.

I emailed aa monitors for a guide of sorts, because I have no idea what all of those graphs and charts mean. or literally ANY of the technical terms like tweeters and stuff.


if it's available I'd like to just get my whole set up from them to get up to 5.1 at least.

the idea of mix and matching, and ordering from multiple sites/places scares the carp out of me.

 

[tyhjaarpa]

ok wow that actually helps a lot, I thought the reciever did most of the work!

I'd like to add that I'm relatively new to high end merchandise, and I'm not very tech savvy. the best options for me are packages with subs and stuff included.....some of the specs are wayyyy out of my league as far as know how. I just can't wrap my head around the idea of creating a frankensteins monster of a unit.
thanks in advance for all the help.

so I'll downgrade the reciever a bit, and I'll look into some high quality speakers.

I emailed aa monitors for a guide of sorts, because I have no idea what all of those graphs and charts mean. or literally ANY of the technical terms like tweeters and stuff.


if it's available I'd like to just get my whole set up from them to get up to 5.1 at least.

the idea of mix and matching, and ordering from multiple sites/places scares the carp out of me.

From Dennis you can get 5 speakers (4 AA monitors and center) but he does not sell subs. You can get either Dayton or Monoprice sub like was suggested, they will work together. Subs doesnt care what speakers you have, they will work. It is best to buy from different manufacturers to get best value for your money. Here you can read some review of AA Monitors, there are quite many topics about them around in these forums: http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/elac-b5-vs-philharmonic-affordable-accuracy-new-monitor.97171/

You can't really compare speakers by stats. You need to see measurements and listen to speakers to see how they sound. AA Monitors are really well liked budget speaker and this is the reason it gets recommended here.

 

[Pogre]

I just can't wrap my head around the idea of creating a frankensteins monster of a unit.

I understand your logic. The main thing you need to worry about as far as matching stuff is your front stage. You want your front left/center/front right to all be timbre matched. Surrounds and subs you can mix and match. Any good brand of subwoofer will play well with any speakers and your surrounds are where you can scrimp a little as they don't have to be timbre matched. They're mostly for effects, not dialog and don't get nearly as much play as the front stage. A lot of us do that here. It's not uncommon to piece together a system a little at a time.

A lot of folks here piece together good systems over time instead of buying everything all at once. It takes a little longer, but you can put together a much nicer system over time (one that you won't want to upgrade in 6 months).

If you're in the Detroit area, I'd be all over that Ascend package for $150. Even if it's a couple hours drive. That's a smoking, smoking deal for $1000 in speakers. If I were in the area I'd buy them just to hear them, then resell them. The suggestions for the AA Monitors is a very good one as well. If money's tight you can start with the front 3 and one of the subs Ty mentioned, then add more as funds loosen up. I can almost guarantee you'll regret buying one of those cheaper speaker packages.

 

[PENG]

When on a budget, quality trumps quantity. Peace and goodwill.

That's why I suggested that he should go with 2.1 for not, no point getting a center speaker on a $500 or even $1000 budget. Spend all on the best 5.1AVR and L/R speakers that counts the most. For a little surround effects just for fun without having to wait, get anything that look good from Value Village for $10.

 

[PENG]

I understand your logic. The main thing you need to worry about as far as matching stuff is your front stage. You want your front left/center/front right to all be timbre matched. Surrounds and subs you can mix and match. Any good brand of subwoofer will play well with any speakers and your surrounds are where you can scrimp a little as they don't have to be timbre matched. They're mostly for effects, not dialog and don't get nearly as much play as the front stage. A lot of us do that here. It's not uncommon to piece together a system a little at a time.

Seems like we are all in agreement about getting the best front stage possible for the available funds, but for even better timbre match, skip the center altogether is a good alternative, seriously.

 

[rojo]

@brianspiegle202 Since you're a rookie, we probably ought to help you pick out some accessories. You'll need speaker wire. Most of the cheap stuff is copper-clad aluminum, which is only about 2/3 as efficient as oxygen-free copper. Avoid CCA. Monoprice makes the least expensive OFC speaker wire. This stuff should be of sufficient gauge to provide full signal to your surrounds with no audible insertion loss, and will probably be overkill for your front 3. Overkill is good as long as you aren't paying a fortune for it. For more details about speaker wire gauges, see this page.

Terminating your speaker wires with banana plugs will make plugging and unplugging into the receiver and into the speakers easier, but those are optional.

I'm a fan of these KabelDirekt subwoofer cables. Strictly speaking, a Y cable like this isn't required, and there's no sonic benefit to this cable over a plain mono single RCA to single RCA cable. But it's an OCD round peg -> round hole thing for me. Since the KabelDirekt subwoofer Y cable is a negligible expense over a pure mono cable, why not?

For wall mounting your surrounds, these clamping brackets are what I recommend.