home stereo system for double man cave

[chuyjr]

Hi, I would love to built a very nice sound system in my double man cave, my man cave rooms size are 24x20 and 20x16 (one next to the other one divided by an Arch) , I was thinking on purchasing a pair of klipsch rf-7 II with amplifier and preamplifier,etc etc(I use alot of chromecast to play music on youtube as well as karaoke).
we use the rooms 80% mostly for music and dancing & 20% for movies) I want to start with the bigger room and eventually do the other room unless I can find good deals ($$) that can do both rooms.

Klipsch is the only brand( I kinda know ), I dont have any idea on where to start and what amp,preamp, BRAND, I should get for these kind of speakers if you guys think these are good speakers for a stereo system.

My budget is between $3000 & $4000dlls, I'm open to any good brand of speakers,amp etc etc.

I hope you guys can help me with this, any kind of idea/ideas will be highly appreciated, Thank you so much in advance. : ) : )

 

[Latent]

I would look into options of using a multi-channel AVR instead of a stereo pre-amp for a couple of reasons. First it will probably be cheaper and will allow you to spend more of your budget on really good speakers which is where the money is best spent. Also speakers like the klipsch are very efficient and you don't need a lot of power to drive them to ear bleeding levels so spending a fortune on 300W mono-block amps would be a bit wasteful. Also The AVR's give you options like running a second set of speakers in the other room for bigger parties etc. And there is nothing stopping you expanding to surround sound later if you want to. May want to get an AVR with pre-outputs so that you have the option to add a power amp and make it equivalent to a pre-pro + amp later on.

Also some of your budget should go to treating the room as man cave's are not known for their great audio qualities. Often lots of exposed concrete and hard reflective surfaces which mean you would be wasting your money trying to fill the room with good sound. But one plus is because it's a man cave you may have more options than in a traditional living space to add elements that reduce the bad room effects.

 

[chuyjr]

I would look into options of using a multi-channel AVR instead of a stereo pre-amp for a couple of reasons. First it will probably be cheaper and will allow you to spend more of your budget on really good speakers which is where the money is best spent. Also speakers like the klipsch are very efficient and you don't need a lot of power to drive them to ear bleeding levels so spending a fortune on 300W mono-block amps would be a bit wasteful. Also The AVR's give you options like running a second set of speakers in the other room for bigger parties etc. And there is nothing stopping you expanding to surround sound later if you want to. May want to get an AVR with pre-outputs so that you have the option to add a power amp and make it equivalent to a pre-pro + amp later on.

Also some of your budget should go to treating the room as man cave's are not known for their great audio qualities. Often lots of exposed concrete and hard reflective surfaces which mean you would be wasting your money trying to fill the room with good sound. But one plus is because it's a man cave you may have more options than in a traditional living space to add elements that reduce the bad room effects.

Any recommendations on some avr brands and models? Thanks

 

[Latent]

I prefer Yamaha but Denon and Marantz are just as good and you may prefer one of them instead.

Naming individual models would take forever and you basically get what you pay for in more power and features as you move up the price points. So you have to pick a point you comfortable with and look around there and then do a little research into reviews online etc.

A great site to look at to get you started is this one:

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/avreceiver/home-audio/receivers-amps/home-theater-receivers/1.html

They sell often reconditioned units for good discounts and they also have older models from a year or two back which can be cheaper. Always do your research to find the year a model was first released so you know where you stand. Even if you don't buy from this site at least it gives you a good range to start narrowing down options from.

If you want to add an amp you need pre-outs and they have a cool feature on this site where you can filter down based on units that have certain features like this. here is the same url filtered to pre-out capable units only:

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/avreceiver/home-audio/receivers-amps/home-theater-receivers/1.html?home_audio_key[]=Mulit-Channel Preout

Another important thing to decide now is what level of HDMI switching you need as every few years they come out with a new standard. Right now the units from last year and newer have HDCP 2.2 which allows the future 4k bluray video switching and HDR features. If you were considering buying a 4k TV in the future then it makes sense to get this support but it means you have to rule out models from previous years that may be cheaper. For many people 4k and HDR is overkill and you don't have to worry about it.

One final thing to note is that the amps are rated normally for 2 channels driven even though they have like 7 channels of amps. They are designed to mainly drive 2 channels at a time as music normally only uses 2 channels and surround speakers don't use a lot of power most of the time. In a movie when a bomb goes off behind the listener to make full use of the rear speakers the front speakers are not used much so the power just moves where it is needed. But they are not designed to drive 7 speakers at full load all the time. If you decide to use 2 speakers in one room and then use zone 2 powered speakers in the second room to play the same source at full volume you will be limited by the size of the powersupply as to the wattage you can drive all 4 speakers without getting quality issues.

 

[chuyjr]

I prefer Yamaha but Denon and Marantz are just as good and you may prefer one of them instead.

Naming individual models would take forever and you basically get what you pay for in more power and features as you move up the price points. So you have to pick a point you comfortable with and look around there and then do a little research into reviews online etc.

A great site to look at to get you started is this one:

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/avreceiver/home-audio/receivers-amps/home-theater-receivers/1.html

They sell often reconditioned units for good discounts and they also have older models from a year or two back which can be cheaper. Always do your research to find the year a model was first released so you know where you stand. Even if you don't buy from this site at least it gives you a good range to start narrowing down options from.

If you want to add an amp you need pre-outs and they have a cool feature on this site where you can filter down based on units that have certain features like this. here is the same url filtered to pre-out capable units only:

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/avreceiver/home-audio/receivers-amps/home-theater-receivers/1.html?home_audio_key[]=Mulit-Channel Preout

Another important thing to decide now is what level of HDMI switching you need as every few years they come out with a new standard. Right now the units from last year and newer have HDCP 2.2 which allows the future 4k bluray video switching and HDR features. If you were considering buying a 4k TV in the future then it makes sense to get this support but it means you have to rule out models from previous years that may be cheaper. For many people 4k and HDR is overkill and you don't have to worry about it.

One final thing to note is that the amps are rated normally for 2 channels driven even though they have like 7 channels of amps. They are designed to mainly drive 2 channels at a time as music normally only uses 2 channels and surround speakers don't use a lot of power most of the time. In a movie when a bomb goes off behind the listener to make full use of the rear speakers the front speakers are not used much so the power just moves where it is needed. But they are not designed to drive 7 speakers at full load all the time. If you decide to use 2 speakers in one room and then use zone 2 powered speakers in the second room to play the same source at full volume you will be limited by the size of the powersupply as to the wattage you can drive all 4 speakers without getting quality issues.

Thank you very much for all the info. : )

 

[Mark of Cenla]

Try to listen to as many different speakers as you can. Then choose an appropriate AVR. Peace and goodwill.