How to start?

[whuisman]

<font color='#000000'>Hey all. &nbsp;I'm looking to begin building a home theater system/music listening system. &nbsp;

Right now I listen to music cd's and play dvd's thru some Toshiba dvd player, which outputs sound to some cheesy Aiwa 2-speaker bookshelf system (so now you see why I NEED a new system

).

In the end, I want a good sounding surround sound system for dvd movies (my main concern) which also has good sound (2 speaker or otherwise) for playing music cd's. &nbsp;To start, I want to buy two speakers and a receiver for around $400 - $1000. &nbsp;I'm not fussy about buying from a electronics shop or from ebay. &nbsp;

I've read a lot of posts about the Yamaha V2400, Denon 2803, and Harmon/Kardon avr525. &nbsp;These seem to be the main starting point of a lot of systems. &nbsp;Are these receivers capable of driving an entire surround sound speaker system without use of external amplifiers? &nbsp;Do they have a radio receiver? &nbsp;Which pair of speakers should I best start with?

Thanks!</font>

 

[Audioholics]

<font color='#000080'>The Yamaha RX-V1400 wil run you $799 (MSRP) and you still don't have speakers. You may need to shoot a little lower or buy used. EBay shoudl net you some deals on outdated receivers like the RX-V3xxx series or the old RX-V2xxx series. While you may give up some new items like Dolby Pro Logic II or s-video/component upconversion - it may leave you some more money to buy speakers.

For that, I'd recommend a small set of bookshelf speakers to which you can later add a subwoofer.</font>

 

[JVC]

<font color='#000000'>The Denon 2803 you mentioned is a great receiver. Get many years of good use from it. You said something about just a pair of speakers, to begin with. I'd get the front two AND the center to match. It's important that the center match, if possible, for home theater. You can find some very decent speakers at Best Buy or Circuit City. A lot of people like the Athenas from Best Buy. They do sound pretty good.
Just go listen to some stuff, and buy what sounds good to YOU.
Good luck with whatever you choose............ &nbsp;

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