Kudos to this forum from audiophile wannabe

[jpaget]

Hello all:

I officially caught the bug about four weeks ago. I have long wanted a flat panel tv, but it was never in my student budget. An well-paying summer internship afforded me a small budget for a TV, but my personality forbade me from stopping there. In a matter of days, my appetite grew from a small "in the box" home theatre to scouring eBay and the internet direct stores for discounted medium to high-end components to build my home theatre. And I owe my recent audio expenditures to all the forum members here who have guided my purchases unknowingly! Notwithstanding my next credit card statement, I want to sincerely extend my appreciation to all of you who gratuitously impart your knowledge to us eager and ravenous noobs. This forum is truly amazing--what was life like before the internet?

Now to the good stuff. My TV purchase was the Sharp Aquos LC42D62U. It rocks. I got it internet direct for $300 less than at Circuit City (including shipping). If anyone is interested, I will be happy to share my internet direct purchase experience.

My next purchase came courtesy of a review from audioholics--the Yamaha RX-V659 receiver. I got one "B-stock" for less than half of retail on eBay. It arrived on Friday, in flawless condition.

With the limited budget, I decided that I would go the route of building my theatre over a year or two. After perusing the forum, I decided on two tower speakers. Again heeding advice here, I went to the local A/V store and listened to some Klipsch RF-52s. Dang! They blew my socks off. I had never really heard sound like that. The Steely Dan cd the salesperson played for me was amazing. Big problem though--$600 retail. I decided that I would go with Klipsch (yeah I probably should have listened to other brands, but they sounded so good to me).

A few days later, I saw on eBay some RF-62s listed. The reserve was half of retail, but I waited and watched and low and behold, they didnt sell! So, I contacted the seller and made an offer below reserve and he accepted. Off to Pennsylvania I went and picked 'em up. I couldnt believe the condition they were in--not a scratch and the seller worked in an audio store and said he had only used them 4 months! Awesome!

So that is where I am now. I've got the speakers hooked up to the Yammy with Blue Jeans 12 gauge (my business with them is courtesy of forum members) with bare wires, not plugs (is that ideal?). I've got a Motorola cable box sending HD to the Sharp. I have an older (2003 maybe) JVC DVD player that does 480p with components. I ordered an HDMI cable from Blue Jeans as well as another SPIDF and they should get here today.

I know that this is a long story, but I really wanted to share my intial foray in home theatre with people who would appreciate it. I have a billion questions, of which about half have been answered from browsing posts. I started out with no knowledge whatsoever but have been absorbing it like a sponge the last 3 or 4 weeks. To conclude, I'd like to just posit a simple quiery: where should I go from here? Its been recommended the next step is a subwoofer, and I think I would go with the HSU stf-2. My room is 17X14X10 with hard wood floors, but a 8X4 shag rug in the middle. To be honest, I think the bass is wonderful and the main opportunity I see here is that the dialogue is too bright (I dont know the lingo that well, but I am using that word to mean a tad loud and screechy--example: the opening narration in Lord of the Rings was difficult to tolerate while all the other sounds were enjoyable at about -28db). My first movie test was LOTR last night and it was amazing. The horse steps from the wraiths, the fireworks in the Shire and the battle scene with the cave troll was incredible. Would a sub really add that much enjoyment to it? Would I be better off investing in a center speaker to improve dialogue harshness (it is my understanding that that is the role of the center)? My listening habits are probably 75/25, movies to music, though my wife enjoys listening to music more than I, so call it 50/50.

Thanks in advance for your guidance and I am sure I have left out of lot of necessary info.

 

[flyv65]

Congrats on finding the forum and condolences on starting down the Audioholic path . It sounds like you've got the basis for a fine HT setup-most importantly, it sounds good to you! As far as whether or not to look for a sub or a center channel next, I personnaly would go for the sub. The data I've seen for the RF-62 speakers shows them at 38Hz for the low end...trust me, if you enjoy movies, there is alot more going on below that level. Hsu makes a great product, as does SVS (my personal preference: a tad better for movies perhaps, a tad less musical also). If you've properly set up your room/speakers/sub/equipment, then you'll miss the other 3 channels MUCH less than you might think. Once the sub is in, that's when I'd consider picking up the center and surrounds, all at the same time.

Bryan...you'll like the FL and FR with a sub, I betcha...

 

[jpaget]

Thanks for the advice. Would the PB10 be comprable to the STF-2? They seem to be close in price.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Welcome to the forums, jpaget! Sounds like your experience was ideal. I often council people that you can often get better gear by buying used, so long as some care is taken and you can accept a little risk.

Bare wire is just fine. I prefer banana plugs, but the main advantage of using connectors is ease of connection. If you don't swap speakers or amps very often it's not really an issue. Bare wire makes a very secure connection. The only "problem" if you want to call it that is that the wire can oxidize over time.

 

[flyv65]

Thanks for the advice. Would the PB10 be comprable to the STF-2? They seem to be close in price.

Look at the response curves for both subs, from both sites. I bet you see the SVS stretch a bit farther down the scale than the Hsu, but perhaps not quite as loud as the Hsu. I've heard both Hsu and SVS subs and they really are bot quite a bit of bang for the buck...why not see if some one in your area has one or the other and drop by for a listen? If you're near Denver I'd happily have you over for a listen and a wee dram of Scotch.

Bryan...it's only polite, after all...