Looking to re-do everything!!

[colinwoods84]

Here is what I got. Ive got hundreds of gigs of music and video on a computer. I want to eventually try and get away from the apple tv and get Popcorn hour c-200. I want to set up a home server for all of this and I want a nice powerful receiver with good processing that supports sirius internet radio. I dont know what other questions to be asking I just want everything to work together with the most ease and best performance with my media. I am looking to spend around 2G's for a receiver and speakers. I can spend a lil more depending on whats out there. I am pretty much a noob with all this but I need major help.

 

[SopRage]

Are you looking for stereo? Surround sound?

 

[colinwoods84]

Yes i will be looking for surround sound as well. Trying to find a good medium between music and theatre.

 

[SopRage]

Excellent.

How big is your room? How far will you sit from the TV?

What features do you need/want in a receiver?

Believe it or not, these are all important questions before we can toss out any fitting recommendations.

 

[colinwoods84]

Currently I am sitting about 10ft from my center and i'd say 11.5 to the left and right with 10 behind and on ceiling for my surrond. I have a half dining room family room thing going on so in that part I'd say I'm 20 x 16.

I want to find a happy medium between music and movie. I hope to be playing lots of metal and hip hop and good depth in movies.

As far as receivers go I would like some up scaling. Decent ammout of inputs for xbox wii ps3 dvr popcorn hour and that's about it for now. More hdmi the better but component will do as long as each devise does not have to share between inputs for example (dvr/DVD)

Speaker wise I am pretty good with wood working so I could always build my own enclosures if that's a recomended avenue.

I know nothing about amps either if those r needed.

 

[SopRage]

For that cash, I'd go:

Speakers: Ascend Acoustics Spring Cleaning Sale
CMT-340 SE mains, CMT-340 SE center, HTM-200 SE surrounds - $948 (shipping included, probably add another $100 for the matching stands)

Subwoofer: Hsu Fathers Day VTF-2 MK3 Sale - $568 (shipping included)
Usually I'd advocate the SVS PB12-NSD, but this sale tips in favor of Hsu this time around

Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR608 ($500ish, Best Buy)
Lots of power, lots of features.

Other choices could be:

Speakers - Axiom Audio and Aperion Audio (check them both out)
Subwoofer - SVSound PB12-NSD

My two cents.

 

[colinwoods84]

So what about 7.1? How much of what I am watching and doing these days is goin to use such tech? Is it better to leave speakers hanging and aiming or have at ear level all the way around the room?

 

[SopRage]

I wouldn't worry about 7.1. The majority of movies don't yet support it and unless your room is gigantic (it's not), the improvement is supposed to be negligible.

As for height, in general you want the center and mains as close to ear level as possible and the surrounds well above.

 

[colinwoods84]

just wondering what you might think about polk audio. I have been hearing good things about their lsi series. Also i have always been fond of boston acoustics in my vehicle, what about the home? My biggest issue is for some reason there are not to many retail stores in the are which have quality speakers on display. I hate to purchase something with out hearing it first. So if you have other suggestions that would be great.

 

[SopRage]

Polk and Boston Acoustics both have their supporters here, but many people here advocate for internet direct companies; the idea is that when you buy directly from these companies you get more "bang for the buck" since there's no retailer.

The nice thing about the companies I recommended to you is that they all have month-long (or more) guarantees. If you don't like the product, you simply mail them back and get your money back (minus the shipping in most cases). Many of us here never shipped them back.

I'd recommend going to hear the Polk and Boston Acoustics stuff wherever you can and auditioning those Ascends at home. Should you not like the Ascends, simply ship them back; my customer service from Ascend was wonderful every time.

Just remember - the other side of the coin is that you CAN hear the internet direct stuff at home and that you usually CAN'T hear the retail stuff in your own room; given how profoundly the room can affect the sound, this can make those speakers you demo at a store in an acoustically perfect environment mighty disappointing.

Happy hunting!