New guy looking for help

[graydodge14]

So im new to this whole HT thing, not neccesarily new as i have a panasonic 7.1 surround at my home now.

Im a college student and i mostly either watch movies play ps3 or just watch sports all day and what i have now is decent but i want a little more. I want to piece together my own system but i have no idea where to start. Im pushing over 2500 watts in my truck but ht is a whole new ball game and its safe to say i dont know where to start.

I was thinking about FI for the sub and some type of 1000 watt plate amp amd building my own box, but as far as a receiver and the speakers around i dont know whats good. I dont neccesarily need 7.1 if i could get a 5.1 that would blow this one away.

For the receiver all the ones i found were like 100-120 watts x5 so how would i hook up 1000 watts to a receiver like that?

Any suggestions would be appreciated because you guys seem to know what yall are talking about and i think HT is one of the coolest hobbies out there

 

[engtaz]

Welcome, You have a ton of options. 1!st figure out what your budget is going to be, then people can give you suggestions. What model is the Panasonic? The sub could be a passive that uses a Daytona SA1000 amp from parts express but that will run you $425.80 You might want to buy a manufactures sub that fits your total budget. The PS3 would be you HT Blu Ray player.

Good Luck

 

[graydodge14]

Well as far as budget i dont really have one im working and each week save up my money, so i was thinking about buying it piece by piece each week and just saving up if something is worth paying a little more for

I dont know the model of the panasonic but its one with plugs on it so you cant really add or change the speakers out because it takes a certain connection.so i plan on either just setting it up in my bedroom or giving it to my parents as they would be happy with it.

I didnt know if i should start out buying a sub, speakers or the receiver first. Im not even sure of HT subs or speakers that are decent and i guess thats where im stuck.
As for the receiver i wanted something with maybe an aux input for my iphone or some kind of iphone dock and maybe a 2 sub setup just not to sure about anything just trying to research on where i should start.

 

[jostenmeat]

Not to be offensive at all, but coming from a Pana HTIB, you can only go up. And I say that as a fan of Pana product in general.

Focus on speakers before sub or receiver. Disregarding setup/placement/tweaks, the speakers are by far the most important choice in regards to purchases.

Since you have so much wattage in your truck, you will have to make sure that either your speakers are easy to drive (which does not preclude you from buying good speakers), and/or you don't crank them so much that you cause damage to both receiver and speakers.

I vote for the best pair of speakers, for now. Perhaps receiver next. Then either sub or center speaker, depending on your thoughts. Surrounds last.

 

[graydodge14]

No offense taken haha i didnt realize home theatre was such a big hobby but i got surgery yesterday and all i can do is sit and read and dream of what i want, because ive always loved music and in my truck i have everything set up and imaged pretty and blended close to what i think is perfect so im getting very excited to build my own home theatre

What would be a good option of speakers? Also on all receivers i have seen they say 100 wattx5 or whatever is that sufficent enough for HT, and if so then how do you power a sub that is 300 watts or more off that receiver im guessing its just like a head unit in a car stereo and that the amp is what will increase power?

 

[jostenmeat]

What would be a good option of speakers? Also on all receivers i have seen they say 100 wattx5 or whatever is that sufficent enough for HT, and if so then how do you power a sub that is 300 watts or more off that receiver im guessing its just like a head unit in a car stereo and that the amp is what will increase power?

Speakers, I'm going to let you read up. You can even think of any budget, let's pretend $300, and just plug in "$300" into search engine here in speaker forum, and you'll get many threads. For instance.

For the sub, any self respecting hobbyist will have outboard amplification to power it. It's almost always built right into the sub. It's with DIYers where they buy an outboard amp to power it. Sometimes as a plate amp mated to sub, and often times just a separate amp in the audio rack.

 

[graydodge14]

Alright ill search on speakers.

For the sub is it better to go with a larger sub like a 15 to move more air? Also like i said i was looking at the FI q series sub which is supposed to be a great sq sub but its 1000 watt rms is that overkill or should i stick with something the svs sub or something like that