New Home Theater Help!

[kjw3]

Hello everyone. This is the first time I have ever posted anything on a forum and I really need some help with my new home theater. I am in the process of building on a 16 x 16' theater onto my house. I have already bought the Epson 8350 projector for my theater room. I will have a 120" screen on one wall and I really want great sound to go with my projector. I am on a pretty tight budget for speakers since a lot of my extra money is going to the room addition. My builder is running my monster speaker wire in all four corners of the room, and in the middle for my center channel. I recently purchased a Yamaha Aventage RX- A700, but I can't decide on what speakers to go with. I have listened to the Polk Audio bookshelf speakers (Tsi100) and they sounded pretty good to me. I don't know if I should go with all bookshelf speakers, or some floor standing and bookshelf speakers for the rear. I liked the Polk CS10 center channel also. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions on what speakers to go with! I want very full sound. I don't really care about brand, but I am wanting to get the best speakers I can for $600-$1000. Any suggestions would be great!

 

[sholling]

There isn't any reason to run expensive name brand cables. Save that money put it that toward the speakers. Monoprice.com has some 14 or 12ga in-wall speaker cable that will serve you fine. I'd also think through speaker placement. Refer to this guide for some ideas. You may also want to give yourself options on subwoofer placement by having several subwoofer runs made. You may also want a network drop for your equipment rack as well.

Assuming a 9' ceiling then a 16x16 room is 2300 cubic feet and an Elemental Designs A2-300 should do the job - however it wouldn't hurt to go a size larger and tune it low. That leaves you about $600 for speakers. In that price range I think I'd look at Infinity Primus P163 bookshelves as mains, a PC251 center, and P163 or P153 bookshelves as surrounds. Because the 153 and 163 are front ported placement should be easy. If you shop well you're looking at $550 plus $410 for the sub for $960 shipped.

If you'd like to go a step up then I'd look at 2 Infinity P363 towers, a PC351 center, and P163 bookshelves as surrounds. But with the sub that takes you $300 over budget.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I second Sholling's recommendation on the Infinity speakers.

If you want to go cheaper and do all bookshelf, I would not go with Polk.

Instead, I would go with 5 NHT SuperZero bookshelf speakers + 1 subwoofer.

NHT SuperZero for $99 ea x 5 = $495 (includes S/H):

http://www.amazon.com/NHT-SuperZero-2-0-Monitor-Speaker/dp/B0049FA1TM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1301315186&sr=8-1

If you desire to stick to the same brand for aesthetics reasons:

NHT Super 8 subwoofer for $349:

http://www.amazon.com/NHT-Super-110-Watt-Powered-Subwoofer/dp/B0049FGP7O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1301315257&sr=1-2

If you don't care for matching brand for aesthetics reasons:

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/549114852/jamo-sub-210?s_c=site_search

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/549635206/jamo-a70-sub?s_c=site_search

or something with more bass output:

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/549694429/jamo-d6sub?s_c=site_search

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/549290471/jamo-d7-subwoofer?s_c=site_search

 

[kjw3]

Thanks for the suggestions on the Infinity speakers and the link to the cheaper speaker wire. I am returning my Monster cable to Best Buy ASAP. The problem I am having now is finding some Infinity speakers in stores so I can listen to them before I make a purchase. BestBuy is the only place in my area that has home theater stuff. There is one other place, but they only sell very high end systems that are out of my budget. At Best Buy I listened to the Polk Tsi series, Klipsch Quintet, and Klipsch Icons. They also had Bose in their theater room, but I don't really care for them. So my question is, what is the major difference between the Klipsch Icon, Quintet, Polk Tsi series, and the Infinity Primus posted above. This time at Best Buy the Klipsch Icons sounded better than the Polk. I originally thought the Polk sounded better. So how do the Infinity Primus stack up against the Klipsch Icons? Thanks!

 

[kjw3]

Oh, also the wife said only bookshelf speakers for now while our kids are small. So that somewhat limits my options.

 

[sholling]

Of those on your list the Polk Tsi series, Klipsch Quintet, and Klipsch Icons. If memory serves (don't hold me to this) the Tsi100 is the replacement for Polk's entry level Monitor 30 and I have yet to hear them. I'm not overly fond of the Monitor line (personal taste) but Newegg has been blowing them out on every other week clearance sales so cheap ($90/pr) that I can't deny that they're a heck of a bargain.

I'm very familiar with the Quintets and still have a pair of them in a box in my storage shed that I used to use for surrounds. The problem with the Quintets and any micro speaker/satellite is that they need to crossover to the sub way too high. Up around 120-150hz for the Quintets. Ideally you want to crossover at 80hz or below so that the transitions between subwoofer and satellites aren't obvious. That's the point below which it's hard to detect the location of the source of the sound. BTW these were just on sale this past weekend for $280 and while the sale is over for now they've been on sale a couple times over the last couple of weeks and if that's what you decide on I'd watch the deal sites for a sale. Newegg has their big brother Quintet SL on sale for $380. I haven't heard the SLs but the specs on the front three speakers are a whole lot better than the regular Quintets. Maybe you can hear them locally.

The Klipsch Icons I have not heard and cannot find specs.

Bottom line I'd try to find a pair of Infinity P163 to listen to, as well as the Polks, and the Quintet SL and see which you like best. Speakers are personal taste and yours is good enough to have figured out that Bose reek.

Anyway don't skimp on the subwoofer and don't buy it in a store! Neither Polk or Klipsch make good subs. The Outlaw LFM-1 Plus that I linked is ideal for young ones. It's down firing so that there is no risk of little hands jamming a pencil through the cone so they can see what's inside and the ports are also on the bottom meaning that there is no chance of hiding dad's keys in a port or sharing milk with the port. It's an extra $150ish but worth for kids and the extra output.

 

[kjw3]

Sholling, thank you for all of your help. My next question is: Do I need to stay away from rear ported speakers since all of my speakers will be wall mounted? The regular Quintets I believe are all rear ported, but the Quintet SL's LC and R are front ported and the rears are rear ported. My concern with either of the Quintets is that they will not fill my room with sound. As stated earlier, my room is 16 x 16. I just don't want the small speakers to not produce enough full sound for the room. I am still on the warpath to find a set of the Infinity speakers to listen to. Circuit City has the p163's for $104 and the center channel pc351 for $206. I could still get a good sub and stay right around my budget. Unfortunately both Circuit City's in my area closed so I cannot go listen there.

 

[sholling]

A room that size is really too much for the little Quintets but some people try it. I'm going to hazard a guess that the Quintet SL is more capable but still marginal - but again I don't know for sure. The rear ported Polks can probably be mounted on a wall mount 4" or so from the wall but I don't know if they have mounting holes or keyhole hangers or nothing. It won't be ideal having them that close but it can be done. Pinpoint makes some good mounts but just bear in mind that the weight ratings are kind of optimistic.

 

[dkane360]

I have experience with the Quintet SL's. They sounded pretty good for a small speaker, but comparing them in stereo to my B2031p's, it was the 2031's no contest. Small speakers really have their limitations, and it was quite evident with the SL's. If you had your heart set on small speakers like the quintets, I would definitely pick the SL's over the normal ones. However, I would only use them for video games or movies in a small room.

You'll get much better sound with larger bookshelf than smaller satellite speakers. If you don't mind the industrial look, you could go for the Behringer B2030P's. You can also check out the Klipsch bookshelf speakers at Vanns.

Have you thought about just starting with 2 or 3 speakers then building on as money permits? You'll get much better speakers if you start with only buying 2 to start.

 

[kjw3]

I have thought about building my system as money permits. I got a chance to listen to some Def Tech BP7006 floor standing speakers today. I really fell in love with them. I haven't had a chance to read any reviews yet. They were $600 a piece in the store I was at. Just those two would max my budget for now, but I think it would be worth it. I have talked the wife into letting our builder put in some recessed pockets for floor standing speakers in the wall. They will still be open, but will I lose any sound quality? If I am going to lose sound quality, I would rather just go with the bookshelf speakers on the wall. Thanks for the help!

 

[AVRat]

Speaker niches are bad ideas. Speakers need room to perform their best, especially a speaker like the DT.

 

[sholling]

Speaker niches are bad ideas. Speakers need room to perform their best, especially a speaker like the DT.

+1 what he said.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have thought about building my system as money permits. I got a chance to listen to some Def Tech BP7006 floor standing speakers today. I really fell in love with them. I haven't had a chance to read any reviews yet. They were $600 a piece in the store I was at. Just those two would max my budget for now, but I think it would be worth it. I have talked the wife into letting our builder put in some recessed pockets for floor standing speakers in the wall. They will still be open, but will I lose any sound quality? If I am going to lose sound quality, I would rather just go with the bookshelf speakers on the wall. Thanks for the help!

I think you will lose sound quality on those bipole speakers, which are meant to be spaced about 12" - 36" from the walls.

I personally thought there was a significant improvement in sound going from 6" to 24" from the front wall when I had my BP7000SC.

But you could try an experiment at the store - just move those BP7006 right against the front wall and see if you can tell the difference.

 

[kjw3]

Thanks to everyone for the help and suggestions! I went ahead with my purchase... I went with the Polks. I personally liked the sound better than the klipsch. I also couldn't pass up the deal at BB... got the Tsi 400's for $300 for the pair! I thought that was worth it! And it was $900 cheaper than the Def Techs that I really liked. got the CS10 center channel on newegg for $89 shipped. thanks again for all the suggestions!