New House - Need Help!

[denrusso]

First post - complete noob here. I recently purchased a house and will start to renovate the basement next month. This is where the tv and all audio hardware will be located. On the main floor, I'd like to have speakers (ceiling) in the formal living room, outside, and possibly the kitchen - so basement, plus 2 or 3 additional zones.

My current setup is a pioneer receiver that I purchased in 2005 with a cambridge soundworks 5.1 speaker setup. I'd like to upgrade at this point, but have no idea where to begin. I started looking at the Emotiva website and started to think about a dedicated processor and amp setup instead of a receiver. To be honest, I'm not even sure how to setup a system like that - like what connects the processor to the amp - again, complete noob here. Is a good resource online that I could read up on?

In the mean time though, would the UMC-1, XDA-5, a set of ERT-8.3s, an ERM-6.2, and a set of ERD-1s be a good start? I would probably just purchase their ceiling and outdoor speakers too, but do I need another XDA-5 to power those? I don't need anything crazy for the main floor - the craziness will be for the basement. Also, how could I control the system when listening on the main floor? I don't need full control, but at least the ability power on/off and volume.

Any advice?



Thanks,
dr

 

[timoteo]

Welcome!!

Well id like to know which model Pioneer you have & whether it has Pre-outs or not because if it does then you may want to just hook up a power amp to it & put the $ saved into the rest of the system.

1. How big is the basement where the theater is going to be?
2. What % will movies, music & tv be? (which is more important to you?)
3. What is your budget?
4. Have you listened around to different speakers or heard ones you really like?

The more info we have the better we can help.

I highly recommend Emotiva for their power amps, specially the XPA line. But depending on room size & speakers you end up choosing you may not need an external amp. I have never heard Emotiva's speakers nor read many reviews on them so cant comment there. Others may be able to chime in though.

If your budget is low then the Infinty Primus line is highly reffered around here. I know people have been speaking well of Aperion, SVS M-series & EMP. I have sat down myself a few times & listened to HSU Research's bookshelves & REALLY love them. For a price of $150 each bookshelf & $250 for the center, you can put together a very high quality sounding system IMO.

For your subwoofer, Emotiva is pretty good but id recommend going HSU, SVS, Rythmik or Outlaw. Any sub from any of them will be $ well spent. But we need to know the sq footage to the room to help you decide which model. Plus listening habits make a difference too. I can vouch for HSU subs as well because i own a couple. The best ive heard yet for movies & suprisingly just as great with music. I.D companies have great performance to price ratios.

If you can, really try & set aside a good 10% of your budget towards room treatments. When we say that we're talking about things that help treat the room itself. Every room has a way it bounces sound around so if you can tame those reflections or use them to your advantage, then the system you place in that room will sound MUCH better. So do a little homework on speaker placement & sound absorbtion so you can put together a sound system that you'll be happy with for years to come. Your room is just as important as the speakers&gear you place in it.

So get back to us with some of those facts so we can go from here.

Hope this helps!!! Happy huntin!

 

[denrusso]

Thanks for the reply! Lets see if I can answer everything here...

1. The receiver is a Pioneer VSX-1015TX.
2. 70/20/10 tv/movies/music in the basement - obviously 100 music on the main floor
3. I'm flexible on the budget - lets say $6-$8k (that's everything including tv)
4. I have zero experience listening to different speaker setups (I live in Syosset, NY if anyone has any suggestions)

The basement is a long rectangle that is approximately 18'x35'. The tv will be mounted on the longer wall. The back of the couch is 12' from the wall. So not a terribly large area, but when I watch a movie I want to feel it.

Some additional noob questions - so what's a pre-amp? Do I need one? What's the difference in having a dedicated processor and amp vs. a receiver? Does one cable connect the processor to the amp or is it one per channel?

Sorry - I'm just trying to absorb as much as I can during this process...



Thanks!
dr

 

[timoteo]

Ok well assuming that the ceiling is about 8' high then your cubic footage is a little over 5,000cuft. That is a large area for your sub to pressurize. For instance, HSU has a rating for each sub. (small room, medium, large & huge) for your space you either want to get 2 subs rated at large, 1 sub rated for huge or ultimately 2 rated for huge.

So if you went HSU then id say get 2 VTF3-MK4 or 1 VTF-15h or 1VTF-15h & 1MBM-12 or finally 2VTF-15h. I listed them in good to best!

A pre-amp is just a processor with no internal amps. With those you need to buy an external amp(s). The good news is that your Pioneer has pre-OUTS. that means you can get a power amp & connect it to your Pioneer & use the processing in the receiver but the amps in the powers amp. You would connect 1 RCA cable from the Pioneer to the external amp for EACH channel or speaker. The bad news is that your Pioneer does not hace HDMI hookups & will not pass 1080p picture nor will it decode HD Audio codecs. (HD sound)

Id recommend upgrading you receiver. Whether you skip that now to save money or not is your choice. You could use if for now then uograde later if you want to have the most $ for your new purchases. Id do that. Wait on the avr because there are ways to still get HD audio. More on that later!

If you REALLY want to feel the movies i recommend getting a buttkicker in your couch along with your sub(s).

 

[denrusso]

OK - so it looks like two amps are needed for my space. Any recommendation on speakers?

So I need a new receiver - I think I saw that coming. For the amount of space I have, should I get a new receiver or should I go the Emotiva route? If I do go the Emotiva route and I get an XPA-5, are two of the channels dedicated to the amps?

Thanks again for the help - I need it!!!


Thanks,
dr

 

[timoteo]

Back in the day high-end audio was only Seperates (processor & power amp) however nowadays even higher end systems are composed of Receivers with or without power amps. Since todays Digital-to-Analog converters found in medium to high end receivers are so good, paired with the great features that are offered in them, most prefer that route.

So my recommendation would be to first decide on which speakers you like. Then look towards Yamaha, Pioneer Elite, Denon, Integra, Marantz or Rotel for a quality receiver. You will get all the processing & features you could ever want. Then, if needed, grab an XPA amp from Emotiva. The number after the XPA tells you how many channels the amp can power. You mentioned the XPA-5, that amp would power your front 3 + 2 surrounds. So all 5 would be powering your speakers & if you only have 5 speakers then youd be bypassing all the amps in the receiver. But like i said, first figure out which speakers because a lot of the time, the amps in the receiver do great on their own without help from an external amp. The decision on the amp can wait till later, until you hear everything setup & think you need it or not.

 

[timoteo]

I re-read your last post & am not sure if you undrrstand how processors, receivers & amps work. So just to be clear, let me break it down quickly.

RECEIVER: Processes the signal coming from your source (satellite, dvd, bluray, cd... etc) Then it also amplifies (or powers) the signal & sends that info directly to your speakers. In this case its all done in one single unit.

PROCESSOR: Just processes the signal coming from your source but does not amplify or power the signal. You dont connect this to your speakers directly. In this case you need to connect an external amp & from the amp connect your speakers.

POWER AMPLIFIER: This ONLY amplifies the signal AFTER it has been processed. The processing needed can come frome either a processor or a receiver (that has pre-out connections)

Each speaker needs its own amp to give it power. Your Pioneer CAN be hooked up to an amp if the amps in your receiver are not strong enough. But most speakers have a fairly easy load & most speakers do just fine without extra amplification.

As far as recommendations for speakers....since you have about $6K, id say to spend about:

TV-$1300
Receiver-$1000
L/R Front speakers-$1500
Center & Surrounds-$1200
Subwoofer-$1000

Total-$6000

This range would get you a very nice system. You could spend a little less on surrounds since they arent quite as important & invest in some room treatments. Or spend less on surrounds & receiver to get an amp included in that price.

Look at Ascend Grand Verus speakers, B&W 600 series, Klipsch Reference line, Polk Audio, NHT.... list goes on. Everyone here will recommend something different. For instance, im not a huge fan of Klipsch but i know a lot of people love them. Same goes for B&Ws. But in this price range, there are some really nice options.