Newbie Help

[MIKED33]

I have a 50" plasma. I want to buy a receiver and 5.1 speaker system.
Is the receiver or the speakers (athena any good?) more important as far as quality?

I'd like to keep each in the $300 range...am I being naive to think I can get a decent receiver/speakers for $600? I'll be using it for movies mostly.

Receivers, I keep hearing: Yamaha, Denon, HK. Should I go down to Best Buy or Circuit City to buy this, or should I go online somewhere else? What are your opinions on someone trying to put together their first surround sound system? The room is only about 14x13.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[jcPanny]

Budget system

Mike,
The Athena Auditions series and Bic speakers are good options in the $100/pair price range. Both of these will perform better than most satellite/cube systems. I started out with a pair of Athena's and they are pretty good for the money. A Yamaha or denon receiver in the $2-300 price range should work well. If you check online, you will get much better deals than Best Buy.

Also, if you are willing you up your budget, you can get an Onix X-LS 5.1 system from av123.com for $700 or start with the mains and sub for $400 and add the other speakers later.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

A general rule of thumb says that loudspeakers are more important than your reciever.

But sadly $600 is not a lot of money when it comes to HT (I wish it was!). And you're realistically limiting yourself to HTiBs (Home theaters in a box), and some used gear.

Onkyo has a very nice (for a HTiB) 7.1 system for $500 (HT-S790). Its available in black or silver.

 

[Takeereasy]

Or you could try this setup:

Onkyo 503 for $149 (it's refurbed but through an authorized dealer and the 1 yr. warranty is intact) http://www.ecost.com/ecost/ecsplash/shop/detail~dpno~609976.asp

Then this guy:http://www.hsustore.com/vt12.html

paired with this guy: http://www.hsustore.com/stf1.html

You'd be at $550 plus shipping for a set up worth much more IMO.

I've heard the Ventriloquist setup I'm suggesting. It is superior to SIMILAR offerings by companies like Bose, JBL, Infinity, etc. IMO, but for a lower cost. It kicked the crap out of an old JBL 6.1 setup I had (have but don't use). You need to be aware of the difference in how the centre is set up though. Just read the site for an explanitation.

THe athena Micra setup is a good product too, especially if you don't want to buy without trying the product out first.

 

[MIKED33]

refurb receivers

I'm not sure how confident I would be buying a refurbished receiver. do many ppl do this? I looked at the link provided and just see a 1yr. warranty, but not thru the manufacturer.

 

[Takeereasy]

Ecost.com is an authorized etailer for Onkyo, so the Warranty is through Onkyo is my understanding. If you'd feel more comfortable buying directly from Onkyo you can : http://www.shoponkyo.com/products.cfm?group_id=1

It's only $40 more so you might consider it. As for refurbs I'd go for that deal in a second. Since you're buying from an authorized dealer you take the product to the local shop, no mailing back in the event of a problem. Factory refurbed items have been fixed and tested to ensure that they function as intended. I wouldn't have a second thought about going refurbed but there are those that do and I do understand their concerns. And let me clarify, I'd only have no qualms about going refurbed if it was a manufacturer (or authorized facility) repair, and I got the warranty.

 

[billy p]

Refurb

dosen't mean refuse! Most members will give you a link to a reputable retailer and with a refurb in general you can get a better receiver then a newer one at equal cost. The speakers you've mentioned Athena, I'm using them and have been happy with, also jcpanny suggested the bicamerica brand. For most people they make to big of a deal about the receiver when the speakers count the most. Just remember this hobby is EXPENSIVE and you can always expand later do your best to stay within your budget or spend a little more and buy piece by piece.

 

[MIKED33]

what the hey...

i bought the onkyo on ecost for $149...we'll see what happens

now off to find some speakers!

 

[Takeereasy]

Good luck MikeD. Let us know how it works for you. That receiver is a good entry level model with lots of features that will serve you well I believe. Make sure you tell us how it goes.

 

[Starbound]

I bought my Onkyo 602 refurbished from Ecost for $232.00 including shipping if I remember correctly. It looks like a new one. There was one very small scratch on the back of the remote, that is all I found. It works great and I have had it about a year now. I really like the Onkyo, for the money it is loaded with features. I have it hooked to Athena Micra 6 speakers and replaced the 75W 8" Athena sub with a JBL E150P that I got for $150.00. My living room is 19'x19' and I think it sounds great. I ended up with about $750.00 in my system by the time I bought all the speaker wire and cables that I needed.

 

[Nuglets]

I'm not sure how confident I would be buying a refurbished receiver. do many ppl do this? I looked at the link provided and just see a 1yr. warranty, but not thru the manufacturer.

I also bought a refurbished Yamaha RX-V1400 and it is working perfectly fine, came with everything advertised, and was in new condition. I haven't had it for all that long, probably about 6 months, but it works great and I don't foresee it breaking anytime soon unless my roommate gets a hold of it.