newbie here...

[twain]

my first receiver/tuner

First of all, kudos to the man who created this site. Excellent!

Now, as a noob to the art of sound, let me preface my question by saying I don't want to spend alot of money, or shall I say: I can't spend alot of money, i.e., I don't have much.

With that said, I'm looking for an adequate receiver/tuner for watching football games and more importantly, to pick up an AM station that for the most part can only be picked up in certain vehicles at certain times around certain parts of town. I don't even know if there is variation in reception capabilities among receivers.

For speakers, I currently own what apparently are 6 pieces of crap I won for $50 off of ebay. They came with a DVD and the owner shoveled them off to a sucker like me who didn't read how much he wanted for shipping. They have little clips to receive two wires from a cheap *** old school wire (red and black) like I used to run from my turntable when I was in 7th grade (early 80's). With the equipment I'm looking at now, I don't see how they can be compatible.

Here is a pioneer (although not a fan of this brand) that's affordable, and I was wondering what everyone thought:
****Edited: Link didn't work but here is the model: Pioneer Surround Sound Receiver (VSXD515K) for $179

Also, do I need to buy some speakers or even a system and pawn off what I got stuck with? They are RCA 5 speakers and a subwoofer, and all have those little paired clip connections on the back.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. I look forward to learning about building quality sound (I am a music freak!), but I'd like to start out from the low-end until I can afford something better. PEACE!

Twain out

 

[Spiffyfast]

What is your total budget, or are you looking for the cheapest way possible type of setup? Are you using this for HDTV with surround sound for watching football, or just standard tv and want the illusion of surround sound? What TV do you have to work with?

 

[twain]

Well, I have a $250 32" sanyo tv and those little crappy speakers I mentioned. I also have a $45 dvd player (can't recall the brand) which has a VERY slow response time. I love renting movies but I'm more into football, AM sportstalk and music music music. I don't have HDtv, but a simple direct TV with nfl ticket. I wouldn't mind it sounding like I was at the game...my price range is around $200 but would pay more if speakers were included. I'd probably sell mine on ebay unless I can make them work. One of my primary concerns (as silly as it sounds), is to pick up my favorite AM station, and to be able to have surround sound and play my music. I hope my low standard of quality isn't insulting, but I'm hurting in the cash dept recently, and I'm impatient. I'm just ready to get on the bandwagon!

 

[twain]

http://www.sanyo.com/entertainment/televisions/flatscreen/index.cfm?productID=745

I think this is my television and if it's not then it's pretty close. I bought it last yr.

 

[Spiffyfast]

Well if you're willing to stretch your budget to around $300, im going to catch some guff around here for this, but a HTIB (Home Theater in a Box) may be all that you need or want.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7034675&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat40200050004&id=1099395730557

Something like this will be able to tune in your AM stations, should include an AM loop antenna, if that doesnt do the trick, powered antenanna can be found for $25 or so dollars. You'll want something that includes dolby prologic(I or II) any HTIB should have that. Pro Logic will take the two channel sound from your Direct TV box and simulate a 5.1 surround sound enviroment, my old sony HTIB actually had a sound processing that added an echo so it really sounded like I was at the stadium. You'll also be able to hook this up to your dvd player (depending on the model) and watch your movies in true 5.1 surround sound. If you have any more questions just post them and they'll get answered.

 

[jaxvon]

Well, if I'm not mistaken, the NFL ticket is only in stereo. AM radio (I think) is only mono, or very poor stereo at that.

I would say that, to get the best sound quality, you start with a decent receiver and a pair of speakers. As you get more cashflow, you add on until you get a whole system set up.

$200 seems a tad slim to me, especially if you want to end up with surround sound eventually. Here's what I would go for. It offers good sound, expandability, and will be able to crank volume wise, so you can start to get the "At the Game" feel.

Receiver: Pioneer VSX-815K, $250 shipped from J&R. You have to call their 800-number to get the best price (800-806-1115). Here's a recent review.

Speakers: 1pr BIC DV62si Bookshelves, $120.94 shipped from Amazon

If you think you'd eventually want more features than the 815 offers, you might consider going for a Stereo receiver for right now, perhaps an H/K off eBay . Then later, when funds permit, you can relegate the stereo unit to the bedroom or something and get a beefier receiver with more features for your main room.

 

[malvado78]

Htib

If you are going to go HTIB and spend around $350 I would go with this....
Onkyo HT-770

This gives you a entry level receiver (As many HTIB's would) but for the price the subwoofer does a nice job. The speakers are pretty inefficient but also do a good job. THese speakers are not the small cube speaker you see in other HTIB's they are real speakers though not by any means high end they do a good job. The link above is for a refurb for $249.88 with another 100 dollars for shipping (It weighs 112.31lbs). Total about $350. I bought one earlier this year and while I want to upgrade the speakers, I am not in a rush to do so. I have a small room and they do well there. The subwoofer has good base down to 20Hz (Tested usinf Avia). It is a bit boomy but this most likely has more to do with the room than the subwoofer. This is a great price for a better than most HTIB. This receiver is better than the original Pioneer you were looking at. The Pio was rate at 1% THD this receiver pushes 130 W (8Ω, 20 Hz–20 kHz, FTC). The receiver is comperable to the Onkyo 502 which used to be in the under $1,000 recommended systems here at Audioholics but this article has been updates and I don't know if the old one is still around.

I have been very happy with this product for the price.

 

[twain]

Wow lots of new terminology for me to learn but that's what I anticipated. $350 is doable for me but I was hoping to skeet by with those toys I purchased from ebay. I'll look into each one of these options, and undoubtedly will be posting more on this topic. Hats off to each one of you for extending a wing! It's greatly appreciated.

P.S. This site was recommended to me from a football board--said you guys were the best...

 

[twain]

pics of what I got

Ok, I know my speakers are crap, but will they work? I noticed that most subwoofers have little knobs and other connections where mine only have the paired connections. If I bought a decent receiver, could I get by with these? I'd rather by a quality receiver in the beginning if I can...

 

[malvado78]

Speakers

Your speakers will hookup fine. The difference between the other subwoofers and what you have, I believe, is yours is passive and the others you see are powered. This means there is an amplifier for just the subwoofer to take the strain off of the receiver and give the subwoofer more power. Those speakers will work fine with a receiver. They may not be the best sounding speakers (I'm not knocking them) but they will work fine especially if you are just looking for surround sound for footbal (not the most demanding audio much of the surround is crowd but it does sound cool all around). So spend the money on the reciever for now and upgrade those speakers later. When you do upgrade the speakers you will notice a huge difference though.

 

[Spiffyfast]

You can definately get buy with what you have with a entry level receiver. The only problem you will run into is that your sub will need an external amp if you want to keep the one you currently own. You can find a small powered sub for around $100 new on www.ubid.com something like this would work http://www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage.asp?AuctionId=800359993

also may want to check www.jr.com or www.vanns.com they both usually have some great deals on receivers and speakers

 

[twain]

so you're saying that my sub will not work? The one from the link looks like another subwoofer...so am I replacing it or supplementing it?

 

[Spiffyfast]

so you're saying that my sub will not work? The one from the link looks like another subwoofer...so am I replacing it or supplementing it?

What your using now runs off of the amp on your receiver/dvd player unit. If you buy a new receiver it wont have an amp to power a sub it will just have amps to power your surround sound speakers. So you will have to buy a sub with an amp built into it, or buy an external amp for the current sub you have (which will probably cost more). The link I sent you was a powered amp, so you just run an rca cable from the subwoofer out on a new receiver to the input on the sub and poof you have bass coming from the sub.

 

[Spiffyfast]

Saw this receiver on JR, it could be what your looking for $180 bucks and its 6.1 so you can take full advantage of whats available on dvd's right now. With this one you will need to buy a powered sub.
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4035735

Another option would be to get a better receiver now, and then save for a new sub and get it when money permits.

 

[malvado78]

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought you can somehow wire a passive sub across the L/R front speakers so it would get that signal. I thought that was how passive subwoofers were normally connected.

 

[Spiffyfast]

Correct me if I am wrong but I thought you can somehow wire a passive sub across the L/R front speakers so it would get that signal. I thought that was how passive subwoofers were normally connected.

If he had an external amp that could be turned used as mono to power the sub then that is the way he would wire it. Run the sub out from a new receiver attach a y cable so you can send the signal to both the left and right inputs on the amp. Then if it allows to be bridged connect (been awhile since i've messed with it) the left positive to the speaker wire and right negative to the speaker wire and then connect it to the sub as normal.

 

[twain]

Spiffy that looks like the one I posted at the start of the thread.

I think I'd be satisified with that, but I guess we're back at the root of the problem. Would I? I guess I'll never know if I don't know the difference in sound quality. You guys have been extremely helpful--I appreciate it. Any good mags on home audio? This website seems sufficient with info, though, essentially rendering any magazine useless.

 

[twain]

another question: what accessories do I need to get this puppy humming? How many cables and whatnot...what kind of wires? I want to maximize my listening experience with that pioneer and my piece of crap speakers. Should I save for a complete set of speakers (including the powered sub) or just a sub? It seems the smartest thing to do is to buy a boxed set...which begs the question: what's wrong with box sets?

 

[Spiffyfast]

another question: what accessories do I need to get this puppy humming? How many cables and whatnot...what kind of wires? I want to maximize my listening experience with that pioneer and my piece of crap speakers. Should I save for a complete set of speakers (including the powered sub) or just a sub? It seems the smartest thing to do is to buy a boxed set...which begs the question: what's wrong with box sets?

Ok, well first off, Lets get back to your equipment you have now, your TV and DVD player and Sattelite. Now, with the DVD Player, does it have a digital audio out? I can't tell by the picture but looks like you have a fiber optic, or a digital coax out on the far left beside the stereo (red and white) outs. If so, you will connect one of these digital audio outs [you will need a digital audio cable] to an input on the receiver so you can have surround sound movies. For the Video part of it, you have a component out (red, green, blue) and you have those inputs on your tv [also another new cable], that will give you your best picture quality for your movies. Now on to the sattelite, instead of running the coax cable to the tv like you have it, run the s-video [also another new cable] output to your tv this will give you better pic. quality and then run the stereo audio (red and white cables) to the receiver. Running things this way your basically using your tv as just a monitor and you will have the best picture and audio quality possible with your current system.

Now onto the speakers, of course the best thing to do would be to upgrade all your speakers with something that you think sounds the best. If you order the receiver you can use your current speakers for now, except for the sub, which will need to be replaced. You can always upgrade the speakers later, but you may find that with the receiver and a more powerful sub, they will work fine for your needs.

A box set is ok...I'm not going to say bad b/c you may go to a store and find a set you really like, its within your budget and your set. The problem is alot of companies make speakers and subs, the problem is that they normally don't make good versions of both. By buying the seperately you leave yourself with more options.

If after you have everything hooked up and the speakers just arent doing it for you, come back to us with an aprox. amount of money you want to save up and spend and we can come up with some great ideas to match with your equipment.

 

[twain]

Got a receiver

Hey guys, I bought that pioneer spiffy suggested, and I even managed to hook up three of my speakers (got tired)...lot of confusing work!!

Anyway, I think I have everything like I want it except my center speaker doesn't make any sound. I know it works because I hooked it up to the front and it plays fine. I know my connection is good b'c it makes that hissing noise when I do my 'channel setup' through the receiver (they all do that but I don't know why). Any suggestions as to why it isn't playing?