Noob finishing basement that wants good sound in big family room.

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wdastrup

Enthusiast
I am finishing my basement that has a large family room (17 feet by 31 feet with 9 foot ceilings). I am going to put a 70 inch tv on the 17 foot wall and have been trying to figure out how to do audio on the cheap. I found these in wall speakers (new in box) for $200 and think they might be good

3 htd hd-w80 (for front and center speakers)
2 htd hd-r80 ( for rear in ceiling speakers

then I saw this for $150
ONKYO AV Receiver
Model: HT-R393
including a subwoofer

I know this receiver is older but i don't have and don't plan on having a PlayStation or even Blu-ray player hooked up. I only want it to play the audio from the tv to the speakers. Will this setup work, is there anything i am missing or not considering?

thanks
Will
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
I am finishing my basement that has a large family room (17 feet by 31 feet with 9 foot ceilings). I am going to put a 70 inch tv on the 17 foot wall and have been trying to figure out how to do audio on the cheap. I found these in wall speakers (new in box) for $200 and think they might be good

3 htd hd-w80 (for front and center speakers)
2 htd hd-r80 ( for rear in ceiling speakers

then I saw this for $150
ONKYO AV Receiver
Model: HT-R393
including a subwoofer

I know this receiver is older but i don't have and don't plan on having a PlayStation or even Blu-ray player hooked up. I only want it to play the audio from the tv to the speakers. Will this setup work, is there anything i am missing or not considering?

thanks
Will
Those speakers will probably be OK for cheap in-walls. HTD seems like an OK brand. But that receiver is blah. Even $150 seems excessive for it. It is an entry-level Onkyo. Whatever sub that comes with it is sure to be garbage.

If the TV has an optical output, a better system would be to just get a decent but cheap DAC and a couple of good powered monitors. It wouldn't cost a lot more but would sound ten times better.
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
Are you trying to do a home theater or are you just trying to get better sound than the TV produces
 
W

wdastrup

Enthusiast
I have never heard of setting up a Digital to analog converter and using powered monitors. how many monitors can you connect, and can it do surround sound? can you recommend specific items in this setup?

everything we do in this room will be audio coming form the tv, it will have chromecast built in to play videos and auido.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
I have never heard of setting up a Digital to analog converter and using powered monitors. how many monitors can you connect, and can it do surround sound? can you recommend specific items in this setup?

everything we do in this room will be audio coming form the tv, it will have chromecast built in to play videos and auido.
What model TV are you buying? First, we need to know what kind of outputs it has.
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
17 x 31 x 9....... wow, those are 'dream dimensions' ! Save your $$ and do it right !
 
W

wdastrup

Enthusiast
17 x 31 x 9....... wow, those are 'dream dimensions' ! Save your $$ and do it right !
thanks, I was thinking in wall speakers (get the wiring in place) and then I can upgrade pieces (receiver and sub and perhaps even speakers) in the future
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
probably something like this VIZIO 70" Class 4K UHD LED SmartCast Smart TV HDR V-Series V705-H. it will have optical audio out as well has hdmi arc. https://www.walmart.com/ip/VIZIO-70-Class-4K-UHD-LED-SmartCast-Smart-TV-HDR-V-Series-V705-H/936515428
One thing you can do is get this DAC with balanced outputs. Run the TV's optical out into that DAC. Connect some good powered monitors to the DAC with XLR connections. Here are some good inexpensive ones. There are other good monitors too, look at JBL LSR 300 series and the Kali LP-8. Also check out the PreSonus Eris E8 Xt if you can afford to spend a bit more. That system will be superior to an entry-level Onkyo powering some HTD in-walls.

Another good cheap alternative would be to get a pair of Dayton MK442T speakers and this cheap integrated amp to drive them with. That amp has an optical input so you can just hook it up to your TV directly. This system would be simple and have a higher quality sound than the in-walls or some subwoofer from a HTiB.
 
W

wdastrup

Enthusiast
the DAC with studio monitors is an interesting idea, I have never listened to a studio monitor, but several places online seem to think that a nice set of bookshelf speakers would have a better more comfortable sound, but i guess the DAC can't provide power for regular speakers. the dayton speakers look great but I was really hoping for something more concealed hence the in-wall idea. In both cases you mentioned, can either of those do full surround sound. obviously they can do 2 channel, but I was hoping for a 5.1 system.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
the DAC with studio monitors is an interesting idea, I have never listened to a studio monitor, but several places online seem to think that a nice set of bookshelf speakers would have a better more comfortable sound, but i guess the DAC can't provide power for regular speakers. the dayton speakers look great but I was really hoping for something more concealed hence the in-wall idea. In both cases you mentioned, can either of those do full surround sound. obviously they can do 2 channel, but I was hoping for a 5.1 system.
The solutions I mentioned can not do surround sound, they are only two-channel systems. Nonetheless, they are likely to sound better than in-walls combined with an HTiB subwoofer driven by an entry-level receiver. A good two-channel system will blow the doors off of a mediocre surround sound system.

Bookshelf speakers do not necessarily provide a more comfortable sound. In fact, you are more likely to get that with a good monitor than a bookshelf speaker. Furthermore, many monitors have ways to adjust the response to get a warmer sound or hotter sound or whatever kind of sound that you want.

In-wall speakers can't really be made to sound as good as the solutions I mentioned, but they don't have to necessarily sound bad. The HTD ones would probably sound OK. The problem is that there is no way to reposition them or adjust them to make them sound better once they are in the wall. Many speakers benefit from placement experimentation to get the best sound, but with in-walls, once they are installed, you are stuck with that sound.
 
W

wdastrup

Enthusiast
The solutions I mentioned can not do surround sound, they are only two-channel systems. Nonetheless, they are likely to sound better than in-walls combined with an HTiB subwoofer driven by an entry-level receiver. A good two-channel system will blow the doors off of a mediocre surround sound system.

Bookshelf speakers do not necessarily provide a more comfortable sound. In fact, you are more likely to get that with a good monitor than a bookshelf speaker. Furthermore, many monitors have ways to adjust the response to get a warmer sound or hotter sound or whatever kind of sound that you want.

In-wall speakers can't really be made to sound as good as the solutions I mentioned, but they don't have to necessarily sound bad. The HTD ones would probably sound OK. The problem is that there is no way to reposition them or adjust them to make them sound better once they are in the wall. Many speakers benefit from placement experimentation to get the best sound, but with in-walls, once they are installed, you are stuck with that sound.
all valid points. Thank you.
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
In-wall systems needs to be well engineered. Need to have the right speakers. Needs to have the right placement. And needs to have cash lots of cash to sound good.
JMO whatever cash your spending and think your saving on a Budget In-Wall system is wasting money. So if you have $300-$1000 bucks to throw away. Who am I to say don't.
Or spend that money on a Budget 5.1 traditional speaker system that will outperform and sound better
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
In-wall systems needs to be well engineered. Need to have the right speakers. Needs to have the right placement. And needs to have cash lots of cash to sound good.
JMO whatever cash your spending and think your saving on a Budget In-Wall system is wasting money. So if you have $300-$1000 bucks to throw away. Who am I to say don't.
Or spend that money on a Budget 5.1 traditional speaker system that will outperform and sound better
agree completely I have never heard and in wall system sound 'good' , acceptable for movies perhaps but for enjoyment of music, garbage to these ears .......
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
agree completely I have never heard and in wall system sound 'good' , acceptable for movies perhaps but for enjoyment of music, garbage to these ears .......
Well there are systems that sound great. But they are not budget systems with cheap budget components and speakers.
 
Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
Well there are systems that sound great. But they are not budget systems with cheap budget components and speakers.
great is all relative, I've heard fairly high end in-wall set ups and none sounded great as a comparison to free standing speaker setups(music) IMO. I do understand the 'hidden appearance' factor for HT but music, soundstage becomes a joke IMO
 
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