Noob needs help starting from almost scratch

[katmu]

I am going through a divorce and audiophile/videophile husband is taking his Pioneer Elite receiver and Definitive Tech speakers with him along with the TV. The only thing I currently have is an Sony upconvert DVD player. I am about decided on a TV- Panasonic 1080p 42" Plasma. I was originally looking at Onkyo receivers but stumbled upon the Marantz SR4002 and SR6001 receivers today at Accessories4less.com and I'm trying to decide if these are a better deal for the money. The room is small - 13' X 13' so I'm thinking 5.1 would be plenty. I'm the most confused about speakers but would also like some input on the receiver. I love the look of the Axiom bookshelf speakers (Yes I'm a girl and they have an oak option that matches the floors and woodwork in the house). The system would be used for both movies, gaming on my son's Xbox 360 and music (I like Blues, Eric Clapton, Otis Redding). Help please

 

[Zool]

The name 'Marantz' has been around for a long time and I still have and use an old 1981 marantz. The 90watts/7 channels should be plenty of power to make those axioms speakers sounds great. Just choose a decent subwoofer and you'll be thrilled. For that space you may want to choose a smaller type sub - I don't have one, but I've listened to the sunfire subs and they are little cubes that put out a ton of good clean bass. I hope that helps, but take with a grain of salt as its only been a year since I've been bitten by the audiophile bug.

btw, not many ladies out there talking audio/video - at least none that I know - but I must say, its impressive to hear!! - I usually hear brands like YSL and Fendi

 

[lsiberian]

I am going through a divorce and audiophile/videophile husband is taking his Pioneer Elite receiver and Definitive Tech speakers with him along with the TV. The only thing I currently have is an Sony upconvert DVD player. I am about decided on a TV- Panasonic 1080p 42" Plasma. I was originally looking at Onkyo receivers but stumbled upon the Marantz SR4002 and SR6001 receivers today at Accessories4less.com and I'm trying to decide if these are a better deal for the money. The room is small - 13' X 13' so I'm thinking 5.1 would be plenty. I'm the most confused about speakers but would also like some input on the receiver. I love the look of the Axiom bookshelf speakers (Yes I'm a girl and they have an oak option that matches the floors and woodwork in the house). The system would be used for both movies, gaming on my son's Xbox 360 and music (I like Blues, Eric Clapton, Otis Redding). Help please

The 4002 would be a terrific choice. For speakers I suggest you audition if you can. If you give me a budget I can make suggestions.

The room is very small so you don't need a lot of power in it. Even the KEF 3000 series would be fantastic in such a small space.


http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/KEFIQSRPACKA/KEF/iQ-Speaker-Package-with-Marantz-SR4002-receiver-cables-More-/1.html is my suggestion to anyone lost on what to buy. it comes with everything.

Makes life easy(FYI never buy monster cable, but it comes at cost in the package.)

 

[katmu]

The 4002 would be a terrific choice. For speakers I suggest you audition if you can. If you give me a budget I can make suggestions.

The room is very small so you don't need a lot of power in it. Even the KEF 3000 series would be fantastic in such a small space.

link deleted as newbie not allowed to post with a link in the post.

Makes life easy(FYI never buy monster cable, but it comes at cost in the package.)

Budget for 5 speakers and subwoofer maybe $1500 or so. I would prefer to stay away from floorstanding speakers if I can (just a little tired of speakers that weigh almost as much as I do). The room has 2 wide arched openings into adjoining rooms so I can either mount the surround speakers on the wall behind the sofa or on the side walls out to about 30" before the arch starts.

I've been looking though the specs for the 2 Marantz receivers and in terms of things I might care about, I think these are the trade-offs: SR6001 has video up-conversion, Auddysey, bass management, multi-room capable, front panel A/V inputs and learning remote. The SR4002 has more HDMI inputs and uses less energy. Overall they are pretty comparable though.

 

[lsiberian]

Budget for 5 speakers and subwoofer maybe $1500 or so. I would prefer to stay away from floorstanding speakers if I can (just a little tired of speakers that weigh almost as much as I do). The room has 2 wide arched openings into adjoining rooms so I can either mount the surround speakers on the wall behind the sofa or on the side walls out to about 30" before the arch starts.

I've been looking though the specs for the 2 Marantz receivers and in terms of things I might care about, I think these are the trade-offs: SR6001 has video up-conversion, Auddysey, bass management, multi-room capable, front panel A/V inputs and learning remote. The SR4002 has more HDMI inputs and uses less energy. Overall they are pretty comparable though.

I've found Auddysey to be not as good as advertised and I used the most advanced one. You seem to at least have a head on your shoulders. I will also toss the HK AVR 254 out there. They severly underrate their wattages so don't read into that too much.

For 1500 dollars you will want to probably look around the used market. There are really good deals to be had out there.

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?homesubw&1249593138&/SVS-pb12-nsd- is a crazy deal for that sub.

It would leave you with 1000 dollars for the rest of the speakers. I'm a Kef man so that's where I would spend my money. KEF iQ5s, iQ8s, and an iQ6 center.