Old School here needs advice on new system (pic included)

[HP666]

Hey guys, I'm new around here and was hoping to get some advice. I am finishing my basement and plan on getting some new equipment when all is said and done. It's been about 10 years since I bought any new stuff and I'm WAY out of the loop. As you can see by the pic below, the viewing/listening area is small so to speak, but the room is rather large at 28X13. I would like to start by getting a new set of surround sound speakers and a new receiver. I wanted to stay under $1500, not that I mind spending $1500, but the area is small and I don't want to over do it either. (if there is such a thing!) Here's is just a basic idea I had already;
Receiver:
Pioneer VSX-816-K AV Receiver, or maybe the Yamaha RX-V659 that was rated so highly here. I found the Yamaha on line for $499. I've seen it for $400 also , but I don't know if that's legit. What I need in a receiver is to have surround sound, DVD, VHS, be able to hook up a Direct TV HD/DVR Recever to it for HDTV someday. I don't have it yet, but I am planning ahead. And also possibly a Playstation 3. OH, and very important, be able to connect an ipod.
Speakers:
I've been looking and found this speaker set up that seems pretty awesome.
http://www.svsound.com/products-sys-sbs_black.cfm
I would get the 5.1 surround sytem with the 12" subwoofer. This would be $1149. I've heard great things about SVS stuff, while I have never personnaly dealt with them.
If anyone has any suggestions on equipment and/or speaker packages I'd like to hear them, that's why I'm here. One concern of mine is, that if I was to go with say the Yamaha receiver and SVS system, is it too much for that area? Or would I be better of downsizing a bit and getting something like this: http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/3328.asp

I also want to mention that while the "home Theater" aspect of this is important to me, I need real good audio sound also. I listen to a ton of music, most of it very loud, and very heavy, so this isn't just for DVD viewing.
I would love to hear some opinions/suggestions.

The basic layout of the room. The speakers/equipment in the pic are where I am intending to place things.

</a>[/IMG]

 

[jonnythan]

I dunno if that speaker system will be very conducive to "loud, heavy" music. I haven't listened to a lot of speakers, but the highly praised audiophile style speakers I've heard never reproduce hard rock music in a way that I like. I used to sometimes hang out at the local A/V shop which featured NHT, B&W, Polk, and Paradigm speakers, and none of the bookshelves (even with an excellent sub attached) sounded good at loud volumes with hard rock and metal.

The ones that have always sounded the best to me are either the speakers with the horn-loaded tweeters like Klipsch or the classic big box "frat house" type speakers like a lot of JBL speakers. My Polk R30s do a decent job at loud rock music, but nothing better than a relatively inexpensive shelf system from Wal Mart to be honest. Of course, these types of speakers generally wouldn't be very good for movie playback. Maybe Klipsch would be a good comprimise.

I'm no expert in these matters, and I haven't listened to a ton of speakers, but I'd love to hear someone comment on this.

edit: I'm thinking that oftentimes the widely praised speakers (Axiom, SVS, Ascend, etc) are known for having a very even frequency response. When I crank some Iron Maiden or Savatage or something, though, I don't want an even frequency response. I want a ton of boost in the bass and mid treble. Maybe that's why those NHTs always sounded like crap to me with some metal playing through them but always sounded so excellent when listening to Diana Krall.

 

[j_garcia]

I'd have to agree with that more or less. My speakers like most kinds of music, but when I throw some metal out on them, they don't seem to do as well with it. I don't know if it is the recordings or what, but it doesn't sound the way I would like.

Those speakers will not be able to fill a room that size adequately IMO. I've heard the SBS-01 package in a 19x14x10' room (closed) and it did well, but your room is quite a larger. The SBS-01 speakers sound great, but they are still smallish bookshelf speakers with lower sensitivity, so large(r) rooms will likely require something a bit larger or more sensitive. The PB-12 will probably be just barely enough for that room as well, unless you aren't looking for extreme bass. I would probably put it in the opposite corner from the stairs also.

I'd go with the 659 over the 816.

 

[agarwalro]

For ear piercing leads, bone crunching guitars and pounding kick drum effects look no further than the Axiom M60's. Now that the shameless pitch is done with...

I like the sound of setup as do many Bose owners. Whats good for someone else may sound like crap to you and vice versa. There are so many good speakers out there, demo as many as possible. In house demo is the best to evealuate sound quality and decide if you like it or not.

If you intend to mostly use the setup for movies, get bookshelf speakers and a beefy sub. If you intend to listen to 2.0 material you will need floorstanding speakers (or go 2.1 if you are not a purist...)

 

[jonnythan]

For ear piercing leads, bone crunching guitars and pounding kick drum effects look no further than the Axiom M60's.

Really? Interesting. I guess they look like they could handle that type of music, I suppose. Hm.. a receiver with an EQ might be in order for that situation.

What about the smaller Axioms?

 

[manofsteel2397]

what ever speakers you choose make sure you have a good eq on your receiver, im not thrilled with my speakers when it comes to metal but im also used to my old pioneer 12" speakers that realy rocked but had distortion which my infinitys dont i think thats one of the maijor differences but my eq on my receiver lets me fine tune every mid hi and bass sound but im still missing the oomph of my old 12" speakers (my infinitys are 6.5") but i must say the tweater is much better and the highs are much clearer on my infinitys
i guess what im getting at is if i didnt have such a good eq on my receiver i would be realy unhappy with the way my music sounds and my sub is not a very good music sub as metal goes sounds good with ht and hip hop or classical but not metal sounds to boomy with rock

 

[HP666]

Yes, I probaly should have added more about the music. I listen to a whole host of different stuff. Including Jazz, some classical, rock, but my mainstay is metal. And I mean really heavy stuff. Cannibal Corpse, Amon Amarth, Deicide, all kinds of Death Metal. As well as the standards like Sabbath, Maiden, Priest.
Just to give you an idea.