Proposed new system--need advice

[cbell2112]

Hello All--

I am new to HT set up but am building a house and want to set this thing up right the first time. My budget is around $12K for all the components/wiring. If I can spend less then great but quality matters a lot. I've taken a couple of bids from some high end AV companies but have convinced myself that I can do this with the help of a couple of friends. The room for the home theater is 12 feet deep but 24' wide. A staircase separates the room into to halfs. The home theater system will be on the slightly wider side to get as much sitting space as possible. The couch will be pushed back as far as possible against the wall. So one of my main concerns is the positioning of the surrounds as they will be much closer to the listening area than all the other speakers. My plan is to mount some Axioum QS8's at around 54 inches. I am hoping that I will be able to calibrate the speakers so that there isn't a balance issue with the surrounds being too loud compared to the other speakers.

My other concerns and needs are:

1) Music is paramount. I have a huge collections of CD's and MP3's. I want the system to be very musical.. My interests include mostly hard rock/heavy metal/blues and some jazz. Pretty much anything that has great guitar work.

2) I want the system to be fully integrated with my computer system. I plan to have a dedicated server built to store all my MP3's, AVI's and can also be used for gaming. So any suggestions on video cards/sound cards that will work well with the following components will be greatly appreciated.

3) The system for the HT will be 5.1 due to the size of the room but I plan to buy a 7.1 system and use the extra 2 channels for my remote speakers around the house. There will be 10 sets of remote speakers. Mostly in ceiling.

4) I will be using a SlimDevices SqueezeBox to control my MP3's playing on the dedicated media server from around the house. If anyone has any experience with this unti, that would be great.

So as of today, I have narrowed the field to the following. Any comments or suggestions are really greatly appreciated.

Samsung HLN507W
Outlaw 950 Pre/Pro
Outlaw 770 Amp
Axiom M60 Front Speakers
Axiom VP150 Center
Axiom QS8 Surrounds
Axiom EP350 Sub(or possibly the Outlaw LFM-1 sub)

Denon DVD2900(not totally set on this) Any other suggestions welcome. It seems very expensive.

For cables and wiring I was going to go with the outlaw cables as they seem to be high caliber and a good value.

Another question is which of these has the best universal remote or do I need to buy a Harmony or Pronto type deal.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

CB

 

[Dan]

I have the Denon 2900 and am very happy with it. Consider the 2200 which has all the features but is not quite as robustly built if budget is an issue. There are many others in this price range.

I looked into Outlaw two years ago when I was buying and opted to go with the advantage of local dealer support. From what I have read( I have not heard them) they are a good choice.

I have not heard Axioms although they are well reviewed here. At the risk of sounding like a broken record on this site, consider Vandersteen speakers. They sound rather different than the conventional narrow box speaker but are very wonderful and excellent value since they have little wood veneer. The model 2CE as about $1500 plus the stands which they need and sound great. They are somewhat large and many think unattractive (poor WAF) however. Since your primary interest is music consider subs aimed at music of which there are less than those meant for explosions. Vandy 2Wq is one ($1300 new) which is a lot but the are very fast, tight and linear well into the subsonic range (8Hz claimed). There are other musical subs but most are more expensive( Revel comes to mind).

Enjoy the shopping.

 

[cbell2112]

Dan--

Thanks for the response. I'll check into the Vandersteen speakers. As far as the dealers go... They are very pricey with the labor costs going well into the thousands. Thought I would go ahead and put my nose to the grindstone and figure it out myself. I think you learn a lot more about the systems capabilities by doing it yourself.

 

[Dan]

I just meant a dealer for support if I had a problem. I the install myself. There is no better way to understand how things work. I don't think you can fully utilize your system if you can't wire it together.

 

[frostbyte]

System Choices

Fun fun. Your TV selection should be had for >$3500. It looks like about $5k will be alloted for speakers/sub. You can probably get the 61" for $3500 and the 50" for $3200

From your description of the room, can the rear speakers be placed behind you instead of beside you or are the stairs in the way? Further behind would be better than too close beside you.

I love RBH and B&W speakers. If you haven't given them a listen I would suggest it. I've heard good things about SVS subs, but I haven't heard them first hand. I'm running RBH speakers and subs.

 

[cbell2112]

Being that it's only 11' from the front wall to the back wall, I think 50" is as big as I should get. And b/c I only have 11' I might be able to pull the sofa or chairs a few inches off the wall but not much. The Axiom speakers are quadpole and fire up down and to both sides. The Axiom help line indicated I should mount these on the wall at 7' and they should work great.

I'm more concerned with the DLP now as someone in another forum says they are not good at all so right now I am trying to verify. Front projection will not work for me. Plasma is too expensive and has the burn in issue which will surely happen to me.

 

[zipper]

I have the M60's & am very pleased with them. I'm considering getting a pr of M22's to compliment them. The DLP is a sweet viewing unit.I'd be interested to know what the negatives are with it. I'm going to be in the market for a TV upgrade this year & am hoping that Mitsubishi & Panasonic get their DLP's out soon. Would definitely consider the Samsung but I'm going to wait for others to come out for comparison.

 

[Mark Duncan]

I know the Gateway TV's have been criticized a lot, but I love the 56" DLP. That is what I am using, and I've had it for 6 months. It has a great picture in HD from the cable, progressive scan DVD, and RGB input from my computer in 1280X720 resolution. I am typing this message on it right now.

Just my 2 cents.
Mark

 

[Unregistered]

Have you considered using a projector? Infocus sells DLP orojectors for as little as $999, and a screen can run from free to >$1000 (Cheapest DIY to expensive Commercial).

For speakers (at least the fronts) I would recommend Magnepans. The MMG's are only $550 a pair and are wonderfull, I personally own these and they are fantastic for the price and as a conversation piece , I plan on upgrading to the MG1.6QR's, they are only ~$1500. However they do require alot of room, about 3' behind them (2' minimum). I tried to place mine against the wall as a "low footprint" solution and thye literally sounded like $7 computer speakers because of all the dipole cancelation . I was thinking about getting Martin Logans, but after listening to them and having Maggies, I feel the $1500 1.6QR's are probably the best hi end value in HiFi audio period. Magnepan also offers smaller MMG variants starting at $300, however be aware that the MMG's put out about as much bass as a good 6.5" woofer, so decreaseing the surface area will definantly require a external sub.