Real newbie looking for advise

[charmed101]

Hi all, Was quiet happy about buying a sony in a box system until I read some of the very helpful info in your forums. I decided to surf around and I came up with the following combo for a system. Since dollars are a big consideration, I am considering the "Polk audio system RM 6005" at $300. canadian, the yamaha 6.1 Receiver HTR5840B $350. Cdn. and a Yamaha Divx DVD player $200. Cdn. for a total of $850.Cdn.
Would this be a good starting system ?

Thanks a heap for your advise and help !

 

[edwelly]

I think it would be a nice starting system. However, if you can add a few more $ to the budget, a lot of people hear realy like these for the money - http://www.hsustore.com/vt-12-stf-2.html

Good luck!

 

[Takeereasy]

You will be very hard pressed to beat that value up here in Canada. HSU makes some decent speakers but you will be looking at over $800 to get the ventriloquist and an stf-2 once you get up North and now you won't have a DVD player or a receiver. Don't get me wrong, I think that this is a much superior product to the Polks, but it is outside the price range by a bit I guess. Your only real competition in this pricerange would be the Athena .5 system, but I can't find it on sale anywhere. That Polk setup will sound pretty good in a small/medium room for sure IMO. I don't think you'll be able to beat that package you've put together barring a big sale somewhere. That polk sub is pretty weak, but it will do a great job for you if you put it in a corner and as long as the room it's in isn't too big.

What you may want to do is walk into a local shop and give them your total budget and see what they can put together for you. There are not many speaker systems that come with a sub and 5 speakers for $300 Canadian that aren't just terrible, but if you go in with the opportunity for them to sell you a whole package they might find you some great stuff for your whole budget.

 

[charmed101]

follow up

Thanks guys, appreciate the help, will check out both of these speaker systems and see what I come up with.

Great place for people like me that are in the dark on audio!! thanks again

 

[jaxvon]

I have to agree with the local dealer thing. A good dealer will give you a deal if you buy a complete system from them. And if they're anything like dealers here in the US, cash can make a deal even nicer for you

 

[TooFar]

Advice Needed

Hi, I am looking at the same system. Polk RM6005 & Yamaha HTR5840B for a total cost of CAN$650. This appears to be the best deal going around in this price range.

Other options I'm looking at are a Harmon Kardon AVR135 & Mission M2S speakers for CAN$800. Or the Athena Micra 6 @ CAN$500 + the HTR5840B @ CAN$350.

Unfortunalty I can not listen to them all at the same location, any advice?

 

[Rayzor]

I just intalled this system (Polk RM6005/Yamaha HTR5840)for my parents in their main living room (about 350 sq. ft.) and it does a good job for them. It won't produce high SPL levels, but does the job for general movie watching and listening. Take into consideration the size of your listening room also; high celings or a larger square footage may make you wish you had larger/louder speakers. A room about the same size or smaller will work great with that setup. My opinion is that Polk makes very good sounding speakers for the price. Good Luck!

 

[Wiley]

Further Questions Much Like Charmed's

I'm glad Charmed ask the same question I've been wondering. And I'm grateful for edwelly's response. I took a look at the link provided and have another question.

I've read a lot of posts on this forum and Home Theater Mag's; most people suggest starting with speakers and putting most of one's budget towards that. Like Charmed, I'm on a budget for speakers ... probably a little higher ~$1.5 - $2K US.

Reading a lot, I came up with the Aperion Audio 5.1 system, too. But now the HSU system looks nice, too. So my question is this: after reading a lot, people say it's better to buy separate speakers vs. HTIB systems;, is the HSU or Aperion okay for a starter, or, with my budget stated above, would you all suggest buying speakers piecemeal? If so, with a small room 15x15, what is recommended?

Thanks for your time in reading this.

 

[AVRat]

Wiley,
With a budget like that, your options become more numerous and the decision more difficult. It is best to keep your main speakers from the same manufacturer and product line, but the sub can be different. The best recommendation at this point is to go and audition brands in your area.

 

[Wiley]

AVRat - I didn't see too many separates in that price range that the true audiophiles have. Granted, I'm sure b/c they can afford more.

I'll go audition this weekend, thanks! Anything you think I should focus my consideration on?

 

[AVRat]

Working with the $2000 budget and earmarking $600 for a good sub leaves you with $1400 for 5 channels. How you configure your system is up to you. You can put together a great audio system from any of the following companies.

Aperion Audio
Ascend Acoustics
Axiom http://www.axiomaudio.com/epic50_main.html
B&W
BIC - Acoustech
Boston Acoustics
Definitive Technology
Energy
HSU
Monitor Audio
Paradigm
Phase Technology
Pinnacle
Polk
PSB
JBL
KEF
Klipsch
Infinity
M&K
Mirage
NHT
RBH
SVS

 

[Marci]

Another Newbie's Question

Hello folks! I'm hoping that you might have some guidance for us. We're the new proud owners of a Toshiba HLV85 HDTV (with DVD). We have the local cable HD and digital signals, and we are using their universal remote control. We are hooked up with an HDMI cable. My question?

How do we get the picture size on non-HD channels changed to eliminate the bars across the top/bottom or sides of the screen? Neither the HD Zoom (on the universal remote) nor the Pic Size (on the Toshiba TV remote) have any effect. In fact, when Pic Size is selected on the TV remote, the message "Not Available" shows up on the screen.

Any ideas on how to fix this? We would like to be able to view non-HD channels in full screen mode.

Thanks for any assistance or ideas you might have.