Recommendations for Home Theater System

[AustinSwifty]

Hi everyone, I'm looking to put together a home audio system and would like any feedback you can offer.

My room dimensions are:
15ft x 18ft with 10ft ceilings. The tv is on the 18ft wall and the left wall is open to the rest of the house (dining, kitchen, etc.)

I'm thinking about putting this together in stages...starting with the front speakers, subwoofer and receiver....spending around $1,500

I've heard good things about this subwoofer. Can anyone else comment or make other recommendations on both speakers and subwoofers?

AVS123 MFW-15 Subwoofer

Also the way my tv is offset, i'm limited on floor room so even wall mounted or inset or an option. Having floor standing speakers would be a little much for my space and would be in the normal walking path, etc.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Well, first of all you want to stay away from av123 like from a wildfire.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53755

Second, I understand about floor space issues, but are there other design considerations like? aka the WAF

Also - What type of usage do expect from new HT? % of Movies/Music?

If waf isn't your problem, I'd recommend with open heart get 3 pair of Behringer 2030p, this sub - http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-cyl-pc12_nsd.cfm
and spend the rest b'ween receiver and room treatments from http://www.atsacoustics.com/
WYI: Behringers don't come with screen covers - WYSIWYG

 

[sholling]

You really need to know the total open space. What you listed comes out to about 2700 cubic feet. I'm guessing that by the time you add the kitchen and dining room you're getting close to 4000cuft. If so you're going to need a beefy sub to give you room shaking bass for movies. I'd make a drawing complete attached open spaces and with dimensions and then contact both Hsu Research and SVSound and have them size a subwoofer. Both make great subs and offer great bang for the buck.

I use the Behringer speakers that Bored recommended in my office and they really are surprisingly good speakers for the money. Even better with a few very simple modifications someone on here developed. But Bored is also right about them not being pretty.

 

[AustinSwifty]

No WAF factor involved here. As for % between music and movies, I would say I probably lean more towards listening to music than HT...maybe 60/40.

In response to sholling, the entire room is probably 35ft long x 15ft depth with the "living room" taking up 1/2 of the space. The 1st 17ft is the kitchen breakfast room....just one long open room. The left side of my living space is open to the kitchen and the right side is the back wall of the house.

Because of the fireplace on that last 17ft, the tv is more to the right, closer to the back wall versus being centered.

 

[sholling]

No WAF factor involved here. As for % between music and movies, I would say I probably lean more towards listening to music than HT...maybe 60/40.

In response to sholling, the entire room is probably 35ft long x 15ft depth with the "living room" taking up 1/2 of the space. The 1st 17ft is the kitchen breakfast room....just one long open room. The left side of my living space is open to the kitchen and the right side is the back wall of the house.

Because of the fireplace on that last 17ft, the tv is more to the right, closer to the back wall versus being centered.

That's 5250cuft. That's a ton of cubic feet for a single sub to pressurize. You're probably going to eventually want either one great big honking subwoofer that will eat up your entire budget, or to just get something beefy for now and then add a second later for movie thump. I'd go the latter route. The nice thing is that something like a budget busting Hsu VTF-3 MK3 or a less expensive SVS PB12NSD make fine end tables for the couch.

Since you're mostly into music I'd start either with a nice 3.1 system or an exceptionally good package deal. The problem is that speakers are subjective and what I like or what someone else like may not float your boat. You can audition at a local store or take your chance buying factory direct and get more bang for the buck. Anyway I haven't heard the SVS bookshelf speakers but they have a decent reputation so they are something to keep in mind. I do own one of their subs and it rocks! Unfortunately that 5.1 12" package with a really good receiver takes you way over budget. But you could probably get by just fine with this receiver but you'd still be a tad over. Just be sure those receivers have plenty of air flow around them.

The Behringers that Bored suggested combined with a good sub would keep you within budget. Especially if you start with 2 pair for a 3.1 system and come back and add a pair for surrounds later. These sound pretty good out of the box but they really do excel (for the price) with the modifications one of the members developed. I'm still experimenting looking for the best stuffing for step 1 but have finished 2-4 and I'm pretty darned impressed for $130/pr speakers.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

It's hard to see how in 5200sq floor space is in such high demand ,
but I think you you might want to invest in cylinder sub as big as possible, since as shrolling mention it'll be very hard job to fill.
I stick to PC12-NSD because of budget/space considerations, but update to PC12-Plus is highly recommended.

Other option is to go with dual subwoofers (cheaper than mentioned), now there are plenty of fans of this setup here, but unfortunately I wasn't able to find good how to integrate them,
What I think is at minimum you'll need one Behringer BFD DSP1124P to help you to integrate your subs into your space and with the rest of speakers.
There few BFD guides out there , I'll just pick few now:

http://bfdguide.ws/
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/bfdguide/

 

[AustinSwifty]

Thanks for the suggestions...I'm leaning towards the PC12-Plus if I can come up with the extra $400...seems like it would be worth it.

 

[sholling]

What I think is at minimum you'll need one Behringer BFD DSP1124P to help you to integrate your subs into your space and with the rest of speakers.

That's really kind of overkill for the average 2 sub setup. I know Jerry likes these but it's overkill to start with. I think I'd just invest in a cheap radio shack SPL meter and a tape measure and call it a day. An Onkyo TX-SR707 7.2 receiver will set the levels for the subs and the meter and tape measure is there to double check the auto-setup settings. Later if there is something bugging the OP is the time to get fancy.