Shopping.

[gzyzwc]

Hello I am new here, and right after christmas going to be purchasing a new setup. I have read the forums silently for a bit, and checked out http://www.audioholics.com/showcase/systemguide/5KRecommendedhometheater.php
I may ask for one of the pieces of this setup for christmas so I should start my shopping now LOL.

I have a few questions hopefully you can help me with.
Here are the Facts.
Room I will be placing this is in is 12 x 15 feet with 10foot celiengs.
Budget for A/V is approximatly $6,000
Budget for Furniture is approximatly $3,000
So the total budget is $9,000 if it goes over by 10% it is not the end of the world, that wiggle room is for tax and shipping LOL.

1.) I see this is the last non projection TV reccomendation made on the site, I am debating between LCD and a DLP projection TV. Leaning heavily towards the new Mitsubishi 50" DLP 1080p tv.

2.) is the Yamaha RX-V1600 still the reccomended reciever. So far it looks fine to me.

3.) DVD player, in the past I have owned a 30(1) disk Sony that I love, for keeping my entire library in a single player and not having to keep the boxes around. I have 278 DVD's but with the new HD format, and using a 1080p TV what should I do, is their a 300+ disk player that will play HD or 1080p? Should I get a 2nd DVD player and just run 2? I like the convienience of having all my DVD's in 1 spot with no cases. I am also curious about the new sony Blue Ray, but of course sony's past on this (Think betamax, and minidisc) is not hopeful.

4.) speakers, the Axiom look great, I am heavily considering this, should I change from this has any new technology come out?

5.) Cables, I am ok with spending money on the right tools. Any changes I should make over the reccomended cables?

6.) I am considering picking up the Ultra Entertainment Center 5, http://www.studiotech.com/products/home_theater_furniture/index.html
I am not sure if I need a full cabinet look though. Would I be better off going more new wave? and just leaving my stuff exposed?
Schroers and Schroers comes to mind. (quick newb question, the studio tech do I have to leave the doors open to change the channel etc. . and do the speakers go inside the cabinets?

Thanks a ton guys!

Fred.

 

[jcPanny]

HT System

Speaker technology doesn't change very quickly, but electronics like receivers and displays do.

For example, the Yamaha RX-V2700 and 1700 models are out. This also means you can get a better deal on the RX-V2600 for <$900.

For displays, if you have decent light control, I think you should consider Front projection. There are some great options in the $1-2k price range including the Optima HD70 for $1k. The 100"+ screen will be a lot more impressive in your HT than a 50" Plasma.

Once you have your new display, I would suggest an Oppo digital DVD player to maximize its perfromance with standard DVDs. The first gen HD-DVD and BluRay players are quirky and expensive so I would hold off for a year or two.

 

[Nick250]

IMO the most important part of your research will be to audition every dang speaker in your price range. It's time consuming but there is no getting around this if you really care about the sound quality. It can be a make or break component of your audio system. Sound is so subjective so it's your ears, no one else's that matter.

Nick

 

[gzyzwc]

Speaker technology doesn't change very quickly, but electronics like receivers and displays do.

For example, the Yamaha RX-V2700 and 1700 models are out. This also means you can get a better deal on the RX-V2600 for <$900.

For displays, if you have decent light control, I think you should consider Front projection. There are some great options in the $1-2k price range including the Optima HD70 for $1k. The 100"+ screen will be a lot more impressive in your HT than a 50" Plasma.

Once you have your new display, I would suggest an Oppo digital DVD player to maximize its perfromance with standard DVDs. The first gen HD-DVD and BluRay players are quirky and expensive so I would hold off for a year or two.

I am just worried about the fact that I will only be sitting about 10 feet away from the screen. This is a living room, I am curious how many of you use projetion screens in regular living room senarios. I am also thinking with a Projection screen would the entertainment center be appropriate? Couldn't I just use a stand then? I have always heard that you should sit about 3x the distance of the height of your TV away, which means a TV about 40 inches high, is about max.

Yeah I figured that the technology changes quicly that is why I was asking. Thanks a ton for your input, would you reccomnd I go for the RX0V2700? or is something newer and better in this price range I should shoot for? I am hopeing to get a great system mainly for watching movies and TV. I don't listen to music on my stereo very often to be honest wtih you. Of course on a new system hooking up my itunes is a must.

Were do you guys reccomend going to test speakers? which stores are cool with you putting stuff in their devices and listening to them? I am partialy tone deaf so to be honest to you, I am not a good judge of what sounds the best. As long as the jets sound like they are flying by in Top Gun I am probably going to be happy LOL. This sytem is definatly mostly for movies, hearing the actors is most important to me. So I figure a good quality center channel is what I am going for.

Thanks for all the help.

 

[Matt34]

Were do you guys reccomend going to test speakers? which stores are cool with you putting stuff in their devices and listening to them? I am partialy tone deaf so to be honest to you, I am not a good judge of what sounds the best. As long as the jets sound like they are flying by in Top Gun I am probably going to be happy LOL. This sytem is definatly mostly for movies, hearing the actors is most important to me. So I figure a good quality center channel is what I am going for.

Thanks for all the help.

I love spending other people's money but damn if I don't have the time right now. I will however recommend you take a look at AV123 line of Rocket speakers due to the excellent RSC200 center channel(aka Bigfoot) that is available.
http://www.av123.com/products_category_brand.php?section=speakers&brand=3

I believe there is a AV123 Frapper page of rocket owners so if you can find someone close you can probably get a listening session. They also offer a 30-day return policy.

 

[flyv65]

Hi Fred, welcome aboard. You/ve gotten some good advice so far, but I thought I'd still put in my two cents just the same.

1.) I see this is the last non projection TV reccomendation made on the site, I am debating between LCD and a DLP projection TV. Leaning heavily towards the new Mitsubishi 50" DLP 1080p tv.

Bear in mind that 1080p is to all intents and purposes, the same as 1080i for movies shot in 24fps (due to the 2:3 pulldown). I'd think long and hard before I shelled out big bucks for a TV to use down the road on 1080p HD signals when it doesn't seem that HDMI has decided what to do about cabling (IIRC, they're up to 1.3 and still going). I personally prefer the new plasma sets from Pioneer, but I've seen some very nice LCD sets as well. Considering that the plasma sets are much more resistant to burn-in and the LCD units are much better about artifacting, I'd say you should go check out several types in your price range and see which ones appeal to you most. Front projection can give you some size for the price, but you need to be able to really darken the viewing room, and most of those seem (to me) to be a bit too large for a 12'x15' room.

2.) is the Yamaha RX-V1600 still the reccomended reciever. So far it looks fine to me.

I think it was superceeded this year, but I'm not really up on the Yammie stuff so much as the Denon stuff. Still, you won't go wrong with a Yamaha component so see what's out there in your price range.

3.) DVD player, in the past I have owned a 30(1) disk Sony that I love, for keeping my entire library in a single player and not having to keep the boxes around. I have 278 DVD's but with the new HD format, and using a 1080p TV what should I do, is their a 300+ disk player that will play HD or 1080p? Should I get a 2nd DVD player and just run 2? I like the convienience of having all my DVD's in 1 spot with no cases. I am also curious about the new sony Blue Ray, but of course sony's past on this (Think betamax, and minidisc) is not hopeful.

I'd steer clear of the HD players for right now (well, maybe for longer than that); the build quality and performance seems to be suspect at this stage of the game, and the media is more expensive. I'd let things settle down for a year (or two) and get a nice, serviceable universal player-or keep the one you have (if you have one). http://www.audioholics.com/news/editorials/10reasonsHDDVDsfailed.php

4.) speakers, the Axiom look great, I am heavily considering this, should I change from this has any new technology come out?

Speaker technology doesn't change quite as rapidly as the electronics do, so if you like the Axioms I'd say jump on them and call it good

5.) Cables, I am ok with spending money on the right tools. Any changes I should make over the reccomended cables?

I have been supremely happy with the cables I've purchased from Blue Jeans Cables: good components, good product, good turn around time, and a fair price. I'm not the only person on the forum who has been pleased with them, either. http://www.bluejeanscable.com/

6.) I am considering picking up the Ultra Entertainment Center 5, http://www.studiotech.com/products/home_theater_furniture/index.html
I am not sure if I need a full cabinet look though. Would I be better off going more new wave? and just leaving my stuff exposed?
Schroers and Schroers comes to mind. (quick newb question, the studio tech do I have to leave the doors open to change the channel etc. . and do the speakers go inside the cabinets?

I've had several full cabinet centers and I doubt I'll do that again: seems like it makes it too hard to access wiring, and a big chunk of wood between the speakers makes it alot harder to get good imaging from the speakers...particularly in a smaller room and it's difficult to position the speakers optimally. DEpending on the remote you use, you *might* need to leave the doors open, and finally I wouldn't put the speakers into the cabinet myself-it really seems to screw up the imaging and soundstage, much less loading the bass by enclosing the speaker. Next time through for me I'd look at building something like this, or if I had your budget perhaps buying: http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/audioproducts/maple_main.php

Please take my opinions with a grainod salt: these *my* opinions, and you might disagree completely for valid reasons of your own. Good luck, and let us know what you do.

Bryan...going to the Rocky Mountain Audiofest tomorrow...