Sound System Shopping to Begin

[mblanco2000]

Well I just purchased a pn50b860 from samsung. Man it is way nicer than my old CRT. Well that was the easy part. Now I am on the hunt to find a nice audio system to compliment the TV. Now by no means am I a hardcore audio guy, and I am just wanting something that is nice system.

I was going to start my search by finding a nice receiver, and then pairing up the speakers and such. I was told however that this was a rookie move. So what should I be looking for first in my quest?

Just to let you know the first receiver that I was considering was the pioneer VSX-1019. I am willing to spend a bit more but probably not too much more for the receiver.

Thanks in advance.

 

[sholling]

Congrats on the nice TV!

Speakers first then the receiver. To help with speakers we need to know a few things:

• Speaker budget - desired and how far you can stretch it.
• Speaker arrangement desired ie 2.0? 2.1? 3.1? 5.1? Generally if funds are tight I suggest starting with a 2.1 or 3.1 system and adding surrounds when you have more money.
• Appearance requirements a.k.a. WAF.
• Rooms size including any areas that it opens to.
• Apartment or house?
• Video to music use ratio.
  

Getting back to the receiver I'd pass on that Pioneer. I've owned an older version and was far from impressed. For about that money I'd be looking at Onkyos. Either a TX-SR607 or 707.

 

[abjonesiii]

fist up is the all mighty dollar. Pick a budget, plan your purchases. no since in buying a $600 receiver and only having $100 left for speakers. I'd recommend first deciding how much you want to spend on the main L & R speakers and go listen and find some you like in that range. Then pick a reciever with appropriate power and features. Generally try to spend as much on audio as you do on video (if not more)

Best thing you can do (unless your loaded $$) is spread the purchases out over time rather than all at once. Buy one nice piece of equipment at a time and build a quality system rather than skimp on components just to get everything now.

happy shopping

 

[mblanco2000]

I would have done this completely backwards, thanks guys. In response to Scholling:

Speaker budget - 400 - 500 on a pair of speakers for the front, the less the better. Then I think I would like a Center speaker as well.

Arrangement - As you suggested I will probably go with a 2.1 or a 3.1 system to start off with.

Appearance requirements - I am not sure what WAF means, but as far as appearance goes I am thinking floor standing speakers in the front, might be best. Then having bookshelf speakers hanging in the back corners of the room.

Room Size - Well the carpeted living room opens up to the Kitchen. So when I measure the whole thing is comes to 18 ft. x 24 ft.

It is a House

I would say the Video to Music Ratio would be 2 to 1

So how do I go about finding a nice pair of front speakers first? Isn't the sound that is being produced on these speakers I am hearing at the show room being affected by good or bad A/V Receivers? I am looking forward to getting the ball rolling on this little project!

Thanks guys.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Well, Nothing in your budget will sound better than this setup:
Pair of Behringer 2030p [$130/pair] and rather big sub like this one:
http://www.edesignaudio.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_41&products_id=309

To get even more bang for your buck with 2030p:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=412211&postcount=2

Total budget: $530 (w/o Taxes&Shipping)

 

[sholling]

WAF = Wife (spouse, significant other) Acceptance Factor. The aesthetics police

I'm a big fan of the Behringer B2030P that Bored suggested and have 3 of them as left, right, and center in my home office. They were designed for use at arms length and I'm just not sure that the have the ooooph for a large room like that before getting shrill. I just haven't tried it yet and they might do the job just fine. I just can't say for sure. But as long as you are within 10-12 feet they should be fine for sure. I can tell you that up close they rock! The downside may be a low WAF rating. With no grill covers they are a bit industrial looking. Hey, they were intended for recording studios not living rooms.

The same gentleman that turned us all on to the Behringers recently praised the Infinity Primus P362 towers (~$200ea) and he's not somebody I'm about to argue with. I haven't heard them but based on who praised them I'd run to a store to at least audition them if I were in the market for $200 towers. The timber matched PC350 center is about the same price so we're $100 over budget (with the center) and don't have a sub yet.

The reason that I asked about room size is it's important in sizing a subwoofer. Assuming 9' ceilings (3900 cubic feet) Bored's suggestion should just about do the job. In my opinion any more cubic feet will call for a more powerful sub.

Regarding your question about auditioning environments. Most decent consumer priced receivers add or subtract nothing to/from the sound by themselves. But they may feature processing that adds or subtracts. That's why the first thing that I do is turn off any processing and set the tone controls to flat. Now we have a fairly even playing field. The second tool they sometimes use to steer you to a model is speaker volume. The one playing slightly louder will usually sound a bit better even if it's not the better speaker. If you can do A-B tests at as close to the same volume as possible it helps but that's not always doable. Finally bring your own CDs. Music that you know inside and out to test with. If you read some of the pro reviews (reviews not "first looks") you'll get some ideas about what to listen for and then apply your own tastes.

As far as receivers go establish how much power your speakers will need and then select a receiver that can supply those requirements and has the features that you need. Just keep in mind that some companies are a bit "optimistic" when they rate receiver power and that differences of 10w are all but inaudible. You have to double output power to gain 3db of volume. Anyway in my experience Pioneer is one of those that get a bit optimistic. For most people an Onkyo TX-SR607 or 707 will supply all the features that they want. These regularly go on sale or can be bought refurbished from Accessories For less. I bought my bedroom receiver from them.

 

[mblanco2000]

I have been reading the reviews on the Behringer, and I have to say it is outstanding. However, now that I know what WAF stands for, I just don't think they will pass.

The infinity Primus P362 look slick and I am going to try to find an audio shop around here that I can go take a listen. I think that should be pretty easy to do in the Houston area.

I went up to Frys this evening to see what I could figure out, and had a bit of a bad experience. The guy there just wanted to push me towards buying the theater in a box which included the Polk R50's for mains, CS1 Center, R 150 Rear, PSW10 Sub w/ a Yamaha RX-V465 Receiver. They did not have the system hooked up, so I could not hear it, and I just would rather pick my compenents rather than having everything bundled together.

I was also checking out Bored's front main speakers The Speaker Company TST2. Those look to be in my wheel house if I stretch the budget a bit. Would these be worth looking at for my setup?

MB

 

[sholling]

I have been reading the reviews on the Behringer, and I have to say it is outstanding. However, now that I know what WAF stands for, I just don't think they will pass.

I was afraid that might be the case. I wonder if you couldn't make some grill covers? Make frames from 3/8 x 3/8 wood from Ace Hardware and cover with speaker cloth. Then attach with Velcro. Just a thought.

The infinity Primus P362 look slick and I am going to try to find an audio shop around here that I can go take a listen. I think that should be pretty easy to do in the Houston area.

I would think so. Gotta love Texas.

I went up to Frys this evening to see what I could figure out, and had a bit of a bad experience.

In my experience they are the last people to ask a question. The Fry's people that I've known had no clue what they were selling and hated the place with a passion. Magnolia Audio is about the only chain that I know that hires people with a clue.

I was also checking out Bored's front main speakers The Speaker Company TST2. Those look to be in my wheel house if I stretch the budget a bit. Would these be worth looking at for my setup?

Yup I'm using their subwoofers in my bedroom and home-office but unfortunately they closed their doors. It's just too hard to get a whole new division up and running in the face of a recession.

When you're ready to thoroughly bust the budget you might look at a package deal from SVS. I haven't heard their speakers yet but I swear by their subwoofers.

 

[boomba]

My home theater

I have a small room and i fust bought a home theaer for it .

A sony tv
Sony BRAVIA XBR Series KDL-46XBR9 46-Inch 1080p 240Hz LCD HDTV, Black

and its really great

 

[sholling]

Here's another thought. As long as you don't try to wall hang them Boston's CS26 bookshelf speakers might be worth a listen. They're rear ported so you'll need to leave some space behind and around them for the port to do it's job but Amazon has them in black for only $79ea shipped. A pair of those and the sub Bored suggested might sound really good. Later when you're ready you can match them with a CS225CB center (~$130). These are very similar to to the older model CR65s that I have in my bedroom.

 

[mblanco2000]

All right I feel a little bit better about my knowledge level thanks to you guys. This weekend I am going to try to listen to those infinity speakers that were suggested and the Bostons.

One other question in regards to the Reciever. I have read alot on hear about recievers w/ and w/o pre outs. So I read more about what is inside the reciever(radio tuner, pre amp, and power amp). For instance, if I were to go down the line and decide I needed more power, and wanted to go get a power amp I better make damn sure I get a reciever w/ pre outs, correct?

How do I go about verifying that a reciever does or does not have pre outs? I would imagine you could tell by looking at the rear panel, but I tried this last night at Frys. The only thing I saw on one of the units I believe it was a yamaha RXV 465 was that there was something labeled "sub pre out". Now that I think about that would lead me to infur that the sub has it's own power amp, and the reciever is sending the pre amp information directly to the sub for amplification....??

So that particlar Yamaha receiver did not have "pre outs" per say that could be connected to a power amp, correct?

When comparing the spec sheet between the Onkyo 607 and 707 I found there was a section on analog pre outs. On the 607 it said, "Dual Sub Out". On the 707 it said, "7.2". I have a hunch on what this means and it might be right, but if someone could explain that would be wonderful.

 

[sholling]

Yes the subwoofers we've suggested have internal amplifiers. Pretty much every decent receiver has preouts for a powered subwoofer or two - the point 1 or 2 in 7.1 or 7.2. The Onkyo 607 does not support an external power amp for the main speakers but the 707 does. Accessories for less has a refurbished 707 for $530. If you go with an Onkyo keep in mind that you'll want to give it room to breath. They run warm and need plenty of room for air to circulate.

 

[mblanco2000]

Cool deal I am going to go listen to those infinity speakers now at a shop I found. I have to assume that from your suggestions you have no problem w/ getting a refurbished 707 from accessories for less? I just have never bought any electronics that were refurbed.

 

[sholling]

Cool deal I am going to go listen to those infinity speakers now at a shop I found. I have to assume that from your suggestions you have no problem w/ getting a refurbished 707 from accessories for less? I just have never bought any electronics that were refurbed.

I'm cheap. I don't buy things that can easily wear like refurbished hard drives but I buy refurbished solid state hardware because it saves money and it's actually been individually inspected when returned.

I bought a refurbished 606 from them and it's been trouble free. Accessories For Less is factory authorized and the only real difference is refurbs have a 1 year factory warranty instead of a 2 year factory warranty. My feeling is that if a receiver is going to fail it'll usually be in the 1st 90 days of real use. But I can't promise that it won't fail on day 366 any more than i can promise that it won't fail on day 731 (2yrs + 1 day).

FYI the Audioholics Store has the next lowest price. Brand spanking new for $649 with free shipping. The free shipping takes about $30-40 out of the pain of the higher price.

 

[mblanco2000]

I am cheap as well, I don't like to over pay for anything.

Well the WAF variable has come into effect, damnit. I was really sold on the infinity 362 for the mains. Well she saw some wall mount speakers that mount on the left and the right of the TV. The ones she say were the mytho 2's. I have to admit the picture they have of them on amazon looks pretty good the way they are mounted. The main kick in the pants was the price, and I don't know anything about these. Anyone have any advice in finding good wall mount speakers like the mytho 2's?

I might still go w/ the infinity speakers, but would like to check around too.