Speaker/receiver Recommendations

[ARNOLD1305]

I am looking for advice and recommendations for selecting a receiver and speakers for a new home theater.

My room size is 20ftL X 13ftW X 10ftH

I wired it for a 7.1 system( 3 front, 2 back ceiling, 2 side ceiling )

I have read that the Yamaha HTR-5890, Pioneer 1014 and the Denon AVR-3805 are good receivers, what speakers would you recommend for these. Are there other receiver & speaker combinations ?

We are not audiophiles, just looking for great performance and sound quality.

Budget, $2,500


I have found good reviews on the following;

Receivers

Yamaha HTR-5890, Pioneer 1014 and the Denon AVR-3805

Fronts

Yamaha, NS777 or NS 225F

Klipsch, RF-35

Polk RTi8 or Rti10

Center

Yamaha NS C225 or NS c444
Klipsch RC-35
Polk CSI5

Surrounds, I opted for ceiling mounted, 7.1 system

Yamaha, NS-IW360C
Klipsch, R-5800-C
Polk RC 80i

I have also read that I should watch to not put a "bright" speaker with a "bright" receiver" but I am not sure how to determine this from the selection.

I would like any comments on which of these speaker/receiver options are good. Or any other recommendations.


Thanks,

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I am looking for advice and recommendations for selecting a receiver and speakers for a new home theater.

My room size is 20ftL X 13ftW X 10ftH

I wired it for a 7.1 system( 3 front, 2 back ceiling, 2 side ceiling )

I have read that the Yamaha HTR-5890, Pioneer 1014 and the Denon AVR-3805 are good receivers, what speakers would you recommend for these. Are there other receiver & speaker combinations ?

We are not audiophiles, just looking for great performance and sound quality.

Budget, $2,500


I have found good reviews on the following;

Receivers

Yamaha HTR-5890, Pioneer 1014 and the Denon AVR-3805

Fronts

Yamaha, NS777 or NS 225F

Klipsch, RF-35

Polk RTi8 or Rti10

Center

Yamaha NS C225 or NS c444
Klipsch RC-35
Polk CSI5

Surrounds, I opted for ceiling mounted, 7.1 system

Yamaha, NS-IW360C
Klipsch, R-5800-C
Polk RC 80i

I have also read that I should watch to not put a "bright" speaker with a "bright" receiver" but I am not sure how to determine this from the selection.

I would like any comments on which of these speaker/receiver options are good. Or any other recommendations.


Thanks,

Bright receivers: Pioneer, possibly Yamaha and Denon
Bright speakers: Klipsch, or any speakers with horns
Brightness with any equipment: A live room, such as one with hardwood floors, bare walls, etc...

If you are a shopper looking for a great deal and don't mind buying online, check into these options. I'll let you know where to get them at half price if you can sway from your list above:

http://us.marantz.com/shop/_templates/Proddetail.asp?model=79&cat=15

http://www.bicamerica.com/rec.htm (the D84 configuration, but substituting some inwalls for surrounds like you planned)

 

[rumble]

Pioneer 1015 $440

Front L R - BIC Acoustech HT-75 pair $300

Center - BIC Acoustech HT-65 $150

Rear ceilings - BIC HT-8C $400 for 2 pairs or 4 speakers

Subwoofer - SVS PB12-ultra $1200

That should come in under $2500 even with shipping and cabling. It should be capable of decent performance and sound quality.

 

[ARNOLD1305]

Thanks for the feedback, you both point to the BIC speakers,

which receivers do you recommend, Pioneer or Yamaha ?

What do you think abount the Yamaha speakers ?

 

[ARNOLD1305]

Rumble, where can you find these speakers ?

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Pioneer 1014 - newer version 1015 if it's similar in price.

Remember, Marantz over both for sound quality

yahoo shopping in electronics or shopzilla.com under venturi or BIC is where you can find those speakers

 

[mulester7]

.....Buck, here's another very good place to look for the cheapest price on anything.....

http://www.nextag.com/

 

[rumble]

Yeah what Buckeye said.

Additional information on BIC can be found on their web site www.bicamerica.com

I think you can buy the svs sub straight from them, www.svsubwoofers.com

I just helped a friend set up a yamaha htib. The receiver looked pretty nice but the speakers shipped with it were just awful. They were all 6 ohm with sensitivity ratings less than 83db. Yuck. They were very small and cheap of course.

You won't find many people recommending speakers from the big name Japanese receiver manufactures. I think they just choose to let their name recognition sell as much high profit low quality speakers that they can.

 

[ARNOLD1305]

what is the issue with 6ohms, I saw some RBH speakers with 4 & 6 ?

 

[Takeereasy]

You can get the Marantz 8400 that Buckeye suggested for a bid in the $500 area. The dealer is authorized and the 3 yr. warranty applies.

If your room is bright you will want to stay away from Klipsch or Bic Acoustech speakers, or any speaker using a horn. The Bic Venturi line would still be good in that case. If your room is not bright then the Bic Acoustech system seems like an incredible deal, and comes with its own 12" sub. That whole system only costs $1000, and is getting reviews that say it at least matches Klipsch systems costing twice as much. If you like the Klipsch sound these might be worth a demo, and I heard that Costco in the States is carrying them. Yes you can do better than that sub, but it still does a pretty nifty job from the look of it, and what the heck, you can buy all of the speakers sans the sub and upgrade it to a nice SVS or HSU sub.

My idea of a fantastic system is the following: (hey, Buckeye posts the bics I post the PSBs)

1 pair PSB Image 6T's Works out to about $800 with shipping.

2 pairs Psb Image 2B's Works out to about $500 including shipping.

1 PSB 9C Works out to about $300 including shipping.

HSU VTF-3 MKII Comes to $750 Shipped.

Figure in $500 for the Marantz receiver.

That would bring your total to $2850. I know I'm breaking your budget by $350 but I feel that these products are a fantastic deal. A year or two ago just those speakers would have been close to $2500. If you were to pay MSRP for everything I mentioned the price for it all would be around $5000 before shipping costs. Figure you still would have paid at least $4000. If you need to save some dough then you can get a PSB 8C center instead of the 9C and save $100. You could drop down to an HSU STF-3 and save another $100.

Oh well, just figured I'd throw you another option. Everyone on these sites is partial to certain makers of speakers and electronics. Good luck with your purchase, let us know how it goes.

 

[ARNOLD1305]

Thanks for the advice,

My room is dry-walled( ceiling and walls ) carpeted floor, is that "bright" ?

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Thanks for the advice,

My room is dry-walled( ceiling and walls ) carpeted floor, is that "bright" ?

Not so much with carpeted floors, but if you have bare walls, that won't help. Sheetrock or drywall absorbs sound better than plaster. Hang some tapestries (they're very popular with the women now) and suck up a ton of sharp, bright tones. You want some hard walls. Your surrounds will sound better if they can reflect off one wall to your seating position. It's just when they start to bounce off two or more walls, you get reverb which sounds terrible. Like playing drums in a basement.

This beats hanging velvet boxes on walls!
www.realtapestry.com

 

[Takeereasy]

Shouldn't be too bad at all, but you may want to hang some bookshelves, paintings etc, as bare walls are not always a good thing. There is a forum dedicated to room acoustics and treatments on this site. Pop by and check it out, the guys who constantly post there would be more than happy to give some pointers if you have questions. I'm sure you'll find a ton of useful info in prior posts.

 

[ARNOLD1305]

Ok, I am going to proceed with the Pioneer 1015 & the BICs( HT75, HT65, HT8C{ 4 surrounds } and the HT-100 sub )

 

[rumble]

what is the issue with 6ohms, I saw some RBH speakers with 4 & 6 ?

Nothing wrong with 6 or even 4 ohm speakers, the nominal ohm rating of the speaker just gives you and idea of the kind of load the speaker will represent to the amplifier. Check this faq out at this site - "Connecting 4-ohm Speakers to an 8-ohm Receiver or Amplifier".

Pioneer does not recommend using speakers rated lower than 6 ohm with the 1015 reciever. If your going to buy 4 ohm speakers you really need to make sure your amplifier is rated for 4 ohm loads. The amps I have seen that are rated for 4 ohms tend to cost a bit more.

 

[mulester7]

Nothing wrong with 6 or even 4 ohm speakers, the nominal ohm rating of the speaker just gives you and idea of the kind of load the speaker will represent to the amplifier. Check this faq out at this site - "Connecting 4-ohm Speakers to an 8-ohm Receiver or Amplifier".

Pioneer does not recommend using speakers rated lower than 6 ohm with the 1015 reciever. If your going to buy 4 ohm speakers you really need to make sure your amplifier is rated for 4 ohm loads. The amps I have seen that are rated for 4 ohms tend to cost a bit more.

.....(now think 5 and change)....(that's with 8 ohm speakers).....

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Try to stay in the 8 ohm arena for speakers unless you plan on buying separate amps. Not worth the beating on your surround receiver. They work hard enough trying to power 5, 6, and 7 channels. No sense putting more strain on them than you have to.

 

[mulester7]

.....Buck, what matters is the amount of resistance presented, as you well know....

....let me just say this....my multi-channel receiver would, for sure, be rated to 4 ohm loads presented....that's where the authority on the low end is, in a receiver....in a slave amp, it's strapping two cannons to shoot nothing but #2's, Gentlemen....then, if you got a kazillion bucks not earmarked, you can have #1 bullets....

.....let us now direct thoughts of scorn toward the rich, haha.....

 

[rumble]

Ok, I am going to proceed with the Pioneer 1015 & the BICs( HT75, HT65, HT8C{ 4 surrounds } and the HT-100 sub )

Sounds like you will be busy installing equipment for a while.

After you get everything hooked up make sure you do two things:

1. run the auto setup(Pioneer calls it Auto MCACC).

2. post back here with your take on how it sounds.

 

[mulester7]

......question....does it say in any of your owner's-manuals on your receivers, any special instructions, if 4 ohm speakers are used?....