Speakers and wires for small room

[ricwilli]

Hi. I am a newbie to this HT stuff. I am hoping that I can find some of the answers here in this great forum. I just purchased a new home and I would like to make one of the rooms for viewing movies and listening to music. 70% movies/TV and 30% music.

The room that I want to convert is fairly small 11'x19' with 8' ceiling. It has a sliding door on one side of the wall that goes to the backyard and another entrance to a small kitchen and another hallway opening that goes to the garage. I went out and purchased the Pioneer Elite VSX-56TXI receiver . I know this is overkill for this size room but I've always wanted one of Pioneers Elite series receiver. I got hell when the wife found out how much I'd paid for it . My budget is very, very low since I spent most of it on the receiver. Now I have to convince her that I need speakers. One of the questions that I have is that I went to HD and all they had was 14-gauge speaker wire made by RCA and I purchased it. Will that be ok or should I return itand get the 12 gauge? I can't seem to get the 12 gauge anywhere around here. The guy in HD told me that no one uses 12 gauge anymore and that it is not a popular item. I even went to Radio Shack and they didn’t have it. I need to run the wire ASAP since I might have to make some holes in the walls and paint afterwards. I will be running some of the wires behind walls and some will be covered with crown molding between the ceiling and the walls.
Another question is, what type of speakers can I use in this small room? I would like for the speakers to be small and also would like to utilize the 7.1 features. Since the room is small, I'm probably thinking of just putting one speaker in the background instead of two. I will also be getting a plasma TV that will be over a fireplace (Don't know which one yet). Oh yeah, this room will be getting a fireplace soon. Will it matter if the front speakers will be on the floor and the TV over the fireplace? By the way, my budget is $700 it might even be $500. Have to talk to the wife. Thanks

 

[Lincoln]

Check out the NHT Superzero XU at onecall.com. They have them on sale for $75 ea. I believe these come with a wall mount bracket and they sound awesome. They have extremely limited low frequency so you will need a sub to play everything below 80hz. These are a very nice sounding speaker at retail (about $130 ea), they are almost too hard to pass up at the sale price.

 

[mcwilson]

First of all, unless you're planning on running the speaker wire over long distances, 14 gauge is fine. There are some great articles and discussions here regarding speaker wire. If all other factors are the same, 12 gauge is better wire. But as I said, unless you have really long runs, you don't need the additional thickness. I don't know what the genius at HD was referring to...

For speakers, check out the athena TECHNOLOGIES Micra 6 or the Energy Take 5.2. They are both 5.1 systems that can be had for under 600. You can add addition satellites for the 7.1. Check out the systems in your price range:

http://www.audioholics.com/showcase/systemguide/hometheatersystem.html

Good luck with your purchase.

Mark

 

[ricwilli]

Thanks Mcwilson and Lincoln for the fast replies. Ok, I returned the speaker wire back to HD and purchased some 12ga wire from ebay. Are there any other speakers that I can use for my setup? I like the ones that Mcwilson suggested (Energy Take 5.2). They look really good, but would like to know if there are more out there for my price range. If possible I would rather not have black speakers.

 

[Dr. Doug]

Anybody have any ideas on ideal speaker height for a pair of AR-5's I am using in my small study? I would like an all metal pair with a fairly large top plate (i.e., greater than 8x6 inches).. Thanks. Dr. Doug (dshearer2001us@yahoo.com)

 

[sjdgpt]

your room size may not be big enough to do a 7.1 system.

The general recommendation on this site and others is that a better designed 5.1 system is preferable to a poorly designed 6.1 or 7.1 system.

I have small room disease and suffer from the same problem. I have given up on the idea of a 7.1 system.... for that room. I am still buying a 7.1 receiver for the hopeful chance that I might someday actually get to use it.


Regarding speakers on the floor.

Anything is allowed.

It just may not be desirable.


I have heard way to many systems with the main speakers not on the same vertical plane as the TV.

Even though the sound is lip sync'd with the video, the sound always appears to be delayed.

Why? Because sound is directional, and most of us will turn to face the sound. (which is why law enforcement hates interviewing witnesses who heard the sound of a gun shot bouncing off the walls of the surrounding buildings... it is always "the sound came from over there")

 

[mcwilson]

What was recommended to me and it sounds great is:

the speakers should (if possible) be around ear level. Most floorstanders are built so that when you sit your ears and the speakers are on approximately the same level, right?

 

[ricwilli]

sjdgpt, Before I purchased the pioneer Elite I also thought that it was going to be to much for that room size. But I purchased it anyway cause this was going to be the last receiver that I would buy. Hopefully I'll be able to use the 7.1 option in the future. I'm kind of upset right now cause, the receiver has the options for the 7.1 but I can't use them cause of the small room that I have . I already ran the wires through the walls for the 7.1 speakers and now there going to just sit there not doing anything .
Another thing is that I have no choice but to put the tv on the wall cause there is no other place to put it. So even with a 5.1 installation, the room (and movies) are not going to sound that great cause the front speakers are going to be on the floor and the tv on the wall above the fireplace.