Starter System

[Jeff R.]

I am putting together a budget system for my brother in-law and was hoping you guys had some recommendations. He has a budget of about $800-900.

I am planning to recommend a Denon 1613 reciever from acc4less for $209.99

So that leaves me roughly $600-700 for speakers and a sub.

I am leaning toward recommending he get the same Carnegie CSB-1s and a reasonable sub. I am not sure if he will appreciate the quality of the sound vs the wow of a surround sound system. Other concern is if he buys the matching center he will be out of money and over budget and not be able to get a sub. However if he waits he will likely never be able to afford the center channel at full price.

So I though I need to atleast get him set up with a 3 channel front system, which I was thinking of going with the the Cambrige Audio S-30's and the matching center channel for about $318 and then I will have a fair amount for the sub still.

Or going with the good old Andrew Jones system which is proven to be a solid buy for the money. I can then get him the full 5 channel system for about $475 off amazon and then maybe him a sub for about $200.

I was thinking abouot the Bic F12 sub for $187 from amazon.


Any other ideas or recommendations.....

Thanks

Jeff

 

[fuzz092888]

Nothing against the Pio system, but I think it's a no brainer to go with the Carnegie's. That would be an amazing place to start, and personally I think the SQ is more than worth it to have to wait a little to get a sub. Besides, if he's buying the speakers himself, Christmas is right around the corner..........

 

[Jeff R.]

Have you heard the Cambridge speakers....I was really liking that option....

 

[fuzz092888]

Have you heard the Cambridge speakers....I was really liking that option....

I have not, but I trust the opinion of J_Garcia and a few other members here and elsewhere who either own them or have heard the designers other speakers and been extremely happy with them. I have heard the Pios, and they're great speakers. Much better than they have any right to be and now that Dennis has reviewed them and found them to be excellent as well, they're certainly not a bad choice, especially for the price.

I think the Carnegie's will be better than the Pio's performance-wise, albeit by how much is totally subjective. The other thing that weighs on me is that, how often do you have the chance to get speakers of that quality at that big of a discount? I just think that they are speakers he can be happy with and want to keep, whether he chooses to get get more/upgrade in the future or not.

 

[zieglj01]

Have you heard the Cambridge speakers....I was really liking that option....

I much prefer the Cambridge over the Pioneer - and Pioneer is nice for the price

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

After hearing some of Dennis's comments about inconsistency in performance of all AJ's Pioneers I would tend to shy away from these...
Cambrige Audio S-30 is a great choice, but its hard to buy now as it has been discontinued

Carnegie's would be great choice, but maybe a tad too much for this budget...

Option c) NHT's - SuperZero 2.0 | Bookshelf Speakers | Premium Audio Equipment - at $60 I think these are no brainier to get
5x SubZeros = $300 w/ Free shipping
add HSU STF-2 for sub

Recommended Xover for these monitors should be around 100-110hz - you'd most likely will need to place the sub near the fronts
Result = stunning 5.1 for small to mid sized rooms

 

[zieglj01]

Cambridge is here
Accessories4less: High End Audio at Low End Prices!

You have some nice options - however, I would use Cambridge up front and NHT as the
surrounds - Cambridge has the bass to blend with the sub up front

I would take the HSU sub over the Bic, and even the JBL 150P over the Bic

Your option and call/choice

 

[Jeff R.]

I will have to check out the NHT's did not think about them as an option.

I was also thinking about doing a DIY sub kit for him from PE. Like a 12" Dayton Ultimax or Reference in a sealed Box. Thinking for about $400 we could have great little sealed 12" sub. He is a classic rock junkie so that is the primary music he will be playing. I was thinking that sealed 12 would be great.

 

[Jeff R.]

I have not, but I trust the opinion of J_Garcia and a few other members here and elsewhere who either own them or have heard the designers other speakers and been extremely happy with them. I have heard the Pios, and they're great speakers. Much better than they have any right to be and now that Dennis has reviewed them and found them to be excellent as well, they're certainly not a bad choice, especially for the price.

I think the Carnegie's will be better than the Pio's performance-wise, albeit by how much is totally subjective. The other thing that weighs on me is that, how often do you have the chance to get speakers of that quality at that big of a discount? I just think that they are speakers he can be happy with and want to keep, whether he chooses to get get more/upgrade in the future or not.

I agree the Carnegie's are a great deal and I love mine I just have concerns that he might rather have the option for surround to "show off". Not to mention a sub.

Although part of me thinks that he could skip the center and just do the csb1s and and a sub.


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[ImcLoud]

$700, I would go with the full surround
Amazon.com: Jamo S 426 HCS 3 WENGE 5-Piece Home Theater System (Wenge): Electronics
https://www.svsound.com/subwoofers/ported-box/pb-1000#.UnVVs_mURD0
and if he could stretch the budget to $700-800 I would get a vtf2 sub in place of the svs for another $100 you get a lot more... Then if he is not happy withthe sound of the jamos {which I like, especially for the price, its a nice set}, he can slowly build a decent front stage and use the jamos as surrounds... But for surround sound, the jamos would make 90% of customers with medium sized rooms happy... the sub is where most of the lower budget systems suffer, so get a really nice sub and the rest is easy to tell if you want an upgrade in the future...

 

[Jeff R.]

Hey good idea....I forgot about the Jamo set. I actually set my friend up with that Jamo system a year or so ago. It is reasonable esp for the price.


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[Dennis Murphy]

After hearing some of Dennis's comments about inconsistency in performance of all AJ's Pioneers I would tend to shy away from these...
Cambrige Audio S-30 is a great choice, but its hard to buy now as it has been discontinued

Carnegie's would be great choice, but maybe a tad too much for this budget...

Option c) NHT's - SuperZero 2.0 | Bookshelf Speakers | Premium Audio Equipment - at $60 I think these are no brainier to get
5x SubZeros = $300 w/ Free shipping
add HSU STF-2 for sub

Recommended Xover for these monitors should be around 100-110hz - you'd most likely will need to place the sub near the fronts
Result = stunning 5.1 for small to mid sized rooms

Just to clarify my position on the Pioneers a little--it's not really the inconsistent frequency response of the Pioneer tweeter that bothers me. Even though I got different measurements with each one, the speakers had the same characteristic sound--great bass for the money, extended highs, but a blurred, withdrawn sound in the lower treble due to inherent limitations in the tweeter. But if the sound is acceptable to a prospective buyer, then I wouldn't let the tweeter QC issues deter a purchase. I've come up with several mods of varying degrees of complexity that I'll post next week.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Just to clarify my position on the Pioneers a little--it's not really the inconsistent frequency response of the Pioneer tweeter that bothers me. Even though I got different measurements with each one, the speakers had the same characteristic sound--great bass for the money, extended highs, but a blurred, withdrawn sound in the lower treble due to inherent limitations in the tweeter. But if the sound is acceptable to a prospective buyer, then I wouldn't let the tweeter QC issues deter a purchase. I've come up with several mods of varying degrees of complexity that I'll post next week.

Yea, I forgot to type word tweeter And tyvm for mods ideas in advance !!