Suggestions for new setup please!

[Jasonmlb]

Hello. I am new here. I am setting up a new system in my basement. It’s on a cement slab and porcelain tile on top of that. Maybe an area rug but not under any speakers. I’m going to have an 85” TV and listen to music and watch movies equally. My all in budget is $15k including the TV which is $5300. So the rest can be for all the audio. Because the floor is so solid I was going to do a paid of Def Techs 9080s and a 9060 center. And two in ceiling speakers in the rear. Any suggestions for a good Yamaha or Marantz receiver? I don’t want spend more than $2000 on one. Must have Atmos. I was maybe maybe thinking of doing the top of the line Mythos towers but I heard the cheaper ones and thought they sounded terrible. I listen to a lot of different types of music from rap to Yanni and musical clarity is important to me. Bass is obviously important to me since I’m worried I’m going to lose a lot of it with my solid floor. Thoughts and recommendations please!!

 

[shadyJ]

I take it your room is large? The Deftech speakers will probably do fine. They won't have the most powerful bass though, and are not a substitute for real subwoofer. One curious thing is you want Atmos, but are using in-ceiling surrounds but not in-ceiling height speakers? That is not how Atmos is intended to be setup. Read the Dolby Home Atmos Installation Guide. You will want the side surrounds and rear surrounds mounted at ear level height. If you are going to use in-ceiling speakers, use them as the Atmos height speakers, not the surrounds.

Given your requirements, I would skip the Deftech speakers. Go with regular tower speakers, and use in-ceiling speakers for Atmos height channels. Use real subwoofers. For speakers, look at what you can get from Paradigm, RBH, SVS, Revel, to name a few solid manufacturers. For subwoofers, look at Hsu, SVS, Outlaw Audio, Monoprice Monolith. For AVRs, look at Denon, Marantz, Yamaha. Probably the higher end stuff from Pioneer and Onkyo are decent too.

 

[2channel lover]

Hello. I am new here. I am setting up a new system in my basement. It’s on a cement slab and porcelain tile on top of that. Maybe an area rug but not under any speakers. I’m going to have an 85” TV and listen to music and watch movies equally. My all in budget is $15k including the TV which is $5300. So the rest can be for all the audio. Because the floor is so solid I was going to do a paid of Def Techs 9080s and a 9060 center. And two in ceiling speakers in the rear. Any suggestions for a good Yamaha or Marantz receiver? I don’t want spend more than $2000 on one. Must have Atmos. I was maybe maybe thinking of doing the top of the line Mythos towers but I heard the cheaper ones and thought they sounded terrible. I listen to a lot of different types of music from rap to Yanni and musical clarity is important to me. Bass is obviously important to me since I’m worried I’m going to lose a lot of it with my solid floor. Thoughts and recommendations please!!

Congrats...with your $9700 remaining budget.

IMO, the next most important $ spent will be the LCR speakers...with such a large TV, the room has to be fairly large I would probably spend in the 3 to $5k range, leaning towards the higher end...if the seating is 10' or > from the speakers, the CC needs to be fairly substantial.

AVR...unless you just wanted one, I wouldn't pay the premium for a Marantz AVR...I'd most likely get a Denon, (3400 or 4400) and use the savings to beef up the amp with an external.

Subs...this will make or break your HT space...allocate roughly $1800-2000 here and you'll end up with 2 very good subs...for a multi-seat HT space, aside from pure spl, it's much easier to achieve uniform bass throughout the space with two units vs one.

General notes...I've had a dedicated HT in my basement before and consulting with a current build for a friend...don't skimp on the audio, especially the subs. Next, the majority of content out there from Netflix, etc is all in 5.1...Atmos is on the rise, 7.1 is fine if you have the space, but going all in with an 11 surround speaker layout (slightly exaggerating) will probably have you constantly searching for content to show off your really great home theater system....I would wire for 7.2.4 if you can, but start out with 5.2.4, done right, it can be really good. As you see content growing for 7.1 discrete you're ready to expand.

 

[Jasonmlb]

Thanks everyone. Appreciate the time put into your responses.

 

[snakeeyes]

For the subs, you should calculate the volume of the space in cubic feet. Then people can recommend some specific models. Include any open space such as adjoining rooms, as the subs “see” all space open to them.

 

[Jasonmlb]

It’s a 600 sq ft room with 7.5ft ceilings.

 

[snakeeyes]

My living room is similar in volume. I did two HSU VTF2 subwoofers. It sounds great!