Suggestions please

[hking]

I'm about to get a new setup for my home theater. Thought I had a nice setup till I started reading these threads. Deciding between the Mirage Uni-theater with two Omni-sats for the surround sound, along with Omni S8 or S10 or two Energy Take TWR, one Take LCR, and 2 Take SAT with S8.3 or S10.3. Can anyone tell if they've compared the two, and which of the two would be better, or if there is any other setup that would be good. Looking to spend around $1800 for the speakers and woofer.

I spend about 50/50 between movies and music. Could someone also tell me the difference between the $500-600 DVD players and the 200 one's by Sony. Is there really that much difference between them.

Thanks for any input.

 

[nova]

Here is a link to an interesting test of many DVD players. http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all
May shed some light on the differences.

 

[JJMP50]

Omni Sats

I have owned a pair of Omni Sats for a little over a year. They are currently not being used. I was using them as rear surrounds in an Athena based system. I replaced them when Athena was dumping their Audition Series with a pair of B1s. The B1s were 1/3 the price of the OmniSats but sounded a lot better in my configuration. The Omni's are not very efficient for a little speaker (88db) so they didn't mix as well with the Athenas as I had hoped. Also the "omnipolar" design takes some getting used to IMHO. Don't get me wrong, Mirage makes a great speaker. Energy is also a fine choice. I guess what I'm saying is API makes good speakers for a variety of tastes.

 

[WmAx]

Also the "omnipolar" design takes some getting used to IMHO.

The only issue with an omnipolar is positioning. It often not feasible to incorporate such a design properly into normal living spaces. Approx. 3 feet(1 meter) distance(give or take a few inches/centimeters) should be between the speaker and the wall(s) in order to achieve optimal sound quality. This is unreasonable for most environments, especially for the surround channels. A closer positioning to reflective boundaries will erode sound quality quickly, as the reflective to direct sound time difference(s) will start to be percieved as contradictory interference, as opposed to ambient enhancement.

-Chris

 

[hking]

I went to a local store here, and the guy there said Mirage are low quality speakers, and are recommending NHT L5's. Are these speakers any good?

BTW, I heard the Yamaha YSP1's and they were awesome, from a novice's point of view. Dont need the rear speakers, but the surround sound was still good. Was about to buy it, cause it looks nice also. But found that it only takes 3 inputs, since it's also a receiver. Since I needed to hook up 2 dvd players, cd, xbox, and ps2, it couldn't work for me. Sales guy said I wasn't able to use it then, but just to make sure. Is there anyway I could hook up an additional component to take more inputs?

 

[JJMP50]

Mirage Low Quality?

Your rep said Mirage were low quality? I have met people that didn't like Mirage, but that was just a matter of taste. IMO, API, the maker of Mirage, Energy & Athena, make some of the best speakers on the market in their respective price points.

http://miragespeakers.com/om5.shtml


If you every get a chance, audition the OM-5's. Make sure they have a decent receiver hooked up. They aren't the most efficient speakers in the world.