What should I get?

[bnelson1980]

Just moved into a new home a couple months ago and the the family room is wired for sound. The family room is 15'W x 20'L. There is a fire place on one end and an arch opening on the other end which leads into the living room. I have a new wall unit entertainment center which will be centered on the wall. Opposite of the entertainment center is half wall so you can see and enter into the kitchen area. The wall opposite of the entertainment center also has speaker wire towards the ceiling on each side of that wall.

So, I would like to take advantage of the already ran speaker wire and get a surround sound system. I would like to stay under $750 for everything. What would you recommend? I have a 55" Samsung smart TV as well.

Thanks for the help.

Brian

 

[ImcLoud]

I would imagine you are thinking 5.1 for surround sound..
$750 is a tough budget, but not impossible...
DENON AVR-1513 5.1ch Home Theater Receiver 3D ready | Accessories4less
HVL-1 Two-Way Loudspeaker | Wave Crest Audio 3 of them for the front 3 , use code jamn for 15% off {I think its still working}
Amazon.com: Fluance AVBP2 Home Theater Bipolar Surround Sound Satellite Speakers: Electronics for surrounds
Amazon.com: BIC America F12 12-Inch 475-Watt Front Firing Powered Subwoofer: Electronics one of them for the sub..

That will leave you some money for cables, ceiling mounts, and wire... thats a joke because it comes almost exactly to $750...

 

[bnelson1980]

Thank you so much. I'm definitely a novice and was thinking about just going to best buy and picking up one of their surround sound systems in a box. by the looks of the equipment you chose, it's looks better than what I would have got from Best Buy. What would you recommend for cables, wire and mounting brackets for the speakers on the wall? Again, I really appreciate it! If I increased the budget a little, would you recommend a better receiver? Which one? Or being a novice, this would be more than enough for me?

 

[XTZ_USA]

Hi Brian,

Welcome to Audioholics.

If you have a higher budget, I would recommend getting better speakers and more powerful subwoofer for higher output and better sound quality.

 

[bnelson1980]

The more I think about it, I think I might just get what IMcLoud recommended. That will probably totally exceed my expectations since I honestly don't even know what to look for let alone listen for? I think music sounds good in an old car. haha

 

[bnelson1980]

I would like a receiver that has Bluetooth so I can play music from my phone without plugging it in to the receiver. I actually just bought everything that I cloud recommended. I could cancel the receiver order tomorrow. What receiver would you recommend?

 

[jkgsxr]

Or just keep that receiver and pick up something like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IQBSW28?cache=e3a649e728285cb8f299f8bf5615c810&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1411091793&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1

 

[ImcLoud]

I like that receiver for that price, like gsxr said you can get a blue tooth adapter, there are a few options out there... the logitech seems to get good reviews...

For mounts I use omni mounts they work really well and are over built... http://www.amazon.com/OmniMount-Wall-Ceiling-Audio-Mount/dp/B00006K0WT/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1411092176&sr=8-5&keywords=omni+mount them are each so you will need 2, I am not sure how what you are trying to specifically mount and where, the fronts, surrounds, center? pics and a description will help you get the correct ones...
If you look in the link in my signature below you can see how Imounted my 200se's to my ceiling...

Now for cables, depending on which devices you are trying to plug in and how far away they are will depend on which cables, mono price is a good place to start looking..
Cables - Monoprice.com

give us some more info and we can let you know specifically where to look, mono price also sells mounts I believe...

As far as the equipment you bought, you will be floored if you compare it to a HTIB {home theater in a box}, them speakers surprised me I think they are one of the best values in audio rite now, Dave F. from ascend designed them, and they sound fantastic, you just dont get anything that nice for such a small investment. The cabinet isn't any super special veneer and they are just squared speakers, BUT they sound great... THem fluance surrounds are also a good choice for the money, I can not think of any better I have bought a few sets of them and recommended them to a lot of people who I haven't heard a negative thing about... I actually installed a set in my mothers ht... The sub is about the best you can do for under $400, it has decent output, they don't break down when taken care of, and it will do the job, think about it $185 what does that buy anymore? Its a nice sub, the low budget staple that is better by 10 over any htib 8" or 10" sub I ever heard...


So anyway, good luck with anything, keep this thread saved so you can post any questions and your thoughts about how everything worked out, we love to see pics too...

PS the owner of wave crest Audio is a member here and I am sure would love to hear what you think about his speakers, I personally think they are the go to low budget bookshelf for stereo and HT... XTZ {who replied above} also has some budget speakers available {I think I am going to have to buy a set of books for myself to listen to, so I can recommend them, because the price point is good} , I try not to recommend anything I have not owned or at least heard, I have played with that avr, I own a pair of wave crests, I have heard the bic sub many times {my sister owns one, I bought her an HT for her house warming gift} and its all decent stuff, I have also dealt with Accessories4less and denon refurbs, and I have been nothing but happy...

 

[bnelson1980]

I would like to mount the fluance AVBP2's to the wall. I already have speaker wire in two corners about a foot from the ceiling (8ft ceilings). I see these speakers are a little uncommon shape. I want to make sure I get a mount that works.

I just ordered the Bluetooth piece from Amazon. I can't wait for everything to arrive.

That's what stated all this. My wife painted the room 2 days ago and asked what are we going to do with those speaker wires? She opened a can of worms.

 

[ImcLoud]

I would like to mount the fluance AVBP2's to the wall. I already have speaker wire in two corners about a foot from the ceiling (8ft ceilings). I see these speakers are a little uncommon shape. I want to make sure I get a mount that works.

I just ordered the Bluetooth piece from Amazon. I can't wait for everything to arrive.

That's what stated all this. My wife painted the room 2 days ago and asked what are we going to do with those speaker wires? She opened a can of worms.

That's the hardest part of buying a speaker system, "The Wife"... them fluance speakers have mounts on them
heres a pic I took of the ones I bought my mother

You kind of need to draw out your system, figure out where you want to mount everything and how long and what cables you will need, it sucks to get all the equipment there and then have to wait for cables, mounts and stands to arrive...

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Infinity Primus P143 for $32 each from Amazon Warehouse deal x 5 = $160.

Amazon.com: Buying Choices: Infinity Primus Two-way 4-Inch Bookshelf/Satellite Speaker (Black, Each)

Infinity Primus P410 10" subwoofer for $280 from Amazon Warehouse deal.

Amazon.com: Buying Choices: Infinity Primus 10-Inch 300-Watt Powered Subwoofer (Black)

Denon E300 AVR for $268.

Amazon.com: Denon AVR-E300 5.1 Channel 3D Pass Through and Networking Home Theater AV Receiver with AirPlay: Electronics

TOTAL: $709 delivered

 

[GIEGAR]

I would like a receiver that has Bluetooth so I can play music from my phone without plugging it in to the receiver. I actually just bought everything that I cloud recommended. I could cancel the receiver order tomorrow. What receiver would you recommend?

Well done Brian and great recommendation Mr mcLoud! That's what it's all about.

Those Wave Crest Audio HVL-1's appear to be an excellent budget speaker, judging by their measurements. Their CSD plot in particular would put many much more expensive speakers to shame.

Increased AVR spend? Probably not for Bluetooth capability. I'd only do it if you can manage the step up to an AVR with Audyssey MultEQ ("Bronze"). This is the entry to MultEQ as far as I can see: DENON AVR-E300 5.1 3D Networking Receiver AirPlay | Accessories4less. At $189 shipped, that's still a sensible percentage of your total spend.

I would like to mount the fluance AVBP2's to the wall. I already have speaker wire in two corners about a foot from the ceiling (8ft ceilings). I see these speakers are a little uncommon shape. I want to make sure I get a mount that works.

I just ordered the Bluetooth piece from Amazon. I can't wait for everything to arrive.

That's what stated all this. My wife painted the room 2 days ago and asked what are we going to do with those speaker wires? She opened a can of worms.

Just a note here... don't place those surrounds too close to the corners - it will adversely colour the sound. The surrounds should ideally be placed directly to the left and right of listening seat, or at 90º to the viewing axis. Further guidance can be found here: Basic Home Theater AV Set Up Guide - Hooking It All Up | Audioholics.

Good luck... you're on the right track!

 

[bnelson1980]

I created a sketch in MS Paint to give you an idea of what I am working with. The only speaker wire I need is to setup the HVL-1's. There is already speaker wire ran in the walls for the Fluance's. Where should I place the subwoofer and the 3 HVL-1's? The wall unit entertainment center is about 8ft wide. It's being shipped today.

 

[ImcLoud]

I would start with putting the surrounds where the wires are, in my mothers house my carpenter cut some angle pieces of 1" stock and then mounted the speaker on it in the corner...

Front left and right with the center should be able to be wired right where your entertainment center is, the wires coming out there should be the other end to the surround wires... If its doesnt sound rite then move the surrounds to the side walls, but I think it will be fine with them in the corners...

 

[MEGATURON]

I created a sketch in MS Paint to give you an idea of what I am working with. The only speaker wire I need is to setup the HVL-1's. There is already speaker wire ran in the walls for the Fluance's. Where should I place the subwoofer and the 3 HVL-1's? The wall unit entertainment center is about 8ft wide. It's being shipped today.

Imo ignore the previous wiring. Its not equidistant to the listening position. U can just find a way to hide them and run another wire under the carpet or run at on the corner of the room. And set ur new speaker location wirings.

 

[ImcLoud]

Has stuff started arriving yet?

As far as placemen, I would start by putting the speakers where the wires are, take a listen and see what you think, to be honest with you the difference between running new wire and placing the speakers exactly where the "book" tells you will most likely sound better, but it may not be a difference you notice, and if you do it may be such a small difference that its not worth trying to hide wires and buying more materials, not to mention having the existing wires to deal with....

A lot of the guys here are perfectionists and chase the "perfect" system, but you have a really nice sub $1000 system here, you don't need to go crazy trying to get the surround speakers in the dolby position, lol... Just bolt it all up and enjoy it...

 

[bnelson1980]

I was planning on cutting some 1" stock and mounting the surround speakers in the corners like imcloud recommended, so i'm glad to see you suggest that.

The equipment will be arriving over the next couple days. The last piece should be here on Wednesday. I'm really excited to get this all setup. I'll let you know how it goes.

I appreciate the help! Thank you so much.

 

[bnelson1980]

I received everything except for the HVL-1's from WaveCrest. Friday I get an email from WaveCrest stating that the speakers won't be shipped out until Monday because they couldn't finish the QA process before the UPS driver arrived. I email them today and asked if I could have a tracking number and the guy told me that the speakers still haven't shipped out because there was an internal error in processing. Should be shipped out tomorrow and i should get them by next Tuesday or Wednesday. Kind of frustrating because we are having a party at my house this weekend and it would have been cool to show off the new system. I even offered to pay extra to expedite the shipping but they said it would be close to $200 for 2 day air.

 

[ImcLoud]

WTF? that is NOT cool, these guys are trying to build a name for themselves and I like their product but that is not good business, they need to offer you something to make it rite. I recommend them speakers to a lot of people, that may change... Customer service is important, I know Dave {the designer of them speakers} does not do business that way... I am sorry to hear that, THAT SUCKS... minus 2 points for wave crest, oh well...

Almost worth telling them to refund you and buying something different a friend of mine has a sale on wharfedale vardus bookshelfs and centers, probably be around $200 for a set of vr-50s and a vrc1 center... I can not believe wavecrest dropped the ball... Hopefully they make it up to you and it is a one time problem, it is the first i have heard about them shipping slow or anything negative, but you know what they say 1 negative can ruin 100 praises...

 

[bnelson1980]

I was tempted to cancel, but decided to wait for them. I have another question and this may be a dumb one but I just want to make sure I am doing things right. Are there any specific surge protectors you recommend? Or is a surge just a surge?