Budget system for a friend (1 Viewer)

[ljforster]

Well a friend asked me to come up with a small system. The system will include speakers and receiver. The tv source is AT&T u-verse with HD for their 55" Samsung 55" LED TV. For the most part the tv is for tv and music, probably an even split or maybe 60 tv and 40 music. Not sure if it should be a 2.1 or a full 5.1. I was thinking a 2.1 due to the use. The budget is 1000 and he doesn't want towers. Need some help. Forgot to mention the tv was just purchased so it has hdmi inputs. I'm assuming the receiver would need to be HDMI pass thru so there is still sound when the receiver is shut off. Thanks in advance.

 

[CB750]

It's interesting how folks will spend big bucks on a big 55" TV and then want to go "Small" on sound. Do you and your friend realize that half of the HT experience is the surround sound that is available from many sources. While many purists think that music should only listened to in stereo, I tend to like the reflected sound that comes out the surrounds in a 5.1 system. Since you goals are a 60/40 split between TV and Music. You are going to want a 5.1 system for the center channel and surrounds for TV. You are also going to want a good front stage speakers for music listening. This means you are going to have to spend some money to achieve those goals. Also don't skimp on a sub as it's perhaps the most important speaker in your system.


He are some additional hints or advise for your to consider:

1. In today's HT systems the Receiver is the hub of the system where all of the equipment is connected together and the receiver acts as the switch. Under this arrangement unless the TV is connected to an over the air antenna it becomes nothing more than a monitor as it's internal tuner will not be used.
2. Your front stage speakers (left, center, and right) need to be timbre matched. This means they should either all be the same speaker or made by the same company using similar or compatible speaker components. It is also desirable to have your surround speakers timbre matched but it is not as critical as the front stage.
3. The best way to evaluate speaker systems is to have your friend listen to many brands that fit their budget and select those which sound best to their ears. Published speaker reviews and our own opinions are not reliable sources because as humans we all perceive and process sound differently and may have differently levels of hearing acuity. A speaker than may sound good to me many not sound good to your or your friend.
4. Setting up a 5.1 system is important to it's performance follow this guide as close as possible. http://www.dolby.com/consumer/setup/speaker-setup-guide/index.html