Home Theater Upgrade - Suggestions please! (2 Viewers)

[gamingmatrix5000]

Hi All, this is Kartik from Kansas.

I have been living in an apartment and am about to move into a house. I plan to setup a theater room in the basement - the previous owners have already converted the non conforming bedroom in the basement into a 2-tier theater room so that's the perfect place to start for me. They are leaving a 120 inch projector screen in that room.

Current setup:
Since I've been living in apartments I've been having a very basic setup:

I had bought an Onkyo HTIB (HT-S3500) for around $250 and had upgraded just the front speakers with a pair of used Wharfedale Diamond 9.6 Floorstanders. The subwoofer, center speaker and surround speakers are the ones that came with the HTIB.

I have to say that even though I've been a great fan of Wharfedale speakers, I haven't been stuck with a wow factor yet even with Bluray/itunes movies. I strongly believe it's largely due to the fact that my AV Receiver is very entry level and that I've been using the setup in large rooms (living, dining and kitchen in an open floor plan in apartments).

The receiver does not support Dolby Atmos or 4K.

Before we move to the new house, I am researching on speakers, AV Receivers and Projectors for the upgrade. My budget is around $1000 for the AV Receiver and speaker upgrades and another $750 for a projector. My plan is to buy a 7.2 channel AV receiver but keep 5.1 speaker setup to begin with and later make it 7.1 if I feel the need. Can you guys please suggest what some good options. I will list what I am currently considering.

My upgrade considerations:
1. AV Receiver:
Onkyo TX-NR686 7.2
Denon AVR-S740H Receiver, 7.2
Yamaha RX-V683BL 7.2-Channel
Sony 7.2 Channel Home Theater 4K AV Receiver (STRDH770)

2. Front Speakers:
NONE (To keep my current Wharfedale Diamond 9.6 floor standers)

3. Center Speaker:
Klipsch - Reference Series Quad 3-1/2" 400-Watt Passive 2-Way Center-Channel Speaker ($349)
Klipsch - Reference Premiere Dual 4" 300-Watt Passive 2-Way Center-Channel Speaker ($299)

4. Surround Speakers:
Klipsch - Reference 4" Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) - Black

5. SubWoofer:
Klipsch - Reference Series 12" 300W Powered Subwoofer

P.S: Some people suggested that I use the same brand for Front and Center speakers. But I do not know if a Wharfedale Center speaker will do as good a job as a Klipsch reference. Plus if there is a future upgrade of Front speakers I believe I will go with Klipsch floorstanders rather than Wharfedale. Please let me know your opinions.

Also what projector would you recommend for high quality movies and gaming. It doesn't have to be 4K, but would be great if it does support it, I am looking for something around $750 to a $1000. Im considering BenQ HT2050.

 

[JohnRice]

You like the Wharfdales, and it's important to try to complete the system with speakers that have at least a similar sound. Klipsch is not going to be a good mix with Wharfdale. I'd look at the ELAC Debut line, which Best Buy also sells.

 

[gamingmatrix5000]

You like the Wharfdales, and it's important to try to complete the system with speakers that have at least a similar sound. Klipsch is not going to be a good mix with Wharfdale. I'd look at the ELAC Debut line, which Best Buy also sells.

Thanks for the tips John. So what is so different between Wharfedales and Klipsch? Probably that would help me in making a decision. The reason I wanted to go all Klipsch was that, if I am later upgrading my front speakers I wanted to go for a Klipsch floorstanders too since they seemed to be good for movies when I demo'ed them in best buy. The reason I like Wharfedales may be because thats all I was used to since I was young as my dad had a pair of bookshelf speakers too. I like punchy (tight bass), high energy and clear sound reproduction while my dad likes laidback, non fatigued sound reproduction. My primary purpose will be for movies and sometimes for music too. I might get an Audio CD player and a stereo amplifier in the future and connect the floor standers to the amp (Hi-Fi). Considering my taste and needs, would you recommend Wharfedales or Klipsch? Thank you.

 

[Docreid]

Go with an RZ series Onkyo-I've had several and they are great...better than NR series

 

[Dave Moritz]

You like the Wharfdales, and it's important to try to complete the system with speakers that have at least a similar sound. Klipsch is not going to be a good mix with Wharfdale.

I have to agree with John they are two different speakers and the horn loaded high frequency driver is not going to match the kind of highs you are getting out of your Wharfdales. I myself have gone from a small Polk CS100 center to a Bowers & Wilkins center channel and how have a Klipsch RC-64 lll center and I use two pair of Klipsch RP-600M bookshelf speakers for my surrounds. I love the Klipsch for home theater as they are very efficient and it takes less power to get more volume out of them and they are very dynamic and add punch to the sound. So you have two choices which would mean keeping your center and rear channel the same brand with the same type of drivers as your left and right you have now. Or switch everything to Klipsch which you actually may like better but I would go to a retailer and listen to them first. Granted do not expect any speaker to sound exactly the same once you get it home and do not expect what you currently have to sound the same once in the new room. Rooms can effect the sound of your speakers and even your subwoofer. The one speaker you do not have to keep the same is your subwoofer so do not be concerned about using a different brand sub.

I would check out more than just Wharfedales and Klipsch but to me the Wharfedales do not sound like a good fit for home theater but only you can make that decision. Hopefully you have some choices for retailers where you can go demo speakers from Klipsch, Polk and JBL and JBL has some nice low cost options. Speakers are the other equation in your system and speakers can make a huge difference. I place receivers up there because companies have to make cuts to fit a certain model within a certain price point so they can make a profit on it.

As far as components go not big on Onkyo even though I have owned there product in the past and they only reason currently is I am not sure the HDMI issues have been corrected. I like Yamaha, Denon and Marantz and there are other options but they are more expensive and even the three above mentioned have more expensive options. With the lower end receiver you will have less connection options and internal components will not perform to the same level. But we all had to start somewhere but I would push the envelope as much as you can on the receiver. One thing you could do is add a used power amp for your LCR speakers but the receiver has to have preamp outs and the less exspensive receivers do not output enough voltage to drive most amplifiers to full output as the preouts usually are as little as 1v to maybe 1.4v and are clipping by 1.5v. I have added a power amp for my LCR channels and it has made a big difference in sound IMHO.

I hope others in the forum will be able to also give you some good feedback. I hope your able to peice together something that will work very well for you and that you will be happy with. Another option would be to just use what you have and slowly save up for nicer models to elevate your system and you can do this just for certain items. Check out the lower cost Faux K projectors that are basically native 1080p but will accept 4K input and use tricks to give you that 4K like image.

I have been in this hobby since the 80's so I have had alot of gear in and out of my system and started with two channel stereo and now have a 11 channel home theater.

If you want to check out my system throughout the years maybe it might give you some ideas of what you might want to do. Do alot of research and look at what other have done. There is more than one way to do your home theater and hopefully you will enjoy the process and enjoy the results even more.

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/my-home-theater-page.271281/