Newbie needs advice (1 Viewer)

[ezonebroker]

Hello, I am building a theater room in the basement. I have the following three pieces of equipment:

 

Yamaha Natural Sound AV HTR- 5540 Receiver



 



 

Yamaha Natural Sound M-50 Power Amplifier



 

 

JBL SUB 150 powered 250 watts



 

Basement. Thinking of a decent plasma on this wall. The seating area is 17' x 17' with a small kitchen/ bar behind that is about 10' ft. The 17'' x 17" area will have a 2" trey around the top so I could mount speakers in that if needed.



 

 

 

 

 

My first question is can I use the power amp in combination with that receiver and in a theater set up?
If so, how would I go about doing it?
 

Also, any recommendations about the following would be a big help:

 

What a additional components

Speakers ( I know I will need front 3 and at least some rears) But which, should I go for the concealed type?

Speaker placement, etc?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

 

 

 

 

[gene c]

You need a receiver/pre-pro that has what's called Pre-Outs. This is where you would connect your amplifier. The 5540 doesn't have them.

 

Free-standing speakers are usually the best choice because there are many more to choose from, you can move them around a bit if you feel like it, the cabinet is designed for the drivers/crossover, they can be replace easier should the need arise and they generally sound better. In-Wall or In-Ceiling speakers can also sound quite good but once you mount them you're stuck with them. But wives/girl friends usually like them better, they can't be knocked over by kids/pets and they look kinda cool.
 

As for placement it depends on what type of speakers you end up getting, especially the rear and surround-backs. Bookshelves, di-poles, bi-poles each have their own requirements as does a 5.1 vs a 7.1 setup. Here's a link to what Dolby recommends.

 

[ezonebroker]

Gene,
 

Thank you very much for the reply.
 

Further, if you were me, would you sell the 5540 receiver to buy the pre pro ( not sure what the "pro" means)? If I am correct, I believe this is a two channel amp. The M-50 is old, very clean, seems powerful and once powered some 901's nicely back in the early 90's. Things were so easy back then with just two speakers.

 

At any rate... I am competing with my daily system a Bose Lifestyle 35 series IV with a Sharp LC52 - D64U that I have upstairs in my den. Before you through beer cans at me, I went the easy route with the adaptQ technology because I needed something fast back in 07. So my goal now, is to build a better sounding, looking more balanced system with less cash if possible in the basement. By the way with the 5540 being a two channel amp, will it only power the front right and left speakers? Please excuse the many dumb questions and I am a fast learner.

 

I am trying to do this as close to correct as possible while being wise with the purchases. If you had the same situation, would you sell the amp and just buy some speakers that would work with the 5540? Or would you sell the 5540? Would you or anyone else be able to make some recommendations on some specific components, I have about a $1500.00 budget in addition if I sell anything and actually get something for it.
 

It would be nice to have speakers that would be off the floor or in the wall (that just really depends on the deal) unlike the girlfriend, I like don't mind a speaker hanging on a wall especially if it is considerably less expensive and sharp looking. I really want a properly balanced and calibrated system.
 

Also, any suggestions on in wall receptacles plates for installation of the plasma. Any particular height better or worse for a 50 to 55 inch?

 

Has anyone put together a general step by step list of the essentials from the pre sheet rock phase to the set out? Thanks to everyone in advance for your expert knowledge!

 

-Chris

 

[gene c]

Pre-Pro stands for Pre-amplifier/Processor.


The Yamaha 5540 is a 5 channel surround sound receiver, not a two channel amplifier , The M-50 appears to be a two channel amp with 4 speaker outputs.


I would sell both the 5540 and M-50 and the JBL Sub 150 and get a more up-to-date receiver from Onkyo (608), Yamaha (567), Pioneer (1020), Denon (1611), etc. along with a speaker-sub woofer package from AperionAudio.com SVS, HSU, ElementalDesigns, AscendAcoustics.com etc. There are so many quality speaker manufactures it would be impossible to list them all. But spend around $400 for the receiver and $1100 for the speakers and sub woofer.


You can get wall mounts from the speaker manufacturer or from places like MonoPrice.com and PartsExpress who can also help you with the wall-mount for your Plasma.


Browse through this thread for helpfull hints on construction. It's a pretty long one but lots of good information in it.