Please Help Me Choose Equipment for Basement Home Theater! (1 Viewer)

[Alexander-G]

I posted on this website a few years ago and the excellent advice led me to a budge hometheater system which is fantastic. My gear at home is as follows:

H/K AVR 320
JBL NSP 1 speakers
Sony SA-WM40 speakers

When I needed a new DVD player I went on this site, and found the Pioneer 578A-S another awesome choice.


I now have another a challenge and hoping you experts can help me out again. Ifm trying to help my mother-in-law put together a great screening room in the basement of her country house. There is no fixed budget but I want to keep everything within reason. Herefs the rub: We are working with a contractor and TV store guy who work with a very limited set of brands (e.g. only Sony receivers). This is not how I would do it if it were my own house, but things will be much easier if we can work with what wefve got. I.e. if something is rotten about the setup, I could make a stink and insist on getting something better from elsewhere and just buying it myself, but I donft want to do that if wefre talking small differences. Basically we want to have a nice home theater, where we can walk in, watch a film on the big screen, and all have a great time feeling like wefre at the movies or better and have the sound be nice and full and loud and not noticeably off. Music is less of a priority.

So here goes:

I think we are going with an Optoma DLP projector – no quibbles there I think itfs a good one.

Otherwise, fhe proposal is for the following other equipment:

DVD Player: DVP-NS50P/B

Receiver: Sony STR-DE998

Speakers – in wall front speakers and in ceiling surround speakers made by Russound. I donft know exactly which model but they are supposed the middle level speakers (i.e. there is both a higher and lower end option). Supposedly about $100 per speaker. Center speaker and subwoofer have not yet been selected.

Can someone tell me if these are good choices? How does the Sony receiver compare to H/K?
Is it crazy to get this DVD player instead of the Pioneer I already own?
Perhaps most important, whatfs the deal with Russound in-wall / in-ceiling speakers? I donft see them reviewed anywhere. If those are no good, is there an alternative option in the same price range? Is in-wall a bad move?

Any advice will help tons. Many thanks in advance!
Alex

 

[AlanZ]

There's no way I'd go with those speakers, bro....If you want an authentic "theater-like" experience, spend a few bucks on your speakers and subwoofer. You don't have to break the bank, but I'm sure you can do better than whatever a 'Russound' speaker is. I'm not a huge fan of JBL myself, but they do make inwalls, so why not just go with those since you already know you like them? Are you able to afford a subwoofer in this set-up, too? Or are you just getting speakers? SVS just came out with a pretty slick all-in-one package that you may want to check out. Even if you can't budget their new 5.1/7.1 packages, I would be willing to bet that their new satellite speakers will kick the crap out of those Russounds.

I just got a new projector myself, so I think you'll be pretty happy with what that brings to the table....so I'd recommend getting some quality speakers to go with it

 

[Alexander-G]

Thanks! It seems though you are not acquainted with Russound though, right? I did some more digging online and even though there is not much there, it seems some people have good things to say about the Russound Advantage HiFi speakers which I think are their top-of-the line.

Subwoofer will definitely be included but we don't have a proposal for that yet. Nor do we have a proposal for the center speaker, but I assume we would want to be the same brand as the L,R and surrounds.

Does anyone know anything about Russound in-wall speakers and have an opinion on them?

 

[SethH]

I've never heard of them, but they've got pretty decent specs according to their website -- 6" model is +/-3dB down to 50Hz and the 8" model is +/-3dB down to 35Hz. I would definitely want to listen to them first, but if they sound good and actually meet those specs, then I guess they're alright.

They don't appear to offer a center, so it will be interesting to hear what they want to use for a center.

That sony receiver has gotten pretty good reviews for its price range. It is their top-of-the-line DE receiver, but you might ask what they have available in the ES line.

The DVD player is decent. I have that model in the silver version. If you're staying in the sub-$100 range for DVD players, then I don't think you're losing too much with this player. If you're interested in spending more, then look at Denon.

Personally, I would think with that projector you would want a DVD player that could output through HDMI or DVI to keep the signal all digital.

 

[AlanZ]

Alex:

So far the most glowing remark I've been able to find on the Russound inwalls is "respectable". You and your in-laws are the only ones who need be happy with the sound, though...so if those float your boat, then go for it. You don't seem to mention a subwoofer, though....is this not an option for you at this point? A good quality subwoofer will go a long way toward getting you closer to the theater-like experience you mentioned.

 

[Alexander-G]

Thanks guys - great advice all around.

Again, a subwoofer is definitely going to be a part of this, but there's been no discussion yet of which one - but obviously that is a big piece of the puzzle.

Also, it is funny that there appears to be no Russounds center speaker - so we still have to go to some other company to get a center.

I saw a Polk Audio speaker when I was in this guy's store, and they are a reputable company which also has an in-wall line, so I am going to try to explore that avenue as well.

On the DVD front, I am now convinced we should get an HDMI one that upconverts, so thanks for the tip. I've seen some mixed reports on these though - apparently when some people put in a DVD that's supposed to have a 3:4 aspect ratio (like many old movies), the DVD player stretches it to widescreen when it upconverts. I would really like to avoid that problem, or to have to keep changing the settings every time I switch aspect ratios - but it seems impossible to me that that problem is inevitable.

Also, I am thinking of insisting on the Denon AVR-3805 which seems to be cheaper than going up to the ES line for the Sonys.

 

[SethH]

For a DVD player you might look at the Denon 1920 or the Oppo model that has been getting really good reviews. Both upconvert through HDMI. With the Denon you would also get an SACD/DVD-A player which may or may not be useful to you.

I think the Denon receiver is a very good idea. By most accounts the 3805 is a great receiver. I think this would be closer to equivalent with your HK than the Sony models. However, you may want to consider the 3806 for its HDMI switching capabilities.

 

[Alexander-G]

Cool - thanks! I will check those out.