Speakers.... need some advice (1 Viewer)

[Dave Jewett]

Hello all,
I'm planning on buying my parents some speakers in the next few months to finish out their HT, and I need some advice. First off, I'll attach a pic of their current room setup:
link
As you can see, it's not the best room to work in. All of the walls except for the fireplace are solid wood paneling. The fireplace wall is brick from floor to ceiling. Given the room layout, can anyone give me some advice on speaker placement?
My second question - given a budget of $1000 max, what are my options for a 5.1 setup? (sub, center, mains, 2 surround) I have a Diva package and SVS 25-31pci here that I absolutely love, but I don't think my budget can stretch that far this time.
Also, one more question - is there any place in the DFW area I can go to audition JBL speakers, besides BestBuy? They only have a small selection of JBLs, but I've heard good things about the S series and I'd like to check them out...
Thanks,
Dave

 

[Pablo Abularach]

Dave,

For $1000 without a reciever I will recomend you this,

SVS PCi 25-31 ($500+$30 shipping, from SVS)
S Center ($141) + Four S26 ($340) + Shipping ($45 from etronics)

This will give you 530+141+340+45 = $1056, it little over the $1000 mark, but you could also go for an NSP1 Package form J&R for $200(shipping included) + the SVS = $730.

Hope this helps,
Pablo Abularach

 

[Martice]

Is it possible to put the TV and Stereo system on the wall next to the "hallway door"? That seems like the logical place if you don't want to redecorate the whole room.

Also, What type of movie watchers are your folks anyway? Are they big HT fans or just think it would be nice to watch a movie that resembles the theater but most definitely is better then the TV? Are they the type that would mind big towers in there room? If you go with a sub satellite system, mounting the speakers on the wall will take a lot of the problem areas out of the way. Is it necessary to buy an SVS sub? Would they appreciate the performance and notice a difference of a seious sub as opposed to if you gave them a lesser performing sub that got the job done but cost you less? The last and most important question is what do they love more music or movies?

 

[Dave Jewett]

Pablo: Thanks for the advice... I'll check out those JBLs!
Martice: My folks are more into movies than music. They do have a pretty big DVD collection and they have talked about getting some form of surround sound for a while. I think given the room layout it would be pretty difficult to place large towers, so I'm looking for a sub/sat combo. I'm not sure about the sub, they have yet to hear mine in its full glory... I think they would be perfectly happy with a smaller sub, because it's pretty unlikely they would crank it up to reference level.
As for moving the TV/stereo - Moving the TV would be fairly easy. It's in a cabinet with the DVD player and VCR. Moving the stereo would be difficult, considering that it's housed in a large armoire. However, I think that's less of an issue. They don't have a need to do video switching through their receiver (Onkyo TX-DS484), so if I can move the TV to that wall, then I can run a digital interconnect to the stereo through the attic. My only concern with that is whether a long cable run would degrade the signal.
Hmmm... I just had a thought - they could move the stereo from its current location to an audio rack in the corner by the fireplace, and then move the TV to the wall by the hallway. I think that might work... I'll have to take some measurements this afternoon.
Thanks for all your advice!
Dave

 

[Russell _T]

Dave, I would check back in with the AV123 boys. They are closing out the Divas, and I hear they are sweetening the pot even more than usual.