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New Member/Question

#1
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2/3/08 at 9:46am
  • Joined: February 2008
  • Location: Elkhorn, NE
  • Post Count: 17
Hello to every one! I am new to this forum and have been looking around for a few days and felt I should join and partake in the wonderful world of Home Theater. I recently have become very facinated by the world of home audio. For this past Christmas my family gave me an Onkyo receiver (Onkyo TX-SR705). I ended up returning the receiver for a Harman Kardon AVR 445. I have slowly been adding speakers to my collection and decided upon the JBL Venue series. I currently have 2 JBL Stadium speakers, 2 JBL Monitor speakers, the JBL Voice speaker and the JBL Sub 10. As I attempted to find more information on the HK, I am thinking maybe I should have went with the 645 or 745 for the HDMI processing. Anyone have any thoughts on the setup I am attempting to build. Please feel free to comment on anything as I am new to the AV world. Thanks!
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#2
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2/3/08 at 11:07am
  • Joined: April 2003
  • Post Count: 68

Re: New Member/Question

Hey,

Welcome to the addiction. A few questions for you. Whats your budget and what type of display do you have. Do you have a Blu-ray or HD DVD player? If you don't have a 1080P display and don't plan on getting one for a few years then you don't really need the HDMI processing. You will get plenty of great audio and video via component and optical hookup's. I can't speak specifically to your choice in receivers so hopefully someone else will chime in.

I got into Home Theater about eight years ago. Through a constant series of upgades I have slowly reached a point to where people walk in and go "Wow" (jaws hitting the floor). I have been through 3 display devices, 3 AVR's, Multiple DVD, HD DVD, and Blu-Ray players. If you don't have a lot of dough just go slow and you will get to where you want to be eventually.

Whenever someone new talks to me about getting into home theater I have them come up with a budget. After they have their display (TV, Rear Projection, Front Projection) I usually tell them to allocate as much of their budget as possible to speakers. I usually tell them to get a decent AVR but nothing spectacular. As you get more advanced you can graduate to an AVR that can do more and has more features. You will never regret investing in quality speakers right away. Go slow and have fun.

Chris
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#3
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2/3/08 at 11:17am
  • Joined: May 2003
  • Location: Eastern NC
  • Post Count: 1,756

Re: New Member/Question

Hello HuskerFan24. Welcome to the forums.
You must be a HK fan...........The Onkyo TX-SR705 is a very nice receiver. It processes the HD audio formats over HDMI, used on HD DVD and Blu ray movies, and the HK AVR445 does not. If you're not going with either HD dvd format, it won't matter. At least you'll have HDMI switching.

The HK AVR645 has HDMI (ver. 1.1), so it won't do the HD audio formats either, I don't think (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I think it requires ver. 1.3 to handle the HD audio.

The HK AVR745 also has HDMI ver. 1.1, so it's not going to do the HD audio either. If you're going to get HD DVD or Blu ray player (including PS 3), you might want to get the Onkyo back............
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Samsung HL61A750 (LED DLP)            Onkyo TX-SR805
Oppo BDP-83 Blu ray                                  Polk Audio LSi9
Polk Audio LSiC                                  Sony SS-MB100H
JBL PSW1200 (Sub)                        ...
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#4
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2/3/08 at 11:22am
  • Joined: February 2008
  • Location: Elkhorn, NE
  • Post Count: 17

Re: New Member/Question

Chris,

Thanks for the reply! I currently have a Samsung LCD. It is 32", but I am currently looking at building a house come March. My audio addiction has come from attempting to plan my living room into a fantastic sounding theater. I will hopefully be upgrading the TV to something larger as time goes by. As far as budget goes I am looking for the entire pacakge to be around (under) $2500. The receiver was about $899 and the speakers were so far a total of $700. So I do have room to expand so what. Do you know what is recommended for speaker wire? Any reading information out there to expand my knowledge?

Thanks, Tim!
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#5
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2/3/08 at 11:29am
  • Joined: February 2008
  • Location: Elkhorn, NE
  • Post Count: 17

Re: New Member/Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed Moxley
Hello HuskerFan24. Welcome to the forums.
You must be a HK fan...........The Onkyo TX-SR705 is a very nice receiver. It processes the HD audio formats over HDMI, used on HD DVD and Blu ray movies, and the HK AVR445 does not. If you're not going with either HD dvd format, it won't matter. At least you'll have HDMI switching.

The HK AVR645 has HDMI (ver. 1.1), so it won't do the HD audio formats either, I don't think (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I think it requires ver. 1.3 to handle the HD audio.

The HK AVR745 also has HDMI ver. 1.1, so it's not going to do the HD audio either. If you're going to get HD DVD or Blu ray player (including PS 3), you might want to get the Onkyo back............
Good luck with whatever you decide.

Actually I am very into the saying, "form over function". It seems every receiver out there looks like it is from the eighty's (aside from the HK). Therefore I have stuck with the HK because of how beautiful it looks in comparison!

I do currently have a PS3, so the Blu-ray capabilities are there.
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#6
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2/3/08 at 8:02pm
  • Joined: April 2003
  • Post Count: 68

Re: New Member/Question

Hk's are definitely nice to look at and seem to get good reviews. If you can upgrade to an HDMI receiver for not too much more go for it. I would go with no less than 14 gauge speaker wire. The bigger the better. I think I run 14 gauge to my surrounds and 12 or 10 gauge to the fronts. I have Monster but it is ridiculously overpriced and most people feel the generic stuff you can get someplace like Home Depot is just as good. Unless you are a major audiophile you probably won't hear a difference. I could not tell in some blind testing with friends.

More than likely everything you buy now will be gone and upgraded within five years. Forums like this and AVS tend to cause some major upgraditis :]. The $2500 sounds like a good starting budget. Enough to give you a decent starting point and get you up and running and finding out what you like and don't like. Not enough to make a really big mistake on some gear that you will regret buying (probably will happen at some point-all part of the learning curve).

Chris
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#7
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2/3/08 at 9:01pm
  • Joined: February 2008
  • Location: Elkhorn, NE
  • Post Count: 17

Re: New Member/Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris VW
I would go with no less than 14 gauge speaker wire. The bigger the better. I think I run 14 gauge to my surrounds and 12 or 10 gauge to the fronts. I have Monster but it is ridiculously overpriced and most people feel the generic stuff you can get someplace like Home Depot is just as good. Unless you are a major audiophile you probably won't hear a difference. I could not tell in some blind testing with friends.

As far as guage goes, lower number equals bigger wire?
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#8
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2/3/08 at 10:59pm
  • Joined: May 2003
  • Location: Eastern NC
  • Post Count: 1,756

Re: New Member/Question

Yes..........
Samsung HL61A750 (LED DLP)            Onkyo TX-SR805
Oppo BDP-83 Blu ray                                  Polk Audio LSi9
Polk Audio LSiC                                  Sony SS-MB100H
JBL PSW1200 (Sub)                        ...
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#9
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2/4/08 at 10:15am
  • Joined: April 2003
  • Post Count: 68

Re: New Member/Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by HuskerFan24
As far as guage goes, lower number equals bigger wire?

That correct. When you run the wires make sure you have plenty of extra. Especially if you are running the wire in wall or ceiling. Then, if you have to move them around later and need more length you have it. When you build your house make sure you run wire for everything you could possibly need to try and future proof yourself. If a front projecter is possible for you in the future in this room spend the money and put the HDMI and Component Cables in the ceiling now. If you are going to do 5.1 for now visualize where you would put the other speakers to go to 7.1 in the future and run the extra speaker wire now. It will save you a lot of hassle upgrading later on. With this hobby never say "I will never do "blank". Trust me you will. The time to prepare for everything in your case is now. Doing everything when you originally build is so much easier.

Chris
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#10
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2/4/08 at 11:21am
  • Joined: January 2005
  • Post Count: 1,575

Re: New Member/Question

Also, make sure that if you will be running wire behind walls to get the correct type. CL3 is a fire rated wire that has an outer jacket and is required by code in some areas.

I know enough to know I don't know enough!

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#11
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2/4/08 at 11:44am
  • Joined: April 2003
  • Post Count: 68

Re: New Member/Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by mylan
Also, make sure that if you will be running wire behind walls to get the correct type. CL3 is a fire rated wire that has an outer jacket and is required by code in some areas.

Definately!
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