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Hello! Advice Needed

#1
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1/23/09 at 11:53am
  • Joined: January 2009
  • Location: Cleveland, Ohio
  • Post Count: 29
Hello new friends,

I am new to the world of home theater and i am trying to figure out where to beginning. My name is Joe and i will be getting married in August. The reason I am here is to build a home theater for my new home. I am looking for help on determining what type of receiver, speakers, etc. i need to look at. I figured this would be the best place to start asking

Thanks for your time.
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#2
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1/23/09 at 12:57pm
  • Joined: August 2000
  • Location: Southaven, MS
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

Is this a system in the living room, a dedicated media room or a full blown theater (theater style interior)? Room size? Budget? Goals? Depending on your answers this may not be a Basics type question. The section below is for projects and theaters.

-Robert
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#3
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1/23/09 at 1:03pm
  • Joined: January 2009
  • Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert_J
Is this a system in the living room, a dedicated media room or a full blown theater (theater style interior)? Room size? Budget? Goals? Depending on your answers this may not be a Basics type question. The section below is for projects and theaters.

-Robert

Hey thanks!

it will be for a finished basement. 14'9" x 18'0". it will be the media center for the home.
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#4
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1/26/09 at 12:51pm
  • Joined: January 2009
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

any help? my head is spinning at the options!
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#5
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1/26/09 at 3:08pm
  • Joined: August 2000
  • Location: Southaven, MS
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

You didn't answer my other questions. Without some constraints you can be like these guys with $1M theaters. If that isn't realistic, then throw out a number. Include your goals and wants. A 120" projector system and 10,000w sound system aren't going to be possible on $1,000.

-Robert
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#6
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1/26/09 at 8:30pm
  • Joined: January 2009
  • Location: Cleveland, Ohio
  • Post Count: 29

Re: Hello! Advice Needed

my wants are simple. im looking for something that is going to make My PS3 sound great. it really is the focus of our entertainment.

budget:

$500 on reciever
$300-$400 on speakers
$100 on wires
i already have a 46 samsung LCD tv Model #: LN46A650. I just need to bring it all together.
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#7
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1/26/09 at 11:16pm
  • Joined: August 2003
  • Location: SF Bay Area
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

First bit of advice: change it to $400 for receiver, $400-550 on speakers and $50 on wires (from Monoprice) .
"Everyday room": Mitsubishi 52631 RPTV, H/K 520, H/K dvd-5, H/K 8380, H/K CDR 20, OPPO BDP-83 BluRay player, Dish-HD, Infinity Beta 20's-C250-OWS1's, Dayton HSU10.
"Movie/Music room": Toshiba 65HM167 RPTV, Pioneer Elite 59txi, Elite DV59avi, Elite CD-59, Pioneer PD-51FD BR, Dish-DVR, Swan Diva...
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#8
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1/27/09 at 4:54am
  • Joined: January 2009
  • Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

Quote:
Originally Posted by gene c
First bit of advice: change it to $400 for receiver, $400-550 on speakers and $50 on wires (from Monoprice) .


ok! that sounds great. now what should i be looking at? whats a good receiver to buy @ $400? Speakers?
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#9
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1/27/09 at 8:10am
  • Joined: April 1999
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

Onkyo 576 receiver perhaps. Speakers, maybe performance 2 set from HSU Research ?

You can probably get down to $25-30 in wires if all you need are a couple of HDMI cables + speaker wire .
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#10
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1/27/09 at 9:06am
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  • Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

should i be looking for one that does trueHD?
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#11
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1/27/09 at 9:17am
  • Joined: April 1999
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

The PS3 decodes all the codecs to PCM, so that allows you to skimp a bit on the receiver, don't need TrueHD decoding (since the PS3 will be doing it), just ability to accept multi-channel PCM over HDMI. That gives you more budget for speakers which are most important.
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#12
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1/27/09 at 9:22am
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

Ok 576 for a receiver. now what am i looking for in terms of speakers.
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#13
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1/28/09 at 11:07am
  • Joined: November 2008
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

Joey,

Is this going to be a man cave or a room for the entire family?

I say this because as a soon to be married man you have two route's to go. Get what you want as your last bachelor fling or do the married thing and involve your wife to be in the process.

Some woman have strong feelings about how to decorate around A/V equipment. What you call a Home Theater could be her family room.
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#14
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1/28/09 at 7:10pm
  • Joined: January 2009
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

Man cave! my soon to be wife told me to make the cave!
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#15
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1/30/09 at 8:20am
  • Joined: January 2009
  • Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

That Onkyo TX-SR576 is nice. i will purchase that sometime soon. we have decided to build a home. with that i need more advice. i want to build a room that will do me proud. my tv is 46 samsung LCD tv Model #: LN46A650. So what kind of layout would i need to make all this work.

the basement we are looking at is almost 1600sq feet. so i can basically do what i want to make a media room any way i want. anyone have ideas?
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#16
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1/30/09 at 9:48am
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Re: Hello! Advice Needed

Wet bar, stripper poles and a webcam early-warning system aimed at the basement stairs!

Oh, you meant HT ideas.

You're asking a really open-ended question. Before anyone can recommend anything, we really need to know your budget and what skills you bring to the job. A home theater can run anywhere from a few hundred bucks to hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you're a carpenter or electrician (licensed or a skilled DIYer) you can do a more ambitious setup on the same budget as someone who has to hire professionals. Give us a number and people can start throwing ideas around.

Regards,

Joe
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#17
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1/30/09 at 11:02am
  • Joined: January 2009
  • Location: Cleveland, Ohio
  • Post Count: 29

Re: Hello! Advice Needed

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joseph DeMartino
Wet bar, stripper poles and a webcam early-warning system aimed at the basement stairs!

Oh, you meant HT ideas.

You're asking a really open-ended question. Before anyone can recommend anything, we really need to know your budget and what skills you bring to the job. A home theater can run anywhere from a few hundred bucks to hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you're a carpenter or electrician (licensed or a skilled DIYer) you can do a more ambitious setup on the same budget as someone who has to hire professionals. Give us a number and people can start throwing ideas around.

Regards,

Joe


Well my first goal is to get a general idea of set up. since we are building a home from scratch the possibilities are endless. budget wise for the audio equipment is $1000. i already have the tv & My PS3. i am looking for the rest to finish it off. im also looking for idea on how to make a nice room in the basement. its already been discussed that the basement will be finished with the rest of the house. all i need now is idea to bring to the builders.
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#18
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9/15/09 at 1:18pm
  • Joined: January 2009
  • Location: Cleveland, Ohio
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Hello again.

I finally drew up a plan and am looking for more advice.


The two couches will be tiered. i am trying to get a feeling on what needs to change before i get started.






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#19
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9/21/09 at 3:45pm
  • Joined: September 2009
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It looks like a really nice setup espically having the tired theater seating. If you're workin with $1000 and want something nice I would recommend building the speakers. This would give you the ability to have real quality components at a reasonable price. I use parts express for all mine. As far as the receiver, I picked up a Sony ES on craigslist for $100, it works real well until I find a deal on the processor and amplifiers I want. I have just over $1000 in my audio system and it is very acceptable. My friend that helped me put it together has $12000 in his audio system and there's nowhere close to $11000 difference in the sound.
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#20
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9/24/09 at 3:51pm
  • Joined: September 2009
  • Post Count: 1
Hello everyone,
I,m a newbie here and to HT.I am building my theater in my basement now.I have all my equipment..LG 60 inch plasma,Onkyo TX-sr607 receiver,PSB T6 tower speakers,T5 center speaker and a JBL 10 inch 300 watt powered woofer.My question is I had someone run my speaker wire and my cable for my subwoofer before my sheetrock was up.Its up now and the walls painted only to find out the cable is too short and I need about another 6 or 7 feet in order to connect to the receiver.Whats the solution?Any help would be appreciated!
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#21
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9/25/09 at 6:02am
  • Joined: August 2002
  • Location: Mass
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Terminte the sub cable at the wall with a single RCA wall plate. 

www.amazon.com/Dayton-WP-1RCA-Wallplate-Single-Yellow/dp/B0002ZPO7M

You'd have to snip off the current one and solder the innards to the plate (about a 2 on a 1-10 difficulty scale).  If you can't do it, an electrician can in about 5 minutes.  Then run another RCA to RCA cable from the plate to the sub.
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