N00b system: Sub $400 to good to be true??

Ken.H.C · 09-09-2003, 10:17 PM

I'm a first time poster... this is a fantastic forum!!

I've been reading tons of threads for the past week as I am seriously considering an entry-level HT audio system to go with my Pioneer 5-disc DVD player and Sony 27" Wega CRT TV. From my readings here and research on the net... J&R has these priced as such:

(rounded prices)
Sherwood RD6108 5.1 Receiver: $130+$22ship = $152.00 total (Ckt City has this under $120 but NO STOCK!)
JBL SCS135SI: $230.00 shipped
Total: $382 plus tax since I live in NY.

Is this too good to be true at these prices?????

They're also offering the JBL SCS150 at $300 shipped. My living room is not big, so I am leaning to the SCS135SI instead. I've narrowed it down to these JBLs because of their size... I want "Bose" small.. but not pay "Bose" prices

Any "better" suggestions for sub-$400??? I am afraid as I post this that J&R will run out of stock as dozens of you will grab 'em

By the way, did I say how great this forum is? Kinda like having hundreds of audio consultants at your finger tips

Jack Briggs · 09-09-2003, 11:27 PM

Well, thanks for joining, Ken!

J&R Music World is a reputable dealer, and so it looks as if you have an affordable entry price into the world of home theater. Don't blame us when you want to upgrade, though.

Ken.H.C · 09-10-2003, 04:46 PM

Thanks for the reply Jack!

For the experts out there... is this as good as I can get staying under $400.00? I thought if getting a pair of better speakers to start with and a quality receiver... then slowly upgrading with the sub, center and rears down the road... I guess I just want immediate HT and this seems to be a decent way to start without breaking the bank, yet getting quality.

Lew Crippen · 09-10-2003, 04:57 PM

Welcome Ken. Upgradeits gets us all in the end. Either way of upgrading will work. If you want to jump in for the HT experience, what you propose will work well.

When you start down the upgrade path

, you might think about starting with replacing the receiver first. True it will not immediately help your audio quality very much, if at all, but you will be able to replace speakers as you desire you will see the immediate, full benefits of the new speakers and, without worrying about under powering them.

Have fun.

Anthony_I · 09-10-2003, 09:02 PM

im a newb as well...but check out the Pioneer HTD520... i have one and i think its alright....though mine didnt come with speakers i will be building those on my own.

but it is a home theater in a box..... I.E. one reciever, does everything.
5 disc CD/DVD/DVD-R/W/ DVD+R/W VCD etc etc.

To be honest though i have no idea if it is a worthwhile system, the only reason i have it (and the only reason i started my journey into the world of HT) is because i got it free. then i wanted to use it as a stereo, so i thought id buy the remote for it.... and build speakers... now i just want a damn good system with what i have for now

Quote:

System Overview: This integrated system includes a 5-disc DVD/Video CD/Audio CD changer/receiver with 5 matching speakers and a separate passive subwoofer. The receiver includes Dolby Digital, DTS aDolby Pro Logic II decoding, plus a six channel amplifier to power all the speakers, including the subwoofer. A wireless remote is included for system control. QUALITY REFURBISHED BY PIONEER WITH A 90 DAY WARRANTY

Features

DVD Changer: This system includes a 5-disc DVD changer that is compatible with the following discs: DVDs, Video CDs, audio CDs, finalized audio CD-Rs, and finalized audio CD-RWs. It will also play finalized DVD-Rs and finalized DVD-RW discs that were recorded using the DVD Video format. (It will not play DVD-RW discs that were recorded using the Video Recording format.)

96kHz/24-bit Audio DAC: This unit has a 96kHz/24-bit D/A converter that allows it to play back DVDs with 96kHz/24-bit linear PCM digital audio.

On-Screen Display: The on-screen display language can be set to English, French, or Spanish.

Surround Sound Settings: When you play DVDs encoded with Dolby Digital or DTS, you can choose from the following sound settings:

Auto: For digital sources, decoding is automatically selected according to the source, without adding any additional effects. Analog sources are automatically played with the Surround Off setting active. Standard: Two channel sources (analog or digital) are processed using Dolby Pro Logic II for surround-sound effects Musical: Simulates the acoustic environment of a concert hall Drama: Simulates the acoustic environment of a classic, medium size movie theater Action: Simulates the acoustic environment of a large, modern movie theater Virtual Sound 1: Simulates surround sound by using only two front speakers and a subwoofer Virtual Sound 2: Gives you virtual surround sound if you have the surround speakers connected, but you are using them in front of the listening position Rear Wide: Widens the rear channel soundstage DSP Modes: The DSP modes allow you to transform your room into a variety of different sonic environments when playing standard 2-channel sources. You can choose from the following DSP modes:

Hall 1: Simulates the acoustic environment of a large, wood-paneled concert hall Hall 2: Simulates the acoustic environment of a large concert hall with stone walls Jazz: Simulates the acoustic environment of a live jazz club Dance: Simulates the acoustic environment and strong bass sound of a dance club Theater 1: Simulates the acoustic environment of a classic, medium size movie theater Theater 2: Simulates the acoustic environment of a large, modern movie theater Simulated Stereo: This mode gives you virtual stereo when playing mono sources Midnight Listening Mode: The Midnight Listening mode preserves the dynamic range and full intelligibility of a movie sound track, while reducing the volume level. Note: This mode is only available when specially encoded Dolby Digital signals are played.

Disc Exchange: While a disc is playing, you can exchange up to 4 other discs.

Direct Recording: This feature lets you bypass the digital processing and record directly to an external recorder.

Resume Function: When the Stop button is pressed, that position is stored in the memory. When the Play button is pressed after pressing the Stop button, playback resumes from the position where the disc was stopped. The resume function is canceled if the disc tray is opened or the Stop button is pressed a second time.

Multi-Angle Display: This function allows you to choose the viewing angle of scenes that were shot from a number of different angles. Note: This function is limited to DVDs recorded with multiple camera angles.

Program Play: Up to 24 tracks/chapters can be programmed and played in any order.

Random Play: When playing a DVD, you can play the titles or chapters in random order. When playing a Video CD or an audio CD, you can play the tracks on a selected disc, or the tracks on all the loaded discs in random order.

Repeat Play: "A-B Repeat" allows you to select any portion of a title, chapter, or track and play that portion repeatedly. When playing a DVD, you can repeat the current title or the current chapter. When playing a Video CD or an audio CD, you can repeat the current track, the current disc, or all the discs. You can use the repeat mode together with the programming mode to repeat the chapters/tracks in the playlist.

Bookmarking: If you watch only part of a DVD with the intention of picking up later where you left off, you can bookmark the stopping point, then resume playback at a later date without having to manually search for the right place. You can bookmark a single point on up to five discs. The bookmarks remain in memory even if the discs are removed from the changer. Bookmarking also works with Video CDs, but for one disc only, and you must leave the disc in the player; opening the disc tray will erase the Video CD bookmark stored in memory.

Condition Memory: If you have a particular set of preferences for a disc, you can store them in memory using the Condition Memory function. Once memorized, your settings will be recalled automatically whenever you load the disc. The changer can store settings for up to 15 discs. For each disc, you can store the following settings: OSD position, subtitle language, audio language, angle indicator, and parental lock level.

Dual-Mono Setting: Some Dolby Digital discs are recorded with two independent channels that may be played together or separately, depending on the situation. For example, a guitar tutorial disc might be recorded with the guitar part on the left channel, and all the other instruments on the right channel. You can choose whether to hear just the guitar part, or just the backing, or everything together.

Wake Up Timer: You can use the timer as an alarm clock to wake up to a CD, the radio, or a connected external component. After you have selected the source, the wake up timer allows you to set the switch-on time and switch-off time. Once the timer is active, it will switch the system on everyday at the set time. Note: The wake up timer will only work if the system is in standby mode.

Sleep Timer: The sleep timer turns the system off after a specified amount of time. The sleep timer can be set to Auto, or 30, 60, or 90 minutes. When the sleep timer is set to Auto, you can fall asleep to a CD playing. When the CD finishes playing, the system will automatically go into standby mode.

LFE Attenuator: If the level of the LFE channel is too high, causing the subwoofer to distort, you can use the LFE Attenuator to reduce or turn off the signal fed to the subwoofer. The LFE Attenuator only works with sources that contain an LFE channel. It is not a general level control for the subwoofer.

Display Dimmer: You can adjust the brightness of the display to suit the lighting conditions of the room. There are five levels of brightness.

Inputs and Outputs Notes

Headphone Output: The front panel headphone output is a stereo mini-jack output. When headphones are plugged in, the speakers are muted.

Speaker Terminals and Impedance: The locking terminals for the speakers will accept bare wires and pin connectors. The minimum impedance for the front speaker and subwoofer terminals is 8 ohms. The minimum impedance for the center and surround speakers is 6 ohms.

S-Video Output: In the rare case the TV picture appears stretched while the S-Video output is being used, you can switch the output type (in the menu) from the default setting of S2 to S1.

Speakers

S-HTD520 Speaker System: This system comes with the S-HTD520 Speaker System. The six-piece system consists of the following:

Front Speakers: Each front speaker uses a 4" cone woofer and a 2" cone tweeter. The rear-mounted spring clip terminals will accept bare wire and pin connectors. Each speaker is covered by a non-removable, gray cloth grille. Center Speaker: The center speaker uses a 3-7/16" full-range driver. The rear-mounted spring clip terminals will accept bare wire and pin connectors. The center speaker is covered by a non-removable, gray cloth grille. Rear Speakers: Each rear speaker uses a 3-7/16" full-range driver. The rear-mounted spring clip terminals will accept bare wire and pin connectors. Each speaker is covered by a non-removable, gray cloth grille. Subwoofer: The non-powered subwoofer uses a rear-firing 6-5/16" paper cone woofer with a foam surround. A front-firing port gives you improved bass response. The rear-mounted spring clip terminals will accept bare wire and pin connectors. Wall Mounting: The center speaker has a 1-way keyhole slot for wall mounting. The rear speakers have a 3-way keyhole slot, allowing you to mount the speaker vertically or either of two ways horizontally. There are also two threaded inserts on the back of the rear speakers for use with optional wall-/ceiling-mount brackets.

Video-Shielding: The front and center speakers are video-shielded to allow placement on or near a TV. The rear speakers and subwoofer are not video-shielded.

Specifications

Amplifier Section:

Front: 115 watts RMS per channel (1kHz, 10% THD, 8 ohms) Rear: 52 watts RMS per channel (1kHz, 10% THD, 6 ohms) Center: 52 watts RMS (1kHz, 10% THD, 6 ohms) Subwoofer: 114 watts RMS (100Hz, 10% THD, 8 ohms) Front Speakers:

Frequency Range: 50Hz to 20kHz Maximum Input: 115 watts Weight: 4 lbs. 7 oz. Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms Center Speaker:

Frequency Range: 70Hz to 20kHz Maximum Input: 52 watts Weight: 2 lbs. 3 oz. Nominal Impedance: 6 ohms Rear Speakers:

Frequency Range: 150Hz to 20kHz Maximum Input: 52 watts Weight: 1 lbs. 12 oz. Nominal Impedance: 6 ohms Subwoofer:

Frequency Range: 30Hz to 2kHz Maximum Input: 115 watts Weight: 10 lbs. 9 oz. Nominal Impedance: 8 ohmsnd

**HTF Ads**

Ernest Yee · 09-10-2003, 11:18 PM

Ken - You might want to maybe check out Circuit City's closeout on their Polk RTi speakers. I'm sure you could get a pair of decent floorstanders (I think the RTi100 was $250 for the pair? Maybe that was the 70s) Anyways, you would then have another $200ish to spend on a better receiver. You could maybe go w/ a low/mid end Yamaha. It really all depends on your HT to Music percentage.

IMO, the single pair of Polks would outperform all the JBL cubes. You would gain clarity in the midrange and have some decent speakers to work w/ in the future. The floorspace taken by 2 floorstanders isn't actually all that much if the space is concerned. And you would have a better receiver as well!

Ken.H.C · 09-10-2003, 11:28 PM

Anthony... thx for the info, but even as an HT-n00b, I am skeptical about an all-in-one receiver. I'll check it out.

Lew Crippen... ya, I was kinda thinkin' about the receiver... maybe one of those Yamahas or Onkyos I keep seein mentioned here... think I can get a step above the Sherwood 6108 at $200 instead of sub $150?

I dunno if I can realistically get these for $200:
Onkyo TXSR501
Yamaha HTR-5640

If I spend more on one of the above rcvrs, then maybe I slowly build... and get a pair of JBL N24II to start with (the rest to come later). Will this sound bad without a sub??? Too many things to think about!!!

Ernest: WOW, I check out Circuit City's website on Polk Floor standing and these puppies go for in the thousands!! Actually, the least expensive models were R50 listed at $599 and they had 'em crossed out so u contact 'em for the discount. The large floor standing models will put me in the doghouse... similiar thread elsewhere re:wife and all! LOL! I think I'm fixed on "small" yet not crappy sounding.

Lew Crippen · 09-11-2003, 09:53 AM

Ken, I'd get the receiver I could affort now and upgrade it first when I had the money a few years down the road.

09-11-2003, 12:39 PM

Here's what I'd get.

Denon 1603 for $180. Its a refurb but I've purchased Denon refurbs from eCost before and its been fantastic. (as have the other guys that jumped on the same deal I did)

And two or three pairs of the JBL N26II's for $120 a pair.

If you only got two pair you could set the denon to give you a phantom centre speaker which means it would split the dialog between the fronts. This actually works fairly well if there isn't to many people watching the movie (ie the best spot is the middle between the two speakers and it gets a little worse the further away you go). If you could up the budget a bit and get three pairs you'd have your center and rear center as well. These are very well reviewed speakers and would serve you a lot longer then the ones you were thinking off. From here the next upgrade would be to add a subwoofer...and I'd highly suggest you consider building one from one of the kits since its VERY easy and will save you tons of money.

Ken.H.C · 09-12-2003, 12:32 PM

Andrew Pratt... I am leaning towards something similiar to your suggestion except the N26II are a bit on the "larger" size even though they are meant to be bookshelf speakers. As much as I'd want better sound... the smaller footprint of the N24II may be more of what I want. Hmmm... I just tried posting a pic of a drawing I made out of my living room and the forum refused it... nevertheless, my actual living room space is only about 18'L X 8'W and it's wide open adjacent to my dining room. My 27"Sony Wega is right next to a bay window... so, not much room there.

My original idea was to have something close to the size of BOSE, but of course much better in sound. That Denon looks inviting... much better than the Sherwood 6108 I suppose. Perhaps the new consideration:

Denon or Yamaha 5640 Receiver: around $200.00+ range or less if I can get refurb
2-Pair of JBL N24II: $200 for both pairs OR
back to the JBL SCS135SI for $230
I'm pushing to $500 ... not too bad.

Would the N24II be ok in my room size? Figure I should start with this and upgade center and sub at a later time. Will this sound "decent" without the sub???