Looking to spend around $2k on HT speakers for a large room

Robert Ross · 10-02-2006, 10:50 PM

I just moved into a new house that has a large family that I'm putting my home theater in. The dimensions for the room are 23 x 17 x 9 (the ceiling is peaked, from 8' to 10'). Currently the speakers I have are Onix Rockets (RS ELT LRS for main and surrounds, RS ELT CTR for center, and RS UFW-10 for the sub), but I'm looking to upgrade to something better. My speaker budget is around $2,000 to $2,500 and I'm wanting to go with a 7.1 setup. I havn't got a new receiver yet, but I'm looking at the Yamaha RX-V2500. This setup will be used for both music and movies (mainly movies, though). Any suggestions? A couple of brands I was looking at are Axiom and Onix (I have been very pleased with the current speakers that I bought from them). Also for the sub I had thought about just getting a second UFW-10, as it's a great sub anyway, and I like lots of bass.

SethH · 10-03-2006, 05:31 AM

The Axiom and Onix speakers are definitely good speakers to consider. Another to add to your list would be Ascend. In your budget you could get 340's all the way around (if you have space for them) or you could get 340's up front with either 170's or 200's for the side/rear and use the remainder of the budget for an SVS or Hsu.

Arthur S · 10-03-2006, 11:24 AM

Robert

With all due respect, the UFW10 is not a great HT subwoofer. I would suggest that you concentrate on upgrading your subwoofer situation first. An SVS PB-12 Plus/2 in Rosewood @$1500 delivered would be a good start. A better Center Channel Speaker would be my suggestion for the rest of your budget. The Rocket RSC200 @$599 would be my suggestion.

Then, if you sell the UFW-10 and your present center, you can start looking to upgrade to higher line Onix mains.

Robert Ross · 10-03-2006, 02:08 PM

Wow, that is one huge sub. It is a lot more than I was looking to spend, but I'll keep it under consideration, since it may be a couple more months before I upgrade. The first thing I plan on buying is a new TV, after that I'll see how much money I still have left to spend and decide on what to buy. Thanks for the reccomendations.

Arthur S · 10-03-2006, 03:28 PM

One of the more serious dudes has 4 of those Plus/2s in his HT. The rosewood will look great with your speakers and you will never have to upgrade your sub again. The Plus/2 is the sweet spot in very high power HT subs. Difficult to touch at the price.

What display are you thinking of getting?

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Robert Ross · 10-03-2006, 03:42 PM

I'm planning on buying a Panasonic TH-50PX60U. I wish I could go bigger, but I'm limited on my budget (espically if I end up spending more on the audio). I'd love to go with a front projector, but the room is surrounded with windows, and a set of french doors that are opposite of where the TV will be, so it'd be much too bright for one. I also wish I could go with 1080p, but they are also much too expensive, unless I go RP, which I may take under consideration. But I'll prolly go with plasma or LCD.

Arthur S · 10-03-2006, 06:41 PM

Robert

That Panny is a great set. I feel obliged to advise you that plasmas can have a lot of reflections in a highly lit room. If the room is much too bright for FP, then, you may not be happy with plasma. I think you are better off with LCD. The problem is price. The affordable Aquos model is only 45 inches. The really nice 57 inch 1080P LCD costs over $12,000!

My best suggestion. Get the 50PX60U and spend some money on window treatments to control light. A couple or three modes shades will make all the difference. Or, if you do that, you could consider FP

So, I think that either some window treatments and FP, or no window treatments and the 45 inch Aquos, or window treatments and the 50PX60U.

Theogenes · 10-06-2006, 09:17 AM

Or you could look at a DLP set. I have a Toshiba 52HM95 and I absolutely love it. I am a bit of a noob to the HT culture, but my mom's side of the family have all been building televisions for many years. My granddad was actually VP for Philips some years back. I talked with ll of them and they strongly recommended avoiding plasma displays, for 3 reasons: longevity, power consumption, and repair difficulty. Plasmas apprently don't have nearly the functional life that CRTs or some other sets do. Also, when the pixels start going bad, there is no way to fix them. On the other hand, a lot of people have plasma and love them. Just thought this might be helpful to you.

Arthur S · 10-06-2006, 09:56 AM

Burnley

With all due respect to your family, none of the new technologies has been around long enough to establish a data base on long-term reliability. Having said that, Consumer Reports said this: "Our limited survey data show that plasma TVs have been as reliable as CRT TVs during their first year of use".

And this:"Microdisplays using LCD, DLP, or LCos technology have been the most repair prone type of TVs during their first year of use".

I certainly can't disagree with the comment regarding power consumption, and repair difficulty is likely true as well.

However, with regard to longevity. Current top notch plasma like Panasonic have 60,000 hours before half brightness. At 10 hours a day that is something like 15 years.

Seth=L · 10-06-2006, 01:58 PM

The plasma televisions used to be bad, something about the gas they used. They are much better now, as Arthur said.