Basic Audio HELP?

Re: Basic Audio HELP?

You might want to look at some of the "soundbar" 1-speaker solutions discussed in these posts:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...ml#post3292163

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...ml#post3293949

C-NET reviews some one speaker and multi-speaker HTiBs here and here.

Hope this helps,

Joe

Re: Basic Audio HELP?

I second the soundbar solution. The ones I've heard so far, mostly Yamaha and Philips, sound pretty good and much MUCH better than any speakers built into a TV.

And since there are more and more stereo receivers being introduced (companies finally realized multichannel isn't for everyone) that is another solution which is still easy to deal with but is more flexible if you want to expand later. And stereo receivers are much easier to deal with than the multichannel variety: just like gear in decades past, no menus or setting parameters to deal with, so basically just bass, treble, function, volume, etc. Even as a surround nut myself, I find this refreshing to see.

All you need is the receiver, two speakers and the signal source (dvd/CD/cable box/etc). Sony, Sherwood, Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo, and others sell stereo receivers, from $100 up to $600 for the largest Denon. Some of these even include XM radio and iPod-interactivity capability.

If you want a really no-nonsense amplification system, use an integrated amp. This is basically a receiver with no tuner, not a big loss since nowadays musicially-speaking commercial radio is such a wasteland. Yamaha makes one for sale here, and looks really nice too:

AX-497 Natural Sound Stereo Integrated Amplifier

For speakers: even if you're not into loud & bass-heavy action flicks, to maintain some semblence of realism try to use speakers with at least one 6.5" woofer. These will provide enough midbass in the "typical" living room to keep soundtracks from sounding thin or weak; they aren't too physically large; and as a bonus they can still provide a bit of audible rumble to add to the action or music on the screen (many mixing engineers add such sound effects because they know most people don't own subwoofers; in fact at least with standard definition dvd-video players, when a 5.1 soundtrack is sent to the player's analog stereo output jacks, the extreme low bass channel - the ".1" part of 5.1 - is purposely stripped off. Otherwise it could damage the small speakers in most monitors plus they couldn't reproduce it properly anyway).

Even using a soundbar, you'll find there is a lot on that soundtrack that really does add to a movie's realism.

Re: Basic Audio HELP?

I would agree with you that Bose is a great marketing company, not so much for speakers though.

If the only thing stopping you from enjoying a decent sound, to go along with your new TV is our wife's objections to speakers all around the room I think you have a couple of options:

1. In wall speakers can be installed, with grilles painted to match your room. they are about as un-obtrusive as you can get

2. The soundbars mentioned in the previous posts are a decent compromise. I was actually checking some out this weekend at a local AV shop. They didn't sound too bad. My wife particularly liked the Boston Acoustics system here:

Boston Acoustics - Home Products

It comes with a small sub, which does wonders when added to the smaller speakers

3. My favorite option is this one....Get whatever speakers you like. Take your wife out to lunch and have them installed and calibrated. Have your wife's favorite movie al set up and ready to go when she gets home. Also note, jewelry usually helps open your wife's mind to stuff like this. This will also work with motorcycles and boats.

Use #3 at your own risk. I make no warranty against bodily harm, either written or implied.

good luck!

Re: Basic Audio HELP?

I few more options for you:

ZVOX Audio - Single-cabinet, wireless surround sound home theater systems

HSU Ventriloquist VT-12

Have fun!