It so happens I now have a budget of about $2K to upgrade from my Bose speakers and my Sony 5.1 receiver. I'm looking to go with 7.1 speakers and a like receiver. I'd prefer a color choice (white, probably) in the speakers to keep the wife happy and they need to be small like the SBS-01 speakers that have been recommended in another thread.
To envision the HT area, think of a rectangle cut in half, one half is the dining area and the other is the HT. The rear speakers will be mounted on a side wall and the rear center pair will hang from the ceiling. The front left and right speakers will most likely be inside the entertainment unit (separated by about 10 feet) that has a cloth grill designed for that purpose. The SW will be up front and to the right on the floor, there's no other place for it. The center speaker will be above the TV (which is an HD LCD). I have a Sony BDP-550 blu-ray player, a DTV HR20, a cassette tape deck (seldom used), a VHS (seldom used), and a turn table (seldom used).
I would like the receiver to accommodate all these items and also be Ipod or mp3 player friendly. I think I just want to dump my CD player and go with a hard drive based mp3 player to access my CDs. On the occasion when I want something better I can stick the CD into the BR player.
I'd even entertain suggestions on the best mp3 player for this purpose, though that's a future purchase and doesn't need to be considered in the budget.
Ok, I know I'm asking about non-speaker stuff, but I thought it best to have one thread. Mods, if I'm out of line here, please slap me across the face and move the thread
To envision the HT area, think of a rectangle cut in half, one half is the dining area and the other is the HT. The rear speakers will be mounted on a side wall and the rear center pair will hang from the ceiling. The front left and right speakers will most likely be inside the entertainment unit (separated by about 10 feet) that has a cloth grill designed for that purpose. The SW will be up front and to the right on the floor, there's no other place for it. The center speaker will be above the TV (which is an HD LCD). I have a Sony BDP-550 blu-ray player, a DTV HR20, a cassette tape deck (seldom used), a VHS (seldom used), and a turn table (seldom used).
I would like the receiver to accommodate all these items and also be Ipod or mp3 player friendly. I think I just want to dump my CD player and go with a hard drive based mp3 player to access my CDs. On the occasion when I want something better I can stick the CD into the BR player.
I'd even entertain suggestions on the best mp3 player for this purpose, though that's a future purchase and doesn't need to be considered in the budget.
Ok, I know I'm asking about non-speaker stuff, but I thought it best to have one thread. Mods, if I'm out of line here, please slap me across the face and move the thread
. Too much info to type out so I'll just let you read up on it. Ipod is the way to go in my opinion and no I'm not an Apple fanatic for all the bashers out there. It's a good product and most accessories are pushed toward their product. There are some download services that don't support them so check into the service before hand if that's your thing.
