Moving out, need advice (1 Viewer)

[JasonTan]

Okay so i'm new to the forums and am going to slowly be digesting every thread i can in time but i was hoping i could get some quick advice in the interim:

I'm moving out into a 2 bedroom home with my girl and she knows full well i plan to build quite an extravogant system in time. I don't own any HT equip so i plan to start small and build it over time one piece at a time, save up, etc..

What would you guys suggest as the first piece of equipment I need to start a killer future system? Should i get 2 good speakers (no idea brands yet...very new to all this) and then save up for a receiver or get the receiver first then save up for some speakers?

Also, what size/type of speakers would be best for a living room or bedroom in an apartment? If dimentions are needed i can get them...

So very new....

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Well, either purchase is pretty useless without the other, so I would say to purchase both if you can. Unless you want to pick up a cheap or used 2-channel receiver and spend the rest on the mains. But eventually you will have to spring for a multi-channel A/V receiver.

 

[ColinM]

Are you going into a house or apt? Start with a GREAT pair of speakers and a vintage receiver to drive them with. Add components as you can (DVD / Universal player, that's about it these days). Then the new AVR of your choice, then the rest of the speakers (Surrounds, Sub, and Center in that order, IMHO).

The vintage receiver won't have remote (or it could, I suppose) so you'd send the variable-out from the TV Audio output into the AVR, to control volume using the TV.

I'm making this up as I go - buying a vintage piece of gear can be more or less stressful than getting new stuff - I like vintage.

 

[John S]

1. Display
2. A complete starter basic HT system and upgrade from there.

 

[Charlie Campisi]

I agree with John. There are some decent HTiBs out there that will allow you to enjoy HT for a few years for $500 or so while you save up for more expensive better gear. The Onkyo systems are typically recommended for those on this level budget. If I had $500 I'd spend it on one of those systems rather than a pair of mains that ate up my budget for a year or two. It might take you one extra year to get to a better system, but during that year, you'll have the enjoyment of a full 6.1 system. And who are we kidding anyway? You'll constantly be upgrading so shooting for parts of "the ultimate system" as your first purchase is likely to be pointless. No matter where you start, you'll be upgrading before long (and that is a good thing.)

 

[Matt_Beals]

do what i'm doing. I bought a refurbished Onkyo 770 6.1 system from ecost.com for $280 shipped. It's near $500 brand new and is enough system to last me a while. From there I will upgrade the speakers until the AVR becomes the weak point, then upgrade it. It does have preouts, so it will take a while for me to exhaust it's ability.

I can't hot link URLs yet, but here's the system:

ecost.com/ecost/ecsplash/shop/detail~dpno~474173.asp

just add www

 

[joseph westcott]

I think you are on the right track. I would suggest the lion share of your budget go toward your speakers. You will probably own them for a lot longer than any other components in your system including the display. Start with two speakers and a very inexpensive av receiver. Even an inexpensive SS receiver can give impressive results with good speakers.

 

[JasonTan]

Thanks guys, your posts were great. I'm going to look a lot into what kinds of HTiBs are out there compared to what price range i'm looking at for 2 amazing front left/rights and a cheap receiver.

Right now me and gf's income is almost entirely disposable being that we both have decent jobs with no kids so depending on cost i could see myself going either way with those 2 options. It's an apartmnet by the way.

Thanks for the help

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Jason: you need -

- 5 matched speakers, monitor style so they fit well into a small room
- A decent, external, self-powered subwoofer
- A modest reciever (I prefer Yamaha, Dennon, some of the Pioneer and Kenwoods are good)

This can run you $500-$1,500. But it can give you a great Movie experience.

 

[JasonTan]

Matched speakers just mean same brand right? So that the sound flows properly and evenly through them all?

Monitor speakers i tried to google and search here but got nothing... what are monitor speakers?

 

[Charlie Campisi]

"Matched speakers" means usually same brand, same line. What you want are speakers that sound as much alike as possible, so that when the 747 flies overhead, it doesn't sound like Cessna when it hits your surround speakers. Or when something moves left to right the pitch doesn't change. It doesn't do you any good to have a great center channel where you have to then compromise on your L/R, because then you will lose the experience of "seamless" sound. The change in quality will be distracting to the point of really annoying.

Monitor speakers typically refers to bookshelf or satellite sized speakers as opposed to floorstanders. They are very good for HT when used in conjunction with a subwoofer. Some prefer them to more expensive floorstanders for HT. They usually lose a little for music, so if you plan on listening to a lot of music, floorstanders might be in your future.

 

[JasonTan]

Thanks a lot, very helpful. I'll look into different monitor speakers and possibly floor standing ones depending on price, difference in sound and space we have to work with. This is a great starting point.

- LB

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Some advice: Half the fun of this hobby is ANTICIPATION. Dont just rush out and buy something. Have some fun with it.

Do this: take a favorite DVD and a favorite audio CD to the stores with you. Listen to various speaker systems. What sounds good with DVD tracks may not sound so good with a favorite audio CD. Make note of the speakers that sound good with the music (music will often show you issues with speakers that a dialog-heavy movie wont).

And dont discount used equipment. I found a very good Yamaha reciever for $270. Someone else is selling a complete Atlantic Technology 5.1 speaker set used for something like $300.

I've got a fairly nice HT system. But I spent about $250 for some scratch-and-dent M&K speakers, a $100 subwoofer someone was selling, I had an old Yamaha RX-V reciever. Put this together with a DVD player and my parents now have a really nice sounding HT system for about $500 worth of equipment.

This site can help. Go listen, read some posts in the speakers section about proper setup, and if you dont rush - you can get a fairly killer audio system without spending much above $1,000.

The money you save can go into a nice HDTV. Then over the years you can slowly upgrade to a superior subwoofer, better speakers, better amp, etc.

You will find a lot of people here with similar stores and opinions.

Hope this helps.

 

[Cees Alons]

Jason,

Welcome to the forum.

Apparently we're talking about the audio part now. Did you also consider a big improvement picture-wise? Two reasons you may want to do this could be:

(1) A "sound that's larger than the picture" might be less satisfactory.
(2) You're girl may (or may not) be impressed as much by a spectacular sound as by a great improvement in the image. A bigger (and more beautiful) picture could be a truly visible enhancement to your experience and a very visible start of a great HT.


Cees