Need help for a 7.1 home theater system. (1 Viewer)

[marquis]

I am in the market for a new home theater system and it has been awhile since I looked around. I was wondering for someone's opinion on what a good home theater system would be that is 7.1 with a network receiver and at least 2 zone. I am on a budget but not too sure how expensive something like what I am looking for even goes for. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[TheGary]

You don't want a home theater all in one setup. To get a good setup, you would want to buy a nice receiver, start off with a nice center, voice matched speakers, and a sub. Receiver will probably run you anywhere from 300 to 600, and speakers, depending on what you get can get up there. Give us a budget, so its easier to help you out!

 

[marquis]

Thank you TheGary for the response. I figured that might be the way to go about things from what I have been reading on this site. For my budget I would really like if it was a minimum of $600 and max $1000. Hopefully this could help on which direction I should go about things. I was looking into onkyo if that helps any.

 

[marquis]

Thank you TheGary for the response. I figured that might be the way to go about things from what I have been reading on this site. For my budget I would really like if it was a minimum of $600 and max $1000. Hopefully this could help on which direction I should go about things. I was looking into onkyo if that helps any.

 

[TheGary]

If you were looking at Onkyo, then the NR609 is a good midrange receiver. Also look at the Pioneer VSX-1021 or the Denon 1712. This leaves you about 600$ for the speakers. You probably won't be able to find anything decent for 600$ in speakers. What a lot of people suggest here is going with 2 floor speakers and a matched center, and a sub to start off, and then add speakers when more funds become available. Crutchfield is actually having a save on their infinity's, and you could get some nice speakers, and then get a powered sub. This is going to be hard to squeeze in on 600$, but if you do the Infinity's, it would be about 440 for the speakers and if you could pull maybe another 100 or so out, you could get a much better sub, like a Klispch or a Velodyne. There's also this option, they actually look pretty nice, and that would still leave you 300$ for a good sub. (Yes they're 5.1, but eh) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882269038

 

[marquis]

Thanks for the help TheGary. I really appreciate it. So basically I can get any kind of speaker or is there differences and would polk audio be any good? Once again I appreciate for your time.

 

[Al.Anderson]

The primary consideration when purchasing speakers is the impedance. If you are looking at 4 ohm speakers you need a receiver that supports that lower value. The second consideration is efficiency, if the speaker is not efficient (roughly >90), then you will need more power to drive it. And of course, the speakers have to sound good to *you*; people focus too much on brand and forget that for speakers, "goodness" is in the ear of the beholder. Polks are quality speakers. To my mind they are kind of the Chevy Impala, or Toyota Camry, of the audio world. Not particularly exciting, but they'll do everything you need them to do without straining. (There are different tiers of Polks, so the analogy is not completely accurate; nonetheless, it's how I perceive them.)

 

[apn73]

One of the woderful advantages to having a component system is that you do not need to do everything at once, you can do it in stages. As Gary pointed out above, you're going to spend $400 (MSRP) on a decent audio/video receiver, you can get away with spending a little less but not much. Just about the biggest bang for the buck in an audio system is the speakers, maximize your audio dollars in speakers as much as you can, that is where the rubber meet the road with a sound system. If you don't mind building the system in stages as you can afford it, then you don't need to go to 7.1 right now. Buy a pair of front channels and a center channel now and add later, heck, you can ghost in a center channel between the front channels for the time being. Sub-woofers are great, you won't believe the difference that a sub will make in an audio system, but you can do without one until you get the rest of the system together. Polk makes decent speakers, as does Paradigm, PSB, JBL, Infinity and NHT. The speakers that I just listed is only a short list of manufacturers that produce decent sound at relatively affordable prices. I recently audtioned a pair of PSB Alpha B1's ($270/pair) and I was very impressed with them, better than the Paradigm Titans that I currently own. A full 7.1 speaker system on a budget of even $700 is going to be very difficult to accomplish and that you'll be happy with long term, that is why I recommend that you do this in stages. Best, Adam.

 

[Jason Charlton]

Hi Roy,


I'll second what Adam suggested. The benefits of 7.1 over 5.1 are not terribly huge - especially in small to medium-sized rooms. Most movies (even those on Blu-Ray) are still encoded at 5.1.


With a tight budget, you don't want to spread yourself too thin from the get go. Many of us started smaller and built our systems up over time.


Newegg.com has very good deals on decent Polk bookshelf speakers. A frequently recommended starter setup is this:

- Polk Monitor 40s ($120/pr shipped - normally $150 but $30 off through 3/5)

Get two pair of the 40s and use one pair as surrounds. You could go with the slightly smaller Monitor 30's but with the current discount code, the 40s are the same price.

- Polk CS1 Matching Center ($100 shipped)


That totals $340.


For a subwoofer - The Bic F-12 is about the best $200 subwoofer out there. That puts you square in your budget and it'll be a decent system.


Later, you can upgrade the front three speakers (they should all match) and move the Monitor 40s to the back as your extra surrounds in a 7.1 setup.


Food for thought. Welcome to the forum!

 

[marquis]

I just want to say thank you for everyone who responded. I was looking around and saw a system that I was thinking of buying, the Onkyo HT-S8409, but now I am defiently rethinking that purchase. Maybe it is best just starting small and buying my way up. I am defiently going to be looking into all these suggestions becuase I do want a system that will be good for at least the next 5 - 10 years. If any of you guys can let me know on your opinion on that system I was looking at that would defiently be greatly appreciated. Once again thank you for everyone who replied.

 

[gene c]

I think the 8409 is a relatively new model so I don't know that much about it but giving it a quick look I can't see $1000 there. As with most of these package systems (which Onkyo's are of the better) the speakers are the weak part and that certainly looks to be the case with the 8409. If you want to stick with a complete receiver/speaker-subwoofer package then consider a refurbished Onkyo 9300 or 9400 from ac4l.com for $599-$649. Much better speakers and the receivers look comparable. http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ONKHTS9400/Onkyo-HT-S9400-THX-7.1-Ch-Network-Home-Theater-Receiver/Speaker/1.html

 

[marquis]

Thank you gene c I will take that into consideration.