Where to start? (1 Viewer)

Im torn between a few things....1) which brand to go with for receiver- h/k is slowly but surely in first place as of now 2) if i should go with a seperate receiever and try to hook up some left over speakers i have from car audio and save a whole lotta money or 3) buy a total home theater package or 4) buy a great receiver like initially planned, but buy a speaker set made for home audio and very quality or yet another 5) learn more and make my own speaker set up with the great receiver as initially thought. Whew! thats a nightmare. also, my dad recently informed me that he was wondering if it was possible to have a set up where one room has a surround-sound home theatre and another has 2 speakers or so. doesnt have to be able to play different sources....just in 2 diff locations. i want something that will produce great quality sound w/ clarity and a good amount of bass. please let me know what you think

You want a hybred music/HT system.

Here is the issue: Music is about accuracy, but Home Theater is about impact.

You can get a great HT system on a budget with less-accurate, but tone-matched speakers, and a budget receiver. These work for music, but are less satisifying than a system made with a pair of more expensive music speakers and better amplification.

And bass - this is more about the subwoofer and proper placement.

You CAN cobble together your own speakers for a HT system as long as you can build 5 identical speakers. And a DIY subwoofer is often cheaper/better than store bought. (Check out our DIY fourm for lots of advice/discussion).

For about $600 you can get a Kenwood HTB system that gives you all the toys as separate parts. This means you can slowly upgrade the sub, receiver, speakers, dvd player as time permits.

To my mind, the Kenwood gets you instant satisifaction, and an upgrade path. I dont know about the second-room option, so you are going to have to do some shopping for that.

Hope this helps.

i am of the opinion that if you're gonna do it...take your time and do it right.

speakers
this is where a good chunk of your budget should go. generally speaking, speaker technology really doesn't change all that much. speakers that you like now will still sound the same in 15 years. speakers have the most longevity and (imo) have the most impact on how your system will sound.

if you're building on a budget, get the speakers in phases. get the mains first, then the center, then the rears and, finally, a sub.

make sure you read the beginner's faq - lots of good info on speaker purchasing and technology.

receiver
this will probably be your next biggest purchase. HK is decent stuff, but make sure you shop around. others brands similar in performance include (in no particular order) onkyo, denon, yamaha and outlaw. make sure you at least check those out too.

when it comes to receivers, don't get too involved in the numbers game. most of the receivers at any given price point are comparable. check out the feature set - you may find that more useful in the long run.

htb
these provide quick fixes. they're not bad units (the kenwood bob mentioned is pretty nice) but i just don't feel they'll hold up in the long run.

oh yeah, there are several receivers that will run in different rooms. i know my onkyo does for sure, but i think pioneer also has a similar feature-set. some of these are also multi-source as well as multi-room...so you can actually have two different things playing in two different rooms.

Double Post Opps-:b

Triple post -Geezwhiz:b

well thats just the thing, I can't get an exact price range from my dad-who is setting the budget. I told him I would need it to be able to focus on a smaller number of products, but he says we should search in general first and get to know something about home audio. Hes correct, but I think we need to focus our range first and then research in a detailed manner. Anyways, knowing my dad- he can be persuaded for price ranges when he goes and sees products for himself but i would venture a guess that the range would be something like up to about 1000-1500 dollars total.

I know that i do want the 2 room capability on the receiver, but thats about all that is set in stone. Id like to get the best stuff I can for my money, whether that is buying the speakers togehter in one set with premade enclosures or buying the speakers and making towers(as others have done) or whatever it may be. Im not exactly sure how many functions it would need to be able to perform, but i know for sure that at the least it would be connected to a dvd player and a cd player.

Does that help any to make reccomendations on specific speakers or receivers? If it does, please help