Help- novice needing home theater sound system opinions,advice, and guidance. (1 Viewer)

I have a Panasonic plasma TC-P55GT30 with a Panasonic DMP310 BluRay player in my living room. Want speakers that allow me to clearly hear dialogue and enjoy sound effects of movies(Bluray discs,Vudu,Etc) and sports events( ocassionally listen to CDs). Unfortunately, the room setup(14 feetX15 feet viewing area which extends into the dining area) dooes not allow for anything other than bookshelf speakers(max 12" unless turned on their side), a subwoofer, and possible center channel. My budget for the above including an AV Receiver, fully programed universal remote, and labor is about $4000. A HT contractor proposed using 2 Speakercraft Monitor Three LCR speakers($650 each), a Speakercraft Roots 208 8" subwoofer($1000), a Denon AVR 7.2 surroud sound 2312CI receiver with 2nd zone($850), a Universal Remote MX880 Pack (fully programed for the above devices $600), a APC G5BLK surge protector($!60), and finally cables,etc and installation included for a total of $4050. I am a novice who is very willing to pay a fair price for good equipment and work, but don;t want to be used. My hope is to spend enough to get a good system that will last as TVs come and go. Your advice,opinions, and guidance would be sincerely appreciated. Thank you, Chris L.

We are mostly a DIY type group here. For example, a Harmony remote that you can program yourself in about an hour costs between $75 and $250 (depending on model and features you want). I'm not familiar with Speakercraft but we have numerous options for speakers for less. And $1,000 for an 8" sub. Really? I have less than $1,000 in my dual 15" sub setup. If you want to learn a little, welcome to one of the greatest hobbies ever. We can help you along the way. If you are one of those that doesn't want to get their hands dirty (figure of speech) and is just looking for the finished product then you can discuss the latest movies in the software section because you are still welcome here.

Those are MSRP prices you are paying which is what you're going to get from an installer. As was already said, we like to do these things ourselves but we understand that sometimes it's not an option. Speakercraft is a well known company that specializes in in-wall speakers and the Denon 2312 is a very good receiver. But there are many other options, too many to name. Get a center channel if at all possible. It will help to anchor the dialog to the center of the screen. With a $4000 budget $600 is a lot for the remote and $1000 is a lot for an 8" sub (is it an in-wall model?). Get a quote from another installer if you can. Maybe they can come up with some other ideas.

Will get other quotes from other installers. With what you all have so kindly shared with me, I will be a much more knowledgeable customer. Signing off with, again, sincere thanks.