$1500 CAD (~$1100 USD) for a 5.1 set up (1 Viewer)

[Phil Levy]

Looking for a 5.1 set up for a 14' x 17' room, will be half music and half movies. I went out and auditioned some B&Ws, some Energys, few other things, nothing really stood out to me. It's tough with different receivers on everything too =/. Any suggestions for stuff to try out? Or direct order?

Big plus if it's easy shipping to Canada or any tips on where to shop in Toronto.

Thanks!

 

[ArthurJ]

Millennia M22ti Bookshelves
VP100 Center
QS8 Surrounds

comes to $1500 Canadian SHIPPED...30 day trial!

 

[CurtisSC]

Arthur...you left out a subwoofer. That will put it way over the mark.

Phil...does that budget include a receiver....or is that seperate?

 

[Phil Levy]

Receiver is seperate, this is just for speakers

 

[Lee M T]

The following setup, minus the sub...

Aperion Audio 522D's

Then get this sub...

SVS 25-31PCi

Although I'm not sure if Aperion ships outside the US or not or how much it would cost. Not sure how much shipping would cost with SVS either, but I believe they for sure ship outside the States.

You're looking at $1,449 before any shipping costs.

 

[GrahamJW]

If you’re in Toronto, you may want to find a shop that sells Paradigm speakers (Canadian made). I believe Kromer Radio is a Paradigm dealer in Toronto. You can go to paradigm.ca and do a lookup for the closet dealer to your address. Paradigm does have some nice 5.1 setups for the price range your are talking about. Depending on the sub you want it may put you over your budget. It may depend on how much they will deal with you. You can always save and buy a sub later. Here is a quote I got from Kromer Radio for some of the Paradigm subs (this was an email quote, so I may get a better deal if I go in person and talk to the sales person):

PDR10=$429.00 (Can)
PDR12=$589.00 (Can)
PS1200=$769.00 (Can)
PW2200 $1049.00 (Can)

Maybe some could comment on the above sub prices; are they too high etc.

Cheers..John

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Your best deals are going to be buying from a Canadian made speaker so look at Energy, Paradigm, PSB, Totem (too $$ for your budget though), Mirage, Sound Dynamics and Athena. All of these make some very nice sounding speakers and you should have no problem finding a package that fits your budget. For a subwoofer would you consider assembling your own if it was very easy to do? If so take a look here and check out the EZSub14 kits. They'll blow away just about anything around the sub $1K cdn mark and are very very easy to build. I did mine on my hardwood floor with no tools (those are my pictures on his site)

 

[Phil Levy]

Thanks for all the tips so far! I dunno about assembling my own, I'll look though. I think I'd rather have the peace of mind of just buying a product hehe.

An additional thing I've been confused about - What ratio should I be spending on my receiver and on a 5.1 setup? Equal amounts? More on speakers?

I'd like to get a receiver, 5.1 setup, and DVD player for $3000 CAD all in, or $2600 CAD Pretax ($2000 USD). I sort of portioned off equalish amounts for Speakers/Receiver with a small tilt towards speakers, then just get some sort of DVD player.

Any advice here greatly appreciated.

 

[CurtisSC]

In USD, I think this would be a great set-up:

Ascend Acoustics: CBM-170's main and surrounds, CMT-340c center, Hsu VTF-2 subwoofer - $1370 delivered

Pioneer 912K receiver: approx. $300

Pioneer 563a Universal disc player: $180

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

Personaly, I would go with 2 pairs of Swan's Diva 2.1s ($300/pair), a C3 center ($300), an Adire Rava sub($400), a Pioneer Elite 43TX receiver ($500), and a refurb Denon 900 DVD player ($99). This would come in under $2k US and sound/look absolutely amazing. You would have to get the Divas in the less expensive Black Cherry finish, but I actually prefer it to the Rosewood.

The EZSub kit would be very similar to the Rava and save you some money, you could even go w/ their pre-built piano black box for the SB10 and have a sub that very closely matched the piano black top/bottoms of the Divas.

A pure DIY sub would be the best bang for your buck if you have the tools and are fairly comfortable building a box. You could build a ported shiva for under $300 US and have something on par with any of the SVS PCi and ISD offerings.

 

[ArthurJ]

Stephen, you are absolutly correct. I would be willing to bet that two adire audio Tumults (2 15" drivers XBL2 tech.) for $1000 would outdisplace, outperform any SVS/HSU/Velodyne subwoofer on the market. That would be insane!

 

[Phil Levy]

Oy, this isn't easy!
So I guess I was way off, and much more money should go into speakers than into the receiver based on the responses here.
Going to have to try to find a decent Pioneer dealer to grab some local prices on the 912K and 43TX.

 

[CurtisSC]

hehehehe.....

We try to help one another, but that doesn't mean it makes things easier. Just so many options and opinions.

Just try to have fun with it.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

While the 912K is a great entry level receiver, I would definitely step up to the 43TX if finances will allow it. The amp section is probably 10 times as good on the 43TX, and this will be especially noticable when listening to 2ch music.

 

[CurtisSC]

In other words, we think you should blow your budget.

 

[Phil Levy]

I did a little looking into the 43TX, and it isn't even listed on the Canadian site - and American web retailers I looked at want $800 USD for it (not that I can/would order it from the States).
Is there something in between price wise? What about the Elite 41, or is that an old model?

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

The Elite 41 is just a re-badged D811S. If you can't get ahold of a 43TX, then I'd look at some other brands... Sony ES has a great new line of receivers with digital amplification. You may want to look at the 1000ES or 2000ES if you can find them. Also, alot of people on here love HK. It's hard for me to think of stuff to reccomend since I don't know what's available to you (crazy kanuks lol)

 

[CurtisSC]

My understanding is the Elite 41 is just a dressed up 812. Might as well go with the 912K if that is the case.

Also look at the offerings by Harmon/Kardon. You should be able to find the 325 and 525 between $400 and $600. One thing to remember is that H/K rates their amps very conservatively compared to some other brands, so don't let the number throw you off. I am one of the HK lovers Stephen is talking about.

Other folks will recommend Denon. The 1803 should be in your price range.

Yamahas and Onkyo as well.

 

[Phil Levy]

As far as I've found, the 325 is $1000 CAD and the 525 $1200 CAD (H/K prices are wacky in Canada), and the Denon 1804 is $800 CAD.

Not sure how much I should be setting an upper cap for on a receiver based on budget, and it's also hard to tell what's good value up here since some of the prices are really inflated compared to the states =/.

I saw a bundle that included a Denon 1804, Denon 910, and Energy Encore system (and cables/installation) for about $2700 CAD pretax. Not sure how the Encores are compared to some of the other stuff listed here. I auditioned some music on that setup and it sounded good, then the guy popped in a Jurassic Park DVD and while the sounds were great, voices were very sharp/piercing, like VERY piercing.

 

[CurtisSC]

I have a friend that just got the Energy Encore system. I have not had the chance to hear it yet. I have read that it is a nice system. Energy is a reputable speaker company.