A Few Questions (Speaker Layout Drawing, etc) (1 Viewer)

[Markus Lidstrom]

Howdy guys,
Im relativly new to the whole Home Theatre thing, because most of my entertainment money has gone to collecting a respectable DVD collection, however, now I'm ready to start peicing together a setup.
#1) Im looking to pick up a receiver. Can anyone recommend a cheaper model that will still allow a DTS, and a 5.1 setup?
#2) I have 2 old speakers, that are quite big but boast really nice sound and a pair of 10" subs in them. Where in the room do you think I should place them? For
reference I have constructed a shoddily done picture
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Thanks a bunch guys!

 

[Wes C]

I dont have any advice, but i like your picture

 

[Thomas_Berg]

the two speakers should, of course, go to the left and right of the TV screen. the corner generally isn't the best location for a TV, as speaker placement issues will arise when you move to a full 5.1 setup.

as for the receiver, what's your budget? almost any receiver nowdays has both Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, but you'll likely need one with a decent amount of power for those speakers.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

If the TV is on a cart, you could wheel it out in front of the fireplace for serious HT viewing?

Maybe the same for the big speakers?

That way, you could put the stuff away and lay on the couch and enjoy the fire (as you are doing in your diagram.. except you look a little under the weather in that picture.. hungover?).

 

[Rod Melotte]

I was in your same boat a while ago.

Look for Yamaha Recievers RXV420's are $300 but don't have S-Video connections (important). One step up was a Yamaha RXV520 which was $400 and is perfect for a small budget. You COULD go with the 420 but in 1 year you wouold want something better.

Better to spend $100 now then $400 later.

You didn't mention the other speakers.

as for placement - you have a problem (as most people do).

Do you plan on using the old speakers as the main L and Right? ( would not).

The Center/Left/Right Speakers need to be near the TV (do the best you can.

The left Back speaker can go on the table(?) and the right next to the cabinet?

I think you'll have to experment. You don't want the back speakers to far behind you.

Tuff room.

 

[ken thompson]

Start off by getting rid of that computer desk, that cabinet, the couch, and those two tables and you'll have yourself a really nice HT room.

 

[MichaelGomez]

I would reverse everything. If your desk doesn't fit by the fire place, you could get a corner desk that would fit at walmart for $100 (does your desk need to be that big, it takes up 1/2 the room). Then you could put your cabinet between the 2 doors, turn the couch around and then put the tv on the wall where your computer currently is. Then the fl/fr/ct speakers can all fit along the wall with your TV and a sub. Mount the rear surround on the wall and you are done.
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Hope this helps.

 

[Kevin Deacon]

Oh my god dude, you need to eat something, you look so skinny. How will you ever move that furniture around without meat on your bones. You look disgusting.

 

[Richard Travale]

I agree with Michael. If you can do this to the room then you would be set.

As for the receiver, there are a lot of cheaper models out there that will give you both DTS and DD 5.1 surround. I have heard a few good things about the Kenwood Home Theater In A Box(HTIB for future reference). I think the one that seems to get a lot of praise around here is the Kenwood HTB-504 which you can pick up for pretty cheap. This way you would also have all of your speakers to enjoy the surround experience. Good luck.