Basement HT (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Lewis]

I want to put a HT in my finished basement. I would like to put the TV in a corner of the basement. The dimensions of the room I am using is 30 by 20. I am planning on getting a 57" TV and considered buying an "all-in-one" HT kit. After reading on this forum, I think it might be better for me to buy my HT in components. I don't want to put alot of time and effort into this but I want to be able to enjoy movies and sports. Any suggestions on receivers (how many watts), speakers (brand name, watts?), and other items is appreciated.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Don't focus on watts. In fact, almost totally ignore them. Get a good receiver that has the features you need. I'd start with Marantz, Denon, Harman Kardon, and perhaps a few others (maybe like Outlaw?). I'd tend to lean towards Marantz, but that's just me.

Again, for speakers, ignore wattage ratings. You'd have to have one hell of an amp to overdrive speakers. It just doesn't really happen. Speakers get damaged with underpowered amps driven to clipping. Again, unless you get speakers with very little impedence, which you most likely will not (8ohms is about standard), and any of those brands I mentioned will MORE than be able to handle the speakers well. As for brands of speakers, there are TONS. I am assuming you are in the entry to mid-fi type price level, but I can't tell. Stay away from the HTiB unless you only want to spend a couple hundred bucks, because they are quite inferior to some real speakers on a decent receiver. I personally would start off with Paradigm. They are generally easy to find, have great dealers usually, and they are a bargain. Really, if you like their sound, until you surpass their studio series at about a grand, they are the best going. That being said, go listen to speakers carefully, using some of your best cds and pick the best. Again, I don't know your price range.

And don't forget you'll want to find someone who has both an SPL meter and Avia or VE, or buy them. This will let you calibrate audio and video perfectly, and is a great investment in the system.

 

[Bob Sheen]

You may want to give some more thought about putting the TV in the corner. Placing the TV in the centre of an end wall could facilitate setting up a well calibrated system, both from a sound and vision perspective.

Bob