budget minded receiver and speaker purchase (1 Viewer)

[William Gibbons]

Hi y'all,
Been searching thru the forums the past couple days and can't tell ya how helpful its been. I'm new to home theater and the HTF. Just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself and fire off a couple of questions.

I recently picked up a 55" Mitsubishi WS55511 and now have the enjoyable task of acquiring various components.

Here's what I have so far,

Comcast HD Cable box
JVC 7-Disc DVD Player/Changer


What I'm interested in getting next is a receiver and speakers.

My room is 21' x 21' w/ a vaulted ceiling. My budget is close to $1500 for a receiver and speakers. For a receiver, I was planning on spending $500 and about a $1000 on speakers.
Receiver wise, I figured I would be in the Yamaha, HK, or Denon territory for something that would be a good middle of the road unit that I could enjoy for years to come.

Speakers on the other hand, I want to make sure they can handle the room size and this is where I need help. What I do know is that I'm not interested in floor mounted units for the left and right, I'd like them to be good sized bookshelf speakers. And for left and right rear speakers, they'd have to be wall mounted ones that aren't too big.

Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

WG

 

[Andy Young]

$1,500 for receiver and speakers should be doable. I'd recommend compromising on the receiver before the speakers, if it comes to that.

My speakers are Paradigm Phantoms (main), Atoms (surr), CC-270, and PDR-12 sub. I got the bunch for just around $1,150. You can do a search in the speakers forum for some reviews I did on my speakers. They're great and I'm very pleased with their performance. I demoed them (actually the smaller Titans) against B&W 600, 601, and 602. Easy choice for my ears.

I would think that a system of Titans (main), Atoms (surr), CC-170, and PDR-10/12 sub would sound great for around $800.

This isn't the only choice, just what my experience is. Others can recommend Axiom, PSB, and others. Lots of good 5.1 sub $1,000 speaker packages out there.

For a receiver, I think the Pioneer 912K looks pretty amazing on paper right now and can be had for a shade under $300 online. Sony and H/K have some good ~$500 receivers, as does Yamaha. My only experience is with Pioneer (great customer service) and ~Sony (my ~$350 DD-ready receiver purchased in 1997 is still going strong).

If I were starting from scratch today, I'd buy the speakers I have now for $1150 and the Pioneer 912K for $300.

Good luck.

 

[chun howe]

welcome to HT.
i myself is also new here. say 1 month old =)
your room is quite a good size for HT. and you must love the HDTV very much.

i would suggest 7.1 receiver for your room size. here folks are fonded with H/K. check them out at harmanaudio.com for refurb. ones. AVR525.

marantz and NAD is also a good reciever, musical. if you tend to listen more to music. accessories4less.com carries marantz line and yawaonline.com carries NAD. all refurb. at a very good price. with warranty off course.

sony 4ES is also popular here as it has lots of features to play with. denon is also a popular reciever.

lower end pioneers are good at budget receivers (around $200 and up) i have vsx-d711, it's a good reciever as long as you don't use it to drive 4 ohm speakers like psb or rocket speakers.

my suggestion is go seperate. as the HT bug will get you sooner of later, just like me. i am thinking of seperate already. (of my head rotel, adcom, outlaw, parasound, b&k are all good budget seperates)

speakers:
most people here owns paradigm speakers. from performance series to references series. i myself is using monitor series.
with your budget you could get the performance series.
i have audition NHT, Energey Connoisseur, Paradigm, b&w, Kef
i love NHT the most.

 

[William Gibbons]

Sounds great! Thanks for the replies gentlemen. I just contacted a local dealer who has the Paradigm's in stock. Another one of my friends recommended them as well. Sounds like they'll be a good bang for the buck.


Andy, that Camaro is schweet!

 

[Chu Gai]

Welcome to HTF Bill. Although you won't be able to find them locally, the line from www.ascendacoustics.com bears some consideration. Don't know about a receiver, but if you're patient you'll find some some interesting refurbs at the places already mentioned as well as www.onecall.com

Also the Deals page on HTF bears checking out from time to time.