complete DIY system for this budget ? (1 Viewer)

[Mishal Sweat]

hi guys ...

my friend want a home theater 5.1 system so i told him lets try to make DIY system since i am good in this side ...

so now his budget is 1000 ~ 1400 dollar.

with this budget he need every thing amp + subwoofer + speakers.

i don't know if this budget is low but i am sure if we build a system it will sound better than shitty systems in local market.

so what 5.1 amp do u recommended ?
what subwoofer good SQ no need for SPL ?
what speaker kit to get ?

please tell me every thing cause this is the first time am gonna do it in home audio and am gonna ship it to middle-east i don't want to forget any thing .


thank you very much .......

 

[John S]

Ambiticious are we???

I'd probably buy a decent system less the subwoofer, than DYI that.

Best of luck with it!!!!

 

[Mishal Sweat]

:frowning: :frowning:

so no body done a decent DIY system !

 

[John S]

Well, most here have DYI'd subs... But speakers, Hmmmm I guess I tend to leave those up to the engineers.

Your an experienced speaker builder? There is pretty much involved, well probably not to much if you buy a kit I suppose.

Hard to imagine being able to build a great performer better than most of the better mid-fi stuff out there is all.

Sub's though, are entirely different, you can build a sub equal to several thousand dollar subs much cheaper.

The mid-fi stuff really all performs really well for the money these days. Your budget even on DYI, doesn't lend itself to topping that level stuff by much if at all.

 

[John S]

PS: They should probably close this thread, or move it to the DYI/Advanced projects section for much better responses.

 

[Mishal Sweat]

hummm ok guys ....

i guess am gonna remove this idea from my head ..

ok then what speakers + woofer + amp for that budget ?

any good cheap brands ?

thanks

 

[John S]

The most ecconomical thing to do these days, is to get the best deal you can on like an Onkyo 770 system, which includes a real nice robust AVR at it's heart. Then after you get it, start deciding what you want to change about it, sell off what you don't like, replacing it with something better that will make you happy.

There just isn't much that can touch the price -vs- performance of the Onkyo 770 system.

But for $1500, you have great flexability on hand picking components.

Start with the best Subwoofer you can buy and go from there.
I still like the Velodyne CHT-15 for $500 deals. I have yet to find a sub I think beats it for $500.00 or less.

Great higher end Mid-Fi 7.1 AVR's can be found inexpensive at places like etronics / 6Ave / ecost / ect..ect...
Pioneer, Yamaha, Sony, Denon, Onkyo, all make resonably decent gear. I tend to favor Onkyo, Yamaha, and Denon, but that is really just preference sorts of things, really I am a Denon head as some like to say.

After you decide on those two, then see what you have left over to devote to speakers.

 

[John S]

PS: DYI is certainly cool, but do it cause you want to, not to save money in general.

 

[Mishal Sweat]

John S i am with u 100% thats what i do for my self in home or car .. but this time it's for my friend and as u can see the budget is low .. i want to DIY so we can get cheap with good quality.

 

[Dustin B]

If you don't think building boxes out of MDF will be a problem, definately don't drop the DIY idea for the whole system. Just build speaker kits where the engineering hard part has been done for you.

$400, especially in the used market will buy an very nice receiver (HK, Denon, Onkyo, Sherwood, etc).

Then visit these sites to decide how to spend the remaining $1000. If need be, build raw mdf boxes until he has some more money to apply a nice finish.

http://www.adireaudio.com/
http://www.gr-research.com/
http://www.madisound.com/
http://www.speakerbuilder.net
http://members.tripod.com/~terrycthe...um/page12.html

If you don't have to buy tools, don't get to elaborate with the finish and are willing to spend the time doing the building, DIY will result in a significantly better system than commercial for the same money spent (especially from non internet direct brands).

 

[Mishal Sweat]

Dustin B

thank u very much ..

i know some of these sites.. i can build MDF boxes no problem i don't care about the finshing only the sound is my goal .

so wich one of these kits do u recommended from the sites for my money ?


thanks ......

 

[Dustin B]

How about:

3 GR-Research AV2 - $450
2 GR-Research AV1 - $230
1 Ascendant Audio Atlas 15 - $185
1 Parts Express 250W Plate Amp - $130

This will go a little bit over budget after you add in shipping and building materials, but not a lot.

I'd go with the 0.577Q 6.5ft^3 sealed allignment recommended on Ascendant Audio's site. But if you change your mind about wanting some more SPL, look at the ported allignments.

 

[Mishal Sweat]

thank you very much thats really help ...

 

[Dustin B]

And just to stir the pot in this section of the forum a bit. I'd say the above setup would compare very favorably (sound better, just won't go quite as loud) to 3x Paradigm Studio40, 2x Studio20 and a Servo15. Or in otherwords a commercial system costing more than 3x as much.