Decisions, decisions, please help! (1 Viewer)

[Tan_U]

I've been looking around for a home theater system for about a month now, I think I've narrowed it down to these,
Receivers:
Yamaha HTR5460
Harmon Kardon AVR110
Pioneer Elite VSX-21
Speakers:
Energy take 5
Klipsch quintet with sony SWM40 subwoofer
or the Harmond Kardon TS2 set
What do you guys/gals think which is the best combination, if you have another suggestion that shoot, just try to keep it within that price range. Thank you.

 

[Tan_U]

Oh I forgot one, the JBLNSP1 with the sony SWM40 sub. any other recommondations?

 

[BryanZ]

What is you total budget? Room size?

 

[Ted Lee]

i'd go with the harmon receiver and energy speakers.
other recommendations for receiver include outlaw and onkyo. for speakers i'd also consider paradigms.
both are pretty highly regarded in these neck of the woods.
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[Tan_U]

It's gonna be in the living room of a one bedroom apartment, I think it's about 12x18. My budget is around $600 to $700.

 

[Tan_U]

any specific model number for the Onkyo or Outlaw, and Paradigm, I've seen the paradigm website and it looks to be a little out of my price range, witch is $600 to $700 with a receiver.
[Edited last by Tan_U on September 26, 2001 at 03:16 PM]

 

[jeff lam]

Is your budget $600-700 including receiver & speakers?
Can't get much for that. Of the suggestions you made, I would go with the Yamaha and Take 5's. However if you want the sub to go deep, you will need a larger one. Seems you are looking for a sat/sub system. I too was looking for this and scored a deal on Def Tech procinema100. I am also running a Yamaha RXV620. It's awesome for a budget H/T. As suggested, take a look at the Paradigm speakers. They have a cinema series that is very affordable. Give it a look at least. Then decide. Or you can brouse ebay for some good used deals. You might just score a great speaker package for a great deal as I did.

 

[Rob Robinson]

I have the harmon 110 and the speakers- i got them together as a bundle for $750 a couple months back- my living room isn't huge, and i'm on the 3rd floor in an old apartment with hardwood floors.
The sound is kickass, especilally for the price. the satelites, while small, have a decent amount of heft to them, and the sub is fairly large for a HTIB sub. Build quality of all componets is nice.
When I move out, I'll look at getting seperates and "real" speakers, but if you are in a normal sized 1 br aprtment, i think you'll love this setup.
the only thing the reciever lacks is componet vid switching, which isn't real common in this range, and DPL2, which is no biggie to me- I listen to music on my pc (i have a nice pc audio rig in my office) and I usually watch DTS or DD materials 90% of the time in the living room.
The reciever has a shitload of optical and coax in's, which is a big plus.
again, i HIGHLY reccomend both parts, given the budget/space limitations.

 

[Tan_U]

It's $600 to $700 including the receiver, I wish I had more to work with. Yea I was leaning towards that combo too, the Yamaha and Energy take 5 sat with Sony SAWM40 12' sub. I can get the receiver for about $300 the Energy for about $300 and the sub for about 150$, a little over my budget, the NSP1 seems pretty nice too.
I wish I can find a mom's and pop's shop around me that will let me try different combinations, ah well.

 

[Tan_U]

What exactly is componenet video switching. I thought the HK AVR110 had logic 7, which is the same thing as DP2, isn't it.

 

[Rob Robinson]

"What exactly is componet video switching"
if you have to ask, it's prolly not a problem
(sorry for original misspellling- 3 types of video connector:
composite- single yellow rca cable- mushes all video properties together
svideo- single serial-looking cable- breaks signal into 2 parts
componet- 3 individual cables, breaking up the signal and adding shielding
someone can explain this better, like as to which propoerties are carried seperately on each type, but this info is readily available in most video related FAQs.
if you have an questions related to this HK setup, feel free to email me directly.

 

[Rob Robinson]

and Logic 7 is similar, but from what i've heard DPL2 is "better"
again, i'm not a fan of this faked 5.1 processes, but folks seem to like DPL2 more than all the others. But at the end of the day, it's still fake.

 

[Ted Lee]

ooops -
sorry tan, i didn't know about your budget range.
i think the onkyo 494 is about 400, but i'm not sure. that really doens't leave a lot of room for speakers. the outlaw is the 1050, but i think that's about 500.
for paradigms, the only ones within your range would be the mini-monitors - which people say sound crazy good for the price. i think they're about 300 for the pair...again, not sure though.
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[Myles]

I would suggest you wait and take a look at the newer H/K's...the 112 I think. It includes Dolby Pro 2.
I would think the Onkyo 595 and the Marantz 4200 would also be on your shopping list.

 

[Thomas_Berg]

Ted- the Onkyo 595 can be had for $359 at http://www.jandr.com
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-Thomas
Click here to visit my webpage.

 

[Tan_U]

Well I went out to take a look at the paradigms today. I didn't get a chance to hear a surround DVD on them, but I did get a chance to hear some classical music and it sounds very good. I think the two fronts and a center will be good enough until I can get enough money for the rears and a sub. The front pair is $150 and the center is $120, do you think thats a good price?
Now I need to decide on a receiver. I wen't to Circuit City and listened to the Onkyo's, they are nice but a the sound is a little too sharp for me. Now that I know a little more about sound, the Harmon Kardon set up, the AVR110 and their speaker package, didn't sound as good as the first time I heard it, it was very clear but just a little bit under powered.
I havn't tried out the Yamaha's or a Denon yet. Any suggestion on what which Yamaha or Denon I should get, BTW whats the differe between the Yamaha AV series and the HTR series?

 

[Ted Lee]

wow...i didn't realize how inexpensive the onkyo's and paradigms are...now that's got me thinking!

I wen't to Circuit City and listened to the Onkyo's, they are nice but a the sound is a little too sharp for me

that's a completely valid statement...just make sure the sharpness you hear is because of the receiver and not whatever speakers they were hooked up too.
a better test, if you can pull it off is to take whatever setup you get and audition it at home. even the exact same setup you heard in the store will (probably) sound different at home.
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But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.

 

[BryanZ]

Try auditioning the Denon AVR-1802 or 1602. That should allow you to stay within your budget. You may also want to look at the Home Theater Direct Level II speakers.