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help building a decent system (1 Viewer)

Amit Fl

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AMIT
I was directed by friends to come here to get some expert help on the HT. I'm new here, so Hello to everyone, and thanks in advance for your help. I have always planned on buying a denon receiver and klipsh speakers for my Ht. There seem to be a lot of options nowadays like aperion, and axiom....

for the receiver, I'm thinking denon 3806 or 2807.

I listen to a lot of music as well (mostly hip hop), so I want towers for the side. I was thinking klipsch RF-15's.

Center: klipsch RC-25
Satelites: klipsch RS-25
Sub: klipsch ksw-12

I was planning on spending about $2k for the whole deal, I have a few connections. Before I get it though, what options should I consider. either within the brands I mentioned or other. Thanks again for the help.
 

Alon Goldberg

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Hi Amit - the Denon AVR-2807 and AVR-3806 are truly excellent receivers, you simply can't go wrong with either model! However, you may want to consider going with a slightly cheaper receiver such as a Denon AVR-2106 ($500) or Yamaha RX-V1600 ($700), which will allow you to allocate more of your budget towards the speakers.

Also don't forget to budget for cabling (recommend 5-8% of your budget, so roughly $150 which is very tight). You will need to purchase speaker cabling, subwoofer cabling, digital coax or optical audio cabling, plus of course component and HDMI cabling.
 

Amit Fl

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What will I be giving up going with the cheaper receiver? bells and whilstles are nice, but sound quality is my main objective. I'm willing to spend extra on cables, so they don't have to be part of the budget.

how do you feel about the speakers I listed?
 

Amit Fl

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It seems most peple agree with me on the denon. I feel the speakers I'm considering seem to be rather oudated. They're not even listed on the klipsch website anymore. Any opinions on those?
 

Robert_J

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Speakers are going to be the major contributer to the sound quality. Klipsch are great speakers but some people think the horns sound harsh. Speaker selection is a very personal thing. On the other hand, sub selection is not. You can get a better bang for the buck with an SVS or DIY sub the the Klipsch model.

And don't fall the the high-priced cable routine. Dayton, Blue Jeans or anything from Monoprice work just as well as Monster at a fraction of the cost. For speaker cable, lamp cord from Home Depot does just as well as any.

-Robert
 

Bob McElfresh

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Hi Amit. If you want help, the first thing you have to realize is that this is totally backwards.

Companies spend lots of marketing/advertising to convince newbies that the copper wires are the most important part of a system. Not true at all. It's really the quality of the equipment, then placement of the speakers, then perhaps your seating location, then (and there may be others that come first) come the wires.

I strongly suggest you spend the bucks for a bit better amplifier, speakers that are more accurate, or for hip-hop, a slightly better subwoofer. Then go for the well-respected, but budget wires. You can always upgrade the wires for $100 - $300 later. They are a lot easier and cheaper to upgrade than speakers/electronics.

I dont want to get into make/model recomendations here in the Basics area, but I will give you my opinion about a few things:

Speakers - These are the most important component for sound. Make sure you audition with a CD that you love and are very familar with.

Dont make the mistake of asking something like: "Are these the best speakers I can get for $nnnn?". Speakers have "flavor". This is like asking people to choose the best brand of beer or line up flavors of ice-cream from best->worst. Everyone will have a different opinion - and they will all be right! Take a favorite disk and audition. Take notes, Go back another time and see if your impressions stay the same. Pick the speakers that expose the nuance of the music, or the speakers that pound - it's your choice. Then dont look back.

Subwoofer - You dont need to buy a subwoofer from the same manufacturer as the other speakers. The other speakers MUST tone-match, but the sub can be different. Search our "Speakers and Subwoofers" fourm for recommended brands.

Electronics - In your fathers day, power was everything. Not so today. The self-powered sub has removed a big load from the amp so you usually have enough power even in a modest receiver. But if you like LOUD, spend a bit more for the extra heavy/extra power in an amp will keep the equipment cooler and cause it to last longer.

What is usually more important to make an easy to use system - does the receiver offer component video switching?

Wires - the "Sound King" brand from speaker builder sites like partsexpress.com is well respected, but budget priced. Buy a spool of 12 ga and use it everywhere.

Use budget Radio Shack or AR brand to hook up standard-definition devices like CATV, VCR, older game systems. Buy custom component/DVI/HDMI for the High Def devices. The custom web sites are usually cheaper than retail cables, but have the engineering quality to be use in production studios/broadcast stations. (Pro-quality gear does NOT use $220 retail cables. They buy coax in bulk and custom build cables. The websites sell you the same stuff w/o the marketing hype).

Digital Cables - digital signals are INSENSITIVE to the quality of the cables. I use the pro-quality Canare componet video cables for my HD devices, and a $12 radio shack wire for coaxial-digital.

Hope this helps.
 

Amit Fl

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Great info, Thanks. I seems very difficult to find a place to audition the set of klipsch that I like from the past. I guess I'll do a little more looking around stores. Thanks again Bob.
 

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