Help with whole new theater system (1 Viewer)

[DavidSugar]

We are going to do a whole new system. Although we are totally clueless about the audio, (we don't listen to music serially) we do what a good HT experience. I have done a lot of homework on HTF and elsewhere. Our use will be primarily movies and TV. Although we might listen to music it would be somewhat of an after thought and would be mainly soft rock, 60's 70's. The room is 23' x 16' with an 8' ceiling.

My original thoughts were as follows;

Mitsubishi 55311
Denon 1603 receiver
JBL NSP1 speakers(4 N24 + N center)
JBL PB12 subwoofer
DVD to be determined

The salesman made the following suggestions:

Denon 1803 (+$175)
Infinity ENTRA.5(about the same $)
Denon DVM 1805 dvd

Also recommended by the salesman were Canton - MOVIE10MXWH
or M & K 4 K5's,K7 center, K 9 subwoffer. I think the Canton's were about the same $ and the M & K's about $600 more.

Any suggestions on the above would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

The salesman was correct to correct to steer you in the direction of the 1803. Even if you're not planning on doing 6.1/7.1 right now, the option is there.

The NSP1 package is one of the best for the $$ out there. I got mine for $165 used and would have gladly paid the $250 i found it for on line.

With a room your size, i would recommend getting the 1803, the NSP1, adding a pair of N28 or N38 mains, and shifting the extra 2 N24s to the rear for a 7.1 setup. This will really expand your rear sound stage on ES and EX encoded material, but i would recommend listening to 5.1 material in 5.1 mode. Matrix processing on 5.1 material seems to muddy up the rear sound stage, in my opinion.

I would also suggest the Sony WM-40 sub over either of the JBL PB subs. It has lower extension, adequate power, and with $5 worth or polyfill inside, it will sound as good as about any sub below $500.

As for the DVD player, if you need a 5 disc changer, i would recommend the Panasonic CP72(k or s, k is black, s is silver). It's essentially a 5 disc version of the RP62, which is a great Faroujda based player. It's about $150 or $175 less than the denon. It also plays DVD-A discs. Also, i've heard denon's dvd players are made by Panasonic, so these may actually be the same player, other than the fact that the Panasonic has DVD-A capabilities.

Hope this helps.

 

[Michael Roderiques]

A suggestion would be to also look at these for the electronics.
Receiver DVD/CD Changer

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

If i'm reading the info right, and i'd like to think i am, that NAD receiver would require external amplification for DD-EX and DTS-ES. The same holds true for all of the EX/ES capable x20 line from Harman Kardon. It bothers me when a company puts processing for a format on board, but not the amplification, as if they're not in full support of the format, but they still want to advertise the format as a supported feature.

Just something to think about.

 

[Ned]

I would move up to an SVS 25-31PCi or HSU vtf-2. You are already spending a lot of money so scrimping on the sub is a lousy idea.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

The SVS would make a great sub, but going up $200 in budget and going down $200 in budget are 2 very different things. If you can swing it, go w/ the SVS, but I think it would be more sub than you would need to match up w/ a JBL package. If you decide on higher end speakers, go w/ a higher end sub.

 

[Guy Usher]

If you are truly "cluless" about "Audio" I would consider anything except BOSE.
Seriously find a HT shop and a sales person who is interested in you and not so much in a fast buck, may take a lot of looking.May require you to stay away from the big chains. There is absolutly nothing wrong with what you have started on so far. You are going to get Info-Overload as everyone has strong opinions but the choices are almost infinate.
Most of these guys will let you "demo" speakers at home. Go listen to the "Tweak Systems" I mean listen , try to ignore the surroundings and really listen hard with your owm material. Then try to get as close to that sound as you can with a system that fits your budget.
You are starting in the right direction, now go and check it out, see if you can do better for the money. The only thing anyone here (including me) can tell you is what they like not what you like, you have to live with it, most of the fun is the search, putting it all together is not so fun.