Home theater audio <$800 (including reciever) (1 Viewer)

[pcharouz]

How much better will that onkyo receiver be compared to the pioneer I have now?

Can you please post links to the speakers your recommending?(less than $400 for five speakers).

Would it be a good idea to just hook up two insingias as a center? How exactly would I do this?

 

[Lindahl]

You don't want to do this, you'll get lobbing (hard to explain what it sounds like, but it's very distracting). You'd want to run what they call a phantom center (no center speaker). This is fine if you're sitting directly between your R/L speakers, but if you sit off to the side, the dialog will be pulled away from the screen to that side - it plays tricks with your head (you may not mind it, though).

 

[pcharouz]

Are those speakers you linked a lot better than the insignias?(compared to the price)

And about the reciever, It has less watts, if that means anything. Does it have something like the pioneers mic that sets up the speakers? I really dont see it being that much better, I dont really care if I run one more cable. And its not uselless, because I can switch everything with the same remote.
And also, I really like the remote, because its a learning remote.

And about the speaker, I dont think you understud me, I ment connecting two speakers to the same output on the reciever, to make it longer, and look more like a center channel. And I have a spare speaker anyways.

And is there something I could get for my store credit over here?
http://www.tweeter.com/family/index....339&sublevel=2

 

[Seth=L]

So what speakers would sound good with the Panasonic, it was always my understanding that speakers reveal the sound of an amp or other components proceeding the speakers, not the other way around.

 

[pcharouz]

I am soooo confuzed right now...

 

[gene c]

Join the club. We're all confused. Anyway, I agree with Lindahl about paying too much for the Pioneer. Not that it's a bad receiver, just too expensive. I would return it and get the Onkyo 503 or 604. I really don't know anything about the Panasonic, but I'm sure it would be a good choice also. Don't worry about the lower power rating. All the avr's mentioned would be more than enough for you (and 90% of the rest of us). As for speakers, the Athena's, to me, are a little better than the Insignia's plus they have a center speaker. You could use two insignia's as a single center but I wouldn't recommend it either. But if you must, there are two ways to do it. After hooking up a speaker wire to the avr's center output, either splice two additional wires into the positive and negative sides and run those straight to each speaker. This is called "parallel" wiring and would produce a 4 ohm load to the avr's center output. OR, take the speaker wire from the avr, hook the (+) side to the (+) of speaker 1. Then hook a another single "jumper" wire from speaker 1's (-) to the (+) of speaker 2. Then hook the avr's (-) to speaker 2's (-). This is called "series" wiring and would produce an 8 ohm load. Not sure which is better, but I wouldn't do either one. I would use just one Insignia as a center or return all Insignia's and get the Athena's (preferred), or get the Radiiant speaker package, which also comes with a dedicated center. If you liked the Insignia's, I'm sure you'll like the Radiiants as much or more.

 

[Lindahl]

No, I understood what you meant. This will cause lobbing. Consider a puddle. If you were to take each hand and make a small splash on each side of it, when the waves meet in the middle, they will interfere with each other. This is what will happen to the sound, you'll get an interference called lobbing. In addition, you might have a difficult time doing level matching because connecting two speakers to one output will either 1) reduce impedence, or 2) require more wattage, depending on how you wire them.

 

[pcharouz]

Thanks to those who replied.

I sent an email to Radiiant, and they told me they have an extra center channel, and they would sell it for $150.

I know I already asked, but to make sure, do you think that I will like the athenas b1.2 if I like the insignias?

I am really considering the reciever, but here are the features its lacking.
-Automatic speaker adjustment
-THX (I actually hear a difference with thx enabled, more clear dialogue)
-20watts less
-It says it doesnt have speaker selection(dont know what exactly that means)

Does it support bi-amping, if I got the radiiant's?

ok, here are my choices:
1. 2 pairs of insignias, and http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/pr...% 20-%20Black
$230

2. 2 pairs of insignias, and
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1110263501593
(I like that its slim, but dont know how it will sound)
$260

3. 2 pairs of insignias, and the radiient center
$230

4. the $350 radiient elara set(my prefference right now)
$350, obviously LOL

5. The athenas b1.2
$390

6. Use 1 or two insignias for a center, I could test it, since they sell in pairs
$120

And I really dont know about the reciever yet.

 

[Lindahl]

If you're happy with the Pioneer, keep it. But if I were you, I'd save the money and get the Onkyo.

 

[pcharouz]

Does the bi amping do a lot? And I do have a center channel, I am using one insignia as a center right now, and it just sounds better with the THX mode.

 

[pcharouz]

BTW, I just returned the insignias, just so I have time to reserch

Here is another thought, are these any good?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1110263501593

What if I get 3 of those, and the insignias for the rear?

Edit:
Kind of off topic, but since I dont have any speakers right now, can I use 2 speakers from my logitech z5500? It says their independence is 8000 ohms
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/pr...CONTENTID=9486

 

[Lindahl]

Thin and harsh sounding. See the woofers? 3 1/2" - you can't cheat physics. They're made to look good next to a plasma and sound passable. The best bang for the buck in your price range will be the Athena Audition series, there isn't a better choice. At the higher price ranges, you can actually afford to look around since many manufacturers have decent products at that price level. But at your price level, you don't really have the luxury of choice - there are very few manufacturers that actually offer good sound and the Athenas are the best of the bunch (Polks, Velodyne Front Row, Paradigm).

 

[pcharouz]

Ok, I bump it $600 for 5 speakers, but no more. And I do have a plasma, so its a plus if it looks good next to it.....

And can I connect the logitech speakers to that pioneer receiver? Just temporarily.

 

[Lindahl]

Wish I could tell ya. That 8,000 ohms could be 8 ohms in European notation, but I don't know. I'm guessing it'd be fine, but don't take my word for it.

 

[pcharouz]

I am still looking, but let me say a couple things

I want the speakers to go to around 60-70hz, the lower the better, Its a large room, and I want to help out the sub a little with the bass. And I like bass...

I really dont like the design of the orb speakers, and somebody else recomended me the av123 too, so these might be something to consider, they have no pic of the tower on their site, can you post a link to it, or upload it here? I really dont know how they are sopposed to look, so it would be hard so search.

Edit:
I was actually looking at the boston acustics CRC7 in circuit city the other day, so at least I know they have it locally, is it any good?

What would you recomed from all of those you listed? And BTW, what do you have at home?

 

[Lindahl]

HT: 3x Ascends 340SE, 2x Boston Acoustics VRMX
Living Room: 2x Wharfedale Evo 30s
Headphones: Sennheiser HD 25 (for work), AKG 701 (for home)

 

[pcharouz]

where can I get the " Definitive Tech ProMonitor 800"?

 

[pcharouz]

bump, should I make a new thread with a poll?

 

[amigohts]

http://www.definitivetech.com/pricing/pricing.html

Their home page?

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

Let me join the fun:
My two recommendations for the 5 speakers and $600 budget:
Here is one option:

Level 2 Bookshelf $180 x 2 = $360
Level 2 Center $120
Total $480 and you got $120 for stands.

The shipping for HTD never goes over $25 AFAIK so you will be almost at your $500 budget with high quality speakers.

The other option will be the Onix X-LS with the Center for another great sonical choice but with their shipping charges it will go over your budget unfortunately.
Any of these choices will give you a superb value and great sound quality.

Regards