HT for <$1000 w/emphasis on music (1 Viewer)

[Alex Giese]

Hello all. Newbie here. I will be starting from scratch. Right now, all I have is a 32" Sony Trinitron and a Mistu VCR. I may upgrade the TV to HDTV within a year or two. I have been searching up and down the HTF forums for ideas. Right now I am thinking floorstanders for the mains may be the way to go and possibly add a sub as well. Room size is about 15'x10'x8' with an open right side. The couch is up against the wall but, I am not too concerned about surround sound right now. The entertainment center is approximately 5' wide. I listen to mainly rock/hard rock. Good bass is a must.

With this info and a budget of $1000 or less (preferably) what do you guys/gals think? Here is the list of some equipments I have in mind

DVD player - Toshiba SD4700 (this doesn't necessarily have to be in the budget)

Receiver - Kenwood vr-507/509 or Denon 1802 or ?

Mains - Polk Audio RT600i/800i or ?

Subwoofer - ?

Would any of these go together fine or am I way off?? Any ideas from you all would be great! Oh, one more thing -music 80%/movie 20%.

 

[Saurav]

What's your budget for speakers? I'd buy used, and I'd get just the front mains too and not worry about surround sound. Take a look at www.audiogon.com for speakers in your price range, and then read up on them at www.audioreview.com and www.audioasylum.com - I got to know of several speaker brands that way that I'd never heard about. Also, if you're planning on getting a sub, you might look into bookshelves - you'll get better quality for the same amount of money, and if you pick your components well and your room isn't too difficult, integration with a subwoofer shouldn't be an impossible task.

 

[Ray R]

Welcome Alex,

It seems like you are happy with slowly building your system. I also chose this approach, but some like to jump right in and buy everything at once.

With your budget I would suggest just getting a receiver and main speakers. With your emphasis on music, you'll want to spend a little more and get a good receiver. The Kenwood is a good home theater receiver, but speaking from experience, they are not the best for music. I upgraded from a Kenwood VR309 to a Denon 2801 and the improvement was significant. Of course if you have your heart set on the Kenwood, you could always add a better quality external amp down the road (verify that the Kenwood has preamp outputs).

Polks are nice although I don't care for their sound. I always felt they were lacking in the low end. I would suggest comparing them to a pair of Klipsch. I always liked how they sounded with rock music. You may or may not like the horn tweeter. I wouldn't focus too much on the bookshelf/floorstanding issue since floorstanding speakers do not always equal lower bass. Although you will need to factor in speaker stands if you go with bookshelf speakers. There are many other brands of speakers that you might like. Only thing you can do is find a pair that sounds right to you. Take time to listen to the center channel speaker that matches the main speakers you buy. If/when you buy a center channel speaker, you will want it to match your main speakers. I speak from experience on this issue as well.

Sorry for the long post. I had too much caffine at lunch. That's my two cents.

 

[BryanZ]

Alex,

Welcome!

With a budget of $1K, skipping the dvd player, I'd go for:

Kenwood VR-507 - $250

Adire Audio Rava - $400

HTD Level III mains - $199

HTD Level III center - $139

Get the surrounds later. But this, IMO, will give you an excellent start on a system.

 

[Greg_R]

I feel that the best bang/buck system would be a sub/sat system (subwoofer & small monitor style speakers). If this HT is only going to be viewed by a few people at a time then you can hold off on the center channel for awhile (dialog will be imaged well in the sweet spot). Try and spend the majority of your money on the speakers.

If you can spend a little more $$$, strongly consider the Diva packages at av123.com. A pair of 4.1s, 2.1s, & the CC are $1198. They are also discounting the Hsu VTF-2 (an incredible sub) downto $399 with any Diva speaker purchase. A pair of Diva 2.1s & the Hsu VTF-2 would run you $700...

 

[Ricky T]

Onecall always has nice HT packages (between brands like Onkyo, NHT, Atlantic Tech, HK, Vel, etc).
I would recommend stretching your budget to $1279 for the last package: 5 NHT superzeros, Onkyo 787, Vel FSX12II sub.
http://ww2.onecall.com/Specials.mpt?ProductLineID=40