Importance of each piece? (1 Viewer)

[Reid K]

I was just wondering what is the most to least important piece of a home theater. For me this is center channel, sub, reciever, front speakers, back speakers. Just wondering so I know how to budget my spending

 

[Dave Getson]

Well, without a receiver, you're not going to get any sound, so I'd say that's the most important piece. Then your front speakers because you can always (god forbit me from saying this on this forum) use your tv speakers / front speakers until you get a center channel. Then rears, then a sub.

That's my opinion.

 

[Reid K]

Well iam not going by that I just need to know what I should spend the most on, and what I dont have to spend as much on. So iam buying everything but need to know if a cheap receiver will hurt the overall quality etc etc

 

[Matt Nevala]

The reciever is the heart of the HT. Get a good one and go from there. next you must ask yourself waht you will use the most with your HT. (more movies, or music or tv..etc.) If your into more music then movies, then good front L/R channles and a powered subwoofer. you still can watch movies in stereo mode untill you get your center and surrounds. if u want this mainly for movies then u want all your speakers to be good. (especially the center and sub in my opinion) as for how much to spend on each? i cant really help you not knowing how much you want to spend/what your type of sound your looking for.

 

[Michael R Price]

I would say speakers (specifically the mains) are the most important component. They influence the sound generally much more than the receiver. You can mix the sub, center and surround channels into the mains for stereo only listening if desired.

 

[Reid K]

Iam spending around 2500 canadian so that would be approx 1624 american. I have found a reciever that is 800 canadian, and front towers that are 500, and a sub which is 400. The prices I gave are all canadian. Iam just unsure now on my back (thinking of going bookshelf), and center channel.

 

[Matt Nevala]

what good are great speakers that are hooked up to a cheap reciever that doesnt fine tune these speakers or supply them with the proper power?

 

[Carl Johnson]

ditto. If you shop wisely speakers should be both the most expensive and the longest lasting componet in your audio system. I've been using the same speakers for 5+ years now. The rest of my system has gone from VHS to DVD, pro logic to 5.1 to DTS and 20" to 27" to 32" but never once have I even had the urge to replace the speakers. If I were shopping today I'd order my price per componet as follows

• mains
• receiver
• sub
• center/rears

 

[Reid K]

so as of right now iam looking to spend:
500$ on front speakers
800$ on my reciever
300-400 on my sub (need more opinions first)
and havent decided how much on the center channel, and rears. Keep in mind those are canadian funds

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Reid:

Here is something a sales-person told me one time, and it seems to hold true over the years:

Music speakers are about ACCURACY, Home Theater speakers are about IMPACT

In general, the more accurate the speakers are, the more $$$ it costs.

Here is another rule:

The front 3 speakers should be as close to identical as possible for a HT system so the sounds do not change tone when they move from speaker to speaker.

My advice: look for 5 identical monitor-style speakers and use them all around. I dont know how it translates, but the Energy Take 5 + 1 system sells in the states for about $500. Since this is a Canadian company, my understanding the prices are cheaper to you, even if the dollar is higher. It could be a wash.

Also, since you are in Canada, look for a Canadian made speaker. Over the last 10 years or so Canadian speakers have jumpped in quality and rival many speakers costing a lot more. Paradigm, Energy and others are all well-respected here.

Good luck.

 

[Reid K]

so these are for HT, and gaming. How would I make sure they are indentical?

 

[Brian Bunge]

Buy 5 identical speakers, or 4 identical speakers and a center channel that's timbre matched to the others. Tell us what brand and models you're looking at and maybe we can steer you towards a particular setup.

 

[Dan Hine]

what good are great speakers that are hooked up to a cheap reciever that doesnt fine tune these speakers or supply them with the proper power?

What good is the "best" receiver when coupled with a pair of bad speakers that cannot take advantage of the clean, well powered signal? If you buy a good set of speakers you can keep them for many many years. Even a top of the line receiver will be obsolete in a few years.

 

[Reid K]

Right now iam looking at these front tower speakers

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...=&newdeptid=10

Sub is still up in the air along with rear, and center channel.

Iam thinking of this as my reciever also
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...est%5Fcookie=1

 

[david stark]

I have had a dolby/dts 5 setup for about 1 to 2 years now and added a sub to that about 6 months ago (to get the 5.1). Originally I intended to buy it all (I already had widescreen TV + 2 decent speakers that I use for music). So I was looking for an integrated decoder + amp, a centre speaker and a pair of speakers for the rear and a sub.

After listening to other peoples stuff and spending an hour or so in a demo room listening to various setups I just bought a pair of speakers to use for the rear speakers a centre speaker that matched my existing speakers and the amp. After listening to the demos and friends systems it became apparent to me that I was better off spending more money on the amp/decoder and rear speakers and sub than I had intended so I sacrificed having the sub for better rear speakers and amp.

Now having heard the effect with the sub I think that the sub is the icing on the cake as it were. It's nice to have, but not essential as long as your other 5 speakers are pretty good. If I had to do it again I would do the same again and leave the sub till last.

 

[Michael R Price]

"Music speakers are about ACCURACY, Home Theater speakers are about IMPACT"

How about trying to get speakers that are both accurate and impactful? I say, if a speaker sounds good for music it should sound good for movies too. But as many others have said, if a speaker sounds good with movies that does not always mean it will be good with music.

 

[Greg_R]

500$ on front speakers
800$ on my reciever
300-400 on my sub (need more opinions first)

I feel that speakers and room setup (acoustics, speaker placement) are far and away the largest elements affecting your sound. In this price range I feel you would be better off getting a $250 (US) receiver and spend the rest on speakers. A carefully selected receiver in this price range will adequately power most monitor sized speakers. Get one that will switch S-video (a higher quality video connection).

For speakers I feel you should look at monitor (bookshelf) sized speakers. You will get better imaging and clarity (as well as saving a few bucks). Don't skimp on the subwoofer (it gives a HT a lot of the 'wow' factor and impact). If you are the only person watching this system then you can hold off on the center channel. Your mains (properly set up) will present a nice center image to anyone sitting in the sweet spot. If a lot of people are going to be watching movies then get a good center channel.

Consider 5 JBL N24s ($100 each) and good $500(US) sub (Hsu, Adire, etc.).

 

[BrianWoerndle]

Am I the only one that thinks that everything is equally important? You are only as strong as your weakest link, and that holds true with HT. As some people already siad, if one piece is much higher quality than the rest, it will be wasted. A rule of thumb I use is that the receiver should be about 1/3 the cost of all the speakers. So you you get a $800 receiver, then all 5 speakers and a sub should cost about $2500. If you only want to spend about $1000 on speakers, a $350 receiver should be fine. I think this rule applies to stereo music listening also. Instead of dividing the speaker money 6 ways, you get a much more expensive pair of speakers, which is what you want for music. The only reason I would vary from this is if you know you want to upgrade in the future. If you an't afford everything now, then try to figure out what you ultimate goal is and get as much as you can from that.

example:
I have a $1500 set of speakers (Paradigm Monitor series). I was using an old $200 receiver. The speakers were being held back by the receiver. So I upgraded the receiver. According to my formula, I would need about a $500 receiver. I looked at the $500 Denon 1803, which would have been a good match. But instead, I went with the $1200 Denon 3803. It soulds like a new set of speakers. The reason I went with a more expensive receiver, is that I felt thet the 1803 wouldn't leave room for expansion. It would have been perfect if I were never going to change a thing, but that will never happen. I plan on upgrading to Paradigm Studio speakers, which will eventually be more in line with my formula.