Mixing speakers (1 Viewer)

[Galen]

Hello all, I am very new to HT, and I am in the process of converting my basement into my Home Theater. I am done framing and it is time to run the speaker wire. I need to know what kind of speakers to get before I do this. My question is, can I use regular speakers for the front two and center speakers and in wall speakers for the three rear in my 6.1 system. Thanks in advance for your advice, this forum has already given me some great ideas to make this project special. BTW, I have no wall behind my couch and would put the rears in the ceiling if this is advisable. Thanks again.

 

[Jerome Grate]

First, welcome to the forum all you answers I find to be here. Now to the issue at hand, first, will you be using a t.v. (direct view, rear projetion) or a screen with a front projector? If you are using a t.v., then your speakers must be magnetically shielded. This will protect the t.v. from that purplish distortion you see when you have speakers next to the t.v. I also advise that you check out the various speaker sights listed on this page and maybe even let us know what your decision is. Depending on the speakers, it will determine what size or gauge wire you should use. Please also note that the speaker wire has to meet certain fire criterias since it will be in the walls.

 

[Galen]

Ok, I am thinking of a 100" front projection screen. I have read good things about the Onkyo HT-S767, and I am considering using the sub, center and L/R fronts from that system with three Polk Audio in wall speakers installed in the ceiling for the rears. If this is not advisable, I guess I could live with the Onkyo speakers on stands behind the couch, I just don't think it would look as clean. Thanks for your advice.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Yes, that should be fine. Ideally you'd want to try to match speakers if you can, obviously it won't be perfect as inwalls will sound slightly different than their out-of wall counterparts, but if you get inwalls from the same manufacturer and line, it should be very nicely matched to your fronts.

IMO, the onkyo system might be ok, but if you're building a room and all, you're probably going through some heavy expense (I am building a full basement as we speak), and I think you'd be much happier spending a little bit more and building a system up rather than just an HTiB. The performance will be far far far superior for what is probably not that much more of an investment than what you're putting into whatever it is you are building at the moment.

 

[Galen]

Thanks for the info, I was thinking of going with the onkyo system for a couple of years, and yes I am spending a lot of money on the basement, and thats why I was thinking if the Onkyo system. Maybe somebody can you recommend a nice system for about the same price range, or maybe a little more if its worth it. Thanks

 

[Jerome Grate]

Gee, you're building a dream so many have and want to do, therefore, don't stop short on equipment. You can get a great sounding system at HTiB prices. Depending on the budget for equipment you can get speakers from various sights, one I use is Audio Advisor they have pretty good deals on high quality name brand speakers, like Infinity, Jamo, and couple of others. Some maybe closeouts but you can get some really great sounding speakers at a good cost.

As for the receiver, I'm partial to Harman Kardon and in the coupon and deals section of the forum, there's a post that shows a Carver 5 channel amp for 288.00. The amp pushes 80 watts per channel which is plenty of power for HT applications. Marry this with a HK 630 you'll have 7.1 channel set up to really full that basement. Now for the sub, well the skies the limit here. So around 2500.00 you can get a real kick butt system to match that front projector.