New Home Theater Recommendations (1 Viewer)

[JhonNY]

I'm in the process of getting a new video and audio system ( home theater system ) from scratch which is going to include the following components, but could grow in the future. My current budget is about $5K, but could be a little bit more. To me the quality of sound and video are really important. Here is what I'm planning to get:

1) A 32" Flat LCD TV: Something like Samsung LN32A550

2) DVD Player and recorder: Samsung DVD-AR650?

4) A Turntable: Which one would you recommend?
I have a couple hundred of LPs and 45rpms that I want to transfer to digital media, but will still keep the around.

5) Receiver: I'm thinking of the Denon AVR-3808CI, it there an equal choice in quality for a lower cost?

6) CD Player: This might be optional since the dvd will play my huge collection of CDs, but it will be nice to get something with a capacity for 5 cds.

7) A Tape Player/Recorder: I have a few tapes with music no where else to be found that want to transfer to digital medium. If doable and reasonably priced, I would also like to be able to do some basic sound editing when I do the transfer.

8) Some speakers with surround sound: My music tastes run the whole spectrum from classical to world, latin and pop music. I've been recommended the Vienna Acoustics Bach/Mozart Grand for classical and
Klipsch/Definiitive for everything else.

Thanks a lot for the feedback on this,
Jhon

 

[Ed Moxley]

Thorens is an excellent turntable, but you pay for it. See these here: Thorens Turntables Have More Models Than Ever Before. 800-229-0644
They have some different price ranges.

I, personally, want that same receiver, Denon 3808ci. Very good choice in my opinion. I'm sure others will offer other suggestions too.

My friend has this Ion USB turntable, and likes it. Easy to get vinyl onto computer, where it's easy to edit. May not be as high quality as you want, but it's ok. One irritating thing about it is that it doesn't have a cue lever. It plays and sounds good. Ion also makes a tape player. A search will probably turn one up for you.

For speakers I recommend either of these. The first link is their cheaper ones, which are very good. The second ones are their expensive ones, which are outstanding.
SVSound - Complete Systems
SVSound - MTS Family of Speakers
also very hard to beat an SVS subwoofer, which models are included in the sets.

DVD players have very good DACs in them now days, so I'd just use that for playing the CDs.
Good luck with whatever you get!

 

[Al.Anderson]

Two things to consider: you don't mention how large your viewing area will be, but unless it's small you should consider a larger monitor. You'll want to be no more than about 6 ft from a 32" HD monitor.

I'm not an expert in speakers, but since you mentioned that you'll be using your system for both music and theater, I've found that my very nice theater speakers (the mini type) sound great for movies, but not so hot for music. I wound up using some old decent speakers I had from my colllege days (just stereo) when I play music and they sound much better. Bottom line, check into this - consider either upgrading your speaker choice to allow for both; or get two sets, one for music, one for theater. (Your receiver will need an A/B switch. I didn't check the Denon, but many have this feature.)

 

[Robert_J]

How large is your CD collection? Because sometimes even a 5 CD changer is not enough. There are changers that go up to 300 discs. Or you can look at the Logitech Sqeezebox. Rip all of your CD's in a lossless format to a hard drive and play them back on the Sqeezebox over your home network. Create custom playlists that fit your mood or situation. It is much more flexible than a CD player.

What will you be using for your regular TV source? Cable, satellite, antenna or a combination? What DVR will you be using?

-Robert

 

[JhonNY]

Guys:

Thanks a lot for the feedback, here are the answers to the questions:

-My living room is not that big, about 13'x13', I don't think I will be seating closer than 6'.

- The DVD player/recorder I'm considering will play CDs as well, but it only has 1 disc capacity and I was thinking getting a carrousel type to load more than one for listening. My CD collection is about 2K cds, but I don't want to get a player for a lot of CDs just a couple to listen in a couple of hours. The idea of the squeeze box is great.

-My TV source will be cable and I know I will be playing DVDs and doing some recording of programs, etc.

-Yes, I was thinking about two sets of speakers, but I don't know how much that will be and wonder if there is a better one-for-all solution.

Again, thanks a lot for the feedback,
Jhon

 

[Kevin Stewart]

Then a 32" display is definitely too small. If you're sitting at around the 10' mark, you should be looking at a size of at least 52"

 

[JhonNY]

Thanks for the advice.

Jhon

 

[Monster Stoppers]

I found cables from American Consumer Cables to be priced good especially their Rapid Run cables.