New HT.....Starting with LCR for under $400. (1 Viewer)

[RyanJE]

I have the luxury of having a make shift system now so I wont actually have to be with out surrounds. Im gonna give the 4.1 a go for a while until I upgrade the front and move my soon to be new fronts to the back.

How often do you guys find yourself upgrading?? Ive only had my current system 1 year and now im completely redoing it. Theres so many setups I want to try and only so little dollars in the bank.

 

[BobP]

Sorry I did not get back to the what do you consider "large" for a room response but at my work the forum sites are blocked. For me personally, I have a room that is about 11'W x 12'L and my listening position is about 9' from the front and I found this to be quite adequate for what I suggested to you. But say in a room that was 12x15 or bigger then at the very least you would want the Monitor series.

As far as your upgrade comment, that is definitely a fact, especially when like myself I started on a tight budget like yourself. In the past 3 years now I have gone through
the following set-ups:

*Atoms (front only)
*Titans(f), CC-170, Atoms(rear)
*Titans(f), CC-170, ADP-170's(r), and my mini-water heater as I like to call it since the wife does not like it, an SVS 25-31 sold the Atoms
*Mini-Mon(f), CC-170, ADP's
*MM(f), CC-370, ADP's sold the CC-170

I have decided that I will settle for below once I have the money:
Studio 20's, CC-470, and since it is surrounds, probably just the ADP-370's

 

[eddieZEN]

Ryan,

I totally know where you're coming from with the upgrade bug thing...I've been lusting after some used NAD 2200 amps on eBay recently, and before that it was a JVC pure digital receiver!

With speakers though I'm glad that I spent a little more than I originally planned and got the Ascend 340s---definitely can't see myself replacing those for a LONG time! Well maybe if we ever move into a bigger place where I had my own media room and I had a really good 4-ohm amp I'd get some MMGs...

Ditto with my receiver, I went from planning on spending about $200 then by the time it was over the number had almost tripled.

Those are all still very modest numbers by audiophile standards but I'm happy that I didn't cut corners on speakers and receiver---I did scrimp on the sub though which I never stop kicking myself for constantly!

You've gotten some great advice here from everyone though. (I personally would still take a 3.1 over a 4.1 setup but that's just me.) Best of luck!

 

[Nick Bum]

To me the center seemed pointless I really dont think it even helped out the soundfield on movies much at all. I have a set JM Lab Electra mains and had a B&W CM C center ch and the center even though it was still an expensive center but about half the price of the mains it made my set up sound like shit and added nothing. I have noticed with cheaper setups that the center does seem to add alot to the soundfield but when you have a set of mains that are between 2-3k for the set the center really does not tseem too add too much because the immiging of the stero is excellent. For music stero is the way to go no and ifs or buts. But thats what i think. And dont kick your self for the sub a sub just andles the low end and our hearing that low is not that great as long as it is able to get a nice floor rumble and go down to around 20hz then your cool.

 

[eddieZEN]

Nick,

Well that's pretty much what I used to think when I had a crappy Wharfedale center. When I upgraded to Ascend 340s all the way across the front, I was astounded at the difference the 340c made---voices and dialogue really took on this clarity, naturalness and PRESENCE, as if the people were right there in the room rather than their voices being piped through a speaker. I found that I could listen to movies and TV at lower volumes than before and still understand dialogue much better.

The really surprising thing is that nowadays I listen to music in 3.1 as much as in stereo (esp. vocal-dominated stuff like Norah Jones), just because of that center speaker!

> a sub just andles the low end and our hearing that low is not that great as long as it is able to get a nice floor rumble and go down to around 20hz then your cool.

Well my sub doesn't even do THAT competently, LOL! Its specs claim that it goes down to 25Hz but the truth is probably closer to 30Hz if I want to avoid boominess and resonance. It's a JBL e150...beware!

 

[RyanJE]

Eddie I hear ya. I rushed into getting the JBL E250.. Even though it was a huge step up from the 8" I was using I wish I would have waited and started out with SVS or nice Velodyne. But hey, at least I have that as a goal to work toward now. I bought a Fluance set up and got a sony STR-DE595 receiver before I bothered learning much about the hobby. So the more I learned about it the more I wanted new gear. And here I am.

 

[eddieZEN]

Well from what I've heard the e250 is a good bit better than the e150, which I could've had for just an extra $50 or so on eBay! :frowning:

How did you like the Fluance speakers, BTW? I looked into those too but something made me go more expensive. I've often wondered they compare to say a low end JBL or Athena HT setup.

 

[RyanJE]

Believe it or not the bookshelves are outstanding at the price point. They sound better to JBL E20 and Athena B1's.( in all fairness though, BB and circuit city aren't optimal listening environments). There a little ugly tho. The imaging and clarity is exceptional in the SV-6 and they play extremely loud without distorting. The sv-10 and the center leave a little something to be desired. The sv-10 are extremely bright and dont image well(side firing woofer x-over at 800hz). The center is decent for the money but it sounds too much like the noises are coming from a "Box". Which they are but it shouldn't sound that way. If I could do it again I would definitely go with the Sv-6's all around. For 300 bones I doubt you could find a better 5 speaker set up.


PS. Sorry for my lack of details. I can hear the differences between speakers but I lack the experience to put it into a quality description.

 

[RyanJE]

Oh and don't feel like you've missed out on the sub. Output at 25 hz is crap it doesn't actually play with any significant SPL until about 27 hz. I measured using some test tones. It could be my room, but my towers are rated to 42 hz and they had flatter response from 20-27 hz than did the E250. How does that work??