Please help me spend some $, & design advice. (1 Viewer)

[Patrick TX]

My Mom is almost at the Sheetrock stage of her "Dream Home" and is asking me to handle the A/V. COOL, spending someones ELSE'S $$$! Here are some specs.
Study (Home Theater) 80/20 HT/Music
L17.5' X W15' with 10' ceiling.
Oak floors, oriental rug.
Sofa on back wall, 2 chairs in corners.
Built in TV, 36" or 40"(gasp) direct view?
Adjustable bookshelf's on either side.
Smallish sub not a problem in corner, hidden behind a chair.
Bookshelf's ONLY, no towers. Must be a dark wood color (LOL)
$1500 speaker budget, give or take.
Mail Order not a problem.
Relative works for Tweeter (employee discount)
The Axiom Master looks nice, but how is the sub?
Boston Acoustics?
Klipsch?
Rocket?
Divas?
Receiver
$1200 budget
Dolby Digital, DTS, Pro Logic II
MUST BE EASY TO USE, my Mom is electronically challenged.
My Sony DA777ES has an AFD "Auto Format Decode" feature that she could just leave on. I noticed all the ES receivers have this, nice.
Sony DA5ES?
Denon AVR-3802?
HK AVR 320 or 520?
Living Room Dining Room combo 33.5L X 17.5W X 10H
Screened Porch 15L X 10W
100% Music
I sold her my HK AVR75 last year, which needs to drive a GOOD set of inwalls, as well as a set of GOOD outdoor speakers for the screened porch. Porch speakers must be able to withstand MAJOR HUMIDITY, (Austin, TX).
Color not an issue.
Inwalls - I have NO IDEA!
Klipsch (efficient, & could sound nice W high current?)
NHT?
Outside -
B&W LM1's?
Boston?
I REALLY am excited to hear some ideas from you all! I'm really exited about building it, especially not having to wall drop, & attic crawl! I plan on using quality cable (cheap source?), as well as laying network cable all through the place. THANKS!

 

[JohnBrianW.]

I would reccomend the Axiom masters system as well. The sub is great. Two others you could check out are Pardigm Studio 20's all round with reference c-channel and a PSW1000 sub. The other system that I think is the best value in HT systems is the Totem Dreamcatcher. The sub is very small but when i listened to it, it really impressed me. It gets down really deep and is very quick.
As for receivers, the one I've finally decided on is the Sherwood Newcastle 756 ($1000cdn) or the upgraded one I believe is the 976 ($2000cdn). These receivers are awesome, they are known as entry level audiophile quality.
www.totemacoustics.com
www.sherwoodusa.com
www.paradigm.ca
have fun spending Mom's money!!

 

[BryanZ]

How about some wood nOrh 4.0s? Could go with rosewood or natual look of them. Might even be able to have them stained in a darker color. Not sure if they are able to do walnut anymore but the walnut color is extremely sharp! Figure $850 for those and add in an Adire Audio Dharman, Aperion Audio SW-12, or HSU VTF-2 and you should be good to go.

 

[Pablo Abularach]

Patrick,

I think you should go for Harman Kardon AVR 520, right now is selling for $577, that will give you about $600 to spend on better speakers. My recommendation will be a AXIOM EPIC 60, very impressive.

Hope this helps,
Pablo Abularach

 

[Patrick TX]

I am seriously thinking about the Axiom Master, or Grand Master. The speakers don't actually have to be "real" wood, veneer is fine. I wonder if the bookshelfs in the Grand are worth the difference. Maybe I should buy everything BUT the sub & get a Shiva or a VTF-2?

As far as the Receiver goes, the Denon 3802 is looking pretty damn strong. So is the Outlaw 1050. The Denon has PL II, and I can get it at cost at Tweeter probably.

 

[Nick L]

I'm going to have to vote for the Sony reciever for ease of use. They are really easy to use, so good for the non technical. You should take a look at the DA4ES, its the new replacement for the 5 and has most all the features. I am also going to have to vote for the Boston Acoustic bookshelf speakers. I have BA VRM 50's and the VRMC and they are just wonderful. Not only do they sound Great but they look Great! And the cherry color isn't light, but I don't know if they would be considered dark wood? Inwalls I would have to give the nod to NHT, they aren't the most efficent, but sound so good. As for outdoor speakers there are so many to choose from. But I will agree here and say the B&W's do sound very nice.

Enjoy the new project.

Nick L

 

[Patrick TX]

I am still having a love affair with my Sony DA777ES! SUPER SIMPLE & sweet sounding. The Bostons look nice, sound great, and are expensive as all get out! I need a whole setup, fronts, rears, & sub. Boston can't get there in my budget. Awesome though! The Axiom Masters are looking damn good at this point. Thanks.

 

[Brian Bunge]

Patrick,

I've heard some of the Axioms and they are nice speakers. But I'd take your own advice and not buy the sub. You'll be much better off with something like the Rava or VTF-2. I'm not saying there's anything necessarily wrong with the Axiom subs, I just think there are better subs for the money. MUCH BETTER!

Brian

P.S. I've got a buddy in Austin that builds custom speakers and does some absolutely gorgeous real wood veneer cabinets. I think he could build you 4 bookshelf speakers and a dedicated center channel in your price range. They'll stack up against much higher priced speakers for less money. And the good thing is, you'd be able to actually see and hear his work first hand before making a decision. Send me an email if you're interested.

 

[DanaA]

As far as the receiver is concerned, I'd check out the Rotel 1055. I've gone the separates route, but, if I was looking for a receiver, that's the one I'd look at first, followed by Harman Kardon and Marantz.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

for the outdoors, look at the JBL S36AW. They're around $175 a pair online, white, and weather resistant. They sound great too, and would match well w/ a HK receiver. JBL also does some very nice inwall stuff, so take a look there. These would be great sounding solutions that would save you some money that you could shift to other parts of the project.

 

[Patrick TX]

Man, now were cooking. That Rotel looks SWEET! Call me a cheapskate, but I'm allergic to paying retail for ANYTHING! I wonder if The Home Theater Store ever swings deals on these. They are the closest vendor to me. I'm not seeing any online deals on that. I'm gonna have to do some MAJOR auditioning on the speakers.

 

[Hank Frankenberg]

Patrick, I'm the guy that Brian recommended you to. I live in Austin close to Four Points and would be happy for you to see/hear some of my speakers. I can build some great price/performance value speakers in wood veneer of your mom's choice; mains as well as small subwoofer. Here's my crude web page - sorry for the low resolution photos: http://www.geocities.com/hankbond1/index
Send an e-mail if you'd like to discuss this.

 

[Patrick TX]

Wow, cool stuff! I'm not able to get to Austin for a few weeks though. When I do, I'll maybe check them out. Thanks!