what system did you start with & where did you go from there? (1 Viewer)

[MatthewJ S]

A friend had an HTIB when I first met him (@$500 system) which is now in his bedroom. Bought a Yamaha rxv995 & boston acoustic speakers for his basement to go with his old 35inch tv and mid-grade dvd. Now that system is upstairs in his family room as I help him remodel his basement for a REAL HOME THEATER!
pLEASE LIST SIMILIAR EXPERIANCES FOR FUN!

 

[Brian Corr]

Started with a Pioneer pro-logic receiver, cd player, tape deck, jvc vcr, sharp 27" tv.

Then went to denon 3200, mits. 35", sony dvd, def tech pro monitor 100's, DSS.

Then upgraded to denon 5700, numerous other dvd players, SVHS, toshiba 61" HDTV.

Now have denon 3802 used as a pre/pro, ATI1505 amp, M&K 150's, panasonic RP91, and Tivo.

 

[Bob Friend]

Then:

Sony 20" TV

Sony STR DE445 receiver

Sony DVP-C660 DVD Changer

Speakers that came with the above HTIB

Now:

Samsung 32" HDTV monitor

Harman Kardon AVR 520

JBL N24 mains and surrounds

JBL N Center

Sony Subwoofer (next upgrade victim, came with original setup)

Future: (pending wifes approval!)

Diva 5.1 setup

 

[John H]

I got interested in HT several years ago. I started out with a Sony DPL receiver, moderate JBL speakers, VCR and a Pioneer 40" 4:3 RPTV (moved from another room) setup in my bedroom.
I have made to many equipment upgrades to list over the years. My system never left the bedroom though.
John
Current configuration:
VIDEO COMPONENT LIST
Monitor: Pioneer Elite PRO-610HD, Pat Bradley ISF Calibrated
DVD Players: Pioneer DV-38A, DV-47A Sony DVP-S9000ES
Laser Disc Player: McIntosh MLD7020
HDTV/DSS Receiver: Mitsubishi SR-HD5
VCR: JVC HR-S5400U, S-VHS
AUDIO COMPONENT LIST
Pioneer VSX-49TX
Power Amplifiers: Parasound HCA-2205A, HCA-1500A, Crown K2 (pair)
Loudspeakers - Definitive Technology
Main Channels: BP2000TL
Center Channel: C/L/R 3000
Surrounds: Sides - BPVX, Rear BPVX (pair)
Subwoofers: LFE/SUB - Velodyne HGS-18 (pair)
Bass Processors: Audio Control "Phase Coupled Activator" (pair), Behringer EX1200 Ultrabass Pro, ART 351 Graphic EQ, Rane PE 17 Parametric EQ
Tactile Transducers: Original Buttkickers (pair)
DigiTech RDS2000 digital delay (used to time align tactile transducer arrangement)
Active Crossovers: 3 Paradigm X-30 units (1 for subwoofers 2 for tactile transducers)
CABLES
Interconnects: Monster Cable M1000 series, Ultralink Platinum series
Speaker Cable: Front Stage - Ultralink Platinum MkII Excelsior 2.4 biwire, Rear Stage: Monster original 12 AWG
Tactile Transducers: Sound King 10 AWG
AMPLIFIER POWER DISTRIBUTION
Front Stage: Parasound HCA-2205A
Rear Stage: Sides: Parasound HCA-2205A, Rears: HCA-1500A
Tactile Transducers: Crown K2 (pair)
SURGE SUPRESSOR/POWER CONDITIONERS
Current Design PC-8 Plus
VansEvers Model 11 Video
Monster Cable HTS-5100
Panamax MAX™ 5300
AC POWER
5 Dedicated 20A circuits

 

[Kevin T]

not counting the very first magnavox mini-system my parents bought for me years ago:

first:

20" funai tv

sharp md-x7 minidisc minisystem

magnavox mono vcr

(home theater wasn't much of a though back then)

now:

32" philips tv (still sitting on the fence for hdtv)

ead theatermaster encore

aragon 8008bb

aragon 8008x3b

sony slv-m20f hifi stereo vcr

hughes directv receiver (looking for a dd receiver)

pioneer dv-c302d

mirage frx-7

mirage frx-center

mirage frx-rear

kevin t

 

[Jay Morrissette]

First home theater:
1985-
15 year old 25" zenith TV
mono vcr with Y-cord to
Radio Shack stereo receiver
1987-
The Zenith finally died
Replaced it with a New 19" TV with digital tuner!
1988-
New Pioneer stereo receiver with video switching to replace the rat shack receiver
1989-
Surround sound! by way of a radio shack/memorex rear channel decoder box- it only worked with cable TV as our VCR was just mono
1991-
Pioneer died and was in the shop for six months!! I finally gave up and bought a Technics Pro-Logic receiver and a small Audio Source sub and center speaker.
I was then bitten by the bug
1993-
Bought a Fischer Hi-Fi VCR for a mere $500 at a pawn shop.
Finally Videos in were in surround!
1995-
I added a LD player
I had big sound, but a small 19" TV, especially when I watched 2.35:1 movies!
1996-
Added a Seleco SVT-130 video grade front projector.
That gave me a HUGE picture, but the sound suddenly seemed small
1998 or 99-
The LD player broke, and DVD was gaining popularity
I bought a Pioneer 414 DVD player
I felt that I needed a major upgrade to go with the $380
DVD player so I added:
Monster cables
Newcastle 945 DD DTS receiver
BagEnd sub
Matching center speaker- the single most significant upgrade BTW.
Now the sound was HUGE, but the picture was a little fuzzy...
2001-
Major video upgrade...
used NEC 6PG Graphics grade Projector (aka Runco 980)
DVDO iscan
HTPC
The home theater experience is now BETTER than the local multiplex.
Summer 2001-
I put an ugly yagi antenna on the roof to get HDTV- the neighbors were ticked! and I got a few threatening letters from the HOA, but I sent them the FCC ruling on such things and they backed off.
But I'm still not content..
On order now, and should be delivered today or tomorrow...
Onkyo 898 receiver. This is more of a convenience upgrade as I am out of digital inputs, and hopefully it will be more wife friendly. The 7.1 sound might be fun too!
...In the future
When I stumble into a small fortune-
Lexicon Pre/Pro
Genelec or NHT Pro studio monitors
the latest and greatest light bulb projector for a brighter and sharper picture
The law of diminishing returns is now in effect, those upgrades may need to wait a long time :frowning:
I could have put a starving Ethiopian kid through college for all that money :frowning:
Oh well, I guess I'll have him over for a movie instead
~Jay

 

[WilliamG]

OK-
MOST of you guys sound like you're on the 'young side' Let me tell you whereI came from - and this has been 20 yrs. ago:
Then:
Magnavox 19" TV (my wife's)-
Realistic 100w. STA-2500 Receiver
1 pair Mach Two Speakers!
Does anybody remember them?!?
Later: Upgraded to Sony 27" Trinitron (10 yrs. ago)
Now:
(Waiting on the new) 50" 50H82 Toshiba Widescreen
Onkyo TX-SR600 A/V Receiver
JBL NSP1 Speaker System (N24's all around)+(N Center)
JBL PB12 Subwoofer
Panasonic RP56 DVD Player
DirecTV Receiver
Technics SL-J2 Linear Tracking Turntable (a hold-over!)
GE VCR
Bring It On Youngsters!

 

[Steven Simon]

Started with a few speakers I could grub from a few different stereo systems back in my house in the 80's. Then bought a few Advent speakers and a Tecnics DD/DTS reciever.
NOw I have this:

Theater #1 (Main Theater)
TV : Mitsubishi 46805 Platinum HighDef 16:9 Widescreen RPTV
ISF Calibrated 12-11-2000 by David Schulk (Audio and Video Synergy NJ)
Re-Calibrated on 1-14-2002 by Gregg Loewen
High Definition Decoder -- Sony SAT -HD100
Dish : RCA 18 Inch Duel LNB High Def Dish
Video Wire: Component Monster Cable Platinum for DVD and High Def
Speakers:
Mains: 2 Paradigm Studio 100's Ver.2 Reference Line
Center: Paradigm CC Ver.2 Reference Line
Side Surrounds: 2 Paradigm ADP Dipolar Reference Line
Rear Surround: 2 Paradigm Studio 20's Reference Line (DD EX, DTS ES Setups)
BetterCables BiWire used for Studio 100's
Subwoofers: 2 - SVS 20-39's Powered by Samson 700W
Sound Processor: Outlaw 950
AMPS: Parasound HCA-1500 205 Watts x 2 Powering Paradigm Studio 100's
4 Parasound HCA-1201 THX Ultra Certified MonoBlocks--150 Watts per Block, 4 Mono Blocks Powering 3 Surround Speakers and Studio CC
1 Marantz 500 Monoblock Powering Back Surround
DVD Player: Panasonic RP-91 Progressive Scan/DVD AUDIO/ Player
Monster Power Station 2600 Line Conditioning All 7 Channels of Amps
Phillips Pronto Remote
Bell' Oggetti Monitor Stand
All Monster Cable Speaker Wire 12 Ga. (All Theaters)
Theater #2 (Bedroom Theater)
TV: Sony Wega KV-27 FS17 with 16:9 Widescreen Mode
Speakers:
Mains 2 Paradigm Studio 40's Reference Line
Center: Paradigm Studio CC Ver.2 Reference Line
Surrounds: Paradigm Studio 20's Reference Line
Receiver: DENON AVR-3801 DTS ES (Discrete) 105 Watts Per Channel @ 8 Ohms
BetterCables BiWire used for Studio 40's
DVD Player: Malata Progressive Scan Multi Region
Sony DirecTV Tivo 35 Hours Duel Tuner, VCR- Sony

 

[Mike_Mag]

Well lets see.....started out with a Fisher "surround" setup with a big button on the front that through some noise out the back speakers, an Mitsubishi VCR and some old TV I can't remember...graduated college got married so I wanted a something better...

Bought an RCA 46" big screen, Sony ES700 reciever and a new VCR and DSS and Klipsh sub, L/R/C......had that setup for a few years..got divorced took the system with me......now this is when it gets bad.......decided to buy a DVD player..bought a Sony with S-video connection only (1999).. this was fine...out of the apartment into the house..needed a new satellite for the NFL package..ended up buying the Mitsubishi oval dish (no HD tuner yet) and 65" Mits HDTV Diamond..they delivered it the next day....well the next week or two wanted to go totally digital..bought a Denon 1801...realized why use S-Vid connection with that TV bougth a new DVD Denon 1500 and went to M/K speakers LCR 750 5.1 setup...waited until the Mits HD tuner came onto market added that in the setup...was good for a 6 months..upgraded reciever to 3802 and two more M & K's for ES capabilities..I think I am done for a while........

 

[Frank_S]

Let's see, in 1976 I bought a Kenwood KR-7600 receiver(80wt/ch)powering BIC Venturi Formula 6 speakers. The source material back then was vinyl. This system kicked some serious butt, in fact I now have this system in my shop.

In 26 years the Kenwood has had 1 minor repair, a $60 fix.

I bought my 1st CD player in 83 or 84, a Sony(P.O.S.) disc changer. In 93 I finally retired the Kenwood system to my shop and I bought a Yamaha RXV-870, bye bye music, 2 channel sucked big time, see below. Panasonic 27" TV.

I bought B&W 602's and ran some cheap speakers for surrounds. In 97 I bought a Yamaha RX-V793, B&W AS6 sub, 2 channel still sucked but HT sounded much better.

1999 got Toshiba SD-5109 DVD, Toshiba TW40X81 RPTV.

In 2000 upgraded to B&W 603's, LCR6S2 and 602 surrounds.

2000 upgraded to CDM7SE's, CDMCSE, Aragon 8008 amp(200x2)

Aragon 8008 X 3(200x3), Classe SSP-25 pre/pro, Rel Storm III sub, and Cary CD-303 CD player.(2 channel now starting to improve)

Also bought Toshiba DST-3000 HD receiver.

Later in 2001, upgraded from CDM7SE's and CDMCSE to Nautilus 804's and HTM-2 center,bought SVS 20-39PC also.(Traded in the Cary CDP and use the DAC's in the Classe pre/pro for CD listening.)

Still tired of lackluster 2 channel so I bought a Rega turntable/Clearaudio Aurum Beta-S cart, EAR 834P tube phono stage and finally started enjoying 2 channel.

I later upgraded to a Koetsu Black MC cart and traded in the EAR 834P for a dedicated 2 channel tube preamp, the EAR 864. That's where I am now and music sounds wonderful(finally) and HT is very good too.

I also have Echobusters absorbing wall panels and Bass busters, 2 Richard Gray power company units(great for video)Kharma powercords, DIY powercords, Transparent interconnects, Harmonic Tech speaker cables, Camelot jitter filter, that's about it.

MY system is in the HTF listing, if you want to see a more organized listing.

 

[Jed M]

Then (1989)

Pioneer Pro Logic Surround receiver

These enormous pioneer speakers that sounded like crap but were huge, which was more important to me at the time.

2 Sony surround cube speakers with matching center.

13 inch magnavox tv.

magnavox vcr

Kenwood 6+1 cd changer

Now

Outlaw 950/770

Toshiba 4700 DVD player

Toshiba DST3000 HDTV DSS Receiver

JVC SVHS

Sony KP53HS10 rptv

Klipsch KSF10.5's, KSC-5 and the matching surrounds.

Klipsch KSW 12

Near Future

HSU or SVS subwoofer

Future

Reference series Klipsch, possibly the RF-7's.

 

[Jeremy Hegna]

Many, many moons ago, I did my darndest to squeeze the best sound possible from my 4-Head, HiFi VCR and 25" Magnavox.
When 1998 rolled around a DVDs started gaining in popularity, I bought a Costco/Kenwood HTB. The Kenwood VR-357 receiver, and the speaker set theat came with it. It came with a passive sub powered by the receiver's main outputs...split to the mains. I thought I was in heaven and in fact...this was probably the single, biggest upgrade punch that I have ever thrown. True Dolby Digital, 5.1. Sound from all over the room It was cool.
That is when I found B&W. I started with a pair of 602s for my mains. I added the LCR 6 and a Klipsch KSW-15 sub. Then, I found HTF....and every other upgrade has been a blur since
I added a pair of 603s to the front and a DS6 for rear center duties, moving the 602s to the back. I purchased an SVS subwoofer, a Denon 5800 receiver, 2800 DVD player, and purchased some better interconnects and speaker wire.
I purchased a new house, traded my 603s in for 604s and bought the Mitsubishi 65819 RPTV. In the last couple of months, I've been adding external amplifiers in preparation of going to seperates. I also traded my 604s in for a chunk of money off of a pair of Nautilus 802s. I am now truly in heaven and have been switching amplifiers in and out from Krell, Mac, BAT, and Rotel. The HTM-1 is on order and I should have it in my system by the beginning of July.
I will most likely keep the 600 series for surround duties with Nautilus up front. My Rotel 1090 does a fine job powering the 802s...but Krell and BAT are a little bit better I am also adding a turntable in the next couple of weeks...as well as a dedicated CD player. It is a never ending circle of LOVE!!!!
Jeremy

 

[Drew Eckhardt]

First there was my two-channel setup. A small apartment resulted in my 19" college TV moving (with switches and dials to set the station presets) into my listening room between the speakers.

The TV died, so I bought a 32" Wega and realized how bad VHS was. Within days, I acquired a DVD player.

The next year, I decided that multi-channel seemed like a good idea but not if it meant a receiver or having to deal with space for two systems. The same shop which used to have no problems sending gear home over the weekend for in-home auditions couldn't even hook up different preamp/processors to the same speakers so I could audition them in the store; so I figured I ought to get something good and used so that if it didn't work out I could resell it for what I paid. That took the form of a Lexicon DC-1. I figured that I liked my speakers and electronics well enough, so I bought another pair for surrounds and matching stereo amp. Then I bought a Citation sub-woofer, center in the same brand as the mains (although I had to track down an older model with a soft-dome tweeter for a better match), and a third identical amp. One pair of surrounds didn't give the immersive experience I got at the movie theater, so I added another matching amp and surrounds. Then I added the Behringer BFD for parameteric equalization to deal with sub-woofer room resonances.

This year I got to thinking that I was pretty happy with the audio side of things, but wanted a bigger screen without a box between my speakers. The obvious solution was front projection. I installed blackout blinds in every window on the floor and started shopping for projectors. DLP gave me headaches, LCD screen door disappointed me, and when properly setup even 7" CRTs are impressive so I went that route. I wanted something which would run at a nice multiple of DVD resolution and resolve HD; which meant at least an 8" EMF projector. I couldn't find one for the price I wanted when I was ready to buy, so I opted for a 9" projector in the form of a Sony 1292. Interlaced video is bad, especially when bigger so I built up HTPC which runs 1440x960@72Hz. It looks like film although the wall texture is anoying, and six feet wide is nice from 10' away but not big enough at the 12' I want my front row back at, so last week I took the next step by ordering a fixed frame 87 x 49" 1.3 gain screen with 3" wide light-sucking border. With the screen upgrade, my projector goes up on the ceiling where it's hush-boxed, and I can be content until next year.

 

[MatthewJ S]

This is getting good!!!!

 

[Bill_Weinreich]

Then:

Pioneer prologic

Those gargantuine 15" technics speakers

Zenith Hi-Fi VCR (almost $400 new. what was I thinkin')

Venith 20" stereo TV

Miniscule Pioneer surrounds and center (talk about timbre matching)

Now:

Pioneer Elite Receiver

Klipsch Ref series

Phillips 60" RPTV

Tosh. DVD

Still use the Zenith VCR (Just for stereo decoding)

- watching a VHS tape is a caning offence here.

See pics below

 

[Salvador]

GradeSchool:
Panasonic mini component system
High School:
Yamaha YST-30
Klipsch Promedia 4.1
University (present):
Denon 3802
Paradigm Studio 20's
Future:
add sub and amp then upgrade speakers
that's looking at around 4 years down the road
tuition sucks

 

[Mark Romero]

Then (1987)- Yamaha M80 amp, C80 Preamp, and Yamaha CD player. Forgot the model. Some off brand 20" TV, a low budget Panasonic VCR, and somebody's used speakers.

Upgraded later to a Sony TA-E1000ESD DPL preamp and some gigantic, low budget Kenwood speakers, a Sony C79ES CD player, Sony 707ES Tuner.

Now, see my link below. Some of the same stuff in use now.

 

[Wes]

In 1984 I put together my first multi speaker system where I tapped into the 8 track inputs in a JC Penney stereo and hooked my 13" tv's headphone jack to it. I had 6 speakers set up around my seating (four in front and two in the surround position. It was so cool to have my tv amplified through the stereo even though it was mono.
In 87-91 moved up to Hifi stereo,19" tv, real amp and better speakers then a Memorex Dolby Surround processor. Wow I was in heaven!
It continues to be all up hill from there with my new dedicated theater with projection, stadium seating, EX/ES sound!
Link Removed
Wes

 

[ChrisMatson]

October 1999...
I hooked up the Playstation 2 to my DPL AIWA mini-system and a 32" Sony trinitron. I had the mini-system in college--and I thought VHS movies were great! After my first DVD on the PS2--Matrix--I knew that I had to get better audio equipment.
I got a Yamaha HTR5250, still in use, and JBL S312s and and S-Center. Shortly thereafter, I got S26s for surrounds and a PB12 subwoofer. After I moved into my current apartment, I picked up the 36XBR450. I had a Pioneer DV-333, it got stolen, and now I have a Toshiba SD4700.
In 2&1/2 years, I went from VHS and an AIWA mini-system, to Yamaha DD/DTS, JBL Studio Series speakers, a PB12 sub, the XBR450, and progressive, anamorphic DVD!

 

[Nate Nelson]

My first and current system:
Klipsch SC-C1 Center
Klipsch Quintets (x4) Fronts/Rears
Pioneer D509s Reciever
SVS 25-31pci
27" GE T.V. (seems to be acting funny lately :frowning: )
JVC XV-300BK DVD-Player
Cheap memorex 4-head VCR (who watches VHS much anymore )
(old picture not showing DVD Player)